Recipe Maven

Totally Amazing Lentil Salad

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:04:41 GMT

I was inspired to make this for dinner tonight to accompany roast vegetables. The original recipe is here.

What I put into it:

I used a can of brown lentils which didn't require any cooking, and combined that with chopped grape tomatoes, spring onion, watercress, basil, and some crumbled baked ricotta.

I made a dressing using grated garlic, reduced balsamic vinegar, S + P, lime juice and olive oil.

I mixed everything together and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

It's so delicious, OMG :)

Watermelon Rind Chutney

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:45:56 GMT

I love watermelon, and so I've been eating a ton of it this summer. This means I have a lot of rinds left over, so I thought I'd do something with some of them. I also like chutneys. This was the result. I usually just improvise chutneys, but since this one turned out well, I thought I'd write it down. It isn't the prettiest chutney I've ever seen, but the photo does give a good idea of what it looks like when it's done.

We've been eating this gingery chutney with grilled sausages. I think it'd go rather well as an accompaniment to cheeses (esp a hard goat's cheese). As with most chutneys, this gets better as it sits a while so the flavors mingle.

Watermelon Rind Chutney
Recipe makes one large jarful. You may want to double it (or triple, or quadruple.....)

Ingredients

Rind from 1/4 of a medium (~8kg) organic watermelon

1 medium garlic clove, minced
walnut-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
1/2 tsp ground ginger
~5 green cardamom pods
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 stalk lemongrass, tied in a knot
2 dried red chilies, broken into pieces OR 1 whole fresh green chili, minced (optional -- amount listed will make this rather hot)

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups water

Preparation

Peel the dark green skin from the watermelon rind. Cut the watermelon rind into small dice.

Place all ingredients into a pot. Bring to the boil on medium-high, stirring occasionally. Simmer on medium-low until rind is translucent and somewhat tender, and liquid becomes a little syrupy.

Put into a large sterilized jar. Seal as normal.

Ugly Bagels

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:48:28 GMT

I made bagels for the first time the other day. They tasted good, but they were the ugliest bagels I have ever seen. The balls of dough never smoothed out. I promise to post pictures if I ever get them to work. To that end- What am I doing wrong?

cake inspiration!

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:33:55 GMT

I made this cake yesterday, inspired by echelon's gorgeous pictures. My version isn't quite as magnificent, but it wasn't bad for a first try! Thanks for the recipe, echelon!

Peanut Butter Truffle Cake

Fresh and lovely

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:33:47 GMT

Today, my awesome office provided a massive Chinese food lunch AND a make-your-own sundae bar at work. Needless to say, I wanted a light dinner. So, I stopped by the farmers' market for some veggies.

In here are some green beans, garlic, onions, and grape tomatoes I had from the supermarket. The stuff from the farmers' market is beets (roasted before mixing in with the sauteed stuff), zucchini, and sweet corn. I seasoned it with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and some fresh green and purple basil from a friend's garden. Very yummy!

Today, because I just couldn't resist, I also bought

It's like popcorn confetti!

Tantalisation porn

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:56:22 GMT

I hate slow cooked foods. Well, actually I love them, the richness you get from meat that's been on the stove or in the oven for hours and hours. What I hate is having to sit, hungry, in a house that smells deliciously of cooking, for food that isn't ready yet.

Today's dinner is lamb tagine, because I have a ceramic tagine that I don't use often enough, and there was a packet of cubed lamb that's been sitting in the freezer for far too long.

I made a spice mix with salt, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, paprika, cayenne pepper, ground ginger, ground cumin, and crushed whole cardamom pods and coriander seeds. This got rubbed liberally over the lamb, with a dash of oil, a drizzle of honey and a good glug of lemon juice. I realise that I should really have allowed this to marinade for a few hours, but that only occured to me at 6pm as I was prepping. Oh well.

The lamb was browned in a pan, and transferred to the tagine. Then in the same pan I cooked some chopped onion and carrot for a few minutes, into the tagine with them too. All topped off with a bit more honey and some black pepper.

Now it's been in the oven for almost two hours, but I think it still needs half an hour or so. Sigh. The house smells fantastic and i'm drooling. I tried a taste a little while ago and ohmygod that's going to be good

It's going to be served on top of rice, with olives added at the last minute (the other half's not an olive fan) and shredded nasturtium leaves* on the side as something halfway between a garnish and a salad. Hmm, maybe i'll add some thinly sliced cucumber to just push it over into salad, and cool it all off a little.

If I remember, i'll take a picture so that this is something more than teasing erotica. But it's likely that it'll be gone far too quickly...

*The nasturtiums are really just there because they needed trimming to let the flowers grow through. Damn stuff is going wild with all the rain we've had!

from my individual pastries class

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:33:12 GMT

raspberry domes

blackberry jam center, raspberry mousse, raspberry glaze, cute pink marshmellow

pear chocolate tart

caramel chiboust, caramel poached pear, chocolate creme, tart shell, feuilletine

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:02:40 GMT

Yesterday was my 22nd birthday. A few years ago I tried making my own birthday cake and it was a complete disaster (though no fault of my own), so ever since I just let everyone else take care of the cake:

Princess Cake from Miette Patisserie in San Francisco

And the inside:

Cupcakes from That Takes the Cake, also in San Francisco (Samoa, Chocolate Mint, Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Red Velvet)

First Post, former Lurker

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:38:58 GMT

This Pie was deliciosa! The peaches are from my back yard here in the barrio in SF. The blackberries - I fought with the bramble high atop Bernal Hill. I think I won tho' I have a few scratches to show for the battle.

I did not make the pie crust! I am not a baker, but i have been trying. I might get it some day. I fed this to 11 other people for a home-made pasta meal last night. I am going to post pics of the freshly made pasta too. Maybe even soon. That makes me a non-lurker extraordinaire!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:05:55 GMT

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, originally uploaded by lakeguydreams.

I baked some Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins yesterday ..

It was the first time I baked muffins in the oven at the new place so was rather impressed they turned out pretty well.

"Mess of peas"

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:09:25 GMT

My 78-year old bosslady gave me some homegrown purple hull peas yesterday. So, of course, for dinner I had purple hull peas.

Bagel Burger

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:05:46 GMT

I made some killer burgers a while back and used the remainder of the meat in the meat loaf... or so I thought! Today I found a single burger patty from that night in the freezer. I made it for lunch. I used an "everything" bagel for the "bun".

Vaca Frita Grande, with Red Onion Mojo

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:31:15 GMT

An entire flat iron steak, cooked vaca frita style, with citrusy onions. And gobs of cilantro.

For recipe visit Fotocuisine.com

Beets

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:01:55 GMT

Beets often get no love. Why not? They're beautiful. See?

Show some beet love, with recipes within!

Roast Beets, in general
Get whole beets, usually with leaves still attached, and sold as bundles of three or four. Trim the greens off leaving about a half an inch stem on the beet. The greens are excellent cooked and I recommend sauteeing them after a light blanching with some chili oil, garlic and sesame seeds.

The beets themselves should be washed thoroughly, but gently, making sure not to burst the skin. Yes, there will be little hairy roots still left on, as well as the 'tail', but that's fine.

Place whole beets and about a quarter inch of water into a baking pan and cover tightly with foil. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 45 min to an hour, until a knife slid into the beet meets no resistance. If your beets are undercooked, they will be bitter, end of story, so don't short the time because you're in a hurry.

Remove the beets from the oven and pan, setting them on a plate to cool for about 15 minutes so you can handle them easily. If you don't mind red hands, continue on, but I do recommend some thin gloves to protect skin that doesn't de-pink easily. Slice off the 'tail' and top, discard. With fingers, gently slough off the skin of the beet. If beets are properly cooked, the skin will slide right off with only a little pressure, just like magic, taking all the hairy rootlets with it.

When beets are completely peeled, slice into bite size pieces and while still hot sprinkle with a small amount of kosher salt [what I use, but mileage may vary and don't get hung up on having this particular kind of salt] and a few dashes of a mild vinegar, something that will work well in the final recipe. You do this to minimize the bitter and to bring out the sweet, a bit of chemistry to 'bloom' the beets, as it were.

My personal favorite is pinot grigio vinegar, a mild white wine vinegar with a good aroma, but you could use any of the red wine vinegars or even balsamic if that's what would taste good. I've used cider vinegar as well, but stay away from the plain 'white' vinegar used for pickling or easter egg dyeing. It's too harsh and instead of bringing out and highlighting the natural sugars in the beets, it will make them taste metallic, which is so not good eats.

Toss beets lightly and cover, refrigerating for at least an hour or so, or until you get around to making the rest of the dish.

There you go, the basic Roast-a-Beet. After this, you can do many things with them. My personal favorites are served with smoked trout and creme fraiche with chives, diced small with apples and sweet onions served on endive, pureed with blue cheese and topped with Parmesan then baked in ramekins, as well as what I made the other night and described below.

Beets with Black Grapes in a Shallot Vinaigrette
3 medium beets, roasted and prepared as above
1.5 cups of sliced black sweet grapes, seeds removed if necessary [I've done this with red grapes, too, but green are too bright tasting]

Toss with shallot vinaigrette:
3 T olive oil
1.5 T red wine vinegar, I used Cabernet Sauvignon because it was in my cupboard, but you could use the same vinegar that you used to mellow your beets when you roasted them
juice of 1 lemon, ~ 1 T
1 t. kosher salt
1 t. fresh cracked pepper
1 t. dijon mustard
1 shallot lobe, shaved by a microplane grater.

Add all ingredients to a small jar, shake vigorously to emulsify. The reason you shave the shallots as opposed to dicing them is to make them completely disappear into the dressing. When you're done shaking, you should see a fairly uniform liquid. Pour about half the dressing on the beets and grapes and toss, checking coverage. You should never add too much dressing to anything, just enough that everything's covered and not puddling on the bottom of the bowl. Add more if needed. Let sit 30 min or so to have the flavors settle out. Serve with crusty bread and good hard cheese, like Manchego, Gruyere, or Gouda.

What if you don't want to roast your beets? Raw beets can be yummy, too.

Shredded Raw Beet Slaw
Two medium beets, peeled and shredded (I use a food processor for this, because of the beet staining.)
Juice of two medium oranges
Zest of one orange
1 shallot lobe, thinly sliced
Six basil leaves, chiffonaded
Splash of pinot grigio vinegar
White pepper and salt to taste

Toss all to combine and let sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

Uni student-friendly carbonara

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:19:22 GMT

Inspired by vanessafrida, but with a slight moderation

It is a brilliant Uni student budget meal. It might not be a traditional Italian carbonara, but hey, when you live on a student budget, you can't afford to be classy!

Recipe for the make-shift carbonara

serves 2

- 4 Beef and whole mustard sausages
- 3 eggs, beaten
- a few tablespoonful of butter
- approx. a tablespoon of olive oil (optional)
- amount of pasta that serves 2 (I use penne)
- frozen mixed vegetable (because there wasn't any fresh veg in the fridge)
- a handful of coarse black pepper
- salt (to taste)

Bake the sausages for 20 minutes at 220'C.
Bring water into a boil. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. You might have to add salt.
Add the frozen mixed veg in 4 minutes in before the pasta is cooked.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs up. Add butter and/or olive oil. You can also add the black pepper now. But I added it in afterwards.
When the pasta is done, immediately put the egg mixture in, so it can be cooked by the heat in the pot.
Cut up the sausages into small chunks and add them into the pasta.

I skipped the single cream (it's in Vanessa's recipe) because I couldn't find it in the supermarket. And I didn't add the mustard (it's also in her recipe) because I forgot to =(

Bento Porn, and Preserved Lemons

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:08:55 GMT

Bento top, left to right: apricot halves filled with grape halves; pea salad; fresh blueberries
bottom, left to right: lemon gem marigolds (edible), plum sauce, parsley, and chicken for dipping

Summer Pea Salad

2 cups thawed frozen peas or fresh peas, lightly blanched and shocked
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup plain yogurt, preferably full-fat
3 Tablespoons fresh onion, minced
2 hardboiled eggs, diced
1/2 cup fresh tomato, diced (or cherry tomatoes, halved)
1/8 cup fresh chopped mint leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried mint leaves (spearmint or peppermint, either one)
1 teaspoon honey

Mix it, allow to chill and blend flavors at least 30 minutes before serving.

Preserved Lemons

2-3 lemons, washed, thinly sliced and seeds removed, plus a few extra lemons in case you need the juice
Kosher salt
1 8-10 oz preserving jar

Sterilize your jar and lid in boiling water, drain. Lay lemon slices into jar and layer a thick coating of kosher salt between each layer. Stop at 1 inch from top, ending with a layer of salt. Press lemons down into their own juice, and squeeze extra lemon juice in if needed to completely cover all lemon slices. Cap and either store in the fridge or process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes before tightening seal, if you want to store in the pantry. Let it mellow for a few weeks before use. The lemons will be melting-soft and the juice will become a thick, tart, savory syrup excellent for dressings and marinades.

Suspiro de Limeña

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:09:00 GMT

Suspiro de/a la Limena.

Here's a recipe for a Peruvian dessert.

This is probably one of the most pornilicious ultra-sweet things I've ever had. It's hard to describe. It's pudding-y at the bottom but in a creamy way and light and fluffy on top.
It's so easy to make too. It sounds complicated because of the syrup but it's not as involved as it looks. I should know, I'm at best okay in the kitchen :)

Basically, you boil one can of condensed milk (about 1-1/4 cup), 1 can evaporated milk and a cinnamon stick stirring constantly until thick and creamy.
Let it stand for about 10 mins.
Beat 5 egg yolks and add a tsp. of vanilla essence and slowly incorporate into the milk (I personally slowly mix about a cup of the milk into the eggs first before mixing that with the rest so I'm sure the eggs don't get scrambled).
Pour into individual serving cups or one big cup (I think individual is better).
In a saucepan, combine 1 c. of sugar and 1/4 c. of port wine (or any sweet-ish liquor or heck, even water, basically, make a syrup) and boil until it reaches soft-ball stage.
Beat 2 egg whites until stiff and slowly pour syrup into them, beating constantly until the meringue is cool. Top the cups with a layer of meringe and sprinkle some cinnamon on top.

Presented in cups, it makes a very pretty dessert for a party. A word of warning though, it is incredibly sweet so it might be overwhelming quickly for anyone without a seriously sweet tooth.

Birthday Ciao

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:12:23 GMT

Scottsdale Arizona Cowboy Ciao is one of my fav places to go for my Birthday dinner. Here is a cool pic of the short ribs with a great BBQ sauce. I love restaurant that do Wine Flights too. Duck and more behind the cut.

View into the Kitchen

Blue Crab with Avacado and fennel

Pork Belly Sliders

Todays Special, Duck and Risotto

Such A Unique Chicken! I just HAD HAD HAD to share!

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:54:22 GMT

I have been dying to share this recipe! It is ridiculously easy and so so tasty. The chicken ends up tasting very very similar to the Hainanese Chicken you get from chicken rice stall, but with a lot less work.

I prepped the dish in the morning before work (took all of 15 minutes), turned off the heat before leaving for work, and the chicken was ready when I got home from work!

In essence, you boil the chicken on high heat in a covered heavy pot for 30 minutes (this is when you get ready for work), and turn off the heat before leaving for work. It has to sit in the pot for 6 hours, so by the time you reach home from work, the chicken is cooked. Take the stock and substitute it for the water you would have added to cook rice, and you have a healthier version of chicken rice!!

Click here for the recipe and step by step pictures

Cheese salad

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:05:20 GMT

It's just a plain salad made in haste but it was so taste for me :) And cheeseboard for white dry Rcatsitely :)

My Take On Indian Food

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:55:58 GMT

Recipe and whatnot at my food blog.

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:07:24 GMT

Last weekend I was lucky enough to tour an organic farm, and left with the loveliest heirloom beets - striped Italian Chioggias and vibrant Golden Detroits. I put them to use in this summer salad: beet 'carpaccio' with goat cheese, walnuts, sweet onion + mâche. Super easy but incredibly fresh and delicious.

- Roast beets in a 375 oven for 1 to 1.5 hours; until cooked through and skin peels easily. Cool beets and then slice super fine on a mandoline.

- Lay beets on a plate and top with crumbled goat cheese, crushed walnuts, mâche (or a peppery microgreen) and paper thin sliced of Vidalia or other sweet onion that has been soaked in water for 10 minutes. Drizzle salad with a good quality olive oil (or walnut oil if you got it) and season with salt and pepper.

The picture doesn't do justice to the gorgeous Chioggias.. here is a photo of the beets at the farm :)

xposted in cooking.

Seafood Glass Noodle

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:11:02 GMT

Tung Hoon, also known as Glass noodle, Mung Bean Threads or Cellophane noodles has got to be one of my favourite noodles. It cooks quickly and it absorbs the flavours from whatever you are cooking it in. They are clear coloured noodles made of Mung Beans (but of course!)

I had a craving for tung hoon and seafood. I had some seafood from my last loot sitting in my freezer…perfect! I made such a huge batch…enough to feed 8! Total cost of making this one dish meal which was totally satisfying…all of SG$13

Click here for the recipe and extremely detailed step by step pictures on how to make this dish

Refreshing Thai Chicken Salad With Peanut Dressing

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:09:39 GMT

I got the idea for this original Thai-style salad while making Thai-Vietnamese summer rolls for an appetizer at the restaurant last Saturday. Everyone loved the peanut sauce I made for dipping the rolls, and the spicy marinated cucumber and red onion salad I made to go with them.

I decided that poached, shredded chicken marinated in the same palm sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, mint, Thai basil, ginger and Thai chili dressing would be delicious, especially if I paired it with the cucumber and onion salad on a bed of greens with bean sprouts, then topped everything with the rich but still light peanut sauce, thinned into a dressing.

I made it for a lunch special today, and added crunchy peanuts and a sprig of Thai basil as a garnish, and it nearly sold out. I made some more for the dinner special for tonight, and from what the servers tell me, it is selling out tonight.

Which makes them sad, because they want some to take home!

Anyway, this is really easy, and makes an absolutely fabulous light dinner or lunch. It is hot, sour, salty, sweet and rich in equal measure, and extremely fragrant from the use of the fresh herbs, ginger and chilies.

And it is beautiful--I added some crisp, sweet pink-red radishes to the marinated vegetables, and the cool green of the cukes, the purple onions and the rose and white of the radishes looks gorgeous together.

Recipe and super sexy photos here.

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:40:47 GMT

- grilled chicken thighs, marinated in soy sauce, apricot jam, lemon juice, ginger, and dijon mustard.
- tomatoes with basil, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar
- roasted garlic bread