Cinnamon apple madeleines, using coconut oil

I finally got the bump in the madeleine.

I haven’t baked madeleines much lately. The non-stick pans are great. I’ve switched to coconut oil for baking in the last few months. It’s healthier and better for the environment than palm oil. Measuring coconut oil can be hard, depending on the weather it can be either solid or liquid. In the summer months it’s clear looking and runny, like a vegetable oil. When I put it in the fridge it became too hard to scoop out.

Coconut oil melts at about 76°F. Since the weather has cooled, the coconut oil is a soft solid at room temperature. When you spoon it, it resembles large clumps of wax, not smooth like palm shortening. I eyeball the measurements usually, but you can melt it and pour into measuring cups for more precision (and let it re-solidify if you want a solid shortening). I don’t find the taste of coconut very prominent in the end results, but if you really hate coconut then you might notice it. Buying it in the larger jars makes the price more reasonable, and it does last a long time (shelf life and usage).

Cinnamon apple madeleines

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar*
• 1 tsp molasses*
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil**
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt

*or a scant 2/3 cup brown sugar

** you can use melted butter or organic shortening instead

For more of an apple flavor, maybe add a splash of apple brandy.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix sugar and molasses thoroughly, beat in eggs, apple sauce, coconut oil, and cinnamon. Then mix the rest of the dry ingredients till smooth. Fill madeleine pans and bake for about 12mins, till the edges are browned. This makes 2 dozen full size madeleines.

The side scraping paddles are great for brownie batter too.

-Lina

Happy Halloween

All your treats belong to meeee.

smoked salmon brown rice sushi

Leftover short grain brown rice (short grain white rice always good too), the last few pieces of smoked salmon in the package (smoked wild coho salmon, but any kind works), and half a cucumber = quick sushi. With the saltiness of the salmon, you don’t have to season the rice or use any soy sauce.

Refer to http://eatyet.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/egg-nori-roll/ for rolling instructions.

-L

Curry quinoa lentils and brown rice

It’s the end of the month and I’ll push this one over the finish line. I like to get at least one post per month. This is healthy whole grains, high in protein, tasty, and way easy. And everyone should have a rice cooker.

Curry quinoa lentils and brown rice pilaf(?)

• 2/3 cup quinoa
• 2/3 cup brown rice
• 1/3 cup lentils (any type that is whole with skin)
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 dried chili
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 cup water

Wash and strain the grains, if you aren’t washing it then you’ll need more water (1/2 cup), but quinoa requires washing. Put everything in a rice cooker, and let it cook on regular.

If using the stove top, put everything into a small heavy bottom and bring to a boil with the lid on, then turn it down to a low simmer and cook covered for 35-40mins. Remove bay leaf and chili, give it a mix in the pot before serving.

You can use vegetable or chicken stock if you like, just watch the salt. This goes great with almost anything.

-L

Amaretti blueberry shortcake

This was the birthday cake I made for my grandmother a few weeks ago. Like the Japanese style strawberry short cake, this is 2 layers of sponge cake with cream chantilly (whipped cream) as frosting. The crumbs are crushed amaretti cookies.

Amaretti blueberry shortcake

sponge cake:

• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract + 1/2 tsp almond extract (or just 1 tsp of amaretto)

cream chantilly (whipped cream):

• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract + 1 tsp almond extract (or amaretto)

rest:

• apricot preserve
• 1 pint of fresh blueberries
• 8 to 10 amaretti cookies
• parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs and sugar till very pale yellow and is 3-4 times the original volume using a mixer. Cut parchment paper into circles to fit two 8in round cake pans (fold the paper in halves till you can’t anymore and snip the ends to fit). Oil pan with the parchment thoroughly otherwise it’d be hard to get the bottom out of the pan. Sift in flour and baking powder, fold with large metal spoon and add the vanilla while folding. When fully incorporated pour into pans and bake for 25mins. Check the other cake post for more images.

Beat cream and sugar till it forms soft peaks, add extracts and beat a little more. Put away till cake is completely cooled.

When cakes are cooled peel off the parchment paper, spread on apricot preserve, cover layer with blueberries then spread the whipped cream over. Put on the next cake layer, and thin coat of preserve. Frost cake with the remaining cream.

Crush about 8 or 9 amaretti cookies in either a food processor or in just a freezer bag with something heavy. To get the crumbs on the cake you will need either a cake stand or a second person holding the plate of cake on an angle over a large baking sheet to catch run off.

Top with any remaining blueberries. If you don’t have amaretti cookies, you can just crush up nilla wafers, ginger snaps, graham crackers, or almonds.

-Lina

Tomatoes and peppers in the garden

I planted 4 cherry tomato plants and 4 jalapeño plants in June. These pics were from late July. My small box of thyme has managed to stay alive for the last 3 years and is doing well. I’ve let one of the oregano plants go to flower and it attracts the bumble bees. I also have a new pot of basil and new rosemary. My previous rosemary bush dried out over winter.

The pepper plants never got very large but they produced a lot of fruit.

They don’t ripened in clusters anymore. I just pick them off as they turn red.

There’s my mutt-mutt.

-L

Sweet potato latkas

some edges got a little too dark, watch the oil temps

Sweet potatoes are something I’ve been experimenting with recently. In general I don’t like really sweet vegetables (yams, pumpkin, squash, carrots, parsnips, etc.) But they (sweet potatoes, and the other veggies) are very good for you, high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. In the coming days I will post more on sweet potatoes.

Latkas are potato pancakes that can be made in different ways. They can be served plain or topped with almost anything; apple sauce, sour cream, or just ketchup (personal fav).

• 1 medium/large sweet potato*
• 1 small/medium onion*
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp  pepper
• oil for frying

* the ratio is about 3:1 of sweet potato to onion

Peel then shred sweet potato and onion, mix together with the rest of the ingredients. Heat up a heavy bottom pan (I prefer cast iron) with 1/4 – 1/2 inch of oil on medium high. I used grape seed oil, it has a very high smoking point, great for frying. Scoop mixture into pan (about 1/4 – 1/3 cup per portion), try to spread out mixture to about 4 inch in diameter, it should be a thin layer. When edges turn golden brown (3mins?), flip and cook until bottom is browned. Drain on paper towels. Add more oil in pan when needed. They should be crispy on the edges and tender inside. You can also keep them warm in the over while frying up more.

I think used half the mixture (made about and then refrigerated the rest to use the next day.

-L

deconstructed summer rolls

I had all these ingredients to make summer rolls but I ran out of rice wraps before I could use up all the filling. The next day I made lunch out of the leftovers; ‘deconstructed summer rolls’ or ‘cold rice vermicelli with shrimp’. I love cold noodle dishes in the summer and this is very light and refreshing. Makes a small light lunch for two.

• 6-8oz dried rice vermicelli (thin rice noodles)
• 1/2 lb shrimp (cooked and halved lengthwise)
• 1/2 seedless cucumber sliced or shredded
• 1/2 small onion thinly sliced
• 1 carrot shredded (not shown in picture)
• 1 avocado sliced
• cilantro and/or basil (or mint) chopped

dressing:

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup water (more if you find it too salty)
• 1 tsp sugar (optional)
• 1 scallion chopped (optional)

Cook noodles according to package instructions, drain, then plunge into large bowl of cold water before draining again. Prep the veggies; you can put the carrot and cucumber thru the shredder attachment on a food processor to save time (just drain out the excess liquid). Mix up the dressing. (You can make more and store in the fridge for later use on noodles or a dipping sauce for dumplings or anything fried.) If you don’t have cooked shrimp on hand, just boil raw shrimp with shells on till they turn totally pink, rinse under cold water, peel and slice. Plate the noodles and assemble everything on top anyway you like and spoon on dressing when you are ready to eat. If you like, you can finish it off with some chopped peanuts or almonds on top.

-Lina

Happy Mother’s Day…

…and it happens to be my birthday too (happens like every other year). So we are having a big dinner with my family and I make the cake (all organic ingredients). It’s a Japanese style strawberry shortcake, meaning it’s a sponge cake base with whipped cream and strawberries.

Japanese style shortcake

sponge cake:

• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

cream chantilly (to be fancy):

• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

rest:

• strawberry or raspberry preserve
• 1 qt fresh strawberries
• parchment paper

eggs and sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs and sugar till very pale yellow and is 3-4 times the original volume using a mixer. Cut parchment paper into circles to fit two 8in round cake pans (fold the paper in halves till you can’t anymore and snip the ends to fit). Oil pan with the parchment thoroughly otherwise it’d be hard to get the bottom out of the pan. Sift in flour and baking powder, fold with large metal spoon and add the vanilla while folding. When fully incorporated pour into pans and bake for 25mins.

Beat cream and sugar till it forms soft peaks, add vanilla and beat a little more. Put away till cake is completely cooled.

Take half the strawberries (the least pretty ones) and slice into 4ths. De-stem the rest for the top.

When cakes are cooled peel off the parchment paper, spread on a thin layer of preserve, top evenly with the sliced strawberries then spread the whipped cream over. Put on the next cake layer, and thin coat of preserve. Frost cake with the remaining cream. I saved some and piped it on with just a snipped sandwich baggie (I never got the hang of using decorating tips). Top with strawberries how you see fit.

-L

san francisco food tour day 2

Day 2. Japantown! The weekend we went was the last weekend of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, so of course we had to go! There were so many people and vendors and food and did I mention people already? It was pretty crowded. We took a taxi in, and thank goodness we did. My friend Phu joined us that day and told us it took forever to find parking. There were live bands and taiko drum demonstrations among other things. The smell coming from all the fresh food being cooked, from red bean filled pancakes to the bar b q being grilled, was heavenly.

But before I begin on the food.  I was told I wouldn’t actually see sakura trees in Japantown, which I thought was boo, but my sister and I found out about the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park had tons of sakura trees and other flowers. We of course checked it out and the blossoms were still in bloom!  The full size photos are on my flickr page. They also have a mini cafe serving tea while you enjoy the view.

After our visit to the tea garden, we headed to Japantown, and we started with the spam musubi. Spam is a sort of breakfast food staple among Filipino (and Hawaiian) households. We like it fried, with rice and a fried egg. Yum. Anyways, this one stand was selling spam musubi! It was sushi rice, topped with a slice of cooked spam, eel sauce, and wrapped with a thin strip of seaweed wrapper. It was sooooo yummy. My sister and I ended up buying a couple each to save for a midnight snack of sorts. Sorry I don’t have better pics, but it did not last long enough to take photos after opening.

Even the toy from kidrobot wanted a bite. heh.

Next were the pancakes filled with red bean paste. The line was forever long, but you couldn’t resist, because as you walked by, you could smell the sweetness of the pancake batter cooking. They were soft and light and filled with a sweet red bean paste.

The only line longer than the pancake line was the beef takoyaki line. Takoyaki is typically a fried dough ball containing octopus and other vegetables, but there are different variations. As you can see, this was of the ground beef variety. I’ve had takoyaki before in NYC, minus the octopus, and that was definitely better. However, for the price and considering they had to feed the masses, the beef takoyaki I had was worthy of the wait in line.

After that, we were pretty much full. We waited for Phu and co. to arrive and we just ventured out into all the shops and bought manga and cool pencils at Kinokuniya. It felt good to sit down. It was starting to get hot, but that cool bay breeze swept in once in a while making it a beautiful day to be outdoors. Once Phu showed up, it was time to eat again. They were hungry and who was I to say no to food? We decided on ramen at Sapporo-ya in the Kinokuniya center. We don’t have ramen in Houston, not that I know of anyways. And I’m not talking about the 10 for a $1 you find at the grocery store either.

My sis and I shared the bowl of soy sauce ramen with bbq. It was pretty good, in my opinion, but what do I know? The only other time I had ramen was in Hawaii and it was wayyyyy too salty. The noodles were a little smushy, but the broth and the bbq was yums. The boiled egg really added to the ramen. Maybe it was the texture or just the taste of it with the bbq and noodles, but I found every bite better when I had egg in it. Service was just okay and it’s a tiny spot, but overall, it was okay. There are probably better ramen spots in the area, and one that I’ll talk about again on day 3, but it was the closest one at the time.

This day was full of lines. Lines for pancakes, takoyaki, ramen, and then came the line for Sophie’s Crepes. It was out the restaurant and it was also worth the wait. The crepes are thin and crisp, yet soft and flaky. You can choose your own items or they have a variety of goodies to put in your crepe, from hot fudge and strawberries to ham and cheese. I stuck with the nutella, banana, and vanilla ice cream crepe. It was definitely tasty. It was a nice cool treat after a day in the sun.

It was food overdose by this time. We decided to walk it off by going to the Haight area and checking out the shops. There were tons of different boutiques and restaurants, and if you’re a shopper you might like this area. I just wanted to go to kidrobot. Bought a few toys. So cute! And after a long day of wandering the streets of San Francisco, we headed back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation before dinner. Oh yeah, we ate more. Hah.

Phu & I made a trade. Sprinkles cupcakes for Filipino banana chips. I think I’m the winner in this trade off. The cupcakes were rich and moist and Phu was kind enough to buy us all milk from the local convenient store.

And that was our 18th floor view at Hotel Nikko. Well, after getting some rest in, we headed to a sushi joint in Union Square. I am sorry to say that for the life of me, none of us remember the name. We went because a friend suggested it and she didn’t even know the name, only that it was good and we should go. The seafood was fresh, but as I stick to the cooked stuff, I ordered an ebi tempura roll and the spider roll. That was a well cooked soft shell crab.

And that my friends, was the end of day 2. It was exhausting, but it was definitely fun.  Thanks Phu, Hong & Megan for driving up from San Jose to hang out with us for the day!!

P.S. I miss it already.

– Chelle