A Selfish Entry

The sole purpose of this entry is for my selfish hungry craving... for this!!

This is a chinese snack called Lian Gow (cold cake) that my older sister is excellent at making.  I would eat swallow these in seconds, and always begging for more.  It has been awhile since she's made this ::COUGH COUGH HINT HINT:: and remembered it as I was browsing through my food pictures.  Gosh, wouldn't it be nice to have a taste of this lightly sweetened, soft and easy to chew snacks again??  :)

I am off tonight for a few days to play in the Big Apple, then work traveling next week to Orlando and LA.  Gosh, I won't be able to really "be home" until next Friday... ::falls::  But, I have decided that next Friday November 20th will be my sleep day.  Yes.

Hope to post up a few pics from all the wonderful places my friend will take me in NY.  Until then!

Mini Pieces of Heaven, In 30 Minutes

The first person to try these had dubbed them Mini Pieces of Heaven, and boy, do I agree with her!  I made these Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes this past weekend for a get-together with hubby C's ex-coworkers.  I was inspired to make these because of these few reasons:
     (1) Pumpkin dessert is wonderful and underappreciated.  It is also such a great holiday or winter dessert... gets you in the mood you know?
     (2) Mini cheesecakes are such a great idea!  It's just the right amount, it only takes a few bites to eat, you won't overstuff yourself with dessert, and you can eat it with your fingers.
     (3) This recipe called for fresh whipped cream with cinnamon... comon, that is splendid by itself.
     (4) This pumpkin cheesecake is so easy to make... prep time is about 15 minutes and cook time is 14 minutes (yes, to the dot!).
     (5) Making this gives me an excuse to buy another kitchenware - now I own a mini cheesecake pan!  Getting this pan was a bit of a difficulty as mini cheesecake pans are not widely sold in stores.  I searched online and finally settled on the cheapest one I can find online from Sur La Table.  Luckily, they had the pans in stock at the store in Santana Row, so I and everyone else that had a taste of these mini's lucked out.

I got this recipe from Pinch My Salt, a food blog I love to read because of the great pictures, including step-by-step pictures, taken by the blogger Nicole.  I wish I had her skills and camera because she takes such beautiful pictures!  I've decided not to post the recipe or my pictures of cooking these wonderful little things because Nicole does a great job, so please click the link if you want to give it a try.  She also has tons of other great pumpkin recipes for you P-Lovers.

There will definitely be many mini cheesecakes in whatever flavor from me in the future... these are great to make and fun to eat!  Or fun to make and great to eat!

On the drive back from the get-together in Half Moon Bay... makes me want to make more pumpkin anything...

A Fondue Party For Four

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up one day with a distinct thought in my head: I haven't had fondue in awhile... why!!!  I'm not sure if I had dreamt about eating fondue or had some kind of fondue-related theme dream, but I wanted fondue and I was determined.

Last night was the night... ::happiness::  Fondue is best when you can get a few people over so that you can get a wide variety of items to dip with.  I made up some excuse about new floors in the house and seeing them, but really I wanted my friends over to eat fondue!!  Luckily, my fellow food-lover EH did not hesitate when I said the magic words "FON-DUE" and she brought over her fiance to share the gooey cheese goodness.

There are a wide variety of cheese fondue recipes, but this night I just wanted something classic, something original.  I searched for a classic cheese fondue recipe, and found the following recipe on 101cookbooks.com.

Cheese Fondue

Ingredients    
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 lb. Gruyere cheese, shredded (or 1/2 lb. Gruyere + 1/2 lbs. Emmental cheese) - For cheese, I used 1/2 lbs of Swiss Gruyere (the only kind of Gruyere I found in the nearby Safeway) and 1/2 lb. of Jarlsberg (a Swiss-style cheese).  Basically, you want to melt any kind of stinky Swiss-style cheese for fondue...
- 3 TBSP all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cup dry white wine - "2 buck chuck" at the nearby BevMo would work!  I used Charles Shaw's Chardonnay, courtesy of EH.
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg - I didn't have fresh, so just used ground nutmeg.
- A splash or two of kirsch (optional) - I didn't put this because I didn't have any... it was optional anyway!

Steps
1. Toss the shredded cheese with the flour.
2.  Rub the interior of a medium saucepan with the peeled garlic.
3.  Place the saucepan over medium heat and add the wine.
4.  Bring to a simmer and add the cheese mixture, one handful at a time.
5.  Stir in the nutmeg.
6.  Stir the cheese over low heat until smooth, melted, and bubbling. 
7.  Add a splash of two or kirsch in the melted cheese.
8.  Continue stirring until it starts to bubble just a bit.  Transfer the cheese mixture to a fondue pot and it's ready for dipping!  Remember to stir frequently so that it doesn't clump or burn at the bottom.

I actually melted the cheese a bit differently than the way the recipe called for because I had an electric fondue pot that I found on sale a few years back at Target.  I did all of the wine boiling and cheese melting within the fondue pot, which is easier and saves me washing another saucepan!  The only warning I have for this electric fondue pot is that even at the lowest setting, the pot heats up very quickly and cooks rather quickly also.  So, pay careful attention when you are melting the cheese and don't let it burn!

The other important part of cheese fondue is the dipping items.  I think you can just dip about anything in cheese and it will be good (yeah really, ANYTHING), but it's a good idea to have a wide variety, from vegetables to meats to fruits to breads.  For this party of four, a good amount of dipping items are about 2-3 kinds of blanched vegetables, 1 type of bread, and 1-2 kinds of meats.

This is what we dipped:

Cauliflower, blanched (found a cool purple cauliflower at the nearby local market!)
Green beans, blanched
Roasted potato wedges (I used red potatoes because they are sweet and easy to cut into wedges)
Lil' Smokies (the best kind of meat to dip with cheese!)
[Not pictured] French bread, cubed
[Not pictured] Dill pickles, Snack'mms from Vlasic (sounds a bit strange to dip dill pickles but EH introduced this to me a few years ago and couldn't stop dipping pickles since!)
[Not pictured] Chicken karaage, cubed (this is Japanese-styled deep fried chicken.  We had this leftover from eating at a ramen restaurant for lunch so decided to dip... see, you can dip anything!)

With a bottle of Robert Mondavi's Fume Blanc and almost near silence during dinner due to our busy mouths eating quickly, it was another successful cheese-dipping-fun-night!  Thanks <3!

Four Year Anniversary = Homemade Pizza

By putting up with me for 4 long years... your reward is homemade pizza.  And having made homemade pizza for about 2 years now,  I have to say I'm getting a little better each try!

I decided to celebrated our 4 years of togetherness (although two days later) by surprising the hubby with two of his favorite pizzas - (1) Onion & Italian Tuna and (2) Pepperoni & Mushroom.  Either he is a really good hubby (nah...) or he really enjoys my pizzas (yes!), he ate 5 huge slices and wanted more!  I ate 4 myself (hahaa), so I must love me a lot too.

I recommend making your pizza COMPLETELY from scratch... and yes, I mean the pizza dough too!  It just makes your pizza so much more special and incredibly yummy.  I've been using the same pizza dough even since I've started - Emeril Lagasse's Basic Pizza Dough.

I follow the recipe to the T and start with dissolving the yeast and sugar in warm water with the steady stirs of my spoon.  After 5 minutes of waiting, you should see foaming gunk water.  You should also smell the yeast (warning: not a pleasant smell).

Next comes the salt, olive oil, and half of the required flour (I put 2 cups of flour initially).

After stirring the two cups of flour in the wet mixture, your dough should be a gooey mess.  I then start putting a bit of flour each time and stir, until the dough turns into a soft ball that can be transferred to the counter for kneading.

I do the required kneading (about 5-7 minutes), adding a little bit of flour each time as needed.  You don't want the dough to be sticky to the touch, so flour this thing like crazy!  After kneading, coat a bowl with olive oil and put this big ball of flour in it.  Make sure to cover the dough with the olive oil in the bowl.  Put a damp towel (I cheat and use a wet paper towel... but hey it works!) and let the dough sit for at least an hour so that it can rise.  And yes... this dough will get bigger and bigger...

When ready, take out your dough and split it in two.  Unfortunately (or fortunately?), this recipe always calls for 2 pizzas.  Since it uses 1 package of yeast and it would be pretty hard to split the yeast, you have to make 2 pizzas each time. 

Roll out the divided dough with a rolling pin.  You can pick up the dough and try to stretch it or toss it at times, just like how those pizza guys on TV do it!  It helps with elongating the dough than the rolling pin can do.  Line your pizza pan (got this round pan at the Dollar Store, score!) with cornmeal or flour, and place the dough on the pan.  It's not the prettiest thing... but I say it builds the pizza's character...

The next step is placing the toppings (my favorite part, probably because I can delegate this to the hubby), which we have pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, Italian tuna, and tomato sauce.  A note on the Italian tuna: my hubby first fell in love with Onion & Tuna pizza while on vacation in Italy with his friends.  I konw, it sounds a little weird and gross (really? Tuna on pizza?!!), but after taking a bite of this in Italy earlier this year, I understand why he is a true fan.  Italian tuna has a very different taste than American tuna.  Somehow with the combination of the onions and cheese, it brings out the sweetness and unique taste of the Italian tuna, and man, it is Oh So Good!  I had actually tried to make this using American tuna a year ago (before I had the Italian version), and I thought my hubby's taste buds needed some changing (like chopping them off)... it wasn't that great.  But after having it in Italy, we were determined to find Italian tuna here in the States. Although we sacrificed our wallets for this Italian tuna ($3.29 at a North Beach deli), I do believe it was well worth it.

Onion & Tuna without the second layer of cheese.  This pizza is rectangular (only had one round pizza pan, so used a rectangular cookie sheet... you think I would of splurged for another dollar pan!).

Pepperoni & Mushroom with all the toppings, ready for the oven.

In the 500F oven and for about 15 minutes (make sure to put on a timer and check it when it dings!), your pizza should be ready:

It's been 3 hours and I am still stuffed.  What a great way to celebrate our anniversary... :)

I Am Back... By No One's Demand!

Yes, it has been 1 year, 30 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes, and 22 seconds since the last time I've posted (don't hold me to the detailed minutes and seconds... b/c I suck at counting).  Time flew, as usual, and I'm back because, honestly, I am tired of writing reports for work and I JUST NEED TO DO SOMETHING ELSE!!  A quick chat with the family about our "interests" and "hobbies" last night also sparked my desire to restart this blog.  I just finished reading my earlier posts and it was fun and delicious, so why not!  Let's start again!

I've been doing a lot of traveling for work lately, so at the same time I've been eating out A LOT also.  Enjoy some pictures from my iPhone (excuse the quality) of the things I've tried all around the country...

Sir Scott's Oasis Steakhouse in Manhattan, Montana.  I shared a 16 oz NY Strip, chose the deep-fried potato jo joe's (sp? a speciality of the area I was told), and 2 pieces of garlic toast.  Not pictured, and also included with the meal, were soup, salad, a tray of relish veggies, choice of dessert (that day it was chocolate sundae or rainbow sherbert), and coffee.  Yeah!  All that for entrees ranging from $12-$26!  The only negative thing is that if you share a steak, you need to pay for a Plate Sharing Fee of (I think) $6-$8.  Well, I think the sharing was a good idea because I barely had any room left to eat those humongo jo joe's.

The Uptown Cafe in Butte Montana.

I was amazingly surprised by the quality of food in this restaurant, especially when it is located in a deserted downtown area in Butte.  I ordered the Artichoke Ravioli (cheese-filled with artichokes, sundried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan cheese).  It was DELISH.  The entree also came with a summer strawberry salad with raspberry vinaigrette, and I ordered creme brulee to finish the meal off.

Another visit to Uptown Cafe I ordered the Duck Breast in a reduced cranberry sauce with sugar snap peas and mashed sweet potatoes.  It came with a few sides - apple salad with homemade vinaigrette, vegetable soup, 2 clams maison, and roasted squash.  All this = S-T-U-F-F-E-D-!!

In Columbus, OH I found a vegan cupcake bakery called Pattycake Bakery via yelp.com. 

I went sugar crazy and got tons of cupcakes and whoopie pies.  From top and clockwise, vanilla whoopie pie, mint whoopie pie, pumpkin cupcake, chocolate cupcake, vanilla cupcake, and lemon cupcake.  The cakes tasted the same as "normal" cupcakes and whoopie pies, so I was curious in how they cooked these vegan-style.  A good find!

In Columbus I also found White Castle!  This was my second time eating these (fresh from the store, not those frozen wanna-be's) and are still as good (for my mouth) and bad (for my body) as last time.  I gobbled this jalepeno cheeseburger in seconds while waiting for my flight back home.  Stomach satisfied.

Fulton's Crab House - Downtown Disney - Orlando FL.  I was a fatty that day and ordered Blue Crab Cake with cucumber salad and mustard sauce, Baked Potato with all the fixings, and a Guava Mojito.  The plate of bread that came with the meal was also good.  The only disgusting thing was (unfortunately) the mojito - it tasted like sweet syrup juice - no alcohol, no guava-flavor, no minty-ness.  100 negative points.

Walking around Downtown Disney in the humid hot September day, I was happy to spot a candy store with a wonderfully creative display of caramel apples.  Gosh, I wanted to get one of each! 

Tomaso's in Phoenix, AZ.  My new love of red meat is lamb, so I ordered the Rack of Lamb Provencal without thinking.  Roasted rack of lamb encrusted with Herb de Provence, drizzled with honey mustard and raspberry vinaigrette.  There were no meat left on the bones when I was done...

Another great restaurant I went to in Phoenix was Tarbell's (which was literally 2 restaurants down from Tomaso's).  The owner and chef of this restaurant is Mark Tarbell, who had once cooked against Iron Chef Cat Cora on Iron Chef America.  Cool huh?

Mark's Famous Spaghetti and Meatballs.  I was only able to eat one meatball and that was done by forcing all of it down because it is so DARN BIG!  The sauce and spaghetti were cooked to perfection.  I highly recommend this if you are in search of good 'ol comfort food.

Mark's Mom's Mac 'n Cheese with Vermont cheese.  Only two words: YUM YUM!!

A co-worker ordered the Pan-Roasted Chicken with buttermilk mash potatoes and broccolini. 1/2 of a chicken and the meat was juicy and tender.

 This day was also my co-worker's birthday, so we ordered Warm Chocolate Cake with Pistachio Ice Cream.  This combination does not go wrong!

Are you insanely starving by now?!!  If yes, mission accomplished.