Thursday, December 29, 2011

Quick & Easy - "Whole Bunch'a Crap" Fruit Salad

What is Christmas without a little disaster??

When my mom found out on Christmas morning that our neighborhood grocery store wasn't opened for business - even though it said it would be - she quickly came up with a plan to make a homemade fruit salad using only 5 ingredients.

The name "Whole Bunch'a Crap" came about when my cousin's boyfriend asked me what was in the salad & I didn't feel like explaining so I said "there are apples, cucumbers, and...uh...a whole bunch'a crap."  Nothing clever, I know.





















This delicious concoction was made using these 5 things...
     Apples - We used 2 fuji apples & 2 granny smith apples to get the red/green as well as a little bit of tang.
     Cucumbers - We used the baby kind since cucumbers are not in season anymore (I think).
     Dried fruits - We have a big bag of mixed dried fruits @ home so we tossed in all some raisins, dried peaches, & dried pineapples.
     Nuts - The  nuts we used came in the same bag as the mixed dried fruits but if you want to need to get nuts in addition to the fruits, we used peanuts, almonds, and toasted walnuts.
     Mayonnaise - We would've preferred another dressing (i.e. poppy seed) but the stores were closed & all the Chinese supermarket had was mayo (ew).

Putting all this "crap" together...
     Cut the apple into segments, remove the core, & then cut into chunks.  We left the skin on & kept the chunks pretty big so people actually have something to bite into.
     Put the apple chunks into a big bowl of salt water as you're cutting them (this prevents browning).  Leave the chunks in for about 10 minutes, rinse them off, & let them drain.
     Cut the cucumbers into the chunks also, keeping them about the same size as the apples.  Set them aside in a bowl (no need to soak them).
     Once the apples are rinsed/drained, toss them together with the cucumbers, the dried fruits (cut up the larger pieces), & the nuts.
     Mix the mayo - about 0.5 to 0.75 cups - with a about 0.75 teaspoon of sugar (this cuts down the tangy'ness) & dress the salad.

That's really all there is to it.  If you like, you can add celery, mixed canned fruits, or even potatoes (yep!).  The key thing is not to over'dress the salad because then it would just be goopy, tangy, & just plain gross.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Weekend Dinner - Squash Beans & Kale "Minestrone"


My partner's mother got me a butternut squash a couple of weeks ago & I finally have time to cook it.  Coincidentally I had read about a recipe in Self magazine that I wanted to try out that uses butternut squash.  Perfect!  I ended up deviating quite a bit from the original recipe because I didn't have all the ingredients.  But the end product was still delicious.


Here are the ingredients I used...
     1 quart of chicken broth
     2 cups of water
     1 can of diced tomatoes with the juice (I was feeling lazy)
     1 can of cannellini beans (the original recipe calls for kidney beans)
     5 cups of butternut squash, cubed
     7 oz of kale, chopped (I used a 10oz bag of chopped kale from Trader Joe's for $1.99)
     Salt & black pepper to taste (I also added some chipotle powder for kick)




















And this is how it went...
     In a small pot, boil some water & blanch the cannellini beans for a couple of minutes.  I did this to get rid of the gooey gunk that canned beans usually sit in.
     In a large soup pot, bring to a boil the chicken broth, water, & tomato.
     While waiting for the soup base to boil & for the beans to blanch, peel & cube up the butternut squash.  This was 1 of the hardest things I have had to do in cooking.  I did find out though, that my ceramic knife is far superior to my metal one.  I used the entire squash which came out to about 5 cups even though the recipe asks for only 3.




















     Once the soup base is boiling, add in all of the butternut squash cube.  Season with a little bit of soil & let it all boil for 15 minutes.
     After the 15 minutes, add in the kale (making sure to submerge it into the soup) & the beans.  Once the soup comes back up to a boil, season with black pepper & a tiny bit of chipotle powder.

There you go!  A delicious, healthy, warming meal...all in 1 bowl.  Oh, & did I mention it's anti-cancer too??




Saturday, November 19, 2011

Eatery Profile - Everything Frosted

I had my first ever cupcake in Mrs. Chan's 8th grade algebra class when I was 14.  I had my first gourmet cupcake from Kara's Cupcakes @ Ghirardelli Square when I was 22.

I love cupcakes!  I love them so much I try to check out each bakery I come across.  Some bakeries I go back to repeatedly & some bakeries I try to avoid.  Of the handful of cupcake bakeries that I've been to, there is 1 that I just cannot get enough of.

Obscurely located up a flight of stairs in a nondescript building down the easily missed Mosco Street in New York City's Chinatown is my all time favorite cupcake bakery - Everything Frosted.  Owned & operated by pastry chef John Wu -  he studied under Bill Yosses, the White House pastry chef - this no frills bakery produces some of the most delicious & creative cupcakes I've ever had.  Raved by the New York Times as "exceptional, worth a special journey", I love this place so much so that I have gone out of my way to visit it each time I've been in New York.



3 things make a cupcake - the overall flavor, the texture of the cupcake; & the frosting.

Overall flavor.  Everything Frosted offers traditional as well as innovative cupcake flavors like jasmine tea, pink champagne, taro, etc.  The bakery also offers unique frosting flavors like black sesame & mango.  What is extra cool is that you can choose to combine the flavors of cupcake & frosting.  Some of my favorite combos are Red Bean/Jasmine White Chocolate, Green Tea/Strawberry, & Taro/Black Sesame.  As if this is not enough, John Wu also offers specialty cupcakes such as Tiramisu (LOVE!!), Triple Chocolate, & Lemon Drop.

Cupcake texture.  Regardless of the flavor, all of the cupcakes I've had from Everything Frosted have been moist; even after I have stuck them into the fridge for a couple of days.

Frosting. This is where I have the most problem with most cupcake bakeries because the frosting is usually too thick &/or too sweet.  But at Everything Frosted, the frosting - OMG the frosting - is amazing.  The cream cheese frosting is tangy & fluffy (I think it's been whipped).  The butter cream frosting is whipped (I think) so it doesn't have the dense mouth feel that butter cream frosting can often have.  Also, it resembles a stiff whipped cream; preventing it from the granular texture that butter cream frosting can also often have.  If you want to get a sense of what I am trying to convey, go to a Chinese bakery and get yourself a cake...the whipped cream is very similar in sensation.

I can go on & on & on & on (...); but no matter how hard I try to search for the perfect adjectives, no words will do these cupcakes justice.  So the best thing I can do is to enthusiastically urge you to check this cozy bakery out if/when you are ever in the Big Apple.

Everything Frosted
105 Mosco Street
New York, NY 10013
www.everythingfrosted.com

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Quick & Easy - Seared Mahi Mahi

Since I get home pretty late from work, I can't really do anything fancy with dinner.  That's why I love fish - it can be really simple & yet delicious.





















Getting things going...
     Defrost a fish filet of your choice.  I used mahi mahi because there is a grocery store near my parents' that sells them all portioned and frozen.
     Once the fish is all defrosted, used paper towels so soak up as much moisture as possible.  Having excess water is bad news later.
     Sprinkle generously with salt & pepper (& maybe some chipotle powder too).
     In a sautee pan, heat up some oil over medium heat.  Once the pan is hot, place the filet skin side up.
     Watch the filet intermittently, once it has turned opaque halfway up, flip it over.
     Continue cooking till the whole filet looks opaque and it slightly firm to the touch.

That is all there is too it.  You can eat the filet with rice, pasta, or vegetables.  I really like the Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers® vegetables because I can microwave them while I am searing the fish.  The whole meal took only 10 minutes from start to finish; it is easy, healthy, & mmm-mmm-good.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Sweet As Sugar

This past Monday was Halloween & seeing kids going  trick-or-treat'ing made me think of sugar.  I personally am not anti'sugar, I use it when I cook or bake; but when it comes to sweetening a drink - i.e. coffee - I instinctively pick up a pack of Splenda® instead.

I never knew much about artificial sweeteners except that my grandmother used it because of her diabetes.  I also knew that blue packets (Equal®) are better than pink packets (Sweet 'n Low®).  According to my research (mostly Wikipedia), the first artificial sweetener was discovered by accident & it became popular with manufacturers because it was cheaper than actual sugar.  To verify this claim, I went onto Amazon and looked up the prices of white sugar as well as 4 popular sugar substitutes.  Here is the verdict -
  • C&H® Pure Cane Sugar - $0.08 per oz
  • Equal® Zero Calorie Sweetener - $0.33 per oz
  • Sweet 'n Low® Zero Calorie Sweetener - $0.27 per oz
  • Splenda® No Calorie Sweetener - $0.79 per oz
  • Truvia, Nature's Calorie-Free Sweetener - $0.07 per oz

Even though these calculations are not absolute; the differences in price is pretty clear.  If the prices of artificial sweeteners can be up to 10x more than that of sugar, then why are they so popular?  As a frequent user of artificial sweeteners, I wanted to know more about their pros & cons.  I did more research (mostly Wikipedia again) & did these following comparisons -

Aspartame (Equal®)
     First discovered in the early 1980s, aspartame is the common sweetener used in diet
     soft drinks.  It is 200x sweeter than sugar and it is made mainly of 2 amino acids.
     Unfortunately, aspartame breaks down @ high temperatures so it can't be used for
     cooking/baking.  Health wise, aspartame has been involved in many controversies
     in the past (i.e. aspartame metabolites were thought to be toxic/carcinogenic); but all
     of the claims have been rebutted by the FDA.
Neotame
     Used mostly in fruit/vegetable juices, neotame is 7,000x to 13,000x sweeter than
     sugar.  It is similar in properties to aspartame but more stable.  Other than having a
     bitter after taste, neotame is 1 of the only artificial sweeteners that is ranked as "safe"
     by the Center for Science in the Public Interest
Saccharin (Sweet 'n Low®)
     Discovered in 1957, saccharin was the first table top artificial sweetener & it is 300x
     sweeter than sugar.  In addition to having a bitter & metallic after taste, this sugar
     substitute was linked to bladder cancer in rodents in the 1970s.  However, all health
     warnings have been removed since 2000.
Sucrolose (Splenda®)
     Even though it was discovered in 1976, sucrolose wasn't really made popular until
     recently.  Unlike earlier sweeteners, sucrolose is made from sugar & has no artificial
     flavor.  Additionally, sucrolose can be heated up to 450 degrees which makes it
     appropriate for cooking/baking.  The 2 main negative attributes are that (1) it does not
     produce browning/caramelization like sugar & (2) it has potential negative
     environmental impacts.
Stevia (Truvia)
     Using only the leaf of the stevia plant, this natural sweeter that is 300x sweeter than
     sugar.  Like sucrolose, stevia can also be used for cooking/baking.  Although Truvia
     and other stevia products have been popularized since 2008, not all stevia products
     have been approved by the FDA.

After doing my research, it doesn't seem like artificial sweeteners are horrible for people's health.  So go ahead & sweeten it up!



Sunday, October 30, 2011

Weekend Dinner - Hot Pot

One of my favorite things to do when I go home to see my parents is to have hot pot.  I like it because all 3 of us get to sit down and spend a good amount of time together; usually cracking stupid jokes.  I think my mom likes it because she doesn't have to cook; even though she still spends a lot of time doing prep work.  I can't figure out why my dad likes it though...hmm.













































Saturday, October 29, 2011

De'Caf Or Not De'Caf

That is the question.

For those of you who know me, you know I love my coffee.  To say I am coffee dependent would be an understatement.

I recently read in The Man Who Ate Everything about a French diet which bans caffeine.  As much as I love my sugar'free vanilla Americano, I couldn't help but wonder - is caffeine contraindicated for weight management? Why?  How?  I did some research - nothing serious - and come up with the following:

Caffeine & Weight Management: The Good
     Diuretic.
          Diuretics increase people's rate of urination.  When you urinate more, you lose
          more water.  Therefore caffeine can lead to (temporary) reductions in weight.
    Appetite suppressant.
          Effects are minor & brief.  The exact mechanism is not clear.
     Increases metabolism.
          Caffeine increases thermogenesis - heat creation - increasing the number of
          of calories burnt.

Caffeine & Weight Management: The Bad
     Stimulates production of adrenaline.
          Adrenaline increases your blood glucose level; therefore increasing production
          of insulin.  The insulin will eventually absorb sugars & fatty acids in the blood
          into cells.  The more sugar & fat stored in your body, the more you weigh.

So this basically shows that caffeine does good things & it does bad things. Great.  But what does that mean for people who drink coffee but are trying to manage their weight? Should we keep drinking coffee like usual?  Should we cut back?  Should we go completely decaf?  At this time I don't think there is a definitive answer to these questions; I am not sure if there ever will be a single answer.

Other than weight management, caffeine has also been show to have an impact on other aspects of health.  Most recently, a study conducted by Brigham and Women's Hospital & Harvard Medical School showed that women who consumed 3+ cups of coffee per day had 20% lower risk of developing basal cell carcinoma - the most common form of skin cancer.  Men who consumed 3+ cups of coffee per day benefited from a 9% reduction in risk.

Personally I believe in the cliche "everything in moderation".  Until there is strong evidence proving the beneficial/detrimental effects of caffeine on health, I am going to keep my morning cup.  But just to be cautious, I  think I will only have my afternoon cup only a couple times a week.

A final note, regardless of what type of coffee you like to drink, too much fat & sugar are definitely bad for you.  So whenever you can, try to stay away from the TripleGrandeCaramelMchaccinoWithWhip.



Thursday, October 20, 2011

Quick & Easy - Rice Cooker Chicken Wings

I love chicken wings!  When I was little I can eat a dozen of them in 1 sitting. I think that's because my dad would remove the skin and 1 of the bones before putting them in my bowl.  He formally stopped doing this when I was 12; but sometimes if I am lucky, he still does that for me.

When it comes to eating chicken wings, I don't have a favorite kind.  I love soy sauce wings, salt water wings, buffalo wings, fried wings, etc.  But when it comes to cooking chicken wings, I only know 1 trick: Barbecue-style.  Unfortunately I am not entirely sure the oven @ my place is safe to use.  Now what?

I brought up my dilemma with my mom & this is what she said: "marinate the wings over night in salt & white pepper.  Next day, steam them as you cook rice in the rice cooker."  Say what?!?

I was totally not convinced after our conversation; but what other choice do I have?  I need real food for dinner & I don't have any fancy schmancy condiments.  Salt & white pepper it is.

Here is what happened the nights before...
     Defrost as many chicken wings as you wish to cook.  I used the kind where the wing & the drum stick are separated.
     Rinse the defrosted chicken wings under cold water & pat them dry with paper towels.
     In a large bowl, generously sprinkle in salt & white pepper.  You might want to move the wings around to make sure that every wing is treated equal.
     Using your hands, give the chicken wings a massage so to spread the salt/pepper evenly around.
     Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap & store in the fridge over night

When I was ready to make dinner...
     Take the chicken wings out of the fridge & place them in a plate in 1 layer.
     Put the plate in the steamer attachment of the rice cooker & push cook.

That's all there is to it!  This took about 20 minutes which I spent drafting this blog post.  The finished product was absolutely delicious and the wings were uber juicy.  A bonus - if you like, mix the chicken juice/sauce in the plate with the rice to give it some flavor.




Monday, October 17, 2011

On the iPad - The Man Who Ate Everything

The other night, I was watching Iron Chef America when I heard the familiar phrase: "...he's the man who ate everything...he is Jeffery Steingarten."  Without knowing what the book was about or if it was well received, I downloaded it.  I haven't gotten very far (~10%) into the book yet but right from the start, Steingarten's passion for food & also for learning is clear.  If you love food and/or you're looking for something different to read, check this out.



Sunday, October 16, 2011

Quick & Easy - Pasta with Sausage

I got home from work on Friday & realized that I hadn't prepared anything for dinner.  So I looked around my fridge for a few minutes & decided to throw together a quick spaghetti with sausage.





The prep work...
     Thinly sliced up some onions.  I used 1/4 because that's what I had wrapped up in my fridge.
     Slice up your sausages.  You can use whatever kind you want but I would suggest to stay away from something that has really strong flavors like a hot link.

Heating things up...
     Over a medium flame, heat up some oil.  Add in the sliced onions when the oil is hot & cook for a few minutes until they become soft and looks translucent.
     Once that has happened, add in the sausage slices and let those cook until they are a little bit brown on the outside.  Sausages are already cooked so you don't need to spend a lot of time on them.
     Add in your tomato sauce & stir everything around.  @ this point, season the sauce according to your taste.  I waited til now to season because store bought sauces are usually already flavored & I don't want to risk having super salty food.  Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes.
     Add in your pasta.  If you're using just cooked pasta, toss everything together gently & serve.  If you're using leftover pasta like me, toss everything together & let the pasta heat through.

Voila...everything including prep finished in 10 minutes!

Last night, I heated up leftover of the leftover pasta with dices of mozzarella cheese.  This added a new dimension to the sauce & minimized some of the punchy acidity of the tomato.  Yum yum yum.
      

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Weekend Dinner - Spicy Zucchini Pasta with Chicken


It was Saturday night which means I get to spend a little bit of time in front of the stove & actually cook a real meal.  This usually also means making a bit of extra to bring as lunch the following week.

I have been meaning use up a packet of whole wheat linguine that has been sitting in my cupboard for a few months but I didn't know how I should cook it.  When I went to the grocery store today, I unknowingly started looking for summer squash only to realize that they weren't available because...haha...it's not summer anymore. Fortunately, I was able to find good-looking & cheap zucchinis so I decided to cook it up with some onion in a tomato sauce.  For protein, I used chicken tenders just cause I had them sitting in the freezer.

The whole thing was pretty easy to make & it took only about 20 minutes.




So here is what you'll need to do for preparation...
     Take an onion - red, white, yellow doesn't matter - & cut them into thin slices.  I used a quarter of an onion because I was cooking for only myself.
     With the zucchinis, scrub with water to get rid of the waxy coat on the outside.  After that, cut off both ends and slice thinly.  If you're not good with a knife, I found that it is easier if you keep the stem end on so you have more to hold on to.
     Chicken tenders are great because they are already in these thin strips & I can just season them with a little bit of salt/pepper.  Chicken breast & high can be substituted since they tend to be cheaper.  Cut them up into strips or leave them as they are.

Now on to the cooking...
     Depending on how much pasta you're cooking, bring the appropriate amount of water to a boil (when in doubt, you'd rather have more water than no enough).  Add in a good bit of salt & cook the pasta according to directions on the package.  I take 1 minute off the instructed time because I like to toss my pasta in the sauce for a little bit before serving.
     In a pan, heat up some oil - whatever kind you like - on high heat & sear the the chicken.  This doesn't take too long, just until the outside to look totally cooked & go a little bit beyond that.  Obviously if bigger pieces of chicken is being used, add an additional minute or 2.  Take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside.
     In the same pan, heat up some more oil on medium heat & add in the onion.  Once the onions have turned a little translucent, add in the zucchini.  Add some salt/pepper & 2 spoonful of the pasta water.  I added chipotle pepper powder too for heat.  Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for 3 minutes. After the time is up, turn the heat to low; add in 1-1.5 cups of store-bought pasta sauce (I like the tomato basil from Trader Joe's) & stir everything around.  Add the chicken back in and let it cook for a few more minutes.
     At this point, I took the chicken back out because the pieces get in the way.  I took the pasta out of the water & transferred it immediately to the sauce.  Using tongs, mix everything together until it looks nice & delicious.  Serve the pasta on a plate & place the chicken pieces back on top.

That's it!

It might seem complicated to have to cook the pasta, make the sauce, & cook the meat.  But things can be done @ the same time so it's not too bad.  I made enough to feed me for dinner, another portion for lunch, & I still have un'sauced pasta that I can make in other ways.