whisk the pantry

Roasted Pumpkin & Mini Squash Soup

2012-01-25T21:53:00.002+07:00

My good memory of the pumpkin is not the one in the Cinderella's Story when she turns a pumpkin into a golden carriage, but it is a memory of a dish that was used to serve at lunch time when I was in a elementary school. This nice simple dish is made with pumpkin, eggs, garlic and some seasoning like soy sauce, sugar, and grounded black pepper. I tried to recreate the dish at home many times, but it still doesn't taste as same as the one that I had when I was a child. It is one of those dishes that always gives you sweet memories.

Pumpkin is one of those vegetable that you can use to cook for both savory dishes and also sweet dishes. Other pumpkin dishes that I like to make are grilled pumpkin dipped with thai sweet chille sauce, roasted pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie and last but not least, a thai sweet dessert, boiled pumpkin in a coconut cream syrup. I bet there are many ways you can enjoy with these beautiful sweet yellowy-orangey vegetable that are filled with vitamins and nutritions.

And, I have a very easy recipe for you to enjoy. Roasted Pumpkin & Mini Squash Soup. It is my no-recipe kinda soup. Easy to make and of course delicious! And, don't forget to have it with some crunchy toasty croutons!

Hello 2012!

2012-01-14T21:29:00.000+07:00

Hopefully, it's not too late to say "Happy New Year's 2012!" to you all. It's the best time of the year to start doing new things. And for me, it's probably my new exciting interior design job that I recently started. Well, after spending time working at a food magazine for almost a year, I decided to keep my love for food aside and do it in my own pace. It's time to get serious about working and I'm glad to be back into the interior design world. This new year, I "finally" decied to buy new lens. Yes, it's a new year's gift for myself! I don't know why I spent so much time making this decision because it took me almost more than 2 years to finally buy it. Even though it's only a 50 mm 1.8f canon lens, I'm pretty happy how everything turns out so far. Now, I get nice blurry backgrounds that I always want!

For this 2012, my goal for this blog is to do more of photographing. It's a lot of work to do from making food from the scatch to taking and editing photos. I believe you all understand this!. But this year, I promise to find time to do more practicing on photographing. If I have no time to bake or make something, I will just simply take photos of basic beautiful things around me.

Well, I'm starting my 2012 with these simple beautiful fresh strawberries that are grown in the northern of Thailand. During the month of December and January, it's the coolest time of the year in Thailand. So, there are lots of fresh local strawberries all around. I'm enjoying them all.

Homemade Milk Bread

2011-10-01T16:04:00.000+07:00

One type of the bread that I heart is Asian-style bread. The texture is different from the western-style bread. It has a softer texture both the outside (the crust) and the inside. It does have a sweeter taste. Perfect for toasting. Crushy a little bit but still soft and chewy. One of the technique that I found when making the Asian-style bread soft is " Tangzhong Method". It's a mixture of bread flour and water, cooked on the stove to get a thick paste. This paste keeps the bread moist. So, you end up with a softer bread. It is added into the wet mixture when making. This is my first time of making this Homemade Milk Bread. I would say it's the softest bread that I have been making so far and I'm very much loving it. I got this recipe and adapted into a hand-kneadling method. It turned out very well.

Well, it's time for you to try now!

Milk Bread

(Recipe from Une-deux Senses)

2 1/2 C Bread Flour

3 Tbsp + 2 tsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Instand Yeast

1 Egg

1/2 C Milk

120 g Tangzhong*

3 Tbsp Butter

For Tangzhong

1/3 C Bread Flour

1 C Water

Notes:

- The original recipe uses machine-kneadling method. However, I adapted mine to hand-kneadling and it turned out so well. Just don't stop kneadle!

- All ingredient must be at room temperature.

- * I used almost all of Tangzhong that I made from the Tangzhong recipe.

To make Tangzhong:

In a small bowl, mix bread flour with water. Mix well until completely dissolve. Pour the mixture in a small sauce pan. Heat over a medium heat. Stir Well until the mixture become quite thick and the temerature of the mixture is around 150 F. Remove from the stove. Let it completely cool.

To make Milk Bread:

In a large bowl, sift the bread flour. Add in sugar, salt and yeast. Mix well with your hands. In a seperate medium bowl, mix together milk, egg, and a 120 g Tangzhong. Add in 1/3 of the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Mix well. Repeat 2 more times.** Kneadle on a clean surface for 5-10 mins or until the dough get a little bit softer and all come together.

** At this point, you might find that the mixture is too wet and stick to your hand. I ended up add 1/4-1/2 C more of the bread flour, so I'm able to work on it.

After kneadling for 5-10 mins, I added the butter a little at a time. At this point, you might find everything look so messy and greasy and feel like the butter is not incoporated into the dough. Please don't stop! Just keep kneadling it for another 15-20 mins

(My technique of kneadle the dough for this recipe is kneadle one time, and then slap (aka semi throwing) it on the surface. I just keep doing that for another 15-20 mins. The dough will become less stick and all of the butter is incoperated into the dough. I found out the if I'm not doing "slapping method", the dough will start to stick with your hand again. You can try to add a little bit of the bread flour around 1/2 Tbsp if you feel that the dough is way too wet and can't work on it. But, believe me. If you just keep kneadling it, the dough get smoother and softer. When the dough is ready, you can try to test it by stretch it. It should bread and form a circle. I tried this method but mine didn't break and form a circle. After kneadle for almost 30 mins, I felt that the the dough is soft and elastic. So, I decided to stop. It turned out to be just fine.)

After kneadle for 30 mins in total, grease the dough with butter and cover it with a wet towel in a buttered bowl. Proof it until it doubled the size around 1.5 hours. When double the size, punch the dough. Transfer on the surface. Kneadle 5 times. Cover it with a wet towel and let it sit for 15 mins.

After resting the dough, roll it into a rectangle. Roll it and place into a tin.*** Let it rise for another 30 mins. Brush with eggs wash. Bake at 325 F for 25-30 mins.

*** I made them into 2 medium loaves. The weight of the dough is approximatly 300 g each.

Homemade Mixed Seed Bread

2011-09-04T14:24:00.000+07:00

Finally, my bread making skill is getting improved. In the past, I always ended up getting a heavy dry hard bread. Recently, I found a place where I can learn how to make bread. So, I decided to take a bread making class couple weeks ago. Even thought it was only 2-day classes, but it was worthed. The class was all about bread making by hands. So, everyone can go home and can easily make bread at home. So, this weekend I tried to make bread again. Ta-da! It worked! I finally get a nice soft bread and it doesn't have weird smelling too. This Homemade Mixed Seed Bread is perfect for breakfast. I added black and white sesame seeds, sunflower seends and pumpkin seeds in it. They gave a nice little crunchy and are good for health too! Now, I feel that making bread is not as hard as I think anymore!

Homemade Mixed Seed Bread

(for 3 medium loaves)

500 g Bread Flour

1 1/2 tsp Instant Yeast

3/4 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Black Sesame Seeds

1 tbsp White Sesame Seeds

3 tbsp Sunflower Seeds

2 tbsp Pumpkin Seeds

1 tbsp Brown Sugar

30 g Unsalted Butter, room temperature

250 mL 40C water (50 mL hot water mixed with 250 mL room temperature water)

Sifting bread flour in a large bowl. Add in the instant yeast and salt (on the opposite side). Add in the brown sugar in the middle. Mixed well with your hand.

Add in butter. Mix well with the tip of your finger. Add in 1/3 of the water. Mix well. Repeat for 2 more times. If the dough is too wet ( stick to your hand), you can a little bit of flour 1 tbsp at a time. If the dough is too dry, add in 1 tbsp of water at a time. Knead the dough on a counter for 10 mins. When the dough is ready to rest, testing by poking your finger on the dough softly. It should spring back. Covered the bowl with a plastic wrap. Let it rest until it doubles the size for 1.5 hours.

After 1.5 hours, punch the dough. Knead several times. Let it rest for 10 mins. Then, divided the dough into 3 equal parts (mine was approximately 300 g each). Shape the dough and place in the mold. Let it double the size for another 30 mins.

Preheat the oven at 180C.

Bake for 25-30 mins. If the top part is browned so quickly, cover with aluminum foil. Once it's done. Remove from the mold and cool it on the rack completely.

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-08-14T15:43:00.000+07:00

Finally, finally....after many years of watching other people bake the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies aka. New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies, I finally got a chance to try it myself! First of all, yes it is good like everyone say so. The texture is perfect...soft and chewy. I made mine with semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of chocolate chunks. It's still good. However, there is one thing that I would like to try. I want to make them a little bit less sweet. Not sure whether if I decreased the amount of sugar, it would effect the texture of the cookies or not. If anyone had tried this, please let me know! But for sure, the original recipe is already great, so maybe I shouldn't change a thing! just eat less so I dont have to feel quilty!

Recipe: New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

Notes: Love this photo...I took it with my iphone.
The application is so cool. It looks like photo from dslr!

Sticky Date Pudding

2011-07-09T20:23:00.000+07:00

It is nice to be back on here again...doing all the baking and a quick photo shooting. It has been a long time to be on here and I'm very much missing it all! Last week, one of my best friend was back in BKK. She brought back a box of dried dates from Qutar as a gift for my parents. So, I stole them to make these little yummy Sticky Date Pudding! It was delicious, nice & soft...not too sweet. Great with a cup of tea for the afternoon. Enjoy!

(I'm currently so into the lomo app on the iphone these days. It's fun to take photos with it. The photo always look good and you don't need much of the skills! Fun Fun! Here is the lomo of my sticky date pudding)

Sticky Date Pudding

Adapted from Jamie Oliver

For the date pudding
225g dried dates, stoned, coursely chopped
1 teaspoon baking soda
85g unsalted softened butter
170g sugar
2 large eggs
170g self-raising flour
¼ teaspoon ground mixed spice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons Ovaltine
2 tablespoons natural yoghurt

For the toffee sauce
115g unsalted butter
115g light muscovado sugar
140ml double cream

For the date pudding

Preheat the oven at 180ºC.
In a small bowl, combine the dates with baking soda. Cover with 200 ml of boiling water. Leave to stand for 5 minutes until soften, then drain. Puree the dates in a food processor and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, mixed spice, cinnamon and Ovaltine. Set aside. In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale. Add in the eggs. Mix well. Add in the flour mixture. Mix Well. Fold in the yoghurt and the pureed dates. Mix well. Pour the mixture into a buttered and floured baking mold. Bake approximately 20-30 minutes (It depends on the size of your baking dish. Mine was only 20 minutes for an individual serving size).

For the toffee sauce

Combine the butter, sugar and cream in a small pan. Heat over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce has thickened.

Beijing & Hong Kong Trip 2011 (Part II)

2011-05-01T10:45:00.000+07:00

Great Walls

These are some of the photos from my trip in Beijing. We went to many places including The Great Walls, Olympic Stadium The Bird Nest, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, and many more. I feel bad that I couldn't remember all of the places. I felt like we went to so many temples and palaces and at the end I got confused because they all look similar to one another. lol. Anyways, I took many photos but these are some of the highlight that I like to share with you. Enjoy!

The Olympic Bird's Nest

Inside the Olympic Bird's Nest

Summer Palace

Oops...I forgot the name of this place...

Street Food & Peking Duck in Beijing

Beijing & Hong Kong Trip 2011 (Part I)

2011-03-19T17:10:00.000+07:00

I'm appologize for my absence and my very late photo update on my Beijing and Hong Kong Trip back in February. I have been very busy at work and pretty much have no time to do anything on weeknights and for the last weekend I was away for the business trip to Samui too. Anyhow, let get started!

Flower Market @ Victoria Park

I took so many pictures during my trip, so here are some of the highlight that I would like to show you guys. I was in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year. It was wonderful! I got to experience and learn lots of new things regarding what people in Hong Kong do and prepare for their New Year's. Above are pictures from the "Flower Market @ Victoria Park". One of the must-do things for the Chinese New Year is to go to the flower market. It is their tradition to go to the flower market and pick up lovely flowers such as orchids, orange trees, daffodils, Nipple Fruits (lower left), peach blossom and many more. The bloomings of the flowers symbolize prosperity and fortune. That's why all Hongkongers buy lots of flowers to decorate their houses.

The Must-Eat HK Snacks

Of course, my HK trip is always like a non-stopped eating marathon. Above are the must-eat snacks that you need to try when you're in HK. Starting from the top left (clockwise): "traditional candy & coconut wrap", "egg custard tarts", "HK style egg waffles" and "HK milk tea". I wish I could get all of these right here in Bangkok. Even though we have something that are similar,but nothing is better than the ones from the origin.

Tai O Fisherman Village

If you have one free day to spend, I recommended you to go visit "Tai O fisherman village" ( the oldest fisherman village in HK) and also "the Big Buddha" on the same day. Since we were there during the Chinese New Year, there were TONS of people visiting the big buddha. So, we weren't able to take the 360 cable car to the top of the mountain, instead we took the bus. It was a bumpy ride since we have to travel ups and downs the hills. I almost got sick on the bus, but fortunately to be able to get the front row seat later on. It was a closed call.

The Big Buddha & Lovely Scenery

Another lovely place to visit is "Nan Lian Garden". You will see lovely traditional Chinese architecture in the ancient style of the Tang dynasty and also the Chinese garden. Inside the garden, there is a very lovely vegetarian restaurant called "Chi Lin Restaurant" where you are able to eat delicious vegetarian dishes prepared by using traditional methods. They also have a lovely gift shop if you happened looking for some souvenir or gifts for someone. Next to the Nan Lian Garden, you can also visit Chi Lin Nunnery, another lovely Chinese architecture.

Nan Lian Garden

One Year Blog Anniversary with Coriander Root & Garlic Shrimps

2011-02-12T17:24:00.001+07:00

I believe that most people probably say the same thing on their one year blog anniversary that they can't believe it's already here. Yes, I am one of them too! Time goes by quickly. I have learned many things through out the creation of this blog and can't wait to learn more things in the coming years. This blog also lead me to the great opportunity that I'm about to tell you below, so keep reading...

At first, I wasn't sure whether I would be back in time for my blog anniversary(Oops, I couldn't remember the exact date of my first post! Only knew that it was sometimes close to the Valentine's Day, but now I know!). The past couple weeks, I have been pretty busy. I was away for my Hong Kong & Beijing trip with my family for two weeks as you know and just got back on Tuesday night. Yes, I still need to post interesting pictures from the trips. Please wait!

Right after got back, I finally started my first real job that I have been dreaming for! (Yes, it is the great opportunity that I'm talking about.) I'm so exciting about it! I got a job at a food magazine in Bangkok, working as a foodstylist and luckily I will do some writing too. I still can't believe that I got a job in this field. Thank you for my editor, who has given this great opportunity to me and believe that I can do well in this field. Now, I know that if you want something badly and have great passion for it, just work really really hard and you will have what you have been waiting for. I know I'm still new to this, but I will do my very best and will work very hard on it.

Last but not least, I'm ending this with this lovely Coriander Root & Garlic Shrimps recipe. Coriander Root is one of the important ingredients in Thai cuisine. It gives lovely strong fragrant and flavour. I'm not sure whether it's hard to find elsewhere outside Thailand, but if you happen to find the coriander roots at your Asian grocery store, please don't forget to buy them and try this recipe. Or, if you happen to have coriander in your garden, please go to your garden and try this. I believe that if you are already a fan of garlic shrimps, you will love this one. Enjoy!

One year ago: Chocolate Spice Bread

Coriander Root & Garlic Shrimps

(for 1-2 servings)

6 large shrimps ( shell on, slit the back of the shrimp and deveined)

2-3 cloves garlic

2 coriander roots

2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp chopped finely red chili

1 tbsp green onion, chopped

1 tbsp Chinese rice wine

1 tbsp soy sauce

1-2 tbsp canola oil

2-3 tbsp of water, more if needed

To make coriander and garlic paste:

Smash the garlic, the coriander roots, black pepper and salt together in a mortar and pestle until all crushed up and incorporated into a paste. Divided the paste in halves. Marinate the shrimps with half of the coriander-garlic paste for 2-3 hours or overnight. Set aside the remaining in a small bowl, covered.

Note: if you don't have a mortar and pestle, you can use a mini-food processor to make the coriander and garlic paste.

To cook:

Heat up a wok with oil over a medium-high heat. Lightly saute the remaining coriander-garlic paste until aromatic. Add shrimp into the wok and stir well with the coriander-garlic paste. When the shrimps are slightly pink, add in Chinese rice wine, soy sauce and a little bit of water. Cover the wok with its lid. Allow it to cook and steam for 1-2 minutes or until the shrimp completely cooked. Add in chopped green onion and red chili. Stir well. Transfer on to a serving plate and serve immediately.

Note: It's best serving with a bowl of rice and maybe with some vegetable stir-fry. Easy idea for your weekday dinner. Or, you can have this by itself for a cocktail dinner party.

Jalapeno Poppers, Test #1

2011-01-19T16:29:00.000+07:00

For the past a few year, I have tried to plan for a trip to visit, a place that I've ever been, at least once a year. I love to experience new things, getting new inspirations for life, by just being in a different city or country. Next week, my parents and I are visiting Hong Kong and Beijing for 2 weeks. Even thought I have been to both places before, I am still looking forward to go there again. For HK, I have visited so many times. Eating is the main activity that we do when we get there. My mom's friends always take us for Dim Sum and many other things which I can't remember all. It always feels like an eating marathon when I go to HK. lol. However, this year will be a little bit different. I will be in HK for the Chinese New Year's in a nice cool weather. I am so excited to see lots of events, take lots of photo, and eat lots of food in HK. We have also planned to go to Beijing for 4-5 days, directly from HK. Three years ago, I went to Beijing to visit a friend from University. At that time, it was during the summer time, so it was very hot. Luckily, I get to visit Beijing again but in a different season. It looks like it will be below zero! ohh...I missed all the snow and the freezing weather. hahaha. I can't wait to hear what my parents think about the cool weather since they definitely don't get use to this kind of cold weather!

Well, I'm finishing this with this jalapeno popper recipe. This is my first time making it at home. It turned out to be 'okay', but not as good as one can get at a pub. I heard one said to use pickle jalapeno to make it, and it tastes close to that. If you have any good recipe for the jalapeno poppers, please share with me! Anyhow, I'll see you again in 2 weeks and definitely be back with lots of stories and photos to share with all my dear readers.

Jalapeno Poppers

8 Jalapeno, halved and seeded

3 tbsp cream cheese, softed

3 tbs cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 C milk

1 C crushed panko

1/3 C flour

oil for deep frying

In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese with the cheddar cheese. Spoon the mixture into the jalapeno halves. Dip the stuffed jalapeno first into milk and then into the flour. Wait for several minutes for the flour dry out slightly. Then, dip it into the milk again and now into the crushed panko. You can repeat the milk & panko step twice to get a nice thicker panko crust. Wait for the coat to dry out slightly between the steps. In a medium pan, heat the oil to 365F and deep fry the jalapeno for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

Homemade Samosa

2011-01-14T16:13:00.001+07:00

This year, 2011, I have a plan for my blog. I know that this past year most of my posts are more on the sweet side. So, my plan is to try to bake less and cook more for a healthier diet. One of the main reason is that I don't want my parents to have lots of sweet thing even though they love what I bake . My dad has a sweet tooth and usually eats everything and all of what I bake. So, I have to be careful of what I make for him. If not, he will have high blood sugar.

So, I'm starting my 2011 recipe with savoury snack called, Samosa. I know it's not that 'healthy healthy' because it is deep fried. But, since mom requested for this, I have to make it. My mom is pretty tiny, 5 feet high (i think lol) with 92 lbs. She's a pretty healthy person, eat lots of veggies and tofu and less meat and poultry. However, her guilty pleasure is fried food, especially Thai's fried tofu, taro fritters and corn fritters. She also have a big love for Indian things. She loves spices especially Indian spices like garam masala and also loves chai tea. So, homemade samosa should be her perfect guilty pleasure food since it is deep fried and contains lovely Indian spices.

This recipe is something that we came up. It is the first time what we made and it tastes wonderfully. Samosa is not a typical thing that can be found easily in Bangkok. We know a place near Indian town that sells this, but mom said ours is better. It's an easy recipe using pre-made frozen spring roll wrapper. So, let's try this and let me know what you think!

Homemade Samosa

Spring roll wrappers (I used this brand.)**
2 medium potato
1/2 medium onion, diced
100 g ground chicken or pork (I used ground pork)
3/4 C frozen mixed vegetable (carrot, pea, corn), Thawed
1/2 tsp garam masala seasoning
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp crushed black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp turmeric ( I ran out of it, but if using, the filling will have a nicer yellow color) (Option)
More oil for frying

To glue: using the mixture of 1 tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water

**Note: I bought one pack of the spring roll wrapper. My filling recipe probably can make 12-15 small-size samosa. I only used 5-6 spring roll wrappers and still have a lot leftover, so I freeze the wrapper for later time with different fillings. You can choose to freeze the leftover spring roll wrappers or double/triple the filling. Un-fried samosa can be frozen. So, you don't need to cook all of them at once.

In a medium pot, bring water to a boil. While the meantime, peel and cut potatoes into large chunk. Then, boil for 8-10 mins or until the cooked through. When it is completely cool, diced into smaller pieces (1cm cube)

In a large pan or a wok, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add in onion and cook for 2-3 mins. Then, add in the ground chicken/pork. Stir. When the ground chicken/pork is fully cooked, add in mixed vegetable and diced potatoes. Add in all seasoning (garam masala seasoning, curry powder, turmeric, salt, black pepper). Cook for another 2-3 mins. Stir and lightly crush the filling mixture. Transfer the filling into a bowl and let it cool for 10 mins.

Once the filling is completely cool. Bring out one sheet of the spring roll wrapper. Divided them into 3 sections. Take one of the strip and make them into a cone. Fill the wrapper with the prepared samosa filling. Seal the top with the flour-water mixture and fold it over to form a triangle package. Repeat for the remaining filling.

In a small/medium pot, filled with the oil about 2 inch. When the oil is hot enough, approximately 350F, deep fry the prepared samosa; one or two at a time until it is golden browned. Don't overcrowded. You can serve with store bought spring rolls dipping sauce. Best to eat when it is still crispy and hot!

Lovely photos from New Year's 2011

2011-01-11T16:40:00.000+07:00

Happy New Year 2011!

I hope you all have a lovely new year holiday. I spent my new year's holiday at Pattaya with my family this year. Luckily, we got to see New year's Eve firework up close from the Ambassador hotel which locates just beside our condominium. It was worth to wait until midnight! The weather was nice, not too hot. I also got some lovely photo of the sunset and parasailing. I hope you all enjoy!

Firework on New Year's Eve

Sunset on New Year's Eve

Cool actions from Parasailing

Santa has arrived!

2010-12-28T17:26:00.000+07:00

Finallyyyy, Santa (aka Mr.Mailman) arrived at my house this morning! We all have to understand that he has been working hard for all of us. He had to fly all the way from "the almost north pole country" (aka Canada) to Bangkok, Thailand. So, we have to forgive him for his delay. :D

I have been looking forward to getting my sister's Christmas package! Thank you, Sis! xoxo We all love the presents that you sent, especially your homemade christmas cards! I felt like a little kid when I was opening the hugh DHL box. hahaha

Well, now it's time to tell you what I got!

First, a lovely beautiful card that is made by my sister! I wish I know how to use illustrator as good as her! My sister specially made a card for each of us. So, the first one (below) is for me, the second is for my dad, and the third is for my mom. Since I love baking, she made a gingerbread house for me! :D I think she should start making cards and sell them on Etsy!

My second present is Starbucks's nesting tea cups. They only have this in States and Canada, I believe. Starbucks's Christmas merchandises here in Bangkok is totally different from North America. So, I'm happy to get these lovely tea cups! New props for my photos!

My third present is the cake tester from Crate and Barrel. The top of the tester is in the shape of cupcake. It's so cute. I wanted this for while now. So, I finally get it! Now, I don't have to use little toothpicks that never long enough to test the cake. hahaha. Sweeeet!

Last but not least is the candy & deep fryer thermometer. I'm so excited to use this to make some homemade salted caramel, peanut brittle, pates de fruits, and many more! Stay tuned. I will make them soon!

After all, I have to give a biggest thank you to my beloved sister! xoxo

Happy Holiday!

2010-12-25T16:59:00.000+07:00

Happy Holiday to you all. I wish you all have a wonderful

holiday filled with love and sweetness!

Canadian Butter Tarts

2010-12-18T11:45:00.000+07:00

" Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer

had a very shiny nose.

And if you ever saw him,

you would even say it glows.... "

Oh, Christmas is almost here. Can you believe that? I'm still remember this time last year I was baking orange and pecan rugalach and nanaimo bars for my school's Christmas party. A year has gone by so fast!! It's scary to think about it.

Since it's holiday shopping time of the year, there are different events happened around Bangkok. Couple weeks ago, there was a shopping fair at a mall near my house. They had booths held by different countries around the world. Each of them sell food and products from their country. And of course, I had to stop by the Canadian booth! The booth was quite small compared to States and UK, unfortunately. They had the good old Canadian maple syrup and some baked goods. And they even had the Canadian butter tarts. It was so tempting to buy, but I didn't because I knew I can bake them easily.

My first time eating these lovely butter tarts was probably 10 years ago when I first moved to Canada for high school. I lived with a lovely host family for 3 years before I moved to Kingston, ON for the university. They are pretty much my "Canadian" parents. My host mother who is such a good cook and also the best baker made these butter tarts for Christmas.

This year, I'm sharing this lovely Canadian butter tart recipe to you all. I hope you enjoy my special hand-drawn recipe too. For those of you who never have the butter tarts before, I hope you enjoy them.

Happy whisking holiday, Everyone!

Canadian Butter Tarts

(adapted from bbcgoodfood.com)

1 ready-to-roll shortcrust pastry (I used pie crust recipe from SmittenKitchen)

2 eggs

175 g light brown sugar (I used only 120g)

100 g raisins, roughly chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

50 g butter, cubed

4 tbsp heavy cream

50 g walnuts, roughly chopped

pinch of salt (my addition)

Preheat the oven at 350F

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut out as many rounds as you can with fluted cutter or round cutter or just using a small cup. Line them in the tart tins (I used aluminum fold tart tin). Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and add in the light brown sugar, raisins, vanilla, butter, heavy cream, and salt. Stir. Transfer them into a medium size sauce pan and heat over a low heat. Stir continuously until the butter melts. Make sure that you keep stir all the time. When the mixture starts to heat up and thicken (coat the back of a wooden spoon), remove from the heat. Add in the walnuts and mix well. Spoon the filling into the unbaked tart shells. Bake for 18-20 minutes until set and pale golden (mine is exactly 20 minutes). Remove from the oven. Allow them to cool for several minutes before remove them from the tins.

Strawberry Shortcake

2010-12-13T16:44:00.000+07:00

Sometimes, life can be so chaotic. Everyone do deserve a break. So, today I have a quick dessert idea that all of you will love it. Who like Strawberry Shortcake put your hand(s) up? Yes, I am one of them!

I am not sure whether I can say it is Winter in Thailand now even though it is still 30C in Bangkok, lol. But, the weather in the northern of Thailand is much cooler (maybe around 17C and even cooler if you go up on the top of the mountains). We start to see some fresh strawberries from Chiang Mai, and I am excited to see them. I have to buy them!

Here is some notes I have for the recipe. The recipe I gave below has no measurement in it. Since we want something easy and fast, why bother mearsure out all the ingredients. Right? If you like lots of strawberries, go ahead buy a lot and cut in halves a lot. If you are a big fan of whipped cream, just keep whipping it!

I hope this will be one of the perfect ways to end your day. Hope you all enjoy the recipe!

Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberries, halved
honey
Balsamic vinegar
Whipped cream
Store-bought pound cake, sliced

In a medium bowl, cut strawberries in halves. Add a little of honey and balsamic vinegar; 1-2 tsp is just fine for 10-12 strawberries. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 30 mins. This allows strawberries to release all the yummy juice. To serve, place a piece (or more) of the pound cake on dessert plate. Top with strawberries and whipped cream. Don't forget the juice!

Homemade Granola

2010-12-11T15:13:00.000+07:00

My morning hardly starts with a bowl of cereal anymore. There are so many options for breakfast that I can choose here in Bangkok. I can say that typical thai breakfasts always involve with rice. You can have congee with ground pork and ginger, sticky rice with bbq pork or chicken, or even a bowl of rice with curry for breakfast. That's why I barely touch cereal at all. So, this morning I decided to come back to my good old homemade granola. My favourite way to eat granola is just to simply topped on a plain natural yoghurt. That's is how I started my day. Have a good day everyone!

Homemade Granola
(my baking without a recipe!)

1 C Quick cooking oats, toasted
2/3 C Almonds, coursely chopped and toasted
2/3 C Unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted
1/3 C Sunflower seeds, toasted
1 C Mixed dried fruits (your choice; I used dried strawberry, apple, mango, and banana)
1/4 C honey
1/4 C brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven at 325F.

In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, and mixed dried fruits. Set aside. In a small sauce pan, combine honey, brown sugar, butter, and salt. Bring the honey mixture to a boil over the medium-low heat. Stir. Let it simmer for 1-2 minutes or until all the butter and sugar are melted. Remove from the heat. Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture. Mix well. Spread the granola on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 mins or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool completely.

Tea Time @ Lenotre, Bangkok

2010-12-01T15:58:00.000+07:00

After spending the whole afternoon checking out furniture stores with my mom around Bangkok's downtown area, we decided to stop at Lenotre at Siam Paragon for our tea break. It was my first time here. I didn't know that there is a Lenotre store existing in Thailand until my previous visiting at Siam Paragon. The place is nice, not too many people at the time. There aren't many tables offered in the store which might be bad for the weekend traffic. But, I'm glad that I visited on the weekdays, so I can just sit and enjoy the cakes with pots of tea with my mom, without feeling rushed.

There are so many cake selections. It was hard to decide what I want, believe me. The only negative comment that I have is that there should be a desciption for each cake. It was hard to know what it is inside by just looking at the cake and its name. I did ask the server to explain couple of them to me. Just feel a little bit bad if I have to ask for all of them (lol). So, I ended up ordering the cake called "Emeraude" which is layers of pistachio cake with vanilla bavarian cream in between. At the center of the cake, there is raspberry gelee which is quite tangy refreshing and works very well with the sweet pistachio cake and vanilla bavarian cream. On the top, they decorated with raspberry coulits, half raspberry macaron and a small piece of chocolate with their signature. For my mom, she ordered this tasty peach tart which is also very good. I also ordered a pot of vanilla rose tea for myself and hers is mint green tea.

Last but not least, I came home with a box of macarons. The flavours are chocolate, pistachio, raspberry, vanilla, and coffee. Surprisingly, it cost 3$ (CAD) for the box! That's pretty good deal!

PS. I can't wait for my next visit!

Tong the stray cat

2010-10-11T14:20:00.001+07:00

It has been a while now since my last post. I have been pretty busy with many stuff but one of them is trying to find a job! Anyway, today I have a cute photo of Tong and his story for you. I hope you enjoy with this little change!

Tong the stray cat

His name is "Tong" meaning "Gold" in Thai. Since my parents' husky died for almost a year now, Tong has been visiting us more often. He is a stray cat that comes and goes. Tong is the name that my parents gave to him because of his golden color. My parents feed him whenever he comes to visit. Usually, he comes once or twice a week. We have no commitment to each other but Tong knows that when he comes here, there will be food for him. I always wonder what he has done...where he has been. Sometimes, we don't see him for a week or more, but at the end he always comes back to visit us!

That's it...the story of Tong

Apple Tarts with Vanilla Ice Cream

2010-08-06T14:14:00.000+07:00

Yesterday, I went to a fresh market and found apples that are imported from New Zealand. Too bad, I forgot to take a picture of the apples before it got chopped. I'm not sure what type they are, but they have a lovely vibrant red color which reminds me of Fall season. Unfortunately, we don't have 4 seasons in Thailand. This is one of the things that I'm missing about Canada. But at least, I can still make these yummy apple tarts with vanilla ice cream, turn on an air condition to a very low setting, close my eyes and imagine that I'm in Canada eating these yummy apple tarts. Enjoy!

Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream

(Make: 10 mini tarts)

PASTRY

(Pastry recipe from La Fuji Mama)

2 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp granulated sugar

1 C cold butter, cubed, chilled

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1/2 C milk

APPLE FILLING

1/4-1/2 stick of butter

6 apples

1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

In a large bowl, whisk flour, salt and granulated sugar. Chill the flour mixture in the freezer for 15 minutes. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Add in the cider vinegar. Gradually add the milk. Mix the mixture with pastry cutter until the dough stick together. Form a ball and divided the dough into 10 pieces. Wrap each one with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

While the dough is chilling, peel, core and cube apples. In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add in the cubed apples. Stir often for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar and nutmeg over the apple. Continue stirring about 5 minutes or until the sugar is melted and bubbled. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Preheat at 375 F

After 1 hour of chilling the dough in refrigerator, remove one of the dough ball at a time. Roll out the ball into a circle that a little bit larger than the tart shell. Place it over the tart shell and fit the dough inside with your fingertips. Trim the edges by rolling the rolling pin over the tart shell. Repeat the steps for the remaining balls.

Fill each tart with apple filling. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven. Let it cool slightly. Remove the tart shell. Place the baked apple tart on a small dish and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Things iLove - Rice Field & Dragon Fruit Farm Edition

2010-07-16T16:30:00.000+07:00

Yesterday, my parents and I took a drive to Ratchaburi Province which is 2 hours drive from Bangkok. There are many rice fields along the way, so we stopped to take some photos. We also stopped by at dragon fruit farm too.

Enjoy!

Rice field and a Cow
(We found two cows standing on the sideroad eating grass. He was looking at me like 'why you are calling me and taking my picture?')

Rice field and Another Cow

Closed Up Rice Plants

(Harvest time is almost here. The color of the rice plants is starting to change from green to golden yellow. Lovely!)

Egret

(standing at the top of the tree protecting the nest)

Dragon Fruit Farm

Red & White Dragon Fruit at Farmer's Stand
(There are two types of dargon fruit. The white one is sweeter and the red one has a little bit of tartness.)

Apricot Jam Thumbprints & Carrot Cake Cookies

2010-07-14T16:21:00.000+07:00

Sorry for my disappearing for couple weeks. However, I'm back with 2 yummy recipes for you!

Baking cookies is my most favorite thing to bake and also eat. After looking at my recipe index, I feel I haven't posted much of cookie recipes on here. So today I have two yummy cookie recipes for you.

First one is Apricot Jam Thumbprints. These thumbprints cookies are a little bit different from the normal thumbprints that I made before. It's dipped in egg white and rolled in ground almond-sugar mixture. So, the cookies have crunchy texture on the outside. I like this version of thumbprints better because of the crunchy almond.

The second recipe is Carrot Cake Cookies. If you like carrot cake with yummy cream cheese frosting, you will love this recipe. This Martha's carrot cake cookie recipe has carrots, oats, spices, and raisin in it. I think the recipe is already great and the cookies do taste like carrot cake. However, I might add shredded coconut and some nuts when I make this again next time. I think they will be even better.

Hope you all enjoy them!

Jam Thumbprints
(from Martha Stewart Magazine - Holiday Cookies; Make: 24 cookies)

(Note: my dough was abit too soft to handle since I'm in a tropical country. I chilled my dough for 30 mins to 1 hour or until it is firm to handle.)

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 C plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 C finely grounded almond
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 C jam or preserves (I used apricot jam)

Preheat at 325F

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and 1/2 C sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract. Beat well. Add the flour-sugar mixture to the egg mixture, beat until combine.

In a small bowl, combine the almond and the remaining 2 tbsp sugar. Set aside

Form dough into 1-inch ball, dip in egg white, then in the almond-sugar mixture. Make a deep indentation in the center of each ball with your finger. Place in lined baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and press down the center again. Rotate sheets and bake until golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Fill centers with about 1 tsp of jam.

Carrot Cake Cookies
(adapted from Martha Stewart Magazine - Holiday Cookies; Make: 36-48 cookies)

(Note: I omitted 1 C of granulate sugar in the recipe because my parents do not eat too sweet stuff. The cookies is sandwiched together with cream-cheese frosting. So, you already have extra sweetness there. You can also omit the cream cheese frosting too since the carrot cake cookies are also good by themselves!)

1 C packed light-brown sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 C all-purpose flour, plus more for flattening cookies
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 C old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2C finely grated carrots (about 3 large carrots)
1 C raisins
cream cheese frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat at 350F

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and light-brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, mix until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

Shape 1 tbsp of dough into a ball. Flat the ball by hand and place on a lined baking sheet, 2 inch apart.

Baking for 12-15 mins or until browned and crisp, rotating halfway through. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Once cooled completely use an offset spatula to spread about 2 tsp of cream cheese frosting onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookies. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Frosting
(Note: I only made half of this cream cheese frosting recipe and it's more than enough for the cookies that I made.)

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 C confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in butter and beat until well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar and continue beat until smooth. Add vanilla extract and stir to combine.

Things iLove - Home Edition

2010-07-10T16:13:00.000+07:00

Galangal Honey Almond Biscotti

2010-06-16T12:12:00.000+07:00

It is not always a bad thing when things turn out to be different from what you planned. This is one of the examples.

I was planning to bake gingerbread biscotti for my mom. She asked me to make any kind of 'gingerbread' type of baked goods. To be honest, gingerbread is not a common type of cookies that you can find in Bangkok's bakeries. It may be because of the molasses which is a rare ingredient over here. Lucky me. My sister brought some back for my mom when she visited home last time.

When I started prepping, I realized that we didn't have ground ginger. Oops! However, we do have ground galangal. So, I decided to use that instead.

So, what is 'galangal'?

Well, galangal is similar to typical ginger that you find in grocery store. However, it is whiter in color and has more peppery taste than ginger. Galangal root is often used in Thai cuisine. If you have Thai Tom Yum soup before, this is one of the ingredients that they used to make the Tom Yum broth. Where to find this ground galangal? You should be able to find it at your local Asian grocery store. It is easier to find the dried version than the fresh one in North America.

So, this is how the plan was changed. The recipe that I adapted from is from Anja's Food 4 Thought. There are couple things that I changed. I used ground galangal instead of ground ginger, and also used honey instead of agave syrup. I got my honey from my grandma who happens to make her own honey from the bees in her longon farm. I recommended you to use a good quality honey that you can find in your local store or farmer market.

Final result?

My Galangal Honey Almond Biscotti turned out to have a wonderful honey flavor with a hint of galangal. My mom enjoyed it even though it's not gingerbread biscotti that she expected. The biscotti would go very well with spiced type of tea such as chai tea. I hope you enjoy!

Galangal Honey Almond Biscotti
(Adapted from Anja's Food 4 Thought; Make: 10-12 pieces)

1 1/4 C whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground galangal
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C almond, coarsely chopped
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C honey
2 tbsp molasses

Preheat at 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, galangal, nutmeg, salt, and chopped almond. In another large bowl, whisk the egg, vanilla, honey and molasses together. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Mix until incorporated.

Turn the dough onto the floured surface. If the mixture is too wet, add a little bit of all-purpose flour at a time. Knead the dough for several times or until the dough does not stick to the surface. Form the dough into a log, approximately 1 inch high and 5 inch wide. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Once the centre is firm to touch, remove from the oven. Let it cool for 15 minutes before cutting them into 1/2 inch pieces.

Reduce the temperature to 300F

Place the sliced biscotti on the baking sheet. Bake for another 20 minutes. Let it cool completely on a rack.

Orange and Almond Cake

2010-06-09T11:25:00.002+07:00

It has been a month since my last post. Now, I'm back at home in Bangkok, Thailand. It's nice to be back here. I feel like a foreigner in my own homeland since I haven't been living here for the past ten years. It will take me quite sometimes to get used to the buzzing and the hot weather again! During the last two weeks since I've been back, I have been running around and doing lots of thing with my parents. I went up to Chiang Mai which is a city that locates at the northern of Thailand to visit my grandma for a week. I visited many temples in Chiang Mai. I posted some of the pictures in my 365-days project. Feel free to drop by!

When I was in Chiang Mai, my mom took me to a baking-supplies store. I bought couple ingredients and cake pans, so I can start baking again when I came back in Bangkok. To be honest, I never ever bake when I'm back at home in Thailand. It will take me sometimes to know where would be the best places to buy my baking supplies. However, what I found the most challenging is to trust someone else's oven. I tried not to judge the look of my parents' oven. LOL. Somehow, I just do not trust it. Before I left Toronto, I decided to buy an oven thermometer. So, this way I know that at least I will get a right temperature and everything should turn out okay...and it did!

The first recipe that I make is Orange and Almond Cake. Couple days before I arrived, my mom boiled some oranges and froze them in the freezer. So, she was asking me whether I can make something out of it. So, I went on TasteSpotting and found an orange cake recipe from Peter at Souvlaki For the Soul which uses boiled oranges. I love this recipe because there is no use of flour, butter, or oil. I would say it's pretty healthy kind of cake. It's moist, dense and not too sweet. Everyone in the family loves it. So, thumbs up for the cake and for the oven too!

Orange Almond Cake
(Adapted from Souvlaki For The Soul)

2 large oranges, boiled
6 eggs, lightly beaten
250 gr. of ground almond
160 gr. of sugar **
1 tsp baking powder
icing sugar, dusting

** The original recipe calls for 250 gr. of sugar. After I read the comments, I decided to reduce the sugar to 160 grams. The sweetness turns out to be perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.**

Place the oranges in a medium pot. Add water until the oranges is barely covered. Cover the pot and boil the oranges for 2 hours. Let it cool to the room temperature. Once it is cool, cut them into segments. Remove any seeds. Cut them into small pieces. Set aside.

Preheat the oven at 375F. Butter and flour a 24cm springform pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the ground almond, sugar, and baking powder. Set aside.

Using a food processor, blend the oranges and the eggs quite thoroughly together. Pour the egg mixture into a large bowl and slowly add the almond mixture. Mix until incorporated.

Pour the cake mixture into the springform pan and bake for 45 mins to 1 hour or until the knife come out clean.

Cool it on a rack to room temperature. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Deconstructed Rhubarb White Chocolate Ginger Cheeesecake

2010-05-12T02:10:00.000+07:00

On the weekend, I made my last visit to St. Lawrence Market before I fly back home next Thursday. Spring is here and there were many spring vegetable at the market. I was planning to get some fresh spring vegetable that will last during my last week here. Lucky me, I got there just in the right time and finally found fiddleheads. I have heard about it quite sometimes, but I haven't seen them around before. So, I bought them back and made a quick sauteed with ginger, garlic and balsamic for the dinner. My first experience with fiddleheads was great. I like them. They do taste like asparagus. There were a lot of rhubarb at the market. Since this will be hard to find in the future, I decided to buy some back home. I was confused by the two different looks of the rhubarbs ( Forced vs. Field ). I ended up bought the normal one since that was the type that I used when I made strawberry-rhubarb pie last year with my best friends using their home grown rhubarb.

When I was at the market, I was really sure what I was going to make. Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie? Rhubarb-Strawberry Crisp? These sounds great, but I want to make something different this time. I have no oats and no flour, so a pie or a crisp is not one of the options for me. But then, I came across this no-baked white chocolate ginger cheesecake recipe from The Good Mood Food Blog. So, I thought this would go really well with my rhubarb! I played around with the plating of this deconstructed rhubarb white chocolate ginger cheesecake. You can serve them on a plate as I did the picture above or serve them in little gars or shot glasses. The white chocolate cheesecake is very rich. A small serving of this would be perfect at the end of the dinner. I love how the tartness of the rhubarb lightens up the whole dessert. Since no baking is involved, this is a perfect dessert to make during the hot summer days. I also recommended making each component ahead and assemble right before serving, so that the ginger crust would not get soggy.

Deconstructed Rhubarb White Chocolate Ginger Cheesecake
(adapted from The Good Mood Food Blog)

Ginger Crust
200g of ginger biscuits
100g of butter, melted

Crush the biscuits with rolling pin or in a food processor until you have fine breadcrumbs. Pour in the melted butter and mix well.

White Chocolate Cheesecake
450g of cream cheese
200g of white chocolate
100ml of cream
1 tablespoon of icing sugar

Slowly melt white chocolate over the double boiler. In a separate medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, cream, icing sugar and melted white chocolate until the mixture has a light texture. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Rhubarb Compote
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Juice of 2-3 oranges
4 cups chopped rhubarb
3 strips orange rind, removed the white part

In a medium pot over a medium-high heat, bring the orange juice and sugar to a boil. Add in the chopped rhubarb and the orange rind. Simmer the mixture until the rhubarb tender. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Note: If you ended with leftover of the rhubarb compote (like I do!), you can have it with vanilla yogurt or strawberry yogurt, topped with granola and a touch of honey.

Easy Blackberry Apple Galettes

2010-04-28T06:08:00.000+07:00

Life can be too hectic and crazy. However, it is nice to start the day by making something simple and tasty for breakfast and hope the rest of the day is going to be just alright. This morning I decided to make these easy blackberry and apple galettes for my breakfast. As you know I pretty much have an empty pantry at the moment, I decided to use pre-made puff pastry that can be found in the frozen section at the grocery store for the crust. Thanks to Helen of Tartelette, I got this wonderfull blackberry apple filling recipe for my galettes. If you didn't have much time in the morning, you could make the filling the night before. All you need to do in the morning is to assemble it and bake!

I'm also celebrating my 100th blip today! If you were interested on my 365 project, please drop by to check it out!

Blackberry Apple Gallettes
(adapted from Tartelette)

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
5 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
5 tbsp water
1-1/2 cup blackberries
egg wash
Turbinado sugar
1 box of ready-use puff pastry

In a medium pan, cook the apple, sugar, and lemon juice over a medium low heat until tender. Add in the blackberries and cook for several minutes. Dilute the cornstarch in the water and add to the pan. Cook until the mixture is not cloudy. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven at 375F

Unroll the puff pastry and cut into 6-inch rounds or any shape that you like. Fill the center with the blackberry-apple filling and fold the edges towards the center. Brush the crust with egg wash and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Chocolate Flaxseed Banana Bread

2010-04-18T04:27:00.002+07:00

I haven't been baking much these days. It is a bit difficult at the moment because I'm in a transition of moving aboard. So, I have been starting to use up all stuff I have in my pantry. For my baking supplies, I pretty much have 2 cups of flour, less than a cup of sugar, a little bit of chocolate chips, a little bit of flaxseed, and some of margarine in the fridge. After searching for an easy, simple, low-budget recipe, I decided to make good old classic banana bread. I have been making banana breads so many times. However, I haven't found a recipe that makes me please with the final texture of the quick bread. When I discovered "jacked-up banana bread" recipe from Deb of Smitten Kitchen, I decided to give it a try, even dressed it up with a little bit of chocolate chips and some flaxseed that I have.

Final result was great! Thank you, Deb! The texture was great, soft and moist. The sweetness was perfect for me. It's great for breakfast and any time snacks.

Chocolate Flaxseed Banana Bread
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
3-4 medium very ripe banana, mashed
1/3 cup melted margarine
1/2 cup light brown sugar, light packed
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-1/2 cup flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp flaxseed

Preheat the oven at 350F.
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix the mashed banana, melted butter, light brown sugar, and egg. Add in the flour mixture to the banana mixture. Stir to combine. Add in the chocolate chips. Stir to combine. Pour mixture into a lined 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

Chocolate "Chips" & Fruit "Salsa"

2010-04-07T02:50:00.002+07:00

Who like to eat nacho put your hand up?

Well, I am one of them. Whenever I crave for junk food, I end up choosing to eat nacho. Recently, I discovered a modern healthy version of the “chips & salsa” that may satisfy my craving for junk food. It may not be the cheesy type of chips and salsa but it does make a great healthy snack or mini dessert. These chocolate ‘chips’ are made from wonton wrappers that are baked until it is crispy and are served with fresh fruit salsa.

Dominique and Cindy Duby are Canadian pastry chefs based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They own a fine chocolate boutique called DC Duby Wild Sweet in Vancouver. I came across their website while ago when I did a research on molecular gastronomy for my interior design project. They wrote several books, mostly relate to desserts and sweets. I found this healthy version of the “chips & salsa from one of their classic series called Chocolate. In this little book, it is packed with more than 50 classic chocolate related recipes from hot chocolate to delicate truffles. D & C did very well on giving unique spins on the classic recipes. I found there are some easy recipes in this book that can be easily made in a normal home kitchen. I recommend this book for those of you who want to learn more about chocolate. I think you will enjoy it!

Note: For the salsa, you can use any type of fruits you like. The original ingredients for salsa recipe are strawberries, pineapple, mango and some mints. For the chocolate chips, the original recipe uses 1tsp of chili powder. However, I decided to use cayanne pepper instead and decrease the amount to 1/4 tsp. I also made the chips into little cups and fill them with fruit salsa. This version work well for the mini dessert at the end of the meal.

Chocolate Chips
(Adapted from Chocolate by Dominique & Cindy Duby)
1 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1/2-1 pack of wonton wrappers

Fruit Salsa
2 kiwi, peeled and cubed
1/4 pinapple, peeled, cored, and cubed
1 nectarine, pitted and cubed
honey to taste

Preheat the oven at 350F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

To make chips:
In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder, cayenne pepper, melted butter and melted chocolate together. Brush mixture onto each wonton wrapper on both sides and cut into a desired shapes. Place chocolate wrapper on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let cook on a rack.

To make salsa:
In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients and let it sit in the fridgerator for at least 1 hour.

Guu Izakaya, Toronto, Ontario

2010-04-03T04:32:00.001+07:00

Recently, I had a chance to visit this new Japanese restaurant called Guu Izakaya, opened back in mid December 2009. Guu offers tapas-styled menu which is different from other Japanese restaurants around here in Toronto. I recommended to go there before 5pm when the restaurant opens. If not, you might have to wait for awhile. The concept of the place is very casual, loud, and lots of energy. Every single time when someone walks into the restaurant, staffers shout out greetings. The atmosphere of the place is pretty busy and noisy. So, if you don't mind this, this might be a place for you to give it a try. The interior design of the restaurant is very nice. It does give the pub atmosphere with a hit of Asian influence. I was not surprised at all when later I found out it was designed by the firm that I did my internship! The restaurant offers long communal tables. However, they do have several two-persons tables available. I just want to mention that don’t forget to check out their washrooms too. They’re pretty nice!

I went to Guu with another two friends, so we ended up ordering seven dishes to share in total, plus three more dishes for desserts. The dishes here aren't that big since it is in tapas-styled. It would be better to come with lots of people, so you can order variety of dishes. From left to right, the first dish is called "Gyu Carpaccio". It is seared marbled beef sashimi, crispy around the edges. These very thin slides of beef pretty much melt in your mouth when you eat. The second dish is called “Hotate Carpaccio”. It's scallop sashimi with wasabi dressing. The scallops are fresh and have buttery textures. The dressing is well-compliment and doesn’t influence the flavor of the fresh scallop. The third dish is called “Takoyaki”. It is deep fired puffed octopus ball with tonkatsu sause and mustard mayo. If you like octopus, I recommended this. It's a very well-known street dish in Japan. This dish was not bad, but I had this better. I was happy to eat them again since I haven't had them for so long.

(Clockwise) The next dish is called Kimchi Udon boiled Udon. It is udon noodle with spicy cod roe and topped with kimchi. If you love kimchi and cod roe, you must try this. Even thought the dish looks very simple, it does pack with tons of flavours. Next, it's marinated tuna. I forgot to take the picture before we ate, so here is one of the pieces! It might be one of the specials that they have since I don’t see this in the online menu. Next dish is this sweet shrimp sashimi. Even though it looks like a bunch of live shrimp staring at you at the table, but they were sweet and delicious. The last dish is grilled saba. It is a grilled mackeral with garlic, lemon, and herbs.

Now, it's dessert time! We order (left to right) fried banana with coconut ice cream, wasabi cheesecake and almond tofu. I think the highlight was the wasabi cheesecake. It was very weird, but interesting good. It had a hint of wasabi that gave me a little kick in my mouth and nose. The texture was like a normal cheesecake but it was less sweet but more salty. I'm not whether it's a mental thing or not when you eat wasabi and you think of soy sauce...so it taste salty!

To conclude, the food was unique and good. The service was not bad. We didn’t have to wait for food that long even though the tables were all full. Plus, we went there when the restaurant just opened, so no line up. The staffers were nice and friendly. So, I give 8 out of 10 for my first time experience at Guu Izakaya.

Churros with Cinnamon Sugar

2010-03-13T03:06:00.002+07:00

I remember my first time eating churros was at Disneyland in California back in 1992 when I was 7 years old. That was a very long time ago. My family and I spent a month travelling in the States. It is funny that I don't remember much about the trip. The only thing I remember is that I ate this 2-feet long crispy, deep fried, dough coated with sweet cinnamon sugar. At that time, I didn't think I knew what it really was until these past several years. No Mickey Mouse, Peter Pan or Prince Charming...Just churros that is all I remember my first trip to Disneyland...

Making churros is easier than I thought. Things that look like they would be hard to make are not that hard once you try. Churros is definitely one of them. It's a perfect substitution when you have doughnuts craving because you don't need to wait for the dough to rise. No yeast in the recipe.

Churros with Cinnamon Sugar
(adapted from Deeba of Passionate About Baking)

1 cup milk
3 tbsp. butter, diced
2 tbsp. brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting
2 large eggs
Vegetable oil, for frying
Cinnamon sugar, for dusting

In a medium bowl, mix the flour and cinnamon, set aside. In a mediam pot, heat the milk, butter, brown sugar, and salt over medium heat until the butter has melted. The mixture should be hot, but not boiling before adding the flour mixture. Add in the flour mixture into the pot. Remove the pot from the heat. Stir rapidly until the mixture pulls away from the side of the pan. Let cool slightly about 3-4 mins. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until the mixture is thick and smooth. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a wide star tip.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan around 1.5-2 inch high. Pipe 5" lengths of the dough into the oil. Use a knife to cut the dough from the tip of the pastry bag. Deep fry for 4-5 mins; keep rotating the churros, until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Coat the churros with the cinnamon sugar.

Soft Pretzels

2010-03-10T02:46:00.001+07:00

After seeing many soft pretzels postings on TasteSpotting lately, I decided to give it another try. My skills with yeast have been improved since I discovered a trick to make my bread dough rise. In the past, I always had troubles making my bread dough doubled its size because it is always cold inside the house especially in the winter. The trick that I found is to turn on the oven at the lowest temperature for 5 mins or so and turn the oven off to create a warm cozy little place for our yeast friend. You can do that while you knead the dough. So, by the time you're done with kneading...the oven will be nice and warm (not too hot) for our yeast friend. Now, we have became good friends, and I never have troubles with the dough anymore. After searching for a good soft pretzel recipe, I ended up with this recipe. Most of the comments that people left are positive, so I have a good feeling that I'll end up good, delicious soft pretzels. The final result turned out pretty well.

Soft Pretzels
(Adapted from allrecipes.com; 6 pretzels)

2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp white sugar
1/2 C and 2 tbsp warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2-1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp vegetable oil

1/4 C baking soda
2 C hot water
2 tbsp kosher salt, for topping

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in 1/2 C warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 F. In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in 2 cups of hot water. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, or until golden brown.

World Book Day

2010-03-06T02:39:00.000+07:00

I discovered that yesterday, March 4, was World Book Day through Blipfoto, where I post my 365-days project. Since I'm a food lover, I love to read books that have stories related to food. However, I did really get into it until the beginning of the year. If you're interested to know the books that I have been reading so far, here is my compiling list. The books that I heart the most (so far) are The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones and A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg.

The Last Chinese Chef is a fiction story of widowed American food writer, Maggie McElroy, who finds out that someone in China has filed a paternity claim against her husband's estate after a year of her husband's death. Because of this, she asks her editor for time off to go to China and take care of this matter. However, her editor assigns her a project to profile rising cuilinary star Sam Liang, who is a half-Chinese American Chef living in Beijing. This is how the story of Maggie's charactoer developed . I love this book not only because it has a food-related story, but it also gives you an insight of Chinese's culinary and political history and culture. This book combines the stories of food, history, culture, love, and friendship into one. I think it's a well-written and well-researched fiction. I found that I became engaged in the story, and it was hard to put the book down.

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table is a non-fiction book that Molly Wizenberg shares her personal life stories, along with her recipes. It is fascinating to learn about her personal life stories and also the stories behind the recipes that she gives in the book. The book offers a wide range of flavors; sad, happy, funny, love...you name it, with variety of recipes. After I read through her book, I feel the need of trying the recipes that she shares. Molly also has a food blog called Orangette. So, if you're interested, feel free to drop by and check it out. I borrowed this book from a library, so I think I'll need to get my own copy of this. A paperback version is coming out at the end of the month, so I can't wait!

After finished Molly's book yesterday, I'm currently I love, I lost, I made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci. Not much I can say about this book yet since I started last night. However, it is interesting to read and learn about food and culture...from Chinese to French...and now Italian...

Chocolate Almond Lemon Meringue Tart

2010-03-04T05:49:00.003+07:00

It is interesting how the weather can effect our mood. After I jinxed the weather last week, we got snow for couple days. However, the snow didn't stay that long, pretty much all gone by now. For the past couple days, the weather has been very nice, sunny. The temperature is above the zero. It feels like the day is longer. People are happy and alive. That's a very good sign telling me that Spring is coming soon!

To celebrate the nice weather and the sign of the spring season, I decided to make these tangy, lip-smacking lemon meringue tarts. Playing around the the tart dough's recipe, I added cocoa powder and ground almond. The sweet nutty tart is well-balance with the tangy flavour of the lemon filling. Enjoy!

Chocolate Almond Lemon Meringue Tart

(Adapted from Lemon meringue pie from Gourmet Traveller;7-8 servings)

Chocolate Almond Tart Dough

1/3 C ground almond
1/3 C sugar
1 C all-purpose flour
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 large egg yolk
1 large egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut
1 tbsp water, cold

Lemon Curd
3 lemons, juice and finely grated rind only
1/3 C cornflour
3 egg yolks
3/4 C caster sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter

Meringue
1/2 C sugar
4 eggwhites

For Chocolate Almond Tart
Combine the ground almond, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add butter, use the pastry cutter, cut until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add egg, egg yolk and water, mix until the mixture comes together. Turn on the floured surface. Form 1/2 " thick disk. Wrap it with plastric wrap and refrigerate it for 1 hour. Roll pastry onto a floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Line the tart pans and refrigerate for 20 mins. Preheat the oven at 350 F. Line pastry with baking paper, fill with pastry weights or rice and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove paper and rice and bake for a further 5 minutes or until golden. Remove and cool to room temperature.

Lemon Curd
Combine lemon juice and rind in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. In a separate bowl, combine cornflour and 2 tbsp water and stir to combine, then add to lemon mixture and whisk to combine. Add 1 cup boiling water and whisk over simmering water until thick. Remove from heat, whisk in egg yolks, sugar and butter until combined and refrigerate until cold. Spoon mixture into the tart shells and smooth surface.

Meringue
Preheat the oven at 350F. Whip the whites on high speed to soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar, while whipping on high speed, until the meringue is shiny and stiff. Then pipe or spread over the tart. Bake for 10 mins or until golden brown.

Molten Chocolate Cake

2010-02-26T01:46:00.004+07:00

hmm...I just realized that 3 of the 5 posts that I have been posting so far are chocolate-related recipes. That is why they say that chocolate is a girl best friend. In fact, chocolate contains a chemical called phenylethylamine which is the same hormone that brain triggers when you fall in love. That's why we always cheer up ourselves with chocolate and feel happy when we eat it. Did you know that?

Another interesting story is that this molten chocolate cake is only 23 years old (hmm...couple years younger than me). It was claimed to be invented in 1987 by Jean-Georges Vongerichten in New York City. I'm glad that he discovered this irresistible cake that has a deep rich chocolate flavour with a warm gooey centre. So, thank you for that Mr. Vongerichten!

Molten Chocolate Cakes

(Adapted from Everyday Food:Great Food Fast; 4 servings)

4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature plus more for the ramekins

1/3 C granulated sugar, plus more for the ramekins

3 large eggs

1/3 C all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven at 400F

Butter the four ramekins and dust with granulated sugar and tap out excess. Set aside. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in flour and salt. Mix until just combined. Add in the melted chocolate. Do not over mix. Divided the batter evenly among the prepared ramekins. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 mins, until the tops of the cakes no loger jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 mins. To serve, turn out the cakes and place on serving plates. Dust with icing sugar. Enjoy!

Japchae (whisk the pantry's version)

2010-02-25T06:43:00.003+07:00

Today is one of those days that you prefer to stay inside. It is cold, wet, cloudy, and kind of snow outside. Well, maybe I shouldn't complain about it since we pretty much get less than half of snow this year(which is weird because in the States, they get tons of snow and we get pretty much nothing up here). Still, I hope spring is coming soon!

Because of the weather, I feel like making something easy, simple and ,of course, fast.

When I was in university, my roommate always made Korean food. Her mom made lots of Bulgogi (marinated beef) for her. So, we always had tons of these in our freezer. Because of her, I fell in love with Korean food. I love Korean food because they use lots of vegetable in their dishes and also have so many numbers of side dishes. My favorite Korean dish is probably Bibimbap. This dish is served in a super hot stone bowl. Rice is placed in the bowl and topped with sautéed vegetable (including cucumber, zucchini, mushrooms, soybean sprouts, and spinach), beef bulgogi, and a raw egg. The way you eat this dish is you put the Korean chili pepper paste (gochujang) and mix everything together. Because of the bowl is super hot, anything that touches the bowl sizzles and gets golden and crispy. I love it when the chili paste get caramelize.

Another korean dish that I like is called Japchae. It’s a noodle dish that stir-fired in sesame oil with various vegetable. So, what I made today is my version of Japchae. I hope you like it.

Japchae (whisk the pantry's version)

For bulgogi beef:
1/2 lb sliced beef ( I had beef eye of round, so I sliced it very thinly. It is easier to slice the beef thinly when the beef is semi-frozen)
3 tbsp soysauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

(Note: if you like spicy, you can add couple teaspoons of gochujang)

For the rest:
1 medium carrot, julienned
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 medium bok choy, chopped into 1-inch piece
3 dried shiitake mushroom, soaked for 15-20 mins, stemmed, sliced
1-2 bunch of korean cellophane noodle (dangmyeon)
3-4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

To marinate bulgogi beef
Combine all the ingredients for bulgogi beed. Marinate the beef for 30 mins to 1 hour.

To make Japchae
Heat oil in a large frying pan over the medium-high heat; stir fry the marinated beef until browned all over and cooked through. Set aside.

Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add in the dangmyeon. Cook for 5-8 mins, or until it is soften. Drain and set aside.

While the noodle is cooking, heat oil in another large frying plan; sautéed onion until golden brown. Add in the carrot and cook for 5-6 mins. Add in the bok choy and the mushroom, stir and cook for another 5 mins. When the vegetable are soften, add the dangmyeon and the beef. Cook for another 2 mins. Add in the soy sauce and sesame oil, stir and cook for another 2-3 mins.

Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops & Caramel-topped Flan

2010-02-20T05:22:00.005+07:00

My best friend came to visit me from Edmonton for the last 5 days. We did a lot of cooking, baking, eating and Winter Olympic-watching which were very enjoyable and fun. It was very nice to be able to share this with her. On her last day here, we spend all day baking these goodies, so that she can bring some back and snack during her flight back to Edmonton. She picked out these two recipes from Baking From My Home to Yours which are Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops and Caramel-topped Flan. Both of the recipes turned out wonderful. No one can say no to these chocolaty cookies and this classic caramel custard!

Malted milk powder reminded me of my childhood. Grew up in South-East Asia, we were familar to malted milk powder especially Ovaltine and Milo. It is pretty much a substition for hot chocolate in North America. In my opinion, the best way to make this malted milk drink is to make it with the sweetended condensed milk, no sugar. The condensed milk makes the drink creamier and gives more depth to the drink. Another way that I liked to make when I was young was to mix the malted milk powder with the sweetended condensed milk without water added. So, you get this sweet chewy frosting-type dough or whatever you call this brown gooey thing. To be honest, it was really good!

Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops
(Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)
Make: 30 Cookies

1-3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 C malted milk powder ( I used the classic Ovaltine flavored)
1/4 C unsweetended cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 C sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 C whole milk
2 C chocolate-covered malted milk balls ( I used Whoppers), coarsely chopped
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven at 350 F.
Sift together the flour, malted milk powder, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a seperate large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer for 3 mins, until very smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 min after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Add in half of the dry ingredients, mixing until they disappear into the batter. Mix in the milk, and then the remaining dry ingredients. Mix until they are incorporated. Mix in malted milk balls and chocolate chips, using a rubber spatula. Drop the dough, a tablespoonful, on the lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space in between. Baking for 11-13 minutes, rotating the pan after 6 minutes. Let the cookies rest for several minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to cool to a room temperature on a cooling rack.

Caramel-Topped Flan
(Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)
Make: 6-8 servings

For the Caramel
1/3 C sugar
3 tbsp water
Squirt of fresh lemon juice

For the Flan
1-1/2 C heavy cream
1-1/4 C whole milk
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven at 350 F.
Line a roasting pan or a 9x13 inch baking pan with a double thickness of paper towel. Fill a teakettle with water and bring to boil, when the water bolis, turn off the heat.

To make the caramel, combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small sauce pan. Put the pan over the medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-coloured caramel, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke and pour the caramel into the ramekins. Spread the caramel evenly over the bottom and set the ramekins aside.

To make the flan, bring the cream and milk just to a boil. In a separate large heatproof bowl, mix the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two and stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot mixture. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam. Put the ramekins in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the ramekins and slide into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake the flan for 25 mins, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean. Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the ramekins to a cooling rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the ramekins to loosen it. Let it cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To serve, run a knif between the flan and the remekins. Place the platter over the remekins, quickly flip the platter and the remekins over and remove the remekins.

Linzer Heart Cookies

2010-02-15T01:46:00.007+07:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

For those of you who might need a very last minute idea for Valentine's Day, here it is Linzer Heart Cookies. As you can see, my heart is orange, not red. (Oops! no raspberry jam in the fridge at the moment) Plus, I'm posting this on its acutal day. So, it's very last minute as it can be!

Even thought it's a last minute thing, but they were made from LOVE!

I use the recipe directly from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. However, you can also get the recipe through Serious Eats.

A new beginning with a touch of sweet

2010-02-12T05:59:00.003+07:00

Welcome to whisk the pantry!

I never thought that one day I would have my own food blog. For the past 4-5 years, I have been enjoying looking at great food blogs out there. Many of them inspire me to bake, cook, and photography more. Since school is officially over, it's the best time to do what I love to do! So, here I am...writting my first post!

My love for baking and cooking started because of my mom, I believe. She loves to watch cooking shows and loves to bring delicious cakes back home to share with me. I think this is how it all started. I want this blog to document my culinary journal. There are so many of recipes out there that I want to try. Having this blog, it will give me a chance to bake, cook and photograph more, and moreover it gives me a chance to develop new skill both baking/cooking and photographing.

I have been thinking for awhile about what I should make for my first post. I want to start this exciting journey with a touch of sweet. So, I'm presenting you Chocolate Spice Bread. I got this recipe from The Modern Baker cookbook. It is a quick recipe that you can make when you are craving for chocolate! It just gives you a right amount of chocolate flavour that makes you satisfy.

Chocolate Spice Bread
(adapted from The Modern Baker)

1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sour cream

Make: one 8-1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 inch loaf pan

Set a rack in the middle level for the oven and preheat at 350 F. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and spices in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs to break them up, and then add in the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Continue whisking until the mixture lightens. Whisk in the melted butter and sour cream. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and gently whisk until smooth. Do not over mix it. Scape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the bread until it is well risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread emerges clean, 35-40 minutes. Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, and then unmold it and cool it completely on a rack.