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Minggu, 31 Juli 2011

Cod with Vermouth

cod-vermouth-butter

Honestly, I'm not sure how to sell you on this recipe. It's not photo-genic. And it doesn't sound very exciting. It is, however, pretty good. And I really need to expand my fish recipes - Titus happens to love fish and therefor I really want to cook it at least once a week. So, any ideas for quick, preferably healthy and not too fish-y fish dinners? Do tell!

Cod with Vermouth
serves 3-4

400 g frozen cod, semi-thawed (other firm white fish is ok)
2 tbsp vermouth
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper

Slice the fish in cm-thick slices (about 1/2 inch). Place in a small oven proof dish and drizzle with olive oil, vermouth and a few pats of butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake at 175°C for 15-20 minuter. We served this with a vegetable risotto, but boiled potatoes and a good veggie side dish would be nice as well.

Recipe in Swedish:
Vermouth-torsk

Coming Soon: Almost a Swordfish Recipe

Tomorrow we'll be doing a little experiment involving this incredibly delicious swordfish preparation. I didn't film the making of the dish, but when I went to serve it, I decided it was too good not to share, so the plating was captured in all it's brief, but beautiful glory. Will I still be able to "teach" you the recipe? Stay tuned!

Marcona Almonds with Rosemary


Wanna get all fancy on your people? Buy some regular old Marcona Almonds. Drizzle them with a teensy, itty, bitty amount of good olive oil. Add some freshly chopped rosemary and a sprinkle of sea salt. Stir. Serve and eat. Unreal.

(I stole this idea from Trader Joe's, cheaper to do it yourself!)

My favorite vegetarian noodles @ 如意园素食 Ru Yi Yuan Vegetarian Food

A 20 minutes queuing got me this plate of vegetarian noodle/vermicelli with cabbage,  mock char siew, mock goose and mock duck. I always like to get extra servings of their mock duck. Their mock duck and goose are fried to a golden brown crisp and many of Ruyi Yuan regulars like me would order extra to compliment the noodles that we ordered. More details in my previous post.
Blk 80 Redhill Lane
Singapore

Sabtu, 30 Juli 2011

Baked Apples with Agave Nectar

agave-apples

This simple, and fairly healthy apple dessert features two unusual products. Agave Nectar is a sweet syrup, derived from the agave plant (close relative to the one that yields tequila!) and while very sweet it doesn't raise your blood sugar. It also doesn't taste of much - just sweet.

Virgin plum oil, that I got sent to me from France, is intriguing. It tastes strongly of almonds, the same was as apricot kernels. Great alternative for those allergic to nuts, but craving the flavor. In this dessert - not essential. Swap it for a little butter, and perhaps a few drops of almond extract, if you have it.

Baked Apples with Agave

3 apples, cored and cut into wedges
2 tsp agave nectar
2 tsp virgin plum oil
1 tsk cinnamon
2 tbsp almonds, chopped

Mix all ingredients. Place in an oven-proof dish and bake at 200°C for 15 minutes or until the apples are soft. Serve with ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Recipes in Swedish:
Ugnsbakade äpplen med agave

老伴豆花 Best Beancurd in Singapore

About a year ago, I noticed this stall beside Wang Wang curry puffs called 老伴豆花 Lao Ban Soya Beancurd.  It's crazy queue always turns me off. I'm curious but the queue didn't get the better of me until today. I had my marching orders from HY who has craving for beancurd. So here I am ..... 

......... in this crazy queue that ends without the stall in sight. It was a 40 minutes queue. The queue was so long that I had to leave the queue to take a leak and some friendly but equally crazy folks in the queue behind me was kind enough to 'chope' my place for me.

After a 40 minutes queue, here's my prized takeaways for HY and my parents. 4 orders of original flavored bean curd that just came out from the chiller set at 6 degrees celsius. There's the original flavored and the almond flavored ones. 

What's so special about Lao Ban's beancurd that causes the crazy queue? I took my bowl of beancurd out from my parents fridge and the beancurd jiggles inside the transparent container. As I scoop with a spoon, the tofu parted effortlessly. Lao Ban's beancurd is silky smooth and didn't have that distinct soya bean taste like the conventional ones that we have eaten all around Singapore. There's the added milky flavor to the curd. The beancurd was already made sweetened and there's no need for drizzling sugar syrup. It's the best I've eaten so far. Superb!

51 Old Airport Road
#01-127 and #01-107 Old Airport Road Food Centre
Singapore

Jumat, 29 Juli 2011

Candy Bars


I think I can identify every, single, one of these. Sick. Now YOU try.

(Thanks Cup of Jo!)

Yerp: Part 6. Barthelona (Part 2), THE HAMOVER.


May 19

That was a lot of ham yesterday. There was a lot of everything yesterday. We were not deterred, however. Actually, I think we were. We were supposed to meet up with Sal and the gang for lunch, but we didn’t get up and moving until pretty close to lunch time anyway, and we desperately needed to be free of time constraints and meeting up with people for just one meal. And both Chris and I really had our hearts set on one meal in particular.


Three years ago, on that original vacation with Chris, he took me to La Boqueria. La Boqueria is a huge, covered, market and an impressive landmark with an entrance from La Rambla. The smells, colors, sounds and activity easily throw one’s senses into overdrive, not to mention the wild and crazy items sold in the market. It is truly a small village inside of a big city.

 

 

La Boqueria also offers up a few counters serving food. One in particular, my favorite and the focus of this post, is El Quim. Prior to that first visit Chris had excitedly described their, perhaps most lauded dish, baby squid and fried eggs. That day he ordered that and I ordered the sardinas a la plancha. That meal has stayed in my memory since. Such fresh ingredients, such delicately nuanced flavors and textures. A couple of glasses of cava. Delicious perfection.

 

And this brings us to about Noon on that Thursday, with Emma and Chris. Yes, we may have, in our er, exaltation the night before, told our new posse of friends that we would meet them the next day for lunch. But in the light of day, come Hell or high water (or being lame to our new friends), we knew we were headed straight for El Quim.

And there, in the middle of the bustling Boqueria stood the stall we sought. All eighteen of its stools occupied and a crowd of people waiting two-deep to scurry into any newly freed spots. Somehow, silently, we had a plan: Emma stalked one side of the stall and Chris the other. I was the liaison between the two to be able facilitate getting all three of us to the opening of seat(s) as quickly as possible. This all took great concentration.

 

Emma's view from her side: Quim in the foreground and Chris, stalking stools, in the background.

 

Chris scored. I grabbed Emma and we raced over to his side. He got us two stools with the promise of a third opening up any minute as the person occupying it was paying their bill. Emma and Chris sat while I opted to hover until stool number three opened up. We immediately ordered the white anchovies, garlic, caper berries and green olives in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, some bread and a few glasses of cava. 

 

 

I was over the moon. I was literally clapping when the first bite was in my mouth. The anchovies were fresh, meaty, firm and elegant in their simple marinade. With a few bites of that dish and a few bites of the bread swabbed around in the oily goodness I took my newly vacated stool and stole a moment to soak up my surroundings.


Mouth full. Clapping...
 
El Quim is cluttered and chaotic. The counter crowds with dishes – frittatas, paellas, and fresh seafood.  Sausages, dried chiles, produce, garlic and pots and pans hang from the eves. Orbited by a swirling mass of entropy, the tiny kitchen gets along amazingly well. The menu is chalked up above the stove, although paper menus are available as well. You’ll find yourself seated next to travelers from all over the world, locals, foodies and chefs alike. Quim is always behind the counter and is also always surprisingly friendly in the midst of the frenzy. He also manages to squeeze his three or four chefs/co-workers back in that little nook of a kitchen as well. Size-wise, think food truck. Cut in half. I don’t know how they do it.


Second glass of cava and time to order the big stuff. First off, El Quim is most famous for his fried eggs. Period. He puts them either over or under pretty much everything on the menu. As mentioned above, Chris orders one thing and one thing only: the fried eggs smothered under a mosaic of tender, baby squid sautéed in a pan sauce of oil and a touch of chile heat. This dish is also Quim’s calling card. It is ubiquitous with the restaurant’s name. When the eggs are cut up and the yolk runs into the squid the dish becomes complete, thickening and marrying all textures and flavors that hop, skip and jump across one’s tongue.


Emma, in the spirit of not having tangential dishes at the “table”, opted for the fried eggs with jamon iberico (Iberian ham). This ham is from free-range pigs that roam oak forests and eat only acorns. This ham is also called Jamón Iberico de Montanera. The ham is cured 36 months. Bellota jamones are prized both for their smooth texture and rich savory taste. You really just can’t go wrong with this dish.


I went in an odd direction. I ordered the Catalan sausage over white beans with aioli. This was a simple and savory answer to my fairly prominent hangover. The presentation left room for some humor for obvious reasons, but don’t be fooled – it was rich and robust with clean succinct flavors. The slightly crisped skin of the sausage gave way to a tender, succulent, meaty inside. The beans underneath provided the perfect texture to round out the variations in the sausage. 


We also got and order of asparagus wrapped in bacon. For our vegetable quotient. Hey, what can I say? It’s asparagus wrapped in bacon!


As we were saddling up to head out to our second lunch to meet Chris’ friends Quim gave us a little dessert on the house. I was a little scared of it as it looked as though it fell into the gelatinous-gooey-fruit department. Emma assured me it would be alright for me as it fell into the coconut department. That is usually okay. I still don’t know what it was but I ate it. 


It’s understandable why chefs flock to eat here. The quality of the ingredients is unparalleled – everything is fresh from the market. Quim’s execution is simple and solid. And the flavors are confident and honest and all cooked to order. Straightforward and comforting, this is the type of food that you love to eat and want to crave.

And this was just our first meal of the day. 

We then went on to meet up with the boys at a restaurant called Joséphine, but we were so late that they were basically out of everything. So we migrated to a rooftop restaurant and bar called La Isabela. There we camped out for hours, drinking and eating more ham. The photograph at the top of this post was taken at this spot. It had a terrific view.


We then moved on to the home of Paul, where we had some more wine and snacks and lost Emma and Engel for a little too long for my comfort. But they appeared eventually. Wearing pirate hats and swords. And carrying the largest lollipop anyone has ever seen. Then we ended up, briefly, at a small café. I mostly threw a tennis ball for Paul’s dogs during this stretch.

This is what showed up at Paul's a million years late with Emma, who was dressed similarly.

And then Engel, Chris, Emma and I ended up at a restaurant, apparently heralded for their – wait for it – ham, Recasens. I wish I could share more about this part of the evening but we were not only dead on our feet tired. But we were drunk on ham and libations. Poor Chris was the worst off. His eyes were closing while we were standing outside waiting for our table and the only thing he could put together to utter was, “No more ham. Please?”

We waited about thirty minutes outside for a table to open up. It was about 1:00am. They did bring us a small wicker basket of ham to keep us at bay while we waited. We finally got our table. The place was tiny and adorable. Turns out they specialize in ham! So we had three or four plates of different kinds of hams and some cheese.

A basket of ham while you wait. For more ham. Ham dangling from my mouth.

Chris was green.

Our trifecta somehow made it back to our apartment building. Wearing the pirate hats. When we arrived at the door of the building we ran into two Canadian women who were staying across the hall from us. We started chatting. Well, Emma and I started chatting. Chris made a bee-line into the building and up to our apartment to face plant on his bed. Emma and I ended up hanging out with the Canadians, drinking wine and laughing until almost dawn. But not before Emma broke a glass filled with red wine in their apartment and said something mildly offensive about Canadians.

Me and the Canadians. I don't know, so don't ask.

I do believe this was the first night of the trip that Emma, Chris and I did NOT cap off the evening with a bottle or two more bottles of wine while lounging in our apartment, sighing, giggling, and taking stock of the last days (who's even counting, now?) week plus, the whirlwind, of our adventure. At least, if we did, I don’t remember it.


Figgy Friday! Burrata Bruschetta with Grilled Figs

My friends at Goodbite featured this lovely grilled figs and burrata cheese video today, and since I've been seeing lots of fresh figs at the market I thought I'd re-post it. If you haven't seen it before, I hope you enjoy. If you've seen it, but didn't get around to trying it, then consider this a friendly reminder that you really, really should!


The original post from last August follows:

If you watch as much food television as I do, you hear the adjective "sexy" thrown around quite a bit, and more often than not, it just doesn't fit. No matter how nice a bowl of chili looks, or how beautifully a game hen glistens, they're not really "sexy."

This burrata bruschetta with grilled figs on the other hand? Totally "sexy!"
If there were such a thing as word association flash cards of food, the most common result for this one would be "sexy." Okay, I'm going to stop using those quotation marks now.

Above and beyond how awesome this recipe tastes, it's so nice to be able to post such an aesthetically pleasing dish after the recent string of homely food. I appreciate all the nice comments about the sausage and zucchini stew, but if that thing was a blind date, it would have been described as, "having a nice personality."

Depending on the location, I can't guarantee you'll be able to find burrata and fresh black mission figs, but if you can, you really need to give this a try. I know someone will ask, so I'll tell you right now, there really isn't a great substitute for this heavenly cheese.

A very fresh mozzarella would be the closest, but it would still be like substituting for Beyonce with Wanda Sykes. That's no insult to Wanda Sykes (
she has a great personality), but in the sexy department, Mrs. Jay-Z is in a whole other league, and so is this burrata and grilled fig bruschetta. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
burrata cheese
fresh figs
Italian bread
balsamic vinaigrette (1 part vinegar to 1 part extra virgin olive oil - shaken vigorously)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Bananas Fosters Topped Overnight French Toast



Maybe I'm way off, but eating healthier doesn't seem to be as hard as it once was. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that as a society, we've become much more aware of what we are putting in our bodies. Grocery stores offer a large variety of fresh produce, whole grain foods, and low-fat products. Restaurants are now required to put the amount of calories next to every dish they serve. Even fast-food restaurants are helping us out by offering healthier sandwiches and sides and making portions smaller.

But another change I've noticed since the first time I did Weight Watchers over ten years ago (TEN!) is that we're learning how to cook really good food without compromising on taste. Gone are the days of a dry piece of chicken with steamed veggies (I literally dry-heaved having to type that) and in are beautiful dishes packed with colors and flavors, as well as nutrition. Less weird ingredients, and way more delicious meals on our plates. I have rarely felt deprived since starting Weight Watchers again in January, something of which I am very grateful of, and has consequently helped me to lose twenty pounds.

One website that I have fallen head-over-heels in love with has been Gina's Skinnytaste blog. All of her recipes have the old and new points value, and every single thing she posts looks crazy delicious, you don't need to be dieting to appreciate her recipes. My husband made this awesome french toast for me for Mother's Day, and as a non-breakfaster, I couldn't have been more excited to gobble this up. It.Was.Amazing. So sweet, so rich, so filling, you must give this a try, the whole family loved it. Check it out here and enjoy!

Rubik Cube Cake


Really?! I spend hours trying to figure out the damn toy, and now I'm going to spend hours making this cake. I guess if you eat the whole thing, then you've made all the colors come together properly in your stomach? (These are the ways I justify eating an entire cake.)

Kamis, 28 Juli 2011

BaByQ

If you're ever in charge of throwing a baby shower, why not make it a BaByQ? Do you get it? Oh dear I hope you do. The theme was my friend Beth's idea, and she suggested we make all sorts of food with the word "baby" in it. Like our Baby Back Ribs shown here. Or you could just serve actual jars of baby food and lose all your friends.

Here were the rest of our ideas...






All photos taken by the guest of honor herself.

Please Nominate Chef John for a 2012 Tasty Award!

Yes, it's that time again! The Tasty Awards are an annual awards show celebrating the best in food and fashion programs on TV, in film, and online. Last year, we won the award for "Best Home Chef in a Series," and would love to defend the title this year.

If you'd like to help with the nomination, please follow this link and cast your vote. The two categories we qualify in are "Best Food Program - Web" and "Home Chef in a Series." Thank you for the support!

Twisted Buns

kanelsnurror-9

I posted about cinnamon buns on my other blog today.

Maybe my very best cinnamon buns, ever. And I've made them into a nice knot-shape as well - it's often seen in bakeries, but it's a bit tricky to do yourself. I tried to photograph the progress, so you can try it, too! I hope you'll like them!

Heading to Stockholm?

Just a reminder that I wrote a fairly extensive food guide to Stockholm last year, and just updated it. If you're traveling here, I hope you'll find it helpful!

Playdoh Cookies


Did anyone else try eating Playdoh as a kid, or was that just me (and my dog)? There's something about that smell, which isn't exactly a "Yum, Food!" aroma but still makes you want to stick a ball of Playdoh in your mouth. Hmm, very interesting...

Pish posh. I found these cookies the other day as I was Google Imaging food words (people do that, right?), which led me to this recipe. Butter and sugar and cream cheese?! Well all right then!!! The PERFECT recipe to bake with your kids or your Playdoh eating dogs.

dough...


pretty dough (I used neon food coloring)...


four little balls of color, rolled into one big ball of color...


this sort of looks like a cartoon character...

Rabu, 27 Juli 2011

HELP ME THIS INSTANT

Every summer, I tackle a new baking project. Last summer it was doughnuts...


Two summers ago, bagels...


What should I unhealthily obsess over this summer? Soft baked pretzels? Croissants? A candy bar of sorts? What would YOU like to see me bake? And make it as unhealthy as possible thanks.

Sandy Beans! Getting Our Grit On with Crispy Parmesan Breadcrumb Coated Beans

We all know our food has to look and taste good, but one of the more overlooked aspects in cooking is texture. This sandy beans recipe is a great example. Sure, a nice bowl of white beans warmed in garlic oil and topped with parsley is a fine thing, but texturally…kind of a snoozer.

Here we're coating the beans with a crispy, cheesy, pleasantly gritty breadcrumb mixture. That's right; less yawn, more fawn. This was inspired by a similar trick I like to use for finishing pastas, and if there's one thing I know about people (maybe the only thing), it's they like crispy and crunchy toppings.

At the beginning of the recipe you'll hear me mention a garlic-infused oil. I will demo this in a future video, but in case you're wondering, here's what I did. Take a 1/4 cup of olive oil and place it on low heat. Add a sliced garlic clove. As soon as the garlic starts to bubble slightly, turn off the heat and let the oil cool to room temp. Do not brown the garlic. Strain this oil and voilà, you have garlic oil.

One quest that never ends for a cook is the search for ways to make common side dishes seem a little more special, and this is one trick I hope you try soon. Enjoy! 

Food Safety Note: One of our concerned viewers reminded me to point out that there is a botulism concern when dealing with garlic stored in oil. So you don't worry needlessly, out of 300,000 Americans, there are only about 25 cases of botulism per year with very few cases resulting from stored garlic. But better safe than sorry, so it's recommended that you store any leftover garlic oil in the fridge and use within 10 days.



Ingredients:
For the crumbs:
1/4 cup garlic olive oil
3/4 to 1 cup breadcrumbs (depends how "dry" you want your "sand")
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
For the beans:
1 can white beans, drained, rinsed
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
salt to taste
cayenne to taste
1/4 cup chopped parsley