Hello Friends!

Its been a while since I have posted but a great food blogger once told me that "you should always live life first, then blog second." So, that is exactly what I have been doing. I spent some time recovery from a nasty fall that happened during a basketball game. Banged up my shoulder pretty good and I ended up not going to the gym or playing basketball. I was pretty down. =(

But as Chinese New Year draws near, it is a good reminder that we all have a second reset in life. I have been constantly running errands for my grandma. It is always such a big thing in my home to have big feasts and family over. Are you guys going celebrating Chinese New Year?

Anyways, finally I found some time to invite some friends over to experience my cooking side. It always makes me feel happy to see them look forward or talk about the dinner parties that I host. I hope one day I can open up a restaurant with my sister or something and have my parents do the accounting part while I cook.

Now for the exciting part. I decided to try something new and do a blueberry soup. Crazy huh? I wanted something light and sweet but also stunning. Everyone thought it was a beets soup that was hot and spicy but when they tried it, everyone fell in love. Except my friend John, he doesn't like anything sour. This recipe was inspired by Soup. 

Here is how you make it:

2lb of blueberries
1.25 L of water
70 mL sugar
1 mL salt
7 ml fresh rosemary chopped.

Dumped all the ingredients in a pot. Throw in the berries, chopped rosemary, water and sugar. Bring it to a boil and then turn down the temperature. Simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Transfer the soup to a blender and puree the contents. Strain the soup, making sure you catch the rosemary and blueberry skins.

Chill the soup for at least 4 hours. Upon serving, spoon in 5mL of sour cream or yogurt to top it off.

The soup itself was very mint like but no mint leaves were used at all. At first sip, it seemed very weird and no one really like the taste but they got use to it and started to taste the flavours. As I topped off their bowls with seconds, they asked how it was made and if it was possible to drink it hot.

Definitely, you guy would see me talking about this soup again. Since I got so many positive comments about it. I will also share with you later on this week the other dishes that I made. They were all winners in my opinion.

After dinner we just finished the evening with boards games. Can't wait till I host more of these parties. Let me know if you have any questions. =)

Thanks for reading!

Hello

Before you ask me where I have been and why I haven't been posting. I just want to come clean and say I have been busy with life. I know, I know, I always open with I'm so busy with this and that but it's true. =( But I am happy to be back with a new post.

Since I have been baking so many meringues for parties and birthdays I wanted to extend the idea of meringue and fish for some fresh techniques on how to be a bit more creative with it. I was looking through my cookbooks and came across a recipe by the guys at Oliver & Bonacini. They always have a good sense of taste and lifestyle of food that I love.

 

I came across this meringue with ice cream and marinated strawberries recipe that I really wanted to try.

Here how it goes:
Meringue
4 egg whites
3 drops of lemon juice
2 ml vanilla extract
300 ml sugar

Strawberries
4 cups of strawberries cut in half
125 ml sugar
5 ml lemon zest
50 ml vodka of choice

Served with ice cream or yogurt.
Pre heat at 220F

Place the egg whites, lemon juice, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Whip until stiff and gradually add sugar. Continue beating until it forms peaks.

Then use a pastry bag and pipe the meringue into 2 inch squares on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake until it is dry and set aside. (Around 20mins)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and let the strawberries sit for 10 minutes.

After when the strawberries are marinated, place a meringue square on each plate and top it with a scoop of ice cream or yogurt. Press gently to create a cup and fill it with strawberries. Cover with another square and then repeat the process.

The beast within. *gasp

I hope you enjoyed my last post on macarons, I am still trying to adapt to a new book that I got. The macarons are tough, I still need to practice more and get use to the macaronage stage. I will continute to update you guys when I get the chance but for now, thanks for stopping by. =)

Cheers

Hello Hello

It brings me great joy to share with you my findings for the week. But I need to come clean and tell you guys that I have been very busy and frustrated for several reasons. First, I was trying to come up with a system to bake macarons and second after trying several times and failing, I was very embarrassed and was about to run a marathon to relieve my stress level. I'm kidding but in all honesty, I was very mad at myself for not getting this down right the first time.

I swear I attempted this 7 times before I learned the main reasons why it wouldn't work. Sometimes, I over folded it and other times, I over whipped it. The thing is I baked it way back before I made a design flip to this blog and never had any troubles until now. My sister blames the temperature and current state of this nasty dry weather we are having in Toronto but I blame the techniques but she could be right.

Thanks to numerous food bloggers such as eatlivetravelwrite, food52 and Lisa from jordanwinery. They have really helped me a lot during this journey of mine by providing tips on what to do and what not to do. Anyways enough with the introduction, I have much to say but I will try to keep it short and simple.

First let's start off with a basic recipe that I have been using. It's from a macaron book my friend got from the U.K.

Meringue Shell:
2 egg whites at room temperture
50 ml sugar
75 ml ground almonds
115 ml icing sugar
a pinch of cream of tartar

Put the ground almonds and icing sugar in a food processor and process it for about 4 seconds 4 times. This will ensure that the ground almonds and icing sugar is at its finest state. This will help your cookie looking smooth and shiny.

Sift the dry ingredients twice and set aside.

Whip the egg whites on high until it starts to foam a bit. Add the cream of tartar and whip it for about 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and continue whipping until it forms a soft but stiff peak. You can tell by taking out the whisk and checking the tip of it.

Fold in your desired food colour of choice.

Macaronage Stage:
Take your dry ingredients and add half to the egg whites. Folding ever so gently because you want the egg whites to hold in a bit of air. Fold the rest in and what you want to aim for is a shiny, smooth but not runny texture.

To test if your batter is ready for pipping, spoon some batter on a plate, a peak will form and if it falls back down and melts in with the batter then it is ready.

Piping:
Pipe the macarons on a prepared baking tray with parchment paper already set and cut. This recipe should make 15-16 whole macarons depending on how big you pipe your shells.

Waiting stage:
Let it sit at room temperture for 30-40 minutes. What happens here is it will form a skin on the top of the shell. This will help you form feet at the bottom of your macarons.

At the mean time, set your oven to 325F.

Bake:
Pop it in the oven for 5-8 minutes and watch carefully. For me, it only took 5 minutes and the feet was already formed with no browning at the bottom.

Filling:
50 ml butter
115 ml icing sugar
a splash of vanilla extract

This is one of the most basic fillings there is for the macarons. I just wanted to whip up something quick and end the night.

You can pipe it on the cookie or use a knife and spread a generous amount.

The macarons should be kept in a freezer if not being served. It can be kept in there for up to 3 months. Just take a out and let it sit at room temperture for 20 minutes before serving.

Any questions don't hesitate to message me. =)

Hello!

Happy holidays guys! Oh my, I am so sorry, I have been falling behind on my posts and left you in the dark for so long. No worries, I have been very busy in the kitchen baking and cooking up a storm. I always try to live life first, then blog so bare with me. =) Let's see...where to start.

If you live in Toronto, chances are you heard of Winterlicious. It's basically a way for local restaurants in Toronto to promote themselves by giving a set price for a set menu. I decided to use that idea and start a winterlicious event at my place. My friends obviously loved the idea and wanted in on the action. I looked through some of my favourite cookbooks to gain inspiration and kind of put my own twist to it.

So here we go.

This is the Carrot and Pear Puree Soup. At first glance, it may look like your typically squash soup with toast but looks can be deceiving. In this soup there are:

5 carrots (peeled and chopped)
5 pears (peeled and cubed)
1 L of veggy stock
1 sweet onion
10 ml cinnamon
1 generous gulp of olive oil
30 ml ginger
salt and pepper

With a generous amount of fresh ingredients you want to start off by sauteing the onions with olive oil. Add the cinnamon and ginger. Making sure the onions don't brown. Then add the carrots, pears and veggy stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring it to a boil then simmer until the pears and carrots are soft. When you reach to that point let it cool down a bit and then transfer the soup to a blender and puree the ingredients.

Then serve with a toasted french bread of your choice. If it tastes a bit bland, add salt and pepper to adjust the flavours.

This soup is perfect for a cold winter's night, especially when you are in Toronto where the harsh winds can really take you off your feet.

Next we have the Roasted Chicken with Cherry tomatoes and Asparagus. I always loved working with chicken, I find that chicken is almost like the default meat for any restaurant because you can get so creative with it in so many ways. My dad gave me some good pointers on how you prep the chicken and I felt bad if I didn't listen to him since he was more excited then I was about the party. And trust me, I was pretty stoked. =)

6 chicken breasts
36 halved cherry tomatoes
11 asparagus
salt
pepper
olive oil
thyme leaves
rosemary leaves
topped with balsamic vinegar

Season the chicken breast with olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme leaves and rosemary leaves. Add the cherry tomatoes, asparagus and spread it evenly. Making sure it covers the top and bottom of the breasts. Let it season for at least half an hour.

Heat up a iron cast pan and sear the chicken skin making sure you get that nice golden brown tone but not to the point where its going to burn.

Preheat the oven at 400F, place the chicken breast along with all the seasonings in the middle of the oven and let it bake for 30 minutes. When it is done, top it off with balsamic vinegar. Serve with choice of veggies or Garlic Mash Potatoes.

Dessert was a no brainier, with the cold weather not going away and old man winter knocking on the door. I wanted to leave my friends with a warm feeling. The Fruit Crumble was an excellent way to end the evening.

2 lbs of fruits of your choice
250 ml all purpose flour
125 ml melted butter
10 ml cinnamon
10 ml nutmeg
125 ml brown sugar

Preheat the oven at 350F.

On a oven safe bowl, scatter your fruits and season them with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Combine the flour, brown sugar and mix in the melted butter. Use your hands to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated properly.

Spread the combined dry ingredients on top of your fruits, making sure it covers all the fruits. Toss it in the oven and bake for an hour until the juices of the fruits start to bubble on the side of your bowl. Serve with whipped cream or choice of ice cream.

Ah, 2012 is coming to an end fast. What are your plans? I can't wait for 2013 to come. It is going to be such a fun and amazing year. I will definately have more dinner parties and share with you more recipes!

Cheers and thanks for stopping by!

Hello Hello

Holidays are coming and I am already in holiday mode! Hooray for holidays! What do you guys have planned for the holidays? It has been a crazy weekend with all the partying and family gatherings, thankfully the weather is still a bit mild and not crazy cold yet. Although some snow would really bring out the Christmas cheer. 

Even though Christmas is just around the corner, this blog has always been in my mind. I am constantly trying to come up with new content to share and hopefully some dinner party experiences soon. This weekend my cousin was over and he loves cookies. He is such a cookie monster. I took this chance to really bond with him by making these beautiful, packer with flavour cookies.

The fun part about making these cookies is getting your hands on them. Forming snowball like cookie dough is always a good way to get into baking but I still don't like how the dough sticks on your hands though. Haha.

I have a great Christmas break coming up and for sure I am going to host a Winterlicious party. This time, I will bring to the table recipes that I have never blogged about before. Hopefully, I can manage. On top of that New Year's Eve is coming up and you know what it is, more treats!

Coconut Bailey's Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies 
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup Bailey's original Irish cream
30 ml Kahlua Coffee liqour
60 ml dry shredded coconut meat
2 1/4 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (6 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven 375

Beat the butter with the sugars until fluffy and add egg.
Gradually add vanilla, bailey's, kahlua until smooth. Make sure you scrape the sides to get everything in the batter. 

Mix in the dry ingredients with the paddle mixer, adding a considerable amount at a time. Add the flour, baking soda and salt. 

Fold in dry shredded coconut meat and chocolate chips. Snowball the cookie dough on a prepared baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until it turns brown. 

Cool in room temperature and enjoy! 

Looking forward to the holiday dinners! =D  

Hello Hello

Good morning to you, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. It's been such a hectic weekend with all the Christmas fiascos. So many bright lights and so many people at the mall. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is no snow yet and I am a bit sad since Christmas day is just around the corner. Oh well, it will come.

For those of you who don't know me quite well yet, I am a huge fan of baking meringue. When ever I bring this baby out to the dining room table, I get all these stunned looks and questions about "what is that?!" Haha.

It was a recipe that I found off of Jamie Oliver that got me started. His way of baking meringue is so simple and leaves a lot of room for you to play with. He was the only person that I ever got around to believing that meringues don't have to be crunchy and can be a little bit gooey chewy on the inside.

Although no one really likes him, he was the first person that I ever bought a cookbook from. Probably because it was on sale or something. Haha. If you want to check out his book I would suggest "Cook with Jamie."  

I get a lot of questions regarding when to know when you meringue is ready for baking. The answer lies in the stiffness of your meringue. Turn your batter upside down, if it falls off then it is no good.

Happy Birthday Drew!

Here we go Ultimate Fruit Meringue:

Meringue:
6 egg whites
1 cup plus 5 tablespoons of sugar

Toppings:
500 ml 35% cream
2 tablespoons of icing sugar
10 ml vanilla extract
Handfuls of strawberries, blueberries and fruit of your choice.

Preheat 300F
Whip the egg whites till it starts to foam. Gradually add in the sugar until it starts to turn glossy white. Whip it for about 7-8 minutes until it is stiff enough for your to hold it upside down above your head and won't fall down (It never fell on me ever haha).

Optional:
You can add in any flavours you want to enhance the meringue taste by adding lemon or orange zest.

Pour the meringue batter on a prepared baking pan either as one big round blob or several blobs on the pan.
Bake in the center for about an hour until the outside is crispy and the inside is still a bit gooy and chewy.

Take it out and set aside to cool.

Whip the 35% cream, add vanilla extract and sugar until it starts to come together. Do not over whip or the cream would turn chunky and you do not want it to be like that.

Assemble your cake by putting the whipping cream on top, shower the cream with a handful of fruits of your choice. You can additionally garnish your cake by add crushed walnuts, small mint leaves and if you are feeling very fancy, caramelized sugar would be a great choice.

Eat immediately!

Hello hello!

Finally a post of some sort, sorry for being absent today. I had a crazy fun filled weekend and this dessert actually took longer than expected. Boy, am I glad to be back blogging and talking to you guys. Where to start, where to start. Ah, chocolate was on sale at No Frills these past few days. Boy, was it hectic or what. No Frills is having a massive one dollar item sale and it was jammed packed. I hate finding parking but I usually have one rule when finding a spot. Park as far as you can from other cars. You do not want to come back to find a missing door handle. Yes, that's right you heard me, a missing door handle.

So anyways, today I had a conversation with a stranger. He started to ask me about this book I was reading. The book is called The Power of Now and its one fantastic book. I couldn't put it down, I found myself drowning in the information and insightful thinking of the author. We talked mostly about the book and how it affects our lives and such. It was a cool experience.

Back home I finally got a chance to put together the dessert called Banoffee. This was adapted from the book chocolate by whitecap. Basically this is made out of graham crackers, sliced bananas, caramelized condensed milk and melted chocolate. Here's how it goes.

Banoffee
Ingredients:
14 oz canned condensed milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 bananas sliced
juice of 1 lemon
7 oz milk chocolate
10 ml baileys
whipping cream to serve

Make a small hole in the condensed milk can and simmering in low heat for 2 hours until brown. Remove from the pot and cool.

Mix the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs together. Pack it in a 3 inch diameter stainless steel circle.

Place sliced bananas on top and poor in the caramelized milk.

Melt the chocolate with the double boiler technique. Once melted, add the Baileys. Mix well and pack the chocolate mixture on top of the chocolate. Add whipping cream on top and Serve right away.

As I sat back and enjoyed the sweet joyous taste of chocolate with my Christmas tree, I realized that I didn't do any shopping yet. Eeekkkk! =( Oh well eat now, worry later.

Enjoy. =)