Photography Contest winners announced

Wow! When Cathay Photo, Colorvision and I launched this little photography contest, in celebration of colour — and by extension to highlight the importance of proper colour and monitor callibration when shooting digitally — we did not expect that it would be so popular. All of us were very happily overwhelmed. All in all, 149 contestants submitted 285 photos. The quality across the board was extremely high. All of the judges and I were really impressed. And we had a really tough time trying to decide which photos to pick as the top five.

But, because we promised to pick winners — after all, we do have prizes to give away — we’ve ranked our favourite pictures, scored them and have come up with the best of the best.

So, without further adieu, here they are:

Grand Prize: Vintage by Sng Kia Jit

Judge Andrew Loiterton loves this shot. He says, “The composition is unexpected but works well with the contrast to the grimy street. And that red really pops!” Kia Jit wins a ColorVision Spyder2Suite, an Olympus MJU 760 Digital Camera, a Wacom Intuos3 6” x 8” Tablet, and a $100 Cathay Photo Voucher. Congrats!

2nd Place: Fairground by Chua Kong Ping

Kong Ping wins the ColorVision Spyder2express, a Wacom Graphire4 6” x 8” Tablet, and a $100 Cathay Photo Voucher.

3rd Place (three winners): Finish Line by Benny Hartono, Shower of Blessing by Marlon Sutanu, and Rowboats, Nepal, 2005 by Jimmy Sng.

Each winner wins a ColorVision Spyder2express and a $50 Cathay Photo Voucher.

Congrats again to all winners and many thanks to all participants. (Note to the winners: Cathay Photo staff will be calling you shortly; you will be able to pick up your prizes from Friday, 20 July 2007.) Huge thanks also to our special judges: ColorVision’s own Mr Sam Ng, their in-house Technical Marketing Manager, superstar photographer Russel Wong, acclaimed and award-winning photographer Tay Kay Chin, ubercool photographer Andrew Loiterton and creative genius Chris Lee, the man behind Asylum.

Can you stand another blueberry recipe?

If not, look away, 'cause here it comes.....

But this one is well worth a look, I assure you.

Baked Blueberry-Pecan French Toast. Just one look at that title over at Epicurious and I knew I had to try it. And the 146 mostly positive reviews only served to support that decision.

One of the negative things mentioned by reviewers is that this dish came out soggy. Armed with that knowledge and the fact that I forgot to start this the night before, I cut the milk back to 2 cups instead of 3. I almost chickened out and didn't make it at all since I only had 3-4 hours to soak the bread instead of the 8 hour minimum stated, but I'm glad I threw caution to the wind because it came out just fine.

Baked Blueberry-Pecan French Toast

The original recipe called for toasting the pecans in the oven and then tossing with butter and salt. I didn't see the need to dirty two different dishes (one for toasting and one for tossing), so I just toasted them in a non-stick skillet on the stovetop, adding the butter and salt once the pecans became fragrant.

We enjoyed this baked French toast very much. The custard is very nice without being too rich - the whole milk is a nice compromise between skim milk, which does nothing for flavor or texture, and cream, which tends to be too rich and is quite high in fat. I do recommend using whole milk rather than skim - I'm not a big fan of making these kinds of dishes too low in fat (like using skim milk and egg beaters) - I'd rather have the real thing less often, but that's just my preference.

My only slight problem - the pecans got a little overly toasted while baking. You might be able to skip toasting them altogether, letting them toast as the dish bakes. Or alternately, you may want to cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil, partway through the baking time.

We served this with just a touch of real maple syrup, but the original recipe calls for making a blueberry-maple syrup, but most reviewers agreed that this French toast didn't really need any syrup at all.

Hiatus

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My dears.

My darlings.

My sweet juicy peaches.

Today I am packing up my foodstuffs and taking well deserved hiatus from this site.

Why?

Because I'm a busy girl!

Well, that and recently, some other bloggers made me realize that this sunny-happy site, isn't really worth the price I have been paying to have it up.

So I need to step away and regroup.

I will be back sometime, I'm sure, and I hope you will all tune in then. It may be a week, it may be longer...I just don't know.

In the mean time, please do check out the archives, and click on the links I have posted over there on the left. Good blogs all. Oh and check out my good friends on I Hate My 30's!


So until we meet again, I leave you all with kisses.

-Rachael



(Actually, that said, I will be posting very soon to thank Columbus Foodie for her Blogging By Mail goodies...which I am super excited about...)

Delicious White Bean Spread

Recently I was looking for a bean spread that I could use on sandwiches - something a little different than hummus, but something that, like hummus, could jazz up a vegetarian sandwich. I Googled "bean spread" and one of the first things to pop up was this recipe from AllRecipes. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to try it and didn't look at any other recipes.

White Bean Spread with Garlic and Rosemary

I have an interesting dilemma with this dish. I really, really like it, but I'm not sure what to do with it. It smelled fantastic cooking and it tasted as good as I imagined it would, but I'm not sure how to serve it. A spread like this is usually served with bread or crackers, but putting such a starchy spread on a piece of starch just didn't seem quite right - I felt like I needed something to cut the, um, starchiness. Crudite doesn't seem quite right either. Anyway, I ate it warmed on a bagel and enjoyed it, starch and all. At least I did figure that out - it's definitely better warm rather than cold, so I think that effectively rules it out as a sandwich spread.

In any case, this spread is VERY simple to put together - probably under 15 minutes total - and it really tastes wonderful. Now, to figure out how to eat it..........

Excellent Recipe: Chicken Tandoori

We love Indian foods and spices. I don't think any other ethnic cuisine really comes close to the rich, fantastic flavors that Indian spices bring to a dish. We have ordered Chicken Tandoori in several Indian restaurants, but we find that though the flavors are nice, the chicken is usually dried out and uninteresting.

I've always wondered about the unnatural color that I associate with chicken tandoori in most Indian restaurants. According to several sites, they achieve this color by using food coloring! How disappointing. You can get great color by using paprika, cayenne or I've even read about using beet juice or beetroot, but I'll be it isn't as bright red as what we're used to seeing in Indian restaurants in America - I'm betting most of them use food coloring.

Chicken Tandoori

Whenever I look for recipes for ethnic cuisine online, I worry about finding a traditional or authentic recipe. I'm always wondering - Is this how they would make it in India?

I'm beginning to realize that that's probably impossible to answer. Think about someone from different country trying to find an authentic American chili - they'd probably come away very, very confused. I think the only thing everyone can agree on is that chili should have chile peppers in some form (fresh or powder) and meat. Beyond that, you'll have Texans who insist beans and tomatoes are taboo and folks from Cincinnati are known for adding cinnamon and cocoa to their chili and serving it with spaghetti. Me, I like chili with both BEANS and TOMATOES.

I'm sure it's the same with marinara in Italy. Beyond maybe tomatoes, onion and garlic, what goes into a great marinara is extremely varied. I put sugar in mine and have been told that's an "abomination". For me, using peppers, celery or carrots is a huge no-no.

So, when you're hunting for authentic recipes, I think it's safe to say that there are any number of recipes out there, but usually most recipes have at least some common theme running through most of them. The common theme for Tandoori seemed to be yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, ginger and an assortment of spices. And there's also the tandoor oven, but that's not practical for the average home cook, so grilling or baking in the oven will have to suffice. It was hard to decide which recipe to try, but I went with a recipe from Emeril. And needless to say, no food coloring!

Authentic or not, we were very happy with this recipe - it was extremely flavorful and delicious. And nicely colored even without the food coloring. I used a little more heat in this dish than I usually do, but I think this dish really needs to have some kick and it was just spicy enough - the perfect amount of heat for us. I liked baking the thighs in the sauce - it really coated the chicken nicely and I'm sure that it helped make up for my not having marinated the chicken overnight, but I'm eager to try it on the grill sometime too. I did read a few recipes that recommend draining the yogurt in something like cheesecloth to get a thicker marinade - more like a paste - something I'd like to try next time we make this recipe. And there will definitely be a next time.

Grilling Out: Steaks

Still trying to make the most of summer, we grilled steaks this past Friday night. I went back to a recipe from the May issue of Cooking Light to a recipe for spicy steak served with a corn and red pepper relish . This issue had several recipes that paired something spicy with a cool dish for a nice contrast. My favorites on the grill are flank steak and strip steak. At Wegmans, however, the ribeyes were a bit cheaper than the strips steaks, so I decided to give these a try.

As you can see in the picture, the ribeyes were quite large! I did not want to cut the steak for the photo, but please be assured that steak was not serving just one person, but two! The rub was not overly spicy, so if you like a lot of heat, you'll probably want to up the cayenne. Even I, a relative heat wimp, thought it could just a little more heat, but not much - I don't like so much heat that the flavor of the food fails to come through. The rub is simple to make - my son tossed it together while I made the corn and red pepper relish.

Chile-Rubbed Steak with Corn and Red Pepper Relish

The corn and red pepper are roasted on the grill. The corn and pepper are first rubbed with a bit of olive oil before placing on the grill. I couldn't believe what a difference just a little bit of oil made when grilling the corn! I had grilled corn earlier this summer and did not grill it in the husks (a recommended method) or with oil and it sort of shriveled up and wasn't great. This time, however, it was perfect. I love it when we pick up a great tip from a recipe. The relish was simple and tasty with nice, fresh, summery flavors - I upped the lime juice and salt just a tad to help brighten the flavors just a little more.

So, not only was this a great dish, but we found out that we really like ribeye steaks and picked up a tip on grilling corn. Not bad!

Oh, and after dinner, we were treated to this spectacular sunset:

Stir-fried Potatoes

4 servings

Ingredients:
300 grams (0.66 lb) potatoes
5 grams (1/6 oz) bamboo shoots
25 grams (5/6 oz) minced lean pork
5 grams (1/6 oz) mushrooms
5 grams (1/6 oz) red chili
5 grams (1 tsp) soy bean paste
500 grams (1 cup) cooking oil (only 1/10 to be consumed)
1 gram (1/6 tsp) salt
1 gram (1/4 tsp) MSG
10 grams (1 1/2 tsp) soy sauce
3 grams (3/5 tsp) sugar
1/2 gram (1/60 oz) finely cut scallions
1/2 gram (1/60 oz) chopped ginger
1/2 gram (1/60 oz) chopped garlic
100 grams (1/5 cup) water

Preparation:
Remove the skin of the potatoes and cut into diamond-shaped chunks about 2 cm (0.8 inch) long. Finely cut the bamboo shoot, mushrooms and red chili.

Heat the oil in a wok until 110-135ºC (230-275ºF) and then put in the potato chunks. Deep-fry them until they are golden yellow. Take out and drain off the oil.

Put 25 g (1 2/3 tbsp) of oil in the wok, add minced pork, mushroom, bamboo shoots and red chili and stir-fry. Add water, potato chunks, soy bean paste, salt, MSG, soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, scallions, ginger, and garlic. Cook until the potatoes are well down. Use a strong fire to reduce the soup. Put on a plate and serve.

More Blueberries....

Blueberry Buckle. My SIL makes this all the time and everyone always devours it. A classic coffeecake - a buttery moist cake with a crumb topping - what's not to like? I decided to turn again to King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking. Not a low-fat or really healthy recipe, but at least it's made with whole grains.

Blueberry Buckle

The coffeecake turned out like a blueberry buckle should. It was moist and buttery. I was - GASP - out of granulated sugar, so I had to improvise a little - I used brown sugar in the topping (actually, I was surprised it called for granulated sugar here and I would always use brown sugar) and raw sugar in the cake - both seemed to work just fine. The only thing I would change in the future - I think the recipe could have actually used another 1/2 cup or so of blueberries.

Mmmmm...I have a delicious-tasting blueberry ice cream ripening in the freezer - more on that later. We've gone through more blueberries than I expected, so I'm hoping to head out to the farm again tomorrow and replenish our stock - it's supposed to be another beautiful day........

In Season: Blueberries!

One of the many things I love about summer is all of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are abundantly available this time of year. Especially berries and especially strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. We missed strawberry picking season around here because of vacation, but we came back just in time for blueberry season.

Last Friday was just gorgeous - sunny with just a few clouds, upper 70s, and a nice breeze - so the boys and I took advantage of the weather and went to pick blueberries. What luck too - with blueberry season peaking in July, blueberry picking can be quite miserable - hot, humid and buggy. We picked our blueberries at a local farm about 30 minutes away. It was a great place to pick - lots and lots of rows of blueberry bushes and all very well maintained.

The boys and I got to picking and in no time, we had just over 10 pounds of blueberries! The older one and I tend to get a little carried away - we get in the zone and could probably pick all day long. My younger son gets bored much faster which, in this case, was probably a good thing. Left to our own devices, my older son and I probably would have walked out with 30 pounds a piece!

Quite a bit of our haul went into the freezer for smoothies or baked goods later in the year. (The rest are in our fridge where I'm hoping they keep for at least a week or so - I love to have them sprinkled on cereal in the mornings.) Several sites recommend NOT washing the berries before you freeze them - washing first can toughen the skins. The last time I tried to freeze blueberries, I was not at all happy with their texture, so I decided to heed this advice. I spread them out in jelly roll pans, popped them in the freezer overnight and then placed them into freezer bags. However, I have read that there is no need to do this - apparently they will freeze quite nicely - without clumping together - if you just throw them straight in the bag. I definitely plan to try this next time - the easier the better! I've also read that if you buy them in the store, you can pop them container and all, straight into the freezer - hard to believe, but several folks over at the CLBB swear it works.

Blueberry Cobbler

Our first blueberry treat was a blueberry cobbler. I tend to prefer crisps, but decided to try a cobbler this time. I went to a trusted source, Cook's Illustrated, for the recipe. The recipe came out quite nicely, but we accidentally overdid it on the cinnamon. Usually this would not necessarily be a bad thing, but I think in this case, the extra cinnamon gave the cobbler an odd taste, so it's hard for me to fully evaluate this recipe. I did like the biscuit topping quite well - it did not get soggy and the cornmeal added an interesting flavor dimension.

I've also managed to make a Blueberry Buckle and a very quick and easy Blueberry Coulis - I'll be sharing those recipes later on this week. But that's not the end of the blueberry recipes! I've got plans to try a blueberry stuffed French toast and blueberry ice cream.

Hmmmm...blueberries are certainly very good for you, but I'm not sure about all the ways I'm choosing to make use of them! If, like me, you've found yourself with a bounty of blueberries, you might want to check out some of the great recipes folks are sharing over on the CLBB.

Cooking for a Crowd Meme.

Actually it's been a long time since I cooked.I am still not settled in my new job, new place.The first House I rented turned out to be quite a Disaster.Nosy Neighbour! Actually a Shrew.She even hears the sound of my flush and complained, 3rd day into the house.She don't like guests either.And she is very 100 happy.The last tenant left because she used to dial 100 too often.Calls up the police for every damn thing, and girls cannot visit my Pad.I can't stay in a such a place...I have decided to move into a new place, and I will move on 30th.I have stalled my shopping till then, and my kitchen is not yet fully Functional.So my dinners have been quite random!Leave alone time for Bachelor Cooking.This is the first time I ever Ignored Bachelor Cooking so long.And add to it the fact that I have moved to a new location.I still have lots to do to tweak my new blog.I have to reload all the photographs...So Till then, I thought I shall update here.A few more days and I shall be doing a lot of new postings.My parents are coming and many Manipuri goodies are on its way.We shall have many authentic Manipuri dishes too...In the Meanwhile, why not play a Meme?The Cooking for a Crowd MemeWhen was the last time you had cooked for a crowd?The rule of the meme.1) Write when was the last time you cooked for a Crowd. The exact date is not required.Just describe the adventure of cooking for so many people, what you cooked.How it turned out to be?2) Tag on the meme to 5 other Food Bloggers.Enjoy!Hey but when was it that I cooked for a crowd?I love having guests at my home and the more the merrier.And I can cook Alone, I don't mind as long as you don't come in my way!But you can peel the potatoes (But don't CUT! I have my own measurements)Peel the Onions, and the Garlic..Oh you may crush the Ginger and Garlic.Even the Spices..Oh I love fresh ground Spices and Freshly crushed Ginger-garlic for my Recipes, specially when I am cooking for guests..The one adventurous "cooking for a crowd" was when I was in Kolkata.I had asked some friends to come over.About 10 of them?And, I was late. From work!Just as I came back from shopping the fish and meat and started in the kitchen, people started rushing in.It was 9 already!But it was the most memorable dinner, the new year Bar-B-Qs not withstanding!I was suppose to be tired, but cooking has this magic.. It sure has, and can be a great destresser..I was sweating in the Kolkata Heat, and I cooked...My friend kept pouring the scotch... I like my drinks when I am doing big dinners.I cooked a Pork Dish, a Chicken Dish, Peas and Fish Roe (fish eggs) and a fish Curry, Like I always do.It usually is a nightmare for vegetarians, unless it is a vegeterian lunch!!Now that was a memorable Dinner. Somewhere in 2005....My friends still remember my dinners...And how pleased I get when people enjoy the same!I usually don't eat much after such cooking sessions..I Just watch!!May I tag-(Kalyn)-SaffronHut-Nandita-Mandira-Shaheen- RevathiAnd all my readers, you may consider yourself tagged if you have had adventures cooking for a crowd. I will follow up this Post with tips to cook for a crowd, or rather what I do to simplify cooking a lot of preoparations quickly.Of course I will link back to all the posts on Cooking for a Crowd.

Plowing through the blueberry stash in the freezer...

Another blueberry recipe today... my supply of wild blueberries in the freezer is dwindling down, but I still have quite a bit left. The freeze was sparse of muffins, so this morning I made a recipe for Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins I've been meaning to make for quite a long time.

I loved the texture of these muffins - it was kind of a cross between a regular muffin and a cupcake - they were light, notably moist and as you can see below, packed with a generous amount of tiny purple-hued juicy berries in each muffin. I think the flavor of lemons goes brilliantly well with blueberries, so we added fresh lemon zest to the batter, along with using a lemon flavored yogurt.

Besides lending flavor to these golden crusted muffins, the yogurt absolutely helped give them their soft and moist texture - feel free to substitute another flavor if you like, I bet vanilla or raspberry would be quite nice too. There is also a half cup of quick oats thrown into the dry ingredients - this added a bit of a chew to the muffins and gave them a little weight, without making them heavy, if that makes sense. If you have access to fresh blueberries, by all means use them if you like - I just prefer the wild as they are so small, it seems like you get more (besides the fact that I have a ton in the freezer anyway...)!

Recipes
Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Laksa fisherman’s pie, a post inspired by Adventures of an Italian Food Lover

Food author Faith Heller Willinger has had the great fortune of calling Florence home for the last thirty years. (If only we were all so fortunate!) In her latest release, Adventures of an Italian Food Lover, she has created a gorgeous hybrid food lover’s tome which is part cookbook, part travel guide and part old-school Facebook. She shares her love for Italy and the friends she’s met there (each anecdote is illustrated with a watercolour portrait painted by her sister); offers restaurant, accommodation, and all manner of other gastronomy-related recommendations (replete with addresses, phone numbers, website URLs and email addresses); then slips in a recipe or two from (or inspired by) each friend. Mind you, we’re talking about Arrigo Cipriani’s shrimp sandwiches, the Illy family’s shakerato espresso, and Alessio and Cecilia Tessieri’s (the brother and sister team behind Amadei) Tuscan chocolate sauce here. It’s wonderful getting to know the people behind the great restaurants, hotels, vineyards and brands we’ve already grown to respect. Faith’s elegant prose makes it a joy to read. And we are certainly grateful for her sharing her Rolodex with us. So, when Cathy over at A Blithe Palate and her co-host Ivonne invited us to participate in their blog event inspired by Adventures of an Italian Food Lover, we were happy to oblige

Participants (from what I understand) are given the option of writing about a recipe that has been inspired or given to them by someone or that they would like to share with someone special. I’ve chosen the former. Not too long ago, a chef-friend of mine and S’s made a dish that had me hooked from the first bite. Actually, I was pretty excited from the name alone, “laksa fisherman’s pie”. I love a good laksa lemak (meaning the Johor or Singaporean style of laksa which has been made with coconut milk). I’m also quite a big fan of a good fish pie. Put the two together and call me a happy camper.

S and I had the pleasure of working with Chef “IL” when we helped him design a menu for his new gastrobar. We were especially impressed that this charming, young self-trained chef was extremely versatile, able to cook some really yummy dishes from a variety of cuisines, from Malay to Mexican. We also liked how open he was to both new ideas and criticism. While we co-created several delish dishes, the laksa fisherman’s pie was purely IL’s idea. And it was amazing. It was also a pretty simple dish — not so much in terms of execution but in terms of conceptualization. Essentially, it’s puff pastry over a medley of seafood and other ingredients, served in a rich laksa broth.

Unfortunately, because of a couple on unforeseen events, IL’s not currently serving the laksa fisherman’s pie at the bar whose kitchens he’s running. Unable to get my new favourite pie whenever I want, I’ve been suffering from some pretty serious withdrawal symptoms.

In honour of IL, and because I really, really needed a laksa fisherman’s pie fix, S and I decided to try making our own version. My darling wife insisted that we make the laksa from scratch. She wanted to prove to me just how much better a home-made laksa was than the obviously mass-produced Katong laksas now sold all over the island (which I have to admit I am rather fond of). Neither of us had ever made our own laksa rempah from scratch before. After looking at over a half dozen recipes, we decided to adapt J’s, of Kuidaore fame. While time-consuming, it was highly rewarding. Not only was the process of making the rempah with an old-fashioned mortar and pestle really cool, the eventual laksa tasted better than any I’ve had in a really long time.

Laksa, like many local dishes, is very individual, i.e. everyone has their own personal preferences. When S and I made our rounds around Tekka Market, hunting down ingredients for our pie, we spoke with many of our favourite suppliers. When they asked us what we were buying supplies for and we told them we were attempting to make our own laksa, each one offered their own helpful hints and advice on what ingredients to use. It was interesting that while many of the offered recipes were similar, some had some rather unique additions and ingredients.

As mentioned, making a fisherman’s pie the way we did (using the below recipe) takes quite a bit a time. But it is worth it. This is a rich, hearty, and savory feast that anyone with a penchant for Southeast Asian flavours and seafood should enjoy. We plan on making this for many friends and of course serving it to IL someday soon. Hopefully, he’ll like our version as much as we love his.

Laksa Fisherman’s Pie
makes 8 pies

Prawn Stock
750g large tiger prawns
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1.5 liters water or stock

Rempah
20 shallots, peeled and minced
6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
10 dried red chillies, deseeded, soaked till soft, drained and minced
10 candlenuts, chopped
3 lemongrass stalks, tender inner stems only, minced
Fresh tumeric, 2 inch piece, peeled and minced
Galangal, 2 inch piece, peeled and minced
1/2 gingerflower, outer petals removed and finely minced
1 tablespoon belachan (shrimp paste)
2 tablespoons coriander seeds

Laksa sauce
6 tablespoons corn oil
4 tablespoons dried shrimp, soaked till soft and drained
800ml coconut milk, preferably fresh
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons gula melaka (palm sugar)

Pie filler
raw prawns, shelled and de-veined (left from making prawn stock)
400g cod, cut into bite-size pieces
8 scallops, halved or quartered
Large handful of beansprouts
2 fried fishcakes, sliced thickly
2 taupok (deep-fried tofu puffs) squares, sliced thickly
4 small eggs
Handful of finely shredded laksa leaves (daun kesom)

Appoximately 2 sheets pre-rolled store bought puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

For the prawn stock: Peel and de-vein the prawns. Set aside the peeled prawns. You’ll only use the shells and heads for the stock. Heat the oil over a medium flame in a large pot. Fry the prawn heads and shells until they turn orange. Add the water (we actually used chicken stock that had been used to braise pork belly) and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer gently for 1 hour. Strain the stock and set it aside.

For the rempah: Wrap the shrimp paste in a small square of aluminium foil and toast it over a small flame in a dry pan until aromatic. This should take 2-3 minutes. Unwrap and set aside. Toast the coriander seeds over a small flame in a dry pan until aromatic. This takes about 60 seconds. Grind the seeds into a fine powder. Using your mortar and pestle, start to make your paste. Incorporate the rempah ingredients, starting with the shallots and following the order that they are in above. Ensure that each ingredient is thoroughly assimilated before adding the next. The shrimp paste and coriander powder should be the last two ingredients added to the paste.

For the laksa sauce: Grind the softened dried shrimp to a fine powdery consistency (we found some lovely tiger prawn dried shrimp at Tekka Market). Set aside. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium flame. The oil should ripple slightly. The rempah needs to sizzle upon contact with the hot oil. Add the rempah and fry for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. The paste needs to darken considerably. Add the ground dried shrimp and stir for 1 minute. Add the prawn stock, coconut milk and salt. Crumble the palm sugar into the sauce. Bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered for a few minutes. Add more salt or sugar to taste. Turn off heat, cover, and set aside.

For the pie fillers: If you have the ingredients handy, top the peeled prawns with a few sprigs of fresh coriander, some young ginger juliennes and a splash of Chinese cooking wine (optional). Steam the prawns until they turn pink (just a few minutes).

Cook the cod in browned butter (beurre noisette) and sear the scallops in sesame oil. Blanch the beansprouts, fish cake and taupok in boiling water.

Hard-boil the eggs, peel them and quarter them.

To finish: It would’ve been nice to make our own puff pastry, but we didn’t have the luxury of time. Follow the instructions on the puff pastry packaging. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.

Fill each heat-proof bowl with equal portions of pie-filler and garnish with laksa leaf. Top with laksa sauce. Top each bowl with enough puff pastry to cover it completely and brush the top with some of the beaten egg. Insert the bowls into the oven and bake until the puff pastry is golden brown (approximately 20 minutes). Serve immediately.

Quick Thai chicken dinner...

Our former house back in Phoenix had very high ceilings and tile floors throughout much of it, so even though it was 110+ in the summer outside, the inside was still relatively comfortable. Having the AC on helped of course, but we didn't have to use it 24/7. The kitchen was very open to the rest of the house and was also fairly large... this meant I could use the oven whenever I needed and the house did not heat up because of it.

Well, things are not quite the same in this house! With it being so warm and muggy outside lately, every time I use the oven here it tends to feel like the furnace is on instead of the AC inside. So I've not been doing as much baking as I want to, but a front came through last night and broke the sticky humidity and allowed the temperature to fall into a more comfortable range. While I didn't actually bake a new recipe today, I did get another batch of our favorite Peanut Butter Granola recipe made. I also have plans to get some cookies baked tomorrow!

While we were at the farmer's market the other day, I spotted a beautiful head of freshly picked Bibb lettuce and snatched it up without knowing what I was going to end up doing with it. Since the leaves were so crisp, yet tender, we thought we could use them as the vessel for tonight's dinner rather than just tossing them into a salad.

The recipe we used with the lettuce, Thai Chicken Lettuce Cups, also called for an ample amount of ground chicken. I like to make my own in the food processor - this way I can control what goes in it, the final texture and it is way cheaper than buying it at the market. While I do use mostly breast meat, I like to throw in a bit of dark meat for a more juicy and flavorful end result. Once cooked, the chunky pieces of chicken are mixed with crisp water chestnuts, sweet red onions, green onions, fresh cilantro, lime juice, a dash of sugar and a few splashes of fish sauce. The lime in the dressing adds a brilliant tang to the mixture with the fish sauce coming back with a salty bite. The Bibb lettuce leaves are then used as little boats and stuffed with the chicken. Crunchy chopped peanuts are scattered on top of each serving with a bit of sliced serrano chilies for a spicy background. While they are fun to pick up and eat, they are also a little messy as they tend to drip a bit from excess dressing - if you wanted to keep clean, you could always just tear up the lettuce and layer the mixture in a bowl to serve.

Recipes
Thai Chicken Lettuce Cups

Stuffed Chiles

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My day started out so nice. And now that I have eaten, I am in a lovely mood once again.

But an hour ago? Ooh baby...I was steaming.

Here is the scoop...

Earlier in July, I went to get a car wash. A pretty standard event I think. Only trouble was, that a few days later I noticed the headlight windshield wiper thingy had broken off, and my guess was the car wash was to blame.

It was so sad, I got a bit pouty. It made my car look all lopsided. Like an eyebrow was missing.

Then today, I went to get it cleaned once again, since its been so dusty and whatall, not thinking another disaster would strike.

I was all clever too, and chose a "touchless" wash. So what do you think happened now? A part of my car FLEW off. I don't even really know how to explain my shock.

It was so bizarre! A huge strip of car came at the poor guys head at warp speed. Nearly severed his arm.

Terrifying!

I was so flustered, I hopped in the still wet car and went right to my dealership to beg their assistance in righting this wrong.

Why to the dealership you ask? Why not just to a regular mechanic? Why drive from one end of town to another just do have a wiper replaced?

Why? Because, I swear, the people who sell my brand of car have bullied every independent auto mechanic in the greater Los Angeles area into insisting that owners can ONLY get work done by that dealer. No one else in this town will touch my car. Its a conspiracy I tell ya! A conspiracy.

And when you get there? They are so suave. And kind. And helpful. (Except its all a facade.) Makes me - almost - feel bad I think they are criminals with an agenda...

Then they dropped the info I was hoping not to hear... it would be six hours before they could fix it. They offered me a ride home, and then a ride back when it was done.

I had no choice. I was at their mercy. The bandits.

After the total freak out over the pending cost of this debacle, I took them up on their offer and was ushered right on home. My head swimming, my blood sugar low. I thought I needed to lay down from the trauma, but on further reflection, I realized I just needed to eat.

Trapped a few miles from the nearest market, I made lunch with what was on hand.

Not bad really, not bad at all. Actually insanely tasty! And I got to use my favorite Mexican cheese, Cotija. The best.

A perfect, complete meal, ready in a snap.

Try it, and enjoy!



4 large poblano chiles (mild)
1 cup whitea rice, cooked in salted chicken broth
Vegetable oil
1/2 cup chorizo
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup black beans1 medium tomato, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced small
1 jalapeno chile, minced
2 T. tequila
1/4 cup cotija cheese, crumbled


Preheat your oven to 350F.

Slice a portion of the chile off, to create an opening you can stuff (see picture). Remove any ribs and seeds and lightly oil the exterior. Place each chile on a separate piece of aluminum foil that will be large enough to wrap around it.

Saute the chorizo, garlic, beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, chile and tequila rice together in a large pan over medium heat until the veg are soft. Drain if needed (Chorizo is quite fatty) and add the rice to heat through.

Carefully spoon the rice/chorizo into the peppers. Wrap tightly and place on a baking sheet or in an oven proof casserole. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, carefully unwrap, top with cheese and serve with salsa fresca.

Makes four servings.

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Native foods that are eaten around the world, but originated in the Americas include: Tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, chile peppers and corn, among many others. From Australia? Macadamia nuts.

"This donut has purple in the middle, purple is a fruit." - Homer J. Simpson

Fears of a supermarket strike this summer in Southern and Central California evaporated Tuesday when the region's largest grocery chains and the union representing 65,000 store employees reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract - LA Times.com

Carmelized Walnuts

Glazed walnuts are used as garnish or additon to many chinese dishes. But it may also serve as a great snack or elevenses. One way or another - here is recipe to prepare it:

Ingredients:
1 cup walnut halves
4 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp sugar

Preparation:
Toast walnut halves over medium heat in vegetable oil and sugar until caramelized.

The edges might get a little brown- but that's normal.

Variations:
Instead of sugar you may also use honey. Just mind to not sear it.
You can use brown sugar if you like.
Oil can be replaced with butter.
A little pinch of cinnamon is tasty addition to your elevenses.

Conehead

We recently received a reviewer’s copy of Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter written by Phoebe Damrosch. Phoebe was part of Per Se’s opening team and her charming memoir offers an amusing peek at the goings-on behind the scenes of a high-profile restaurant opening. The sweet coming-of-age, romantic tale makes for engaging light reading and I zipped through most of the book on a couple of short-haul flights I had to take lately.

Early on in the book, the author talks about being interviewed for a position at Per Se and being grilled about Thomas Keller’s cookbook. Her interviewer offers her a little piece of advice. He tells her not waste time trying to make Keller’s famous cornets because they break easily, i.e. they’re ridiculously delicate. The salmon cornets appear as the very first recipe in The French Laundry Cookbook and are also the first things guests are served at both of Keller’s high-end establishments. Naturally, Damrosch promptly tries to make the cornets, despite not having the stencil, moulds and Silpats called for in the recipe. The results are disastrous but make for very good and humourous reading. (She does attempt the recipe again later, after acquiring the requisite tools, and manages to produce a couple of usable cones.)

Inspired by her hilarious tale, I attempted the recipe too. The fabulous thing about The French Laundry Cookbook is that while its recipes are ridiculously elaborate, if you have the time and patience to follow them, you do end up with pretty tasty dishes. I have to admit that while Phoebe deviated from the actual recipe (making do with whatever she had), I followed the instructions religiously (that’s just the way I am; CH calls me “anal” but I still love him). Despite this, I still managed to screw up the first batch because I baked them for too long before I rolled them. But with a little patience, I did eventually end up with exactly 24 usable cones. Our guests enjoyed them so much (CH made his trio of tuna tartares to go into them) that we decided to make them again. This time around, we opted to serve just one cone per person (because I don’t have a death-wish) and filled it with CH’s salmon tartare. Yum! This recipe isn’t for the faint-hearted, but the pleasure your guests are bound to get from tasting these bite-sized bits of fun more than makes up for it.

Service Included goes on sale in the United States on 25 September 2007.

Cornets
Adapted from a recipe from The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller
Makes approximately 24

¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened but still cool to the touch
2 large egg whites, cold
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

First, you’ll need to create a circular stencil. I cut a square of thick plastic from a folder and cut out a 4-inch circle (you throw the circle away). You will also need (ideally) two Silpats that fit into two baking sheets, and cornet moulds (I bought mine at Phoon Huat).

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit).

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt together. In a separate bowl, whisk the softened butter until it is completely smooth and mayonnaise-like in texture. Given the heat in Singapore and in my kitchen, I found it easiest to whisk the butter in my KitchenAid. Using a stiff spatula or spoon, beat the egg whites into the dry ingredients until completely incorporated and smooth. Whisk in the softened butter by thirds, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary and whisking until the batter is creamy and without any lumps. Transfer the batter into a smaller container (this will make it easier to work with).

I’ve found it useful to refrigerate the batter for 10 minutes before I use it (again, this may be due to the fact that I work in a really hot kitchen).

Place the stencil in one corner of the Silpat. Scoop some of the batter (I use a smidgen more than a level teaspoonful) and spread it in an even layer over the stencil. An offset spatula is useful for the spreading process. Run the spatula over the stencil to remove any excess batter. This takes practice and patience, but it isn’t rocket science. Lift the stencil and repeat the process (leave 1½ inches between the cornets). I find that I can only handle four circles at a time. You might wish to work with more. Sprinkle each cornet with a pinch of sesame seeds.

Place the Silpat on a heavy baking sheet and bake for 4-6 minutes or until the batter is set and you see it rippling from the heat. I stopped looking at the clock after awhile. You’ll learn to work out when it’s ready simply by looking at them. The cornets do ripple at the edges and you want them to have a crepe-like pliability when you take them out.

Remove the pan from the oven and flip the cornets with a spatula. Roll each cornet around a mould to create a cone. To do this, place the tip of the cone at the lower left edge of the cornet, roughly at 7 o’clock on a clock face. Fold the bottom of the cornet up and around the mould and carefully roll upwards. It should remain on the sheet pan as you roll. Repeat with the rest of the cornets. Roll each one as quickly as you can because the metal moulds conduct heat rapidly and you’ll burn your fingers. Arrange the rolled cornets seam side down on the sheet pan.

Return the cornets, still wrapped around the moulds, to the oven and bake for another 3 to 4 minutes to set the seams and colour the cornets a golden brown. Remove the cornets from the oven and allow them to cool slightly. Remove the cornets from the moulds and cool on paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Be sure to let the Silpat and baking sheet cool before using them again.

The cornets can be stored for up to two days in an airtight container.

Veggie-stuffed calzones with two cheeses...

After grilling a couple whole ears of that fantastic fresh corn for lunch, we still had a couple left over. I actually had some Corn and Broccoli Calzones on the menu for Friday this week, but I was planning on just using some kernels we had in the freezer. I bumped the recipe up a day so we could take full advantage of the corn's sweet flavor.

If you are short on time, you could always buy a prepared pizza dough, but our favorite recipe for a Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough is so quick to throw together in a food processor and always turns out a great crust. The original calzone recipes says it makes 6 servings, but I divided the dough into 4 portions so they would be a little more substantial and filling. Once the dough has been rolled out into circles, one half of each piece is stuffed with a mixture of broccoli, corn kernels, mozzarella cheese, creamy ricotta, green onions and chopped fresh basil. The unfilled half is then folded over and the edges are sealed tightly together with a fork to ensure no leakage - however, each piece does get a few vents on top from a sharp knife so they do not blow up. For an extra golden and crisp crust, a light smear of oil is brushed over the calzones before they go into the fiery hot oven. Since there is no actual sauce inside of these veggie-stuffed calzones, you could always heat up your favorite marinara sauce for dipping, but we both agreed it didn't need anything else as we quickly cleaned our plates.

Recipes
Corn and Broccoli Calzones

Sesame + Soy and Food & Culture at the National Museum

Over the past few months, my darling wife S, who is also my business partner, and I have been working on a few rather exciting projects.

One of them is the creation and development of a new Modern Asian restaurant for a boutique hotel in Penang, Malaysia. We had the good fortune of being introduced to the directors of the new, rather swish G Hotel late last year. They asked us to help them come up with a fun F&B concept for a two room space on the hotel’s first floor. Because the two rooms were both quite large and connected by a long corridor, we proposed an interconnected two-restaurants-in-one idea. Once that was approved, and with the help of some friends, we then set about to actually open the restaurant. The restaurant is called Sesame + Soy. Soy, which is in the first room, is a pan-Asian bistro that serves casual but delicious comfort food. Some of the dishes on the menu are gado gado of green beans, lady’s fingers, and tempeh; green pea soup + vegetable tempura; slow cooked pork belly + spicy dried shrimp rice; barbecued coffee cocoa pork ribs + garlic fried rice; pan roasted red snapper and papaya salsa + herbed potatoes; and crispy pork spaghetti aglio olio. The desserts, which we call “Happy Endings”, include gula melaka crème brulee + coconut ice cream, and warm chocolate and nutella tart + banana fritters and vanilla ice cream. Soy soft-opened this past Monday and if any of you are already in or are going to be in Penang, please drop by. The prices are very reasonable; the space is pretty cool; and the food is good. Sesame, which is in the second room, will only open in August. It will be a slightly more high-end Modern Chinese restaurant offering tasting menus, plus a small menu of a la carte options.

A really fun project that S has been spearheading is the development of a new series of public programmes for the National Museum of Singapore. In an effort to reach out to new audiences as well as to reposition the museum as a cool place to hang out in, the National Museum has launched some interesting new initiatives. One of these is called Life & Living. The Food & Culture series of programmes that we have helped developed comes under this line-up of innovative lifestyle programmes and workshops.

There are 10 programmes in the inaugural Food & Culture series line-up, which launches next month (July 2007). Our goal was to create fun, interactive, educational but exciting programmes that appeal to as wide an audience base as possible. Of course, everyone has different tastes, so some programmes have been specifically developed with specific audiences in mind. But as a whole, we feel that the line-up is pretty diverse. And very appealing. I only hope you will agree with us.

Here’s a list of the programmes and the dates on which they are being held:

The mortar and pestle in Southeast Asian cuisine (5 Jul, 630pm)
This 90 minute course brings you through the history of the mortar and pestle in regional cuisines and also demonstrates how to make a couple yummy and versatile pastes using one. Snacks using these pastes will also be served.

The art of the high tea (29 Jul; 29 Sep; 3pm for both sessions)
Join us for a fun afternoon of food and drink. We will be serving a delectable spread of traditional English tea-time treats along with a selection of teas. A tea and etiquette expert will guide you through the art of tasting and appreciating tea, as well as discuss the history and culture of this indulgent, mid-afternoon meal.

Dinner and a movie night (5 Aug; 15 Dec; 5pm for both)
Pairing food with film marries two of Singaporeans’ biggest passions. Make a special night of it by catching a really cool, hunger-inducing food-centric flick at the National Museum’s Gallery Theatre before proceeding to indulge in a meal inspired by the dishes featured in the movie. The movies will be announced shortly.
Modern manners (23 Aug, 630pm)
This interactive talk focuses on the unfamiliar professional and social situations a young person is likely to encounter early in his or her career. By the end of this course, acquire the confidence to handle any social situation, whether it’s being stuck talking with your new boss’ wife at a dinner party, writing a resignation letter or even knowing how to dress for your first real job interviews.

Know your chocolate (15 Sep, 3pm)
Can you tell the difference between a good chocolate bar and a great one? Does having a higher percentage of cocoa in a chocolate bar necessarily translate into a superior taste experience? Is single estate chocolate merely a marketing ploy? Our chocolate expert traces the origins of our favourite deep, dark indulgences and teaches you how to tell the differences between different kinds of chocolates. As part of this sinfully rich course, of course, participants will be treated to a chocolate tasting.

Beyond the Singapore Sling: creating cocktails with local herbs and spices (11 Oct, 630pm)
Fancy yourself a bit of an amateur bartender? Tap on the experiences of an expert and learn how to personalise your homemade cocktails with local herbs and spices. We will introduce key local herbs and spices, and show you how you can incorporate some of them into creative cocktails.

Discovering local herbs and spices: a mortar and pestle master class (18 Oct, 630pm)
At this mortar and pestle master class, we will introduce herbs and spices that form the basic building blocks of innumerable Singaporean dishes, providing useful tips along the way on identifying and selecting fresh, high quality specimens and storing them. Then we will demonstrate how two versatile local spice/herb pastes are prepared using the mortar and pestle.

Classic cocktails (15 Nov, 630pm)
Do you know what goes into a Gimlet, a Gibson and a Sidecar? How about a Rusty Nail or a Harvey Wallbanger? Learn the histories of some of the world’s most famous cocktails. And of course, taste them.

Instant wine expert (29 Nov, 630pm)
This short course, led by a wine expert, will walk you through everything you need to know to appreciate and order wine confidently in any situation. As part of the course, you will get to taste several different kinds of wines from a variety of price ranges.

All wrapped up: Southeast Asian techniques of wrapping food with leaves (6 Dec, 630pm)
Southeast Asians have developed sophisticated techniques utilising leaves to wrap a host of traditional dishes. Learn how different leaves impart flavours and aromas to food and get tips on how specific leaves are prepared before they are used. Our instructor will talk about the history of this culinary technique, demonstrate classic wrapping techniques and show you how to prepare two leaf encased dishes.

The very first class, “the mortar and pestle in Southeast Asian cuisine”, which is being taught by super-foodie, cookbook author, photographer and newspaper columnist Christopher Tan, is next week. If interested, please click over to the National Museum’s website, click on the “What’s On” section, and register as soon as possible. Please note that there is a small fee for all of the above programmes (but we think it’s worth it). We hope to see you there.

Have a special occasion coming up? Check out this fantastic bundt cake!

Okay... so next time I better be more specific when I talk about needing rain! Last night we had a wicked storm come through right as we sat down for dinner and when we went to take our first bite, the lights went out and stayed off until 4:30 this morning! We ended up with a few branches down, but nothing too serious - there was a reported tornado a couple counties away though! Our storm was more wind than rain, but at least the grass got wet!

I was a little worried that the power was not going to come back and we would have not been able to bake this Marble Bundt Cake for the weekly Wednesday Treat Day, but thankfully we were good to go!

This fairly basic cake gets a couple upgrades to pack the most flavor - the first comes from using a few generous spoonfuls of sour cream to give the cake an extremely moist and tender crumb. To push the cake out of the plain category, a portion of the batter is mixed with melted bittersweet chocolate to turn it a contrasting dark brown color - it is then mixed with a handful of white chocolate chips. The off-white batter is given some color with chunks of bittersweet chocolate - the two batters are then alternately placed in the bundt pan to give a stunning marble effect once cut. This very tall cake gets a rich golden crust on the outside once is it unveiled from the baking pan.

It has a very tantalizing chocolate and vanilla type flavor that is heightened by the studded spots of white and bittersweet pieces inside. I thought about taking it over the top with a glaze, but when I took a nibble from an inconspicuous spot, I decided it would probably be a bit too much and would mask the already delicious taste it had.

Maybe a simple dusting of confectioners' sugar would do if you felt it would be too naked to serve alone. Bundt cakes are usually a little stress-causing... you just never know if the cake will pop out in one piece like it is supposed to or if it sadly comes out in chunky pieces. Luckily I've only had that happen once ages ago, but I still worry when it is time to flip the cake out!

Since we actually had this Broccoli Mac and Cheese Gratin last night, we'll be a day or so behind on dinner recipes this week.

While your basic everyday mac and cheese can certainly be comforting and tasty, it can also become a little boring if you make it the same way every time. To add some zip to tonight's dinner, fresh green broccoli with shredded fontina and Asiago cheeses brought a breath of fresh air into this creamy baked pasta dish.

To simplify the whole process and make for less dishes, we only used one pot and one baking dish for the recipe. Once a healthy dose of shell-shaped pasta and broccoli are cooked, a touch of olive oil and garlic are quickly heated to take the raw edge off. Since this is actually used at the end, it is scooped out and set aside. Next, onions are cooked in a bit more oil in the same pan - a combination of milk and flour are then added and brought to a boil to thicken the mixture. The sauce is then seasoned with fresh black pepper, salt, a touch of ground red pepper and a dash of fresh grated nutmeg for that little something special in the background. To add to the luscious and creamy texture, shredded fontina and Asiago cheeses are finally stirred in to melt into the sauce. The broccoli and shells go for a dip in the cheese sauce and are then placed in a large baking dish. Adding a little pizazz to an ordinary breadcrumb topping, crunchy panko breadcrumbs are whizzed in a food processor with the garlic and oil first to evenly incorporate the mixture. It is then scattered over the pasta and the dish is baked until the sauce is bubbly and the panko turns a splendid golden brown. You can serve it as soon as it comes out, however if you leave it be for 10 minutes, it can easily be cut into neat rectangles to portion out.

Recipes
Marble Bundt Cake
Broccoli Mac and Cheese Gratin

Being flexable with dinner plans allowed for a satisfying reward...

On the way home from doing some errands yesterday afternoon, I drove past a local farm that had a couple kids sitting behind a small card table practically overflowing with ears of freshly picked white sweet corn. I quickly did a u-turn and got in line to grab a few ears for us - while I had another recipe planned for dinner last night, once I got my hands on the corn, I made a bee-line for my ever-growing recipe piles as I had just the recipe in mind.

The rest of the ingredients for this Fresh Corn Risotto used pantry staples for us, so I didn't even need to make a run to the market after changing plans. Simple fresh ingredients are the key that move this risotto into must make again category.

Made in typical risotto fashion, short-grain arborio rice is stirred and stirred with scoops of warm chicken stock to leach the rice's natural starchy quality out, resulting in an ultra-creamy dish. A little more than halfway through the cooking time, a couple ears worth of the fresh white corn kernels are stirred into the bubbling rice to gently cook until the rice achieves that toothsome al dente texture. A heaping mound of fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and a couple nobs of butter are the finishing touch, adding a mouthwatering salty richness along with pushing the creaminess of the dish one step further. Jeff, with a scowling look on his face, wanted to make sure I plugged his only comment - "Do not ever lose this recipe!".

Recipes
Fresh Corn Risotto

Wao Bao Chicago - Hot Asian Buns

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You know what I LOVE?

Hot Asian Buns.

Oh yea.

And here is how I got my hands on some...

I was in Chicago for, like, I dunno, 26 hours last week and my only requirement (other than celebrating the occasion that brought me there.) was a stop at Wow Bao.

Sure, sure there is amazing, sublime, fantastically local food in Chi-Town, but when a girl is in a hurry and a sit down meal isn't on the agenda, this is the way to go.

Bao. Steamed buns. Chewy, savory, delicious.

Available in the lobby of the Water Tower building. Limited menu (six to choose from including whole-wheat energy - pictured, classic pork, etc.), at the wallet friendly price of $1.29. All that and freshly made Pomegranate-GingerAle. Yum, yum and double yum.

And you may be asking, why does a girl who trys to support small businesses and lives in a town that has a huge and vibrant local Chinese-American population go to another city and eat a Fast-Food Westernized version of a classic that I can get pretty much anywhere here? My answer? Not really sure. I just loves it.

But you know what? Maybe it is because this place is the BEST.

There you go kids, yet another scintillating restaurant review courtesy of Fresh Approach. If you are in the area, stop in, and enjoy. Why not, right?

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What is bao? A classic, steamed yeast bun, filled with marinated pork, and soy and oyster sauce

Restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You owns and operates 31 establishments in the Chicago area, including award winning Tru

David Jung, founder of Los Angeles' Hong Kong Noodle Company, created the fortune cookie in 1916

Eggplant, Tomato & Basil Napoleon

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Hidee-ho campers!

Wow, is the weekend over already?

I don't know where the time went.

Me, I spend a huge portion of my weekend making shrimp and grits, and chili. Because you know, nothing says summertime like grits and chili...

Oh wait...maybe not. Or may be...

Nah, it doesn't. What says summertime is grilling.

And if you are one of my darling friends who eshews meat in favor of member of the vegetable kingdom...well, a bbq is a whole other animal (hardee har har) and one you should conquer indeed.

So for them, (and the veg lovers amongst us) this came to be.

All the things you want from a grilled-veg-platter, in one heaping, teetering, ooey-gooey stack.

Eggplant Napoleon stack indeed.


So simple, so elegant. SO delicious.


1 large eggplant, sliced 1/2 inch thick
Olive oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 large ball-o-mozzarella cheese
2 large beefsteak tomatoes, sliced thick
4 large mushroom caps, cleaned
1 bunch basil leaves


Pre-heat and oil your grill.


Toss the eggplant slices, mushrooms and tomatoes with the olive oil and vinegar. How much olive oil you ask? Enough to coat, not so much it becomes soggy. Season with salt and pepper.


Grill each component until cooked to your liking. The eggplant will take the longest. After the eggplant is mostly cooked, top with a slice of cheese, and close the grill to let the cheese melt, about 3 more minutes.


To compose, simply stack the components together. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy

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Basil is Greek for 'royal' or 'kingly'.

Napoleons are usually made in small shapes just large enough for an individual serving

There is a Williams-Sonoma outlet store near Las Vegas! Williams-Sonoma Marketplace, Fashion Outlets Las Vegas, I-15 at Exit 1 in Primm, Nevada

Both Craft and Osteria Mozza opened on Friday night.

Hmm... what is that I spy out the window?

Just 8 new recipes for us this week - as I was looking through the posts, our favorites this round were the KC-Style Potato Salad, Vegan Blueberry Buckle and the Chicken and Bacon Roll-Ups.

I was standing at the sink the other day and look who happened to be outside sunning themselves on our patio off the deck?

I think he was after the bacon I just got done cooking for those wraps on Friday! Jeff tried to feed the bunny a carrot, but it ran away - apparently he is working on a plan to name him (or her...) and is currently trying to lure it back with my precious blueberries and lettuce. He was going to try to bribe it with grass, but ours is currently very brown and crunchy... we so need a few days worth of rain around here!

Since I'm always on the hunt for homemade snacks, I set aside a recipe for some Chewy Granola Squares and got around to making them this afternoon. Dense, extremely chewy and just sweet enough, this snack was a snap to throw together and used ingredients I always keep around in the pantry. Loaded with rolled oats, the squares are enhanced by the addition of sweet dried apricots, crunchy toasted almonds and studded with just enough mini chips to add a hint of chocolate throughout. Binding these together is a mixture of rich brown sugar, pure maple syrup, canola oil, egg whites and a generous scoop of homemade almond butter. If you don't already have almond butter on hand, you could probably use peanut butter instead - the almond adds a different nutty note than you may find in your average granola bar.

You can kind of see a sparkle on top of the bars in the picture - before baking, a sprinkling of salt on top brings that salty/sweet element into play and worked to heighten the flavor of the bars. You can cut them into whatever shape you want, if you prefer a longer bar shape than a square, just do the majority of the cuts on the short side. I'm already planning the next batch - I'm thinking chopped white chocolate, cranberries and maybe pecans, walnuts or even some sunflower seeds!

Recipes
Chewy Granola Squares

Mayonnaise Walnut Shrimp

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 lb of large or medium shrimp, and peeled
1/2 cup walnuts
5 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 cups oil
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup egg whites
2 tbs honey
3 tbs mayonnaise
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 tbs condensed milk
1/2 cup oil

Preparation:
Clean walnuts, then boil in 5 cups of waterboil with sugar till dissolved. Heat 2 cups oil until almost boil then deep fry walnuts until brown, no longer golden. Put walnuts to cookie sheet, let cool.

Mix cornstarch and egg whites together to form a thick, sticky feel and mix well with Shrimp. Set aside. Mix honey, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and condensed milk in a bowl until smooth.

Heat oil until boiling, then deep fry the Shrimp until golden brown. Drain, then put in the honey mayonnaise mixture. Mix it all together, sprinkle with walnuts, and arrange on platter.

Pineapple Fried Rice

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Oh my GOSH! He did it to me again!

(Or maybe I did it to myself...whatever.)

So there I was in the market, in the middle of the day, cooing at the most angelic looking baby propped up in a cart smiling and looking adorable...a blond curls and pink cheeks...and as I turned away, the father turned back from the lettuce selection, smiled and said hi.

Him. Again.

My teenaged crush. (Meaning, the boy I had a crush on way back when.) Who throws me every time I see him. (This is a huge city, is it not? What the heck? I don't run into my family! I don't run into my friends. I don't run in to anyone! Except him. Freaky weirdness I tell ya.) He is just so...dreamy. (Which he probably isn't, by the way. I just can't shake that picture in my mind of him as a oh-so-cool 17 year old boy, just before he became some sort of It-Boy. Nowadays he is just an overly pretentious, aging hipster, but hey...that has its appeal to. I mean he was wearing sunglasses in the market for heavens sake. Worried one of the middle-aged moms might recognize him? Doubtful...)

And what did I do?

I stared. And my normally blank mind went that much blanker. And then I walked away. And I wandered around the market fondly recalling how cute his smile is and noting how his child really looks like its supermodel mother and I forgot the coconut milk, and because of that I had to have pineapple fried rice instead of coconut fried rice with the teriyaki chicken I made for dinner. Which was fine, but really not what I had planned. It's tasty though, and you should try it!



2 cups cooked white rice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
1/4 cup peas
3/4 cup diced pineapple
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

Heat the oil in a wok or a large saute pan over medium heat. When oil just begins to smoke, stir-fry the garlic, about 1 minute. Crumble rice into wok along with the bell pepper and peas and stir-fry until lightly browned, 8 minutes.

Make a well in the center of the rice and add the egg. Scramle and stir into the rest of the rice.

Remove the pan from heat and the pineapple, soy sauce and sesame oil, tossing to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Makes six servings

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According to Chinese food experts, fried rice is a specialty of Yangzhou. They do not attempt to put an exact date on the origin of this recipe. - Food Time Line.org

Sesame oil should be stored in the refrigerator

And now...a food haiku
Go to the Kitchen
Create a great tasting meal
Someone else clean up