Twitter Facebook RSS

Friday, December 31, 2010

Today is new year's eve and it's time for some real talk. Honestly 2010 has been one of the best years of my life. I learned, laughed and experienced a lot. I met and found some new friends and unfortunately lost some too along the way. But if you know me, I will never give up. Just like a play in basketball. I would like to thank some people but I will do that on my 30th day.

Did any of my last year's resolution come true? Yes! Some of them did which is awesome. All I know is my life is moving way too fast, all I can do is just go with the flow. The new year is going to be an awesome year, I know it and I can't wait till 2011 is here.

We make history, strive off victory.

Well talk is cheap so I will shut up and end off by saying

Happy New Year to you, I wish you all the best. 

Cheers


Oh by the way, tonight's dish is going to be vegetables. I am feeling a little sick, I think it was because of the bad sweet basil that I ate.Will post later.

Hello!!
Seems like I am always behind on my posts but you know what? I will never let you down haha. So yesterday night before I left for my big NYE adventure, I cooked some really nice carrots! They smelled so good! The butter, the bay leaves and olive oil is just too much. =)

Here's how I did them.
Cut them in 2 inches of length
Pack your carrots in a tight pan
season with bay leaves (tucked between them)
add olive oil
sea salt
pepper
and a large knob of butter on top

Then cook for 20 minutes till the water boils. Take off the lid and let it sit for another half an hour till the liquid reduces. Then serve! The carrots smelled so nice and it was so soft!!!

Btw Happy New Year!

prep

I didn't have a big bowl

my soldiers
Hello hello!

Late post again! I am so sorry but these days I have been really busy with work, outings and other stuff.

Okay so last night I made roasted chicken breast wrapped on bacon with leeks and thyme. You might ask what leeks are, allow me to explain. They look like chinese onions but the scent is way better. The taste is okay, nothing special but the baked smell was very mesmerizing.

Here's how you make it.

Cut your leeks into 1/4 inches
Lay them on the chicken breast
sea salt
pepper
a few sprigs of thyme
olive oil
butter
wrap the chicken with bacon
season accordingly

pop it in a pre-heated oven at 400 for 40 mins or 35 if you like your chicken a little bit rare.

The smell was it was done was crazy, my uncle came from the basement and said "Wa gum hern geh?" which means "wow it smells good" in english. Haha.

The taste was very juicy and tender. The meat was very soft and the bacon gave the chicken even more flavour. Awesome.


expensive tomatoes

pre oven

*drool

There are some questions that people always ask me and I think I need to clarify.

FAQ 1:
Q:
Why are you always cooking? Are you depressed or something?

A:
No, no and no. I love food! I am not depressed and I've always cooked before just not as intense as this time. First of all "he" always cooks at home and it did give me some sort of influence. Second, I spend a lot of money on food & drinks and I want to try to save some of that fast food money on "real" food. Remember, good food is important!

Q:
When can you cook for me?

A:
Honestly, I want to cook for all of you but my kitchen has its limitations and same with my house. But I promise, I will cook for you guys one day!

Q:
Can I get the recipe from you?

A:
Even though I bought the recipes, I would be more than happy to share it with you because I want you to eat healthy too!

Q:
How do you have time for all of this?

A:
Everyone has 24 hours.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Blah I'm late! Sorry for the late post but yesterday was just too crazy, went for a haircut after work, picked up my mom, ate a bit of rice at home and then rushed out to pick up a friend.

Anyways let me talk about the salad that I made yesterday and then I will share something really funny. Yesterday I went to michaels again and bought some tomatoes for my salad. There was so many different kinds of tomatoes! I bought a good handful of mixed tomatoes and checked out.

At home heres how it went:
Wash the tomatoes and cut them into irregular shapes (be bold)
Season them with sea salt (use a lot so that the flavours start to come out) Then let them sit for 20 minutes
Drain it with a colander and empty it on a clean bowl
Chop up some red chilli, garlic, marjoram leaves
After 20 minutes, add pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chilli, garlic, marjoram leaves and basil 
season correctly and serve =)

It was love at first bite! Usually I don't really eat tomatoes but this salad was just to die for. It was a edgy salad with a little bit of spice but filled with flavour because of the olive oil and garlic. So awesome. Must try.

Proper Tomato Salad

Anyways some daniel oliver fun.

When I was shopping for the tomatoes, I was mumbling to myself about how expensive the tomatoes or veggies were and then I got this weird look from someone who works there. I was so embarrassed.

Before heading out of the house, my grandma made me down a "5 far char" (chinese health drink) While driving down, I had to go to the washroom SO BADLY! The bumpy roads were no help either but I made it.

After dessert (which btw never order white chocolate cheesecake because it was so darn sweet) while walking to my car, I was mumbling to myself again regarding "not getting a parking ticket" (I parked illegally, I think HAHA) and my friend was like "who are you talking to?" HAHA so embarrassing.

When I got home, I had to go to the washroom again because I drank 3 cups of water during the outing. So I ran in and I thought I had unbuttoned one of my buttons for my button fly pants but I didn't and I ripped it off. So cheap! And the pants was from g-star too! Oh well, my mom repaired it. HAHA. Fun, fun, fun.

New yeas eve is coming up. I'll keep you guys posted on what's going on.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Oh my! I am almost done my 30 day challenge! So exciting. I wish I had this cooking urge at a early time but it's never too late for anything.

I am looking at some measuring cups and a springform pans on the Williams Sonoma website and man, they are expensive. They are my dream cook / bake ware. I guess I'll just look for now. =)
Today I made a "Proper Custard" since I had an obscene amount of egg yolks in my fridge.

The ingredients includes:
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons superfine sugar
1 vanilla bean, scored lengthways and seeds removed
8 large egg yolks

I got the kitchen late today but I still managed to cook something that I wanted to make. This weekend is another dinner party and I need to think about what to make and what to prepare before hand. I figured the custard would be a good test for dessert but then I don't know what will go well with the sauce.

The hardest part of the custard was the final part, I kind of over did it a bit. You will know when you start to see lumps and when that happens, you have to strain it with a strainer which is no problem. The final taste, tasted like egg tarts if you are chinese like me. Haha. I love it.

My final days are coming up. Am I going to say goodbye to Daniel Oliver? I don't know yet, only time will tell. I see it like this, life is moving so fast sometimes I can't keep up with it. All I can do is go with the flow. Tomorrow is another day =)

=p

yay!

one of a kind

apple corer!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Today I am going to learn how to make proper custard, since I have so many egg yolks from my countless meringues. Too bad the kitchen is a mess right now. I will have to wait till later tonight but don't worry, I am on top of things =)
Oh my goodness, I have been sleeping very late and it's not good for me at all! Oh well, holidays you can only enjoy it for such a short period of time.

Today I went to Markville mall to get my skates sharpened and it ended up taking 3 hours plus because they were so busy. Its not a good idea to go during boxing week. Not cool.

Other than that, I had a really fun day today! Daniel Oliver not only knows how to cook, he knows how to skate as well! Haha. My friend and I went down to Nathan Phillips Square and skated down there for a good 2 hours or so. The atmosphere was absolutely beautiful, I was so amazed and stunned. It really felt like I haven't been doing anything in toronto for a while. The night life was just so relaxing and comfortable. I didn't even notice my ears turning red or my nose running.

But now down to business. The dinner party was a successful one and I got lots of feedback from my friends and family. Some stuff that I want to work on is, my prepping skills. I felt that I could have been more organized and well prepared. The cutting of the salmon was completely random on my part and "he" commented on how I could cut it better, which is true. I don't think the main course was enough but I had dessert to cover it up.

makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside haha

i hate saying goodbyes

here we go

=D

This time for my upcoming dinner party, I think I will master the potatoes. I love how potatoes are so flexible in terms of flavouring and taste. Tonight I made Rosemary-roasted cubed potatoes. I think I am going to use this recipe and serve it as a side dish. The taste, aroma and presentation is irresistible and it is a dish that will for sure impress. So lets roll with it. Here it is in pictures. This time, the roasted potatoes was very well roasted and the smashed garlic / rosemary really shined.

Monday, December 27, 2010

I feel for a warm salad today.
I will cook after my plans for today! =)

Are you ready to stay up all night?
=(
=|
=)
=D
Some things are worth giving a second shot at, so today I had a dinner party and I cooked for a few close friends of mine. I was so tired, I woke up at 6ish to go boxing day shopping. So stupid. Oh well, after when I came home, I relaxed a bit and headed out to buy some groceries!

Tonight I made:
Fifteen Christmas Salad
Pan-roasted salmon with broccoli and rosemary anchovy sauce.
Ultimate Fruit Meringue with vanilla cream, roasted crushed almonds and Carmel.

For instructions check my previous posts.

The thing that bothered me the most was actually sitting down and eating with my friends at peace. I had to always worry about the next step and set up for the next course. But the good thing was, I was well prepared.

The Christmas salad was simple and amazing. The portion was just right and wasn't a overkill.

Salmon dish was a little iffy, I should have added some roasted potatoes in there because it seemed like it was too little for the guys.

The meringue was a blast! I admit that I failed the presentation part but the taste was still the same. Tony loved the meringue, not the cream tho. The meringue was nice a crispy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside. Absolutely amazing.

What I would do differently next time is, make the dessert on the night before. Add some potatoes on the side and prepare a better salad. It seemed like I was rushing things just a bit. Oh well.

Tomorrow, I feel for something warm. Maybe a warm salad. Warm potato salad! Oh my.
I need sleep.
Here are some pictures of my day. =)

She is amazing

the line up

I was so bored and tired of waiting

play time

dinner is set!

waiting for a group photo

salmon, look how happy tony is haha

to top it all off

gone so fast

serious gamer

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Hello there!

Merry Christmas everyone! I wish you all a safe and happy holiday!

So I just tried the meringue with my family, they were all really excited about it and even called me not to eat it yet and wait for everyone to come back first. It was kinda of awkward because I was cutting the meringue and it seemed like it was a birthday for someone but it ain't. Anyways, the meringue tasted great. The clemintine zest really stood out on this one and gave a fresh citrus taste to it. The sugar helped of course. It was perfect, crispy on the outside and soft and gooy on the inside.

The cream really had a nice soft texture to it. Adding to the flavour was the natural vanilla seed, which gave it a nice soft ice cream sense to it.

The fruit was meh, it could have been better with fruits that I like but I didn't have much.

Today or tonight, I am going to make another meringue. I have to prep for tomorrow! And plus tomorrow is boxing day too! Can't wait. Hehe.

I made a Christmas wish, I want to share it with you guys but it isn't going to come true if I tell you. =P

Check again later =D
Hi I am back.

So yesterday night or this morning, I made the Ultimate fruit caramel Meringue! It was exactly the same thing as the eton mess except this time I had the vanilla beans which made a whole world of difference.

Meringue:
6 egg whites
sugar
zest of any choice or cocoa powder.

The hardest part was the carmel sauce. Here is how it should be done:

1 cup of water
sugar

Yes, the book just said SUGAR. Didn't say how much, so I just added one cup. The trick is, bring it to a boil and let it simmer slowly. Once you get a golden brown colour, pour it on top of your meringue. Stupid sugar, it was the only reason I slept so late.

Merry Christmas!











Friday, December 24, 2010

Today was only a half day for me at work and I had a fantastic morning. One of my best clients, Rik from winsafe popped in and asked us what we wanted from tim hortons! He showed up with two boxes of treasure, it really felt like the holiday spirit was among us.

Then at lunch time, I went over to woodstone with my number 1 fan and we exchanged Christmas gifts! So cute eh? Haha.

Tonight, I want to make meringue again and I'm trying to prep for sunday. Its my big day and I want my friends to enjoy it. I want my food to sing and speak to them. (so cheesy)

When I got home, I received praises from him regarding how I prepped the food. I was in disbelief and shock. I wasn't use to it at all and it didn't feel right. Maybe he was being nice to me. I want him to continue pushing me and hating me. (well not hating me but you get what I mean)

Blah tonight is a big Christmas family dinner. I hope I can still cook what I want to tonight.

I'm a fighter and I will keep fighting.

From Rik

Just what I needed! From my #1 fan =)

Oh and a little holiday spirit to add to my wall
Hello there!
Sorry for the late update but I was so tired last night because I had so much to do! I almost didn't cook but I didn't want to break the cycle.

So yesterday I made Scotch Stovies.
Heres how it went down.

Heat up a pan at medium low
Toss in a lard of butter
Chopped onions
sea salt
pepper
olive oil

Cook till golden brown
add in your potato chunks
a pint of water
season again
cook till its mushy
then add chopped celery and choice of veggies.

Serve =)
The smell was unbelievable! It just melts in your mouth and the best part was, it's filled with flavour!

After my homework, he calls me and tells me that I have to prep for the Christmas dinner party. My job was to season the prime rib and lamb leg, which wasn't bad. I would tell you how I seasoned it but it's a family secret. HAHA!



Note to self, never go to a mall during the holidays. It was jam packed! Oh my.



the sea of people

in the making !

finished =D

prime rib

mom doesn't know how to handle the iphone

lamb leg

Thursday, December 23, 2010

My choice of cooking music =)
Relaxing and soothing.

Here is my daily routine.

Wake up at 945am
get ready for work
eat
leave the house around 10:12
work till 630pm
after work is groceries
home around 7:15pm
eat at 730pm
after dinner, wash dishes
then cook
then homework
then sleep at 1230 (well i try at least)

How does your routine look like? Haha
Tonight, I am going to cook something special to celebrate. =)
 Once I got home today, I crashed onto my bed. I was so tired! I took a 2 hour nap and woke up still feeling tired but that is no excuse not to cook! Haha

Today I made "Roasted chicken with lemony Bombay potatoes" along with my helper Andrew. It was quite easy and it was almost the same thing as the last one.

Here's how I did it.:

Pre-heat oven to 400
Boil the potatoes in salt water, once its done cut it in small cubes and set it aside.
Find a bowl and put a teaspoon of Turmeric, zest of 1 lemon, half a teaspoon of groun cumin, 5 sprigs of chopped fresh cilantro, quarter of a red pepper and 1 inch piece of fresh ginger sliced into matchsticks.

Add 3 slices of lemon into the bowl, followed by the chicken breast and toss everything around with some olive oil and season well with sea salt and ground pepper.

Make it look pretty with different layers and pop it in the oven for 40 minutes.

After when its done, EAT haha.

The meat was really nice a juicy, followed by a lemony taste of potatoes and veggies.
drew!!

pre-oven

the result!

i forgot to take a picture before i dug in haha

take 1

take 2 !
Blah, I don't know how I am going to cook tomorrow. I have so many things to do! Its that time of the year again! Oh well, I'm excited for the holidays and my dinner party soon!

Theres something bothering me but I just cant pin point what.
Thanks for reading whoever you are =)