eat GOOD, drink GOOD

Empanadas (sort of...)

2011-07-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

OK- another theme you may have noticed on this blog is some sort of butter pastry wrapped savory filling. This is another one - spicy empanadas! The blogger also made a cilantro cream, but for the sake of our waistlines and fellow beach-goers I left that out. The dough is weird though - only 4 tablespoons of butter. How am I supposed to work with that???? It's predictably less buttery/flakey and more bread-like. It also rolled out much thicker... not sure if I like that- I could not crimp the sides into pretty little braids like the blogger. It's ugly, but still tasty.

Also I changed the filling. I don't need any more bacon in my life right now so I switched to ground turkey. And some potatoes because I had them lying around. So I don't know if this really counts as an "empanada" anymore, but it was good. I use a LOT of cilantro- an entire bag full.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2011-07-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Why doesn't any grocery store sell small containers of buttermilk? It always goes bad before I can use it all. Sadly that was the case again this week, but at least I made some biscuits! They were strangely not overly-buttery and somewhere inbetween savory and sweet. As in you could eat this for dinner or dessert. I don't have as many fluffy layers as the blogger, but I went and got some biscuit cutters the other day so I won't smash all the layers together when I'm cutting biscuits out with cups.

Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

2011-07-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Oh man this was such a fail I don't even want to post it, but this recipe is so good I'll share it anyways. It all started with a crazy craving for banana cream pie and lo and behold I had a few brown bananas. It was looking good until I made the pastry cream. It looked thick enough in the pan, but it was just messing with me. It was a runny mess. I hoped it would firm up in the fridge - nope! And I made some whipped cream.... which un-whipped itself. And a fat layer of chocolate. But the crust was delicious.

So when I cut the first slice, the cream slid down and so did the whipped cream.... and then the chocolate sort of melted into it. The pie plate was a funky mess of brown, white and pie crust. It still tasted good, but it was the ugliest pie I have ever made/eaten.

Sourdough Bread

2011-06-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

I am a potato and bread fiend. I especially love sourdough bread, but was always intimidated by the recipes I found online. You have to make your own little colony of happy bacteria that will make your bread all nice and sour (and also help it rise). I was really turned off by most of the recipes I saw which involved specific proportions of pineapple juice and water. But I found this recipe and I figured I would give it a try. It only takes water and flour and it has specific steps for each day.

I was still sort of scared I might kill someone with my funky bread, but the comments on the daily pages helped sort out what a "bad" starter looked like. It takes a few days, but you can make your own starter too! I made 3 batches of bread, but only the 3rd one really tasted like sourdough. The holes weren't quite there yet and then..... I killed my starter. I killed it so bad I couldn't bring it back to life (which you can usually do quite easily- another reason to make your own starter). It grew mold. It got funky. I threw it away.

I'll have to save this for another time when I have time to bake bread more than once a month and can feed a starter more often. Poor thing, it only lived for a few weeks!

Shrimp Quesadillas and Mango Salsa

2011-06-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

(please excuse the bite marks, I was hungry)

Ok I'm addicted to shrimp and making tortillas. It's an addiction and I can't stop. This variation is easy I'm sure you've had it before. It's easy peasy corn tortillas + shrimp and a really great mango jalapeno salsa. The salsa is sweet, salty, smoky and spicy. It was a pain to slice the mango - am I doing it wrong? But I gotta say I'm getting better at making tortillas without a press- instead of using my hands and/or a rolling pin I've been using a pot.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-06-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ok... sorry again I'm not done with the peanut butter - I had to use almost a whole jar. This might be my new favorite cookie. They're chewy and slightly crunchy and I loovveeee oats. (They look weird in my photo because I flattened them out right when they came out of the oven.)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

2011-06-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry peanut allergists, I really love peanut butter. I was tasked with getting rid of the "gross" peanut butter, which isn't even "gross" it's just the natural type where the oil separates from the rest of the peanut butter. So I had to make these brownies and I'm really glad I did. It takes the brownie to another level. There's only a slight peanut-ness to them. Delicious and not too sweet.

Spinach Stuffed Shells

2011-06-10T23:22:00.000-07:00

This was so easy I'm embarrassed to post it. And yes it's just another variation on lasagna, but it looks cool. It's a stuffed pasta shell! I see them on menus, but I never order it - I don't know why. I want to say this is healthier than a lasagna since there is way more spinach per serving, but don't quote me on that. If you're sick of making plain pasta or lasagna, make this instead.

Ad Hoc Brownies

2011-06-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

My sister got me 3 Thomas Keller cookbooks for my birthday, I spent a week (and actually I still do this) reading them before I go to bed. There are a lot of background stories and helpful tips about techniques and equipment. I also found the recipe for the Ad Hoc Brownies online. I've never actually been to Ad Hoc, but it is on my list of places to go.

The brownies were so chocolate-y. I think one slice was enough for most people- it was just so. much. cocoa! (one whole cup!) whew, make sure you share- you will not be able to finish it yourself.

Molten Chocolate Cake

2011-06-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is a really quick and delicious recipe for molten chocolate cake. You don't need to break out the mixer for this, just stir a few ingredients together and pop it on the oven. Take it out of the oven, let it REST (I was too eager with the first cake and ended up with half a cake on the plate, half in the ramekin).

I made a cinnamon whipped cream while the cake was in the oven- also very easy. Make this the next time you're craving a rich chocolate cake.

Home made Pasta & Scarpetta's tomato sauce

2011-05-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

Another home made pasta recipe- this was a bit better than the other one, less egg-y. I also added some dried herbs so there was more flavor. I used the smallest/thinnest setting to make spaghetti, but it clumped up a bit while cooking.

I finally made the tomato sauce from Scarpetta. It's $24 at the restaurant- why not make it at home? I was very skeptical about the amount of oil- it just seemed like it would be an overly greasy sauce. It turned out quite good, but yes a bit greasy. I don't know how they can manage to suspend the oil within the tomato sauce. It was my first time using San Marzano tomatoes (wow they are expensive) and they were very tomato-y even after cooking for half an hour. Often the tomatoes I get, unless I get them from the farmer's market, are taste-less, bland fruits. I'm definitely going to be splurging on a few more can of these great tomatoes.

Homemade corn tortillas and corn meal crusted shrimp

2011-05-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Home made corn tortillas are not hard to make at all- I would say they're a bit time consuming if you don't have a tortilla press though. I alternated between using my hands and a heavy pan to get them thinner.

Corn meal crusted shrimp sort of worked, but I think the original fish would taste better. A lot of the cornmeal ended up falling off the shrimp anyways so it was just... a regular shrimp taco. Sigh... don't worry there's a better shrimp taco recipe coming with a mango salsa!

Chicken Nuggets

2011-05-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Let me say I first made this with the intent of making these chicken nugget replacements healthy (that's lettuce under the chicken!), but the in the process of frying the chicken it turned into sort of deep frying the chicken because I put a bit too much oil in the pan. I also didn't have a meat pounder so I used a glass cup, which seemed to work fine. It was a fast process- easy weekday dinner.

Coffee Ice Cream

2011-05-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

This coffee ice cream was awesome, it turned out amazing even though I only used 4 egg yolks. I thought it was just sweet enough, but my sister thought it was too sweet and soft, different ice cream tastes I guess! There is a lot of coffee in this- there are coffee grounds in the ice cream and the cream was steeped with coffee beans too. Another ice cream recipe winner from David Lebovitz.

Apple Pie, Apple Jam and Apple Tart

2011-05-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

It's raining apples. Let me start from the beginning.... Ilya requested an apple tart for his birthday so I bought a few apples, which turned out to be too much. So I bought a few more apples to make miniature apple pies... and I STILL had some apples left over so I made some apple jam.

My first time making jam and despite boiling ALL the peels and leftover apple bits my jam would not thicken. A night in the fridge helped a little, but it was still a soupier jam than I would've liked. I have to work on this- Summer 2011 is going to be the summer of jam for me.

The pies were delicious and cute! The apple tart really was the simplest apple tart ever. There's very little sugar in the apples so it was rather tart, not sure if I like that or not... But if you find yourself with a lot of apples, give these recipes a try.

Peruvian Chicken

2011-05-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Peruvian Chicken, it should have its own facebook page. There are a few Peruvian chicken places in LA, the most popular being Pollo A La Brasa Western. The chicken isn't very smokey despite being cooked in a wood oven, but the chicken is tender and you have to get their delicious green sauce made of aji peppers.

This is similar only in name. The marinade is really good- made mostly of mint, cilantro and jalapenos. I got the recipe from Cooks Illustrated and I'll type it up soon. You also cook it with a half-empty can of beer .... uh shoved up the chicken. My first time doing that... my chicken was so small it barely fit. Also be sure you put some extra pans under your chicken, mine spilled everywhere and I spent a fun time scrubbing all the bits off.

Vegan coconut cake

2011-05-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite cakes is the vegan coconut cake at the Golden Mean Cafe, introduced to me by an old roommate. She also managed to get me the recipe for the cake! Still have to figure out the recipe for the frosting so I whipped a batch of strawberry butter cream and, for fun, colored it pink. It tasted similar, but not exaccctttllyy like the real cake... time to experiment!

3 cups of spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbspn vanilla extract
1 tbspn coconut extract
2 cups vegetable cane sugar
2 cups cold water
2/3 cup canola oil
2 tbspn apple cider vinegar

bake 350 degrees.

and now... all the photos I didn't shoot

2011-05-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

I lost my camera for a few weeks (later found thankfully) and here's a quick list of what I made and ate:

Chewy Pretzel Bites. These taste pretty much like Wetzel's Pretzels. They take a bit of time to make, but it makes a LOT of pretzels. Eat the day you make them or else they turn into stale bits of dough, no good.

Chocolate Kettle Corn. I used my leftover popping corn to make this gluttonous snack. There's butter, sugar and chocolate. You can't go wrong. It's good and it's bad.

Breakfast Pizza. bacon + eggs??? So good! Didn't try the dessert pizza, but it looks drop dead delicious as well.

Victorian Sponge Cupcakes. Not quite as light as I expected, but a good simple cake with a jam filling.

Houston Style Carnitas

2011-04-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

You probably get that I'm very inexperienced at cooking meat by now, but I was even able to make these really, really good carnitas. I did exactly what the recipe said and even though it looked and smelled unappetizing in the beginning, I let it keep cooking and by the 2nd hour it was looking like real carnitas.

I added some guacamole, onions, cilantro and lime. Pickled red onions would be a great addition. Make this, impress your friends. (I forgot my camera so these are iphone photos courtesy of Ilya)

Jambalaya

2011-04-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this by saying I rarely make rice in a pot- I mean I always use a rice cooker. That might explain how my "jambalaya" pretty much turned into a risotto. I guess I had too much liquid in the pot... but it was still good. Oh and those burned black bits? That happens when you forget to stir the rice and there's a nice burned layer of rice at the bottom of the pot... which you then accidentally stir up.... at least it still tasted okay.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

2011-04-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is a reaaallyyyyy good recipe for carrot cake. I used this recipe for the cake and this recipe for the frosting. I didn't use the can of crushed pineapple and it was still ridiculously moist and delicious. I'm not sure how it would even stay together if I had used the pineapple.

I even liked the frosting! And I'm not a big fan of cream cheese frosting (tastes... weird to me), but I used a whipped cream cheese so it was very light.

YAY more PIZZA!

2011-04-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

I've come a tiny bit closer to a good pizza recipe. This recipe comes from Saveur and was inspired by Pizzeria Mozza one of my favorite restaurants in LA. It was surprisingly easy to shape and there's a great accompanying recipe about how to shape a pizza. I ended up making 2 large (and way too doughy) pizzas, 1 of which was for lunch. There is just no good way to microwave this type of pizza, it gets doughy and chewy... egh. Next time I'll just make 1 pizza to eat right away.

I made my regular (marina with a lot of sliced garlic) and a potato rosemary "pizza." Not sure it counts as pizza when there's no cheese or sauce!

Chocolate and Pecan Cookies

2011-04-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is another recipe to use the huge bag of pecans I bought to make the german chocolate cake. This is Dorie's Best Chocolate Chip cookie. That would be Dorie as in Dorie Greenspan. There's a great group of blogs that makes a new Dorie Greenspan recipe every Tuesday (known as Tuesdays with Dorie). A good way to learn how to bake although sometimes the recipes are beyond difficult.

Now the blogger I got this from tested various resting times and temps for the dough so I decided to pop my cookies in the freezer for a bit before baking. It seemed to work- I didn't have time to freeze the last batch and they spread out into thin (and burnt) cookies.

Chocolate cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

2011-04-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry peanut-allergic friends, it's another peanut butter recipe. This time it's a dark chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting. I had some soft caramel candies left over from the samoa's so I melted it in intervals in the microwave. Be sure to use a very large bowl because the caramel bubbles as it heats up and if you don't use a huge bowl you'll end up cleaning caramel off the bowl sides and the microwave like me.

These were really good- you can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter. I also chopped some pecans and sprinkled some on top so you weren't as overwhelmed by all the sugar. The cake was surprisingly not that sweet so you can eat the whole thing without feeling like keeling over from sugar overload.

Oatmeal Cookies

2011-04-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

I know, I know- not like I've never made an oatmeal cookie before. But these are different- I usually use the oatmeal cookie recipe on the Quaker Oats box or a crispy oatmeal cookie recipe, but this is different. They are both crisp and chewy, without falling apart in your hands. They have a lot of butter though which you can feel free to decrease. I added raisins because I have a big bag of raisins to use and they're good for you.

Samoa Bars

2011-04-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

I have a hate-love relationship with Girl Scout cookies. a) why aren't they available year round? b) why are the boxes SO SMALL.

Well now you can make your own- except they'll be called "bars" because you are much too lazy to cut out donut shaped cookies and they're delicious as is.

I made very messy cookies- I don't know how the blogger was able to have crumb-less bars. Mine were falling apart as I dipped them in chocolate so I had to freeze them for a bit. This was very helpful in using all the leftover coconut from the german chocolate cake.

Mac and Cheese (with broccoli)

2011-04-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

I know what you're thinking- another mac and cheese? Well this is mac and cheese, with Beecher's Flagship Cheese Sauce. If you haven't had Beecher's mac and cheese, stop and book a flight to Portland go mosey on over to Beecher's. If you're a cheese hound you will probably find yourself suddenly overwhelmed, if you are lukewarm about cheese (like me) you will be amazed and a little weirded out by all the cheese products. You can even watch them make cheese!

It's not a ground-breaking recipe by any means, but the addition of chili powder is a welcome change. I added broccoli so as not to feel so depressed about the amount of cheese + pasta consumed. Also I used a gruyere from Whole Foods and it was the smelliest gruyere I have ever used! I had to use a outdoor micowave at work. beware...

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

2011-03-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

Your eyes do not deceive you, this is a whole wheat pizookie. Even though I accidentally dumped in 1/2 a cup of flax seed it still ended up being very moist and delicious. This is a great way to use your cast iron skillet by the way! My skillet is on its way to being very well seasoned so I'm excited to use it for a dessert recipe.

This was good even a week later, toasted briefly in the oven. The texture is a bit cake-y so I guess you can't really call it a cookie, maybe a cookie bar? But it's easy to make, goes in one pan and you can pretend it's healthy because it uses whole wheat flour. Win, win solution!

Indian Turkey Meatballs

2011-03-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

These indian turkey meatballs are a great variation of the ginger pork meatballs. But because it's turkey instead of pork (and I used a white meat blend), it can be rather dry. The onions + tomatoes + cilantro are really good in here, as well as the blend of spices. I'm kinda feeling confident enough to start experimenting with my own meatballs recipes.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

2011-03-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

check out the silpat! I love it.

Another whoopie pie, this time chocolate with a peanut butter filling. I really love chocolate + peanut butter. I'm so excited every time a recipe calls for cocoa because instead of Kroger's cocoa, I have VALRHONA COCOA. YES! If you're going to make this- use less butter in the frosting, maybe 3/4 less or even maybe 1/2 the amount- you really don't need it. The full amount makes it too buttery and rich. The cookies are so fluffy and not-too-sweet.

Pizza & Home made ricotta

2011-03-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, it's pizza time. Again. The last time I made pizza it was a disaster and made me seriously doubt my (few) pizza making skills. My pizza love was piqued by buying a pizza stone and a peel. I've read that you can use an unglazed quarry stone instead of buying a pizza stone, but I'm still worry about using a non-food grade material for baking so I decided to spend the extra money and not worry about lead poisoning. This time I went with a recipe from Serious Eats for a NY style pizza.

I tried out a different dough stretching technique and I think it really helped. I think a longer resting time will really benefit the dough too. I used a mix of APF and corn meal to dust the peel, not sure if I like cornmeal on it. Many more ideas to test out and more dough recipes. For now, at least, I know I can make okay pizza.

I also had some extra whole milk so I decided to make some ricotta. Turns out it is crazy easy to make. But it doesn't make that much- that one recipe made only about 1/4 cup of ricotta. I wanted to have it on my pizza in lumps so I let it dry out overnight.

Chicken Pot Pie

2011-03-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

This recipe for chicken pot pie is a creamier, less chicken-y version of this chicken pot pie. I don't know which one I like better. I'm really stuck. Do I like a super chicken-y more soupy pot pie? Or do I like a creamy simple (as in there is only 1 or 2 herbs) flavor? AAHHH

It can't hurt to like more than one chicken pot pie. They are a very delicious comfort food.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

2011-03-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

So.... remember that German Chocolate Cake? I forgot to mention that I dropped my camera into the whipped egg whites and sugar so my camera's been a little... wonky. Most photos turn out clear though- but the lenses don't fully close now. I guess it's time to get a new camera. Anyways I had a TON of buttermilk left over from that cake (and blueberries) so I decided to finally make blueberry pancakes! I'm a devoted Buttermilk pancake mix user, but these have them beat. They're incredibly fluffy and soft and really easy to make. You could make your own pancake mix by measuring out all the dry ingredients and storing it in a jar.

Of course you can sub in chocolate for blueberries or I don't know... put some peanut butter + syrup on top? That's my preferred way of eating them though it's usually so sweet that I can only eat half.

Pesce al Sale

2011-03-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sounds and looks fancy, but it's really so simple. This is a fish baked in salt crust. This is me trying to learn to make new things. I do not really know to make fish that isn't smoked, canned or already cut in a steak. The prospect of cooking a WHOLE fish was really frightening. This was made bearable by the fact that Whole Foods will fillet and de-scale a fish for you. But then you still have to take it home, unwrap and face it's bloody body and bulging eyeballs... all in the name of culinary learning. I'm sorry fish!

Guilt aside, it was good. Also 3 pounds of salt ends up being a LOT of salt- I used my entire box of Kosher salt. It was surprisingly not overly salty! I decided to make some aioli with the leftover egg yolks. Ah, yes another fear: RAW EGGS. But the fear is quelled by the lovely jar full of aioli. I ate some with the fish, but it turned out to be an unpleasant combination... I'll save it for french fries and roast beef sandwiches.

Roast Chicken with Dijon sauce

2011-03-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Another attempt to master roasting chicken, this time it's with a dijon suace. It was delicious, but a bit bland when compared to the Chicken Adobo. It was very dijon-y and sort of soupy, not sure what happened there. Also I poured the sauce over the chicken so it wasn't very crispy any more. (go look at the blogger's photos, her chicken looks amazing) I paired it with roasted green beans and potatoes as suggested by the original blogger.

Castella or Kasutera Cake

2011-03-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

This is a really good cake. I first had it a few years ago when a family friend made it- I got the recipe from her, but I was never able to really duplicate it. I found this recipe online and it magically worked. The cake is really light, like a spongecake, and only slightly sweet from the honey. I'm not sure why it's so light considering the amount of eggs and oil... but it was really good and maybe the small amount of sugar makes up for the amount of eggs?

Funny thing is that this is actually a Portuguese cake. It was brought to Japan in the 16th century by Portuguese merchants (according to wikipedia).

Roasted Garlic Soup

2011-03-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

yummy roasted garlic

I was supposed to make this roasted garlic soup with chorizo, but by the end it was italian sausage, potato, rosemary and roasted garlic soup. It was still delicious, but not exactly what I meant to make. The roasted garlic smells so good, you'll have to stop yourself from eating it. I only roasted 2 cloves because I thought 4 cloves would be overkill, but 2 wasn't enough! I normally roast garlic by the head in the oven, wrapped in foil, but this was faster- you just have to be careful not to burn the garlic.

Like I said, I used chopped spicy italian sausage because I didn't have chorizo and then I added diced potatoes because I have way too many potatoes. Delicious, yes, but maybe I'll actually follow the recipe next time.

Chinese Almond Cookies

2011-03-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

Happy (belated) Chinese New Year! I decided to celebrate by making some almond cookies. I used Marcona almonds to top the cookies. I had these for the first time around a year ago and I'm HOOKED. They're a bit softer than regular almonds and normally served lightly coated in oil and crunchy salt. Get them at Trader Joe's!

For some reason my cookies didn't quite have the crunchiness of a regular almond cookie, but I'm guessing thats because I used a mish mash of flour. A bit of leftover cake flour, a bit of whole wheat, a bit of all purpose and almond meal (not almond flour).

Chocolate Chip Muffins

2011-03-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

It took me awhile to find a good recipe for chocolate chip muffins. This one fulfills all the criteria: oil based cake recipe, not too much chocolate, not too sweet. I added whole wheat flour, flax seed, and used 60% cacao chocolate chips. Delicious, although by the 2nd day they were quite dry so eat them quickly!

German Chocolate Cake

2011-02-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

This is a very rich cake. I made this for a roommate's birthday, but I don't think he was able to handle more than a small slice because it is so rich. It is also time consuming, but put in the time and you will be happy with a giant german chocolate cake. I had to make this over two weeknights.

For some reason my ganache was clumping up everytime it cooled down. I tried to pipe a decorative border, but that was a big, giant fail so I made this little ridge to keep the pecan/coconut topping from running over.

Speaking of, I now have a bunch of coconut flakes and pecans to use...

Potato Salad

2011-02-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

This isn't just any potato salad recipe. It has pancetta, lemon juice, garlic and rosemary. I needed an alternative to the typical mayo-laden recipes and this was great. It has just enough fat to be delicious, but still light because of the lemon juice and celery.

If you're wondering why there are so many potato recipes, it's because my dad gave me a 10 pound bag of potatoes. They were on sale.

Green Tea Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

2011-02-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

Green tea and strawberries is like peanut butter and jelly. This is a REALLY good recipe for green tea cupcakes and strawberry buttercream. I didn't think 1 tablespoon of green tea powder would be enough to color and flavor the cake, but it was very green and green tea flavored. The butter cream recipe is strange- egg whites are involved??? But it came together fine and tastes reallyyyy good. I'm glad it uses strawberry jam instead of real strawberries- my buttercream always looks funky/congealed when I use real fruit.

Tuxedo Cake

2011-02-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

Look at this beautiful cake. It is so beautiful. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but this is the most pristine looking layered cake I have ever made. I didn't accidentally break the cake levels in half (hehe although I did break a few bits off here and there) and I didn't make the frosting curdle. PROGRESS!

I had to do this to protect the cake from saran wrap.

It's been awhile since I've made a cake so I decided to make this beautiful tuxedo cake. In the end though I didn't make the chocolate sauce on top since it was already really good. The chocolate cake is really moist and sweet, even when I used whole wheat flour. The frosting is whipped cream, which I loooveeeee. Asian cakes normally use whipped cream instead of the overly sweet buttercream on regular cakes so I'm used to it's texture and taste. Also it's a lot easier to make than say... strawberry buttercream.

This cake took a really long time to make. I only have 2 cake pans so it took me awhile to just bake the cake. Then I had to let it cool down and then do a crumb coat for each layer and then frost it. I was exhausted (this was a weeknight), but it was well worth the reward of eating cake for breakfast and dinner the next 3 or 4 days. You would do it too and you would love it because this cake is GOOD.

Roasted Banana Ice Cream

2011-02-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no photos of this bomb ice cream. It just looked like regular vanilla ice cream in photos so I decided to leave it out. Anyways, who thought banana ice cream would be good?? I had it at Bi-Rite up in Norcal and I was HOOKED. I thought about it for weeks when I got back home until I found this recipe from, of course, David Lebovitz. I've also seen recipes for vegan ice cream that consist only of bananas and whatever flavoring you want to add. Not sure how that would taste. The texture of this was sort of strange... it froze very very hard and was creamy, but also had the texture of bananas. Not sure how to describe it. I'm going to try a different banana:cream ratio next time.

Butter Chicken

2011-02-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

My first encounter with butter chicken was at the India Jones food truck. This butter chicken recipe is similar, but has a lot more tomatoes than the one I first had. It is really good and I got to use a lot of my new spices. I would double the amount of spices in the marinade because they were overpowered by the tomatoes and cream. Not sure if it's authentic (hopefully it's not the Panda Express dish of India), but it's easy and really good. My cooking adventure continues!

Chicken Adobo

2011-02-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Again, I have very little knowledge of Philipino food so I when I saw this recipe in the NY Times I knew I had to try it. Apparently there are many different variations of chicken adobo- this is just how one family makes it. The sauce/marinade is really really good, but I'm going to have to use less vinegar next time. My apartment smelled TERRIBLE while I was cooking it. It's sweet, salty, spicy and sour, a very complex taste.

Potatoes Au Gratin

2011-02-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

There is really nothing I like better than potatoes au gratin. What isn't there to like about layers of thinly sliced potatoes with cream and whole milk. deeliiisshhhh Panko bread crumbs make it even better. This is a classic recipe and there's nothing I'd change.

Braised Short Ribs

2011-01-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

One of my new years resolutions is to cook more meat (even though I don't really eat meat). Braised short ribs always seemed like a complicated dish to me because the meat is so tender and flavorful. Turns out, it is incredibly easy. A few ingredients and just one pot. Unless you are like me and don't have roasting pan... then you have to take it from pan to oven-safe dish and back to pan. Either way, it is delicious.

My short ribs look a little different from the blog I got it from- I guess it's a different cut. I have no idea what part of the animal this is, I just asked the butcher for "short ribs" and he gave me these. Uhhh I will recommend trimming the fat before you cook them because these had a very very healthy amount of fat.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

2011-01-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

I didn't really grow up eating brussel sprouts, but I haven't ever heard any good things about them. My sister made these roasted brussel sprouts and I was hooked. I've been making these consistently for about 2 years for everyone, including so-called brussel sprouts haters. The outer leaves are crispy and the insides are mellow, sweet and slightly bitter. The balsamic vinegar is sort of sweet too and I love the crunchy salt. Definitely something you should try.

Crab Cakes

2011-01-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

I was stuck in LAX for a few hours on my way to JFK and the only thing in the Virgin America terminals was Burger King, Starbucks and Gladstone's. I ended up in Gladstones with a crab cake sandwich. It was bland with very little crab. When I got back home, I had to make a good crab cake. The recipe includes an avocado sauce, but I skipped it.

crab cake + arugula + red onions + egg + balsamic vinegar + olive oil

The previous recipes I've made involve frying the crab cakes, but this one has you bake them. The bread crumbs are tossed with the butter so they're still crisp. I finished mine in the toasted oven for a few more minutes to get a nicer crust.

Toffee Saltine Bark

2011-01-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

all you need to make delicious toffee

Toffee is one of my favorite guilty pleasures.... unfortunately my previous sugar candy making endeavors resulted in grainy junk, but this is a really easy recipe. You probably have all the ingredients. The addition of saltine crackers was kinda weird, but it fits in the salty+sweet combination. Be sure to eat within a few days or the crackers get stale. I upped the salty+sweet factor by liberally sprinkling sea salt on top, yum.

Chive Biscuits

2011-01-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

My sister made these chive biscuits for thanksgiving dinner and they were pretty good except they were SO dang buttery (in a bad way). They also weren't very flaky so I decided to make them myself. Well... mine didn't turn out super flaky either, but they didn't taste as buttery (in a good way).

I thought I'd made a pretty good biscuit until I had the chicken + biscuit at Pies n Thighs. If you are ever within 100 miles of this place, you gotta go and get their chicken biscuit ($5). It will blow your MIND! It made my biscuit taste like a rock... sigh. I will have to continue trying out biscuit recipes now that I know what biscuits can taste like.

Pumpkin and Shrimp Bisque

2010-12-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

There is nothing more welcoming than a bowl of warm soup on a cold day. This soup is that soup. However you will encounter some unpleasant, fishy smells because you have to roast the shrimp shells. I felt slightly crazy cooking shells, but it turned out delicious so I'll do it again if I need to. I also felt a lot of asian guilt at having to throw out the onion and celery (though I did eat a few spoonfuls, but gave up after getting too many shell bits). Work through the guilt and make this soup. It is good and very easy.

Shrimp shells, it's whats for dinner.

I think I'm getting better at choosing wines to cook with- thanks to all the friendly folks at Trader Joe's. (PS: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!)

Bacon-wrapped Hot Dogs and Pickled Red Onions

2010-12-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

If you haven't had a bacon-wrapped hot dog yet and you live in LA, you are missing out. My love of BWHD's (bacon wrapped hot dogs) was revived at a UCLA football game where I succumbed to the bacon aroma wafting from the various vendors outside the stadium. I was a little iffy about what kind of hot dogs and bacon they use so I decided to make my own (also they were charging $4 for one).

I also spiced it up a little by pickling red onions. I really like the idea of canning, jamming and pickling food, but I am also hooked by my overactive imagination and 20/20 specials on botulism. This is one baby step towards becoming a canning/jamming/pickling superstar. Also this was an excuse to get some pickling/mason jars, which I love so very much. The pickled red onions sparked the pickle-love in my roommate Jer and now there are ample supplies of pickled onions in our fridge, at all times. I pickled mine for about 2 days and at that point they were 70% rice wine vinegar and only 30% onion-y so I drained the pickling juice and replaced it with water.

And to make this worthy of a blog post, I made my own hot dog buns. This was surprisingly easy- it was no baguette. It's basically white bread dough shaped into hot dog bugs. They were tasty, especially when lightly brushed with some bacon fat. And yes you will have more hot dogs buns than hot dogs, but they were tasty on their own for sandwiches.

Ok, hopefully you know how to cook a hot dog? Wrap a nice thick cut of bacon around the hot dog, overlap a bit. I had to stick a toothpick in both ends of the bacon to keep it on the dog, but I pulled them out after it cooked for a bit so I could get all of the bacon fat rendered out. I prefer my BWHD closer to burnt so I cooked mine til they were very, very crispy. Also I made this on my ridged cast iron skillet so it was a little bit closer to being grilled. This also prevented the hot dog from being deep fried in bacon fat (too much bacon already).

BWHD + pickled red onions = SUCCESS

Cinnamon rolls

2010-12-12T10:00:00.001-08:00

There was a time a few years back when I was as obsessed with cinnamon rolls as I am with pizza now. I went through a LOT of recipes and variations and then got sick of them. I found this recipe while perusing the cooking light website.

The previous recipes I've used make gigantic rolls, but this made 18 smaller-than-your-palm ones. They tasted okay up to the second day after I made them, after that they were lethal weapons.

Butternut squash and bacon pasta

2010-12-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

Another baked pasta recipe, this time with SQUASH! Again, it's from cooking light even though it has a lot of bacon, but at least there's no cream. This dish is really filling and heavy- definitely invite some friends to share it. The shallots were really good, glad I made the drive to Ralphs to find it.

And if you happen to live near a World Market, pick up some animal shaped pasta. Not only will your pasta be delicious, it will also be cute.

Chicken Tikka

2010-12-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

My first foray into Indian food. My knowledge of Indian food starts and stop with whatever is served on the India Jones food truck and the Dosa truck and... curry. I know curry is Indian... and there's frequently a yogurt sauce?? I really have no idea so this is my way of venturing out to untested waters and trying different food.

new spices!

I had chicken tikka marsala on campus when I had lunch with my boss. It was amazing and although I found a lot of recipes online I thought I'd start with this simple recipe for chicken tikka so I wouldn't have to make a sauce. It's awesome, but 1) I am scared of raw chicken so I overcooked these (aka they were dry) and 2) I had to buy a lot of new spices. I guess this means I'll be making more Indian food because I don't want to waste all those spices.

Perfect chocolate chip cookies

2010-12-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Another great recipe from America's Test Kitchen. These cookies are perfect because there is a freakish amount of butter in these and I am not normally shocked by butter, but this is like 1.5 tablespoons of butter per cookie. EH I'd like to live to 50 at least so I took out 2 tablespoons of butter, substituted whole wheat flour for 1/3 of the total flour and added some more flax seed. Verdict? Delicious- probably because of brown butter. I love brown butter, it smells amazing.

look how shiny the batter is!

Artichoke and Parmesan Risotto

2010-11-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

This artichoke and parmesan risotto is a great fall/winter food, incredibly rich and comforting. Except now that I don't have 5 roommates I was forced to eat this for lunch AND dinner for 3 days straight and it was no longer comforting or even good by the third day. so please... make half or find someone to share it with.

I <3 artichokes and I'm starting to like white wine! I don't remember what I bought- I read all the labels at Trader Joe's and chose one that said it was light and went well with pasta.... thank you Trader Joe's -you never do me wrong.

A pizza dough fail.

2010-11-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, broccoli. It was about to go bad and I had to eat it.

Another pizza dough recipe. And this one was a big fail, I don't know why! Maybe my yeast was dead? But this dough did NOT want to be kneaded or be anything other than a chunk of cold, wet dough. I persevered and made one pizza, but I ended up trashing the other two balls of dough. It was sad day in pizza land.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2010-11-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

This recipe can be found on the box of Quaker Oats' oats. They are really good and truly, vanishing. I used a few tablespoons less butter, used 1/3 whole wheat flour and added some ground flax seed to make up for all the junk we've been eating and they tasted the same. Amazing. They are awesome.

I made these for a cookie delivery to my friends in Ohio along with brown butter chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles. I'll post the recipe for the brown butter chocolate chip cookies later- they were buttertastic.

Spiced Pumpkin Bread

2010-11-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Santa Ana winds are back and that means it's officially Fall/Winter here in Los Angeles, which also means it's time for pumpkin! I love pumpkin, but it feels wrong to eat it at any other time. This recipe for spiced pumpkin bread is reallyyyyyy good. It makes two small loaves, but of course because I'm impatient I crammed it into one loaf pan making for a really big loaf. I had to cut the top off when it started getting a wee bit burnt while the inside was still mush. Good thing Ilya likes crusty/burnt bread. Although this isn't bread, it's just a big frosting-less cake.

The before: the pan overfilleth with pumpkin bread. Do not do this unless you want to cut the top crust off and have burnt edges.

Chorizo and Potato Tacos

2010-11-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, no photos of the finished product because I packed this up for lunch. This recipe is from Real Simple, one of my favorite magazines. It's only rated 2 stars on the website, but I thought it was a pretty good recipe. I got chorizo from my neighborhood Sprouts, also another favorite. They sell "bulk" chorizo, spicy italian sausage without the casings in the meat section and it ranges from 1 lb to 2lbs so it's great for small recipes like this.

I made the radish, black bean salsa the day before and added some avocado and sour cream to the mix. Tasty- although I pretty much like anything with chorizo and black beans.

Thomas Keller Oreos

2010-11-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

Another recipe from Thomas Keller. This time it's his version of an oreo. I didn't have a fluted pastry cutter so I ended up using an old plastic wine glass I had, which worked out pretty well. The shortbread is salty- so good with the white chocolate cream. I had an issue with the white chocolate being too viscous so I let it rest in the fridge for a day instead of the 6 hours and that seemed to solve it. Also thank goodness the blogger mentioned that the dough will at first look like sand because it did and I wasn't sure if I was making it correctly. But just keep mixing and it will eventually come together.

Ginger Pork Meatballs

2010-11-08T09:22:00.000-08:00

First of all, this recipe is from Cooking Light, which I am going to visit more often now because these meatballs are delicious and in no way dry. I can't believe they're healthy- how bizarre! They are much much better tasting than any turkey meatball I've made because there is so much flavor in these (ginger, cilanto, onion, soy sauce). Easy to make and cook, very very tasty.

Roasted Tomato Soup

2010-10-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

This recipe for a roasted tomato soup comes from Gordon Ramsey. It is sublime. I chose the best looking organic heirloom tomatoes from Trader Joe's and stuck them in the oven with onions and garlic... the kitchen smelled amazing. Roasting is my go-to preparation for almost everything. It takes little effort and it's difficult to mess up. Just cut up the vegetables, toss with some olive oil and garlic and stick them in the oven for awhile. Shake the pan every once in awhile and take it out once it browns or softens. Easy!

My favorite way to prepare cauliflower is to cut it up and roast it with garlic, olive oil and sea salt. The cauliflower gets brown and crisp at the bottom and soft and garlicy everywhere else. This was another great tomato soup! I'm really glad I decided to give tomato soup another try because otherwise I never would've found out how much I love it.

Post roast vegetables.

Broccoli Garlic Quiche (round 2)

2010-10-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

Round 2 with the Broccoli Garlic Quiche (originally from this post). Last time, I didn't do a very good job with the crust- I didn't roll it out large enough and when I blind baked it, I didn't have enough beans so the sides slid down a bit. This time I nailed the dough and it was awesome- thanks to my ceramic pie weights (yay!). But... of course my crazy oven went up and down 50 degrees so it came out to be more of an omelette with a pie crust than a quiche.

It was still good though, but it wasn't as fluffy or soft as it was supposed to be. It was definitely more than enough cream and butter for a month.

Potato Gnocchi (the 101st? post!)

2010-10-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

I had gnocchi for the first time ever while volunteering at Food Rendevous, a great meeting of local food. A chef was demo-ing potato gnocchi and how easy it was to make and I tried some- omgggaahhhhh it was so good. It still had bits of mashed potatoes in it so it was soft, not at all what I thought it would taste like. I've avoided gnocchi for so long because I thought they were going to be chewy lumps of dough- that's definitely not the case! This recipe is great- the gnocchi were tender and had a very faint hint of potato.

I also got to use a potato ricer for the first time and I am now a converted ricer-lover. It make the potatoes so fluffy! This recipe was somewhat labor intensive, I spent just under an hour rolling and cutting the gnocchi. I youtube'd a lot of videos on how to properly roll a gnocchi on a fork... I think they came out more or less looking like proper gnocchi.

I served mine with a meat sauce (Trader Joe's spicy Italian sausage!) YUM! This would be perfect for the rainy weather in socal right now.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake and Honey Lavender Ice Cream

2010-10-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

the elusive organic lavender

I had dinner at Fraiche a few months ago and the food was very good, but the dessert was mind blowing-amazing-awesome. I had a scoop of honey lavender ice cream- I picked it spontaneously. This ice cream tasted like a savory, subtle honey ice cream infused with flowers. It was so good- almost savory. I thought about that ice cream for a very long time and I found this recipe and made it and guess what... it tastes exactly the same!!! It took me 3 trips to different Whole Foods and Ralphs' to finally find some organic edible lavender, but it was worth it. SO WORTH IT.

And I made a huge chocolate cake. I didn't have raspberry jam so I used strawberry and it turned out pretty well (although I should really listen

Thomas Kellers' Simple Roast Chicken

2010-10-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

Look at that crispy skin! I did it!

This post encompasses everything that this blog is for me: pushing my culinary boundaries. I had to stick my hand in a chicken! I don't know if it's evident in my posts, but I typically do not enjoy sticking my hand in dead animals. When I cook meat it's normally cut up already and all I have to do is open the package and dump it directly into the pan. I rarely marinate as that would require me to handle meat. I am terrified of germs/making someone sick and also very sad about the animal that died so I don't eat meat that much. BUT I love burgers and medium rare steaks so I'm not so animal friendly that I won't eat them, I'm just scared of them. But I forced myself to make this- every good cook should know how to make a roast chicken!

TK recommends slathering butter on the chicken as you eat it, but I felt that was unnecessary- I'm already cooking potatoes in chicken fat, do I really need to add butter?

I chose this recipe because
a) It's from Thomas Keller
b) It is really easy

And it was really easy! I kept checking the oven because it seemed too good to be true, but the chicken turned out juicy (without butter somehow) and the skin was so crisp (don't know how that happens).

I tried to be eco-friendly and bought a reusable silicone string to make up for all the paper towels I used to dry the chicken.

Oh and by the way, when you buy a whole chicken, it comes with it's NECK. aaahhhhhhhhh I was frozen for a few minutes and then started yelling NECK NECK MY CHICKEN HAS A NECK until my roommate yelled back to just cut it off and make some chicken stock. Ah thank goodness for Jer and his good sense. And this recipe does require you to use a lot of paper towels because you have to thoroughly dry the chicken.

Watermelon Sorbet

2010-09-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

My roommates and I wanted to make some watermelon sorbet before watermelon season ended and I picked up one from the farmer's market. This was my first time making sorbet and something went wrong. I ended up with basically a giant watermelon ice cube. Did I add too much water?? I have no idea what went wrong.... I'll have to try again.

Look at all the watermelon pulp left!!

It froze so hard that you can't even scoop it, just shave off thin slivers at a time.

Baked Eggs with Polenta

2010-09-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

This recipe for baked eggs is a mash up of this recipe and this recipe. I basically had a lot of eggs to get rid of and a tiny bit of cornmeal and tomato sauce that I wanted to use so I looked to these two recipes for guidance. Also, do you see that tiny baby basil leaf? I GREW IT FROM A SEED!!!!! YAAYYYY The leaves are all about that size, I hope it experiences a growth spurt soon.

This is a super easy and surprisingly filling dish- the polenta + egg is enough for a meal if you have some veggies on the side. I roasted some cauliflower and garlic while the eggs were cooking. I was still a wee bit scared of salmonella because I made this a few weeks ago so I cooked it until the yolks were just about solid, but this has great potential to be accompanied by bread to soak up the yolk + sauce. Yum.

Various herbs from my sad balcony garden (chives, rosemary, basil) + polenta.

Dab of tomato sauce.

Egg! (Not shown is the bread crumbs + parmesan I later added on top)

Focaccia Pizza and Green Tea and Chocolate Marbled Cake

2010-09-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

Just look at this magnificent pizza! It combines focaccia bread + pizza. I freaking love focaccia- this was awesome. It's still a thin crust pizza so it doesn't turn into a chicago deep dish, but enough bread so you get the focaccia feel in the crust- still chewy, crisp on the edges.

Okay now look at my new measuring spoons- aren't they awesome? They're skinny so they can fit into all sorts of spice jars. I got them from Sur La Table.

Okay now look at this awesome mixing bowl! I had to buy new stuff since I was using my old roommates baking equipment. This one is from Giada De Laurentiss' line for Target. I was debating between this plastic set and the stainless steel and decided I needed the larger bowl so I got these. I like that there's a little spout so it's easy to pour batter out and a rubber ring on the bottom so it doesn't slide everywhere. The only problem is when I need to melt chocolate or use it over a hot pot of water, but I can switch to the various glass bowls I have instead.

Anyways... I made green tea and chocolate swirled cupcakes. I like the way the loaf looks, but it's easier to hand out cupcakes. It's really good, but possibly too moist? I guess I like my cake a little dryer, but the 1 cup of yogurt really made these sticky/fudgey despite being cooked all the way through. They looked great though! Chocolate and green tea are a great combination.

Bacon and Pea Orecchiette and Garlic Knots

2010-09-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Did you watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution show? I didn't see any of it, but I read about it online. It's a really great cause- I know the food I ate in school was terrible (cheese fries!), but luckily I also liked vegetables and my taste changed as I grew up (still love cheese fries though). This recipe for Pasta with Creamy Bacon and Peas is from Jamie Oliver's show and I don't really know how this is "healthy." It has peas, but it also has bacon. I guess you could substitute whole wheat pasta, but EH I'm not a fan. It was good though-

Do you see all this garlic?? That's only half of it!! I love garlic bread, but I wanted something with more oomph. This recipe for garlic knots has, perhaps, too much oomph. I tasted garlic the next day and into the next 2 meals. I probably reeked of garlic after making this. You probably want to use 2/3 of the amount of garlic it asks for unless you are hunting vampires. Very tasty though- especially when you put some butter on top.

Momofuku's Compost Cookie

2010-09-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

It's the one and only compost cookie from David Chang's Momofuku (well... actually Christina Tosi since she's the pastry chef). It is a delicious use for all your leftover baking bits and salty snacks. The annoying part is that you have to refrigerate the dough for a few hours before baking AAHH! Does anyone ever bake 6 hours before they crave a cookie?

The first time I made it with potato chips, honey wheat pretzels, a skor bar and chocolate chips.

The second time I made it with regular kettle chips, thin pretzels, chocolate rice crispy cereal and chocolate chips.

The first batch I made still had some large pieces of chips and pretzels left so there were some bits of salty, chewyness. EH not the tastiest cookie, but I made sure to bash the chips and pretzels properly for the second batch. The only complaint (if you are a butter hater) that I heard was that it was "too buttery" so I'll decrease the butter by a tablespoon or two for the next batch.

Dirty Risotto

2010-09-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

Risotto was another one of those mysterious Italian dishes that I've had at restaurants, but never made at home... until TODAY! This recipe for dirty risotto is from Giada De Laurentis, who I am big big fan of (no matter how much she smiles and enunciates every syllable).

It starts out looking pretty bland and ordinary. What good can come of rice + pancetta + bell peppers? But when you add in the chicken broth, slowly and keep stirring- magic happens. It plumps up and the starchy rice and chicken broth make tasty happen.

I had a bunch of leftover pancetta and sausage leftover so I diced the rest and fried it with onions and potatoes to make some dirty hash. Pancetta is my new favorite.

Caramelized Onion Tart

2010-08-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Umm oops, I haven't been on here for awhile. I moved to a new apartment and had to quickly assemble kitchen equipment (finally got a frying pan!) so there was very little cooking. And the cooking I did do was basic one-pan things like pasta or omelettes- not worthy of a blog post. This caramelized onion tart is from a month ago I think. It's really really good- I bought puff pastry because I didn't have time to make it.

The inspiration behind this pizza was an amazing pizza I had at Z Pizza in the Houston airport during a hellish layover/flight back from Cozumel. We almost didn't make it back and suddenly were able to get on the standby line! We got a quick bite to eat here- I had the Tuscan pizza, which was different types of mushrooms, feta and caramelized onions. It was very smelly- so much so that I didn't want to open it on the plane. It was so good though, so smelly and so good. I even liked the feta and I hate feta! (I guess I can downgrade the hate to a "sometimes I like")

This was easy, but not fast. It's also best the day you make it, unless you like soggy puff pastry.

Pepitas Brittle and another Pizza!

2010-08-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

This is a failed attempt at pepitas brittle. I had to use leftover pepitas, so I thought I'd make brittle. I love peanut brittle! I'm not 100% sure what went wrong- I heated the sugar to the right temperature... there must've been some sugar on the side of the pan that didn't melt and it made the rest of the mixture crystallize. ): It tasted good though. I went overboard in protecting myself from hot bubbling sugar- I had oven mitts, aprons and towels on the side, ready just in case.

This is another version of the no-knead pizza dough. Sorry, no photos! I tried it and for some reason this one turned out better than the last version. No idea why or how, but I'm going to stick with this one for no-knead. Next up is to try a pizza dough recipe with cake flour, which is supposed to be the best stand in for 00 flour, which is what is traditionally used for pizza/pasta in Italy.

Baked Mac N Cheese and Roasted Potato Leek Soup

2010-08-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

I really liked mac and cheese, but I'm really picky about what kind I like. I like the mac and cheese from Napa Valley Grill and even the Kraft blue box... I'm kinda on the fence about Trader Joe's boxed mac and cheese. This is a good make-ahead recipe for baked mac and cheese for when you have guests coming over- assemble the day before and bake when ready. It's from the great Barefoot Contessa.

This roasted potato and leek soup is so good. I really like roasting vegetables- you don't have to stand there watching it and the veggies come out with a completely different flavor! This also had a bunch of arugula blended in so it had a peppery kick to it.

I definitely burned the crispy shallots, but for what I paid for them I used them anyways. They are a really really good addition to the soup and would be great in sandwiches, salads etc.

Whole Wheat Brownies and Apple Pie Ice Cream

2010-08-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to be more healthy I bought white whole wheat flour. I've been using it in regular APF recipes- usually substituting 1/4 of the APF with whole wheat. This recipe is all whole wheat and somehow it's still good- usually you can still feel the difference (like whole wheat pasta vs regular pasta). Also since a brownie doesn't have to be fluffy or tender it's a good place to start with whole wheat flour. I couldn't tell the difference between this brownie and any other brownie even though I ate it right after baking (the recipe has you wait overnight for the wheat germ to soften).

I had apple pie ice cream at Scoops and it started an apple pie obsession. I don't even LIKE pie- the filling is too sweet and goopy. I ate some form of apple pie every couple of days for 3 weeks- including the tasty apple pie from the Apple Pan. Finally my wallet was bled dry and I set out to make my own apple pie ice cream via this recipe. The only thing it's missing is the crust and it doesn't make that much- it was enough for 4 servings.

Arroz Verde and Strawberry Sorbet

2010-07-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Green rice! Weird, right? I found the recipe from NY Time's recipes for health - I had a huge bag of baby spinach that was about to go bad. It tasted like rice with onions and garlic, not spinach-y, but maybe that's the point. I don't know why my rice looks so wet compared to the NY Times' one- I'm just not very good at making fluffy rice in a pan, that's what rice cookers are for! I'm sure this would be a hit with kids and it's a good way to use up some extra produce.

Sorry this is the only photo I took of the strawberry sorbet! The recipe is once again from David Lebovitz. It's a very strawberry-y sorbet because the only ingredients are strawberries, sugar and salt (and kirsch if you want). I used the full amount of sugar because my strawberries didn't taste very sweet, but it came out to be too sweet- I added lemon juice to balance it out again.

Chocolate Ice Cream and Salted Chocolate Dipped Caramels

2010-07-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

Another ice cream recipe by David Lebovitz- this one is for chocolate ice cream. When choosing between vanilla and chocolate I always go for vanilla. Chocolate isn't as refreshing to me and I rarely eat chocolate ice cream, but for some reason I was craving it. There was a false start- I was stupidly trying to do dishes at the same time and my custard turned into scrambled eggs. Always make sure you pay attention! I need to relearn how to uni-task. The final product? It's good. Like crazy good. It's smooth, creamy and not overly sweet.

I made a smore of sorts- chocolate ice cream, crushed graham crackers and a toasted marshmallow.

I have a big list of things I want to make and one of the things on the list is caramels. I found this recipe for Salted, chocolate dipped caramels from the NY Times. I'm very scared of heating sugar- I've read and heard a lot of stories about sugar burns and I'm already much aware of hot oil and pan burns. I was extra careful- aprons, glasses and oven mitts at all times! In the end, I was probably overprepared. Just make sure to use a very large pan- much bigger than you think you'll need because it bubbles and grows. And a candy thermometer is indispensable for this recipe.

Also, unless you are making wedding favors or plan on eating 10 caramels every day for a month, make half or even a quarter of the recipe. I made this a month ago and I STILL have a tupperware container full of caramels in my fridge (not complaining that much actually...). Just be aware it makes a LOT and caramel is not a stagnant object. My thermometer says I hit all the right temps, but that caramel oozes. I had to refrigerate portions at a time and work at a crazy speed to dip and salt them and then get it back into the fridge. It didn't help that it was a very hot day. In the end it was worth it. I had dozens and dozens of small (and large and oddly shaped) caramels. They taste exactly like the caramel bar from Huckleberry (minus the cookie crust), which is what started my obsession in the first place. They are salty/sweet/chewy/buttery and oh so melty.

No-knead Pizza and Egg Salad

2010-07-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, it's pizza again. I will never tire of pizza. Lately it's become a necessity, I eat it probably once a week because it's so cheap to make and if I plan ahead, it can be a relatively quick meal. A few entries ago I wrote about no-knead bread- this is no-knead pizza. I bought King Arthur Bread flour just for this recipe- I don't know exactly how bread flour + no kneading = good pizza, but it works. Not sure if this is my favorite yet- I still have about 4 more dough recipes to go through!

Egg salad- a summer must. Sad to say, but I couldn't remember exactly what goes into an egg salad! All I could remember was eggs + mayonnaise. I like mayonnaise in moderation so I was thankful for the reminder of mustard and the new-to-me idea of curry powder! Yum! I also used Veganniase because with all the butter/eggs/diary I eat, my heart could use some help. I love Vegannaise! I also added some celery because I like the crunch and some very thinly sliced red onion because I wanted some bite.

Double Tree Cookie and a Brussel Sprout Pizza

2010-07-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

I had no idea Double Tree gave out cookies when you check in until Joanne told me and she says they're good, like one of the best (I don't remember their exact ranking...). I haven't had the chance to stay at a Double Tree yet, but I found this recipe online which is supposed to be the real thing. They were.... okay. I think I had too much stuff for the amount of dough- they were bit crumb-ly and dry. I really like the shredded oats though, I haven't seen/tasted that in a cookie before. Next time, I'm using 3/4 of the "stuff" and keeping the same amount of dough.

And another pizza- I am slightly obsessed with pizza right now (pizzas are the new burgers) and I really really want a brick oven in my backyard when I (if I ever) own my own home. This time it is a brussel sprout pizza. The original recipe is brussel sprouts and pancetta, but I substituted peas since this was on a veggie night. I really like brussel sprouts on pizza- the leaves are crisp and charred and soft when stuck half in, half out of the cheese.

Broccoli Garlic Quiche and Matcha Mochi Cupcakes

2010-07-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

perfectly done.

slightly overdone.

I still had mochiko leftover from making daifuku so I found this great recipe for Matcha Mochi Cupcakes. Maybe it should be called a bread or muffin since there isn't a frosting for it. The mochiko flour makes the bread squishy, but it's still crisp on the outside. They were really good right out of the oven, by the next day they were already getting stale despite being saran wrapped.

I love making pastry dough, it's so much easier with a dough blender! The all-butter pastry dough for the Broccoli Garlic Quiche is pretty good. I love quiche, everything about them. I had a stockpile of Trader Joe's quiches, but I thought it'd be fun to try and make one too. They're pretty easy to make and are good at room temperature too so they make great leftovers. Sorry no photos!

Black Bean Chorizo Subs and Roasted Pepitas

2010-07-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe for Black Bean Chorizo Subs around the time that Rick Bayless cooked a state dinner. The recipe sounded strange, but I trusted the POTUS and FLOTUS' taste in chefs. I really liked the sandwiches, but Ilya thought they were disgusting because of the texture so if you're not a fan of smashed beans + meat, you might want to skip this one. It was a great idea to hollow out the bread so the beans/meat would have a place to fill instead of squishing out the sides- I might use that more often.

I've also been experimenting with nuts because I'm trying to eat more of them. Right now I have a big bag of pepitas from Trader Joes and while they're tasty on their own, they are also boring. This recipe for sugar and spice roasted pepitas makes a super flavorful nut mix? bar? I don't know what to call these, but they are super tasty. I would use a ltitle less cumin and chili because it was a bit too much. I really liked the sugar + salt + chile combination though. I might try this with some other nuts.

Lion's Head Cassarole and Potato and Cheese Pierogi

2010-06-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the photo- I couldn't quite figure out how to make it look appetizing.

I don't particularly care for meatballs, especially Italian meatballs (sorry!), so I was surprised when I liked a lion's head. It's slightly crispy (if you don't steam it) on the outside and so juicy and soft, not the hardpacked Italian version. I made the version that's all meat because I didn't have tofu, but the tofu one is way better. It's a lot softer. I don't know how to cook Asian food, unless it's fried rice. I really have no idea what the spices look like or what they're called or what flavors go with what so I'm really thankful for Taiwanese bloggers who post recipes like this because without them I'd be lost.

Pierogi is like a dumpling and I love dumplings, all shapes and forms. I've only had them from Traktir, a great Russian restaurant in West Hollywood, CA. I looovveeee their pierogi, but it's pretty expensive for the amount they give you and I can probably eat two platefuls so I thought it'd be a good idea to make them at home. I got the recipe here. Again, the addition of sour cream is unexpected and thankfully I couldn't taste it in the dough. I am going to need to work on making pierogi. My dumplings were not the silken, plump half moons at Traktir, mine were lumpy HUGE ovals- some of which blew up while boiling. I didn't make the sauce- I couldn't bring myself to use all that butter and sour cream.

Potato filling. I added a LOT of dill to this after the photo because it was bland.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a day and Kale Chips

2010-06-14T21:02:00.001-07:00

I've read about this no-knead/5 minutes a day bread for a long time and I decided that I finally had to do it. I love bread- my aunt had a bread machine and I remember when we visited her one summer we had fresh bread. It was my first time eating fresh bread and I remember how it tasted just completely different from sandwich bread, which was what I thought of when I thought of bread . My dad also made mantou one summer, a lot of mantous. It's a really easy steamed bread- my next purchase will have to be a steamer so I can make a green onion twisted mantou bread and taro mantou! Ah my favorite! There's nothing like fresh bread. This recipe is from the original source, trust. I'm still working on some quirks and variations I've found online (like no-knead pizza dough!).

My first few batches were strangely undercooked on the inside, but had a great crackley crust. This was so much better than my first attempt at making baguettes and I feel more confident about my bread baking abilities. I've made probably 2 dozen small boules using this recipe. I bake at a slight lower temperature and make really small loaves, just a bit bigger than a dinner roll- it's the only way to fully cook them. It might be my wonky oven though. I'm not sure if this is better than a regular bread recipe- I haven't made enough to really know, but it's nice to have a chunk of dough in the fridge ready to be made into delicious bread.

This next recipe is for kale chips, which was also extensively covered in the blogosphere. The only other time I've had kale is in Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. This dish is easy- just wash and dry the kale, rip off the leaves, toss in olive oil and salt and then bake. They come out light and crispy.... not quite potato chips, the texture is different. But if you're trying to wean yourself off chips and onto a healthier crunchy snack, then this is perfect for you.

Zucchini Cakes and Mushrom and Herb Polenta Triangles

2010-06-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

I had leftover zucchini from the chocolate cake in the previous post so I made some zucchini cakes. It's basically like making latkes, but with zucchini instead. The parmesan was overwhelming, so I will use less of it next time. This is a great way to use up extra zucchini.

I'm enamored by polenta. It's amazing how delicious corn meal and water can be. This time I made mushroom and herb polenta squares. So. Tasty. If you don't like mushrooms, try substituting sundried tomatoes or just using herbs. This is also a good way to use up extra polenta and to experiment with textures. I tried to get fancy with the plating, but it's just on top of arugula, my current favorite salad.

smoothing it out into a flat sheet to rest in the fridge.

By the way I used my dad's Nikon D70 for these photos.... on auto because I don't know how to use it. Can you tell the difference?

Chocolate Zucchini Cake & Curried Potato Chips

2010-06-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

This is a surprisingly good healthy(ish?) cake. There is shredded zucchini and I replaced the oil with unsweetened apple sauce- you really can't tell when you eat the cake. It's really moist and chocolatey, I even added walnuts to mine (still trying to use up all the nuts). I was really surprised I couldn't taste or feel the zucchini, I'm pretty skeptical of recipes like this that try to hide vegetables in desserts. The texture is a bit off compared to regular cake, this was softer, lighter.

soaking the potatoes to get rid of excess starch.

I saw a recipe for making potato chips in a microwave, but it looked too labor intensive. You can only make as many chips as fit in your microwave at at time. I saw this recipe for curried potato chips, which uses an oven. I made one batch with curry powder and one batch with cheddar bacon salt. The cheddar bacon salt turned out MUCH better- the curry chips tasted a tiny bit bitter towards the end. The author warns against this and I could probably avoid the problem by slicing the potatoes thinner. My kyocera mandolin is arriving in a week or two so I'll try making chips again with it.

Wrinkly Potatoes with a Cilantro Sauce and Sour Cream Dinner rolls

2010-06-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

I chose this recipe for wrinkly potatoes (papas arrugadas) because of the way it's made. You boil small potatoes in extremely salty water until all of the water evaporates. The potatoes have a thin crust of salt on them. The cilantro sauce (mojo verde) that goes with it is really good- I loooovvve cilantro. Next up is baking fish in a crust of salt!

Before

After

I had leftover sour cream from some odd recipe a while back and found this recipe for sour cream dinner rolls in an attempt to be less wasteful. These were a lot softer than the other dinner rolls I've made and there was absolutely no trace of sour cream taste.

Sugar-crusted popovers and Daifuku

2010-05-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

Sugar-crusted popovers, aka donuts you don't have to deep fry AND you can use your muffin pan! This recipe comes from David Lebovitz, again. Every recipe of his that I've tried has been amazing.

Right out of the oven, they're sort of bland (already deflating) popovers. Soft and fluffy, but otherwise not very flavorful. Brush them with a bit of butter and roll them in cinnamon and sugar and they are ready to be devoured. They were still good the next day- the butter kept them crisp.

Daifuku: otherwise known as filled mochi. I didn't realize that average home bakers could make daifuku! I always thought the process was complicated and involved top secret home equipment. I had fresh mochi when I went to Japan in spring and it was so good. This doesn't taste quite like the one I had in Japan- theirs was more sticky, pliable and liquid. Jenny showed me this recipe and it turn out you only need FIVE ingredients. And a microwave. Seriously, you can make this!

Blast the mochiko and water in the microwave and then roll it out- you will need a lot of corn starch! And you have to work quickly before the mochi gets cold and hard, but carefully since you just microwaved it for several minutes.

Trying to combine the strawberries and red bean paste (anko). Turns out they do not like to stick to each other.

Testing one out- so good! I made this lumpy, delicious blob!

For the second batch, we added some food coloring.

Look how pretty they are! These are Jenny's, mine did not turn out this pretty/smooth/rotund.

Sausage ragu and polenta and whole wheat pizza

2010-05-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

This was my first time eating and making polenta and ragu. I wasn't too excited about polenta when I started making it- it looks like sand in water for the first few minutes. Then it plumped up into a creamy mass, sort of how I imagine aligot to look like in person. I loooveeee polenta now and it's so easy to make and really really cheap! I have the standard corn meal from Ralphs and it tastes great. I use chicken stock and some milk to have some extra flavor. I also made some polenta triangles with leftover polenta (a later post...). By the way rouxbe.com is a great site for beginning cooks who really don't know how to cook or chop. Their videos are really helpful and even if you don't get the paid subscription you can still access a good part of their website.

Whole wheat pizza! Surprisingly still pretty tasty, but definitely only for a Neapolitan style pizza. The dough was pretty good, but not great. Once it's baked to a crisp, it doesn't really matter if you use whole wheat or all purpose flour (to me at least), but if you want to have some chew to your crust I would skip it. I made a standard cheese pizza and topped it with arugula, my new favorite salad staple.

Bolognese

2010-05-19T11:29:00.001-07:00

Again, only an iphone photo. This recipe is for a bolognese (meat) sauce. There are a lot of different ideas about what a "traditional" bolognese sauce is- even carbonara is heavily debated. Wikipedia says "The traditional recipe, registered in 1982 by the Bolognese delegation of Accademia Italiana della Cucina, confines the ingredients to beef, pancetta, onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, meat broth, white wine, and milk or cream." The recipe I used is fairly similar.

It's a very hearty, slightly greasy sauce that tastes better the longer it's cooked.

Tomato Soup and Butternut Squash soup

2010-05-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

It's cold and rainy again in Los Angeles and it's perfect soup season. First is a Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup from America's Test Kitchen- I really need to start subscribing instead of buying issues at Whole Foods. So much research and testing goes into each recipe! This one uses a bizarre method- you use white bread to make the soup "creamy." You can easily substitute a vegetable broth to make it vegetarian. I didn't even know I liked tomato soup because the previous ones I've had tasted like Campbell's tomato soup which is disgusting.

Unfortunately I don't have pictures because this is the week that I left my camera at my parents house and no one was around with a decent camera phone. ): Instead enjoy this picture of a pesto + tomato grilled (american) cheese. Just take my word that this soup is ammaazzzinnngggg.

I've typed the recipe up below:

Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup
Serves 6 to 8
Note: You can use an immersion blender to process the soup directly in the pot. For a smoother soup, pass the pureed mixture through a fine-mesh strainer before stirring in the chicken broth in step 2.

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 onion, chopped medium (about 1 cup)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
1 bay leaf
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 slices high-quality white sandwich bread, crusts removed, torn into 1-inch pieces
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons brandy (optional)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion, garlic, pepper flakes (if using), and bay leaf. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and their juice. Using a potato masher, mash until no pieces bigger than 2 inches remain (avoiding the bay leaf). Stir in the sugar and bread; bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bread starts to break down, about 5 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

2. Transfer half of the soup to a blender. Add 1 tablespoon more oil and process until the soup is smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining soup and remaining 1 table spoon of oil rinse out the Dutch oven and return the soup to the pot. Stir in the chicken broth and brandy (if using). Return the soup to a boil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the soup in individual bowls. Sprinkle each portion with pepper and chives and drizzle with additional oil.

The second soup recipe is for a Roasted Butternut Squash soup. This was my first time cooking a squash. I had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be really good- I would eat it plain after roasting it. It becomes really sweet and the edges are caramelized. I always thought squash were mushy and plain.

This has few ingredients so it's easy to make, just cook and blend. I added crispy slices of potatoes and some Tabasco for some extra heat!

Look how orange this is!

Wild mushroom lasagna and chicken enchiladas

2010-05-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is that delicious, heavy, rich wild mushroom lasagna I mentioned earlier. It's... amazing. It's also different from the other lasagna's I've made- no ricotta. This is more like making a gratin. Thankfully there is some tomato to balance out the whole milk, but you probably won't get past the first slice.

This recipe for chicken enchiladas is great- no sour cream sauce! It was easy to assemble and pretty fast to make (except for simmering the chicken...). My first time making enchiladas and it was a big success. I didn't have pickled jalapenos so I used fresh ones- I'm starting to get the hang of chilies.

Vegan Mexican Chocolate Cake

2010-05-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

Surprise, a healthy delicious chocolate cake! I skipped their glaze and made a ganache of heavy whipping cream and dark chocolate (2:1 ratio). Delicious. It's a very dense cake and it stayed relatively moist over the next 3-4 days.

This is the first time I've used cayenne pepper and I underestimated exactly how spicy it was going to be. Holy crap. Good thing I followed directions and used only the suggested amount. It was a very interesting cake, sweet and spicy.

Green Tea Ice Cream and Shortbread cookies

2010-05-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

My favorite ice cream is probably green tea ice cream, with taro a close second (not sure where to get taro powder in the US though...). This recipe is awesome- it tastes exactly like the ice cream you get in the stores, but you can make it for half the price! Just make sure you go to a Japanese supermarket to get the green tea and not somewhere like Whole Foods where it's $30 for a tiny container. Also this ice cream doesn't have any egg yolks in it so it's thankfully not as rich as the other ice creams I've made.

Another favorite of mine is Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies. These are so freaking good and buttery. But this recipe for a green tea shortbread beats it. The only cookie cutters I have are candy cane and stocking shaped so I used those. These cookies disappeared in a few days (good thing one batch makes a ton of cookies!).

Still using my trusty salt shaker as a rolling pin.

The underbelly full of nooks and crannies.

Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups

2010-04-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

This is yet another variation on lasagna. I really love pasta + tomato + cheese. I don't even like cheese, but I like it in pasta. I want to say this is healthier, but I have no idea. It has spinach and ricotta, but no heavy cream sauce so I guess it's a bit better than the wild mushroom lasagna I'll post later on.

Somehow they don't unroll themselves.

Oven baked Ziti and Mini Mushroom Potato Pies

2010-04-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

Just look at the buttery, flakey crust.

This recipe for mini savory pies is amazing. It comes from the Pie Truck (sadly no longer in existence) via a design blog. I've never tried the Pie Truck, but this recipe was ammmaaazzinnnngggg. The pastry dough is delicious and easy to make- I had to keep sticking mine in the fridge because it was hot that day and the butter was melting. I didn't have zucchini so I substituted potatoes- delicious! The pastry is buttery and flakey, the mushrooms and potatoes were creamy with a bit of tang from the sour cream. And dill! Who knew I liked dill??

My sad crimping.

The insides. Mmmm dill.

This was my first time making a true pie crust and also a pie. As in... I had no idea how to really pinch the seams so it looked good. And to make matters worse, it was hot in the kitchen so the dough was getting mushy as the butter melted. I just threw it in the oven and hoped it worked and it was magically delicious. TA-DA, butter fixes everything!

Not the most pleasant picture of cheesy pasta, but you get the idea.

I really love baked pastas with ricotta so an oven baked ziti was a no-brainer. This is a great make-ahead dish and it fit nicely in my 8x8 brownie pan. This will be a fun recipe to mess around with.