A Series of Kitchen Experiments

The open-face smoked meat sandwich for breakfast

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:18:00 +0000

Have you ever had one of those days when you just don't know what to eat? I've been having a lot of those days lately.

I stared at my fridge for 5 minutes thinking about what I could make for brunch. And after a long halloween night (yay, Montreal Canadiens won!), I was famished.

Thankfully, I had some left over smoked meat from Schwartz's so I made an open-face breakfast sandwich with some pan roasted cherry tomatoes. Topped with a lot of pepper, a sprinkle of salt and it was just scrumptious! I know, it's perhaps not the most healthiest of breakfast but I wanted some greasy grub, yo. Ok, it wasn't that greasy but I shoulda added some home fries to the mix, drizzled with some maple syrup for a little more kick!

Sorry for the lack of food postings, there's been lots of eating but not much of them are blog-worthy. I seriously need to cook up a storm.

enRoute's Food Issue 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:03:00 +0000

And here we have it:

Canada's 10 Best New Restaurant 2009

This might come as a little surprise to some of you. I have never blogged about this before but it's such a pity that not many people know about this because it's really an homage to food and good eating. I'm talking about enRoute Magazine's Food Issue that comes out every November. It's in its 8th installment this year and this year, it's our sexiest food issue yet. Okay, okay...every year is sexier than the other but I digress.

With pictures like these - how can you resist not wanting to feast your eyes on them?

Taken from CBNR 2008 No.1 restaurant: Nota Bene

Taken from CBNR 2008 No.2 restaurant: Le Local

Taken from CBNR 2008 No.10 restaurant: Stage

I feel that all of you should know about this magazine's food issue because it used to be a magazine that was made for a certain select group, a certain group that flies with a certain airline. But that is all changing now that the monthly content of enRoute Mag is published in http://enroute.aircanada.com - everyone can have access to their monthly publication online.

So on November 1st, enRoute's 2009 Food Issue will be published online for all to see. And because I work with the magazine; you will have to take my word for it that this issue is going to be a very yummy one! It's more than just a Canadian centered magazine, it's a magazine that is true to its travel and lifestyle stories, it's international.

For all you who are interested in the restaurant scene in North America, Canada's 10 Best New Restaurants 2009 will be announced tomorrow at Canada AM at 9am. The list will be made available online then as well.

Check out the previous years' #CBNR list (click on the magazine covers):

Bing Cherry Jam for Binging

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:27:00 +0000

Bing Cherries has to be my favorite fruit during summer, after watermelons and grapes. There was an abundance of cherries in my home too, at one point, I didn't know what to do with them after I made that lovely Apple Cherry Pie and Cherry Cake. Then, I decided to make jam with them for the winter months by canning them.

Yeah, right... the jam didn't even make it till Autumn!

We binged on the jam like there was no tomorrow because ..well, it's delicious. These succulent fruits made an excellent preserve. The Bing Cherry recipe is the simplest you'll ever see and there might be more pictures than words for this post.

Bing Cherry Jam recipe:

1500 grams of pitted Bing Cherries, this is the weight of the cherries without their pits.
150 grams of granulated sugar
1 Tahitian vanilla bean, halved
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
a pinch of salt

Method:

1. Pit the cherries and put them in a large heavy pot. Add the rest of the ingredients in, stir to combine and turn on heat.

2. Let the cherries come to a boil and then lower heat to a low. Skim off any scum that will appear on the top. This an important step so that your jam do not turn cloudy.

3. Cook the jam down to about half, it should be thick and be able to coat the back of your wooden spoon. And don't forget to toss the vanilla bean out after you're done. It took me about 45mins - 1 hr of cooking with the occasional stirring.

Can your jam using the traditional canning process and it will last for up to a year. Honestly, I don't think it will last that long.

This recipe makes approximately 4 cups of jam. This Bing Cherry jam is great on toasts, making pastries and sauces. I think it would be a great replacement for cranberry sauce on Christmas too!

I am also enrolling this jam recipe to Aimee's UtHC Virtual Jam Swap!: http://www.underthehighchair.com/2009/06/announcinguthc-jam-swap-09.html

Kneading to Make Brioche Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:43:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

I personally do not celebrate Thanksgiving, so no turkey for me! But I know a lot of you do. I would like to dedicate a post about a certain kind of bread I like for this day, the Brioche.

I've always been fascinated by Brioche, unfortunately, I have yet to find that rich, yellow loaf sold in any bakeries here. Even the formidable varieties in Premier Maison failed to include fluffy brioche loaves as part of their offerings - their brioche are slathered with sugar and looked a lot like monkey bread.

I want a lovely loaf of brioche baked into the shape of the proverbial bread, and when sliced is beautifully fluffy, rich and sponge-marked. A slight steam of freshness permeates the loaf with buttery goodness and when spread with a bit of jam sends you to heaven with a bite. This can only be realize, and I realized, if I made my own brioche bread.

Admittedly, it wasn't how I had envisioned it but it's close - delicious smelling, rich and buttery to the taste. It just wasn't fluffy enough but only because I did not let it settle overnight in the fridge to rest and rise. I believe it would have developed a better brioche in terms of texture and flavor if you do that so follow Laura's recipe.

Who's Laura?

I found this recipe after scanning through a series of recipes, I decided to settle for Laura Calder's brioche recipe from the Food Network; from French Food at Home.

Brioche recipe:

2 envelopes dry active yeast (about 16 g)
6 tbsp warm water or milk
1-1/2 tsps salt
2 tbsp sugar
4 cups flour
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup butter
1 x egg yolk
Milk for wash

Method:
1. Stir the yeast into the warm water (or milk), with the salt and sugar. Set aside for five minutes to dissolve. Put the flour in a bowl and make a well in it. Put the eggs and the yeast mixture in the well. Mix it, drawing in the flour, to make a soft, sticky dough.

2. Work the dough, lifting and slapping, until it becomes soft and very smooth and elastic (this process is a long and difficult job by hand. A mixer with hook attachment is great if you have one). Knead the butter to soften it to the same texture as the dough. Now, work in the butter a piece at a time, again to create smooth, sticky dough (again, the mixer will make that easy). Let the dough rise at room temperature in a covered bowl for two hours.

3. Punch down the risen dough. Put it back in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight to double. Shape the bread; let it rise 1 1/2 hours in the pan. Glaze with yolk and milk wash. Bake the loaves at 425ºF/220°C for 40 to 45 minutes.

The brioche was made at my old apartment. And I ate a warm slice of brioche with my homemade Bing cherry jam (recipe will come in one of the next few posts!).

P.S. On the 10th of October, I had the pleasure to meet with a few Montreal food bloggers at one of our local Korean eateries. It was delightful to eat on a table with like-minded people. I'll be writing a sort-of review of Atti Korean restaurant on Rue University in Montreal, QC and the experience of sitting on a long table full of foodies eating mediocre Korean fare in my next post!

What to do with leftover risotto?

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Risotto balls.

Quite simply, risotto when left overnight will solidify enough to for you to form a ball if you wet your hands enough. This is thanks to the starch that the rice imparts along with some dehydration. And the rest is quite simply rolling the individual balls on some breadcrumbs - do use Panko because they are crispier than traditional breadcrumbs - a bit of salt and pepper.

Since your risotto is tasty to begin with, you don't really need much seasoning to make risotto balls. Deep fry the breadcrumb dredged risotto balls until golden brown and use marinara sauce as dip. Simple, delicious and quite hedonistic. A cup of left over risotto will make about 6-8 risotto balls depending on how big you make them to be.

Once they are deep fried in golden delicious balls, serve them over a bed of greens. Risotto balls are also very good as appetizer. Too much carbs? Don't worry about it, walk that extra mile tomorrow. ;)

Risotto balls recipe

Left over risotto, shaped into 1 inch diameter balls
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
enough oil for a deep fry

Marinara sauce for dipping
Or
Your favorite green salad mix, tossed lightly with some basic dressing

Method:

1. Mix the panko breadcrumbs with a pinch of salt and some cracked pepper. Roll the risotto balls into the breadcrumbs to dredge.

You don't need eggwash for this because the breadcrumbs will stick very well to the balls, thanks to the starch.

2. Deep fry the risotto balls until they are a crispy golden brown. Transfer them to rest on paper towels to and season with some salt over risotto balls.

3. Serve with marinara sauce as a dip or over a bed of greens as a salad. Lemon wedges would go very well to squeeze over the top before serving.

.

For recipes on risotto, check out my Roasted Cauliflower Risotto and Peas and Broccoli Rabe risotto.

There will be dog treats in the near future

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:04:00 +0000

Here is a short post to announce a new addition to our household - Morgan, the Golden Retriever. He is 7 weeks old and is a pee and poo machine. We are crate training him so hopefully, he would be completely house-broken in a few weeks (or months), or there will be no puppy treats for him.

Look at him. I am glad I get to come and squeeze the little bugger everyday, that is, until he gets ginormous then the roles would be reversed. We have a feeling he's going to tip on the end of the large scale for Goldens judging from the size of his head and his chunky paws. I want to gnaw them.

Making Crêpe for Breakfast

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:35:00 +0000

How do you like your pancakes?

Flapjacks fluffy or thin and crispy?

I like them both but P has a preference for Crêpe because it's light and crispy, and when filled with fruits and drizzled with maple syrup can be extremely heavenly. My recipe for crêpe was adapted from BBC food site.

So one fine Sunday morning, I woke up early to make breakfast for ourselves. Crêpe with strawberries and maple syrup drizzle.

Crêpe with Fruits and Maple Syrup
4oz of all purpose flour, sifted
200 ml of milk + 75ml water
2 large egg
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
50g of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Maple syrup
Fruits of your choice

Method:
1. Combine the sugar, salt and flour in a bowl and whisk the dry ingredients together.

2. Moving on to the wet ingredients, make a well in the center of the bowl and crack the eggs in and pour the liquids in. Mix until smooth.
3. Heat up pan and melt butter completely, spoon two tablespoons of the butter into the crêpe mixture and reserve the rest to oil the pan as you make your crêpe.

I use a 10inch diameter pan. So I pour about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of batter to make a one crêpe.

4. Heat the same pan you melt your butter in and oil the pan with the melted butter using a piece of folded paper towel. Pour enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan by swirling the batter around.

5. Cook the crêpe 2 - 3 minutes on the first side and then finish off another 1 minute before taking it off the heat.

I like to fold my crêpe into triangles and then topping them with fruits, maple syrup and maybe a dash of powdered sugar.

This crêpe recipe is a tried and tested one if you want crêpe that has crispy edges with a light texture.

Chicken Braised with Garlic and White Wine

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:12:00 +0000

Hold your breath, this recipe requires 50 cloves of garlic.

No. It's not a typo.

This is a very Portuguese-inspired meal where the food is braised to cook with simple supplemental flavorings. I know you probably think that 50 cloves of garlic seem like an overkill but trust me, it is lovely. The garlic flavor was just right, and not overpowering at all. Actually, cooked garlic has a very sweet and mellow flavor and in this dish, it's really an ode to the garlic. I figured that with the season changing and a piggy bug going around the globe, a little boost to the immune system with some garlicky goodness will do everyone some good. Garlic is high in antioxidants and has natural anti-viral properties that helps us ward off the nasty cold and flu.

So, before I digress further into a health charade, this chicken recipe was taken from Epicurious. I made a little tweak to it by adding a bit of shallots, carrots and instead of fresh thyme, I used what I had; some dried rosemary. It was delicious and simple to make. And it is a crowd-pleaser recipe that I think you ought to give it a try.

Here's the recipe for Chicken Braised with Garlic and White Wine.

Ingredients:
7lb whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (you can buy any cuts you want, but I like to dismantle my own chicken)
5 cloves of whole garlic, peeled
2 shallots, minced
2 cups of dry white wine, any brand you like (I picked a mid-level bottle, just don't buy the extremely cheap wine that tastes like crap. Use wine that you would drink that is not too expensive for cooking. And if you'd like, you can use a Portuguese wine to keep to the theme.)
2 carrots, chopped into large chunks
4 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:

1. Season your chicken pieces with salt and pepper, generously.
2. Heat a large lidded pan with 2 tablespoon of olive oil and sear your chicken pieces until they are browned on all sides. This browning stage is rather important because it gives a lot of flavor.

3. After all your chicken pieces are browned, set them aside and in the same pan add the remaining 2tablespoons of olive oil and throw in your garlic cloves, saute them for a minute on low heat until they are slightly browned.

Add your minced shallots in for a saute until they become translucent.

Oh those 50 cloves of garlic is in there, under the chickies releasing all it's garlicky goodness.

4. Add the 2 cups of white wine in, and let the liquid come to a simmer. Transfer the chicken back into the pan, throw in the rosemary and carrots.

5. At this point, you have the option to finish the cooking on stove top or in the oven. I popped it in a 350F oven for another 45minutes covered and then another 15 minutes uncovered and i increased the heat to 450F. If you want to cook it on the stove top, cook it covered under low heat for 1 hour.

To serve, I made some greens and mash potatoes to go with it. Spoon the chicken and garlic pieces over the mash potatoes.

Here's to all it's garlicky goodness!

The simplest of pleasures, bruschetta

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:59:00 +0000

Honestly, I can live off this for weeks, if not months. The simple flavors imparted by the simplest of ingredients, marinated tomatoes on a nicely toasted bread is unprecedented. Who said you need to spend hours standing in the kitchen for a decent meal? I say make Bruschetta. Bruschetta comes in many forms in Italy, this one is all about summer flavors - so tomatoes it is.

First, you need to make sure that you use only the best ingredients you can find. Juiciest, sweetest tomatoes, good olive oil and a good loaf of baguette. I dislike the usual baguettes because they can sometimes be too thin. Try other European style baguettes, something with a bigger girth so it can carry a good amount of topping when you slice them. I personally like the Parisienne-style breads for this.

Bruschetta with Marinated Tomatoes

1 loaf of Parisienne bread (or baguette), sliced twelve rings off it (keep the rest for bread salad, maybe)
2 cups of ripe tomatoes, chopped into cubes, reserve juices as well - do not worry about uniformity.
1 teaspoon of good balsamic vinegar - or any liquid with acidity, like lemon juice and other vinegars.
10 large leaves of fresh basil, torn into pieces (use 1 teaspoon dried basil if you don't have any fresh)
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 clove of garlic, grated
1/4 teaspoon of chili flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. First, prepare your marinated tomatoes. They need at least 15 mins to marinate after combining with the rest of the ingredients to be ready. In large bowl, add your tomatoes, and everything else in (except the bread). Mix well with a spoon and let it sit in the fridge while you prepare your bread.

2. I like to pan toast my bread with butter. You can put them in your toaster but I like that my bread tastes a little buttery, and not just crispy. Spread some butter on each side of the bread slices. Heat a large round pan until hot and pan fry your bread until they are golden brown on each side.

You can prepare these two ingredients a day in advance and serve them for immediate consumption when you're ready.

3. To serve, spoon a heap of tomatoes over the toasted bread pieces. You must eat these immediately before the bread becomes soggy.

I used yellow and red tomatoes for this recipe. Feel free to use any kinds of tomatoes you want. I find that mixing different kinds of tomatoes is best for this recipe.

Now, isn't Bruschetta simple to make? In just three easy steps and you have dinner on the table - yes, they are filling. And if you do have some Parmesan cheese, grate them over the top of each Bruschetta before serving. The cheese gives a very bold, salty flavor to each bite!

TIP: Do not throw away the leftover juice from the marinated tomatoes, this is actually the tastiest bit of it all. Save them as a salad dressing or toss them with some pasta. And if you like your bloody mary's, use this juice and top it up with some vodka. ;)

Our First Sweet Peas and Tomato Pasta In Our New Condo

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:58:00 +0000

Sorry for the little hiatus. I have been itching to cook for weeks but was unable to because I was packing up my kitchen. We have moved to our new condo, furniture and boxes arrived, safe and sound - with everything intact except for my pride and my ankle. I sprained my ankle today while biking to explore the surroundings with P. A bad footing on an uneven spot had me crumbling in my own weight, landing butt first on a patch of wet grass!

I am fine now. P has been taking care of me well - instructing me to soak my feet in hot and cold baths to get the swelling down.

But I did get to cook after two week of non-cooking. I made us something simple for dinner on Saturday after we had A&W Papa Burger and a pretty awful A&W poutine. It was pasta with fresh tomatoes and good frozen peas. It's simple and so comforting after a hard day's work. It was a blessing to have P's parents over to help us move and put the TV furniture together - otherwise, I don't think I'll be able to have the space to cook or sit in my newly installed living room typing this post still! :) We are very grateful.

The pasta is pretty much as straightforward as it sounds.

Peas & Tomato Pasta

Fettuccine (or any kinds of pasta, really), cooked till al dente
1/2 cup of frozen peas
2 red and ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
2 tbsp of chopped basil
1/4 cup of marinara sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon of olive oil
salt & pepper
1/4 tsp of dried chili flakes (optional)

Method
1. Cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water. Read the direction on the pack, i like to under cook my pasta by 1 minute so I can finish cooking it off with the rest of the ingredients.

2. In the last 2 minutes, add the frozen peas into the boiling pasta pot and let it cook for another minute (remember we're under cooking the pasta by 1minute) before draining the water off completely. Turn off the stove into the absolute low.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients into the still piping hot pasta pot and mix it on top of the stove until all is well combined. Serve with some nice rustic bread.

I'm really a fan of pasta. The Italians (and Chinese, inventors of pasta) have it all figured out with noodles - the possibilities and versatility of it is endless!

P.S. I took these photos with my old Fuji F10 camera. It still does a pretty good job, I think. :)

P.P.S I have to say, the new place is (to borrow P's term) pretty ballin'.

Revisiting Au Pied de Cochon - 5th time and not charmed

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:51:00 +0000

Maybe this will be my last post before my short hiatus, it is necessary -- and a responsibility, in my opinion -- to write a revisited review about Au Pied de Cochon after my 5th visit.

But let's start with the pretty before I move on to the ugly.

I am the biggest fan of this restaurant, if not the most loyal. People whom I've met or spoken to, our topic of conversation would ultimately be reverted to me recommending them to this restaurant; should they ever come to Montreal. To me, APDC is the ultimate class of its own when it comes to Quebecois cuisine. Chef Martin Picard's bold flavors and buttery foie gras dream is indeed a success with the locals and visitors alike.

My first experience at APDC was a sweet one. It was the best dining experience I have ever had with food and service bar none. It raised my expectations on what a proper dining experience should be and to this day, I haven't been able to be completely happy with any restaurant's service since then. And that rings true for my subsequent visits to APDC too. Service and food in Au Pied de Cochon have not been great since my first visit - and I have given them 4 chances since then.

My second visit was still very much influenced by the charm of my first visit but I was not impress with my 3rd, 4th and 5th. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Chef Martin Picard was not there in all the other four times and service became slack. Our table was ignored for a full 15 minutes or more before anyone came to ask about us and take our orders. Never mind that despite reservations, we always had to wait 20-30mins to be seated. I suppose fame comes at the price of willing diners' time - however, I am willing to forgo this bit.

Food has been good but incomparable to the first time we were there. One of my companions had an overly salty sword fish stew, but to the credit of the waiter, that feedback was taken seriously. Their infamous Duck in the Can's foie gras was too soft the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time around; it was almost like eating a blob of uncooked chicken liver. The bold flavors of the food in APDC is becoming a little boring as well. It's missing something despite its velvety richness and tasty reductions - in my mind, food needs a certain balance to make you want to eat more. And it's becoming more apparent that food in APDC feels like it's being churned out by drones, lacking a certain depth or je ne sais quoi. Chef Picard needs to pay more attention to what's being churned out. Arrival of our meals takes approximately 30mins - 1 hour every time, regardless if it was full house or not. I can wait but the food has to be worth it; and it hasn't really been worth the wait since the first time we were there. No one came to check on us in the middle of dining like they used to on our 5th time there either (and there's a reason for this too, if you will read on), and so we couldn't really tell them how we felt.

I have always had high regards for APDC's waiters' level of professionalism but that is becoming marred by a picture of our waiter having drinking sessions with the table next to ours on our 5th visit. I understand the friendly atmosphere APDC wants for its customers but downing shots of alcohol with a guest while other tables need waiting is not professional.

Dining at Au Pied de Cochon has been a very bittersweet one; maybe more bitter than sweet. I felt that after my 5th visit with their service taking a little dive each time, I am beginning to wonder if they are becoming too complacent, too comfortable in their throne.

APDC is still my favorite restaurant and I would still recommend it to anyone who comes to visit Montreal as part of their cultural experience of the city. Don't get me wrong when I say this, but "Buck it up, guys".

It would be a waste to start slipping in standards and losing your loyal, non-alcoholic, clientele.

A very short post

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:12:00 +0000

I am expecting a very small hiatus this month, mostly because I am planning on using up whatever I have in my pantry before moving. Yes, we are moving my kitchen to a new place P and I found that is lovely and big - the kitchen however is not vast but strategically build with all the proper equipments and space. And we are finally, hopefully, expecting a new family member this mid-November.

No, I'm not pregnant, silly! We are expecting a four-legged friend! :)

P and I have always wanted a dog to be a part of our family and we are both excited at being new parents to a Bernese Mountain puppy!

[pic source]

We are not sure if it's going to be a male or a female yet, but regardless, I am pretty sure we will love it just the same. We will know for sure about the puppy by the end of September *crosses fingers*

I am excited at the prospect of making doggy treats. :)

The Spanish Connection: Alfajores de maicena

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:26:00 +0000

Alfajores is a popular Spanish confectionery made up of two shortbread cookies held together by a dollop of delicious dulce de leche or jam. It looks like a delectable French macaron but it's a different type of sweet altogether. I have not heard about Alfajores before but this Spanish delight is quickly an inspiration to my taste buds. For instance, it has given me the idea of using corn flour (or corn starch in some continents) into my cookie recipes for a light, crumbly biscuit. I cannot forget my first bite of this sweet sandwich, the biscuit that held it together is so light it almost melts in your mouth with every bite!

Alfajores de maicena is a version that uses dulce de leche as the center of the sweet sandwich; and this is the recipe we used. I have to thank my friend, K for introducing this cookie sandwich to me and his diligence in making dulce de leche with a can of condensed milk while watching Office Space. :P

We picked a recipe that was written in Spanish and neither of us understand that language much. Thank god for Google, translation cannot be easier.

So this is a translation of the recipe, taken from the blog of Martiniano Molina.

Alfajores de maicena:

250g butter
150g sugar
3 egg yolks
300g corn flour/corn starch
200g super fine flour (we just used all-purpose flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
1 can of dulce de leche (made from double boiling a can of condensed milk)
200g shredded unsweetened coconut

Method:
The recipe did not include a temperature for the oven, so when in doubt use 350F.

1. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add yolks and lemon zest in and mix well.
2. Mix the corn starch, flour, baking soda and baking powder into the butter batter until a smooth dough is formed.

3. Knead the dough slightly and form it into a flat disc, flatten it with a rolling pin until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Use extra corn starch while rolling if the dough sticks.

4. Use a round cookie cutter and cut the dough into circles and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

5. Once the cookies are baked, let them cool for about 15 minutes before spreading a dollop of dulce de leche on one biscuit and sandwich it with another. Roll the biscuit sandwich's corner on the shredded coconut so that it sticks to the dulce de leche.

Wrap your alfajores in plastic wraps after it's made and store them in the fridge. They keep quite well and is delicious cold or in room temperature.

I think we did pretty well from our own interpretation of the translated recipe. ;)

You should try Alfajores, they are unlike their cousins, the French Macarons where the biscuits are crispier. But these two recipes do share a similar trait; sandwiching delicious sweet condiments with cookies can never go wrong.

Apple Cherry Pie with Decorative Lattice Crust

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Everyone is just cherry these days. It's cherry season and Bings are popular because they are big, juicy and delicious eaten on its own. However, Bing Cherries are also especially good when used in baking.

The other day; about a week and 3 days ago, around 4.30pm in the afternoon, I decided to make an apple cherry pie and a whole lattice crust design for fun. Those pretty lattice crusts are easier than I thought, it's just cutting the dough into strips and weaving it over each other on the pie until the effect is achieved.

And because I had half a puff pastry in the fridge at the time, I decided to use it to make my lattice top. And it's decidedly the best decision because after the pie's baked, the lattice was a beautiful crispy crust.

The Apple Cherry Pie is a very simple recipe.

Filling:
4 Apples - I used Macintosh apples, cut into chunks
1 cup of fresh Bing cherries, pitted
3/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract/ 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
a few scrapes of lemon zest
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of corn starch

Crust:
1/2 pack of puff pastry, de-frosted
1.5 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup very cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2-3 tablespoon of cold water
1 egg for egg wash
sugar for sprinkling

Method:
1. Combine all the ingredients for the filling in a large bowl, mix, and let it sit in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Make the bottom crust first by combining flour, salt and sugar - mix well. Add butter cubes in and rub the butter into the flour with the tip of your fingers until the flour resembles wet sand. You can use a food processor for this but i prefer using my fingers. The flour should be able to hold it's shape when you clump some in your hand.

3. Add 1 tablespoonful of cold water at a time and mix until the dough come together. Knead the dough into a ball and then flatten it into a disc shape. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4. Pre-heat oven at 350 F and grease your 9-inch pie pan with some butter.

5. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out until it is 1/4 inch thick with a roller. Bring it to the pie pan and mould the dough to the pie pan. Don't trim off the excess dough yet.

6. Pour the apple and cherry filling into the crust. Now roll out the defrosted puff pastry until it's 1/4 inch thick and cut it into 1.5cm strips. Create a lattice design by weaving the strips of pastry over the pie. You can always forgo the lattice work and just put the puff pastry over the pie for a conventional top crust as well. After that is done, use a fork and crimp the edges. Trim off the excess dough. Brush some egg wash over the top of your pie crust and sprinkle some granulated sugar over the top, this will give you a nicely browned crust.

7. Bake your pie at the lowest rack in your oven for 45 minutes. This will let your pie crust at the bottom brown up nicely - it's a great tip from Alton Brown.

Once your pie is done, let it sit for at least 3 hours before cutting it. This is an important step if you want your pie to look like the picturesque slice that it can be. :)

That lattice crust makes the pie look like it's out of an Enid Blyton's children's book, doesn't it?

Sun dried Tomatoes and Cheese Souffle + a rant.

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:54:00 +0000

Who said it's too much work to have a nice fancy souffle for Sunday brunch? I whipped this up in 40 minutes, and if you can work faster than me, maybe even less time. Like all things in life, you need to put a bit of time in what you do. None of those instant gratification BS because it desecrates the enjoyment of eating together and making food. And it's Sunday brunch, the most important meal before the week's grind - you owe it to yourself and your family to eat well. Nothing like a bit of family bonding and togetherness over good souffle to tie the week up.

And before I digress further, souffles are incredibly easy to make and a joy to eat. It goes both ways, savory and sweet. They encompassed all food that is fancy and highly priced plastered with a delusional idea that it's hard to make. Well, my foodie friends, souffle for brunch is not a folly, it's a pleasure. :)

My recipe incorporates sun dried tomatoes, spring onions and cheddar cheese.

Sun dried Tomatoes and Cheese Souffle Recipe:
100 grams of all-purpose flour
100 grams of butter
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites, beaten stiff
250 ml milk
2 tablespoons of chopped sun dried tomatoes
2 whole green onions, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 450F. Heat up a full electric kettle of water. Grease 6 ramekins with butter and dust with flour.

1. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. When you turn the bowl over, the egg whites should stay in the bowl and not fall on your head. If it does, shampoo and start over. You'll need approximately 8 minutes of whisking by hand, non-stop or set it in your trusty stand mixer on high. Set the egg white aside for later.

2. In a medium size pan, melt butter completely and add the flour in. Stir until a soft doughy batter forms. Turn off heat but leave the pan over the burner. Add milk, little by little and mix until the dough resembles more of a thick roux. Add the sun dried tomatoes, green onions, garlic, cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well.

3. Temper your roux by adding 1/4 of your egg whites in first, mixing it well. Add the rest of your egg whites into the roux and gently fold them in. Once that's done, pour the batter evenly into all 6 of your ramekins.

Clean the edges with your thumb so spillovers are cleaned up. This ensures that your souffle rises nicely vertically and not lopsided.

4. Set the ramekins in a baking tray filled with hot water up till the middle of the ramekins and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Your souffle should rise and brown nicely over the top.

5. Serve immediately with your favorite salad.

I made a tropical slaw with honey and balsamic dressing.

Tropical Slaw with Balsamic Dressing
1/4 cup of mangoes, cut into small dices
10 leaves of romaine lettuce, julienne
dried currants (optional)
2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon lime zest + a squeeze of juice
1 tablespoon of honey
salt and pepper

Method:
Mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and pepper together really, really well.
Add it over the salad and toss lightly.

Dinnervibe Featured My Vegetarian Paella Recipe!

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:49:00 +0000

Say hello to DinnerVibe, folks! A new weekly e-newsletter that sends simple, delicious dinner recipes to your email box. It caters to the family and cooking for the family, so all you mommies and daddies out there should subscribe to their weekly newsletter to cure your mid-week kitchen nightmare.

Subscribe to Dinnervibe.

Dinnervibe does a weekly feature of recipes. My Vegetarian Paella recipe is one of the featured recipes this week and I am glad they picked that. It's one of those one pot wonder recipes families can enjoy that is both delicious and affordable.

Vegetarian Paella

Pop on over and check out the other recipes they have on their site and check out the contest they currently have if you submit a family favorite recipe. You stand to win a nice sexy pair of earth-friendly wooden spoons from EcologicProducts.

Roasted Cauliflower Risotto

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Bad weather on a summer day is noticeably gloomier. Maybe it's the fact that we expect sun instead of dark clouds. To me, a rainy day is the perfect day for comfort food. A day like today warrants eating food that warms the soul.

I've decided to make risotto again. After all, my arborio rice is not going to last forever, there are beetles and bugs waiting to make babies in them and I hate it when that happens. The last time I made risotto was a time when the season was still cool. This time I want to make a summer inspired risotto. I had a bunch of ingredients to use but I decided to close my eyes and pull one out of my fridge -- a cauliflower!

Not a entirely a summer vegetable but it'll have to do. Roasted, they are delicious. That's right.. I'll make a roasted cauliflower risotto!

The inspiration for this risotto is to make it look like a roasted cauliflower. The color, the flavor and the accompanying ingredients should resemble that fact. And I must say, it does have a nice golden roasted look to it, the specks of red and green simple represents the fresh herbs and spices I use while roasting the vegetable. :)

Here's my Roasted Cauliflower Risotto recipe:

Roasting the cauliflower:
1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

The rest of the ingredients:
1.5 cups of arborio rice
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
1 onion, diced finely
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 stick of celery, finely diced
1/2 cup of diced zucchini
2 red chillies, de-veined and chopped finely
1 cup of white wine
1 cup of vegetable broth
1 and 1/4 cup of water

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 400F. Mix white wine, vegetable broth, water into a measuring cup.

1. In a baking tray, combine the cauliflower, olive oil, paprika, parsley, salt and pepper together. Toss them well to evenly coat the cauliflower florets.

2. Bake for 40minutes. Reserve aside for later use.

3. In a pan, heat olive oil and butter together until it melts, let the butter brown slightly for that nutty taste. Add the onions, garlic, chilies and celery and saute them until they become soft. This will take approximately 5 minutes.

4. Add the rice into the pan and saute it until it becomes slightly translucent. The rice grains will have a translucent ring around the edges when this happens. Roasting the rice like this gives it a nice base flavor. Now add 1/2 cup of the broth (you mixed earlier) in and stir to cook the rice. Add your zucchini into the pan as well.

Making risotto requires patience and lots of love. You need to keep stirring the pot as it cooks so that it doesn't burn the bottom.

5. Keep adding the liquid and throw in a handful of roasted cauliflower florets in, alternately, to cook and keep stirring until all the liquid is used up. The cauliflower will cook down as you keep adding liquid in and will incorporate itself beautifully into the risotto.

Your risotto should technically have the consistency of an creamy oatmeal porridge when it's done but each individual grain of rice still holds together for that al dente texture. Taste your rice for the right texture, if it's still raw in the middle add a bit more water and cook for another 10minutes.

Serve your risotto immediately. Now doesn't that look like a roasted cauliflower in a risotto? It tastes nutty and deliciously good too!

Leftovers can be made into risotto balls, and that would another post of its own. ;)

Mussels, Champs and a Plate of Mixed Roasts are Best Eaten with Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:19:00 +0000

True to my title, a feast is not a feast without friends. Round it off with a nice beer or two and we had ourselves a jolly good time. Sorry of the lack of postings, there wasn't any lack of eating just a lack of time!

A couple of friends are over for the week. One of them is an old friend since college, and a foodie through and through. Born with a Malaysian palate and a passion for cooking, K and I make an excellent team in the kitchen. Have a look:

We've been planning to cook together for... years! And when the day came, shopping at Marche Atwater could not be any better. For the lack of a better word, it was like Christmas all over again. As we shopped, two of our companions tagged along and were sometimes forgotten as K and I poured over our list of ingredients to buy. Poor fellas. All was well again after we rewarded them with a feast. :)

What did we cook? Well...

...even though I said that we've been "planning" to cook together for YEARS, it took us about 1 hour to put what we wanted to cook together the day before. With Jamie Oliver's help and two cookbooks later, we decided to cook the mixed roast on a bed of cauliflower puree, the strawberry and haloumi salad, champ potatoes with peas, and a big pot of mussels inspired by the HopLeaf Bar in Chicago.

I have made the mixed roast platter before, here and here, so I am going provide you with the recipe for Champ Potatoes with Peas, and Hopleaf's Mussels. Jamie Oliver's Strawberry Salad with Speck and Haloumi can be found here.

We did not use the speck mentioned in the recipe and it was still the best salad we've had in a while. A little tip, if you only have a generic brand for balsamic vinegar, I suggest adding 1 tablespoon of honey to balance the flavor out. Otherwise, it might be a tad tart.

Hopleaf-inspired Mussels:
Mirepoix (finely chopped (1) carrot, (1) onion, (2-3 stalks of) celery)
3lb of fresh mussels
2 red chili, de-veined and chopped finely
2 bay leaves
2 cloves of garlic
375ml of beer, we used a Hoegaarden
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:
1. In a large saucepan, saute mirepoix, chili, bay leaves, garlic in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook until wilted.
2. Add mussels in and toss them together before adding the whole bottle of beer in.
3. Cover and cook for approximately 8 minutes or until all the mussels are open. Discard the unopened ones because that's one dead shellfish you don't want to be eatin'.

Serves 2-3 gluttonous persons.

Champ potatoes with peas
Champ potatoes is like a cross between boiled and mashed potatoes. There is still a bite to them and with peas, the extra burst of sweetness gives a nice flavor and texture.

6 medium sized russet potatoes, cut into large 2-inch chunks
1/2 cup of frozen peas
3 stalks of scallions (green onions), chopped finely
2 tablespoon of sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup milk

Method:
1. Boil potatoes in a large pot of salted water and cook in a rolling boil for 25 minutes.
2. In the last minute of cooking, toss the frozen peas in.
3. When cooked, the potatoes will fall apart easily, which is perfect for this. To test, insert a fork in and it should break the potatoes apart rather easily. Reserve 1/4 cup of the potato water and drain the potatoes.

Combine the 1/4 cup of potato water with milk.

4. Add sour cream, scallions, milky potato water, salt and pepper into the potatoes and peas and with a large serving spoon, mix them together until the potatoes are combined well.

The end result of champs should be somewhat smooth and yet chunky from the bits of potatoes, peas and scallions.

It was the most satisfying dinner we've had in a while and there were leftovers. Our mixed roast had quails, a cornish hen and ginger and orange sausages and there are still quails and hens in the fridge for munching in the evening if we're feeling a little snippy.

:)

Pavlova, a beautiful mess

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:51:00 +0000

What happens when you have a new Kitchenaid Standmixer? Well, you make foods you would otherwise think twice of making. Like pavlovas.

A light and fluffy dessert made from the simplest ingredients is a treat to eat but a bitch to make. It's not a complex process to make pavlovas, it's just tedious as hell. Repetitive whisking of the egg whites and sugar until stiff, glossy peaks are achieved can cause carpal tunnel syndrome. And that is an almost true story. But the efforts are worth it as soon as you take your first bite.

I love my meringues with fruits, especially berries. Although, I don't mind if it's drizzled with passion fruit compote as well. Here's a relatively simple pavlova recipe for the hot and wet days of summer.

The catch-22 of this recipe is that it does not keep well. It must be finished the very day you make this. And it can look quite a mess; a beautiful mess.

Here's what you would need:

4 egg whites
1 cup of superfine granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon of corn starch

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 250F, or 120C. Prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper, do not grease.

1. In a Kitchenaid Professional Standmixer with a whisk attachment *grins*, add your 4 egg whites into the mixing bowl and turn the power on to 7, or medium speed if you're using an electric hand beater. Add salt into the egg whites.

2. Gradually add sugar, as the machine whisk the egg whites into a frothy mountain. After adding all the sugar, turn the power up to 10 and leave it to whip for 5 minutes or until the egg whites are glossy, triple in size and has stiff peaks. Turn off the machine.

You now have a meringue. The consistency of the egg whites should remind you of a very soft marshmallow cloud. Very light and fluffy, almost like cream.

3. Toss the corn starch in and gently fold it into the meringue. Corn starch helps absorb extra liquid and prevents the meringue from sweating. it also gives the meringue more body.

4. Pour the meringue over the baking tray in a large dollop and with a spatula, shape the meringue into a 7-inch diameter disc.

5. Bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a light eggshell color tints the outer layer of your meringue. Once it's done baking, keep the oven door ajar and let the meringue cool in the oven. This will prevent it from collapsing.

Once it's cooled, you can top it with some whipped cream and berries. If you want to make this in advance, keep the cooled meringue in an air tight container or wrap it tightly, but gently, with saran wrap and keep it in a cool, dark place for up to 3 days.

And before I forget, this is my new Kitchenaid Standmixer. It's in sexy black. It will be my favorite kitchen gadget after my Shun knife.

Eggs in the basket

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:31:00 +0000

I don't know why it took me so long to make this. Ever since I saw it on V for Vendetta, I've always wanted to make my own egg in the basket. Whoever invented this must be Captain Practical - you get a nicely toasted bread with a nice eggy center. What is there not to love?

It's perhaps the simplest thing to make for yourself on a weekend when all you want is a cup of coffee and a nice eggy toast.

Eggs in the basket is the perfect breakfast with a nice little dollop of ketchup!

1 slice of bread
1 egg
butter
salt
pepper

Method:
Heat a skillet on the stove until hot.

1. Spread butter on both sides of the bread.
2. Use a round cookie cutter, approx. 2.5 inches in diameter, and make a hole in the center of the bread.
3. You can toss the bread center away or just munch on it as a side. Put slice bread on the hot skillet and crack and egg into the hole. Don't worry if it spills over a little.

Make sure your heat is not too hot at this point. Lower it to a medium low heat once the egg hits the bread hole.

4. Cook on one side for 2-3 minutes and then flip over. And cook for another minute before serving.

Depending on how you like your eggs - runny, stiff, over-cooked - adjust your cooking time. I don't like my eggs overcooked so when I flip it over, I just let it cook for less than a minute so that the center of the yolk remains runny.

5. Serve with a dollop of ketchup or drizzle with your favorite honey or maple syrup.

I picked the latter. :)

I Heart Vanilla is finally here!

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:34:00 +0000

After months of working on this project, I am happy to say that my new small business venture is finally, and officially, up and running!

Say hello to ♥ I HEART VANILLA ♥ , a store for all vanilla lovers and a source for all your vanilla needs! If you ever wondered about how to use, store or buy vanilla, our site offers not just the products but also the information on how to use vanilla in our Vanillapedia^TM.

Maybe you've seen that not-so-little advertisement on the right; that lovely brown banner that's been there for well over a month? Now that brown banner actually leads to our full website! I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself!

Let me give you the low-down of our business...

***Update*** About Shipping & Handling cost: It's included in the price you see on the site. If you're not from N. America (US/Canada), you must pick the Int'l (International) option because a different pricing group applies.

I Heart Vanilla only sells quality beans that has been hand-picked to ensure that every bean is plump, moist, and highly aromatic. To make sure of this, we have (well, I have) used these vanilla beans repeatedly to test for their quality and unfailingly, they surprise me with their flavor. It gives cakes, cookies, desserts a very beautiful, well rounded flavor, wafting with the scent of vanilla. I also use it as a flavor smoothing agent in recipes where many strong spices are used to blend their flavors together.

We carry two kinds of vanilla: Bourbon (v.planifolia) and Tahitian (v.tahitensis).

Both variation are excellent to use for baking and cooking. And yes they do smell different! While the overtone of vanilla is evident in both variation, Tahitian vanilla has a more floral and anise-like flavor to the bean. Many pastry chefs are always looking out for Tahitian vanilla because they are excellent in pastries and desserts! Bourbon vanilla on the other hand is that classic vanilla bean that we all recognize in vanilla ice cream. It has a very creamy and smooth flavor, perfect for creamy concoctions, baking and cooking.

We also sell vanilla products like our Vanilla Infused Sugars, Syrups and Extracts. Our extracts are not ready yet and won't be until December! Christmas gift ideas, anyone? ;) Also check out our recipe's page and join our Facebook group to get first dips on our promotions! We are TWITTERING TOO, so follow us!

If you don't already know, Shipping and Handling is included in the price of the products you see. Thus making our product one of the most affordable, high quality vanilla beans out there in the market.

I Heart Vanilla was founded by me and my father, while I was in KL enjoying the sweet tropical climate in Jan 2009. It happened pretty quickly when we decided to start a small-business on vanilla beans. And so we began our hunt for the best vanilla bean growers around that continent.

After searching high and low, we finally found our grower who harvest and cure vanilla beans the traditional way in the beautiful land of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Every vanilla pod is sun-dried for up to 6-8 months to carefully develop that flavor of vanilla we love and use! We are very lucky to have found a grower who has high respect for his vanilla orchids in both his farms at Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. No pesticide or preservatives are used, our vanilla orchids are naturally grown and cultivated on acres of pristine soil, cured, handpicked and bundle up.

May I interest you with a bundle? :)

Tau Yew Bak (Braised Pork in Soy Sauce)

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:15:00 +0000

I don't cook enough Malaysian dishes in my kitchen.

This is my mother's/grandma's Tau Yew Bak recipe that I grew up eating as a kid. This braised pork dish is comfort food to me as a big bowl of osso bucco are to the Milanese. The meat is braised for an hour or two in an aromatic dark sauce flavored with star anise, cinnamon, black peppercorns and a whole head of garlic.

It's a very Penang Hokkien dish. And in Penang, this dish is eaten with white rice and a dollop of sambal belachan.

There are many variations of this dish because it's really a provincial dish that went on a national scale. So every Chinese grandmother has their own way of making this dish but the basics are pretty much all the same - star anise, cinnamon, garlic and pork.

Traditionally, pork belly is used in this recipe. The lard is what makes Tau Yew Bak good but other cuts of pork are permissible as well. My mom likes to use several different cuts for more variety.

I used a meaty cut of pork ribs, and I asked the butcher to cut them into 1.5inch chunks for shorter braising time. You can put in big chunks of ribs in and cook it country-style, too.

Tau Yew Bak or Braise Pork in Soy Sauce
This recipe feeds 2-3 people

670g of pork ribs, cut into 1.5 inch chunks
1 head of garlic, papery skin peeled off
1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
1 star anise
1 stick of cinnamon, 3 inches in length (or if you can get your hands on some cassia, it would be the best)
1 teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice powder (optional)
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
2 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of oil
3 cups of water

Optional but commonly used ingredients: Potatoes (big chunks), bean curd sticks, fried tofu pieces, Chinese mushrooms, canned button mushrooms, eggs.

You may also use chicken in place of pork as well. It's equally delicious in a chickeny sort of way.

Method:
1. Pre-boiled the pork ribs in boiling water for 5 minutes to get rid of any impurities.
2. Drain water from the pot and heat it up with oil. Add the pork, garlic, star anise, black peppercorns and cinnamon in. Saute until aromatic.
3. Now, add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar in. Saute until the pork is completely covered by the dark sauces and the sugar began to caramelized a little.

Be careful not to burn the sugar. As soon as you see that the bottom of the pan begins to stick, add the 3 cups of water right away.

4. Add water as soon as caramelizing of the sugar begins. Scrap the bottom of the pan a bit with your spoon and let pot come to a boil.

If you are adding any of the optional ingredients listed above, you may add them right now. Make sure your potatoes are in big pieces so they are able to withstand long the long cooking time. I usually put them whole, if I'm using them. If you're using eggs put them in just before serving if you don't want to overcook them. Usually, overcooked eggs with gray rings around the yolk is not uncommon in this recipe. The star of the show is the fall-off-the-bone delicious meat and it's flavorful sauce.

5. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook covered for 1.5 hour.

Serve hot on steamed white rice and a dollop of sambal belachan. I served mine on some thick rice noodles because I had some on hand. Now, I cannot explain how wonderfully aromatic the meat is once cooked. It's simply the most nourishing smell for the soul. Don't waste any of the sauces, bread makes for a good vessel for soaking up the goodness!

The Cherry in the Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:54:00 +0000

You know the saying "The cherry on the cake"?

Eating this cherry cake is like the cherry on the cake to a perfect pre-summer evening meal. Never mind that it rained a little.

Fresh Bing cherries are used to make this dessert. It is a very moist cake with a balance of sweetness and a hint of sour. But first, you need to temper the cherries with some sugar to get rid of excess moisture. Failing this, you will have cherry craters within the cake because fresh cherries shrivel up during baking time.

You can go ahead and use sour cherries or a combo of cherries for this recipe but please don't use maraschino. They can be too sweet!

Cherry Cake Recipe:
1 and 1/2 cup of fresh cherries, halved and pitted (canned whole cherries can be substituted for fresh cherries).
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup of butter, softened
3/4 cup of sugar + 2 tablespoon of sugar
Rind from 1 lemon
1 vanilla pod, beans scraped.
2 Eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1 tsp Kirsch (optional)

Method:

1. First you need to temper with your cherries. Add 2 tablespoon of sugar to the cherries, mix to combine and set them in a colander for all the excess liquid to drip. This process will take about 1 hour. After one hour, flavor the cherries with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and set aside.

Pre-heat your oven to 350F. Grease a 10-inch cake pan with some butter and set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy with an electric beater. Add in eggs, one at a time, and beat to combine.

I suggest not using the electric beater anymore from this point onwards so that you don't over beat your batter.

3. Add the lemon rind, vanilla beans (and kirsch if you're using) into the batter and mix well.

4. Mix the all the dry ingredients together; flour, salt, baking powder.

5. Alternately, add the flour and milk into the batter and mix well to combine.

6. Add the cherries in at the end, fold the batter until cherries are mixed through.

7. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until the skewers comes out clean in the middle of the cake.

It is imperative to let the cake cool completely before cutting. Otherwise, it will be a crumbling, albeit tasty, mess!

This cherry cake is very simple to make and it is extremely delicious. It would keep well for 3-4 days before it starts to get stale. Keep the cake wrapped in saran wrap to preserve its moistness.

The Perfectly Seared Sirloin Steak with Lime Dressing

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:29:00 +0000

A warning to the vegetarians, this lengthy post is about cooking the perfect meat.

I am not much of a red meat-eater. But every once in a while I see a lovely, perfectly marbled sirloin at the butcher, I just cannot help myself. So this is a nice sirloin steak I got from one of the butchers at Atwater Market. Specs of the sirloin steak is 670g cut into the thickness of a 1-inch slab. I would not go for anything below 1 inch thick for a steak cut.

The sirloin is a very tasty cut of meat. Not quite as tender as a tenderloin, but not tough like chuck. Tenderloins are a little overrated, in my opinion. It's quite a tasteless cut despite it's exorbitant price tag. I would pick a sirloin any day.

My sirloin steak is cooked pretty simply. It's seasoned with salt, pepper and a little bit of garlic powder.

This recipe feeds 2-3 people.

670 grams of sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch slab
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Method:
1. Heat skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil until smoky hot.
2. Season steak with salt, pepper and garlic powder generously on both sides and sear the meat in the skillet. Do not move it around or touch it. Sear for 4 minutes and then turn over, sear for another 3-4 minutes.

A word of caution, if you have a fire detector installed in your home, it would be wise to disarm it or turn on your cooker hood on high. This will be a smoky event.

3. Take steak off the pan and onto a cutting board. Let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Lime Dressing
Juice from 1/2 lime
Steak fond (What's a fond?)
1/4 cup of red wine (or any broth you have in hand)
salt
pepper

Method
1. In the same skillet, add lime juice and a bit of butter. Scrap the bottom of the skillet to get the fond out. This will make your sauce tasty.
2. Add the red wine/broth and let it simmer down to half. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour over steak as sauce.

It's imperative to not cut the steak while it's just off the pan. The juices will run out and you'll be left with a very leathery, dry steak. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes. The thickness of the steak is equally important. The thicker the better, thin steaks will dry out faster than you say sirloin, so I recommend 1-inch and above.

Here's my cooking time for different steak thickness to achieve that pretty pink center in medium and rare.

Medium done:
1 inch cuts - 4 minute on each side
2 inch cuts - 7 minutes on each side

Rare:
1 inch cuts - 2 minutes on each side
2 inch cuts - 4 minutes on each side

Note: It is definitely worth it to get a cut thicker/bigger than you can finish. Extra steak can be used as sandwich meat the next day. It's better than any cold cuts you get at the grocery store.

That Mother-ship tomato salad is a great topping for the steak as well when it's all chopped up. :)

The Squash That Got Curried Away

noreply@blogger.com (Elaine@A Series of Kitchen Experiments) — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:41:00 +0000

Oh I don't believe it! Remnants of winter in my pantry, a lone butternut squash leans quietly at the very back of my sack of rice and onions. A sneaky one.

Pacing to and fro the fridge and cupboard, I realized that I also have a lot of unused curry powder from Malaysia too. I've been making my own curry spice when I needed some. I bet that pile of pre-packed curry powder have been feeling rather lonely too.

That lone butternut squash will be good for a vegetarian squash curry. On a bed of rice. With a cold lemony slaw.

I don't know about you but curried squash can be so delicious and yet so simple.

Check out the recipe after the jump!

I toasted some spices to go with the packet curry powder from Malaysia. I like my curries to pack a nice aroma with a spicy punch.

Butternut Squash Curry
2 cups of butternut squash, cubed
1 small carrot, cubed
1/2 cup spinach
2 onions, chopped finely
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon caraway
4-6 pods of cardamom
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 star anise
3 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 dried chili, deseeded
1/4 cup yogurt
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Method
1. Toast the coriander seeds, cumin, caraway and cardamom until aromatic. Be mindful as to not burn the spices.
2. Pound the toasted spices in a mortar and pestle until all the spices are crushed.
3. In a same pan, heat oil and toss in the mustard seeds and star anise. When the mustard seeds starts popping, add the onions and garlic in. Saute until the onion is translucent.

4. Now, add the pounded spices and dried chili in. Saute for a minute or two and then add the squash and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables for approximately 8 minutes or until the squash is slightly opaque on its sides.
5. Add the curry powder and turmeric powder in and saute to combine well. Pour the yogurt in with the spinach and cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve the curry hot a bed of basmati rice and a side of lemony slaw (recipe below).

Lemony Slaw Recipe
1 pre-packed coleslaw vegetable mix (cabbages, carrots)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
50 grams of raisins (optional)
a big pinch of chili flakes
salt and pepper

Method:
1. Mix the lemon juice, mayonnaise, chili flakes, salt and pepper in a bowl until well combine.
2. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Chill before serving.