Christmas Brunch, A Family Tradition

Ever since I can remember, our family always opened presents on Christmas morning and ate a delicious brunch afterwards.  When I was a kid, I used to look forward to the part when we opened presents, but now as an adult and a foodie, I really look forward to the brunch!  It used to be simple: eggs, toast, and bacon.  There would be freshly squeezed orange juice every now and then.  When I started cooking a few years back, I gradually took over cooking the Christmas brunch.  Each year I try to come up with a different breakfast item, from breakfast burritos to asparagus fritatta, or pancakes and scrambled eggs.  I even attempted to make eggs benedict one year, but failed miserably with the hollandaise sauce.  Let's just say, thank goodness that the toasted English muffin, ham, and poached eggs were delicious without the sauce.

This year's menu was Challah french toast, Belgian waffles (2 kinds, regular and with chocolate chips), bacon, smokies, and a fresh fruit salad with strawberries, raspberries, and grapes.  Both the french toasts and waffles were a hit with the family.  That makes me really happy.  We also opened our presents on full and satisfied bellies.  That makes me extra happy.

Challah French Toast

Ingredients
- 1 loaf of challah bread
- 6 large eggs
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- a few dashes of orange zest (optional)
- butter for griddle
- sifted powdered sugar for garnish
- sliced strawberries for garnish

Tools
- whisk
- griddle
- zester (optional)

Steps
1. Heat griddle on medium to high heat.

2. While the griddle is heating up, whisk eggs, milk, cinnamon, and orange zest (if using) together.  Slice the challah bread, in 1/2 inch increments.

3. Place a small chunk of butter on the griddle and let it melt.  Dip a sliced challah bread in the liquid mixture and place the bread on the griddle.  Repeat until griddle is full.  Cook the bread for about 3-4 minutes on each side.

Serves 4-6, with powdered sugar, warm maple syrup, and butter.

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Belgian Waffles (with or without Chocolate Chips)

Ingredients
- 2 cups Bisquick mix
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Tools
- whisk
- waffle maker

Steps
1. Heat the waffle maker.

2. Whisk the egg, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract together.  Pour in the Bisquick flour and mix until incorporated (lumps are totally OK!).  Mix in chocolate chips if adding.

3. Pour about 1/2 cup of mixture in the waffle maker.  Cook until ready, according to the waffle maker's cooking instructions.  Here are some tips from a previous waffle post.

Makes 4-5 Belgian waffles.

Annual Holiday Dinner - Main Entree #2

My friends and I share a common passion - we love *LOVE* anything truffled, such as truffle oil, salt, cheese, and the best one of them all, truffle honey!  One of my friends attending the holiday dinner (and actually the non-vegetarian one) requested truffled mac and cheese.  I had originally planned to make a wild mushroom cream pasta dish, but the request for mac and cheese gave me a great idea to combine the two.  I searched long and hard for a great recipe and simply incorporated mushrooms into the entree.  I knew that this entree was a success when, besides me having an orgasmic time as I was eating it, there were barely anything left at the end of the meal!

Truffled Mac and Cheese with Mushrooms
adapted from One Perfect Bite

A few variations...
...added cremini and fresh shiitake mushrooms to the dish.  Saute the mushrooms with 1 Tbsp butter, until cooked down.  Drain liquid.  Add to dish during the part where mixing of pasta, cheese, and cream takes place.
...used panko breadcrumbs
...in the madness of cooking several dishes at the same time, I forgot to toss the pasta with truffle oil.  Instead, we added the oil on top after serving to each individual person.
...used whole milk instead of heavy cream (for a little less fat...)
...I recently purchased black truffle salt from the NYC trip, so I added the salt wherever I can (to the pasta, to the cream sauce, to the mushrooms)

Baked to perfection.

Besides the amazing buttermilk fried chicken and orgasmic truffled mac and cheese with mushrooms, we also feasted on:

• Waffles - regular and bacon
• Green beans with caramelized onions
• Sauteed spinach with toasted sesame
• Holiday spiced yams with almond and hazelnut

It was one incredible meal.  And one great get together.

Table setup, with this year's party favors.

Annual Holiday Dinner - Main Entree #1

For the past 6 years, my husband and I have been holding an annual holiday dinner with our close and dear friends.  Wow, I didn't even realize how long it has been until I had to think about it!  I love hosting this dinner because we get to unite under one roof, especially with friends coming home from New York.  As we go through our daily grind of work and life during the year, the holiday season is a great excuse to spend a little more time together, and not to forget, to stuff our faces to the maximum!

In the past, I have tackled roasted chicken, beef roast, and different types of pasta.  This year, I got the crazy idea (I think it came to me in a dream) to be ambitious and cook something unfamiliar to me: frying.  I figured that if I was to go all out and serve a fried main entree, I might as well make something amazing.  I chose Thomas Keller's famous Buttermilk Friend Chicken from Ad Hoc.  The result?  Oh My Goodness.  I've never tasted the actual fried chicken from the restaurant, but if it's as good as the ones I made, Oh My Goodness!

Thomas Keller's Buttermilk Fried Chicken
from Ad Hoc at Home

I also found this recipe online, at this blog.

Because of my unfamiliarity with frying, I held a kitchen "test run" the weekend before the holiday dinner.  A few lessons learned:

• I messed up on the salt measurement and the chicken turned out to be much saltier than I would have liked.  
• I decided to fry outside (as to spare my house from being filled up in oil fumes), so I used our side burner on the BBQ grill.  Keeping the oil at a constant 320 degrees was challenging.  Although difficult, we watched it carefully and all of the chicken came out cooked and delicious.  
• There are different cooking times for different parts of the chicken.  Drumsticks and thighs are about 12 minutes at 320 degrees, and breasts and wings are about 8 minutes at 340 degrees.  This was explained in the recipe book, but as it was near the end of the page, I stopped reading midway through (bad habit of mine).  I cooked the breasts and wings also at 12 minutes and although not overcooked, the outside was much crispier and darker than the rest.

Lots of chicken drums and thighs, laying out to dry after 12 hours of brining.  As Thomas Keller stated in the book, the chicken brine is KEY!  Chicken pieces dredged in the spiced flour mixture.

I used peanut oil to fry.  Look at it go!  And they all came out golden and crisp!  Another important tool to have is a deep fry thermometer.

Yum yum yum.

I have a vegetarian friend so I typically serve 2 main entrees at the holiday dinner. Main entree #2, a vegetarian item, will be featured in the next post!  Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas!  The air outside has been cold and nippy, truly perfect for this holiday season.  I wanted to write a quick post to simply wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I hope that 2012 will be a fantastic year! 

Our 3-year-old tree. :)

What is a food blog without any pictures of food?  You know I had to!  I held a few of holiday parties and decided to remake these Pumpkin Gingerbread Mini Bundt Cakes, since they were so delicious, and spruced them up with this glaze recipe.

 

Party favors all wrapped up.

Mr. Snowman says, "Happy Holidays!"

Pumpkin + Gingerbread

It's nippy outside.  I have to face the facts: winter is here.  It's mid-November, just about one and a half months left until the end of the year.  Lately, more of the food blogs I frequent are posting holiday-related recipes, and I am quite content with it since I love these flavors.  When I first saw this Pumpkin Gingerbread recipe, I didn't have any expectations of what the combination would taste like.  To be honest, I only reason I made this was to finish up the pumpkin puree leftover from the Halloween cupcakes.  The pumpkin gingerbread mini bundt cakes turned out to be fabulous... it was soft, full of pumpkin and ginger flavors, and not at all too sweet that will hurt your tooth!  I must be mastering the skill of combining dry and wet ingredients together because I am shocked at how moist this cake is!  Or I just got lucky.  Either way, give this recipe a try... you won't regret it!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Mini Bundt Cakes
from Simply Recipes

What I did...
...because I only had 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree left, I cut all of the ingredients in half .  I used minced ginger and substituted molasses with maple syrup.  Instead of vigorously whisking the dry ingredients together, I sifted the flour and spices.
...filled 4 mini bundt pans.
...bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

The combination of pumpkin and gingerbread flavors were like bursts of the holidays in my mouth!

BOO! It's Halloween!

Ahh... Halloween.  The time for kids to go on an endless sugar high, for parents to drag their kids around at night, and for those in-between to assume another identity and let their "other" personalities come out!  I've always enjoyed Halloween and this year is no different.

My department is holding a Halloween party this year and I'm pretty darn excited because of all the activities!  There will be three contests for everyone - costume contest, pumpkin carving contest, and a cupcake contest!  I immediately signed up for the cupcake contest and later signed up for the pumpkin carving contest after my coworker convinced me.  Good thing she did because I had a lot of fun carving different jack 'o lanterns on the pumpkin.  Three hours of hard and laborious work, but it was well worth it...

As you know, I've been trying hard to become a better baker, so this cupcake contest provided more of a motivation to do well (competitive much?).  In the days leading up to it, I have been researching cupcake flavors, frosting ideas, and Halloween-themed designs.  I also knew I had to do a test batch to make sure it will turn out edible and presentable because I did not want to start on the Sunday before and end up with disastrous results and no cupcakes to offer the next day.  The practice run was a great idea because for the second time around, I knew exactly what I was doing and the cupcakes turned out refreshingly moist and delicious!  The cream cheese frosting was just sweet enough and paired well with the pumpkin-flavor cake, and the finely chopped chocolate chips were a wonderful final touch to the cupcakes.  I hope the judges will like it.  Wish me luck everyone!

Happy Halloween!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin cupcakes from Ina Garden for HouseBeautiful
...I doubled the recipe to make bigger and plumper cupcakes.  It yielded 20 cupcakes.

Gently fold the flour mixture in the wet mixture until just combined.  The final batter should be thick and lumpy.

Use a cookie scooper to fill the pan, and use the back of the scooper to "round out" the batter so that you can get a good-lookin' cupcake!

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting adapted from Ina Garden for HouseBeautiful
Ingredients
- 9 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup

Decoration:
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, finely chopped
- 18 ghost marshmallow peeps

Tools
- electric mixer
- food processor

Steps
1. Cream the cream cheese and butter on low until softened.

2. Pour in maple syrup and vanilla extract.  Slowly stir in powdered sugar until softened.

3. Chop the chocolate chips in the food processor until fine.  Lay chocolate on a plate for dipping.

4. Take the ghost marshmallow peeps and cut about 1/4 to 1/3 inch of marshmallow from the bottom of the ghost.

5. Frost your cupcakes!  Once frosted, turn the cupcake upside down and dip the frosted cupcake in the chocolate.  Make sure the chocolate is abundant across the surface area of the cupcake (for mimicking dirt) and place a ghost peep on top of the cupcake.  If the ghost peep is not stable, spread a little bit of frosting on the bottom to ensure it stays on top of cupcake.  

The ghost peeps say, "BOO! I dare you to eat me!"

Happy Year of the Tiger

Chinese New Year 2010 is the same day as another "holiday" this year... Valentine's Day!  Since 02-14-2010 also falls on a Sunday, this weekend will only mean one thing for me - a massive food fest which will knock me into a food coma until the next year!  Coincidently, a dear friend is coming back for the weekend to bring in the New Year (a second time) and so more food-activities have been planned around her visit.  Here is what my stomach will get this weekend:

Friday night - trying a new ramen place called Orenchi that LL highly recommends!  So happy and excited that another ramen place is nearby.

Saturday - the hubby's mom is making a grand meal for Chinese New Year.  And get this, this massive meal is just for LUNCH!  On the menu (from what my hubby roughly remembers)... shark fin soup, walnut shrimp with shrimp chips, Hainanese chicken, salt & pepper pork, fried dumplings, veggie stir-fried vermicelli... yeah, I'm drooling already.  For dinner, we are going out to celebrate his nephew's birthday.  Another big meal I can imagine...

Sunday - a wonderful tea party (one of my favorite things!!) hosted by the talented EH.  She makes the best fruit tarts and delish tea sandwiches, and her tea collection always excites me.  The menu is insane... multiple different types of tea sandwiches (cucumber, smoked salmon, chicken salad, etc.), scones, cookies, pastries, mini cheesecakes (guess who is making that? :D), and besdies tea to top it off, yummy mimosas are also available.  This is just what I can roughly remember, I bet I'm missing something!  At night, we are heading over to my side of the family for hot pot (and you know hot pot eating... the selection is always abundant). 

I am taking a guess that I will gain at least 5 pounds by Monday.  Anyone tempted to make a bet?  ^_~ 

Happy New Year!  Best wishes to you for 2010.  (Oh yeah, Happy Valentine's Day too!)

Happy New Year! (Not Too Late I Hope? It's Still January...)

It's 2010... wow.  And my New Year resolution is - Not To Get Lazy With This Blog And Keep Up With Posting As Much As Possible...!!  Hahha, I have a feeling I will fail at this resolution, by like, next week...

I have ate so much, had much fun, and it had been quite insane for the last two months of 2009.  Most importantly, I made two "important" holiday meals that I am quite happy with the results.  The first is Thanksgiving, which was our very first Thanksgiving together with both sides of the family, so a total of 16 people were together inside our house!  This dinner was also the first time I cooked a big 'ol turkey, and I am glad that it turned out... edible!  Since it was a crazy busy day, I barely got any food pics because my camera ran out of juice just as we started snapping pictures of the turkey.  The menu for the night?  See pictures below (courtesy of L):

The star of the night - 12 lb Turkey stuffed with Chinese Sticky Rice

Cutting the turkey (see the steam??)

Jalepeno Cheddar Biscuits

Sides: Creamy Garlic and Chive Mash Potatoes (pictured), Mushroom & Cilantro Gravy, homemade Cranberry Sauce, Green Peas, Creamed Corn, French Green Beans with Shallots

My sister L's (aka Dessert Master) famous Pudding Cake (SOOOO GOOD!!)

The other important  meal I made was for the "Annual Holiday Dinner" with my friends held on New Years Eve.  I think this tradition started about 4 years ago in 2005 at my husband's old condo, and although back then the menu was quite simple, just spaghetti, veggies, and garlic bread, it was so fun that we kept doing it year after year.  I look forward to this meal every year!

Standing Rib Roast with Thyme and Garlic, wrapped in Bacon
Figs and Shallots (stole picture from EH)

Sides: Green Beans with Shallots (I loved so it much during Thanksgiving, I cooked it again!)

Butternut Squash, Apples, and Cranberry Bake

Pesto Mac and Goat Cheese

LL's Crab Empanadas
Not pictured: Creamy Garlic and Chive Mash Potatoes, Mushroom and Parsley Gravy
The dinner spread!

Last but not least, EH's almond tart with fresh whipped cream (I think it was almond...?  Sorry if I got it wrong, but I was pretty much drunk by then that I just remembered yumminess, and forgot the name of the dessert.  Heh ^_^)

If it wasn't for the evil mango vodka with Sprite and evil Nicaragua rum with Squirt (a total of 6 drinks all together... oops) and combining with red wine, I would have enjoyed (and probably remembered) this night a bit more!  A good way to end the year of 2009, but not so good for my liver... oh boy.

A happy and much luck for this new year!