Monday, February 28, 2011

Tom Yum Goong (Tai Soup)


Tom Yum Goong
Prep Time: 30 min    Cook Time: 30 min    Ready In: 60 min
Serving Size: 8 



INGREDIENTS
7 Fresh Lime Leaves
1 Stalk Lemon Grass
3 Red Chili Peppers
2 Tbs Lime Juice
3 Tbs Chicken Broth Mix
2 Tbs Pantai (Chili paste with soya bean oil) This can be purchased at South China Seas Trading Co. in Granville Island
8 Cups of water
8 Spring of Cilantro
1 Box of Shrimp (Frozen Thai Shrimp)


DIRECTIONS
Defrost the box of shrimp if it is frozen. Bring water to boil, devein shrimps and set aside. Cut lemon grass into pieces, about 2-3 inches long. With the back of your knife, pound the lemon grass to release the flavor and oil. Put lemon grass into water and boil for 5 minutes.

Combine dice red chili pepper, lime leaves, chicken broth mix, lime juice and Pantai, put ingredients into the pot and let it boil for 15 minutes. Use less red chili pepper for less spiciness. Add in the shrimp and let it boil for 5 more minutes.
You may enjoy the soup as is, or in my case I added in a package of udon to the soup. Top with cilantro and enjoy.

















Takoyaki (Japanese Octopus Balls)



















Takoyaki (Japanese Octopus Balls)
Prep Time: 10 min     Cook Time: 6 min     Ready In: 16 min
Serving Size: 10

I went over to a friend's house of the weekend because she has a Takoyaki pan. She brought it while she was in Japan so we decided to give it a try. You can also purchase a Takoyaki pan on eBay.


INGREDIENTS
1 Package of Frozen Octopus (Raw, you can find them at T&T or H-Mart)
2 Eggs
2 Cups of water
2 Bamboo Skewer
1 Tbs Oil
1 Package of Takoyaki mix ( My friend got the mix at the Japanese supermarket that is on Robson)

 
















GARNISH
Japanese Mayo ( T&T has this, should be a red cap bottle with a baby image in the middle)
Takoyaki Sauce (T&T or H-mart has the Sauce)
Katsuobushi (Dried Bonito Flakes) (I brought them in Diso Richmond comes in mini packages)
Shredded Seaweed


DIRECTIONS
Cut the defrost octopus into small pieces, about 1cm width and length. Combine Takoyaki dry mix with eggs and water. Whisk until the batter is smooth, lump free. The batter should have a soup like consistency. If the batter is too thick add some water and if too thin add more dry mix.

Turn on the Takoyaki pan on high. Grease pan and fill mold with batter. Add a couple pieces of diced octopus into each mold. When the outer shell of the mold is cooked flip the ball with the bamboo skewers. Now let it cook all the way through, the ball should brown on the outside. Just like a cake, you can insert a toothpick into the takoyaki ball to see if it is cooked. If the toothpick comes out clean then the balls are cooked. If there are still batter stuck onto the toothpick, you would want to cook the balls longer.


Place all takoyaki balls onto a serving plate. In a zigzag motion garnish takoyaki balls with takoyaki sauce and Japanese mayo. Sprinkle with shredded seaweed and katusobuushi and Enjoy!!







Thursday, February 24, 2011

Vegan Fondant Chocolate Cakes


Vegan Fondant Chocolate Cakes
Prep Time: 2hr min   Cook Time: 20 min    Ready In: 2hr 20 min

Serving Size: 12

This is a vegan recipe because we were accommodating an allergy factor that one of the kid has. I was worried about omitting the eggs in the cake recipe but the cake turned out great. This is my first time working with fondant. I have always wanted to try especially after watching so much Cake Boss. I have really enjoyed the experience and will play with more fondant soon!

INGREDIENTS
1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Box Wilton Ready-To-Use Pure White Rolled Fondant ( We have purchased this at Michales Craft Store)
1 1/4 Cup Water
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Jar of Vanilla Frosting (we used ready made from Betty Crocker)

DIRECTIONS
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Follow the instruction from the cake mix. Usually the recipe will ask for 3 eggs, 1 1/4 cup of water and 1/3 cup of water. We have omitted the eggs for this recipe. Mix water, oil and cake mix together.

Grease pan, scope the cake batter into a heart shape pan until it is half way filled. Depending on the size of each cake you will have to adjust baking time. Generally, the larger it is the more time it will take to bake.

For This recipe, we used 5 inches heart shape foils. We baked the cake for 20 minutes. Let cake cool, either at room temperature for 30 minutes or if you want to speed up the process put the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Dirty Icing does two things:
 1) icing acts as a glue for the fondant and the cake
 2) icing fills holes and prevent cake from crumbling

You can dirty ice cake with any frosting. Keeping in mind that you want a frosting that will harden when dry to hold the cake in shape. To dirty ice the cake, you will need to spread a thin layer of frosting all over the cake. Use a butter knife or a spatula to spread the frosting. The layer of frosting should be thick enough to cover the cake like when you are buttering a piece of toast. Let cake sit in the freezer for 10 minutes or the fridge for 30 minutes.

With a clean surface, you can roll out your fondant. Keep unused fondant in an air tight container. Roll out enough fondant to cover the cake. The fondant should be about 1/8 inch think. Place fondant over cake, carefully press the fondant onto the cake with your fingers or your knuckles if you have long nails like I do. Lift the fondant up and down until you get your desired fondant shape. You should not have to fold or over lap any fondant. You may need to try a couple of time before you get a hang of this.

Once you have place the fondant over the cake and all the surface are smooth, you may trim the excess bits off. You may use a fondant cutter, or a pizza cutter, or a knife. In this case, our pizza cutter was too big and we do not have a fondant cutter so we used a knife. Carefully cut off where the fondant and the cake edges meet. This was a bit tricky to deal with because the edges that I cut was not smooth but I did try and tuck the fondant under the cake so it didn't look as bad.

Overall I liked playing with the fondant, it was easier than I thought. The best part was it tasted really great!! I originally thought that fondant would be taste supper sweet and hard, but it turns out to be a nice chewy gum like soft texture. I was really happy with the results : ) I will be visiting Michaels Craft soon for more fondant tools!

Vegetarian Quiche


Vegetarian Quiche
Prep Time: 20 min    Cook Time: 40 min    Ready In: 60 min

Serving Size: 4

I had a couple of friends over on the weekend and one of them was vegetarian. She has inspired me to put together a vegetarian quiche!


INGREDENTS
1 Pie Shell (I brought frozen pie shell: Tenderflakes)
1 Package of Frozen Spinach
6 Button Mushroom
4 Eggs
1Tbs Vegetable Oil
1/2 Onion
1/2 Cup Cream
Salt to taste


DIRECTIONS
Follow the instructions from the store brought pie shell. Usually you have to defrost the pie shell and than bake it for about 15 minutes. Let pie cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.Meanwhile, defrost Spinach in a microwave. Put the spinach on high for 3 minutes and the give it a stir and put it back into the microwave for 3 more minutes. Drain all the water from the spinach. You may use paper towel to soak all the water out.

Dice the onion and slice the mushrooms. In a small pan, sautee onion and mushrooms with vegetable oil for 3 minutes. Take pan off heat and stir in spinach add in salt to taste. Place the filling into the pie shell.

Whisk eggs and cream together. I covered the crust of the quiche with aluminum foil so they would not get darken.

 Pour the mixture over the pie filling and let the liquid set. Place quiche into the oven for 40 minutes.

Remove quiche from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving!



Candied Orange & Lemon Peels

Candied Orange & Lemon Peels
Prep Time: 2 Days     Cook Time: 1hr      Ready In: 2 Days 1 hr

Serving Size: 24

INGREDENTS
6 Oranges
6 Lemons
5 Cups Sugar
Water


DIRECTIONS
Cut the bottom and top off the oranges and score the orange into quaters. Peel the skin off the orange. Cut the peel into stips about 1/4 inch wide. One orange can provide 16 strips. Do the same for the lemons, one lemon can provide 12 stirps.

*If you cannot use up all the lemons and oranges you may save your orange and lemon peels each time you consume one. You may freeze the peels until you have enough to make this recipe.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add in orange peel. Boil for 5 minutes. Strain the peels.
Repeat the above step for 2 more times. This process will get rid of the bitterness found in the peels.

Wisk 4 cups of sugar into 4 cups of boiling water in a container. Put in the orange peels. Let it sit overnight with cover. Strain peels, coat with sugar and let it dry over the counter. Alternatively you may dry out the moisture by placing the peel into an over at 200 degrees. Check on the peels every hour and they should be good after 2hr.

*Repeat for lemon peels. You do not want to boil the lemon and orange peel together because their flavor will cross contaminate.


You can put the candied Orange & Lemon Peels into a clear cellophange bag. I got the cellophane bags at Walmart for $2/10pack.  Now you can give the candied peels to your family and friends!



White Wine Cream Saffron Mussels with Leek

White Wine Cream Saffron Mussels with Leek
Prep Time: 2hrs    Cook Time: 8min  Ready In: 2hr & 8min
Serving Size: 2

INGREDIENTS
1 Shallot
3 Stock of Leek (we will be using the white part only)
8 Spring of Parsley (we will be using the leaf part and no stem)
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 Cup Dry White Wine (TaraPaca 2009 Sauvigon Blanc, I just use what I have at home. You can use any dry white wine)
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
1/4 Cup White Vinegar
2 lb of Mussles (Guideline 1lb per person. I have brought the Mussles at Superstore 2lb for $8.99. They are aslo available at Costco 5lb $11.99 but they do not always have it. Choose Mussles that are tightly closed, you do NOT want the broken, open or damaged ones.)

SIDE DISH (Parsley Butter Baguette)
1 Loaf of Baguette
1/2 Bunch of Parsley
1/4 Cup Butter (at room temp NOT melted)
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Unwrap Mussels so they can breath. Keep the Mussels under running cold tap water. Rinse the mussels a couple of times. Soak mussels with cold tap water again but this time add 1/4 cup of white vinegar into the soak. Soak for at least 1/2hr this will allow mussels to spit out their sand and salt.

Cleaning Mussels: Most mussels have beard, you may remove them by a yank with your fingers. If they do not come out you can simply trim them with a pair of scissors. Sort of the dead mussels. Again the mussels should have a thigh seal, if they are open, you can simply give them a tap. If the shell close after the tap than the mussel is still good. If they are still open after the tap, discard mussel. All broken and damage mussels are also to be discard. Set all the good mussels aside.

Dice Shallot, slice leek about 1/4 inch  (thick white parts only). Pick the leaves of the 8 springs parsley.

I have used an All-Clad Duch Oven, but you may use any pot you have at home.
Heat the Duch Oven on medium, add vegetable oil. Throw in shallot and leek, and half the parsley sautee for 3minutes. Add in white wine and bring it to a boil. Add in the Mussels and put on the lid.

Cook Mussels for 7mintues and stir in cream and top with parsley and serve.


SIDE DISH:
Prep Time: 2hr    Cook Time: 3min     Ready In: 2hr 3min

Put the room tempature butter and 1/2 bunch parsley leaves into a blender. I have used the Magic Bullet, but any food processor will do. Blend the butter and parsley together into a paste. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

Cool the parsley butter in the freezer for about 2hr.

Spread parsley butter onto slice baguette and enjoy with mussels!!





Ahi Tuna Salad


Ahi Tuna Salad
Prep Time: 10min   Cook Time: 3min  Ready In: 13min
Serving Size: 2

INGREDIENTS
1 Cucumber
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Small box of Baby Spring Mix
2 Tbs Rice Vinegar
2 Tbs Soy Sauce
2 Tbs Sesame Oil
2 Tbs Grapeseed Oil (or any Vegetable Oil)
1 Tbs Water
1/4 Tsp Mustard Powder ( I didn't have any and sub Dijon)
1/4 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/2 Tsp Sugar
Pinch of Toasted White Sesame Seed
Pinch of Toasted Black Seasme Seed (You may want to use a better qualtiy Sesame Seed as the taste will come through better. I brought mine from South China Seas Trading Co. Granville Island $3.95/82g)

1lb Ahi Tuna Sashimi Grade ( Ava. at Granville Island make sure you ask if you can smell the fish before you buy. The Tuna should NOT smell fishy and the the colour should be deep red. $27.99/lb)
Sea Salt to Taste
Ground Black Pepper to Taste


DIRECTIONS
Slice Cucumber into thin slices and julienne Yellow Pepper

Salad Dressing: In a small bowl combine Rice Vinegar, Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Water, Mustard, Black Pepper, Sugar and wisk for 10seconds. The oils and water should emulsify and come together as a sauce. Add a pinch of Toasted White and Black Sesame Seed.

In a large bowl, combine cucumber, yellow pepper baby mix greens and toss with the salad dressing.

Heat up the cast iron grill pan and coat with oil. (I got mine at Winners for $12.99, if you don't have one you can use a non-stick pan.) Portion Tuna into 1/2lb, season with sea salt and groud pepper before you put it on the grill. Make sure the grill is hot and grill for 1min on high. Turn tuna over and repeat for 1min. Grill the remining sides for 30seconds and take it off the grill.

You may grill the tuna longer depending on how rare you would like your tuna to be. I like mine rare so I did 1min each. You may increase to 2min each side at most otherwise your tuna will be fully cooked.

Slice the tuna with a sharp knife about 1/2inch thick.

Place the salad on a serving dish and top with the slices of tuna.

Enjoy!!