Hello, hello!

Finally the long weekend is over and that only means one thing. Work. That sucks! But the good news is, we have a shorter week! Haha. Anyways, Happy Belated Valentines Day! I made these hard to resist cupcakes for the holiday. Is it a holiday? I am not sure. I don't think so.

I thought about celebrating but then again who celebrates that day anyways. It always seem to be like a contest of who gets the most flowers or attention on that day. Not a big fan. But I was feeling extra happy and nice, so I decided to bake these babies for my love ones.

This recipe was inspired by Food Network's Cupcake Wars 2010. I love how this recipe never ceases to fail me in any way. It is so straight forward and easy. Give it a try! =D

Ingredients
3 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (recommended: Valrhona)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 7/8 cups sugar
3 eggs
60 ml Bailey's Irish Cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin pans with 24 cupcake liners.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a medium bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the vegetable oil, milk, Bailey's Irish Cream, sugar, eggs, food coloring, applesauce, vinegar, and vanilla on medium speed until incorporated, about 2 minutes.

Turn the mixer to medium-low speed, and add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Mix until just combined.

Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes completely.

Generously frost the top of each cupcake with the Almond Cream Cheese Frosting.


Almond Cream Cheese Frosting: 
11 1/2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Turn the mixer on medium-low, and slowly add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. Once the ingredients are all incorporated, turn the mixer to high, and beat for 1 additional minute.

Happy Chinese New Year friends!

I wish you all happiness, continual success in your career and may all your wishes come true! That's the best I can do in terms of translating from chinese to english.

It's been such a chaotic week here in Toronto. Besides all the Chinese New Year festive stuff, there was a huge snowstorm that lasted for two days. We were snowed in and traffic was such a pain. But that didn't stop me from preparing for the new year with food.

Today I am going to share with you some symbolic dishes that a Chinese New Year dinner must have.

Some common dishes served:

Chicken
Serving a whole chicken during dinner time symbolizes togetherness and good marriage.

Lobster
Steamed lobster is one of my favourite dishes Chinese New Year. This popular dish symbolizes happiness. In Cantonese it is pronounced "Long Ha." The "Ha" translates to "ha, ha" which is expressed when one is happy.

Noodles
Noodles are served as long as possible and should not be cut. Why? Because noodles symbolize longevity.

Duck
Duck symbolizes fidelity in Chinese culture, so don't be surprised when you see a delicious duck at a wedding.

Fruits
A common fruit that Chinese families give to one another is tangerine and orange. How you pronounce orange and tangerine in Chinese sounds like luck and wealth.

Red
Red, red and more red. The colour red plays a big part during Chinese New Year. It symbolizes luck and happiness.

Of course, I am going to share my favourite dish with you guys. I'm always a big fan of lobster and whenever we have big dinners, I always suggest lobster as a dish.

To prepare the "Funny Longevity" Lobster dish,

Heres what you need:
5lb lobster (roughly chopped)
pepper for seasoning
garlic finely diced
A gulp of olive oil
green onions for garnish
Vermicelli soaked in water until soft

Arrange the vermicelli on a plate in a nest like fashion.

Place the roughly chopped lobster on top of the vermicelli.

Season the lobster with pepper, garlic pieces and olive oil.

Steam the lobster on high for 15 minutes until it turns red. The lobster should have natural juices overflowing. This will cook the vermicelli and add flavour to it.

Serve right away!

Of course, Chinese New Year doesn't stop there. I still need to visit my other relives and wish them a good year. This is just a small taste of what Chinese New Year feels like but I will try my best to update as much as possible and educate you. 

Keep in touch! 

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