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Healthy Bean Taquitos

In Spanish, the diminutive of “tacos” is “taquitos” (“little tacos”), so please don’t be surprised that these are not the rolled-up varieties commonly seen in other parts of the world, especially in the U.S.

Let me share with you another fantastic Mexican (not Tex-Mex) dish that is healthy yet so perfectly satisfyingly delicious that you would want to eat this dish whether on a diet or not. As a (regrettably) avid lover of meat, this dish makes me forget meat even exists; it is just that good.

The only non-traditional addition I employed was the spinach leaves. I added them for health and “because-I-wanted-to” reasons (hehe), and they didn’t throw off the composite flavor of the dish at all.

I started with small corn tortillas (b/c they are traditional and healthier than white and wheat flour tortillas without sacrificing flavor and authenticity); you could also use regular-sized tortillas. One day I hope to perfect my corn-tortilla-making skills, but for now, I use the store-bought variety (specifically, I prefer and used to using the Guerrero yellow or white corn variety). Then, I placed the healthy “refried” beans, spinach leaves, fresh salsa (recipe below), and queso cotija (a part-skim, cow’s milk cheese that has a crumbly texture similar to that of feta cheese), which I, unfortunately, eat way too much of.

Eating tacos with queso cotija makes me feel like I’m back in México or in East LA with my ex’s family. When it comes to these tacos, I actually prefer cotija over other mainstream cheeses found in Tex-Mex dishes (e.g., Monterey/Pepper Jack, Cheddar, etc.). However, feel free to use whatever cheese (preferably a less fatty one than what I use hehe) you prefer.

Anyway, enough gabbing. I have a paper to write, data to gather, quizzes to create, and lessons to plan. Enjoy this simple, vegetarian, healthy, Mexican dish!

Salsa/Pico de Gallo
(this salsa is a more liquidy version of a pico de gallo due to the lime juice. Feel free to strain or control the amount of liquid in this salsa.)

3-4 roma tomatoes, quartered
3-4 green onions (or half a regular onion)
1-2 serrano OR jalapeño peppers (deseed if you can’t handle the heat. I leave the seeds in.)
a medium handful of cilantro, chopped
juice of 1/2-1 lime
salt to taste

CHUNKY YET JUICY TEXTURE: Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you reach the desired texture (This method is the one show in the photos).

LOT LESS CHUNKY: Exclude the lime or use only 1/2 of a lime. Place all the other ingredients in a blender and blend until desired texture.

PICO DE GALLO: Cut all the veggies by hand, and place them in a bowl. Add salt and juice of lime. Stir and adjust the amount of salt and lime to taste.

07/08/2011 | Categorias: Uncategorized | 9 Comentários »

Healthy “Refried Beans”

Not the best photo, but (IMHO) it’s hard to take good, appetizing photos of “refried” beans.

This post will be short. I have a million things to do along with lesson planning and grading for the summer Spanish course I’m teaching.

I had been planning on avoiding updating my blog until all my work was done, but I just had to share this recipe with you because it is so healthy and so good that you may never need or want to go back to normal, fat-laden, refried beans again.

You need only four ingredients: pinto beans, water, salt, and cumin. ABSOLUTELY NO FAT of any kind is needed, and you won’t miss it. Trust me. I have made this dish 3 times in fewer than 2 weeks already, and my neighbor/friend/colleague absolutely loved it as well. You can make this dish in a crock pot or in a regular pot and then eat it with various Mexican dishes or put it on top of brown rice. On the next post, I will share with you all the vegetarian taquitos (meaning “small tacos”, not the rolled variety normally seen in the U.S.) I made today (and the other day and the other day ). I, as an avid meat-lover, did not miss the meat at all because these amazing beans, along with the other toppings I made, are FABULOUS and so comforting.

Anyway, the recipe may be found after the stream of process photos. Please make this or start making it today. You won’t regret it.

In a strainer, rinse and sort the dry pinto beans while waiting for the water to boil:

If there is excess water, scoop out excess (I had used 6 cups of water when I made it this time around, so there was way too much liquid):

Here is another cooked batch of beans (yes, I have been making them almost back to back b/c they are just that good) with 4 cups of water. A lot less water. Just the amount I like:

Mash:

Stir:

Add more seasoning if needed:

Serve:

I topped the beans with cotija cheese. YUM!

Healthy “Refried” Beans
by me and the instructions on the back of the bag

1 cup dry pinto beans
4 cups (1 quart) water
2-3 tsps kosher salt (start with 2 and add more by taste)
1-2 tsps cumin (based on preference/taste)

STOVE TOP: Start the process of boiling water. In a strainer/colander, rinse the pinto beans and remove any stones if necessary. Add the rinsed and sorted beans to the boiling water and cover. Make sure the boiling process never stops. Reduce heat somewhat while allowing the boiling to continue. Cook for 3 – 3 1/2 hours (30-60 mins LONGER than directed on the package so that the beans are softer). You may scoop out some water if you feel there is too much water in the pot; otherwise, start mashing the beans and the whole mixture will thicken up on its own (it will thicken even more after refrigeration). Add any extra salt or cumin if needed. Enjoy!

CROCK POT: Pour in the quart of water; add the rinsed/sorted beans, salt, and cumin. Allow everything to cook for 3.5 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low (I’ve never tried making it on low heat, so the time may vary). Then mash the beans if you’re fine with the water level (scoop out excess water if you’d like it to be less watery but keep mind that the mixture will thicken up once you mash and stir the beans). Add any extra seasoning if needed. Enjoy!

29/07/2011 | Categorias: Uncategorized | 9 Comentários »

Makhani Masala, Dal Makhani, and Vegetable Pulao

ATTENTION! I haven’t updated my blog because I have spent hours and days making this post to the point of almost pulling out my dreadlocks (lol) because the draft of this post would autosave every 2 – 5 seconds. Does anyone know how to fix this problem? Also, is there a quicker way to add photos instead of clicking on “show” and then “insert this photo”? Please help! I will have to go back to blogger if this keeps going on.
In my quest to continue eating healthy, I have been looking for ways to make my meals a bit more interesting and flavorful. I love Chicken Tikka Masala or Murgh Makhani, so after bookmarking a million recipes on Soma’s blog, eCurry, I decided to make a base Makhani Masala, which is a tomato-based sauce with (or without) cream/milk, and then added other ingredients to it later.

After making the sauce, I transferred it to some glass jars and left them in the fridge for later use.

Then, I made Murgh (chicken) Makhani on one week along with vegetable pulao using brown rice instead of white Basmati rice and olive oil instead of ghee.

This week, I made Dal (lentils) Makhani for the first time. I bought all of my ingredients from my favorite Indian store, MGM Indian Foods, which is here in Austin.

I could have made my makhani less thicker just like Soma did, but I liked how thick it became and left it as is. It has a chili TEXTURE to it and tastes really substantial, hearty, and comforting. After you make the Makhani Masala (the base sauce), the addition of other ingredients is really simple and quick. Next time, I plan to make a larger batch of the base sauce SANS the cream/milk and place some of it in the freezer for future use (maybe can it? I have to check the acid levels).

For those of you watching your fat/caloric intake, I included the lower-fat options I used below.

TIP: Make sure you have all of your ingredients out and measured before making this sauce. You don’t want the spices in the first process to burn because you don’t have your next ingredients ready!

Makhani Masala/Butter based Tomato Cream Sauce
(slightly larger batch than the original on eCurry) (yields about 4 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup ginger paste
1/4 cup garlic paste
1 stick of cinnamon
4 black cardamoms (Mine were small, so I used 8)
2 small green cardamoms
1 tsp fenugreek or methi seeds
1 Tbsp kasoori/kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves
5-6 cups puréed fresh tomatoes (46 oz can of whole tomatoes in blender)
2 tsp red chili powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Salt to taste
3 hot green peppers slit (optional)
1/4 cup melted butter or ghee (HEALTHY: olive oil)
1/2 cup heavy cream/whipping cream (HEALTHY: OMIT or use skim milk)
1/2 cup milk

INSTRUCTIONS:

Crush the cinnamon and cardamoms together (I used a coffee grinder), and set aside.Then, crush the garlic and ginger together in the grinder or blender.

Heat butter, ghee, or olive oil & add cinnamon, cardamoms and fenugreek seeds. Once the seeds start to sizzle, add ginger garlic paste, salt, chili powder and stir and fry till ghee or oil separates and starts to form small bubbles.

Add tomato purée, green chili, cinnamon powder and kasuri methi.

Cook/simmer and reduce the tomato sauce, till done or when the fat and the spice mix/masala leaves the sides of the pan and the oil separates. Make sure to half-cover the pan as the sauce will bubble and splatter.

(If FREEZING or not using immediately, let the sauce cool, store it in an airtight container, and freeze for a few months or place mixture in the fridge for less than a week.)

I canned my sauces. I was able to fill 2 and 3/4ths of the jars.

If using sauce right away, add heavy cream and milk. Boil/simmer for about 10 minutes. After the sauce is done, proceed to cook whatever dish you have decided.

Dal Makhani/Lentils Simmered in Creamy Tomato Sauce
(Yields 6-8 servings) (requires overnight soaking and ~3 hours cooking time)

1.75 cups black urad dal or maa ki dal
1/2 cup rajma or red kidney deans
2 tablespoons chan dal/split Bengal grams (optional)
1 green cardamom
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 green chili pepper
1.5 tablespoons butter or ghee or oil (HEALTHY: olive oil)
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cups Makhani Masala, recipe above (without the milk or cream)
4-5 cups warm or “dirty” water (depending on how thick you want your dish to be)
2 cups whole milk (or 3/4 cup cream) (HEALTHY: OMIT or use skim milk)
salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

Soak the lentils/beans overnight. Wash them well and drain.

Crush the cardamoms and cardamom seeds, and cut the green chili peppers.

I used my mortar and pestle for the spices since there were so few.

In a deep, thick bottomed pot or dutch oven heat the ghee or oil. Add the cardamom, cumin seeds and the slit hot green chili peppers. When the seeds start to sizzle, add the onions, and cook them at medium heat until they are clear and soft. Add all of the drained beans and salt. Stir them together with the ghee or oil and the spices and cook for about 5 minutes at med-high heat.

I was out of green peppers. *boo*

Add in the Makhani Masala (without the milk/cream added). Stir everything together until the lentils/beans are well-coated with the sauce. Simmer the sauce at medium heat for about 10 minutes while stirring once in a while.

NOTE: I used “dirty water”, which was just water poured into the jars with the remnants of the Makhani Masala sauce. I suggest doing the same to avoid waste and to add more flavor.

Add the warm or “dirty” water to the pot, stir and cover; simmer at low heat till the beans are tender for about 2 hours.

After the lentils/beans are tender, mash some of them with the back of a big spoon or a potato masher. Stir everything together in the pot. The sauce’s consistency should be thicker than a regular soup but not dry and clumpy and should be pourable. Adjust to your liking with more or less warm water. Cook for about 10 minutes after you have reached the right consistency.

I added 1/4 cup of cream to see if there was a difference in taste. Next time? No cream.

Stir in the milk/cream in the pot. Lower the heat. Cover, and cook for another 15 minutes.

15/06/2011 | Categorias: beans, chiles, healthy, Indian, rice, sauce, spices, vegetables, vegetarian | 9 Comentários »

Turkey Burger w/Kale Chips

Here are my first food photos from my new apartment.

As I stated before, I’m on a diet most of the time lately. It’s been hard to stay on track, but not having any fattening food in my apartment really helps.

I made this turkey burger (on regular wheat bread) with ground turkey breast instead of turkey thighs, which explains why the meat is whiter. Also, I made the patty huge by accident. I thought it would shrink down more like beef, but it didn’t. Nevertheless, the size of the patty created a more dramatic photo op for me and was still beyond delicious. I am not crazy about tomatoes on my sandwiches for some reason, but I added a thick slice here for photo purposes and surprisingly enjoyed the taste of it with this sandwich.

I love the natural light in my new apartment. I have two patio windows on either side of the living room, so I no longer need filler light.

Along with the sandwich, I made the famous kale chips everyone has been raving about in the blogosphere. After reading Use Real Butter’s (URB) post about them, I finally went out and bought kale to make these chips. Sadly, I’m the first person I know of who didn’t like them. I ate about 2 or 3 of the chips you see on the photo and threw the rest away. I didn’t add too much oil as URB suggested, and I added enough seasoning (Cajun seasoning and kosher salt!), so I did that right. The very next day, however, I saw Gwenyth Paltrow making kale chips on The Ellen Show, and she added a lot of oil by comparison, so I wonder which way is better.

My mom, on the other hand, made kale chips after hearing me talk about it (I suggested that she make them because I knew that she would like them) and after seeing them on Ellen. As expected, she loved them and made another batch the next day. So, ignore my taste buds and make them if you think you’ll like them. I’ve heard people say their kids like them, too, so I don’t know why my experience was so bad. I still have some more kale in the fridge, so if you have any healthy recipes with kale I should try, let me know!

Turkey Burger
Yield: one big turkey burger

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 lb of ground turkey breast (use thigh if you can’t find breast)
1/2-1 tsp Cajun seasoning (or Lawry’s)
1/2-1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2-1 tsp garlic powder (not garlic salt!)
1/4-1/2 tsp chili powder
Add any other seasonings you’d like to add. I like to add a lot of flavor to my turkey patties.

Possible Condiments/Fillers:
mustard
2-3 slices of tomatoes
Romaine lettuce (or spinach; avoid iceberg since it has fewer nutrients)
Add any other veggies/condiments you like*

Pour in a tablespoon of olive oil, and turn on the skillet to medium heat.Transfer the ground turkey to a medium- to large-sized bowl. Add all the seasonings to both sides of the meat. Form the patty and cook the meat for about 5-10 minutes each side, depending on how thick your patty is. Make sure the innards are not raw by cut in the middle of the patty. While the patty is cooking, assemble the bread, condiments, veggies, or whatever else you like on your sandwich. Add the patty, and enjoy!

*To lower calories and fat, I did not add cheese or mayonnaise to this turkey burger, and it was still very good, and this accolade is coming from a cheeseburger addict. Try to eat this burger without the extra fat. If you don’t like it, add low-fat mayo or the one with olive oil and/or half a slice of (low-fat) cheese.

Kale Chips

For the kale chips, I preheated the oven to 350°F. I then cut off the stems of the kale, rinsed them, and placed them in a bowl. Next, I added a bit of oil and salt to the kale, assembled them on a baking sheet, and baked them for 15 minutes.

26/04/2011 | Categorias: healthy, turkey, vegetables, vegetarian | 11 Comentários »

北海道牛奶麵包 (Hokkaido Milk Bread)

HEY Y’ALL!!!!!! I’m back in Texas! I left California in November of last year and stayed with my mom in Oklahoma for a few months before returning here to Austin to finish up my degree. As I predicted, things didn’t work out in California, but for personal reasons, I knew I needed to find closure with my exgf and her two daughters, and I did. I never ended up homeless or anything. Instead, I landed an online teaching job where I teach Spanish to students in rural parts of Oklahoma (a strange coincidence considering I found the job on Craigslist while living in California!). I enjoy the job and enjoy being able to work from home so that I can move around from state to state without any interruption to my teaching duties (even though it annoys the heck out of my boss!).

Anyway, I am returning with a new bread that my mother and I are now addicted to for life. It is just that amazing. Every time I made it, my mother and I would wait with anticipation for it to come out of the oven. We would literally stand around the kitchen island staring eagerly at the oven counting the last few minutes. After taking out the bread, we would just stare at it while waiting 5-10 minutes for the golden, delicious bread to cool. Then we would grab a big hunk of bread each, smear on a generous amount of compound butter (e.g., softened unsalted butter + salt or garlic salt + herbs or garlic powder) on it and moan in sheer delight.

That was my chunk of bread. Look how soft it is!

Oh, I miss those days of eating this hot, soft, slightly sweet yet savory bread even though I last made it almost less than a month ago. I am now on a diet (most of the time)

. Now that I’m in a new apartment (but in the same graduate complex), I have made a vow that I will allow only healthy food in my refrigerator. So, I don’t have any mayonnaise, butter, flour, potatoes, processed foods, chocolate, or anything too tempting in my kitchen. The only exception to the processed food is the now-empty box of Chocolate Cheerios, which are almost fat-free with only 140 calories with skim milk. Even though this cereal isn’t the best for a diet, it is my only guilty pleasure and is far better than eating a hunk of yummy chocolate overload cake, chocolate mousse cheesecake, or triple chocolate chunk cookies. Fortunately, though, I’ve found on other blogs some good chocolate-based recipes that are more natural and healthy that I plan to try out.

Back to the bread! All the versions of this bread I’ve seen call for instant yeast, but I used active yeast. If you use active yeast without a bread maker, I have posted the recipe and order of ingredients/procedure below for the best results. For a yeast bread, I think this bread is pretty easy to make, but it takes a few hours from start to finish of mostly inactive time. I’ve made double batches of the bread all in the stand mixer without any problems. I also use my scale to weigh the ingredients, which yields the best results.

The main ingredient that sets this bread apart from other breads is the 湯種 (tangzhong), which is a cooked flour and water paste. The 湯種 recipe yields enough for TWO loaves of bread and can be stored in the fridge for a MAXIMUM of TWO (2) days. If you go beyond that, just throw it out because it will cause the bread to have this funky, weird, nasty, gross, unforgettable, yucky taste (don’t ask me how I know LOL!). You could also make two batches of dough and save one batch in the freezer after the first rise. That way you can take your time to have your next batch of bread assuming you can wait that long for another loaf. I am submitting this lovely bread to YEASTSPOTTING.

Okay, enough writing. Here is the recipe:

Hokkaido Milk Bread

originally from 65°C湯種麵包 (Bread Doctor)

recipe found on Christine’s Recipes

湯種 (TANGZHONG)

Yields: 500ml for TWO loaves

50gm/ 1/3 cup bread flour
250ml/ 1cup water (or milk or 50/50 water and milk)

Whisk flour and water in a saucepan until all lumps are gone. Turn on the heat and continue whisking until the mixture thickens and lines form as you whisk it or until temperature comes up to 65°C or 149°F (I’ve never needed to use a thermometer for this).

Bread dough
recipe for ONE loaf*

125ml/ ½cup WARM whole or 2% milk5 to 6gm/2 tsp active yeast (if using instant yeast and/or a bread maker, go to Christine’s blog)
55gm/3tbsp+2tsp granulated or caster sugar

Microwave the milk for 30-45 seconds in a glass measuring cup. Whisk in the yeast and the sugar. Allow yeast to bubble up and get happy while assembling the dry ingredients.

350gm/ 2½ cups bread flour
5gm/1tsp salt
7gm/1tbsp+1tsp milk powder (optional; I used Nestlé Nido Milk Powder)

Place dry ingredients in the mixer bowl. (I weigh the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl. Remember to press the tare button for each ingredient!)

1 large egg
120gm tangzhong (HALF of the tangzhong you make from above; I eyeball half of the mixture)
30gm/3tbsp SOFTENED butter, cut into small pieces

Add the egg and the tangzhong to the yeast mixture in the same glass measuring cup.

Pour all of the wet ingredients on top of the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl. Mix the dough until the ingredients are combined, then add the butter. If using a stand mixer, change the paddle to the dough hook and knead the dough for about 5-8 minutes. Take out the kneaded dough, and knead the dough with your hands atop a lightly floured surface. Only add enough flour to make the dough ball not too sticky (about ¼ – ½ cups of flour); don’t overdo it, though. To check if dough is well-kneaded, poke your finger in the dough ball. If the indentation stays, you’re good to go.

Transfer the dough to a well-lubricated bowl. Make sure the dough’s surface is not dry. Allow dough to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

Once the dough has risen, cut the dough into four parts (each dough ball should weigh about 175-180 grams). Form small balls and allow them to rest for 15-20 minutes so that you can shape each ball further. Once the gluten in the balls has relaxed, roll them out as shown below:

You can just fold each ball once (3rd photo in above collage) or do it twice as I show above (4th through 8th photos). If adding fillings, place them in the rolled-out dough balls at this point, and do a single roll. Place the rolled dough into a butter loaf pan, seam down.

Cover the loaf with a moist, kitchen towel and allow it to rise for 45 min – 1 hour, until loaf rises above the rim of the loaf pan. While the loaf rises, preheat the oven to 180°C or ~356°F, and whisk one egg with a pinch of salt so that the egg wash will be room temperature by the time loaf is ready and will be easy to spread (only use egg wash if you want a dark, golden color as shown; otherwise, you can use milk or butter).

Once the loaf has risen, brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash. Bake bread for 30-35 minutes.

Once baked, immediately take bread out of the loaf pan by flipping it over on a cookie sheet. Turn it upright, and allow bread to cool for 5-10 minutes, and then eat while hot, warm, or cold with butter, compound butter, or jam.

*FUTURE BAKING: If you would like to use all of your tangzhong, double batch this dough and freeze one of them after the FIRST rise, if you’re not going to use it immediately. The day before you plan to bake the bread, take dough out of the freezer and allow it to thaw out in the refrigerator. The next day, take the thawed-out dough and allow it to come to room temperature and rise slightly for 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Alternately, you could place the once-risen dough in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Allow dough to come to room temperature in 1-2 hours when you’re ready to bake it.

24/04/2011 | Categorias: Asian, breads, breakfast, cheese, vegetarian, wheat, yeast | 27 Comentários »

White Chocolate Crumb Muffins

Wow. I haven’t updated in more than a month! Things have been pretty rough for me here in LA because I hadn’t found a job even after submitting 10-20 applications a day and 3 interviews. To make matters worse, I will have to move out of my girlfriend’s house very soon because she is allowed to have only 3 people in her rental home. I will have to live in my car if I don’t start earning money soon! After having worked so hard in school for so many years, the thought of living in my car is a terrible one. Fortunately, I just landed a job teaching Spanish online for Oklahoma public schools (if you knew my family background (most of them live in OK), you would understand the irony in all of this). I will be teaching 7 hours a day as a substitute until I get my emergency certification to teach in Oklahoma while still residing in California (ah, the power of the internet and Skype). Anyway, I just hope you all can keep me in your thoughts and prayers while I go through this difficult time.

BAKING/COOKING IN MY NEW LOCATION: I have been cooking and baking a little here in LA, but I never get around to taking photos because 1) the lighting in this house is bad, and 2) my girlfriend and 2 daughters (along with many other guests) are pretty impatient and unaccustomed to people taking photos of food for long periods of time. Now that I’m with my girlfriend, I’ve realized why I was so addicted to blogging. The act of blogging and cooking was a filler of the void I felt without my girlfriend. Even though we are still adjusting to each other, I don’t feel as empty anymore and many times, I forget to blog or even look at Google Reader. I’m sure that will change once I find my own place.

MUFFINS. FINALLY!: Anyway, I made these muffins before moving to California. The original recipe called for regular chocolate chips, but I only had white chocolate leftover from Guittard’s generous package, so I used those. The muffins were good on the first day and improved in taste the next. The interior was very soft, and the white chocolate had a very subtle taste. I liked the crumb on top of the muffins. Next time I make these, though, I will use regular chocolate. If you’re considering making these muffins, I suggest you do the same and just follow the recipe.

(White) Chocolate Crumb Muffins

from 300 Best Chocolate Recipes by Julie Hasson

Topping:
1/2 c powdered or icing sugar
1/2 c AP flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt (I used kosher)
1/4 c unsalted butter, melted

Batter:
2 c AP flour
3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used white chocolate but would’ve preferred chocolate)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (I used kosher)
3/4 c granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 c milk (I used buttermilk)
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
ground cinnamon (for the top of the muffins)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)

ASSEMBLE TOPPING: In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Then, whisk in the melted butter until crumbly. Set topping aside while you prepare the batter.

BATTER: In another medium bowl, combine the flour, chocolate chips, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl or mixer bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Stir in the dry ingredients just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX!!

Spoon batter (or use a small ice-cream scoop) into prepared muffin tins/cups. Sprinkle the topping over the batter and add extra ground cinnamon.

Bake for 22-24 minutes or until puffed and golden. You may also use a toothpick or knife to test its doneness. Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

11/09/2010 | Categorias: breakfast, chocolate, dessert, muffins | 52 Comentários »

Buttermilk Pound Cake & Big News

The photos in this post were taken a day after I made this cake.

BIG NEWS: I’m moving back to Los Angeles in fewer than 10 days. I have applied for a leave of absence from graduate school, so I hope to return to school in a year. I have been in school non-stop since kindergarten. So, I went from elementary to high school to earning my BA to my first master’s degree to my second master’s to doctoral coursework and then to my qualifying paper (a condensed version of my dissertation). For practically 2 years, I have been working on my qualifying paper in graduate school because my depression and lack of willpower have been preventing me from moving forward. When I tell myself to work on my paper, I end up doing something else like cook, bake, read other blogs, post entries, take photos, watch TV, lie in bed, stare at the walls, cry, etc. Before you blame my lost of will on baking and blogging, I must tell you that I was feeling this way one year before starting this blog, which is also one year before I started to cook/bake.

Since I was 9 years old, I have wanted to earn a PhD. I have come very close to reaching my goal, and it frustrates me that I waited so long to take a break when I’m close to the end. However, I cannot keep wasting my school’s or my own time. This life is the only one I have.

I have been applying for jobs in Los Angeles and so far have not found anything (BTW, if you know of anyone looking for a new employee, let me know! haha). I will miss teaching foreign languages so much, so I hope I can a find a teaching job. Anyway, I don’t know what the future will hold, but I have decided to push my worries away and leave my future up to God. I have faith that He will direct my path.

CAKE: I have been wanting to make pound cake for a long time. When I found this recipe entitled “Mama’s Pound Cake” in Paula Deen’s cookbook in Barnes and Noble, I immediately took a photo of it on my phone to make it for later. I modified the recipe a bit by adding almond extract, substituting buttermilk, and adding a simple glaze.

The oven burnt the top after only 15 minutes. I covered it with foil and allowed it to cook longer. The cake was not fully done on one side and was burnt on the outside on the other. However, the part underneath the burnt crust was almost perfect, so I ate only the done parts. For the other loaf of cake, I lowered the oven rack, and the cake cooked much better. However, I didn’t grease the loaf pan well enough because I was running out of spray, so it didn’t come out completely. Anyway, the next day, the cake was even better. Just make sure you cover your pound cake with a towel or a paper towel loosely. According to Alton Brown, pound cakes don’t like to be smothered.

I won’t be posting for awhile due to the move. I’ve already sold the TV trays I use for my photos, anyway. Take care, everyone!

Buttermilk Pound Cake

adapted from Paula Deen’s ‘Mama’s Pound Cake’

Yield: 2 loaf pans or 1 tube pan

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening, room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (I used kosher)
1 cup buttermilk (or regular milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 2 loaf pans or tube pan with Baker’s spray, the like, or butter/flour.

Cream butter and shortening. Add sugar a little at a time. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well each time. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and combine the buttermilk and extracts in a liquid measuring cup. Add the dry mixture to the batter alternatively with the milk/extract mixture, beginning and ending with the dry mixture.

Pour mixture into the pans or tube pan, and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes to a cooling tray for 10 minutes.

Vanilla Glaze

Powdered sugar
Milk or half-n-half
Vanilla extract (optional; I forgot to add this)

I have no set measurements for the glaze. I just put some sugar in a bowl and added enough milk (add the extract before the milk) to make the glaze pourable.

05/08/2010 | Categorias: cake, dessert | 58 Comentários »

Carrabba’s Bread Dip

Whenever my mother comes to visit, I know that there are two places she will want to visit: 1) Her favorite bubble tea place – Tapioca Express/House and 2) Carrabba’s Italian Grill. I honestly believe she visits me just to go those two places and seeing me is just like a little perk on the side .

I only go to Carrabba’s Italian Grill when she visits me, and we both order practically the same thing. I order either the Pasta Carrabba, which is basically Fettuccine Alfredo with green peas, or Pollo Rosa Maria (I’m definitely going to make this soon). She almost always orders the Insalata Johnny Rocco or something with eggplant.

Once we sit down and order our drinks, the waiter brings out some fresh sourdough bread and a little saucer filled with spices that looks very similar to what I have made on this post.

The waiter then proceeds to pour olive oil on top of the spices to create the dip. Because my mother has the ~~annoying~~ habit of soaking up all the spices and oil with just one slice of bread, we always request for two saucers of spices so that I can have my own.

I promised many moons ago that I would blog about the copycat recipe for this dip and never got around to it until now. Once you’ve made the spices (without the oil!), you can keep it in a closed container in your fridge for a long time. Whenever you’re ready to eat some, just spoon out as much as you want on a little plate, and pour the oil on top.

Make sure your bread is soft and not hard like mine was. I shouldn’t have toasted it. Oh well. The dip is the focus of this post anyway. Enjoy!

Carrabba’s Bread Dip

adapted from Chef 2 Chef

1 Tbsp crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp crushed black pepper
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried rosemary
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp garlic powder (I use 2 tsp garlic salt in place of the two last ingredients)
1 tsp salt

In a to-go container (like one from Whole Foods, Central Market or other specialty grocery store), combine all the ingredients together. Store mixture in the refrigerator until needed.

Put 1 Tbsp of mixture per person in a small saucer with raised edges. Pour extra-virgin olive oil over the mixture, and dip warm sourdough or French bread into the mixture. Be as greedy or dainty as you like!

03/08/2010 | Categorias: breads, Italian, spices, vegetarian | 18 Comentários »

Orange Chicken Revisited

Here is another recipe I’m revisiting because the original photos are HORRIBLE, and this dish is worthy of being on my blog twice.

QUESTION: Whenever you are in the process of making a dish, do you think about what you are going to write about on your blog for the same dish? I do. For instance, I wanted to mention that using cornstarch in place of flour makes the chicken pieces look too white while flour browns the chicken more. So, you should combine the two when coating the chicken. Also, I wanted to mention how I didn’t have green onions, so I used white onions (then I found some green onions in the refrigerator after the photo session!).

Anyway, I think the fact that I made this dish again tells you how good it is. Aside from the regular onions, I followed this recipe exactly. I also made some jasmine rice in the used rice cooker my mom just gave me. For the first time, I had to call my mom on how to operate a kitchen-related appliance

. Now I know why people love their rice cookers! I no longer have to wait for the water to boil. That is so nice.

I accompanied the orange chicken and rice with cold, green tea sans the ice. [Did you know that I don't like ice, but my mom is crazy about ice (she buys a big bag of ice every week! I have no idea what she does with that much ice.)? That is another contrast between my mom and me. Ice interrupts the flow of my drink (like nuts in soft desserts), and when the ice melts, it waters my drink.] Okay, enough of my quirks. Here is the recipe:

This piece is about to go into my mouth. . .riiiiiight. . .NOW.

Orange Chicken
from Blog Chef

Chicken-
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes) (I used 1.25 lbs)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch
1 egg (beaten)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Oil (for frying; I used vegetable or canola oil, but peanut oil is the best for frying)

Orange Sauce-
1 ½ cups water
2 Tbsp orange juice (I used the juice of 1/2 of a large orange)
¼ cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 ½ Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp orange zest (grated)
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ tsp ginger root (minced)
½ tsp garlic (minced)
2 Tbsp green onion (chopped) (I used 1/4th of a regular, white onion)
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp water

Step 1: Combine flour and cornstarch. Place chicken in the egg mixture along with salt and pepper, and shake the pieces in the flour mixture to coat.

Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok) until completely cooked and light brown (around 5 minutes per batch).

Step 2: Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for 2 minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil.

Step 3: Combine 3 Tbsp of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions.

Want a piece? That’s all I’m willing to share.

01/08/2010 | Categorias: Asian, chicken, fried, rice, sauce | 26 Comentários »

Daring Bakers: Swiss Roll Ice Cream Bombe Cake

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – Life and Food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

I was finally able to take decent photos of my cake. I know I’m super late, but at least I posted this before August! HAH! So, I bet you’re wondering my cake doesn’t look a Swiss roll ice cream cake. I will give you three seconds to guess why. . .just think about my sausage buns, and you’ll figure it out.

1 segundo.

2 segundos. .

3 segundos. . .

Yep, you guessed it. My overheating oven apparently isn’t too fond of sponge cake, so it ruined the first one completely and almost ruined all of the second one as well. I managed to salvage most of the cake, but I was unable to make Swiss rolls out of it. So, I slathered on the vanilla bean whipped cream (which is just “genious-ly” good!), cut the cakes into circles and rectangles, and placed them into two ramekins and one loaf pan.

I used the leftover hot fudge from my Chocolate Sybil Cake. I still have more left for chocolate milk. YUM!

This one looks more like an elaborated s’mores cake than a bombe ice cream cake.

Although my ice cream cakes are not nearly as pretty as the other daring bakers’ cakes, at least they still tasted pretty good, and I completed the challenge.

For the ice cream portion, I made coffee ice cream and chocolate ice cream. I used different ice cream recipes from those on the challenge because I wanted egg-based ice cream, which tends to be creamier. Everything tasted fantastic except for the sponge cake, but I think that is because of the egg-white flavor and my oven’s performance (or failure to perform well).

TWO THINGS I LEARNED DOING THIS CHALLENGE:

1. Whole eggs can expand big time! I thought that with the addition of egg yolks, eggs couldn’t expand that much, but I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t know why, but I was.

2. That there exists such a thing as vanilla bean whipped cream that doesn’t require the removal of the seeds. This whipped cream was AMAZING!!

3. That there really are foods that can stick unmercifully to Silpat despite what the company claims.

TWO THINGS I KNEW ALREADY BUT SOMEHOW FORGOT:

1. My oven sucks even after being “fixed” twice.
2. Ice cream melts quickly and can be frustrating so set up everything for your photo shoot ahead of time.

3. That I love ice cream cake!

I apologize to all my fellow DBers for being so late. A lot of things are going on in my life that I will let you know about later. I enjoyed this challenge despite the moments of frustration while taking photos of the melting ice cream haha. Now, I need to find volunteers to eat up all this excess ice cream and cake! Anyone interested?

Here is the recipe for the cake.
Here are the recipes for the coffee and chocolate ice creams I used.
Note: For the chocolate ice cream, I used half-n-half instead of milk for a creamier consistency.