Chou à La Crème

Who knew choux pastry/cream puff/profiterole/whatever you want to call it was so easy to make? I remember going to the Korean bakeries with my mom when I was younger and she'd buy me and my siblings a small box to share. Back then I thought they were called, "shoe cream" and always wondered why.

Anyway, you can fill these with just about anything. Vanilla whipped cream, ice cream, custard, chocolate, fruit, macaroni, spaghetti... ok just kidding about the last two. I filled mine with vanilla pudding... from a box! (gasp!)

Ingredients: (Choux pastry from Joy of Baking)
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
4 tbsp Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup Water
2 Eggs, lightly beaten

Egg glaze:
1 Egg
1/8 tsp Salt

Filling:
1 pkg (3.4 oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding
1/2 cup Milk
1 cup Heavy Cream

Make the filling by mixing the pudding mix with the milk and heavy cream. Refrigerate to set.

Preheat oven to 400. Sift/whisk the flour, salt, and sugar together in a small bowl. Place the water and butter in a small saucepan over medium high and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and quickly add the flour mixture. Mix and return to heat. Continue to mix until the dough forms a sort of ball (doesn't stay in pieces). Transfer to a mixing bowl and mix at low speed. Next you're going to add the eggs but make sure that your dough isn't too hot that it'll cook the eggs. Mix until you achieve a smooth consistency.

Next, on parchment paper/silpat, spoon out the dough in 12 mounds. Whisk together the egg glaze and brush on top of each mound. It looks really weird at this point and you'll wonder, how does this become pastry? But it does!

Bake for about 15 minutes (it's amazing at how fast they rise) and then turn down the heat to 350 and bake for about 35 minutes more. Turn off the oven and leave the door open ajar and let the pastries cool for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Why do you do this changing of temperature and cooling in the oven? You have to make sure the insides are dry or else your pastry will deflate and you will be sad. Some people say to poke a hole in the side to let the steam escape, but I didn't find that I needed to do that.

Next comes the fun part! You have two ways of filling your pastry:

Cut it in half and fill like a sandwich or:

Make a small incision in the side or bottom and pipe in the filling!

Finish off with a sprinkle or two, or four or eleven, of confectioners sugar.

Et voilà! Bon appètit mes amis!

Snickerdoodles

Yesterday was a cinnamon-y day. From the Moroccan chicken to these yummy cookies, I'm all cinnamon-ed out! (not really...) These cookies are really good right out of the oven. What I was really pleased about is that they stay good even through the next day.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, room temp.
3/4 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Coating:
3 tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar until you achieve a smooth, fluffy texture. Add the egg and beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated. Next, add the flour mixture and beat until everything is smooth and consistent. At this point, your dough will be kind of sticky. Cover and refrigerate until you get a nice playdough/clay consistency. (About an hour or so)

Preheat oven to 400. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Roll portions of dough in your hands into twelve 1-2" balls. Roll each ball in the coating. Place on a baking sheet/parchment paper/Silpat... etc. Next, flatten each ball to about a 1/2 inch thickness using the bottom of a cup or glass. Using your fingers, sprinkle a pinch of the coating on top of each flattened ball of dough.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges start to brown.

Enjoy!

I love the way the sugar sparkles in the light, so pretty!

Moroccan Chicken with Harvest Grains à la Hipcooks

Have you ever been to a Hipcooks class? It's really fun. You should try some time. This is a recipe from Hipcooks that is super yummy and fairly easy to make! One thing you should know, they don't measure their ingredients (like Korean moms) so I just estimated how much I put in. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
6 Chicken Thighs, bone in with skin. (gasp!)
Carrots, sliced (I used one large and one medium sized)
Onion, sliced thin (I used 1.5 medium sized)
A few cloves of Garlic, sliced (I forgot this ingredient! But it was still yummy)
About a cup Pitted Prunes, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1-1.5 tsp Ground Cinnamon (They use cinnamon sticks, but it's up to you)
Salt, to taste
Flour, for dusting
4 cups Chicken stock
optional: white wine
Trader Joe's Harvest Grains

Preheat oven to 325. Trim the excess fat off the chicken then coat both sides in flour, brusing off the excess. Heat some olive oil on a pan. Brown both sides of the chicken then set aside. Note that you're not actually trying to cook the chicken, just crisping the outside. It'll cook in the oven. Set aside on a paper towel-covered plate.

Next, if you have a pan that works both on the stove and in the oven, use it! If not, then in a pan saute the onions, carrots, and garlic until almost soft. Add the cumin and cinnamon and a bit of chicken stock. At this point, you can also add some white wine and cook until the alcohol burns off. Add the pitted prunes.

Transfer the veggies and prunes and the chicken (skin side up) into a roasting pan/baking dish/pyrex/whatever you normally use in the oven. Pour in chicken stock until the chicken is almost covered. (I used 2 1/4 cup) Be sure to reserve about 1 3/4 cup chicken stock for the harvest grains.

Bake for about an hour or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
Remove from oven and serve with the harvest grains. (Directions on back of bag)

Hide and Seek with Madeleine

Okay, I will hide and you will seek.

I hope they don't find me here...

Hmm... I think under the table might be too obvious.

How about in a bookcase?

Or behind this upright bass?

Dang it! Found me again... =(

Okay, this time you hide and I'll come find you. Ready? 10...9...8...7... zzzz...

Raspberry Marble Cheesecake Cupcakes

Have you ever looked through the Martha Stewart Cupcakes Recipe book? She has so many cute and yummy-looking recipes. Andrew's cousin invited us over for Christmas dinner so I picked out this recipe and gave it a try.


Ingredients (makes 32 cupcakes so I cut everything in half and made 16):

1 1/2 cups Graham Crackers, finely ground (About 12 sheets)
3 tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
1 1/2 cups + 5 tbsp Sugar
1 container (6 oz) Fresh Raspberries
2 lbs Cream Cheese, room temp.
Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs, room temp.

Preheat oven to 325. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Mix graham crackers with 3 tbsp of sugar followed by the butter. Spoon about 1 tbsp of the mixture into the paper liners and press firmly to the bottom. Bake for about 5 minutes.

Use a food processor to puree the raspberries until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve. Discard the seeds. Whisk in 2 tbsp of sugar into the strained raspberries. Set aside.

Beat the cream cheese at medium high speed until fluffy. Reduce to low speed and add 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a steady stream. Add a pinch of salt and the vanilla extract. Mix until incorporated. Next, add the eggs one at a time, waiting until the previous egg is incorporated before adding the next.

Spoon 3 tbsp of cream cheese mixture into each paper lining followed by 1/2 tsp of raspberry puree. Use a toothpick to swirl the puree to create marbleized effect.

From bottom: graham cracker crust, cheesecake mixture, drops of raspberry puree, swirled around with a toothpick.

If you have a roasting pan large enough for the muffin tin to fit in, fill it with water to create a sort of bath for the tin. This promotes even baking. If you don't, you can heat up some water on the stove, pour it in an oven-safe pan and place it on the rack directly below the one your muffin tin is on. (Does that make sense?)

Bake for about 22 minutes rotating halfway. Allow to cool completely and refrigerate for 4 hours before serving to allow the cheesecake to set.

These look a little sad because I not-very-carefully tore the paper off. Using my new fancy mixer, I whipped up some unsweetened whipped cream and added a fresh raspberry on top. The cake is already sweet, so no need to sweeten the whipped cream. It'd also look cute with a sprig of mint!

For a better picture, check out Sako's blog!

Mixer!

Guess who got a mixer for Christmas? ME!!!

hello

I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship...

Thanks brother!

A Quick Tasty Appetizer

photos taken by my phone... pretty good, huh?

I had a holiday party to go to this weekend and wanted to take an appetizer/dessert. The rain pretty much made my decision because I didn't really want to make too many trips to the market and I just wanted to make something quick.

I'm sorry there aren't any measurements but it all depends on how much you want to make, your preference of spiciness... etc.

Ingredients
Rice (Korean/Japanese rice, like sushi rice)
Tuna (Canned/Sushi Grade,)
단무지 (Pickled Radish, also called 다꽝)
ふりかけ (Furikake, I use the one with laver and sesame seeds only)
Sriracha/Rooster sauce (I recently found out that this is named after a city in Thailand)
Kewpie Mayonnaise (the Japanese mayo, or you can just use regular)
Sesame Oil
Perilla Leaves (깻잎-- Don't use the Japanese ones, they're completely different)

After cooking rice, allow to cool. You can spread the rice out on a plate to allow faster cooling time. Sometimes, I cook the rice earlier in the day and cook this dish later when the rice is completely cooled.


Canned Tuna:
Drain the canned tuna. It's really important to drain all the water from the canned tuna or you'll get really soggy tuna. Then mix with mayo and sriracha to your liking.

Sushi Grade Tuna:
Chop the sushi grade tuna into small cubes (like spicy tuna). Mix with sriracha.

(I also added a small amount of sesame oil to the tuna for taste and also to mix a bit easier.)

Coarse chop the radish in to cubes and pulse a few times in a food processor. They make this radish in different colors. Red, yellow, and without color. Don't be put off by the unnatural alien-esque neon yellow color. It still tastes good! I promise.


Wash and dry the the perilla leaves and spread out on a plate or serving dish.

By this time, hopefully the rice will be somewhat cooled. Add sesame oil and mix together. If you add too much, the rice won't stick together anymore. With your hands, roll a small amount of rice into a ball and place onto the perilla leaf. Top with the tuna mixture followed by the minced radish and then the furikake.

This is a horrible picture, but you get the point.
It's really yummy and really easy to make. I promise! =)

p.s. I love how I have sesame seeds, sesame oil, sesame leaves... I find it really fun. I dunno.
p.p.s Apparently perilla leaves and sesame seeds come from different plants... hm.

A Hard Day's Night

Over the years, I've received some awesome gifts from my brother including 2 laptops, a DS, a sewing machine, a beach cruiser, an ipod mini... but I think one of the most memorable was when we were just kids. I must've been around 6 which means he was 10. How many 10 year old boys do you know that 1. save their money 2. for a gift 3. for their little sister? Anyway, I don't remember exactly what he bought me but I do remember us walking to our neighborhood rite aid to the toy aisle where he let me pick out whatever I wanted.

Anyway, for Christmas this year I asked him what he wanted and he said he wanted a photo of The Beatles on canvas. Well, I searched everywhere but couldn't find anything that was within a reasonable price range... so instead, I decided to make a homemade gift.

Guess who?

George Harrison

Guess who? (kinda blurry, sorry!)

John Lennon

Guess who?

Paul McCartney

Guess who? (blurry again...)

Ringo Starr

Come together...

I had a lot of fun painting it and he seemed to really like it so awesome!

Chocolate Chip Cookies Two Ways

When it comes to chocolate chip cookies do you like soft chewy cookies or hard crunchy cookies? Well I got both recipes here for you.

Let's do soft first, because that's what I like. This recipe is from Bakerella, and it's really simple and super yummy.

2 1/4 Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Butter, room temperature
1 cup Brown sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
2 cups Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the two sugars with the butter then add the eggs and vanilla and beat it! Add the flour mixture in two additions and mix well. Next, add almost all of the chocolate chips. Take about 1 tbsp scoops of the batter and bake for about 4 minutes. Take the cookies out, and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips onto the cookies. Return to oven and bake an additional 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Doing it this way, you'll have chips all throughout your cookie.

Allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes, move to a wire cooling rack, then enjoy! These cookies will stay soft... =)

Now for the crunchy cookies. I don't know why these turned out crunchy. The recipe said they're supposed to be soft and chewy... they were when they first came out. Then they became crunchy, but they're still good. Also, they're much bigger cookies.

Ingredients:
2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cups Butter, melted
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
2 cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 325. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Next, whisk the sugars and butter together. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Stir in the flour mixture in two additions. Add the chocolate chips. Scoop 2 tbsp amounts onto a baking sheet leaving about 3 inches of space between the cookies. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Which did you prefer?

Santa Fe Chicken Pizza à la CPK

Do you like pizza? I don't. No, really, I don't. I think it's something about the mixture of the sauce and cheese and crust that just tastes weird to me. The thing is, Andrew loves pizza. So once in a while, I have to think of ways that we can both eat pizza and be happy.

Out of the few places I will eat pizza, there is one pizza that I do like and that's the Santa Fe Chicken pizza from CPK.

Ingredients:
1 Pizza Crust (I use Pillsbury Pizza Crust)
Cheese (I used mozzarella primarily, and a little bit of cheddar for color)
1/4 to 1/2 cup Rotisserie Chicken, Shredded
Lime
1 Small Onion, sliced thin
Butter/Olive Oil
Parsley
1/4 bunch of Cilantro, Stems Removed and Chopped
Guacamole and Pico de Gallo (Recipe found here, just don't add pineapples)

optional:
Sour Cream
Soy Sauce/Sugar
Corn Meal

Preheat oven according to the directions for your pizza crust. You'll need to start by caramelizing your onions. Do this by heating some butter or olive oil in a pan on medium/low heat. Add the onions and mix them around to make sure they're nicely coated in the oil/melted butter. Cook until they get translucent. Add a teensy bit of soy sauce or sugar and this will speed up the caramelizing process and add flavor. The onions should get nice and brown but not burnt. Remove from heat.

(You can make the pico de gallo and guacamole while your onions are caramelizing if you're good at multi-tasking. If not, then don't.) Meanwhile, squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lime and mix well with the chicken and about a tbsp of chopped cilantro.

Spread a handful of corn meal on a baking sheet and then roll out your pizza crust over it. Cover the pizza crust with cheese, leaving room on the sides for a crust. Next, evenly distribute the chicken, remaining cilantro, and caramelized onions. Bake the pizza according to directions on your pizza crust.

It should look something like this when it comes out.

Cut the pizza into squares and serve each slice with a bit of guacamole and pico de gallo on top.
I loved the pizza, it tasted just like it does at CPK.

However, I knew Andrew still wanted a conventional pizza. So, here was his:

In all honesty, it's so much easier to make, but again, I just don't like this kind of pizza. This was a sausage and mushroom pizza, but you can make it with just about anything. Just roll out the pizza dough, spread some tomato sauce/pasta sauce/pizza sauce on top. Add mozzarella cheese on top of that. Then top with Italian sausage, pepperoni, uncooked mushrooms, uncooked diced bell pepper, onion, whatever you want. You can also add Italian seasoning, basil, whatever... Andrew loves it. =)

순두부 찌개 (Soft Tofu Soup)

With the cold weather, I was craving something hot and spicy. So while Andrew was at work, I proceeded to cook this so it'd be done in time for dinner. I've never cooked 순두부 찌개 before so I didn't really know what to do, but it came out decently. I think next time I'll need to use something else for the stock, not just water. It felt like it was missing something. Ideas?

Ingredients
1 pkg 순두부, Sliced (Soft Tofu, it's sold in this tube-like thing at Korean markets)
1/4 cup 김치, diced into smaller pieces (Kimchi)
1/2 tsp 새우젓, diced (Salted Baby Shrimp)
Meat of your choice, cut into small cubes (I used pork belly but you can use beef, seafood, etc)
Mushrooms
Sesame Oil
고추장 (Red Chili Paste)
고추가루 (Red Chili Flakes)
Egg
1 Green Onion, chopped

Start by cooking your meat in a pot. Add the kimchi and about a tsp or so of sesame oil. Add the mushrooms and cook everything together. Next add water until everything is almost, but not quite, covered. Cover and boil. Taste the soup, is it bland? Add the salted baby shrimp. Is it not spicy enough? Add some chili paste and chili flakes. Add the tofu and allow everything to simmer for about 10 minutes. Crack an egg in the soup (if you are using a stone pot, you can do this after you remove from heat because your soup will keep boiling. If not, do this on the stove to allow the egg to cook) Garnish with green onions. Eat with rice!

Dear Santa,

I think I was good this year. Here is my Christmas wish list:

A Kitchenaid Artisan Series Stand Mixer in Ice.

No? Okay, then I can settle for:Cuisinart Power Advantage 7-speed Hand Mixer

A pair of red TOMS. Size 6.

A subscription to Food Network Magazine

And yes, I still want this bag. Marc by Marc Jacobs 'Classic Q Baby Groovee' Satchel in Ellsworth Blue.

AMEN!