Random Cuisine

Pineapple Carrot Cake with Pineapple Icing

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:36:00 +0000

Do you feel sometimes that you express better in writing than in person? I never realized up until recently that I have a hard time expressing how I feel. I prefer letting my fingers do all the talking. We all encountered misunderstandings or communication problems throughout our life, many times dispute can be pointless if both sides don't understand each other situation. The best way to mediate this situation is through writing. Writing never gets old to get the message through. I got this idea when I watched this TedTalk, it works quite effectively.

You must be tired of having three chocolate recipes in a row, it might be too indulgent for some of you viewers. Let's put the chocolate aside for a while and focus on the moist fruity cake. I wanted to make the healthiest, fruitiest and moistest cake possible through what I know up until now about baking. A while back, I published about the science of making a moist cake in my chocolate cake post. I applied some of the science in this recipe. Many recipes require some kind of fat to make the cake moist such a heavy cream and yoghurt. You can substitute these ingredients for apple sauce.

This recipe is easy to whip up. It has been an absolute favourite in bake sales. Just the name Pineapple Carrot Cake without the Pineapple Icing sounds already healthy. Maybe people are now more and more health-conscious? The cake is moist and fruity, the perfect snack when your hunger strikes you down.

Makes one 13''x9'' cake
Preparation Time: 20 mins
Baking Time: 45 mins
Cooling Time: 15 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Cake
1 can crushed pineapple, liquid reserved
3 eggs
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
⅓ cup apple sauce
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon (and/or ground cloves)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 pinch salt
2 ¼ cup grated carrots
Handful of raisins, soaked in the reserved pineapple juice

Pineapple Icing
1 ½ cups icing sugar
3 tbsps reserved pineapple juice

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil a 13’’x9’’ baking pan, lay a parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and sugar until pale.

3. Stir in vegetable oil, applesauce, and vanilla.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.

5. Stir in egg mixture until just moist (don’t mix too much to avoid developping the gluten)

6. Stir in pineapple, carrots and raisins.

7. Transfer batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake for 45 mins.

8. Afterwards, cool for 15 mins.

9. For the icing, mix icing sugar with pineapple juice.

10. Spread it on the cake. (Don’t spread the icing while the cake is hot)

11. Serve.

Chocolate Sushi with Coconut Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 13:47:00 +0000

I considered myself as an autodidact. I learn things through peers, reading articles and numerous trials and errors. School has the tendency to prevent self-development, prevent us to evolve as a person. It seems our success depends strongly on how well we perform in school. Ever since I started graduate school, I have the freedom to explore new horizons - areas that are unknown to me, things that I always wanted to learn that are outside of my field of expertise (nanotechnology).

Being creative in cooking is all about applying your past experiences to create something original. Inspirations come from my travels to the UK, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and within Canada. Inspirations also come from learning through friends where we gather together for cooking. Finally, inspirations come from numerous successes and failures in the kitchen. These experiences are both instructive and a source of inspiration for others.

Mango and Coconut Rice Sushi. Photo Credit: Hossein Ghayoor

A while back, sushi was the cooking theme. More than 20 people participated in this event. This cooking party was different from our usual events. Instead of paying big bucks for a how-to-make-sushi course, people had to bring their own fillings and make their own sushi through the guidance of other more-or-less experienced sushi makers. The hosts made over 12 cups of sushi rice. You can't imagine how many sushi was made throughout the evening.

Photo Credit: Hossein Ghayoor

Here is my take on sushi: I see a piece of sushi which can be broken down into three fundamental parts - a dark pliable outer layer, white rice and some colourful fillings. As long I have all these three components, it can be considered as a sushi. My wildest attempt is to make a dessert sushi. I came up with a chocolate sushi filled with sweet coconut rice, figs, and strawberries. The chocolate 'seaweed' is the modelling chocolate, often used in wedding cakes for making designs. It's pliable and simple to make, requires only 2 ingredients. Modelling chocolate has a similar texture to play-d'oh. The coconut rice is an inspiration from my trip to Singapore where coconut milk and rice seems to be an inseparable duo. Finally, strawberries and figs marry well with the chocolate. Grab a bite of this chocolate sushi, it's simply irresistible, every flavour from each individual ingredient is distinguishable in this one bite - a one-bite wonder.

Photo Credit: Hossein Ghayoor

Chocolate Sushi with Coconut Rice

Makes about 30 chocolate sushi
Preparation Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Cooling Time: 2 hours + overnight
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Modelling Chocolate
14 oz. chocolate pellets
5 oz. light or dark corn syrup

Coconut Rice
3/4 cup jasmine rice
1 can (400mL) coconut milk
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Fillings
2 figs, thinly sliced
2 strawberries, thinly sliced

Procedure

1. In a double boiler, melt chocolate pellets over medium heat.

2. Add in corn syrup and stir until thick. The mixture should not coat your finger.

3. Divide mixture into two, wrap it in a plastic bag. Cool at room temperature for 2 hours.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the coconut rice. Triple wash rice with cold water until the water becomes clear.

5. In a medium pot, combine rice, coconut milk, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 30 mins until rice becomes tender and sticky. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature.

6. For the modelling chocolate, transfer onto wax paper. Roll it into a rectangle (about 13'' x 6'') - it should be at least 2mm thick to avoid breaking the dough.

7. Spread half of the coconut rice onto the chocolate modelling chocolate. Leaving about 1/2-inch both upper and lower end of the chocolate uncovered. Place slices of figs and strawberries on top, near the bottom edge of the coconut rice.

8. To roll, lift the wax paper near you and fold it over the fillings. As you roll and the wax paper reaches the surface of the chocolate, pull back the edge of the paper and continue to roll tightly until the roll id completed. Repeat steps 6 to 8 for the other modelling chocolate.

9. Cool both rolls in the fridge on a flat surface overnight to let the modelling chocolate set.

10. Cut chocolate sushi with a sharp knife.

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:49:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered, when you go to a supermarket, if a product can be homemade? My parents used to buy lots of chocolate pudding when we were child and we tried like different brand of pudding. With time and with a more refined palate, I feel that the store-bought chocolate pudding has a weird after taste and depending on the brand, some puddings do not taste like real chocolate... What's your take on chocolate pudding?

I made this recipe several times during the holidays with some variations. I experimented with high quality cocoa powder, real Cadbury chocolate pellets, cheaper quality chocolate. It is interesting how each pudding taste different from one to another. I guess this is why it is enjoyable to make desserts homemade.

Question: Do you know how to make chocolate sweeter? Our first educative guess is to add more sugar. Well... in fact, this is wrong. You just need to add a pinch of salt. Try it yourself, take two pieces of chocolate, sprinkle one with sugar and the other with salt. See which is sweeter. When you add salt in any food, it enhances the flavour. It can make sweet things sweeter and cut down bitterness like eggplants.

These chocolate pudding are indulgent, and easy to make. It requires only pantry ingredients. How could you say 'no' to chocolate?

Fills 6 ramekins

Preparation Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Can be served cold or warm

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

With cocoa powder

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tbsps cocoa powder

3 tbsps cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

2 3/4 cups milk

With chocolate pellets

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tbsps cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups milk

about 6 oz. dark chocolate

Procedure

Recipe with cocoa powder

1. In a double boiler, sift cocoa powder and cornstarch. Mix it with brown sugar. Add in milk while whisking until all dissolved. Boil and then bring to a simmer for 15 mins until the pudding thickens. Stir occasionally. Transfer pudding to ramekin.

Recipe with chocolate pellets

1. In a double boiler, sift cornstarch. Mix it with brown sugar.

2. Add in milk while whisking until all dissolved. Boil and then bring to a simmer. Add in chocolate pellets.

3. Simmer for 15 mins until thickens. Stir occasionally.

4. Transfer pudding to ramekins.

5. If serve cold, place a plastic film directly on the pudding to prevent from forming skin. If you like pudding skin, just cover it without contact.

Dark Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream - The Science behind a Moist Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:29:00 +0000

Not blogging for months does not mean that I lost my passion for food. Oh no! Not in a million of years. In fact, I have been a bit more active on my second blog, Montreal Food Pictures, launched at the beginning of this year. Since a lot of restaurant food pictures are piling up on my laptop, I might as well showcase those too. Here is a glance of pictures of my new website.

As a scientist, I enjoy analysing, I enjoy breaking down problems into smaller pieces, understanding each part individually and solving them. I also do the same for recipes. Have you ever ask yourself why a recipe uses these ingredients, or are all these ingredients necessarily for this recipe? How about... why do you have to mix these ingredients in this order? What happened if you mix up the order? I do ask myself these questions, and sometimes I can tell if the recipe will turn out to be a disaster by simply reading it... Maybe because of my cooking experience and my knowledge in food science that I know...or simply instincts...

A few months back, I wanted to produce the moistest cake ever for my good friend Jorge. I have bake several cakes in the past for my friends' birthday although I always desired a moister cake. Now, I'm quite confident that this is THE moistest cake that I have ever made. How? Let me go through with you the secrets behind this chocolate cake recipe. Once you grasp them, you can apply these little tips to any other cake recipes. Don't be afraid to tweak any cake recipe, even mine!

It is all about knowing your ingredients, what is the central role for each ingredient? Also, it is important to know your basics. Have a look at the list of ingredients for this chocolate cake recipe below, three components are key to make a cake moist:

1. Fats like butter, yoghurt and oil are considered as tenderizers. They coat the proteins of the flour to prevent them from binding with water to form gluten. Developing a gluten network leads to a bread-like texture. A weak gluten network is the trick to make the cake soft.

2. Cake flour is a key ingredient, it has less proteins than all-purpose flour, and less gluten forms when mixing with the batter. You can make your own cake flour by mixing 7 parts all-purpose flour with 1 part cornstarch.

3. Cream of tartar and baking soda is a killer combination. Baking soda requires an acid for its activation. Any acid such as cream of tartar, buttermilk, vinegar, chocolate, honey, and/or molasses would do the job. The reaction forms bubbles of carbon dioxide in the batter making the cake lighter and puffier.

Make sense? The next time that you make a cake, consider applying all these tips. Let me know how it turns out.

Makes 2 11-inch cake

Preparation Time: 20 mins

Baking Time: 25 mins

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Génoise

2 cups boiling water

1 cup cocoa powder

2 3/4 cups cake flour

2 tsps baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/4 cups white sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 3/4 cup icing sugar

1/3 cup milk

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Grease 2 11-inch round cake pans.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk cocoa powder with boiling water until smooth. Let mixture cool.

4. Sift together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Set aside.

5. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (like a whipping cream texture). Beat in one egg at a time, then add in vanilla.

6. Incorporate flour mix with cocoa mixture alternatively into the butter mix.

7. Spread batter evenly between two pans. Bake for 25 mins.

8. Meanwhile, prepare the Chocolate Buttercream Icing. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and cocoa butter until creamy. Whisk in milk and icing sugar alternatively until it reaches a frosting consistency.

9. Remove cake from oven. Cool completely before releasing the cake. Frost génoise with chocolate buttercream.

Flapjack - Granola Bars

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 06:49:00 +0000

Granola bars... such a healthy snack which provides a good boost of energy to make it through the morning. Granola bars are so addictively delicious that it doesn't feel right to eat just one. Still the price of these healthy snacks are outrageously expensive, don't you think? For quite a long time, my brother and I were searching for the perfect granola recipe. The granola that one wants to mix with a spoonful of rich and creamy Greek yoghurt for breakfast.

During my travel in the UK, I came across this little treat called flapjack which is simply an oat bar. Interestingly, these bars require only three pantry ingredients to bind the oats: butter, muscovado sugar and dark corn syrup.

Using the concepts of flapjack as source of inspiration, I made my own Canadian twist to these flapjacks. I added some nutritious ingredients like pecans, wheat germs, cinnamon, and flax seed for its health and nutritional benefits.These granola bars are so easy to make that I made it eight times now, tweaking the recipe until perfect.

Do you have a favourite granola recipe? Feel free to post your recipe link in the comment section.

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 5 mins
Baking Time: 20-25 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

2 1/2 cups large or quick rolled oats

1/3 cup cranberries/raisins

100g pecans, roughly chopped

1 tbsp flax seed

1 tbsp wheat germ

Syrup

1/3 cup margarine (or butter)

2/3 cup brown sugar (or muscovado sugar)

4 tbsps maple syrup (or dark corn syrup)

2 cinnamon sticks

Procedure

1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.

2. Turn stove top to medium heat. In a small saucepan, melt margarine and incorporate the brown sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon stickes. Stir mixture until sugar has melted. Cook syrup for 5 mins. DO NOT BOIL THE SYRUP.

3. Remove cinnamon sticks. With a spatula, incorporate syrup to the dry ingredients.

4. Preheat oven to 350F.

5. Lightly oil bottom of a 8-inch square baking pan. Line a parchment paper.

6. Transfer granola mixture to the prepared pan. Bake for 20 mins.

7. Take pan out from the oven...

7.1 For granolas, let it cool for 20 mins, spoon some of the warm granolas, serve over Greek yoghurt.

7.2 For granola bars, cut into rectangles after 20 mins of cooling, let it cool completely about 1 1/2 hours.

Lemon Bars with Sweet Pie Crust

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:28:00 +0000

The art of making pie crusts seem to be a tedious job among many home cooks. One would rather buy the frozen one instead of making it from scratch to save up time. I recalled the moment that I opened my first cookbook, the first thing that I wanted to do is to make pie crusts from scratch. Still a newbie in baking, I basically winged the recipe hopefully it turns out okay. At that time, I didn't know why butter must be very cold, why use less than 1 tablespoon of cold water to assemble the dough, why the dough must not be overworked. Unfortunately, I didn't follow properly the recipe, and the crust was hard as rock. After a few more attempts, I decided to give myself a break and get back to it when I have more confidence in my baking skills.

With time, I found out about other types of pastry crusts which does not require such meticulous care likepâte sablée and sweet pastry crust (pâte sucrée). These crust can be made all in one bowl with an electrical mixer. The end result is a sweet, buttery and tender crust, ready to be used for any creamy and fruity pies.

What gotten me in baking desserts as well as the launch of this blog is the success of my first ever baked dessert - lemon bars. The combination of the tartness and tanginess of the lemons and the buttery pastry crust makes it so irresistible. This recipe is much simpler than the one previously published and also has less fat. To get the most flavours out of the lemon, consider adding lemon zest, a tip that I learned when I competed in Recipe to Riches with my Blueberry-Lemon Crisp recipe.

Makes about 12-16 bars
Crust recipe adapted from Joy of Baking
Preparation Time: 30 mins
Refrigeration Time: 30 mins
Baking Time: 35 mins
Chilling Time: 1 hour
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Sweet Pastry Crust
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 cups flour, sifted
1 pinch salt

Filling
5 eggs
5 lemons, juiced with 2 tsp of zest
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup plain yoghurt or sour cream

Icing sugar

Procedure

1. In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add in sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

2. Gradually incorporate beaten egg while whisking. Add in the flour and salt, beat until it forms a dough-like texture.

3. Flatten dough and wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 30 mins until firm.

4. Preheat oven to 400F.

5. Transfer dough to lightly butter and flour 13'' x 9'' baking pan. Press dough onto bottom and up the sides of the baking pan, about 1/4-inch up. Prick bottom dough with a fork.

6. Bake for 5 mins. Reduce oven temperature to 350F for 15 mins until golden brown. Remove from oven, let it cool.

7. Meanwhile, prepare filling. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, lemon juice, zest, sugar and yoghurt.

8. Pour filling to the baked dough.

9. Bake for 15 mins until firm. Do not overbake as the filling may crack. Cool completely and refrigerate until well chilled.

10. Sprinkle with icing sugar and cut into bar sizes. Serve.

Turnip Cake - Lo Bak Go

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:27:00 +0000

Chinese New Year is one of these holidays that my family celebrates religiously in which we adopt Chinese traditions and superstitions. This is the holiday where I look forward to share with you my mother's recipes. I have to admit that I still haven't perfected the art of making Chinese New Year sweet treats or savoury cakes. This is also the time of the year where I have sweet treats with my colleagues, especially my Chinese friends who either of their parents can't make traditional home-cooked dishes or can't afford to go back home to see their parents. I'm quite fortunate to spend quality time with my family.

Days before the New Year, it is somewhat a tradition to exchange sweet baked goods with family friends. These sweet foods symbolize sweet life for the New Year. You are welcome to have a look at my past Chinese New Year recipes like Fa Gao (Prosperity Cake) and Nian Gao (Chinese New Year cake). We have received quite an abundant amount of baked goods this year, here are a few Chinese treats that I haven't shared with you in the past:

Pai Char/Qiao Guo - Flattened and twisted deep fried bean curd dough with black sesame seeds.

You Jiao - Deep fried sweet dumplings commonly stuffed with coconut and peanuts, these resembles like a purse which means fortune.

Turnip cake or daikon cake is one of the first dishes that most people would associate with Chinese New Year. This is my all-time favourite savoury cakes. Once cooked, they are soft filled with a generous amount of julienned turnip with a bit of dried shrimp and Chinese sausage to add a hint of saltiness. With the leftovers, we pan fried them until golden to give a slight crunch on the outside but still soft in the middle.

As usual, my mother never gives me the exact quantity to her recipes. She mostly eyeballs her recipes. One tip for a good turnip cake is the ratio of turnip to rice flour must be 6 to 1. For every pound of rice flour, one must use about 6 lbs of turnip.

Makes 2 8-inch sized cakes

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Steaming Time: 25 mins

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Filling

1 long turnip (about 1 1/2 lbs), julienned

1/4 lb ground pork or pork loin, thinly cubed

1/4 cup dried shrimp

1/2 cup pickled cabbage

2 celery stalks

2 Chinese sausages

Flour Mixture
1 pack (1 lb) plain rice flour
about 5 cups warm water
1 tsp salt

Chopped green onions for garnish

Procedure

1. Thinly chopped dried shrimp, pickled cabbage, celery stalks, and Chinese sausages.

2. In a skillet, add julienned turnip and 1/2 cup of water, enough water to cover the bottom of the skillet. Heat over medium-high heat, cook turnip until soft, about 5 mins.

3. Add in pork, chopped dried shrimp, pickled cabbage, celery stalks, Chinese sausages. Cook for 5 mins until pork is fully cooked.

4. Meanwhile, prepare flour mixture. Combine rice flour with warm water. Add in salt. The mixture should be liquid, not thick or gooey. It should thinly coat the back of a spoon similar to a custard or a thin béchamel sauce. Add in 1/2 cup of water if necessary.

5. Transfer turnip filling with its liquid to the flour mixture, mix until combined. Lightly oil two 9-inch round cake pans. Fill batter to the cake pans.

6. Steam for 25 minutes or until firm. Garnish with green onions.

7. Slice cake into rectangles. Serve warm.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Bonne année lunaire!

Happy Chinese New Year!

May the year of the Dragon brings you and your family good health, wealth, happiness and prosperity.

Nutella Chestnut Brownies - A 3-Ingredient Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:17:00 +0000

A while back, I wrote my experience about Deepavali. After publising that post, I have been told that some members of the Malaysian and Singaporean Student's Association are addicted to brownies and printed all my brownie recipes. I was trying to recall when was the last time I published my last brownie recipe. In fact, there are only two brownie recipes on this blog: Macadia Nut Brownies and Butterscotch-glazed Brownies. Both were published in 2009.

I was figuring out if brownies can be made with a minimal number of ingredients in case I received a last minute dinner party invitation or days that I just don't feel like baking, and cleaning the dishes afterwards. Making these Nutella brownies require only 5 mins of your time and three ingredients only. Well, four ingredients if you add some crunch to your brownies like walnuts or chestnuts. All you need is one bowl, one parchment paper, and a baking pan.

These brownies are dense, chewy and chocolatey. Whip up a batch of these brownies in no time for your next party dinner. You won't be disappointed.

Update 04/01/2013: The recipe was retested several times to optimize the final result. To ensure the brownie to be moist, add in one egg at a time and incorporate flour with a rubber spatula.

Makes 12 brownies

Preparation Time: 5 mins

Baking Time: 12-15 mins

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup Nutella

2 eggs

3/4 cup flour, sifted

1/2 cup roasted chestnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Align parchment paper on lightly oil 8''x8'' baking pan.

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk Nutella and add in one egg at a time until smooth.

3. With a rubber spatual, slowly incorporate flour. Mix in chestnuts.

4. Transfer mixture to prepared baking pan. Bake for 12-15 mins until it passes the toothpick test.

5. Let it cool. Cut into squares. Serve.

Perspectives for 2012 - Top 7 recipes of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:26:00 +0000

Now that 2011 comes to an end: it is the time to reflect back on our past and figure out what new paths to take for 2012. By experience, doing the same thing over the years usually leads to boredom and lack of motivation. We need to enrich ourselves with new knowledge and new activities. To keep one motivated is to set a time-frame to realize long-term and short-term goals. In this case, what are my food-related goals? What am I planning to cover on this blog for 2012?

My main goal is to understand this age old question: what makes a dish irresistibly delicious? It is all about building flavour profiles to your protein with aromatics, herbs and spices than just adding salt and pepper. But how do you build flavour profiles? You can't just put any ingredients. A recently published article (Flavor network and the principles of food pairing) that Rebecca from Chow and Chatter posted on her Facebook fan page caught my attention. As a scientist, I love to put my mind into a scientific article and understand it carefully. Here is a chart from the article which represents the flavour network.

A flavour network of ingredients that are most used in recipes. Prevalence represents the occurrence of the ingredient over 56,000 recipes analyzed and shared compounds are the number of shared flavour compounds between two ingredients.

To summarize the article, the researchers have studied over 56,000 recipes through all major recipe websites such as allrecipes.com and epicurious. Each ingredient contains a number of predefined flavour compounds. North Americans are likely to use ingredients which share a high number of flavour compounds known as food pairing. Find below a video of Heston Blumenthal trying out an odd combination - blue cheese and chocolate.

Unlike East Asia, they are less likely to use ingredients that share the same flavour compounds. These dishes are about the perfect balance of sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavours. Overpowering one ingredient can make the dish unpleasant or missing the feeling that you can't stop eating it.

As a long-term food-related goal is to have a better understanding of the use of spices and herbs. The flavour network diagram will prove helpful for flavour combination.

So what are your food-related goals?

I will end this post with my top 7 recipes of 2011, each has its own special characteristic.

1. Hummus with a touch of parsley - my all-time favourite spread for my toasts in the morning.

2. Lentil Gardener's Pie - This vegetarian version of Shepherd's pie has converted some meat-eaters into flexitarians or even vegetarians.

3. Lamb Meatballs with Cilantro Raita - Irresistible, flavour-packed with herbs and spices. These will be a sure hit for your next dinner party.

4. Jerk Seafood - Spicy and saucy. You might end up sucking out every ounce of flavours out of these seafood.

5. Marble Rum Chocolate Banana Cake - Play a tasting game with this cake. There are more ingredients than meets the eye.

6. Shrimp Pad Thai - The perfect balance of salty, spicy, sour and sweet flavours in this popular noodle dish.

7. Roasted Root Vegetables - Simple ingredients with a simple recipe makes a good side dish.

Christmas Dinner 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 06:24:00 +0000

Even though I have a two-week break from research, it seems that I need to keep myself busy. My mind was set to write a holiday card message to my long-distance family and spend some quality time with friends and family.

Recently, my research group produced a sample out of carbon atoms that has the shape of a snowflake. In science terms, it is called a fractal. The dimension of the sample is about the diameter of a human hair. My colleagues had this idea of having this sample as an image for a custom-made (or limited edition) holiday card. I found this idea so neat that I brought the image to a print and copy centre, and make a few holiday cards out of it.

With my photography skills improving, I have been posting less frequently food that are made by my friends during cooking meetings. I felt that the quality of these pictures are not up to par mainly due to composition and improper lighting, also I'm used to take food pictures in my "studio". I used to publish quite a lot of recipes when I started this blog. These meetings are still very active, cooking together twice a month, and it has been running for over 3 years now. The cooking group is still expanding, attracting new graduate students to join us. If my three original officemates and I haven't started this cooking project in Fall 2008, this blog would not exist and I probably would not have so many great friends made along my graduate studies. The name Random Cuisine surprisingly still holds over the years.

I'll finish this post with some pictures of our Christmas dinner.

Sharing food with great friends

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

Apple, Raisin and Walnut Salad

Salted Duck Eggs

Salted Duck Eggs with Tofu

Tuna Pie

Meal with a glass of sauvignon

Desserts: Lemon Bars, Gingerbread cookies and Apple Pie

Gift Exchange

Happy Holidays!!!

Taiwanese Stir-fried Squid Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:14:00 +0000

I am excited to announce that Random Cuisine has now its own domain. It never crossed my mind of having my own domain as I consider blogging as a hobby, but after three years in the blogging world, it feels right to own one. Anyhow, you will notice that the address bar now reads http://www.randomcuisine.com instead of http://victor-recipe.blogspot.com. If I made the changes appropriately, my old URL will redirect you to my new URL, so you don't need to make any changes.

Ok, now for an anecdote... I know my Taiwanese friend Chris for over four years. We first met when we were knife salesmen the summer before I started my Masters degree in Physics. Since then, we have been cooking together almost every Sunday to test out new recipes and share our food knowledge. He grew up in Taiwan and has traveled around Asia. He is my encyclopedia for Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Korean and Japanese cuisine. He loves to tell interesting stories behind each dish.

This stir-fried squid soup is a classic street food in Taiwan. It is weird to see stir-fry and soup in one name, but it has to do with the cooking method. The aromatics are first stir-fried in hot oil to release its fragrance, then these aromatics provide a flavour profile to the soup. Like most Asian dishes, flavours are balanced by the appropriate amount of sweet, sour and salty ingredients. This is one soup you will definitely enjoy.

Serves 2
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup carrots, sliced
4-5 slices ginger, julienned
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 green onions, chopped
2 squid tubes, cleaned and sliced
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 Chinese red chilli pepper (or any chilli pepper), seeded
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp black or white vinegar
1 tbsp white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten (optional)

Procedure

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sauté carrots for 2-3 mins. Add in ginger and garlic, cook until fragrant, about 1 min. Add in squid and sauté for 1 min.

2. Pour in hot water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

3. Add chilli pepper, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Cook for about 5 mins until squid is ready.

4. Stir in beaten egg and basil leaves. Serve.

My 3rd blogiversary - Daylight and Night Food Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:26:00 +0000

Today marks the third blog anniversary of Random Cuisine. The past weeks, I was trying to figure out if I should make a tower cake or take on an extreme food challenge. The first two years in the food blogging world, it sounds like an exciting idea but I feel that I should approach it differently and cover a hot topic in the food blogging community: food photography. I'm no expert in this field, but at least I can tell you what I have learn up until now. After all, photography is a learning curve same as any other hobbies. Looking back at my first ever post, I realized that I came so far with my photography skills. I wouldn't be able to do it, without the guidance and criticism of my photography friends. I wish they would create a website to showcase their outstanding work.

Sacher Torte from Fortnum & Mason in London.

Food photography is a very broad topic. I would have to write a book to cover all its aspects. This won't happen as I'm still inexperienced on some major aspects of photography such as styling and camera flashes. It is not about having fancy cameras that makes you a better photographer. It is how you handle it, and the skills that you have acquired since you held your first camera. I have been shooting with my point-and-shoot (Nikon Coolpix S210) for over 4 years, I'm very proud what I can do with this little camera. Despite its limitations, I managed to overcome them over the years.

Reading through thousands of blog posts, it seems on many bloggers mind that natural lights and DSLR cameras are the only solutions to capture stunning pictures. Unfortunately, I'm one of these people that these criteria cannot be met. First, I finish work very late at night, usually around 8pm so I do most of my cooking at night. This means that natural light is mostly unavailable. Don't expect me to leave my food overnight and take pictures the next morning. Second, I carry my camera all the time. When opportunities come, I shoot at food that I eat, powerpoint slides in seminars given by keynote speakers, and lab equipment. However, I can't imagine myself carrying all the time a heavy bulky camera, especially on vacations.

A picture of my lab experiment.

I bet many people are in the same shoes as me, so how do you mediate these issues? As a scientist, we always think that there is a solution to all problems. Since last year, I have been paying attention to the tiniest details in a food picture such as lighting, background, and composition. Darren Rowse article provides a good summary of types of questions that I would ask myself when I see a food picture.

Apple-Cinnamon Compote

Playing with the manual settings of your camera such as shutter speed, white balance, exposure, macro mode, and manual focus improves the quality of your images tremendously. In my opinion, shutter speed is key to obtain a nice sharp pictures. For the unfamiliars, a shutter is a component in your camera which allows the light through for a fixed period of time to expose a light-sensitive sensor. Once the sensor captures enough light, the shutter closes and an image is displayed on the screen. More light means faster shutter speed. That is why, when one shoots in low light areas, the shutter speed is slow and most of the time you will get a blurry image if not using a tripod. For close-up shoots like food, macro mode is a must.

Left image: normal mode. Right image : macro mode.

The following sections will cover both of my under-the-budget daylight and night photography setup.

Daylight setup

The only opportunity that I can shoot in natural light is on weekends. With natural light, you can guaranteed that the object is well lit and acquire a fast shutter speed. Shooting in daylight can sometimes be tricky because of the bright harsh light. One trick is to wait until the clouds cover partially the Sun which help soften the light. Another trick is to use white curtains or any transparent white fabric to diffuse light.

A photography setup should not cost a fortune especially for an amateur photographer. My setup is quite simple: natural light, one coffee table, a background cloth (I mostly use black or white cloth), and a placemat. On the left is a poster board that I picked up from an art shop. This board acts as a reflector to minimize shadows.

Daylight photography setup

Picture without any image processing.

An image processing software such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is useful to brighten up some colours and make the picture sharper.

Picture with image processing.

Night Photography Setup

Now that I showed you about my daylight setup, night food photography or even indoor photography is a bit tricky because of the limited amount of light. I did quite a lot of research about positioning light sources with respect to the subject for indoor shooting. The main goal is to acquire a fast shutter speed, this implies that the subject should be properly lit. I have learned a tremendous amount through trial and error as to what seems to work best and what doesn't.

Night photography setup

My setup comprises of two lamps lighting both sides of the dish. To reduce harsh light from the lamps, I placed tissue papers fixed by an elastic band to reduce the intensity of light. Make sure to have light bulbs that do not emit heat. Otherwise, your tissue papers might caught on fire. In addition, a bed lamp, sitting on top of the drawer, provides an overall lighting to reduce harsh shadows. Here is the finalized picture of this grilled piri piri flank steak topped with guacamole.

Grilled piri piri flank steak after image processing.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. I'm still far from understanding everything about photography so I hope that this post gave you some insights on improving the quality of your pictures. I will end this post with this fun quote from Digital Photography School:

"Experiment! Photography should be fun and with practically zero cost to experiment digitally, play with your camera and see what works for you."

Maple Syrup Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Simple Couscous

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:00:00 +0000

The holidays are approaching soon. Keeping myself busy with research, hoping to discover some new physics and publish papers. The past week, I have been working on a new project from 10 in the morning to midnight. As a PhD student, we work long hours to acquire data and emit hypotheses of the obtained results. This is what I enjoy the most about research and I'm glad that I chose the right field of research: nanotechnology. You are welcome to visit Ananda's blog (A Pinch of Love) about her journey as a physicist. She will be defending her thesis this week. Something that I will have to do eventually within 2 years to obtain my PhD degree. Here is a fun video that I found on Youtube, which summarizes my research and its impact to society:

Holidays are all about going back to our hometown, seeing our family and friends, and have a good meal together. When I think of family food, pork tenderloin is one of these ingredients that takes a few minutes to sear the sides and then finish the cooking process in the oven. In the past, I prepared pork tenderloin with two different methods: wrapping the tenderloin with prosciutto or coating it with herbs. This time, I went for a sweet and savoury combo using maple syrup to glaze the pork tenderloin. You can also use honey as a substitute, and recently I heard that cola provides tasty flavours. I served the pork tenderloin with a side of couscous cooked in vegetable broth. I'll think of a more creative dish with couscous next time, I guaranteed.

Serves 8
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 25 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 pork tenderloins
2 tbsps thym
salt and pepper
about 1/3 cup flour for coating
1 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup maple syrup

Couscous
1 cup couscous
1 cup vegetable broth (or any other broth)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Season both pork tenderloins with thym, salt and pepper. Coat them with flour.

3. In an ovenproof skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sear each side of the pork for 1 min. Remove pork from skillet. Set aside.

4. Add butter to skillet and add in chopped onion, cook for 5 mins until translucent. Add in Dijon mustard and maple syrup. Bring to a simmer and cook until thick, about 1 min.

5. Bring pork back to skillet, turn to coat. Roast for 15-20 mins or until slightly pink and the meat thermometer reads 160F.

6. Meanwhile, prepare couscous. In a saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Remove from heat. Add in couscous and allow to sit for 5 mins. Afterwards, fluff the couscous with a fork.

7. Remove from oven. Cover with aluminium foil and let the pork rests for 5 mins before cutting. Serve with couscous.

Maple Pouding Chômeur - Poor Man's Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:37:00 +0000

Everyone has an ingredient that they couldn't live without, so what is your favourite that you must absolutely use? Maple syrup is my favourite ingredient of all time, this natural and versatile ingredient can be used both in desserts and savory dishes. Not only it is good for drizzling on pancakes, it also gives a hint of sweetness in glazes or sauces for seafood, poultry, and meat.

The traditional pouding chômeur is an irresistible sweet and comfy dessert for French Canadian. The Poor man's pudding was popular since the Great Depression of Quebec and remains a favourite dessert in the homes of Quebecers to this day. Made of basic baking ingredients, one can define this dessert as a syrupy pudding with a cake on top. Usually served warm, a cold glass of milk will make a good companion.

Serves 12
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Baking Time: 30 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Sauce
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup water

Batter
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In a saucepan, mix maple syrup, brown sugar, and water. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 mins until slightly reduced. Transfer sauce to a 8-inch square baking pan.

3. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy.

4. Add in eggs and vanilla, beat until uniform.

5. In another bowl, sift flour and baking powder.

6. Incorporate dry ingredients to butter mixture, alternate with milk.

7. Transfer batter to baking pan, spreading uniformly over the sauce.

8. Bake for 30 mins until golden or until it passes the toothpick test.

9. Serve warm.

Remarks

You can prepare this a day in advance, reheat the pudding for 10-15 mins at 250F.

Classic Crème Caramel - Caramel Flan

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:04:00 +0000

Does it occur to you that after eating lunch or dinner, you crave for something light and sweet to cleanse your palate? Crème caramel is one of these desserts that awaits for you in the fridge. Once you are in need for desserts, you only need to take it out from the fridge, run a sharp knife around the sides of the flan, and turn over onto plate. The caramel syrup runs over the flan, and it is ready to be indulged.

Flan is quite popular in several countries, notably in Latin America, France, and Japan. The variations are quite minimal. Since I never grew up using butter or cream, even though French cuisine is one of my forte, I tend to develop an alternative recipe to make a dessert which is low in fat and low in calories. This classic dessert usually requires heavy cream, but you can still make a good crème caramel with only whole milk, or even with coconut milk.

The caramel flan is smooth, silky, and creamy. Not overly sweet with an underlying hint of vanilla, it reminds me of a light version of a crème brûlée. If this is your first time making a caramel, it takes a few tries to get used to it. When I did my tarte tatin, my caramel burnt twice, before I got it correctly. The trick is to not lose sight of it.

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Baking Time: 40 mins
Chilling Time: 3 hours or overnight
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Caramel
3 tbsps water
3/4 cup white sugar

Custard
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/3 cup white sugar

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Place a cloth at the bottom of a 13'' x 9'' baking pan.

2. Prepare the caramel. In a saucepan, heat water and sugar over medium heat. Do not stir. The sugar will froth and start to change colour. Remove from heat when the caramel start to turn a honey-gold colour.

3. Immediately, pour the caramel over 6 ramekins and tilt each ramekin to coat the bottom. Transfer ramekins to the prepared pan and pour hot water halfway up the ramekins.

4. In another saucepan, heat milk and vanilla over medium heat until hot. Do not boil.

5. In a bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until blended. Slowly incorporate milk mixture into the egg mixture while constantly whisking.

6. Sieve custard and pour mixture into prepared ramekins.

7. Bake for about 35 mins until centre is lightly wobbly or until a knife inserted in centre comes out clean.

8. Let it cool for 30 mins, cover with cling film, and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.

9. Just before serving, run a blade around the ramekin and flip onto a plate. Serve cold.

My Deepavali experience - The Hindu Feast

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:11:00 +0000

Two weeks ago was the celebration of Deepavali or Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, which marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year according to the Lunar calendar. This holiday is celebrated by Hindus to mark the victory of good over evil.

I never heard of Deepavali until I met Wayne, the co-president of the Malaysian and Singaporean Student Association (MASSA). He is also the undergraduate student in my research group which I am currently supervising. I had the chance of experiencing this holiday as well as the food that was prepared. The best way to learn how to cook the food, is to experience the cooking at someone's place. I went to two homes of the association's executives.

My first stop was at Wayne's place with another MASSA executive member Cher Tieng which they showed me papadums, a thin crispy Indian tortilla. Papads (raw papadums) are generally made of Udal Dal, a type of bean which are grind to make bean flour. Once papads come into contact with hot oil, they expand rapidly and are set within 20 seconds. Here is a video on my astonishment of cooking papadums:

My second stop was at Siva's place, also the co-president of MASSA. He made spicy mutton curry. There are several versions of this dish, depending on the spices used and the person who cooks it. This spicy mutton curry is hearty, saucy and full of flavours: a dish where sweet, spicy, salty, tangy, and citrus ingredients are well harmonized. You can find the spicy mutton recipe on Food.com.

Spices and aromatics for the spicy curry mutton.

I will end this post with some pictures that the other members have prepared.

Banana leaves on serving plate.

Papadums and Raita. The raita consists of yogurt, cucumber and onions.

Spicy curry mutton for 60 people.

A palate cleanser made of soy milk and chin chow (grass jellies).

A job well done. Despite midterm season, they manage to pull the event off. Over 60 students joined and the event was a great success. Congratulations MASSA!

Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:07:00 +0000

Do you know your five mother sauces? Knowing your basics is quite important. Whether it is in science, in sports, in photography or simply in cooking, we have to start with the fundamentals. As a scientist, I make advancements in my field of research and publish several scientific articles because I know my basics in physics and chemistry. This is also true in photography. To take good pictures, one should know all the functions in their own camera, and know about composition.

The great splendor in French cuisine is the sauce as Julia Child would say. From the five mother sauces (béchamel, velouté, hollandaise, espagnole, and tomato sauce), one can make hundred of sauces to compliment, enhance and bring out the flavour of the food that it is served with.

Last week, my bro and I were craving for some comfort food, and we thought of making our own mac and cheese. There are several ways to make it. One neat and simple recipe can be found on The Hot Plate which uses a package of cheese fondue to make a creamy and delicious cheese sauce. The traditional method, presented here, is to start with a béchamel, melt the cheese and mix it with the pasta and vegetables. For the non-vegetarians, you can add ham or bacon to the mac and cheese.

Serves 4
Preparation Time: 25 mins
Cooking Time: 25 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

375g elbow macaronis
2 broccolis, cut into florets
3 tbsps butter
3 tbsps all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 pinch nutmeg
2 tbsps garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Procedure

1. In a large pot, cook elbow macaronis in salted water until al dente. Drain water and reserve.

2. In a small pot, cook broccolis until it turns colour. Drain water and reserve.

3. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.

4. Add in flour and stir for 1 minute.

5. Gradually add in milk and stir until mixture boils. The mixture should be thick and creamy.

6. Add in cheddar and parmesan cheese and mix until cheese has melted. Add in garlic powder and nutmeg. Taste the cheese sauce, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

7. Stir in cooked pasta and broccoli to the cheese sauce.

8. Serve.

Roasted Root Vegetables

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 04:17:00 +0000

Fruits are out of season, now it is the time to enjoy our seasonable root vegetables. During fall, we can easily stock up our pantry with a bag of potatoes, carrots, onions and yams. I also went to farmer's market to pick up some additional root vegetables that I never tried before. Celeriac (celery root) and rutabaga are the ones that I picked up. When I'm confronted to a foreign ingredient, I tend to look up in my mini food encyclopedia on how to choose the best and fresh ones. The encyclopedia also explains how to prepare the ingredient, where it is best use for, as well as the way to preserve it. Unfortunately, this book is only available in French as I am aware of.

I'm pretty sure we all love roasted vegetables, who doesn't? The idea of roasting vegetables might not seem obvious to everyone the first time, even for me. Once you read about it, all you really need is a bit of oil to coat the vegetables, sprinkle it with some spices and herbs to add a new dimension of flavours or to keep simple, simply season with salt and pepper. For this recipe, the quantity does not matter, use whatever you have available in your fridge.

Serves 12 for 6-8 lbs of vegetables

Inspired from Epicurious
Preparation Time: 30 mins
Baking Time: 1 hour 15 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 large red onion
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled
1 lb potatoes, unpeeled and scrubbed
1 lb carrots, peeled
1 lb celeriac, peeled
1 lb rutabagas, wax cut off
4 sprigs of rosemary, leaves removed from stem
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
10 garlic cloves, peeled

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Cut all vegetables into 1-inch pieces. Place celeriac pieces into a bowl of water with lemon juice, immediately after cutting to prevent from browning.

3. Combine all vegetables and rosemary leaves in a large bowl. Drizzle enough olive oil and toss vegetables to coat.

4. Transfer vegetables to a baking pan. If two baking pans are necessary, place one rack in the center of oven and one in the bottom third. Roast for 30 mins, stirring and turning occasionally.

5. Reverse the positions of baking sheets. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add garlic cloves. Continue roasting for 45 mins until tender, stirring and turning occasionally.

Apple-Cinnamon Compote

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:19:00 +0000

I have a bad cough the past two weeks. Coughing during the day, coughing during the night, I barely have any sleep. I wasn't able to go to work, part of me desperately wanted to get out of the bed and run some experiments.

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving. Here is a quick recipe if you are looking for a last minute idea, or planning ahead for American Thanksgiving. If you have a few apples left in your fridge, you can make an easy-to-make apple-cinnamon compote. Great as an appetizer, serve with turkey or serve with your french toast. Delicious, healthy and simple. Happy Thanksgiving!

Serves 8
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

4 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut into cubes
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsps lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick

Procedure

1. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients.

2. Bring to boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until apples are very tender.

3. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature. Mash apples until desired consistency. Serve.

Lentil Gardener's Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:29:00 +0000

If your first thought of Gardener's pie is the vegetarian version of Shepherd's Pie, you are correct. I'm not sure if this happens in the rest of the world, but here in North America, more and more people choose to eat less meat, these group of people are called flexitarians. A flexitarian can be defined in both ways - vegetarians who occasionally eat meats and meat-eaters who want to integrate vegetarian meals in their diet. Arguments of choosing a flexitarian diet can be related to health, environment or resource consumption.

As a food blogger, I feel that it is important to have blogging goals in which one needs to explore in depth. It is similar to science where it is important to specialize in a few topics and research these topics in depth. One goal was mentioned in my White Bean Potato Purée post in which I wanted to find the best side dishes which compliments well with the main. My second goal is to share with you vegetarian recipes which will satisfy both the vegetarians and the meat lovers. I'll share with you my third blogging goal in a later post...

Here is a dish which will sure satisfy both the meat-eaters and the vegetarians, and even the vegans. I read a couple of vegetarian cookbooks, some vegetarian dishes are inspired from meaty dishes. One good substitute is ground soy which looks and tastes exactly like ground meat, the meat-eating friends won't even know that it is vegetarian. Another less known substitute is lentil. Lentils, if you cook and simmer in broth long enough, have a similar texture to ground meat. Lentils are cheap and versatile source of protein and it is not only limited to lentil soup and lentil salad. It can be used when puréed as a thickener to soups and stews, and even blend it into meatballs. In this vegetarian version of Shepherd's pie, I blended ground soy and lentils to substitute the ground lamb, and these ingredients are simmered in broth, herbs and aromatics to make this dish flavourful. For the vegan, you can omit the milk, butter and cheese that are blended in the potatoes.

What is your favourite vegetarian? Feel free to post your recipe link on the comment section.

Serves 12
Modified from Canadian Living: The Vegetarian Cookbook
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 50 mins
Baking Time: 30 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 carrot, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 cups dried green lentils, rinsed and drained
1 package precooked soy protein
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper
1 can diced tomatoes, liquid drained
1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
4 russet or white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup milk
3 tbsps butter
1 1/2 cups old Cheddar or Mozzarella cheese
2 scallions, sliced

Procedure

1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onions, celery and carrot until softened, about 5 mins. Add in garlic and cook until fragrant.

2. Stir in lentils, soy protein, cumin, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 mins.

3. Add in diced tomatoes and broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and stir occasionally. Cook for 45 mins until lentils are tender.

4. Meanwhile, in a large pot, cook potatoes and sweet potatoes in boiling salted water for 15 mins, until tender.

5. Drain water and return to dry pot. Mash together with milk and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in 1/2 cup of cheese.

6. Preheat oven to 375F.

7. Transfer lentil mixture in a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

8. Spread mashed potatoes over top.

9. Sprinkle with cheese and scallions. Bake for 25 mins until bubbly.

10. Serve.

Grantchester, UK - The Orchard

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:46:00 +0000

I wasn't too sure how to structure my blog posts about my trip in UK as I visited over 30 cities/villages in three weeks, well it is more like two weeks since the first week I stayed mainly in Cambridge because of the conference.

Wikitravel has been my ultimate reference for my travelling, choosing the best places to eat and the safest places to visit. Without this, I would still fear of travelling alone and probably would not able to visit several cities in a short amount of time. When looking for information about a city, it also mentions its neighboring cities that are worth visiting. The village of Grantchester had caught my attention because of its breathtaking countryside view, and it is tradition to have a cup of tea in The Orchard when staying in Cambridge. This very small village is located about three miles out of the city. You can get there by punt, walk, bike or take the city bus.

The Orchard, established in 1868, is known for its hand-sized scones, some say it is the best place to have scones in England. As the name suggests, it is an orchard of apples where one sits on a deckchair and have scones and tea under a tree. Lovely, isn't it?

The tea room is self-service like in a cafeteria where you grab a tray and get whatever you feel like eating. When having scones in the UK, you must smother it with clotted cream and jam. Clotted cream is a thick and rich cream, a bit like whipping cream but the taste is not the same. Clotted cream and jam is the perfect combination, the ultimate indulgence.

Stay tuned for my next post about Cambridge.

Ariosto Seasoning - Risotto with Tomato Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:02:00 +0000

First thing first, I have just launched my fan page on Facebook. If you enjoy my recipes, feel free to click on the Facebook logo below and "Like" my page. I guess by now, we have Facebook accounts so, I will use this opportunity to share with you some food news, interesting finds and recipes made by others, and even some cool science facts related to my field of research in nanotechnology. I love sharing my finds on Twitter and on my own personal wall. Feel free to post on the wall your favorite recipe, questions and comments.

While I was in a conference at Cambridge, I was contacted by an Italian company called Ariosto which sells all-natural seasoning mixes. I like their idea that they sell more than the basic Italian seasonings that are usually found in supermarkets. They have seasonings for potatoes, fishes, pasta sauces, roast beef, chicken, and even omelettes. If you are not the type of person who preserve herbs in your fridge, these products can be suitable for you.

I didn't hesitate to say yes when it comes to Italian food, so the company sent me samples of their products. On their website, there are some interesting and creative recipes that are published by other food bloggers, and some of them, I know quite well. Anyhow, I wanted to make a dish that doesn't intervene with any of the food bloggers. I was thinking of making something with the seasoning for tomato sauce. One would instantly think of mixing tomato sauce into pasta. I think tomato sauce has more than one purpose...

I was inspired from a few of my past recipes like Beef with Tomatoes, Rice with Shrimp Egg Sauce and Artichoke Risotto with Pesto. All these have a generous amount of sauce and served with a fair amount of rice. In fact, why not make a basic tomato sauce and mix it into a risotto?

Do you have a killer tomato sauce to share? Have you used tomato sauce other than on pasta? Please do post your recipe link on the comment section, I will definitely read it.

Serves 2
Preparation Time: 5 mins
Simmering Time: 45 mins to 1 hour for tomato sauce
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Tomato Sauce
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp Ariosto seasoning for tomato based sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 28 oz. can whole plum tomatoes

Risotto
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
4-5 cups warm vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups Tomato Sauce
2 tbsps butter (optional)
Parsley for garnish
Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Prepare tomato sauce. In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add Ariosto seasoning to the pan and brown it for a few seconds.

2. Add tomatoes with its juice and cut them into cubes with scissors. Bring to low heat. Simmer for 45 mins to 1 hour, uncovered until thickened.

3. Prepare risotto. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tbsp of butter and oil over medium heat. Cook chopped onion until transparent, about 5 mins. Set aside.

4. Add Arborio rice to skillet and cook until translucent. Add a ladle of broth until the rice has adsorbed most of the liquid. Stir frequently. Bring back cooked onion to skillet.

5. Continue adding a ladle of broth at a time, stirring until liquid is almost fully adsorbed.

6. After 15 mins, once rice is almost done, stir in 1 1/2 cups of the prepared tomato sauce.

7. Continue adding broth in the same manner until rice is al dente. For a creamy texture, stir in 2 tbsps of butter.

8. Spoon risotto onto serving plates. Garnish with parsley and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Salmon en Papillote with Maple Syrup, Ginger and Mango

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:33:00 +0000

I'm back from my trip to UK. In fact, I was back since the beginning of August. I was just overwhelmed with work and I'm a bit behind with my research, so I'm catching up slowly... I also get distracted by the numerous summer activities and events in Montreal. If you visited Montreal, you would understand why...I received numerous e-mails and tweets about when I'll be publishing my next recipe. I have been pressured quite a lot by co-workers too, so you're not the only ones... I'm so fortunate to have such loyal viewers and I greatly appreciate it.

The Highlands of Scotland in a nice sunny day.

You might wonder what I did in my three-week vacation in the UK. I visited over 30 cities which includes Wales, England, Scotland & The Highlands. When I'm in a foreign country, I hunt for the best places to eat and acquire as much knowledge about their food culture. Expect some posts about my food adventures in the following weeks.

Yes, this is Stonehenge!

I received a request a week ago from my brother's friend who wants me to make a salmon dish which is savory and, at the same time, original. When I deal with salmon, I immediately think of "en papillote", a classic French cooking technique in which the fish is steamed inside a sealed pouch with fresh herbs, seasonings and aromatics. My favourite marriage of ingredients is maple syrup, ginger and lime which gives a contrast of sweet, tangy and citrus flavour to your dish. Simply licking your mixing bowl, you'll be amazed of this combination. I added some mango and coriander for some freshness to the salmon.

What is your favourite salmon dish? If you have already published a salmon recipe on your blog, feel free to post your link on the comment section. I would love to read it!

Note: I presented both ways to make a pouch. Both methods are as good, I didn't see any difference in terms of doneness and flavors.

Serves 4
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Oven Time: 15 to 18 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 salmon fillets, skin on or off
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish
3 tbsps maple syrup
1 tbsp ginger, grated
2 tbsps lime juice
2 tbsps coriander, chopped
2 scallions, finely chopped
2 mangoes, cut into cubes

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. In a medium bowl, mix maple syrup, ginger, lime juice, coriander and scallion.

3. Add in the mangoes and, with a spoon, gently coat the mangoes with syrup mixture.

2 options for the pouching:

4. Cut parchment paper in a heart shape. Add a tsp of olive oil in the middle of one side of the heart. Place the salmon skin side down, add 1/4 of the mango garnish on top of the salmon.

Fold the other half of the paper, starting from one end of the heart, crimp the open edges to seal them by making a series of small folds.

OR

4. Lay a foot-long parchment paper. Repeat the above process for the salmon. The pouch should look like a calzone.

5. Place salmon pouches on a baking pan and bake for 15-18 mins.

6. To serve, place the pouches on serving plates, and let each person cut open his or her own pouch. Bon apétit!

Parsley Hummus with/without Tahini

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:51:00 +0000

I am now officially in UK, staying at Trinity College, one of the oldest residence in Cambridge University, built in the mid-1500s and founded by Henri VIII. Famous scientists, mathematicians as well as numerous Nobel prize winners used to stay in Trinity, so it is quite wonderful to know that I am staying where the fundamental science has started.

My body hasn't gotten used to the jet lag. So basically I am writing this post at 3 in the morning (10PM in Montreal time). I guess I have free up some time for food blogging. The past weeks, I have been practising my presentation for the conference in front of various groups of people, those who knows my research and those who doesn't. It gives a good indication on how well I am transmitting my key messages to the audience. The more practice, the more confident that I will be able to answer audience's questions. This is always nervous part of the presentation. You will never know what kind of trick questions that will be asked. The most terrifying moment is not able to answer the question properly.

A while back, I made hummus, great for spreading on bread every morning, rarely I have time to make fancy breakfast in the morning. I create many variations of hummus so I won't get tired of eating hummus everyday. Try to blend some flavours, explore alternatives. For example, tahini paste has a silky texture and nutty flavour, why not substitute with peanut butter or raw coconut butter or even almond butter.

If you like hummus, what flavours would you put in it?

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 19oz. can of chickpeas (garbanzo) beans
1/3 cup tahini or smooth peanut butter or coconut butter (Artisana Raw Coconut Butter)
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 pinch salt
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 apple, quartered (optional)
1 handful of parsley
2-3 tbsp water (if necessary)

Procedure

1. In a food processor, blend chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, cumin, salt until smooth.

2. Add in garlic and apple. If necessary, add few tbsps of water if mixture is too thick. Blend in parsley.

3. For decoration, make a circular well on the hummus and drizzle with hummus. Place unblended chickpeas in the well.

Hoisin Peanut Butter Glazed Chicken Drumsticks

noreply@blogger.com (Victor) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 05:50:00 +0000

I can't believe it has been nearly a month since my last blog post. Don't worry nothing life threatening happened to me the past few weeks. I was basically stuck with loads of paperwork, 2-months of paperwork that I set aside during my PhD exam. I didn't realize that I have that much work to do, so food blogging was set aside for a while, seriously I didn't expect to be that long. Hopefully, I didn't desert you viewers for too long (probably I did). I have lots of blog catching up to do.

Here's a quick update of my weeks:

For all of you who were waiting impatiently of the results of my PhD exam, I successfully passed it.
After 8 months from the submission of my thesis, I finally graduated and received my Master degree.
Some of you might already know the news, I will be heading to UK to give a talk about my research at a conference in Cambridge University in mid-July. Afterwards, I will travel around UK until the end of July. I will be meeting some food bloggers. If you live in UK, I would gladly meet you, just send me an e-mail.

If you're busy person like me and don't feel doing much on the stove. This Thai-inspired dish is something you do want to make on your lazy-to-cook days. All you need is to mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and brush it over the chicken. Leave it in the oven until fully cooked. Remember: a balance of sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavours is key to a great Thai dish.

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Baking Time: 50-55 mins
Adapted from Canadian Living
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup green onions, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp gingerroot, grated
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes (or Sriracha) (optional)
8-10 chicken legs or thighs

Procedure

1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients except for the chicken.

2. Arrange chicken in a lightly oiled baking pan.

3. Brush sauce over chicken. Bake for 50-55 mins until golden brown and juices run clear when pierced with a fork.

4. Garnish with green onions.