Sunday Nite Dinner

Roasted Vegetables

Chuck — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:39:06 +0000

Things have been a little crazy these days. foodgawker is growing each month and is keeping me really busy. To add to the insanity, I launched craftgawker last week. It’s identical to foodgawker, but focused on arts and crafts. So that’s the reason why it’s been quiet around here.

But then I got slapped on the hand by BlogHer (our ad provider) for not posting in over a week. I felt like a kid in high school who got in trouble and is being sent to the principle’s office. BlogHer’s “reprimand” is actually a good thing, otherwise I would have neglected SND even longer.

Anyway, we have a really simple dish of roasted vegetables for you. We made this after a trip to a local farmers’ market. It came together by picking up the best looking vegetables at the time. Hungry Bear wanted to prepare them simply to highlight the freshness of the vegetables.

The roasted vegetables are a great side dish and can be served hot or cold. We had them for lunch with some artichoke garlic herb bread and sunny side up eggs. It was simple but really good. Regarding the bread, if you are ever cruising Route 1, definitely stop at Norm’s Market in Pescadero and pick up a loaf or three of freshly baked artichoke garlic herb bread. It’s fantastic!

Roasted Vegetables Recipe

SND Note: Here’s a good instructional video on How to Roast Beets.

Ingredients

3 red beets
3 golden beets
3 bunches broccolini
1 lb baby Yukon gold potatoes
6 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil
salt
pepper
lemon, sliced into wedges

Directions

Wash and trim beets. Cut large ones in half. Drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in foil, place on pan and roast in 350°F oven for about 1 hour. Remove from foil and rub skin off with paper towel. Cut into bite size pieces.
Wash and halve the potatoes. Add the potatoes to a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and toss them with your hands to evenly coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast in 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. Add 1/2 the minced garlic and toss evenly. Roast for an additional 10 minutes or until potatoes are browned and soft.
Trim ends off broccolini, cut into 2-3 inch segments. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan. Add the remaining garlic and saute until fragrant. Add broccolini and salt to taste. Saute until tender but still crisp.
Mix together all the vegetables in a large bowl. Serve hot or cold with fresh ground pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

Makes 4 servings

Mango and Coconut Flognarde

Chuck — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:07:14 +0000

We were planning on posting about an 11 layer lasagna that’s relatively easy to make, but the Daring Bakers’ challenge this month was lasagne. As you’ve probably seen, the food blogosphere has been inundated with DB pasta. Instead, we present to you a mango and coconut flognarde that Hungry Bear saw on flagrantedelicia. We always enjoy looking at the beautiful photography and desserts on Leonor’s site.

We were supposed to make this flognarde for Sunday nite dinner last week, but ran out of energy to make dessert (we had a pre-dinner yoga session with a one of the SNDsters). A friend brought over ice cream cookie sandwiches from Trader Joe’s instead. They were super delicious and a dangerous new TJ find.

Since then, we’ve had some ripe mangos sitting in the fridge, so Hungry Bear finally made the flognarde today. It turned out really well and we enjoyed this fruity, custardy dessert. It’s easy to make and a nice light dessert to accompany a heavy, rich meal. We will definitely make it again and try different types of fruit.

Head on over to flagrantedelicia for the mango and coconut flognarde recipe.

Fresh Bamboo Shoots with Pork

Chuck — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 04:34:33 +0000

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Hungry Bear and I love bamboo shoots, but we’ve never cooked with fresh ones until recently. During the winter time, we always see fresh bamboo shoots in our local Asian markets, but hesitated to buy them until a few months ago.

Neither one of us knew how to peel them, so we searched the Internets and discovered it was relatively easy to prep bamboo shoots. Here’s an informative video that shows how they are found and prepared. The bamboo shoots in the video are boiled to remove their bitterness. We’re not sure why it is necessary because the shoots we get are not bitter, so we simply peel them following these steps.

We’ve cooked with fresh bamboo shoots several times now and Hungry Bear created this easy sauté with ground pork. It’s a simple dish that really highlights the freshness and crunchy texture of the bamboo shoots. Now that we’re comfortable peeling fresh ones, it’s going to be really hard to use canned bamboo shoots ever again.

Side Note: For a behind the scenes look at our kitchen, check out Jen Yu’s kitchen tours: week 3 on Use Real Butter.

Fresh Bamboo Shoots with Pork Recipe

SND Note: Any protein can be used or you can omit the meat and just serve the bamboo shoots on their own, hot or cold.

Ingredients

1 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon corn starch
5 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 fresh bamboo shoots, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
1-2 teaspoons sugar

Directions

Mix pork, cornstarch and 3 tablespoons soy sauce. Set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large pan over high heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add pork mixture. Stir fry until no longer pink. Remove from pan.
In same pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add bamboo shoots, turn heat to medium-high, and sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Add ginger, wine, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and sugar. Stir to coat bamboo.
Return pork to pan. Cook together another 2 minutes or until heated through.
Serve with rice and enjoy.

Makes 4 servings

[tags]bamboo shoots, pork, chinese[/tags]

Cinnamon-Apple Cake

Chuck — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:41:25 +0000

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A few months ago, Hungry Bear favorited this cinnamon-apple cake on foodgawker and she finally made it for our Lunar New Year celebration this year. It’s not Chinese or Vietnamese in any way, but Hungry Bear didn’t want to make anything too elaborate and we had two apples to use up. So that’s how a cinnamon-apple cake got served at a New Year’s party with Chinese hot pot.

I was working that day when Hungry Bear was baking the cake and I wasn’t paying much attention. She told me that it was a Cooking Light recipe, but she was making it full-fat because she hates margarine and fat-free cream cheese. I honestly wasn’t very excited about the cake. I don’t get too excited unless there’s chocolate involved.

I don’t think anyone at dinner knew how damn good this cake was going to be. Then everyone wanted seconds. It’s a light, moist cake with the perfect amount of sweetness from the cinnamon-sugar topping. Hungry Bear thinks it tastes like coffee cake and she’d happily eat it for breakfast.

Our friend, Deb, made it for a family gathering the next day. And I asked Hungry Bear to bake it again a few days later so we could document it for SND. It’s probably my favorite non-chocolate dessert at the moment!

Cinnamon-Apple Cake Recipe

SND Note: The original Cooking Light recipe calls for Rome apples, but we used Fujis. If you want to make the light version, substitute margarine for the butter and use fat-free cream cheese. If using an 8-inch springform pan, bake it five minutes longer.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces cream cheese, softened (about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups chopped peeled Fuji apples (about 2 large)
Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine two tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apples in a bowl. Stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into an 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle top with remaining cinnamon mixture.
Bake for 65-70 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack. Cut using a serrated knife.

Makes 8-10 servings

[Adapted from Cooking Light]

[tags]apple, cinnamon, cake, easy, cream cheese[/tags]

Poached Eggs with Matcha Salt

Chuck — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:44:51 +0000

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Last year, we attended a Chef Panel Discussion event presented by the Asian Culinary Forum (Andrea Nguyen is one of co-founders). The panelists included Charles Phan (Slanted Door), Eric Gower (The Breakaway Cook) and a several other respected Bay Area chefs.

Hungry Bear and I were really impressed with Eric. He was by far the most entertaining and passionate person on the panel. Through his commentary, Eric sold us on his "breakaway" cooking style. The simplicity of his cooking really resonated with us. The ultimate clincher was the way he enthusiastically described his poached eggs with matcha salt.

We bought a copy of his book that evening and got it signed by Eric. He wrote in the book…

"May you have many years of maccha happiness!"

Well, we started out the year by finally making Eric’s signature dish. It doesn’t get any easier than this… a poached egg with matcha salt sprinkled on top. As far as how it tasted, I think the picture speaks for itself! We look forward to trying out more breakaway cook recipes.

To my Vietnamese peeps, Chuc Mung Nam Moi! Hungry Bear says, "Gong Xi Fa Cai!" And to everyone else, Happy Lunar New Year!

Matcha Salt Recipe

SND Note: Per Eric Gower, matcha salt goes well with egg yolks, tofu, onions and even chocolate.

Ingredients

1/4 cup coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon matcha powder

Directions

Combine sea salt and matcha powder.

[Via The Breakaway Cook by Eric Gower]

[tags]poached eggs, matcha, salt, breakfast, easy[/tags]

Menu for Hope 5 – Chocolate Gift Package

Chuck — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:47:51 +0000

It’s the time of year for giving, so we’re participating in the 5th annual Menu for Hope charity raffle, which brings together food bloggers from around the world in the fight against hunger. Bloggers offer prizes that you can win by purchasing a $10 raffle ticket. The proceeds of the charity raffle goes to the U.N. World Food Program (WFP).

Last year, we gave away an iPhone. This year we want to share our love of a Bay Area product, Scharffen Berger chocolate. Many of you know that we love to eat and bake with Scharffen Berger chocolate and we wrote about the factory tour previously. So our raffle prize this year is the following…

Scharffen Berger Gift Package

A 5 pound bag of petit baking squares. The winner gets to choose between 62% semisweet, 70% bittersweet and 99% unsweetened chocolate.
The Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate cookbook by Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger
A Scharffen Berger (extra) bitter t-shirt

Due to the weight and temperature concerns (we don’t want your chocolate to melt), we’re limiting shipping to the US only. The charity raffle runs from December 15th – 24th with raffle winners announced on January 12th.

The prize code for our Scharffen Berger gift package is UW24. Shipped within the US only.

How to Enter/Donation Instructions

1) Choose a prize(s). For a complete list of prizes offered worldwide, visit Chez Pim. For a list of prizes from West Coast food bloggers, visit MattBites.

2) Go to Firstgiving, the online fundraising company used to manage the Menu for Hope charity raffle, and make a donation.

3) Specify the prize you would like to bid for in the ‘Personal Message’ section of the donation form. Every $10 donated will get one raffle ticket toward a prize. For example, a donation of $50 gets 5 raffle tickets, which can be distributed between different prizes, such as 3 tickets for UW24 and 2 tickets for UW33. This would be entered as 3xUW24, 2xUW33.

4) If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so the corporate match can be claimed.

5) Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that Menu for Hope can contact you if you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

Please spread the word to your friends and family to help in the fight against hunger! Let me know if you have any questions and thanks in advance for your generosity.

[tags]charity, menu for hope, raffle, un, world food program, chocolate, scharffen berger[/tags]

Star Anise Peanuts

Chuck — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:35:05 +0000

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Hungry Bear is always searching for good Chinese food cookbooks and her latest find is The Seventh Daughter by Cecilia Chiang. One of the dishes that caught her eye were these star anise peanuts. They are a good alternative to salted peanuts or honey roasted peanuts.

Hungry Bear made this simple snack a few weeks ago and they were a big hit. They are salty and a little crunchy. I love the aroma of the star anise and when they are cooking, the smell reminds me of a bowl of pho. I found it difficult to stop eating them and I’m sure you will too.

Star Anise Peanuts Recipe

SND Note: Skinless and shelled raw peanuts can be found in most Asian supermarkets. The brand we used can be seen in the slideshow.

Ingredients

12 ounces raw peanuts, skinless and shelled
6 whole star anise
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar

Directions

In a medium saucepan, add the peanuts and enough water to cover them generously. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, skimming off the foam with a slotted spoon.
After about 5 minutes (or when the foaming stops), stir in the star anise, salt, and soy soy sauce. Cook 30 minutes more, adding more water as needed to keep the peanuts moving freely in the liquid. Stir in the sugar and cook 5 minutes more, or until the peanuts are soft, but still have a little resistance when you bite them.
Remove the pan from the heat and let the peanuts cool in the liquid. Drain and enjoy at room temperature or chilled. The peanuts can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Makes about 3 cups

[Via The Seventh Daughter by Cecilia Chiang]

[tags]peanuts, snacks, chinese, easy, star anise[/tags]

Zha Ziang Mian (Chinese Spaghetti)

Chuck — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:43:32 +0000

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Zha ziang mian, aka Chinese spaghetti, is one of Hungry Bear’s favorite comfort dishes. It has everything she likes… sweet, salty, spicy and carbs! The rich meaty sauce is nicely contrasted by the cool refreshing vegetable garnish.

It’s a popular item in Northern China and legend has it that Marco Polo got his inspiration for Italian spaghetti after spending time in China. Growing up, Hungry Bear often had this dish served with regular spaghetti noodles, but it’s best served with Chinese noodles. We included a photo of the brand we like in the slideshow.

The ingredient list looks long, but it’s actual quite easy to make. So the next time you want some spaghetti and meat sauce, give this Chinese version a try.

Zha Ziang Mian Recipe

SND Note: Drain the pork fat to make the dish a little less greasy, but you may need to add a splash of chicken stock to prevent it from becoming too dry.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons bean sauce
5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (optional)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 pounds ground pork
3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
2 tablespoons ginger, minced
3 tablespoons green onions, minced
1 pound Chinese noodles
1/2 English cucumber, julienned
2 carrots, julienned
1 cup bean sprouts

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the bean, hoisin, chili garlic and soy sauces; reserve and set aside.
Heat a large wok over high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat. Toss in the garlic and ginger; cook until it’s fragrant about 10-15 seconds. Add the pork, stir constantly to break apart meat. Cook until just a bit of pink remains and it begins to brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add the wine and stir for a few seconds.
Pour in the reserved sauce and stir to thoroughly coat the pork, until sauce is heated through. Add the green onions and toss to combine well. Serve pork over noodles and garnish with cucumber, carrots and bean sprouts.

Makes 6 servings

[Adapted from The Seventh Daughter by Cecilia Chiang]

[tags]pork, noodles, sauce, hoisin, chinese[/tags]

Chocolate Blackout Cake Revisited

Chuck — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:19:54 +0000

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We’ve been chocolate blackout cake obsessed since the first time we made it. The cake and pudding are fantastic on their own, but combine the two and you have the best chocolate cake ever!

The last few times we’ve made this dessert we skipped the icing because it’s very temperamental. Instead, we doubled the pudding and used all four layers of cake. Who’s not going to like twice as much homemade chocolate pudding?

To prove how good this cake is, all you need to do is take a look at the last picture in the slideshow. That’s our friend, Jane, having a piece while in early labor. I’m not kidding! We planned on cooking for Jane and Mark back in September. But, she started having contractions early in the morning so we figured dinner was off. Hungry Bear and I decided to make dinner anyway since we had already gone shopping.

Then, Jane called in the evening telling us that she was coming over for cake. We thought she was just joking, but Jane and Mark soon showed up at our door (the hospital is only a few blocks away). I told her she was welcome to have some dessert, but if her water broke she had to clean it up.

Luckily for us, there were no accidents. Jane enjoyed her cake while Mark was timing her contractions. It was one of the more entertaining Sunday nite dinners we’ve had in awhile. We sent Jane and Mark to the hospital with a good portion of the cake and Jane delivered a healthy baby boy, Dylan. When we visited Jane and the baby in hospital, she also declared it the best chocolate cake she’s ever had!

P.S. We promise a savory dish in our next post. And I also promise to deliver it in less than a week.

Chocolate Blackout Cake Recipe

SND Note: We used Valhrona cocoa powder and Valhrona Le Noir Gastronomie (61% cacao) chocolate. The cake can be served at room temperature, but we prefer to eat it cold. For us, the flavors and texture are better when the cake is served straight from the fridge.

Pudding Ingredients

3 cups milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons cocoa (preferably Dutch processed)
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
8 ounces semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

Cake Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plus 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa (preferable Dutch processed)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup brewed coffee, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 dozen chocolate wafer cookies

Directions

To make the chocolate pudding:

Combine 2 cups milk with 4 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan and bring to just under a boil.
In a mixing bowl, combine remaining sugar with salt, cocoa, and cornstarch. Whisk in remaining 1 cup unheated milk. Gradually whisk cocoa mixture into hot milk. Heat, over medium heat, stirring, until mixture thickens (about 5-7 minutes).
Whisk together eggs and egg yolks in a small bowl. Temper the eggs by adding a few tablespoons of the heated milk. Add the tempered eggs to the saucepan and stir for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and whisk in chopped chocolate and butter. The pudding should be relatively thick (mud consistency) and will firm up when cooled. If pudding is still thin, continue heating over low heat, stirring until pudding thickens. Cool, cover with plastic wrap and reserve in refrigerator.

To make the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter 2 (8-inch) cake pans and line with parchment. Butter the parchment and flour pans, shaking out the excess.
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Reserve.
In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar until thick and lemon-colored. Beat in vegetable oil. Alternately add dry ingredients with buttermilk, scraping the bowl once or twice. Add the coffee and vanilla to form a thin batter. Divide between prepared cake pans.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert onto cooling racks, peel off paper and cool completely.
When cool, split each cake in half with a serrated slicing knife. Spread bottom layer with 1/4 of the reserved chocolate pudding. Repeat with remaining layers, ending with pudding on top.
In a food processor, pulse the cookies into crumbs. Sprinkle on top of the cake.

Makes 12 servings

[Adapted from Sweet Stuff: Karen Barker’s American Desserts]

[tags]valhrona, chocolate, bittersweet, cake, pudding[/tags]

Everything Cookies

Chuck — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:22:22 +0000

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It’s been way too long since our last post. Over the last month, I’ve been distracted by foodgawker, the election (I’m supporting "that one") and Penn State Football. I’ve spent entirely too much time in front of the computer, mostly with foodgawker, making it hard to crank out a post. We’ve been cooking regularly, but I’ve been too tired/lazy to pull out the camera and tripod to document our meals.

Hungry Bear has constantly reminded me that I’m neglecting SND. To appease her and some of our loyal readers (I hope you are still out there), we present to you look-we-still-love-you-and-SND everything cookies. As someone who loves to eat anything and everything, this cookie has it all… chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, raisins, nuts, granola and rolled oats.

It’s a great recipe that Hungry Bear got from a friend over a decade ago. As the name implies, the cookie has everything you’d want… soft, crunchy, chewy, chocolaty, fruity and peanut buttery. I like to think that they’re sort of healthy with the low-fat granola and rolled oats. It lessens the guilt after you inhale half a dozen cookies in five minutes!

Everything Cookies Recipe

SND Note: Hungry Bear likes a little more saltiness in her cookies and would increase the quantity of salt to 3/4 of a teaspoon.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups low fat granola
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, toss in granola, raisins, rolled oats, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and walnuts; set aside.
In a small bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and whisk together.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the granulated and dark brown sugar. Add a few pieces of butter at a time and beat until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and beat in the eggs, one at time. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Add the granola, raisins and chips and mix well together by hand.
Working with a generous 2 tablespoons of dough each time, roll the dough into 2-inch balls. Place the balls onto baking sheets, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.
Bake until the cookie edges turn golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes. Transfer the cookies with a wide spatula to a wire rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

[tags]cookies, chocolate, raisins, chips, peanut butter, walnuts, granola[/tags]