Pinkalicious

Back in March, my friend Erica asked me to help make some Pinkalicious sugar cookies for her daughter, Reese's birthday. Pinkalicious is a book about a girl who ate a bunch of pink dessert especially pink cupcakes and thus, turned pink. I never read the story before but it looked adorably pretty! I also never made frosted sugar cookies in my life, how hard can it be? I said yes and then experiment a bit.

Oh boy, it took me hours to make just six cookies. But I already said yes, and I never say no to a challenge (well depends on what), so I got off work and started baking!!

I bought a set of three Wilton cookie cutters that has a cupcake shaped one. I want the cookies to be thin but not so thin that it breaks easily.


Bake until the edge is golden brown, and let it cool completely. Then time to frost!!

Cookie icing can be made with powder sugar and egg whites or meringe powder. I decided to use meringe powder since these are for little kids. I don't want to risk using egg whites even though the risk is quite low.

The hardest part about decorating cookies is waiting. I cannot apply the next layer until the first layer is dry, otherwise the second color will fuse with the first.

Hours after hours, layers after layers, they're ready and done!! The icing color dry lighter.

I also made a crown for Reese. I hope she liked it.

Iced sugar cookies are hard work! Nevertheless, I'm really glad I had a chance to make it though, and definitely appreciate those who hand -make their own too.

Mussels in Spicy Broth

I love mussels and would always order it if the restaurant offers it. I bought some really nice sustainable clams and mussels from I Love Blue Sea back in September, and was super excited to try making this delicious shellfish myself.

I was also very nervous cooking them because I never cook mussels before. I did some research on how to clean them and found a really nice and super easy recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis. She also used clams and shrimps, which I did not include this time.

How I Clean Mussels:

1. The night or several hours before: In a bowl, place mussels with salt water (~1/4 cups salt to 2 cups water).

2. Then sprinkle generous amount of cornmeal on top of the mussels.
3. Cover in foil, and place in refrigerator.
4. The next day or several hours later: Pour the dirty water away (there should be lots of dirt and debris).
5. Pull the beard off the side of the mussels toward the hinge of the shell.
6. With a brush, clean the shell of mussels in running water.
7. Mussels are then ready to use!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1 cup dry white wine

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes

24 mussels (about 1 1/2 pounds total), debearded

1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Direction:

1. Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, bay leaf, and crushed red pepper. Saute until the garlic is tender, about 1 minute.

2. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer. Simmer until the tomatoes begin to break down and the flavors blend, about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the mussels. Cover and cook until mussels open, about 5 minutes longer.

Using a tongs, transfer the opened shellfish to serving bowls (discard any shellfish that do not open).

4.  Serve with the warm bread.

Bon Appetit!

I'm Back!

It's been quite a long while since I last updated. A lot of eating had happened between then and now. I have a bunch of food adventures that took places nearby as well as somewhere on my vacations that I have yet to share.

I'm back, and I'm ready to blog again! Stay tunes!!

Semi-Homemade: Chinese Style BBQ Chicken

Have you ever had Chinese BBQ pork aka Char Siu? It's sweet and savory, and if you get it from really good poultry shop, it will be super flavorful! If don't buy it from the right Chinese poultry shop though, it can be too fat or so lean that it's rough. Well tonight, I'd decided to make Chinese style BBQ chicken instead. I decided to use drumstick because it's so tender and so juicy...and well, it was also on sale!

I got this recipe from my mom. She used to make it with chicken wings whenever she knows she's short for time to make dinner. The recipe is super simple. The aroma that the BBQ sauce released was insanely good. I was salivating while waiting for it to bake.

Ingredients:
12 drumsticks
1 cup of Chinese BBQ sauce/ Char Siu Sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp warm water

Instruction:
1. Marinade the drumsticks a day or a few hours ahead by mixing the chicken with the Chinese BBQ sauce.
2. Cover and refridgerate until ready to bake.
3. Preheat oven to 375F.
4. Wrap a baking sheet with foil and place the drumsticks on it.

5. In a bowl with a brush, mix the honey and water together.
6. After baking the drumsticks for 40 minutes, pull it out and brush them with honey water mixture.

7. Bake for another 5 minutes until skin is crisp.

Plum

2214 BroadwayOakland, CA
(510) 444-7586

www.plumoakland.com/restaurant/

Came here for a party of 4 on a Friday night. It was dim, busy and noisy. The restaurant has a open kitchen, thus the night was filled with smell of grease.

My friends and I started with the charred carrot veloute, it was creamy and the taste was unique. The soup was very sweet though, totally not expecting it. We also had the plum charcuterie. It was assorted meat platter with really tasty meat and pickled carrots. I highly recommend the beet boudin noir. It was crispy and so, so flavorful!

Plum Charcuterie

For entree, I had the sturgeon in place of the halibut, and it was pretty good. It was cooked to a crispy outter and soft inner perfection, with a side of housemade buttermilk tartare-liked sauce. I had a bite of the pork belly, and it was pretty rough and salty, and was not tender at all.

Columbia River Sturgeon

For dessert, we had the fruit parfait and it was very unique and delicoius. Instead of it being like yogurt topped with fruits, it was presented like a sliced cake.

Parfait

The meal was pretty good overall. But service was a little terrible. Our waiter didn't really come and check on us, and didn't really fill our water. Another waitress had to fill it while he was busy chatting with other people. Also, it took forever to get our check and change.  I don't know if I'll go back.

Mardi Gras at Creola

Creola
344 El Camino Real
San Carlos, CA 94070
(650) 654-0882

www.creolabistro.com

 

My coworkers and I went to Creola for dinner one night, and it happened to be Mardi Gras! Upon entering, the restaurant hung a lot of the purple, green and gold decorations, and there was a live band playing in the back. After we got seated, the waitress brought out some beads for us.

 

We ordered a bunch of appetizers to share and then our own entree.

The shrimps in Shrimp Bourbon Street are huge! Very juicy but lacks a little flavor.

 

Shrimp Bourbon

The Crawfish Hush Puppies are very soft and the sauce is so good with it. I thought there are crawfish in the hush puppies but they're only in the sauce.

 

Crawfish Hush Puppies

The Oyster En Brochette is one of the best oysters I had. It was soft, flavorful and not mushy at all!

I ordered the Wasabi Crusted Ahi for my entree, and it was grilled perfectly. The wasabi crust was soft, mushy and spicy but does not have that nasal-clearing effect at all. The soy glace was so good! I couldn't stop dipping my tuna into it. The portion was huge! I never seen such a big piece of ahi tuna served before! Very worth it.

 

Wasabi Crusted Ahi

Even though I was stuffed after my entree, I couldn't resist ordering beignets for dessert. Warm and fluffy but not as fluffy as expected. The mangoes sauce was a bit too mild, it would be nice if it's more flavorful.

Oh yes, and don't forget to order some beer. I never finish a bottle of beer before, but I finished one at this place! I really like the Ambita Purple Haze, it's like a sweet light beer brewed with berries, so it's very easy to drink. If you want something stronger, get the Ambita Amber, much more hoppy.

 

For Mardi Gras, the house gave us a King Cake, and whoever got the slice with a plastic baby in it gets a free t-shirt! It was a fun night!

A Very Pink Birthday

My friend Meiling referred her cousin, Sandy to me for her daughter's very pink birthday party a few weeks ago. I had the pleasure to help Sandy bake 6 dozens mini cupcakes for her lovely pink dessert table.

Vanilla cupcakes in pink cupcake liners, and topped with pink fondant flowers.

Pink frosting with white liners and topped with white edible pearls.

Meiling, Sandy and their families are one of the most artistic and creative people I know. I always think that they should start a party decoration or hosting business, because all their decors and table settings are always beautiful and amazing!

photo taken by Sandy

Isabelle is one lucky little girl. I'm sure Sandy spent a lot of time on the birthday party!

photo taken by Sandy

Ahh! I love the pink!

It was a pleasure having Sandy as one of my first customers. Seeing her pictures from the party and hearing about her feedbacks made me so happy!

Nutella Irish Cream Cheese Macaron & Macaron Baking Tips!

I wanted to make some macaron for my friend's dinner party, but I was super pressed for time. So I wanted to make one with a simple flavor but complicated when combined with others. The first thing that came into mind was nutella since it comes in a jar. After thinking about it for a few minute, I'd decided to make a chocolate shelled macaron since I just need cocoa powder. Lastly, I want to mix the nutella with some cream cheese Irish cream filling. Each ingredient is simple and can stand on its own, but also tastes great when combined with each other.

[Ingredients]
Shell:
85g almond flour
150g powdered sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3 egg whites (aged, optional*)
5 tbsp granulated sugar

Filling:
8oz cream cheese
3/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Bailey Irish Cream
[Instruction]

Macaron Shell/Cookie:
1. Prepare baking sheets by stacking two together and top it with parchment paper or silpat.  Preheat oven 375 degree.
2. With a stand mixer or a hand mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy.
3. Add granulated a little at time, and whisk egg whites until stiff peak stage.
4. In another bowl, sift all the dry ingredients for the shell.
5. Add them to the egg whites by batches and mix by folding.
6. Mix all the ingredients together until a lava-liked smooth consistency is reached.
7. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and pipe 1 1/2 inch circle worth of batter about one inche apart.

8. Air dry the macaron until when you touch the top of the shell, it does not stick to your finger. Should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

9. Bake for 10 minutes and rotate the baking sheet 180 degree half way through baking.
10. After 10 minutes, open the oven door a little bit to let air out, and keep it open a bit and bake for another 2 minutes.
11. Let macaron cool before adding the filling.

Filling:
1. In a stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until soft.
2. Meanwhile, sift powdered sugar. Add it to the creamed mixture a little at a time.
3. When sugar is combined. Add the Irish cream.
4. Pour filling into a piping bag.

Assemble:
1. Spread nutell on one of the cookie shell.

2. Pipe a bit of Irish cream cheese filling, just enough at the center. It will spread once you put the second cookie on.

3. Place another cookie onto the filling.

Viola! Chocolate shelled macaron with nutella and Irish cream cheese filling!

*Tips for Making Macarons:

• Aging the egg whites decreases some of the moisture content. I tried both aging and non-aging, both yield a little different but still good macaron.
• Sifting the dry ingredients helps with light and chewy texture.
• Air drying the macaron before baking allows a crust to form for that crunchy outer layer.
• Using silpat or two baking sheets help even out temperature, so the bottom of the cookie won't burn as easily.
• Letting oven door open at the last two minutes helps let out the steam and also decreases the temperature by a little so won't overbake or brown the top.

Good Luck!

Forget the Bread!

Forget the bread in a sandwich! I figured if Denny and IHOP can stuff a waffle with strawberry and other sweets, why not stuff it with savory items? I'm going to use my leftover waffle batter to make myself a sandwich...or should I say stuffed savory waffle.

It's super duper easy. It's like making a waffle but just adding extra ingredients during cooking. I'm going to use smoked ham, tomato, spinach and cheese.

1. Prepare waffle batter and laddle it over the waffle maker.
2. Let it cook uncovered for a minute.
3. Add your sandwich ingredients of choice.

4. Spoon a thin layer of waffle batter onto the sandwich ingredients.
5. Close waffle maker lid and let it cook according to the waffle maker instruction.

Since you can't really add spread like mayo, ketchup or mustard in this sandwich, you need to really rely on the flavor of your ingredients or waffle. Or, you can dip your waffle in a sauce as you eat.

Semi-Homemade Dinner: Chicken & Waffle

On lazy nights, I don't have the energy to cook up a meal. So to make life easier, there's always take-out. And sometimes, I just want to add a personal touch to the take-out so that it seems like I made an effort or like I accomplish something for the night.

Tonight, I feel like making waffles! I bought a waffle machine three years ago, and it'd been collecting dust since then. Tonight is the night for it to shine!

Always grease the waffle maker before pouring batter 

Have you ever play a word game in which one person say a word and the other person shout out the first thing that came up in his or her mind. Well, waffle made me think of  chicken! So I told my boyfriend to go grab some fried chicken while I mix up some waffle batter at home. We are lucky to have both KFC and Popeye nearby; we're having Popeye's tonight.

I got this basic waffle recipe from one of my idols, Alton Brown. He's a genius, and his recipe are always very simple and delicious.

Top it all off with maple syrup and down it with an iced cold beer (or just water for me)!

Blue Fin Tuna from Japan

Every year in December, I look forward to my boyfriend's company holiday party. Not only do they always host it at an awesome venue, they also always cater delicious food!

This year, the company imported a 50lb Blue Fin tuna from Japan! They held the party at Ozumo, a Japanese restaurant, so they placed the whole fish by the sushi bar for display until it was time to slice it. At the party, we were free to eat as much Blue Fin tuna along with a table filled with yakitori, tempura and terriyaki. We were also free to order anything from the cocktail and sushi bar. It was a Japanese cuisine lover's dream come true!! I didn't eat any of the yakitori, tempura and terriyaki, because I was determined to fill my belly up with my favorite cocktails, the Blue Fin and some of my favorite sushi and sashimi.

When it was time to butcher the fish, everyone gathered.

The chefs carefully clean the fish, and then started removing the head by slicing at the collar of the fish.

After the head is removed, the head chef sliced the fish in twos.

The chef was careful with the fish, and he used a clean towel to keep the fish clean and sanitize.



Toro

The most expensive and delicious part of the tuna is the fatty part or toro, which is all located in its belly. I could not stop staring at it as the whole belly was placed in front of me at the sushi bar!

There are two types of toro. There is chutoro, which is the fatty part located on the side of the fish belly. It is much leaner than otoro, which is the fattiest part located at the underside of the tuna. It's so fatty that it melts in the mouth!

Joy in my belly!

HK Style Baked Chicken Over Fried Rice

I grew up in Hong Kong, thus are exposed to Hong Kong style cafe food a lot. I love the breeze of air conditioning and the smell of the cafe when I stepped into the store. I like how fast the food comes out and I get a choice of milktea or iced tea with my entree. And I love how the food is consistent every time! One of my favorites is Baked Chicken Over Rice. It consists of a filet of pan-seared chicken thigh over a bed of fried rice, then topped with a sweet tangy tomato sauce, and then baked in the oven with cheese.

[ Ingredients ]

For chicken:
2 filet of chicken thigh
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of grinded black pepper
1/4 tsp of powdered white pepper
1/2 cup of flour

For the fried rice:
2 cup of overnight rice
2 eggs
1/2 tsp of salt

For the sauce:
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, diced
2 tablespoon of ketchup
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoon of water
cheese, amount to liking

[ Instruction ]

For the fried rice:

1. Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add eggs.
2. Stir fry the eggs until done. Place it in a bowl.
3. Add another 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and stir fry the rice. When the rice stopped clumping and separate by grain, add in the pre-fried eggs.
4. Add salt and mix.
5. Divide rice into two oven-safe dishes.

For the chicken:1. Marinade by mixing all the ingredient EXCEPT for the flour with the chicken. Let it sits for 20 minutes.
2. Pat both side of the chicken on a plate of flour. Shake off excess.
3. In a heated frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, pan-fried the chicken.

For the sauce:
1. Preheat the oven at 350 degree F.
2. In a sauce pan on medium heat, sautee garlic, onion and bay leaf until brown.
3. Add in carrots and tomatoes. Cook until soft, mix occasionally.
4. When carrots and tomatoes look soft, mash them with the spatula. The mixture should looks watery.

5. Mix in ketchup, chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce and sugar.
6. Let the sauce simmer on low for ten minutes.
7. In a small bowl, mix corn starch with water to rid clumps.
8. Add corn starch mixture into the sauce. Mix.
9. Simmer for five minutes. The sauce should thicken.
10. Laddle sauce over the fried rice.
11. Sprinkle cheese over.
12. Bake in a 350 degree F oven until the cheese melt or brown.

Enjoy!

Don't forget to add some veggies for a complete diet!