My First Tagine

I am not sure what about my trip to Jamaica inspired me to make tagine! Perhaps it was the fairly mediocre food there (minus the beef carpaccio at Half Moon's Il Giardini) that inspired me to get into the kitchen and start trying out some new recipes!

I got this recipe from my friend, Mara, who travels to work with me everyday. She got it from a book she picked up in Morocco- "The Scent of Orange Blossoms" by Danielle Mammane & Kitty Morse.

Loved the buttery taste of the root veggies and the tender beef after they had been roasted so long! Even though it's time intensive, it's just the cook time that takes time- the prep time is extremely minimal.

Next time, I want to spice it up a bit and will add harissa, cinnamon, some honey, some saffron...who knows? You can throw anything in- a sweet potato- whatever...Make it with beef, lamb or chicken and it will be ready to serve to Darren Farber in no time.

Tagine of Beef with Carrots & Turnips (Serves 4)

3 Tbsp olive oil
1.5 lbs boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 3 inch sticks
1 lb small turnips, peeled and quartered
2 onions, quartered
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup water
2 tomatoes, peeled and seeded
10 sprigs cilantro, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 350. In an ovenproof pan (thank god for my Creuset Dutch oven!), heat oil over medium heat. Add meat and cook until brown 5-6 minutes, turn occasionally. Cover the meat with carrots, onions and turnips.

In a small bowl, combine s&p, ginger and turmeric with the water. Pour over the veggies. Seal tightly with aluminum foil and bake until meat is tender, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.

Sprinkle the tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic over the veggies. Continue to bake uncovered without disturbing the veggies until the tomatoes are cooked for 20-30 minutes.

Serve hot on some couscous to soak up all the delicious juices.

Freeze the rest for a night when you're too lazy to cook!

Stay tuned- I have big plans for Lebanese moussaka and Zingerman's mushroom and barley soup! I also just bought an ice cream maker (thanks little sister for my Williams-Sonoma gift card!) and am so excited to use it!

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II test shots

yeah guys, i got this lens yesterday and I'm happy. because its a fast aperture lens ( not as fast as 50L/50 f/1.4 USM ).
keke... i was cursing this lens like tomorrow because its a 5 group-aperture lens.
It produce a wondering pentagon-shaped bokeh. I don't like the point but the price is damn cheap. I got it for Rm300 with a canon uv filter( normal, non B+W or what ).

well, I'm happy with it at least.
Bigger poison will come sooner, hope myself can take the poison ( EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM )

heres the photo.
Canon EOS 1000D
EF 50mm f/1.8 II @ f/2.2

"Ming" light trail

This photo is dedicated to Ming yee, a friend who play SEA-Maple story.
photo taken by Canon EOS1000D with kit lens 18-55 IS.
Bulb mode shutter.

Birds of a Feather

Traditionally, our family gets together every Christmas Eve for our yuletide meal. Aunties, uncles, children, parents and grandparents all under one roof devouring the spoils of the Christmas season. Then some years ago, my cousins started a new tradition: the Cousins Christmas Dinner, which, unlike the repast that our older relatives create, is always a little more decadent.

There's always good wine, lots of red meat and some manner of foie gras. Last year we bought 120 oysters, which we had to shuck. We're never doing that again. A few years ago we had a massive cote de bouef, on top of a roasted pork belly and a giant pasta pie.

And this year was no different—except someone came up with the idea of a turducken, and the rest, as the saying goes, is family history.

Thanks to good foresight on the part of our youngest cousin G, we got a de-boned chicken and duck from a butcher. And having read and reread Jeffrey Steingarten's account of his search for the authentic turducken in his book It Must Have Been Something I Ate, I decided that it was imperative I make three different stuffings for maximum flavour.

So here it is, our account of our first turducken in pictures. It wasn't as much work as I had imagined it would be (thanks in large part to the already deboned chicken and duck), and the process was wonderfully hilarious and just the thing to put us in the Christmas spirit. Every time I looked at the turducken I just had to laugh, it was ridiculously massive and a miracle that it fit in my oven.



Debone turkey, backbone first.



Beware the spotted beast stalking the raw meat.



Remove all but the thigh bones and wings of the turkey.



Spread over a layer of shrimp and cornbread stuffing.



Place the de-boned duck on top.



Spread a layer of pork and chestnut stuffing on top.



Place the deboned chicken on top...



And then a layer of smoked oyster and bacon stuffing. We also threw in the turkey giblets for good measure.



We figured we'd tie the bird up before stitching it together. But I think I over-did the stuffing a little and the chicken tried to make its way out of the crowded cavity.



Close up the beast with Christmas-red cotton thread. My fingers were sore the next day from it!



Season with salt and pepper.



Place in the oven at 100 degrees C for the first 6 hours and then increasing by 10 degrees C every hour after that.



The bird is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 74 degrees C or 165 degrees F.



Keep basting as you cook. The bird oozed a whopping 15 cups of juices and fat as it cooked and I ladled the fat out every few hours so the bird wouldn't steam.



The result: gorgeous layers of wonderfully moist meat and cupfuls of juices swishing about in the pan. Even with 17 of us at dinner, we only managed to eat about a third of the turducken. What a feast!

Happy holidays!

Teriyaki Steak in a Haze

I haven't cooked in a while, so I decided to shake it up tonight. I must have been inspired by the the heavenly salty caramel gelato I had at Otto last night. Or maybe it was the olive oil gelato? So glad it's bathing suit time in a matter of days.

I found an old cue card with my handwriting on it; a recipe for teriyaki steak- I don't know where I copied the recipe from, it was definitely from one of my mom's cookbooks. I tend to raid her cookbooks everytime I'm home.

I'm writing to you from a hazy, smoky 700 square foot (it's probably 625 sq feet and they're lying to ROB me monthly), but it's worth it. I just picked up yesterday's NY Times to finish it (so much stress to finish the damn thing!) and Mark Bittman did a bit about "granite being optional for real chefs". I have no fan, hardly any storage space, no outdoor BBQ but I can make it work (and well I may add after tonight's success)! So, I write you this recipe from my very smoky beefy couch! Talia knows what I am talking about- her last kitchen was a science experiment.

I didn't take a picture cause the smoke was a bit excessive. All in the name of a great meal.

Teriyaki Filets
(2) 5 oz center cut filets (or whatever!)
Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp vinegar
3/4 tsp ginger
1 decent size garlic clove, minced

salt and pepper steaks. Marinate for 5-10 minutes. Grill on both sides on a grill pan.
Leave some sauce left over to pour on. I served with stir fried green beans and garlic.

Best Husband Ever Bakes Wife Nikon D700 Cake...With a Surprise

How wonderful and nice husband this is !

Flickr user fsumaria has herself a great husband. After all, only a great husband would bake a Nikon D700 cake for his wife's birthday then follow it up by giving her the real thing.








So I guess some woman photographer will jealous with fsumaria... just kidding, don't mind that. kekeke

Credits:
fsumaria flikr site
gizmodo blog

What the heck so big for a duck ?

I was too bored and try to visit whattheduck.net. When I going to "what the duck photo contest" heres come a funny photo(at least for me).



well, you can try to visit find via here to see more contest photo.

Have a nice day! :D

Strip - What The Duck [625]

Which one you are ?

A little suspension bridge

This little bridge located at Mt.Kinabalu Heritage Resort&Spa, just 7km away from Kinabalu Park.
I was using f/14 aperture and 8 seconds exposure timer to get the "stary" effects.
Hope you like it.

Mount Kinabalu

Nature

Standing alone

First day creating an account.

Hi ladies and gentlemen , just now I'm thinking of creating a blog that just to post up my noob photos and share with you guys. Hope to contribute more in future, I'll appreciate that you guys can take an effort visit this blog.

Creating of this blog was inspired by a man who invisibility pointing(can be count as insult)at me that I don't have a good gear yet "acting" professional to give people advice, even say that I'm always speaking but never post a good photo(regarding of one lens).

I admit that I'm new into photography, yes, I'm also a kid who with a very low income that can't even buy a good lens.But okay, purpose of this blog is just post up my photo and shares it, might wanna see my improvement over periods.
Also want prove to the man who pointing that i can't shot good pictures.

August 22, 2009
It's been a time that I'm into this hobby. All I can say I did improve myself, even some other people said too. I'm not a gear talker like before. My skills either improved a bit or never improved.
And lastly, I wanna thanks to the stingy man who criticize me a lot before.

Best Regards,
YongJk

Warm n’ Cozy Mushroom, Bean & Barley Soup

****please see an updated version of recipe below***

I recently started buying soup by the liter from a cafe on Queenmary road called Cafe Pelligrino. The chef makes the most incredible soups that you can purchase fresh or frozen. Im a big fan of her Bean & Barley and I was determined to replicate her recipe, well I’ve come close - its not an exact but its a great first shot! This recipe is an adaptation from Seriouseats.com blog which was originally adapted from Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking cookbook.


serves 10 to 12

Ingredients
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
3 large carrot, peeled
2 outer ribs celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 1/4 cups barley (1/2 pound)
1 1/2 cup dried baby lima beans
1 ounce dried mushrooms, coarsely crumbled
12 cups (or more) chicken soup
4 cups (or more) water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. In a larger pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat; sauté the onions until tender and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes.


2. Put the sliced carrot and chopped celery into the pot, Sauté vegetables 3 to 4 minutes more.


3. Add the barley, lima beans, dried mushrooms, broth, and water.


4. Bring to a boil, then partially cover the pot; reduce heat to low so the soup simmers gently.
 Cook at a slow, steady simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, until the lima beans and barley are tender. After about 45 minutes, add the salt and pepper.


5. At the end of cooking, add a little more water or chicken soup, as necessary, to bring the soup to a thickness you like. Then taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

Enjoy!
Chef Cara

***UPDATE*** I have made another batch of this soup and made a few modifications, the final results were top notch! Instead of using two yellow onions, I only used one and substituted the other onion for a leek. Instead of using croyden house to create my chicken stock, I used 4 cups of Campbells Chicken Broth and 8 cups of water. For the spices, I used 3 bay leafs which I put into the pot when I added the liquid and I spiced the soup with Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning, Ground Pepper, Salt and McCormicks Mixed Spices (not the same as Allspice). I also added a few baby potatoes!

Ratatouille (pronounced ra-ta-twee)

“What is Ratatouille?” is a very common question. 



Yes, it is a highly entertaining children's movie produced by Disney that features a rat as a chef. It is also, for the purpose of this Blog, a fantastic meal or side dish that is very healthy and easy to make! It’s a great alternative to soup when you need something warm and cozy on a cold day.

The recipe makes 8 to 10 serving and it can be made ahead and kept in the fridge for a week! 

You could be boring and freeze the leftovers OR you can think outside of the box and try using it on top of pasta, as a pizza topping and inside lasagna.

If you're trying to be skinny a.k.a carb cautious, try tossing it in with some spaghetti squash and crumbled Feta or use it as a sauce for a grilled fish like halibut.


3 cloves fresh Garlic

1 large Yellow Onion

1 Green Pepper 

1 Red Pepper 

1 Orange Pepper

1 Package of Mushrooms

2 Zucchinis
1 Eggplant

1 can of Tomato Paste with herbs and spices
1 can of Diced Tomatoes with herbs and spices

 1/2 tsp dry Basil
1 tsp Oregano

 2 Tbsp Balsamic Oil

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
 Salt & Pepper

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil



1. Cut Yellow Onion, Peppers, Mushrooms, Zucchinis into large chunky pieces. Peel the Eggplant with a potato peeler and cut it into large chunky pieces.



2. In a large soup pot, cover the bottom of the pot with the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and add the onions and the peppers and simmer with the lid on until the onions become transparent. Mince the garlic cloves and add to the pot.



3. Add the Mushrooms to the pot and sauté all of the vegetables on medium heat for 7-8 minutes with the lid on.



4. Add the Eggplant and Zucchini to the pot and sauté for 10 minutes.


5. Add the diced tomatoes and the tomato paste to the pot and let simmer for 30 minutes. While the pot is simmering, add brown sugar, balsamic oil, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning according to taste.



Assuming you have Garlic, Oregano, Basil, Balsamic oil, Brown Sugar, Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper in the house - you probably do if you are reading this blog since they are the basics - then the rest of the meal should cost you under $15.

Enjoy!


 Chef Cara

Deep Purple Smoothie

I've been making this smoothie for a couple of months. It's a quick, healthy snack made with ingredients that can stay in your fridge for a while...It's also the "recessionista" version of the $5 I used to blow at Jamba Juice...impressive, right?

All you need is a blender. Blend these ingredients together:

1/2 cup mixed frozen berries
1/2 cup orange juice (as you can imagine, I will recommend the orange juice of champions: Minute Maid or Simply Orange)
lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon)
1 Splenda or 1 tsp of sugar
2 ice cubes
1/4 cup plain fat free yogurt (today I used Fage greek yogurt cause I like their magazine ads!)

You can throw in some flax seed, change the fruit used...ENJOY!

Tofu Red Curry

There is no worse feeling that trying a recipe for the first time to find out it stinks! Wasted time, excitement, effort and ingredients! Everytime I find a recipe on cooksillustrated.com, I know it will be a hit! This one was no different- recipe calls for flank steak (3/4 lb), but I had tofu so I used that! Would work with chicken, steak or shrimp too!

Thanks to Talia for reminding me about the red curry in my fridge!

Red Curry Stir Fry

Serves 2

This meal was so flavorful! Another hit from cooksillustrated.com.

They called for flank steak, but I had tofu in the fridge. You can buy coconut milk and red curry paste in the Asian aisle of your grocery store- no special trip necessary!

1.5 tsp canola oil

1 package of firm tofu (or use flank steak, chicken, whatever!)

2 tsp red curry paste (use a bit less if you don't like the kick!)

3/4 cup light coconut milk (or regular coconut milk if you want a thicker sauce)

1 Tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp light brown sugar

1 small red pepper

1/4 lb snow peas

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

3 tsp fresh lime juice

Remove tofu from package and wrap in paper towels, put some weight on top of the tofu and leave there for 15-20 minutes to drain water out of tofu so it absorbs the curry better....

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add curry paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

Add tofu and cook until pieces separate and turn firm, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and peas and cook until peas are crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in basil and lime juice. Season with salt to taste. Served with brown rice or a flat noodle.

tangy edamame

I found a recipe to lemon edamame on a blog I really like called 101 cookbooks.

It's not Braude's Bites, the woman is out of San Francisco and has a zillion readers and is actually a photographer (needless to say her food looks more appealing than mine on the canon elph). She is always in the epicurean magazines.

I've made it twice already and Lee & I both love it. The salmon next to it was phenomenal as well...I will blog it next time, it's from Nigella Express, the cookbook I bought last week and had Nigella sign.

It is so easy and quick to make, you can make it last minute and the ingredients don't go bad in the fridge, this edamame is made with stuff you already have in your fridge. It tastes better the day after you make it and is a great protein filled snack for work.

Funny enough, this week, Harley Pasternak, a Canadian nutritionist & trainer who trains celebs in LA, was our guest speaker at a Coca-Cola women's conference. He was a great speaker and has a very sensible approach to eating well and exercising.

He did a cooking demo of healthy recipes like apple smoothies & whole wheat pizza & oatmeal frtittata that you can make quickly with 5 or less ingredients. This recipe is fabulous and is the same deal as the recipes he made: it is quick, uses easy ingredients and is super healthy. I edited a bit, she calls for shiso leaf that's only in asian grocery stores- who has time for that mid week?

Edamame with Lemon Vinaigrette
Serves 4
adapted from 101cookbooks.com

3 cups shelled edamame (about 12 ounces)
2 Meyer lemons or regular lemons
2 tablespoons fruity extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup (i left it out this time cause i can't find it and it tasted the same!)
Kosher salt & pepper

Buy a bag of frozen shelled edamame in the freezer section. Cook the edamame according to the package's instructions. Drain, place in a serving bowl, and let cool to room temperature.
Zest one lemon and set aside. Squeeze the juice from the lemon (about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon). In a blender, add the lemon juice and zest, the olive oil, vinegar, and maple syrup. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Blend well and gently mix the dressing with the edamame.

If you want, zest the other lemon and sprinkle the zest on top.
Enjoy! I gotta go, Barefoot Contessa is premiering now! Woohoo!

My first brisket

So I finally did it! I made my first roast! Something about it scared the hell out of me so I kept making a safe choice to make my meatballs. I chose a Barefoot recipe to conquer my fear because you can't go wrong.

Served it the night before Yom Kippur and it seemed to be received well (they could have been lying). The taste was great, but next time, I am going to cook lower and slower. I found that it didn't fall off the fork, so I am going to keep trying to perfect it! Today, I met Nigella Lawson at a New York Times Talk and asked her for her advice- she agreed with some dude on chowhound.com, lower and slower....300... So I will adapt the recipe below to reflect the advice I got!

Ina's Brisket with carrots & onions

Serves 10-12 people

*Note: I adapted for 8 people with a 5 lb brisket and reduced ingredients accordingly..

6 to 7 pounds beef brisket

1 tablespoon kosher salt (less than she recommends cause everyone said too salty in the reviews)

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon minced garlic (4 cloves)

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

8 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch chunks

6 yellow onions, peeled and sliced

6 fresh or dried bay leaves

1 (46-ounce) can tomato juice (I used low sodium V8)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (I am changing- 350 is too high!)

Place the brisket in a heavy roasting pan. In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano. Rub the mixture on the brisket. Pile the carrots, celery, onions, and bay leaves on the brisket and pour in enough tomato juice to come about 3/4 of the way up the meat and vegetables. Cover the top of the pan with 2 sheets of parchment paper, then with aluminum foil. (The tomato juice will react unpleasantly with the aluminum foil if they touch.)

Bake for 3 1/2 hours, or until the meat is tender. Remove the meat from the pan and keep it warm.

Place the pan on 2 burners and boil the vegetables and sauce over medium heat for another 30 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened.

When it was done, I refrigerated over night and then sliced against the grain and froze....Reheat at 300 for an hour.

I am no longer scared to make brisket! If anyone has any ideas, send them my way.

Mom's Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

This past week we were in Montreal for the holidays. My mom made a beautiful Asian themed dinner for our family friends for Rosh Hashanah! I wonder if Chinese folks make gefilte fish on their new year? Anyway, I digress..

She finished off the dinner with a FIRST TIME dessert that warranted applause.

It looked spectacular and was so amazing it made you second guess Rockaberry's!

Heaven: peanut butter mousse, graham crumble, chocolate topping with peanuts....

Generally, family rule is not to try a virgin dessert for company! She did and it ROCKED the house! She inspired me to make the Barefoot Contessa's brisket for Yom Kippur in NYC this week. I have never made brisket before and am hoping I can pull it off for company! Truth is my mom's meatballs are amazing, but I have become too dependent on them for Jewish holidays, I have to branch out and expand my beef horizons.

It came from a book called "Gatherings: Creative Kosher Cooking From Our Family to Yours" that she bought in the Maimonides gift shop where she volunteers.

For those that love to bake, trust me: do it.

Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

Serves: 16

Prep Time, 20 minutes plus

Freezes Well

Crust

2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs

1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp margarine, melted

Mousse

1 3/4 cups pareve whipping cream

2 cups creamy peanut butter

2 (8 oz) tubs tofutti cream cheese, softened

2 cups icing (confectioner's) sugar

2 Tbsp vanilla

Topping

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup parve whipping cream

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanuts, chopped, to garnish

Preheat oven to 350.

Crust: in a large bowl, combine all crust ingredients. Press into a 10 inch springform pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool. Set aside.

Mousse: Using an electric or hand held mixer, beat whipping cream until stiff. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, beat together peanut butter and tofutti cream cheese until smooth. Stir in icing (confectioner's) sugar and vanilla, mixing well. Gently fold in beaten whipping cream, a quarter at a time. Pour into baked crust. Refrigerate until set, approx 2 hrs.

Topping: In a medium sized sauce pan, combine sugar and whipping cream, Stir over medium hear until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove cake from fridge and spread topping evenly over filling. Garnish with peanuts.

Refrigerate until cold. Serve chilled. Watch guests as they ooh and awww!

Chickpea Salad with Ginger

The New York Times published this recipe in their "recipes for health" section in early September. It has a simple ingredient list, an easy cook process, it's quick and it stays in the fridge as a great snack.

Chickpea Salad with Ginger
4 Servings

1Tbsp ground cumin or cumin seeds
3 cups canned chickpeas (I used low sodium), rinsed and drained
2 red, orange or yellow peppers (cored, seeded and diced)
1 red onion, diced
1 inch pc ginger, peeled & minced (I got a trusty tube of ginger I have been using!)
1 Tbsp sugar, optional
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
s&p to taste
chopped fresh cilantro
*1 Tbsp of Olive oil to moisten it up a bit (A Sherri addition to moisten it up and make it more "restaurant" tasting

Toss all ingredients together except cilantro and refrigerate.
Taste and add salt, pepper and lemon juice if needed. Add cilantro when ready to serve.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Loaf A-peel

Canada’s official July 1rst moving day has come and gone, with the cardboard boxes, duct tape and the moving trucks finally in the clear, my apartment building has officially gotten that much cooler with the arrival of my new neighbors Eric Choueke and Naomi Rabinovitch.

Having been in the big apple the weekend that Eric and Naomi moved in, we bumped into each other only a few days later on the street. No standard small talk here, Eric told me straight up that he was already disappointed in me as his neighbor – he said that he expected more from me (picture me in shock) then he went on to list numerous varieties of baked goods that he was expecting to have received as a welcoming gift and that I clearly had not delivered. (now picture me laughing – The chutzpah! Although the little ballubusta in me wanted to plutz)

I told Eric not to worry and promised him that I would deliver, this dessert became top priority and knew right away that my Signature Chocolate Chip Banana Bread would be just the thing to mend this neighborship.


Ingredients:

2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
¼ tsp Salt
½ cup Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
¾ cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs Beaten
3-4 over ripe Bananas
½ -1 cup Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350

2. In large bowl combine Flour, Baking Soda.

3. In another bowl cream together the Butter, Sugar and Eggs. Stir in the mashed bananas to the Butter/Sugar/Egg mixture.

4. Combine both mixtures together and add the chocolate chips.


5. Pour the batter into two greased loaf pans and bake for 60-65 minutes. Stick toothpick in center until clean to see if the loafs are ready. Once the loafs are out of the oven, leave them to cool on the counter for 10 minutes.

The great thing about the recipe is that it makes two loafs – one can be kept in the freezer for any unexpected company. Since the gifting of the Chocolate Banana Bread, the Chouekes have given me a second chance at allowing me to be the best neighbor that I can be and they even invited my roommate and I over for a BBQ this past week. Turns out that I’m not the only ballubusta in the building, Naomi makes a mean guacamole and Eric is working on his BBQ skills (he was a bit distraught that he lost three out of six salami slices in the BBQ).

Canelés de Bordeaux

As with all things, there are pros and cons to owning just 10 canelé moulds. The cons: My recipe for canelés will fill about 16 moulds. And because these copper moulds need to be seasoned and frozen for at least 6 hours before baking, you’ll have to wait at least 7 hours between each batch. But that’s assuming you’re a bit of a canelé expert. For a canelé virgin such as I, the 10 moulds proved to be a godsend. It meant I could make mistakes with my first batch and then correct them with my second — and that was not intentional, I assure you. In my mind, my maiden batch of canelé would be beautifully burnished, crisp on the outside and custardy on the inside. I never imagined I would yield beeswax-flavoured pucks of deep, dark brown — okay, black — shelled… things.

As anyone who’s ever made a canelé will tell you, it’s not really hard work. It is simply an amalgamation of several elements which require time and patience. Once you’ve made that initial outlay of effort, your subsequent experiences will then be a cinch.

For starters, new canelé moulds need seasoning — not unlike how you would season a new cast iron grill pan by brushing it with oil and sealing it in with heat. Canelé moulds however, require an initial seasoning with vegetable oil, and then further seasonings with “white oil”, which is made from 1 ounce of beeswax and 1 cup of safflower oil.



First, you have to find a beeswax supplier, which in Singapore, is no mean feat. (Especially not if you don’t want to buy 2kg of it — which is the minimum amount the wholesalers will sell you). So I ordered my soap-bar-sized beeswax through the internet; and shipping from the US to Singapore cost more than the beeswax itself. Safflower oil is much easier — it is available from organic supermarkets.

Before each use, the moulds should be brushed with the white oil, inverted onto a rack set atop a foil-lined baking sheet and baked for a minute to allow the excess oil to run out. You remove the moulds, let them cool to room temperature and then freeze them before filling and baking. In this way, your caneles moulds will remain mercifully non-stick.

The batter is much easier, requiring only that you heat milk to 183 degrees fahrenheit, pulse butter, cake flour and salt in a food processor; add sugar and egg yolks, and finally the hot milk. The batter is then strained through a fine sieve before the addition of rum and vanilla. A day or two later, it is ready to be poured into those gorgeous copper moulds.

Paula Wolfort’s The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen contains the full recipe and everything you need to know about making canelés. I love that she writes each recipe and story with such lyricism and care.



As you can see from the picture above, by the time I was done with first try at canelés, only two emerged edible. In my initial excitement, I baked my first batch of white-oil-brushed canelé moulds crown-side down, which meant I was baking AND filling my moulds with white oil. We had wax flavoured canelés for petite fours at dinner that night.

I prepared four more moulds the next morning (the correct way, this time) and baked the canelés for almost 2 hours at 200 degrees C. They were almost good — the interiors were suitably custardy, but the shells just a bit charred. So this time, we had soot flavoured caneles with our post-prandial coffees.

Yet the next morning, I prepared two more moulds. And this time I baked them at 180 degrees C for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Magic — well, almost. There was the crunchy burnt sugar shell and the sweet luscious filling perfumed with vanilla and rum. But because I had filled them almost to the top, as the recipe implied — and likely because mine is a small oven — the bases of my canelés were slightly burnt.

So those bases were shorn off with a sharp knife and the new pretty canalés were placed on a plate after dinner. Again. No one seemed to mind — and by no one, I really mean my dear lab rat and loving partner C.

Next time, I reckon I’ll fill my moulds just three-quarters full so the batter doesn’t rise out of them, and hopefully, doesn’t burn. And thankfully, the next time around, the white oil is all mixed up and ready to use.

A Midsummer's Night Dream

This week has been all about new things. I taught my friend, Jay, how to cook for his new wife, Jennie, via email and cell phone. He went from Kraft Dinner (EW) and eggs to espresso and chili rubbed steaks and roasted asparagus in a few emails. This from someone who once said that my blog was useless! His calls were all day entertainment.

Q: "How do I buy asparagus"
A: "Umm, walk up to the asparagus sign, choose asparagus and pay for them"

Q: "Can I get ebola from the filet mignon?"
A: No, that's e. Coli

Q: "What do I do with the garlic?"
A: Open up the head, take out some cloves and peel them (I will show him how to smash like on Food TV at a later time!)

At the end, he e-mailed me telling me it was a total success and he was so proud. So proud that he is cooking again tonight!

Next, I got on a bike for the first time in years and ended up biking for 3 hours all over the West Side Highway with my friend, Todd.

Then, I decided to order gazpacho at 'WichCraft and loved it. Until last week, gazpacho was of no interest to me. I came right home & found Ina's recipe for her bestselling gazpacho from her days at Barefoot Contessa in East Hampton...I made it yesterday for the first time and it was chunky with a bit of a kick. It's perfect to take for lunch with a sandwich during the summer and looks beautiful for entertaining as well (bonus- you can make it day before and it looks great in martini and shot glasses).

Ina Garten's Gazpacho- The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
Serves 4 to 5

1 english (also called hothouse) cucumber, halved & seeded, but not peeled
2 red peppers, cored and seeded
4 plum tomatoes
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups tomato juice (the Contessa highly recommends Sacramento brand, I used Campbell's)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
few drops of Tabasco (I added!)

Roughly chop cucs, peppers, tomatoes and red onions into 1 inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it's coarsely chopped. Don't overprocess- it shouldn't be pureed.

After you process each vegetable, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, juice, vinegar, olive oil, s&p, Mix well and chill before serving. The longer it sits, the better it is. I also added 4-5 drops of Tabasco.

Salsify- a rare find!

A couple of months ago, I was ordering dinner at CraftBar & asked the waiter what roasted salsify was. It came with grilled scallops and I immediately thought it may be a chutney or salsa. That night, I discovered salsify for the first time.

Salsify is a root vegetable that is uncommon in the United States, but apparently very popular in Europe. As soon as I got home, I did some research and got on chowhound to see where I could get the stuff. Someone told me I could get it at the Union Square Farmers' Market, but I never really looked that hard. Turns out you can find it at the Paffenroth Gardens stand at the Greenmarket. I have had the dish at CraftBar a few times since and it turns out their chef is on a mission to get this vegetable out of obscurity.

Anyway, yesterday after a brutal workout (I have been on vacation for 2 weeks, which meant my running shoes were in my suitcase, but they didn't get used! Next time, I may pack a bit lighter!), I met Geneve at Chelsea Market. Considering we both love food so much, we found it quite surprising that we both don't spend more time there...After brunching at 202 and sampling some mint chip gelato and fatwich brownies, we stopped by the Lobster Place & The Fruit Exchange. Emeril is always in these places on his show (Food Network tapes upstairs), not that I am a fan.

We were looking around with amazement- such amazing variety (star fruit, rare chilis, all varieties of eggplants) and great prices when BANG! SALSIFY!! I introduced Geneve to salsify and she took out her trusty Canon Elph to take a pic for my blog....

Tonight, I roasted it with my favorite swordfish recipe (roasted with lime juice, olive oil, s&p at 425 and then take it out of oven and refresh with a bit of the same) and it was delicious.

Roasted Salsify

1. Wash & Peel & cut salsify (4 large stalks is perfect for 2!)

2. Place on baking sheet with olive oil, kosher salt & pepper at 350 degrees for an hour.

When it came out, I sprinkled some za'atar on it. Za'atar is a Middle Eastern spice that I picked up in Israel...it's delicious, they eat it on pita.

You could easily include carrots, beets and/or parsnips as well!

Thank you Manhattan Fruit Exchange.

I heArt-ichoke

In prepping my lunch in the cafeteria I often get a few “ohhh’s” and “ahhh’s” from my co-workers admiring my special of the day. In an effort to be healthy, I find its important to re-invent the wheel so that when 12’oclock strikes that you’re excited about your dejeuner.

As an alternative to the salad bar, I’ve added a steamed artichoke to my repertoire of lunches. The nutritional information is in: one large artichoke is fat free, contains only 25 calories, 170 milligrams of potassium, and is a good source of vitamin C, folate, magnesium and dietary fiber. In keeping the artichoke healthy, it’s important that the accompanied dipping sauce is as well.

Its not the traditional lunch and according to my co-workers it seems very high maintenance – I’m here to prove them wrong! Given that it’s not as easy as a microwaveable frozen lean cuisine, both the preparation of the artichoke and the dipping sauce are fairly simple.

Ingredients:

1 Large Artichoke
1 Lemon

When buying your artichoke from the grocery store the tighter and more compact the artichoke, the fresher it is. Prep Time: Fill up a sauce pan with water and half a lemon and let the water come to a boil. Trim the stem of the artichoke and add it whole to the boiling water with the lid on, leave it in the water for 40 minutes. Once the 40 minutes have passed, discard the water and you artichoke is ready.For the finishing touch – the low fat Ginger Dipping sauce only requires three ingredients to be combined!

Ingredients For Sauce:

1. 5 tbsp Low Fat Mayonaise

1 tsp of Fresh Ginger or 1 Cube of Frozen Ginger
1-2 tsp of Tamari Sauce (similar to Soya Sauce)

Artichokes are intimidating and for those of you who haven’t yet encountered an artichoke, how one eats an artichoke is not obvious from its appearance so here is a helpful diagram (instructions & pictures courtesy of http://www.elise.com/):

1. Pull off outer petals, one at a time, starting from the base. Dip white fleshy end in the sauce.

2. Tightly grip the other end of the petal. Place in mouth, dip side down, and pull through teeth to remove soft, pulpy, delicious portion of the petal. Discard remaining petal.

3. Continue until all of the petals are removed.

4. With a knife or spoon, scrape out and discard the inedible fuzzy and prickly parts (called the "choke") covering the artichoke heart. The remaining bottom of the artichoke is the heart. Cut into pieces and dip into sauce to eat.

Sherri and Lee are traveling to Israel and Greece this week, which coincides very well with this post since artichokes are very popular dishes in both of these countries! Looking forward to SB’s next blog, hopefully it will be on her new international culinary discoveries….

Cara