Vera's Cookbook

Poached Egg and Brussels Sprouts Orzo

2017-01-07T02:16:00.000-05:00

On one fine winter morning...

I woke up craving pasta. However, stuffing my tummy with pasta in the morning seemed too much, and definitely not a good idea. I opened the refrigerator and looked for something other than pasta... passing the pasta idea for lunch or dinner. There were brussels sprouts! My favorite ingredients in the cold season! I grabbed bacon as well - brussels sprout is perfect with bacon. Next, my eyes were fixed on eggs. Bacon and brussels sprout make a good side dish, but to make it a proper "breakfast," I needed eggs. :)

I was about to cook omelet with bacon & brussels sprout. Then, my urge for pasta kicked in again. "Hmm... maybe I can add some short pasta... like orzo".

Instead of making omelet I poached my eggs with a sous vide cooker (I used Anova). While the eggs were cooking, I sliced the brussels sprout thinly, almost like hash. Brussels sprout was sautéed with bacon, and mixed with cooked orzo to make it like warm pasta salad.

I didn't add much herbs to this recipe since I like my breakfast little blend side, but if you want to enjoy this recipe as a lunch or an appetizer, you can add more flavor by using chopped parsley, chives or scallion mixed with orzo. If you don't want to poach your egg, sunny side up eggs will work perfectly well.

Poached Egg and Brussels Sprouts Orzo
YIELD: 2 servings / COOKING TIME: 45 mins (ACTIVE COOKING TIME: 15 mins)

INGREDIENTS

+ 1-2 cloves of garlic
+ 30g onion
+ 40g bacon
+ 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
+ 75g brussels sprout
+ 30g orzo
+ two eggs
+ a pinch of smoked paprika
+ vegetable oil
+ salt / pepper

PROCEDURES

1. First, prep each ingredient:
- garlic: roughly chopped
- onion: cut in small dices
- bacon: slice into 1cm strips
- brussels sprout: thinly slice

2. I poached each egg in a sous vide machine (I use Anova at home). If you poach the eggs the traditional way in a simmering pot of water, poach the eggs in advance and warm up in hot water right before serving.

3. Over medium heat, sweat garlic and onion with a bit of vegetable oil.

4. Add bacon and continue cooking. Sprinkle red pepper flakes and continue cooking to infuse the pepper flakes with oil in the pan until the bacon start browning.

5. Add thinly sliced brussels sprout and season with salt and continue cooking.

6. Mix with cooked orzo then season with pepper.

7. Spoon the brussels sprout and orzo on a plate and make a dent in the center where you can place a poached egg.

8. Place a poached egg and sprinkle smoked paprika.

Crack the poached egg, mix the egg yolk with brussels sprout orzo then enjoy!

Overnight 40% Whole Wheat Bread

2016-09-20T08:28:00.000-04:00

The following recipe is based on a recipe found in "FLOUR WATER SALT YEAST, The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza" by Ken Forkish.*

This recipe is the simplest bread recipe in my blog, but also the longest. I have posted Pain de Mie before... which is bread as basic as whole wheat bread, but there are more kneading and shaping. On the other hand, overnight whole wheat bread recipe skips the kneading step, and instead let the time develop enough gluten to volume up the bread. Whole wheat bread has nutty and also earthy flavor... but probably tough texture. 40% whole wheat bread (compared to 70%+ whole wheat bread) keeps the flavor but has still very smooth texture.

To create moist inside with crust outside, you will need a dutch oven. To mimic the professional baker's oven which has a stone bottom and low ceiling to retain the temperature and moisture, dutch oven is the best pan for home bakers. The pan can be reheated to very hot temperature, and it will keep the temperature even when the cold dough hits the pan. The only drawback is that dutch oven is also very heavy. You need to pay extra attention when handling the heated dutch oven.

Overnight 40% Whole Wheat Bread

YIELD: a loaf of 9" diameter bread / COOKING TIME: 20 hrs.* (ACTIVE COOKING TIME: 1 hr.)

* Although overall cooking time is very long, the actual active cooking time is only one hour. Most of the 20 hours is for bulk fermentation, overnight proofing, and baking.

INGREDIENTS

+ 300g all-purpose white flour
+ 200g whole wheat flour
+ 400g warm water (90-95°F or 32-35°C)
+ 10g salt
+ 1.5g instant dry yeast

The book in the picture is where I found my recipe for this posting.

PROCEDURES

1. Hand mix 300g all-purpose white flour and 200g whole wheat flour.

2. Pour 400g warm water (90-95°F or 32-35°C) over the mix, and mix with a dough scrapper. Of course, you can mix water with your hands, but the will stick to your fingers... very sticky! I'd like to recommend using a scrapper or a spatula for this step. After the dough is formed (no more flour visible), let it rest for 20 minutes covered with a cloth. This step is called "AUTOLYSE" where you hydrate the flour and also activate the enzyme in the flour.

3. After the 20 minute-resting, sprinkle 10g salt and 1.5g instant dry yeast evenly over the top of the dough.

4. Now, "MIXING." Wet your hand lightly, and then fold the dough to cover salt and yeast. By wetting your hand, you can prevent the dough from sticking to your hand. You can mix your dough in anyway, but I found the method called "Pincer Method" very easy and also efficient. With your thumb and forefinger, grip and squeeze the dough as shown below in the picture. Mix the dough until the salt and yeast is fully incorporated. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, covered with a cloth.

5. The next step is "FOLDING." This step strengthens the gluten structure and let the dough rise evenly. Place your wet hand underneath the dough and grab about one-quarter of the dough. Stretch the dough you grabbed and fold it over the rest of the dough. Repeat this folding with remaining quarters of dough. When you are done, that is your first folding. You will need to fold three more times for the next two hours, every thirty minutes. Between the folding, make sure cover your dough with a cloth.

6. When you are done with folding, cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise (bulk fermentation) until it triples in volume. It took about three hours for me when the room temperature is about 77°F (25°C). If your room temperature is higher, the bulk fermentation will be completed faster, in less than three hours.

7. The next step is "SHAPING." Dust the countertop with enough flour and place the dough. Lightly dust the top of the dough as well. Then, flatten the dough slightly, and fold the each edge of the dough to the center. Flip the dough so the seam-side is in the bottom, and shape the dough into a ball shape.

8. "PROOFING." Dust a proofing basket with enough whole wheat flour, and gently move your dough into the basket (seam-side down). Place the basket in a plastic bag, and refrigerate the dough overnight, about 12-14 hours.

9. It is finally time to "BAKE"! At least 45 minutes prior to baking, place a dutch oven in your oven and preheat it to 475°F (245°C). Take out the dutch oven, and invert proofed loaf into the dutch oven from the proofing basket so that the seam-side is up now. You don't need to score the loaf with a knife because the seam will open during the baking, letting the bread gain good volume.

!!! The heavy dutch oven is extremely hot, so you need to pay extra attention when handling it. Please use thick, DRY kitchen towel or baking mitts (baking mitts are better). Never touch the hot dutch oven with your bare hands nor wet towels. Wet towel will make steam as soon as it touches dutch oven, and burn your hands !!!

10. Cover the dutch oven with the lid and bake the bread in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take out the dutch oven and uncover it. As you see from the left side of the picture below, the bread is par baked - has good volume but the outside is still pale. Bake the bread again without cover for 20 minutes. Ta-da! The bread is ready!

11. Let the bread cool at least 30 minutes (I waited for an hour) before cutting. Cool the bread over wired rack so the air can circulate around the bread.

If you have any left over, wrap it tightly and freeze it. Next time, just take out the bread an hour before and let it defrost at room temperature. You can toast it after it is defrosted.

Enjoy~!

Garlic Scape and Cherry Tomato Spaghetti

2016-08-26T10:08:00.000-04:00

GARLIC SCAPE & CHERRY TOMATO SPAGHETTI
YIELD: TWO servings / COOKING TIME: 15-20 min.

INGREDIENTS

+ 160g spaghetti (dried)
+ 3-4 stems of garlic scapes
+ 10-12 cherry tomatoes
+ 2 cloves garlic
+ 2 tsp capers (drained)
+ 25g bacon (cut into small strips)
+ 1 Tbsp parsley
+ 2 Tbsp olive oil
+ salt and pepper

PROCEDURES

1. Boil a pot of water enough to cook 160g of spaghetti.

2. While waiting for the water to boil, prepare each ingredient:
- Halve the cherry tomatoes.

- Peel the garlic cloves and roughly chop. Make small diagonal dice with garlic scapes, and chop parsley leaves.

3. When the water boils, add salt to season the spaghetti, then cook spaghetti.

4. Over medium heat, cook bacon strips. Make sure the heat is not too high - if so, the bacon will just burn without rendering the fat.

5. When the bacon renders enough fat and also slightly browned, add chopped garlic and drained capers. If the pan is too dry, add some olive oil. Make sure the capers are crisped up, but the garlic is not burnt. Add garlic scapes and cook about a minute, then add halved cherry tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes are softened.

6. By now, the spaghetti should be cooked to al dente. If not, turn off the heat of the pan (#5) then wait till the pasta is cooked. When the spaghetti is ready, turn on the heat of the pan and add the pasta. Toss it around to mix with vegetables and bacon. Make sure the brown bits on the bottom of the pan are scrapped and coated to the spaghetti - it works almost like a sauce. When the spaghetti and other ingredients are mixed well, turn off the heat and add black pepper, chopped parsley leaves and rest of olive oil (if any left). Toss the pasta again to mix.

7. Plate the pasta into two bowls.

Please enjoy! :)

Moist Lemon Cake

2016-07-30T11:03:00.001-04:00

The summer in Seoul is hot and humid. When it is close to 90°F day after day, even eating food is challenging. Sadly, I just lose my appetite. So, I baked a super-duper moist lemon cake to revive my appetite. The following recipe is based on French Lemon Yogurt Cake recipe that I found in Epicurious. I adjusted the sugar and salt amount to my taste. It is very simple to make, but has a tone of citrusy sweet and tangy flavor. Hope you like the lemon cake as much as I do!

MOIST LEMON CAKE
YIELD: one small loaf pan-size cake / COOKING TIME: one hr.

INGREDIENTS

(Dry Ingredients)
+ 1 1/2 cup AP flour
+ 2 tsp baking powder
+ 1/2 tsp salt

(Wet Ingredients)
+ 3/4 cup sugar
+ lemon zest from one lemon
+ 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
+ 1/2 cup vegetable oil
+ 2 eggs

PROCEDURES

1. Mix well all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt) in a bowl.

2. In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients (sugar, lemon zest, Greek yogurt, vegetable oil and eggs). When you zest a lemon, make sure you don't zest the white part of the peeling. Ideally, you can use Microplane®, but if you don't have one, please use vegetable peeler to peel the thin yellow part of the peeling then chop it with a knife.

* Why sugar is mixed with "wet" ingredients?
When you are baking, sometimes the recipe says mix sugar with wet ingredients (e.g. milk or egg) and sometimes it says mix sugar with dry ingredients (e.g. flour). Usually, the former case (with wet ingredients) is when you need soft and fluffy texture from the baked product (e.g. most of cakes). When dissolved sugar in liquid is mixed with flour, the sugar inhibits gluten formation. (Gluten makes the finished product chewy & tough). The latter case (with dry ingredients) is to give the texture and structure to the finished baked product (e.g. most cookies).

3. Fold the dry and wet ingredients well, not to have any lumps of flour. But, please do not over work! Over-working makes the final baked one tough (again, because of gluten).

4. Pour the batter into a baking pan lined with parchment paper.

5. Spread evenly the top of the batter. Please try to spread the batter towards the baking pan. This prevents the center being higher after baking.

6. Tap the baking pan lightly to release any big air pockets in the batter.

7. Bake at preheated 350°F(175°C) oven until the top is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.

8. When the cake is cooled down enough, slice and serve with blueberry compote and whipped cream.

BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

Mix 600g frozen blueberry and 1/2cup honey. Over medium heat cook the blueberry mixture. The berries will release water as it heats up, so you don't need to add any water. When the compote looks almost soupy, add lemon juice from one lemon. Lower the heat to low then simmer the compote until the consistency is more watery than jelly but thick enough to spread. Cool down the compote to room temperature and serve it with lemon cake. :)

Do you know Champagne?

2016-07-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

Today's posting is about "Champagne."

Everyone seems to be familiar with the words "Champagne," but what exactly does champagne mean? Does it mean sparkling wine? Or, something more? Also, many people think champagne is not an everyday wine but rather a drink for special occasions - but is it true? May I enjoy champagne with a humble dinner? Why is champagne served in a flute? Can I serve it in another wine glass?

Here are some questions and answers on champagne you may find interesting.

Can I call any sparkling wine 'CHAMPAGNE'?

If the wine you are drinking has "intentional bubbles," it is a sparkling wine – if there are signs of bubbles in wines that are not meant to be sparkling wines, the wine is faulty. In many occasions, I find people calling all the sparkling wines 'champagne.' Champagne is actually a name of a region in north-east of France. For a sparkling wine to qualify as champagne, the wine should be made with grapes grown with specific rules and at specific areas in Champagne. Also, the wine maker has to follow certain steps and process to make champagne.

As you see in the map, there are several regions in Europe which are designated to produce sparkling wines. And of course, every region has its own name. Cava is excellent Spainish sparkling wines - Penedes (#2 in the map) is the area where most Cava comes from. Also, Italy produces many different type of Spumante or Frizzante (two words Italians call sparkling wines, depending on how sparkly the wine is) - such as Prosecco, Lambrusco, and Franciacorta. If you find a sparkling wine in German speaking countries, like Germany and Austria, you call it 'Sekt' (pronounced as zekt). There are several regions in France which also produce fine sparkling wines besides Champagne, and these wines are called 'Crémant'.

Some of the mentioned sparkling wines are made in the same way as champagne, which is called the champagne method (méthode champenoise), or traditional method (méthode traditionelle) – Cava, Crémant and Fransciacorta are among them . Making sparkling wines in traditional method requires more time and effort than other methods, and traditional methods creates and brings out the beautiful, brioche-like yeasty flavor.

Is the CHAMPAGNE a pre-dinner drink?

Many of you probably start your former dinner with a bottle of champagne, and then forget about it during the meal. However, champagne is really a food-friendly drink. Its medium to high acidity and effervescent character suits just about any food. From fish to chicken... and especially complex spicy dish like Indian food - you will find champagne pairs very well. Well, maybe you can save your fatty steak for your bold red wine. :)

Drink CHAMPAGNE with dessert or chocolate?

A rule of thumb in dessert and wine pairing is that the wine should be sweeter than food. If not, the sweet flavor from dessert will make the wine taste very acidic and tart.

Champagne can be categorized by its sugar level. Among them, 'demi-sec' can be a good match with some dessert since it contains about 1-2 tsp of sugar per 5oz wine. However, the majority of champagne you drink is probably 'brut,' which contains only a half tsp of sugar per 5oz of wine. It is not a good idea pair it with sweet dessert. Please remember that brut champagne is better with chicken than chocolate.

CHAMPAGNE should always be served icy cold in a flute?

The proper temperature to serve regular champagne is around 45ºF (7ºC). If you are serving a vintage champagne or high quality champagne, it should be served at even higher temperature, around 50ºF (10ºC) to enjoy the complex fragrance and flavor.

The same principle applies when you choose proper glassware for champagne. In most cases, champagne can be served in champagne flute (flûte à champagne), which is designed with narrow opening on top of the glass to minimize the surface exposure to keep the bubbles in the liquid longer. However, due to limited surface exposure, it can be very hard to enjoy the complex fragrance for certain complex champagnes. So when you order an extraordinary bottle of champagne, sommelier might (or should) serve the champagne in a wide, open wine glass like a burgundy glass.

I hope now you understand CHAMPAGNE better, and ready to enjoy CHAMPAGNE more!

Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

2016-04-02T14:11:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite Chinese food is Mapo Tofu.

It is packed with spiciness of Sichuan (a province in southwest China), which is famous for its spicy, hot and very fragrant cuisine. If you haven't tried Sichuan cuisine, you should try Dan-dan noodle, Kung Po Chicken (authentic version!), and Mapo tofu. (If you really enjoy spicy food, you should also try those crazy spicy hot pots.)

The following Mapo tofu recipe is a result of many recipe readings from books and websites as well as memory from my favorite authentic Chinese restaurant, and I have to say this recipe is one of my favorite. It is spicy enough but not overwhelming. It is full of flavors from pork, sauce and spices. And it took only ten minutes from start to finish. Hope you enjoy the Mapo tofu as much as I do.

MAPO TOFU (麻婆豆腐)
Spicy Silken Tofu from Sichuan, China

YIELD: ONE plate to share / COOKING TIME: 10 mins.

INGREDIENTS

+ 250g silken tofu
+ 120g ground pork loin
+ 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
+ 1 Tbsp minced garlic
+ 1 Tbsp minced scallion (+α for garnish)
+ 1/2 Tbsp minced ginger
+ 1 Tbsp red pepper powder
+ 1 Tbsp doubanjiang(豆瓣酱)*
+ 1/2 cup chicken stock (or water)
+ 1 tsp ground sichuan peppercorn**
+ salt & pepper

* Doubanjiang(豆瓣酱) is spicy bean paste sauce from Sichuan, China. You can find it easily in Asian grocery stores.

** I think the most interesting ingredient in Sichuan cuisine is the Sichuan peppercorn. Sichuan peppercorn, which looks like coriander seed with brownish red color, is not hot at all, but just creates tingly numbness in the mouth. This numbness works perfectly with spicy hot Sichuan chili pepper. Also, the gentle lemony fragrant from the peppercorn is very pleasant.

PROCEDURES

1. In a large wide pan - ideally, a wok - add vegetable oil, minced garlic, scallion, ginger and red pepper powder. Over medium-high heat, cook the aromatic ingredients until you can smell them together. Please be careful not to burn them.

2. Add ground pork loin and sauté. Season with a bit of black pepper while sautéing.

3. Add doubanjiang, and continue to sauté until all the ingredients are mixed well.

4. Pour chicken stock (or water) into the pan, and bring to a boil. Reduce the liquid little bit.

5. Slide in the diced silken tofu carefully. Season with a pinch of salt, then stir gently the tofu to coat with the sauce without breaking it.

6. Plate the Mapo tofu and sprinkle ground Sichuan peppercorn and some scallion.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Bread Pudding

2016-03-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

I love big hearty bread. I always buy too much of them at a bakery.
And, this leads to a serious problem - STALE BREAD.

Here is what I do with the stale bread.
I first freeze it. When I have enough of them, I bake bread pudding.

Bread pudding is a simple dessert that is very easy to make. Yet, because it is too simple, it can be a safe and boring dessert as well. To give it a little more character, I tried to add some flavor to it. You can add flavor to the bread pudding itself, or you can make beautiful sauce or ice cream to go with the bread pudding.

Today, I baked chocolate bread pudding. Dark chocolate and cocoa powder give a slightly bitter and not too sweet true chocolate flavor to this moist bread pudding.
The best bread for this recipe will be hard crusted baguette or rustic bread. Since the bread pudding is very moist, if you are using soft bread, the result will be a very soft 'pudding'. If that is what you are looking for, please go ahead and use challah bread or even soft sandwich bread. Just please keep in mind that whichever bread you use for this recipe, the bread needs to be dried out.

This bread pudding goes perfectly with banana ice cream... about which I am going to post soon. :)

CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING
YIELD: 8-10 servings / COOKING TIME: 1.5 hrs. (HANDS-ON COOKING TIME: 15 mins.)

INGREDIENTS

+ 6 cups bread cubes, dried on the counter overnight
+ 150g 75% dark chocolate, chopped
+ 2 cups heavy cream
+ 1 cup sugar
+ 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (or Dutch-Process Cocoa)
+ 4 large eggs
+ 2 egg yolks
+ 1 cup whole milk
+ 1/4 teaspoon salt

PROCEDURES

1. Combine the cream, sugar, unsweetened cocoa, and 100g chopped dark chocolate in a saucepan set over low heat. Stir well until the chocolate and sugar are melted. Turn off the heat.

2. Whisk four large eggs and two egg yolks, then add chocolate mixture from #1, milk, and salt. Whisk together to combine. This is the chocolate custard base.

3. Place the dried bread cubes in a baking dish, and sprinkle 50g chopped dark chocolate. Pour the chocolate custard base over it and push down the bread cubes to soak the chocolate custard base.

4. Let the bread mixture set at room temperature for 30 minutes so the custard base can be absorbed by the bread. While waiting, preheat your oven at 325°F (160°C).

5. Bake the bread pudding for 30 minutes, covered with a lid or cooking foil. Then bake again for about 10 minutes without cover.

Enjoy while it is still warm~

Caprese Salad

2016-03-18T01:51:00.000-04:00

Like many other Southern Italian dishes, Insalata Caprese (meaning salad of Capri) is all about the fresh flavorful ingredients. You just need to slice tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and add some basil leaves with minimal seasoning (just olive oil, salt and pepper).

I'd like to tweak the classic Insalata Caprese recipe to add a little more refined look. It is still very easy to make - you only need 10 minutes, or you can make ahead of time and keep it in a fridge while you prepare the main dishes. Hopefully, the prettier look of my Caprese salad brings more fun to your table.

CAPRESE SALAD
My Version of Cute Tomato & Fresh Mozzarella Salad

YIELD: TWO plates / COOKING TIME: 10 min.

INGREDIENTS

+ ~10 heirloom cherry tomatoes with various colors
+ two slices of fresh mozzarella (1/2cm or 1/5" thick)
+ 2 heaping tsp basil pesto*
+ several baby basil leaves
+ high quality extra virgin olive oil
+ salt & pepper

* Please refer to FRESH BASIL PESTO post for the recipe.

PROCEDURES

1. Slice heirloom cherry tomatoes into 3mm (about 1/8") thick. Arrange the tomato slices by color.

2. Slice fresh mozzarella into 0.5cm (about 1/5") thick, and about 6-7cm (2.5-3") diameter. Place the fresh mozzarella on a plate.

3. Over the mozzarella cheese, spread 1 heaping tsp of fresh basil pesto.

4. Now, it is the fun part! Place the tomato slices over the cheese arranging by the colors as in the picture below.

5. Sprinkle several baby basil leaves, drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top, and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Fresh Basil Pesto

2016-03-12T00:58:00.000-05:00

Finally, the spring is coming! Spring reminds me of color green. Trees start having small buds, and hills turn green once again. Fresh vegetables are fresher in the market, and even the air smells refreshing and green. I bought a bunch of basil yesterday to celebrate the spring with basil pesto. :) It is so simple to make, but once you have it you can use it in so many recipes including pasta, ravioli, salad, sandwich, pizza.... you name it.

The following recipe will make one pint of basil pesto. If you are not using it all right away, please transfer your pesto into a small air tight jar and keep it in a refrigerator. Some pesto recipes call for lemon juice, but I didn't add any lemon juice because I think lemon juice loses its flavor quickly. You can add lemon juice when you are actually cooking the pesto. To make fresh basil pesto, you can simply put everything in a food processor and blend them together. Or, you can take a few more steps to make more flavorful and vibrant green pesto. Hope you try my recipe.

FRESH BASIL PESTO
YIELD: ONE pint / COOKING TIME: 10 min.

INGREDIENTS

+ 5 cups fresh basil leaves
+ 1/2 cup pine nuts
+ two garlic cloves
+ 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (or Grana Padano) cheese (about 40-50g)
+ 1 cup high quality extra virgin olive oil
+ salt

PROCEDURES

1. I prefer toasting pine nuts and a garlic clove just little bit... which will release oil from the ingredients and give the pesto a slight toasty & sweeter notes versus raw flavors. In a small pan, add two cloves of garlic and a half cup of pine nuts over low-medium heat without any addition of oil. Toss them together until pine nuts start to show light golden brown spots (about 2 minutes). Turn off the heat and cool off the pine nuts and garlic.

2. Grate Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for one cup. It weighs about 40-50g - from the internet, I found out that 50g Parmigiano-Reggiano yields only 1/2cup... well, I am not sure why my measurement was different from what I found on the internet. Please adjust the amount of cheese as you wish after tasting the final product. I think 50g should be enough though.

Now, set up the cooled down pine nuts & garlic, fresh basil leaves, grated cheese, extra virgin olive oil, and salt. A small rubber spatula will be handy to scrap down the pesto to the center of blender while you are adding ingredients, as well as to transfer the finished pesto to another container.

3. Pour the cooled down pine nuts and garlic to the mini food processor. Blend it until you don't see any big chunk of garlic. (You can use regular food processor, or even hand blender.)

4. Add fresh basil leaves (cleaned with water and pat dried) to the food processor in batches - you might be able to blend them at once if you are using regular size food processor. Blend them with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil until the paste is smooth.

5. Add freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (or Grana Padano) cheese and blend together.

6. Finally, drizzle extra virgin olive oil while blending the mixture to make smooth pesto.

7. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt if needed. Transfer the pesto into a little jar and keep in the refrigerator until use. If you don't plan to use the pesto in the next two days, you can freeze it in an ice cube tray.

Hope you enjoy the pesto. Thank you!

Vera's Cookbook 2016

2016-03-05T04:50:00.000-05:00

It has been almost two years since I updated Vera's Cookbook last time.

After having decided to resume my blog, I thought about giving an up-to-date look to Vera’s Cookbook.

First thing that came to mind was to change the blog template with a new one by using another blog platform provider. However, if I move to another platform provider, I am going to lose many contents and comments that I have in my current blog. So, the answer was no.

Then I thought, instead of changing the outside appearance, I should update the form of the contents with something… something the viewers would be more interested in, something more current, something easier to approach. Streaming movies or videos, maybe?

Even for me, most of the recipes that I posted in Vera’s Cookbook... is long, way too long. It is because I tried to explain all the details in words and pictures. I found out it is way easier to present the details in a video, and the recipes with videos attracted larger audience (readers) than ones with just text & photos. For example, my heart-shaped macaron recipe is the most popular recipe in Vera’s Cookbook. Click here to read "Macaron... Heart Macaron!" from February 2012.

I tested the idea of making recipe videos with my equipment called the iPhone - The result was not bad at all! :) I am still in the testing phase - trying to make the movies as simple and short as possible.

Please stay tuned, and wait for my next post, which will have some movies... yeah! I am so excited to start my blog again.

Corn Flake-Crusted French Toast

2014-06-08T11:57:00.000-04:00

Corn flake-crusted French toast has very crusty outside but is still very soft and moist inside. Just one extra step, covering the toast with corn flakes, makes this delicious French toast.

To make this French toast even better, I made strawberry-banana compote. It is strawberry season, with plenty of sweet and flavorful strawberry at the market. Mix it up with banana and maple syrup to make perfect compote for the French toast. If you have any leftover strawberry-banana compote, make strawberry-banana smoothie by blending with some milk!

Corn Flake-Crusted French Toast with Strawberry-Banana Compote
(Yield: 2 servings / Cooking time: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
+ 4 slices of challah bread (or brioche) in 1-1.5" thickness
+ 1-2 cups unfrosted corn flakes*
+ one egg
+ 1/2 cup half & half (or 1/4 cup milk + 1/4 cup heavy cream)
+ 1/8 tsp cinnamon powder
+ 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
+ 2 tsp light brown sugar (or 2 sugar cubes)
+ a pinch of salt
+ unsalted butter to grease skillet

* Please make sure to use unfrosted corn flakes. If you use frosted corn flakes, the crust will burn easily.

Strawberry-Banana Compote
+ 1 cup strawberry (halved, if large)
+ 1 cup banana (sliced into 1/2" thickness)
+ 1.5 Tbsp maple syrup
+ 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Procedures:
1. In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat. When butter starts bubbling, add sliced banana and strawberries and mix well. Finally, add maple syrup and lower the heat to medium-low. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes until the fruits are softened but still maintain their shapes.

2. Mix well egg, half & half, cinnamon powder, vanilla extract, light brown sugar and a pinch of salt all together. Gently crush corn flakes with palm - not too much, just a little bit to adhere the corn flakes easily on the toast.

3-1. Soak a slice of bread into the egg-milk mixture (both sides).
3-2. Cover the soaked bread with corn flakes (both sides).
3-2. Butter the skillet over medium heat.
3-3. Toast the corn flake-crusted bread until it becomes golden brown, but not burnt (both sides).

4. Place two slices of toast on each plate, and spoon strawberry-banana compote over the toast.

Enjoy~

Simple Tomato & Mozzarella Pizza

2014-06-02T12:24:00.000-04:00

I posted a flat bread recipe back in 2012, with perfect thin crust pizza dough recipe adopted from America's Test Kitchen. (Please click here to see the recipe: "Flat-bread with Ricotta, Bacon and Caramelized Onion".) While I loved the recipe, however, the recipe requires at least one day from start to finish.

So, I found this following relatively easier and quicker pizza dough recipe. :)

While thinking of posting a pizza recipe, I took a look at Wikipedia to learn more about pizza; the origin of pizza, some hidden stories and etc. It has a very interesting article about "Non-Italian types of pizza".

Here are some highlights:

In Australia: "... such unconventional toppings as kangaroo, emu and crocodile".
In Brazil: "There is a "Pizza Day" (July 10) in São Paulo".
In Israel: "have both kosher and non-kosher locations".
In Korea: "Korean-style pizza tends to be complicated ... potato mousse-filled cookie dough crust is sprinkled with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and raisins, and can be dipped in a blueberry sauce that is provided".

I am baking two 12" simple & humble tomato & mozzarella pizzas today. I think I might be still hungry after just one. ;-)

Simple Tomato & Mozzarella Pizza
(Yield: Two 12" size pizzas / Cooking time: 3 hours)

Ingredients:

Basic pizza dough
+ 1 tsp sugar
+ 1 cup warm water (110-115°F)
+ 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
+ 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (+ some extra for dusting the surface when you work on it)
+ 1.5 tsp salt
+ 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (+ some extra to grease a bowl)

Tomato & Mozzarella Pizza toppings
+ 14.5oz canned whole tomatoes
+ 8oz fresh mozzarella cheese
+ fresh basil leaves
+ salt and pepper

Procedures:
1. Dissolve active dry yeast in 1 cup of warm water (110-115°F) with a teaspoon of sugar. If the water is too hot, yeast can die, and if the water is too cold, yeast cannot proof.* Do not stir the water, and you will start seeing a froth-like foam or bubble forming after five minutes.

* Yeast, although they are dried, are still micro-organisms that are alive. The micro-organisms consume sugar in the dough and produce gas carbon dioxide. The gas forms air bubbles and let the dough expand and rise.

2-1. Stir flour and salt in a stand mixer with dough hook attached.
2-2. Then, slowly pour #1 (yeast and warm water) to the flour while stirring at low speed.
2-3. When the water and flour are combined together, increase the speed to mid-speed and knead for about five minutes until the dough is elastic and smooth.
2-4. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and continue to kneed until the olive oil is absorbed completely.

3. Wet your hands with olive oil or water before handling the dough (the dough is very sticky). And, make a ball out of the dough and place it into a bowl coated with olive oil. Set the dough in a warm area for two hours. The dough should double the size.

4. Dust the working surface with enough extra flour and cut the dough in half to shape it into two loaves. Gently press down the dough to let out gas from big gas pockets.

5. Roll the dough into two balls, and place them on a flour dusted parchment lined baking sheet tray. Cover the dough with a greased plastic wrap and rest the dough in a fridge for at least 30 minutes.

6. While the dough is resting... place a pizza stone on the top rack, and preheat oven to 500°F (260°C). By placing the pizza stone at the highest position in the oven, we are mimicking a pizza oven which has a very low ceiling. The low ceiling keeps the heat as close as possible to the top of pizza.

7. While the oven is preheating, prepare the toppings for pizza.
- Canned tomatoes: drain the juice from the can and crush tomatoes with hands. Season with salt and pepper, and mix well.
- Basil: wash lightly, and pick leaves only.
- Fresh mozzarella: slice into 1/4" thick pieces.

8. Take out the rested dough, and stretch the dough into 12" round shape on parchment paper. Spread crushed tomato first and sprinkle three to four basil leaves. Cover the sauce and basil leaves with mozzarella cheese.

9. Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone with the parchment paper. Bake for about 12 minutes until the top of the pizza is golden brown color.

10. Take out the pizza and sprinkle extra basil leaves. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil and season with pepper if needed.

Enjoy~

Beers for Wine Lovers

2014-04-19T20:12:00.000-04:00

Today I'd like to introduce two unique beers which do not taste like beer(!!!) - Lambic and Belgian red ale (Flanders red ale or Flemish red). These beers are somewhat similar to wines in taste as well as the way they are made.

It is not often, but I still find guests at restaurant who do not care for beers, and I also have a few friends who drink wines but not beers. Probably these two (lambic and Belgian red ale) are good introductory styles of beer for these who are more familiar with wine than beer.

Duchesse de Bourgogne
Brewery: Brouwerij Verhaeghe, Belgium
Type of beer: West-Flemish red brown ale
Fermentation: mixed fermentation
Alcohol by Vol: 6.2%
Color: ruby red

I tasted "Duchesse de Bourgogne" for the first time at restaurant Benu in San Francisco as a part of beverage tasting. The fruity, tart and slightly funky beer was paired greatly with xiaolongbao (Shanghai style soup dumpling) made with lobster coral.

This beer tastes very much like a light red wine! Not surprisingly, Flemish red ales are fermented and aged in oak barrels like wines. Slight tannin from oak, and lactic acid from the unique fermentation adds more complexity to this beer.

Lindemans Pêche
Brewery: Brouwerij Lindemans, Belgium
Type of beer: lambic
Fermentation: spontaneous fermentation
Alcohol by Vol: 2.5%
Color: hazy golden yellow

Lambic is a very unique beer that ferments without any addition of yeast (spontaneous fermentation) but with wild yeast cells captured from the open air of Brussels (and nearby), Belgium - this spontaneous fermentation gives unique sour flavor to lambic. After fermentation, the lambic is left to ferment and mature for a few years in old casks resulting a very complex earthy lambic aroma.

Lindemans Pêche almost tastes like a peach juice; which makes sense, because Lindemans brew lambic first, then add peach juice to flavor the lambic (straight juice-method). The fruity low alcohol lambic is a perfect pair for light fruit tart.

Spicy Noodle with Vegetables (Bibim-Guksu)

2014-03-09T13:03:00.000-04:00

I love noddle, any kind of noodle. And, today I want to share one of my favorite Korean noodle recipes, "spicy noddle with vegetables". You can, of course, add meat in this noodle, but this noodle is already delicious just with vegetables and egg! And it will be a totally vegetarian noodle dish.

You might have heard "Bibimbap (비빔밥)", a rice bowl topped with various vegetables, meats and egg with spicy Korean chili sauce. The following noodle is very similar, but the main ingredient is thin wheat noodle (somen) instead of rice.

The recipe requires minimal cooking (pan-frying an egg and boiling noodle), and you can easily enjoy it anytime and anywhere. :)

Spicy Noodle with Vegetables ("Bibim-Guksu")
(Yield: 2 servings / Cooking time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
+ 140g somen (thin wheat noodle)
+ 2-3 Korean shiso leaves (sesame leaves or perilla)
+ 20g red cabbage
+ 15g carrot
+ 50g cucumber
+ 1/8 sheet of unseasoned dried seaweed - 김(gim) in Korean, 海苔(nori) in Japanese
+ one egg
+ 2 Tbsp gochujang (Korean hot chili paste, 고추장(gochujang) in Korean)
+ 1 Tbsp fine red pepper powder
+ 2½ tsp sugar
+ 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
+ 1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
+ (optional) 1/4 tsp sesame seeds

Procedures:
1. First, mix well gochujang, fine red pepper powder, sugar, rice vinegar and low-sodium soy sauce together.

2. Crack an egg and stir well until egg white and yolk are mixed. Heat a pan (ideally rectangular pan) over medium to low heat, and grease the inside with a bit of vegetable oil. Pour the stirred egg and cook both sides to make a thin pan-fried egg sheet. Cool the pan-fried egg completely before slicing.

3. Slice all the ingredients - shiso leaves, red cabbage, carrot, cucumber, dried seaweed, and pan-fried egg - into thin strips (thinner than julienne). Please use kitchen shears, instead of knife, to slice dried seaweed thinly.

4. Boil a pot of water, then cook somen (thin wheat noodle) for 4-5 minutes over medium heat just until the noodle is cooked. Drain the noodle with a strainer, and wash it with cold running water until it is completely cooled.

5. Mix noodle with the spicy sauce from #1. (Leave 1 tsp of hot sauce for plating.) Then, divide the seasoned noodle into two bowls

6. Top the seasoned noodle with thinly sliced vegetables and egg from #3. In the center, spoon a half teaspoon of spicy sauce which we kept in step #5, and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Enjoy~

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

2013-12-25T21:22:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!!!

During Christmas season, I always bake some cookies... for ... not Santa, but me! Today, I baked cookies with earl grey tea. Maybe it is more for grown-ups then kids? The citrusy floral earl grey tea goes well with any dessert. Then, why don't you just add the tea into a sweet dessert?

I used a tea bag within the tea leaves large enough to give a slightly crunchy texture to the cookies. Please enjoy these fragrant cookies during the holidays.

Earl Grey Tea Cookies
(Yield: 24 cookies / Cooking time: one hour)

Ingredients:
+ 2 cups all-purpose flour
+ 1-1.5 Tbsp loose Earl Grey tea leaves (one tea bag)
+ 3/4 cup powdered sugar
+ 1/2 tsp salt
+ 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
+ 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, slightly chilled

Procedures:
1. First, mix all-purpose flour, Earl Grey tea, powdered sugar, and salt and whisk lightly. Then, add cubed butter. With your hands, mix all the ingredients while smashing the butter into small bits. You don't need to mix all the ingredients 100% - it is good to go as long as you don't see any big chunk of butter.

2. When the cookie dough comes together, wrap your working space with plastic wrap and pour the cookie dough. Form a log about 8" long. Roll the log while wrapping the dough with the plastic wrap, like a sausage.

3. Place the wrapped dough in a fridge for at least 30 minutes until the dough firms up. While the dough is in a fridge, preheat your oven at 335°F (190°C).

4. Unwrap the dough and slice the dough long into 1/3" thick disks, and place the disks in parchment or silpat lined baking sheet about 1.5" apart from each other.

5. Bake the cookies in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. When the cookies are just out of oven, they are extremely soft and fragile. Let them cool slightly on the baking sheet, and transfer them over cooling rack, and cool completely.

Enjoy~

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

2013-11-25T16:13:00.000-05:00

My favorite breakfast is sweet bread or pastry which goes well with a cup of coffee or tea, such as chocolate croissant, sweet Danish pastry, cinnamon rolls, or even toast with Nutella.

For today’s breakfast I baked cinnamon rolls. These cinnamon rolls are extra tender, as the dough is layered with cream cheese - similar technique where you layer butter and dough for croissants. Yes, the ‘technique’ requires time and effort… but it is really worthwhile!

Since it is hard to bake cinnamon rolls on the same day for breakfast (it takes time!), here is a tip to enjoy freshly baked cinnamon rolls although they have been baked the day before. First, freeze freshly baked cinnamon rolls after they cool completely. And later when you want to enjoy the cinnamon rolls, microwave the rolls for about one minute covered (if you don’t cover the rolls, it will dry out like a stone!), then bake the rolls, uncovered, in a toaster oven for less than a minute, just until the outside is crispy.

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
(Yield: nine rolls / Cooking time: 5-6 hours*)
* Most of the time is proofing and baking time. Hands-on cooking time is about 30 minutes.

The following recipe is adopted and modified from King Arthur Flour Cream Cheese Cinnamon Buns recipe.

Ingredients:

Dough
+ 3 cups all-purpose flour
+ 3/4 cup warm milk (~110°F/43°C)
+ 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
+ 1 stick(8 Tbsp) of unsalted butter, softened
+ 2¼ tsp instant yeast
+ 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
+ 3/4 tsp salt
+ 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Fillings
+ 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
+ 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
+ 1 cup light brown sugar
+ 3 Tbsp ground cinnamon
+ 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
+ 8 oz cream whipped cheese, softened

Procedures:
1. Mix all the ingredients under "Dough" together. Knead the dough until it forms smooth and soft dough.

2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for about 1.5 hour until the dough doubles in size.

3. While the dough is proofing, mix light brown sugar, ground cinnamon and melted unsalted butter under "Fillings".

4-1. Dust a working space with enough flour, and roll the dough from #2 into a 14"x12" rectangle.
4-2. Then spread softened whipped cream cheese over the dough.
4-3. Fold 1/3 of the dough into the center and...
4-4. Fold the other end over the first folded dough, like you were folding a letter.

5-1. Roll the dough again into a 14"x12" rectangle, again.
5-2. Again, fold 1/3 of the dough into the center and...
5-3. Fold the other end over the first folded dough, again like you were folding letter.
5-4. Roll the dough again into a 18"x12" rectangle.

6. Spread cinnamon filling from #3 as evenly as possible over the rolled dough and sprinkle finely chopped walnuts and pecans.

7. Beginning with 18" long edge, roll the dough into a log.

8. Cut the log into 9 equal 2" thick slices with a bench knife.

9. Place a parchment paper on a baking sheet, and place the cinnamon roll slices from #8. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise again for an hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F(190°C).

10. Bake the rolls for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown.

11. If you want to ice the cinnamon rolls, mix 1.5 Tbsp milk and 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar, then drizzle over completely cooled cinnamon rolls.

Enjoy~

Matcha Chiffon Cake

2013-10-11T10:32:00.000-04:00

Matcha chiffon cake is very popular in Korea and Japan. It is a very elegant cake with beautiful matcha smell and balanced mild bitterness and sweetness on top of its signature chiffon-like soft and light texture.

Matcha chiffon cake is a kind of angel food cake, where you use vegetable oil instead of butter, and also use meringue as leavening agents along with baking powder. Both the vegetable oil and the meringue will result in extra soft and moist texture.

Since meringue plays a crucial role in making the light chiffon cake, it is very important to beat the egg whites until it reaches 'stiff peaks', and not to deflate the meringue when you fold it into batter. Also, please make sure to invert the pan immediately after removing the cake from the oven, and let it completely cool before unmolding the cake to prevent deflation of the volume.

To enjoy the mild flavor of matcha, you don't need any icing or garnish. Just dust a spoonful of powder sugar on top.

Matcha Chiffon Cake
(Yield: one 6" chiffon cake, 6 servings / Cooking time: one hour*)
* One hour cooking time doesn’t include 3-4 hours of cooling time.

Ingredients:
+ 3 eggs*
+ 50g sugar (20g for egg yolks, and 30g for meringue)
+ 40g vegetable oil
+ 40g water
+ 60g cake flour
+ 3g matcha (fine powder green tea)
+ 1.5 tsp baking powder
+ a pinch of salt
+ (optional) 1/8 tsp cream of tartar**
+ powder sugar for dusting

* You will need only two egg yolks, but still need all the egg whites from three eggs for meringue.

** Cream of tartar is an acidic powder which is a byproduct of winemaking. It is often used as a stabilizer for egg white foam. Although you can use lemon juice or any other acid as a stabilizer, most cooks prefer cream of tartar which has no water content, no flavor and no smell. For French meringue, which is made without any heat, I would definitely recommend adding cream of tartar. If you are making Italian meringue, which is the most structurally safe meringue, I don't think you need to use cream of tartar.

Procedures:
1. Preheat your oven at 335°F (168°C).

2. Please separate egg yolks and whites. Please be careful not to break egg yolks... egg whites should not have any trace of egg yolks - even a small amount of egg yolk will hurt your egg white foam (meringue).

3. Mix two egg yolks with 20g sugar and whisk until the color of egg yolks change to pale yellow. Then, add vegetable oil and water, and whisk well. Sift cake flour, matcha, baking powder and salt into the egg yolk mixture. With the whisk, mix just until all the ingredients are combined.

4. Now it is time to beat meringue. In a clean bowl*, with a clean balloon whisk*, whip a room temperature egg white until you can see foam. Add 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar and continue whipping. When the egg white doubles in volume, sprinkle 30g sugar gradually in 3-4 batches while whipping the egg white. Egg white will gains more volume as sugar is added. Whip the egg whites until it reaches stiff peaks. This is "French meringue", the shiny velvety egg white foam.

* If there is any trace of fat (including egg yolks) on your bowl or whisk, the egg white foam will not form very well.

5. Add 1/4 of meringue into the matcha batter (from #3), and mix well to lighten the matcha batter. Then, start folding rest of meringue into the batter in three to four batches.

6. Pour the batter into an ungreased 6" tube pan. (I used paper tube pan). With a stick of chopstick, swirl the poured batter gently to remove any trapped air bubble and also to smooth out the top of batter.

7. Place the pan over a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.

8. As soon as the cake is baked, take the pan out of oven and invert the pan immediately. Let the cake completely cool for about 3-4 hours before unmolding, to prevent any deflation of volume.

9. Unmold the cake and dust the top with powder sugar. To dust the powder sugar evenly, spoon powder sugar into a small sieve, and tap the sieve with a small spoon. Please use serrated knife to slice the chiffon cake.

Enjoy~

Quick & Easy Pasta with Olive Oil

2013-09-25T10:32:00.000-04:00

Working long hours at restaurant makes me not only physically exhausted, but also really hungry late at night after work. This is when I need something hearty and delicious but very simple food.

When you hear 'hearty, delicious, simple', what comes to your mind?
For me, stew, soup, pasta... these are what come to my mind. But although I love stew and soup, they are hard to cook in a short amount of time. So, simple and quick pasta is always my best choice at late night.

Olive oil, garlic, a small chunk of hard cheese like Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino, some simple herbs like parsley, and just salt and freshly ground black pepper. That's all you need.

And, most of all, it takes only 15 minutes from start to finish!

Quick & Easy Pasta with Olive Oil
(Yield: 2 servings / Cooking time: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
+ 120g long thin pasta, such as spaghetti or thin linguine (60g per portion)*
+ 3-4 garlic cloves
+ 15g Parmigiano-Reggiano (or Pecorino)
+ several sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
+ 1.5 Tbsp olive oil
+ salt and pepper

* Since I am making the pasta for a late night meal, I only used 60g per portion. For a regular meal, 85g per portion would be more appropriate.

Procedures:
1. Boil a big pot of water.

2. While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the ingredients as follows:
- Garlic cloves: peel and slice very thinly.
- Parmigiano-Reggiano: grind the cheese with grater (such as Microplane) or food processor.
- Parsley: clean and pick the leaves only and chop roughly.

3. As water boils vigorously, add enough salt and start cooking pasta. Taste pasta after 6 minutes and see if it needs more cooking or not. Cook until slightly undercooked ('al dente'). Drain the pasta. Please keep about 1 cup of pasta cooking water for later use.

4. Drizzle 1.5 Tbsp olive oil in the same pan where you cooked the pasta. Please make sure the pot is dry and empty before adding the olive oil - otherwise, the oil will spatter. Add sliced garlics and sweat over medium heat. When the garlic slices are cooked without browning, add pasta to the pan. Coat the pasta with olive oil well, then season with enough freshly ground black pepper. If you think the pasta is too dry, add 2-3 Tbsp of pasta cooking water to the pan.

5. Plate the pasta in a pasta bowl, then sprinkle grated cheese and chopped parsley over it.

Enjoy~

Small Snacks with Kimchi

2013-09-08T14:08:00.000-04:00

Kimchi (김치 in Korean) is a traditional Korean side dish, fermented and usually made with napa cabbage with red pepper, but also often made with various other vegetables (cucumber, mustard greens, scallions, radish... etc.) or in non-spicy form.

Since, it is a 'fermented' side dish, the taste keeps evolving through its life cycle and eventually becomes slightly funky. It is still edible, but many like to use over-fermented kimchi when cooking stew, pancakes or some other dish.

Today, I want to show you two kimchi dishes - Kimchi mung bean pancakes and Kimchi quesadilla - where you can use those over-fermented kimchi. Kimchi mung bean pancake is a very simple dish. You just need to mix slices of kimchi and pork with coarse mung bean paste and pan-fry it. Kimchi quesadilla is a Korean-Mexican food, more popular on the west coast of the US and often found in food trucks.

Enjoy these small kimchi snacks at your next beer party.

Small Snacks with Kimchi
(Yield: 4-6 servings / Cooking time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
Kimchi - Mung Bean Pancakes
+ 100g Kimchi
+ 1/2 cup dried and peeled mung beans soaked in water overnight*
+ 30g bacon (or thin slices of pork belly)**
+ 1 Tbsp sweet rice flour
+ 3-5 Tbsp water

* Dried mung beans need to be rehydrated overnight. Soak a half cup of mung beans in 2 cups of water overnight.
** Pork belly might be a more traditional choice, but bacon will add more flavors!

Kimchi Quesadilla
+ 150g kimchi
+ a few sesame leaves (perilla or Korean shiso leaves)
+ 50g cheddar cheese
+ 50g queso fresco
+ 5 baby Portobello mushrooms
+ 8 sheets of small tortilla
+ vegetable oil

Procedures:
Kimchi - Mung Bean Pancakes
1. Slice bacon and kimchi thinly.

2. To render the fat and crisp up the bacon, it is very important to cook the bacon slices over low heat. When the bacon slices are cooked crispy, drain the fat over paper towel and cool to room temperature.

3. Drain rehydrated mung beans and grind the beans with food processor to coarse paste. Please add 3 Tbsp of water while grinding mung beans. Add 1 Tbsp of sweet rice flour to the grind mung beans.

4. Add cooled crispy bacon and kimchi. Add a couple of Tbsp water if the mixture is too thick. Mix well to combine all the ingredients.

5. Coat a pan with little bit of vegetable oil, and spoon the mung bean mixture from #4 over pan. Cook both sides of pancakes until golden brown.

6. Cool the kimchi pan cakes over wired rack.

Kimchi Quesadilla
1. Prepare each ingredient as follows:
- Kimchi: slice thinly.
- Baby portobello mushrooms: clean outside with dry kitchen towel and slice thinly.
- Sesame leaves: clean and drain the water, then slice thinly (chiffonade).
- Cheddar cheese & Queso fresco: grate cheddar cheese, and crumble queso fresco.

2. Drizzle oil over pan and sauté sliced kimchi. When kimchi is caramelized, add sliced mushrooms. Sauté until the mushroom is cooked.

3. Heat a griddle, then place a few tortillas. Spread sautéed kimchi & mushroom, sliced sesame leaves, and grated cheese. Cover it with another tortilla. Flip the quesadilla and make sure each side is lightly browned.

4. When the quesadilla is ready, place them over wired rack to cool off before slicing.

Enjoy~

Oven-Dried Tomatoes

2013-08-21T11:34:00.000-04:00

There are a few food items I always prepare in advance and store in a refrigerator. Stock (mostly chicken stock and Korean anchovy-kombu broth) and pickled vegetables are the most important among them... and also oven-dried tomatoes.

If you can find really good quality sun-dried tomatoes in the market, you don't need to spend a whole day making these oven-dried tomatoes. However, I often found sundried tomatoes bought from store woody and tasteless - they seem to have stayed too long on the shelves. So, in summer... when the tomatoes are at their peak and most delicious, I make some oven-dried tomatoes which I can use in place of sun-dried tomatoes.

Crunch and juicy fresh tomatoes are wonderful, yet sometimes you will need the slightly leathery texture and concentrated flavor of sun-dried tomatoes for your recipe. I am going to introduce some recipes where the oven-dried tomatoes will work better than fresh tomatoes. But, first thing first... let's make some oven-dried tomatoes today.

Oven-Dried Tomatoes
(Yield: a pack of oven-dried tomatoes / Cooking time: 4-5 hours)

Ingredients:
+ one basket of tomatoes
+ olive oil
+ (optional) aromatics such as thyme, oregano and garlic

Procedures:
1. Preheat your oven at 425°F (218°C).

2. Wash the tomatoes and drain them.

3. Core the tomatoes to remove the stem part, and halve tomatoes through the core.

4. Toss the halved tomatoes in a bowl with a bit of olive oil to coat each tomato with olive oil. (At this stage, you can add aromatics (thyme, oregano and garlic) if you want.)

5. Place the olive oil coated tomatoes in a sheet tray (baking pan) cut side down.

6. Roast the tomatoes in a preheated 425°F (218°C) oven for 20 minutes or until the tomato skins are separated from the flesh.

7. Take the baking pan out of oven and remove tomato skins with tong or tweezers, then place the tomato flesh on another baking pan with wired rack. Cut side up, this time.

8. You will see that a lot of tomato juice has accumulated in the baking pan which we used to roast tomatoes. Please reserve the juice in a small container for later use. The tomato juice will add great flavor to your sauce or vinaigrette.

9. Turn the oven down to 200°F (93°C), and dry the tomatoes for 3-4 hours until the tomatoes are dried but still contain the chewy texture. Drying time varies depending on the tomato sizes.

10. Cool the oven-dried tomatoes completely, transfer to air tight container or plastic bag, and freeze them for use later.

Crab Cake with Corn Soup

2013-08-12T13:05:00.000-04:00

Every summer, I go to this crab shack near Annapolis, Maryland to have steamed blue crab (a local specialty). Sitting at patio with family and friends, cracking the crabs with a wooden mallet, and eating the sweet crab meats with a glass of cold beer are FUN you can only have in summer.

And, of course, you get corn on the cob with the delicious steamed crabs. Crab and corn... they are perfect seasonal pair for hot summer!

Although just steamed crabs and corns are perfectly delicious, I wanted to make a bit more sophisticated crab and corn dish. And, today, I cooked lightly seared delicate crab cakes and corn soup spiced up with chipotle.

This dish can be a good appetizer for a fancy dinner, or a light lunch by itself. Please try this easy crab cake recipe at home! You can also just have the spicy corn soup as a vegetarian option.

Crab Cake with Corn Soup
(Yield: 2 servings / Cooking time: 45-50 minutes)

Ingredients:
Crab Cake
+ 100g steamed crab meat
+ 1/2 tsp lemon zest
+ 1/2 tsp lime zest
+ 1/2 tsp orange zest
+ 1 tsp chopped chives
+ 1/2 tsp chopped tarragon
+ 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
+ 1 tsp whole grain mustard
+ salt and pepper

Corn Soup
+ 2 cups water
+ about 1 cup corn kernels (from two medium ears of corn)
+ 2 scallions, white & pale green parts only
+ 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
+ 1/2 tsp chipotle chili in adobo sauce, very finely chopped
+ a small bunch of chives
+ a lemon (to adjust the acidity of your soup)
+ salt & pepper
+ (optional) micro herbs

Procedures:
1. Scrap the corn kernels with a knife, and chop white/pale green parts of scallions.

2-1. In a pot, add butter and sweat chopped scallions until they are softened over medium heat.
2-2. Add corn kernels and sweat again until the corn is slightly cooked and you can smell the sweet smell of corn. Season VERY LIGHTLY with a little bit of salt - If you over season the corn at this stage, the soup will be reduced and will become concentrated with the salty flavor.
2-3. Add chopped chipotle chili and keep sweating to make sure every corn kernel is coated with chipotle flavor.
2-4. Pour two cups of water (twice the volume of corn kernels) and bring the water to boil over high heat. When it boils, cover the pot, turn down the heat to low, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

* While the corn soup is simmering, let's make crab cakes. IT IS SO EASY! And you can pull it off in less than 30 minutes.

3. Mix all the ingredients under "crap cake" ingredients. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. You can add little bit of lemon juice as well.

4. Make two crab cakes with a 2" round mold by pressing the crab meat mixture firmly.

5. Heat a pan, and sear each side of crab cake. To make sure that the inside of crab cake is warm as well, turn off the heat and cover the pan loosely with cooking foil.

6. When the corn soup is done, blend the corn soup with a hand blender (or stand blender), and strain through a very fine strainer. Adjust the seasoning and acidity with salt & pepper and lemon juice.

7. Stir in chopped chives to the corn soup. Then, serve the soup with crab cake. If you want, you can garnish the crab cake with micro herbs (I used micro cilantro).

Enjoy~

Sirloin Burgers on Brioche Buns

2013-08-03T13:59:00.000-04:00

There are so many burger joints, and some are definitely better than others. However, I have to say, unless you have some special flavored burger, burger is burger... isn't it? To make a really good burger, all you need is a good burger bun, well seasoned & properly cooked meat, and fresh vegetables.

Here are my simple sirloin burger recipe with brioche bun. (Please click here for brioche recipe).

Wine Pairing Idea:
2011 Philippe Alliet Chinon, Loire Valley, France

Chinon is one of the communes in Loire Valley, and is well known for its Cabernet Frank wine. 2011 Philippe Alliet Chinon is bright ruby red in color, and has both the red and black fruit notes such as raspberry, black cherry and plum. The wine has nice herbaceous green notes as well - green bell pepper and green olive. Most of all, the nicely acidic wine goes really well with fatty charcuteries or burgers!

Sirloin Burgers on Brioche Buns
(Yield: 4 servings / Cooking time: 45 minutes)

Ingredients:
+ 1 lb ground sirloin
+ 1/2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
+ 40g white cheddar cheese, grated
+ one onion
+ 8-10 cremini mushrooms
+ two plum tomatoes, slices
+ baby arugula
+ salt and pepper

Procedures:
1. Slice onion and mushrooms. Then, caramelize onion, and sauté mushrooms with vegetable oil. While cooking, season lightly with salt and pepper.

2. Season ground sirloin with salt and pepper and little bit of soy sauce. To make sure the seasoning is correct, cook a bit of meat to taste. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

3. Make four equal weighted sirloin patties (111-112g per patty). To make sure even cooking, make sure the center of the patty is little thinner than the rest. The patty will shrink while cooking and the center will get thicker.

4. Grill the patties over griddle. When one side is cooked and has good grill mark, flip the burger. Top the burger with grated white cheddar and let the cheese melt. To make sure the patties are cooked properly, you can cover the patties with dome-shape lid and let the meat cooked with steam.

5. Toast the brioche bun lightly, and make your own burger! First, place baby arugula on a slice of bun, followed by sautéed mushroom, beef patty covered with white cheddar, tomato slices, and finally, caramelized onions. And, top the burger bun.

Enjoy~

Soft & Buttery Brioche (32% butter recipe)

2013-07-30T17:11:00.000-04:00

My favorite bread is... of course, brioche! The buttery and slightly sweet flavor... somewhat makes you think this is not a bread but a pastry. It is the high contents of butter and eggs that give brioche the buttery soft pastry like texture.

How much butter do you think will be used for a loaf of brioche? It actually varies a lot depending on recipes. The ratio of butter to flour can be 30-80% in terms of weight - for example, 60% butter brioche calls for 60g butter for each 100g flour in the recipe. Obviously, 60-80% butter brioche is the best in its rich buttery flavor. Yet, if you want to use brioche as burger buns, 30-40% butter brioche is better, because it is still buttery and soft but have enough texture and structure.

Today, I am going to post 32% butter brioche recipe - which is good by itself, but even better as burger buns. I will update the burger recipe in a few days, so please stay tuned... :)

The following recipe is adopted and modified from Artisanal Bread Baking class materials at French Culinary Institute.

Soft & Buttery Brioche (32% butter recipe)
(Yield: 6 brioche buns / Cooking time: 6 hours*)
* Yes, I know it takes so much time! But, most of it is proofing time, and this recipe is definitely worth trying at home.

Ingredients:
+ 70g milk
+ 2 Tbsp sugar
+ one large egg
+ 6g dry instant yeast
+ 220g all-purpose flour
+ 0.5 tsp salt
+ 5 Tbsp(70g) unsalted butter, cold but pliable
+ vegetable oil (to grease a bowl)
+ one extra egg & water, for egg wash

Procedures:
1. Warm up milk in microwave for 10-20 seconds till it reaches around 120°F(50°C).

2. Add sugar and yeast to the warm milk and mix well until sugar is dissolved. Whisk an egg and add to milk mixture from #1. Mix well to combine.

3. Transfer the liquid to a bowl, and add flour and salt in two or three batches. Combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients with a fork. When the dough is formed, work the dough with a stand mixer with dough hook attachment until gluten is formed (at mid-speed for about 7-8 minutes with KitchenAid stand mixer).

4. Change the stand mixer attachment from dough hook to paddle. Then, add butter bit by bit to the dough while mixing at low speed. After adding all the butter, mix the dough a few minutes more to ensure all the ingredients are perfectly combined.

5. With hands, form a round dough and place it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough proof at room temperature. When 45 minutes have passed, fold the dough twice. Folding is a very important step for four reasons: (1) to even out the temperature of the dough, (2) to strengthen the structure of the dough, (3) to help yeast access new food by shaking everything up, and (4) to slow down the fermentation process and release carbon dioxide.

6. Cover the bowl again, then keep proofing the dough for another one hour until it is double in volume.

7. Gently flatten the dough with palm on floured surface, and divide it into six equal weight pieces (69-70g) with bench scraper. The higher than normal butter and egg content ratio definitely adds more flavor to brioche, but it results in a very sticky and wet dough, which is hard to work with. To handle the dough more easily, flour the work surface and your palm generously, and make sure the room temperature is not too warm.

8. Tightly shape the dough into rounds. Place the shaped dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat. Cover the shaped dough with lightly greased plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for about 1.5-2 hours until it is double in volume.

9. While the dough is proofing, preheat your oven at 400°F(204°C).

10. When the dough is ready to bake, lightly coat the dough with egg wash using a pastry brush.

11. Bake brioche for 20 minutes until the top is deep golden brown.

12. As soon as the brioche is baked, let it cool over wired rack for at least 15 minutes.

Enjoy~

Stuffed Calamari with Creamy Orzo

2013-07-21T13:46:00.000-04:00

What is your favorite dish in summer?
My favorite is any simple but delicious seafood and tangy pasta with summer vegetables, either tomatoes or summer squash.

I really don't have a story for today's recipe. It is just my kind of food for summer. :) Slightly spicy but moist stuffed calamari with lots of herbs, and creamy orzo with tangy green flavor with spinach, tomatoes, feta cheese and lemon.

The creamy orzo can be a good side dish for any of your summer dish.

Stuffed Calamari with Creamy Orzo
(Yield: 2 servings / Cooking time: 2 hours)

Ingredients:

Stuffed Calamari
+ four calamari bodies
+ two tentacles, minced
+ 5 medium shrimps, peeled & deveined then, minced
+ 1/4 finely diced medium onion (50g)
+ 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
+ 1/4 finely diced red bell pepper (40g)
+ 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
+ 2 Tbsp panko bread crumbs
+ 4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaf
+ 1 tsp dried oregano
+ salt & pepper
+ vegetable oil

Creamy Orzo
+ 1/2 cup orzo
+ two calamari tentacles, minced
+ 1 lemon
+ 1 clove garlic, minced
+ 1 Tbsp finely diced shallot
+ 2 cups baby spinach*
+ 1 Tbsp feta cheese
+ 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
+ olive oil
+ salt and pepper

* Clean and dry spinach. If spinach is not baby spinach, please chop roughly.

Procedures:
1. Sweat finely diced onion in a pan with a bit of vegetable oil. When the onion becomes translucent, add finely minced garlic and diced red bell pepper. Cook about a few minutes more over low-medium heat. Finally, add red pepper flakes and sweat until you smell the hot red pepper. Transfer the cooked onion, garlic and red bell pepper to a plate and cool down to room temperature.

2. Mince shrimps and two calamari tentacles. Add the minced shrimps and calamari to #1 with chopped parsley, dried oregano and panko bread crumbs in a bowl. Season lightly salt and pepper. Mix well. This is the filling.

3. Loosely stuff each body of calamari with the filling. Secure the open side of calamari with a tooth pick. Please do not over stuff the calamari... as it cooks, the calamari will shrink. Now, you can store the stuffed calamari in a fridge until you are ready to cook.

4. Boil a pot of water to cook orzo and preheat your oven at 370°F (188°C).

5. While the water and oven are heating up, cook stuffed calamari. First, drizzle little bit of vegetable oil in a pan, and sear all sides of stuffed calamari for about 3-4 minutes until lightly browned over high heat. Then, place the browned calamari in the pre-heated oven for about 10-15 minutes.

While the calamari is cooking in the oven, let's cook creamy orzo!

6. Season the boiling pot of water for orzo with enough salt, and add orzo.

7. Sweat garlic and shallot with olive oil. Add minced calamari tentacles and sauté until the tentacles are cooked throughly. Then, add spinach and sauté until wilted. Add halved cherry tomatoes. As tomatoes shrink while they are cooked, season the vegetables with salt and pepper.

8. Turn off the heat, and add cooked orzo to the cooked vegetables (#7). While the orzo and vegetable are warm, add feta cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Keep the creamy orzo warm. Right before serving, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil, and add lemon zest and little bit of lemon juice.

9. Take out stuffed calamari from the oven, and let them cool slightly. Slice the stuffed calamari and serve it with creamy orzo.

Enjoy~

Bijou - one of my favorite cocktail

2013-07-15T21:16:00.000-04:00

I found making cocktail is somewhat similar to cooking foods. You have a base liquor, which is kind of 'main ingredient', and add many flavors to create a complete cocktail.

Today, I want to share one of my favorite cocktail, Bijou... which is one of the classic gin-based cocktails.

Bijou means 'jewel' in French, and reflects the three colors from diamond (gin), ruby (red vermouth) and emerald (green Chartreuse). The dry but juniper berries flavored gin mixed with super herbaceous green Chartreuse and sweet vermouth creates a deep-flavored yet still crisp and delicious cocktail.

Let's make Bijou like a bartender at home, to enjoy on a couch!

Combine gin(1oz), sweet red vermouth(1oz), green Chartreuse(1oz) and a dash of orange bitters in a large cup filled with ice cubes. Stir well for about 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. With a vegetable peeler, make a long lemon peel. Slice it thinly then roll it over a pen to make a lemon twist. Garnish the cocktail with the lemon twist.