Growing up, my mom often made stir-fried Napa cabbage as part of our meals. In my mind, Napa cabbage always came cooked, as part of a Chinese family-style meal, with rice and the works. And it IS really good cooked, simply stir-fried with [...]]]>

Growing up, my mom often made stir-fried Napa cabbage as part of our meals. In my mind, Napa cabbage always came cooked, as part of a Chinese family-style meal, with rice and the works. And it IS really good cooked, simply stir-fried with some minced garlic. It has a slight sweetness to it, and doesn’t make you as gassy as normal cabbage (oops, did I just say “gassy” on a food blog? That’s gotta be a big no-no).

It took a trip to California to visit the in-laws for me to learn about this simple, no-brainer, and absolutely delicious way to prepare Napa cabbage. IN A SALAD!!! Hello, light sweet flavor? Crisp, refreshing texture? Wrinkly leaves perfect for catching and holding the flavor of a light sesame dressing? Napa cabbage salad, where have you been all my life? Thank you, thank you, mother-in-law!

It’s so easy to make. Just slice up a whole cabbage with a big knife (discarding the bottom 2 inches or so which are mainly stem), then rinse the leaves and spin them dry. Chop up a cucumber and a yellow pepper – oh how I love the crunch of this salad – and add some soy candied walnuts for extra crunch and sweetness (you can get these pre-made at your local Asian supermarket). A slightly sweet honey-sesame dressing rounds out the flavors and makes this salad distinctly Asian.

Asian Napa Cabbage Salad

1 medium head Napa Cabbage
½ English cucumber, sliced thinly
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup candied walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp olive oil

Slice the whole head of cabbage crosswise into ½ to ¾ inch sections, discarding the bottom two inches of the cabbage. Rinse the cabbage and spin the leaves dry in a salad spinner. Toss cucumber, pepper, and walnuts with cabbage.

Whisk together vinegar, honey, sesame oil and olive oil. Toss with salad. Adjust seasonings to taste, adding more vinegar if needed.

Summer comes early in our little town in Southern China, and right now in early March it’s already strawberry season. One of the joys of living seasonally is anticipating the various fruit seasons, enjoying the fruit to the utmost while it’s in season (and [...]]]>

Summer comes early in our little town in Southern China, and right now in early March it’s already strawberry season. One of the joys of living seasonally is anticipating the various fruit seasons, enjoying the fruit to the utmost while it’s in season (and perhaps canning some for the months to come), and then looking forward to the next seasonal fruit. Strawberries will only be around for about a month, and the brevity of this season makes them all the more delicious. No woody, grassy-tasting strawberries for me in November – no thanks – I’d rather have the best tasting, melt-in-your mouth berries for a few weeks than have less than the best all year.

This is the first time I’ve made strawberry shortcake, and I gotta tell ya – this recipe’s a keeper! Cobbled together from an Epicurious recipe and a few others from around the web, this dessert couples meltingly sweet, ripe strawberries with a lemony buttermilk biscuit and fluffy whipped cream. It’s got the perfect blend of crispness from the biscuit and lusciousness from the macerated strawberries. And I love, love, LOVE the contrast of the lemon zest and the strawberries.

PLEASE don’t use strawberries that are anything less than ripe. This recipe is basically a strawberry delivery system, and if the star ingredient isn’t up to par, it falls flat.

Lemony Strawberry Shortcakes
loosely adapted from Epicurious
Serves 6

Sweet Lemon Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups flour
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tsp baking powder
1 scant tsp baking soda
2 tbsp sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
½ tsp salt
½ tbsp grated lemon zest
2/3 cup buttermilk, well shaken, plus extra

Strawberries
2 pounds ripe strawberries, washed and hulled
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

Whipped Cream
1 cup chilled whipping cream
3 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt together in a bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the lemon zest and buttermilk. Fold gently into dry ingredients until incorporated.

Transfer dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat (with floured hands) into a circle about 1.5 inches thick. Cut dough into 6 wedges and transfer to baking sheet.

Brush wedges with extra buttermilk and sprinkle with extra sugar. Bake for about 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into middle of biscuits comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cut the strawberries into quarters (or halves if they’re small), and mix with the sugar and lemon juice. Let macerate for about 15 minutes.

Beat the whipping cream with the sugar until it forms soft peaks.

When biscuits are done, let them cool about 5 minutes, then cut them in half. Pile with strawberries and whipped cream, and serve immediately.

I love salads that can double as main courses. Sometimes I really crave fresh vegetables, but I’m also really hungry, so I end up eating salad, plus a bunch of other stuff (PB&J, muffins, cookies, etc…). I love it when I can just [...]]]>

I love salads that can double as main courses. Sometimes I really crave fresh vegetables, but I’m also really hungry, so I end up eating salad, plus a bunch of other stuff (PB&J, muffins, cookies, etc…). I love it when I can just scarf down a salad, and it’s good enough and satisfying enough that I’m shoveling it down my throat and don’t need anything more… This Chickpea Veggie Salad is that kind of salad. Definitely shovel-down-the-throat material.

This salad is just plain GOOD! The combination of flavors is bright and fresh, but earthy and nutty at the same time. I forgot how good chickpeas are, even just from a can. The nice thing about this recipe too, is how easy it is to throw together. You don’t need a lot of exotic ingredients; in fact, you probably have everything you need to put this salad together right now.

And of course, you could doll it up a little more. Add some olives and feta for a Mediterranean slant, or some more spices (I feel like a sprinkle of cumin would go well in here) for extra kick.

Chickpea Veggie Salad
Serves 2 as a main, or 4 as a side

1 can chickpeas
1 English cucumber, chopped (seeded if necessary)
1 ½ cups halved grape tomatoes
3 tablespoons thinly sliced red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped mint (optional)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons good olive oil
salt and pepper

Mix together vegetables (chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, onion). Toss with cilantro and mint (if using). Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

Whisk together lemon juice, cider vinegar, and ½ tsp salt. Add olive oil and whisk until emulsified. Toss with salad. Taste for seasoning and adjust (you may want to add more lemon juice or vinegar depending on how acidic you like it).

I felt like scones this morning (my husband would say, “But you don’t look like one!”), but I didn’t want to use the recipe I normally use, which is for a sweet scone with currants. I was craving something more savory. Half an [...]]]>

I felt like scones this morning (my husband would say, “But you don’t look like one!”), but I didn’t want to use the recipe I normally use, which is for a sweet scone with currants. I was craving something more savory. Half an hour of experimentation in the kitchen, and I came up with THESE!

Now, not to toot my own horn, but these are, I think, the best biscuits I’ve ever made (by the way, what’s the difference between scones and biscuits? I have no idea.).

Using buttermilk instead of milk made the biscuits more tender and moist, and the addition of the Gouda cheese and rosemary satisfied my salty cravings and (in my opinion), upped the “foodie factor” as well. Finally, using baking soda as well as baking powder (baking soda needs to react with an acid, so I could use it since there was buttermilk in the dough) seemed to make the biscuits lighter and fluffier.

The resulting biscuits were rich, tender, and as savory as I could desire. Try them and let me know what you think!

Rosemary and Gouda Buttermilk Biscuits
Makes 8 biscuits

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2/3 cup buttermilk (you can make your own buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to 2/3 cup milk and letting it sit for 5 minutes)
1/3 cup Gouda cheese, finely diced or grated
1 1/2tsp dried rosemary (double the amount if you use fresh)
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp milk for brushing

Preheat oven to 400 F (about 200 C).

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour using your fingertips, until the mixture becomes a fine crumble, like cornmeal.

Crumble the rosemary needles in your hand and add them to the mixture. Add the cheese and toss to combine.

Pour in the buttermilk and fold in gently with a spatula until mixture forms a sticky dough. Divide roughly into 8 and drop onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for about 12 minutes until golden on top or a toothpick comes out clean.

These are best fresh out of the oven of course, though I suppose you could reheat them gently later in the day. Definitely best when the cheese is bubbling and melted though!

Check this out. No, that is not some weird oval shaped avocado up there. That, my friends, is an emu’s egg.

What, you may ask, were we doing with an emu’s egg? Well the story goes like this: my brother-in-law and his wife [...]]]>

Check this out. No, that is not some weird oval shaped avocado up there. That, my friends, is an emu’s egg.

What, you may ask, were we doing with an emu’s egg? Well the story goes like this: my brother-in-law and his wife were taking care of their neighbor’s backyard pets while they were away on a vacation. These “pets” included a chicken coop full of chickens, and yes, an emu (it’s a big backyard). The emu lays an egg once or twice a week, and since each emu egg is about the same volume as 10-12 regular chicken eggs, they had plenty to share with us.

My husband drilled a hole in each end of the egg, and painstakingly blew out all the insides. That’s a whole lot of egg! The total volume came to about 600 ml, about 2 1/2 cups.

My brother-in-law told us that although the flavor is very similar to chicken eggs, the white of the emu egg doesn’t set quite as well as a chicken egg, so if you end up scrambling or frying the whole thing, you end up with slightly slimy fried eggs. So we decided to use it in a quiche instead, where the cream and cheese and other ingredients would compensate even if the white didn’t completely set.

Actually, we made a couple.

The result? I honestly couldn’t tell the difference between this quiche and any other normal chicken egg quiche. And the quiche itself isn’t a bad recipe.

So next time life gives you emu eggs…make quiche!

Yes, we made a broccoli/goat cheese one too, but I don’t have room to share both recipes.

Emu Egg Leek and Canadian Bacon Quiche
Williams-Sonoma Breakfasts and Brunches

1 pie crust pastry
6 slices Cdn bacon, cut into strips
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 leek, washed and cut crosswise into slices
2/3 cup beaten emu egg, or 3 normal eggs
1 ½ cups half and half
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
6 oz Gruyère or Jarlsberg, grated
1 ½ tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Roll out pastry and press into 9 inch tart pan. Trim pastry edges. Prick pastry all over with a fork. Line pastry with foil and pie weights (opt). Bake 8 minutes. Remove foil, bake another 4 min. Reduce oven temp to 325 F (165 C).

Sauté bacon until slightly browned, 2-3 min. Drain on paper towels.

Melt butter in pan, sauté leeks until tender, about 10 min. Set aside.

Beat eggs until frothy, add half and half, salt and pepper. Toss cheese with cornstarch. Add cheese, bacon, and leek to the liquid and stir well. Pour into pastry shell.

Bake 35-40 min until middle is set.

Cool 15 min and serve.

Bulgur wheat is an easy substitute for rice or couscous in many dishes, and it’s really easy to cook. Just simmer it in some water for about 15 minutes, and then leave it while it absorbs the rest of the water. Bulgur wheat is [...]]]>

Bulgur wheat is an easy substitute for rice or couscous in many dishes, and it’s really easy to cook. Just simmer it in some water for about 15 minutes, and then leave it while it absorbs the rest of the water. Bulgur wheat is a whole grain that has been parboiled, dried, and the bran partially removed.  It’s higher in fiber and vitamins than white rice or couscous, so I guess it’s pretty good for you too.

Last night I simmered some bulgur wheat in vegetable broth, added some seasonings, then sautéed a yellow and red pepper, some mushrooms and an onion, and mixed them all together for a satisfying, though still quite light, dinner. We had it with some baked chicken nuggets as well, but I could very well have gone without the chicken.

Bulgur Wheat with Sautéed Vegetables

1 heaping cup bulgur wheat
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 large yellow bell pepper, diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
½ red onion, diced
6 medium mushrooms of your choice, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp granulated garlic
½ tbsp dried basil
salt and pepper

Simmer the bulgur in the broth, uncovered, for about 15 min, mixing occasionally. Add granulated garlic and basil and stir thoroughly, then set aside so bulgur can absorb any remaining liquid.

Sauté the onions and mushrooms in 1 tbsp of the olive oil until onions are softened and starting to turn translucent. Add bell peppers and continue to cook until peppers are crisp-tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the bulgur wheat to the pan with the vegetables and toss to combine, breaking up any lumps. Drizzle with remaining olive oil (or alternatively, stir in some butter). Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Serve immediately while hot.

hirekatsu / sxc.hu

So I finally picked up an issue of Bon Appetit the other day, curious to see how it would compare to the now defunct Gourmet (sob).  And I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were quite a few in-depth articles similar [...]]]>

hirekatsu / sxc.hu

So I finally picked up an issue of Bon Appetit the other day, curious to see how it would compare to the now defunct Gourmet (sob).  And I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were quite a few in-depth articles similar to what I would expect in Gourmet.  One of them was about buckwheat.

Now, am I the only person here who assumed that buckwheat was just some form of wheat?  Well apparently, buckwheat is a whole other plant, and the “grains” of buckwheat are actually the seeds of the buckwheat plant.  The buckwheat recipes in Bon Appetit led me to do a little research of my own, and it turns out that buckwheat is really good for you.  As in, it’s rich in fiber, minerals, protein and antioxidants.  Oh – and buckwheat is gluten-free.  What’s not to love?

So expect some experimentation with buckwheat in future recipes.  In the meantime, here’s an article I wrote for HealthyTheory.com about the nutritional benefits of buckwheat.

Buckwheat: A Healthier Starch

Please post a comment if you’d like to share a great way to cook buckwheat!

Chinese desserts are quite different from Western ones.  They tend to be based on fruit and/or beans (red or green, generally), and often use glutinous rice, tapioca or sago.  Unlike Western desserts, that often use lots of cream and dairy products, Chinese desserts [...]]]>

Chinese desserts are quite different from Western ones.  They tend to be based on fruit and/or beans (red or green, generally), and often use glutinous rice, tapioca or sago.  Unlike Western desserts, that often use lots of cream and dairy products, Chinese desserts are often water or coconut milk based, with perhaps a bit of condensed or evaporated milk to add that extra bit of creaminess.

My husband, who discovered a whole new world of Cantonese cuisine when he married me, tends to dislike Chinese sweets.  It’s not his fault – he just didn’t grow up with a tradition of sweet red bean soup, egg custard steamed buns, bean paste dumplings, etc…  I guess they ARE a little strange if you’re not used to them.

But he DOES like this Mango Pomelo Sago Sweet Soup.

This fresh fruit dessert is a quintessential Hong Kong dish.  Invented in a Hong Kong restaurant in the 80’s, it has swept the global Asian community, insinuating itself into Asian dessert houses everywhere.  I first had it at a family banquet in Hong Kong, but have since sampled it in several Toronto dim sum restaurants and dessert or tea houses.  The Cantonese name for it is “Yeung Zi Gum Lo”… I have no idea what the name means.

If you live in an area where you can’t get this dessert, don’t fret – it’s easy to make yourself with just a few simple ingredients.  The most difficult thing to find might be the sago balls – you can find this at your local Asian market.  These little globules of sago starch (or tapioca starch – the two words are often interchangeable) look like little white balls of styrofoam, and turn transparent when cooked.

Pomelos are huge Asian grapefruits with a thick skin and a very sweet fruit.  You peel the white inner skin from each segment and extract the flesh.  They come in red and yellow-fleshed varieties.  If you can’t find pomelos (also at your local Asian market), substitute a very ripe ruby red grapefruit.  It will be a little more tart, but close enough.

Mango Pomelo Sago Soup
I referenced GourmetTraveller88 for this recipe.

People who are allergic to milk or lactose intolerant can enjoy this creamy dessert without the dairy.  The coconut milk gives it enough creaminess that the evaporated milk is not essential.

3 ripe medium-size mangoes
150 ml coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup simple syrup (optional)
1/2 cup pomelo flesh, plus extra for garnishing
1/2 cup sago pearls
evaporated milk for drizzling (optional)

1.  Put the sago into a large pot of boiling water, and cook for 15 min until the outsides of the pearls become transparent.  Lower the heat and simmer another 10 minutes or so until the pearls are fully transparent, stirring often to prevent sticking and burning.  Drain into a wire mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly with cold water.

2.  Meanwhile, cube the mangoes.  I like to cut two sides off the mango on either side of the seed, then score the flesh and scoop out the cubes with a spoon.  Then I peel the rest of the mango and slice off the flesh around the seed, chopping it roughly.  Any remaining flesh on the seed is fair game for any marauding mango-loving husbands to devour.

3.  Put 3/4 of the cubed mangoes along with the coconut milk and water into a blender.  Blend until smooth.

4.  Add the drained sago, pomelo flesh, and reserved mango pieces to the mango puree.  Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

5.  Before serving, taste for sweetness and add a little simple syrup if needed.  Ladle into dessert bowls and garnish with extra pomelo.  If you wish, drizzle a bit of evaporated milk over the dessert.  Chris is allergic to milk, so I didn’t add any.

It’s that time of the year again…the time we all anticipate…Red Pocket Day!  Okay, okay, Chinese New Year isn’t ALL about getting money – it’s also about spending time with your family on the one holiday every year that people can travel home.  In Chinese [...]]]> It’s that time of the year again…the time we all anticipate…Red Pocket Day!  Okay, okay, Chinese New Year isn’t ALL about getting money – it’s also about spending time with your family on the one holiday every year that people can travel home.  In Chinese tradition, Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival as it’s called in China) is the biggest holiday of the year, ushering in the new lunar year.  On this day, many Chinese communities will have parades and festivals, with dragon dancing, fireworks, and loads of goodies.  People may wear traditional Chinese clothing, and older or married couples will give red pockets filled with money to relatives who are still children.  The lucky thing to do is to give two red pockets at a time, with an equal amount of money in each pocket, to each child (lucky things come in twos).

One of the goodies we like to eat at Chinese New Year is Nian Gao, or “Year Cake”.  This version of New Year Cake is made with glutinous rice flour and coconut milk.  It has a slightly chewy consistency and a custardy, subtle coconut flavor.  It’s a bit different from the traditional New Year Cake that you can buy at the Chinese supermarket around this time of year.  The traditional cake is more of a pudding, and you cut it into slices and fry them.  This one is kind of in-between a Western style cake and a traditional nian gao.

The recipe for this cake is coming – I forgot to copy it down so I’m waiting for my mom to send it to me.  In the meantime, enjoy these pictures.  Oh, and Happy Chinese New Year!  Gong Xi Fa Cai!

And for all you Year of the Tiger folks out there…  I was told that in the second cycle of the year you were born in (so the year you are 24), you will find true love.  I met my husband in the Year of the Pig when I was 24 =).  Rather suitable for Valentine’s Day, eh?

Yes, I know.  It’s been a while.  Not because I don’t love you guys, but because Chris and I have been traveling to and from LA and Toronto visiting family during our spring vacation.  Not only have we been busy, but we haven’t really had [...]]]>

Yes, I know.  It’s been a while.  Not because I don’t love you guys, but because Chris and I have been traveling to and from LA and Toronto visiting family during our spring vacation.  Not only have we been busy, but we haven’t really had an opportunity to cook.

We do have lots of ideas that we’ve garnered from our travels, so expect some new bursts of creativity on this site within the next few weeks.  I’ve stolen a bunch of new ideas from my mother-in-law, Karola, that I can’t wait to show you all =).

In the meantime, I helped my mother-in-law to make these spectacular Valentine cookies.  Check them out.  Aren’t they just lovely?  Just like little lace-edged Valentines.  They’re almost too pretty to eat, but I bet they’ll go fast.  And they’re good too – buttery cookie, sweet pom jam…what’s not to like?

By the way, that beautiful white plate up there is a true antique.  It’s about 100 years old, and it belonged to Karola’s grandmother in Germany.  Pretty cool huh?   I’m hoping that someday Chris and I will be able to pass on some family traditions (as well as, hopefully, a few sentimental mementos) to our kids.

Pomegranate Jam Hearts
I really don’t know where this comes from.  It was passed on through a colleague of my mother-in-law’s.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
6 tbsp pomegranate jelly

Sift the flour and salt and set aside.

Combine butter and sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Ad vanilla and almond extracts and stir till well blended.  Add dry ingredients and mix until dough comes together.

Divide dough in half and gather each half into a ball.  Flatten into disks, wrap in plastic, and place in fridge for about 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Take out one ball of dough at a time.  On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick (I found this much easier between two sheets of plastic).  Loosen dough from surface using a spatula.  Using a heart shaped 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut out 24 hearts.  In 12 of the hearts, cut out a small heart-shaped hole using a 1 inch cutter.  Place on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack until edges are light brown, about 12-15 minutes.  After 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Spread about a teaspoon of jam on the 12 hole-less cookies.  Sift the cutout cookies with confectioner’s sugar.  Place the cutout cookies on top of the jam to make 12 jam cookie sandwiches.

Any extra dough can be used for sugar dusted cookies.