Winter Melon Soup

My first attempt at a chinese soup! It turned out quite delicious and Thomas's mom liked it too! Eventually I want to learn how to make it inside the melon! I used the recipe from Epicurious as a guideline but pretty much eyeballed things. This recipe was for a lot more soup than I intended to make so everything is scaled down.

For broth

• 1 (3- to 3 1/2-lb) whole chicken (3 chicken thighs)
• 1 bunch scallions, halved crosswise (2)
• 2 oz Smithfield or other cured ham (1 piece or sliced), trimmed of any spice coating (I used 2 slices of ham and was afraid that it wouldn't be strong enough so I added a little bit of bacon too. Ideally you would use chinese ham)
• 1 (1-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, smashed (sliced so that I could pick it out easily later)
• 14 cups water (half a box of chicken broth and then enough water to cover the thighs in the med pot)
• 1 tablespoon salt

For soup

• 5 (1-inch-wide) large dried scallops (I didn't have any -_-, I was going to add fish sauce to taste if the soup was too bland but I ended up not needing to)
• 1 (2-lb) wedge winter melon (ok I have no idea, I just cut enough melon to fill the pot)
• 2 oz Smithfield or other cured ham (1 piece or sliced), trimmed of any spice coating and cut into very thin matchsticks (1/2 cup) (I cut up the chicken from the broth making instead)
• 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into very thin matchsticks (2 tablespoons) (skipped)
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced (1/2 cup) (1 was enough)

preparation

Make broth: I did this differently so this part is not copy pasted

Place all the broth ingredients together and boil. Skim off the scum as you go. Once it has boiled for about 5-10 minutes you can put the lid on and bring the heat down to low. Overall cook for about an hour and then take everything out. Cut up the bits of chicken but discard the rest. Hehe at this point I was a bit scared because the soup smelled kinda like bacon. The flavor was good and a rather mild thankfully

Make soup:

Bring broth to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan,

Cut off and discard rind from winter melon. Remove and discard seeds, then cut melon into 1/3-inch cubes). Add to broth and gently simmer, uncovered, until melon is transparent, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in chicken, scallions, and salt to taste just before serving. This was the most amazing part. I covered the soup because I like my green onions cooked and when I opened it again the bacon smell was gone! replaced by the greener smell of the green onions but not too strong. Yum. Very satisfying esp. when it's cold outside.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Winter-Melon-Soup-233787#ixzz2kObE2Ff6

Pumpkin Pie Improved!

      I was wandering around in the supermarket collecting a heck of a lot more than I was supposed to again and I saw canned pumpkin. Well, I had already been playing with a pie idea in my head, replacing a traditional crust with a Graham cracker crust because they taste so good. I wanted to see if the flavors would match or if perhaps the crust would be too strongly flavored.

      I didn't have a recipe on hand but the back of the Libby's can has one conveniently written on it! I figured that either it would turn out gross or be really good the way that they have the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of Tollhouse chocolate chips. It was a hit! So good.

This recipe is more like a custard for the filling (notice no flour). When I was pulling it out of the oven to see if it was done the center jiggled haha. It took longer for me than the time written on the can, I had to turn up the oven to 375 deg. I think It baked for an hour and 15? Next time I wont turn it down as low as 350 for this oven. 

There was too much batter for my little pie crust (store bought). I don't know if they have deep dish versions but if not then you might want to have a ramekin or something on hand to take care of the excess filling.

Eggless Pandan Pound Cake?

So I found a vegan pound cake recipe and thought I would make some for my buddy. Then I though hey while I;m at it, why not throw in some pandan extract! It is pretty tasty although I messed up while I was making it because I was skimming the instructions too fast, so mine is a bit denser than it ought to be =/. I also actually used google and figured out weights for most measurements since I don't have cup measures here. It ended up kinda like the inside of a mooncake! Haha, I will probably try again sometime

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegan butter, softened (used Earth Balance) I used normal butter here
1 1/2 cups granulated or raw organic sugar White granulated in my case
6 ounces plain or low fat Silken firm tofu 
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract I did pandan extract here with no almond
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 5 x 9" loaf pan or angel food cake/ pound cake circle pan. 
2. Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. 3. Beat in tofu until well combined. Add 1 cup flour and, with mixer on low, mix just until incorporated.  Aaaand this is where I threw all the flour in by accident and mixed it pretty well.
4. Add water and extracts and do the same. 
5.End with remaining cup of flour and baking powder. Increase speed to medium and beat for 1-2 minutes. Oh well.
6. Spoon mixture into pan and lightly smooth the top. Place on the center rack of the oven and bake for 55 minutes. I filled 6 small tin things. Maybe I should have left them longer but my toothpick came out clean. These got 45 min.

Beer Bread! (No rise no knead) River cottage

This is technically the first bread I've ever made by myself. When I saw it on River Cottage's : Three Go Mad Christmas, I thought it was time to get trying or else I'll never get to make a baguette in the special thingy Sellan gave me. I did go out and buy a loaf pan from Ross though. I found the text version of the recipe "here".

Ingredients

• 350g white self raising flour, plus extra to dust
• 150g wholemeal self-raising flour
• 2tsp salt
• 1tbsp caster sugar
• 2 handfuls raisins and/or sultanas
• 1 handful walnuts, roughly chopped
• 500ml beer or lager
• butter to grease

I decided to go only white self-rising flour because that's what I had. I also didn't want to add any nuts or fruits this time because I just wanted to know what the bread taste like.

For beer I chose leinenkugel's orange shandy:

 it has a wheaty flavor with orange scent, I was hoping for more of a Panache taste when I bought it but it's nice here.

Preheat an oven to 180C (350 degF)

Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and add the salt and sugar. Stir in the raisins/sultanas and the walnuts until well combined. Open the beer and pour into the bowl, mixing as you pour until all the beer has mixed into the flour.

Grease the sides and base of a 2lb (900g) loaf tin. Dust in flour and shake out any excess.

Pour the batter into the loaf tin (the batter will be alarmingly loose, this is correct!) and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for 1 and a half hours or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Once cooked remove from the tin and transfer to a wire rack for cooling. This can be eaten warm or cold and will last a couple of days in a sealed container. Ideal to eat with cheese.

 

my second batch was not quite as wet (I don't have a liquid measure at Thomas's so I'm kind of guesstimating haha)

ooooh I wonder if it would have been bigger if I made a larger batch?

still pretty

and tada the crumb!

I accidentally made  batch 1 a bit salty because I thought the tsp was a tbs. Batch 2 is halved and we'll see what happens!

Training 2

So far Kiara still seems to hate the harness, but loves her toy so much she doesn't pay it too much attention during play time. I wonder if i should bring out the stick part with the harness to help her associate them. 

There is now a 4th mosquito for Thomas and I to battle. Why are there so many!? I've never had this kind of mosquito problem in SF before. I had even kinda forgotten what they looked like until we killed the 1st one. Also, WHY MUST THEY BUZZ IN YOUR EAR. I know it's a book but oi vey. The current one is quite afraid of light. I stayed up and played DS trying to lure it out, got sleepy after half an hour and then it went right for my ear. I was too tired to keep waiting so I turned on my tablet and passed out, it seemed to work.

Day 6 and my throat still feels funny? Yikes. I don't even know how to go about finding a doctor.

Training

I have made it my goal to eventually walk Kiara on a harness. To such aims I have started her training by combining the harness that she hates (as of yesterday) with her new toy that she is addicted to. She fought us pretty hard when we were trying to properly clip the harness but once it was on I ran to get the toy and she alternated chewing the harness and playing with the toy. She actually did much more playing than she did attempting to escape. The harness wasn't tightened quite right yet so it slipped down a bit and she had a harder time chasing the toy (like having your pants down at your ankles) but it was pretty funny and she got treats after. Today will be day 2 and we shall see how that goes. Maybe one day she will bring me the harness asking for walks... or maybe she'll maul that harness to death while I am not looking.

I feel like I have a golf ball stuck in my throat (day 4) and it hurts to swallow. I might be sick =[

Da Bird

Bought a new cat toy for Kiara today and she loooooooooooooooooooooooves it. I played with her until she was lying on the floor for the third time because she was tired. Then I tried to put it away but she kept looking for it! Aww. It really makes me want to be able to place the harness on her because I think a walking will help use up some energy. 

She's sooooooooooo cute. 

Thomas says I might always feel hungry because I am dehydrated ... we'll see if I can maybe up the water intake. We  went to Petco together to get the toy and they had kitties in the back >< ahhh. There was a really friendly nice tortie that sounded hilarious. Thomas said she sounded like a turkey, but she was just purring sooo hard she eventually tired herself out. There was a teeny baby tortie with a little mew also. Sadly though there was a 2 yr old tuxedo boy and he had just made a mess of the cage and was sitting in the litter box because he got water everywhere else. He meowed super sadly too, poor little guy. We told the cashier lady so I hope someone helps him out. 

I will try to write a bit everyday so if you only want to see the foods use the label "recipe"

Cream Puffs

My french relatives Celine and Perrine taught me how to make chouquettes! ( which are basically creamless cream puffs covered in sugar). My Auntie Annie taught me a creme patissiere recipe so between the two I have delicious cream puffs!

Cream (Creme Patisserie)
4 yolks
35 centiliter milk
80g sugar
30g cornstarch
pinch vanilla extract

1. add sugar to the yolks and beat until lighter (color of mayonaise and it thickens)
2. add cornstarch and mix well
3. add boiled milk slowly while mixing constantly or your eggs will scramble (looks foamy now)
4. place onto stove med heat (can start on high and then bring heat down) until thicker and bubbles disappear

if it's too liquidy you can add a bit more cornstarch mixed with milk (not straight) to thicken it more 
        The most recent time I made it my pot got pretty hot and it seem to set in lumps all over the place. I beat it with my hand mixer and it got smooth and thick like it should be. I might take out a little of the cornstarch next time or start on med heat and go to low with my pot. This was not an issue while I was in France and sometimes we had to add a little cornstrach.
5. Let cool before filling.

Chouquettes
makes about 2 dozen

160g Flour
4 eggs
80g butter
240g water
pinch of salt
sugar cubes (crush them for topping because they don't sell it this way in the US)(optional)

0. Set oven to 180 deg C (that's 350 F)
1.Measure out water and butter. 
2.Boil the water and then add the butter until melted.
3. Take the pot off the heat, add all the flour and stir vigorously.
4. Place pot back onto med heat and stir until the dough no longer sticks to the pot and makes a ball, basically it comes away from the sides kinda and sticks to itself, then take off heat.

5. Beat the eggs
6. add eggs little by little until lifting the spatula makes a soft peak (at first it will be too sticky with itself and stick straight up and not follow the spatula much)

7. Place dough into piping bags
8. pipe onto a baking sheet on parchment paper in shapes as you like
smaller for plain and larger if you want to fill them
9. Add the sugar bits now or they will not stick 


10. push the tips/peaks down or they will burn (use a wet finger and press them down)
11. bake until golden brown , if you open the oven during then they will not rise
12. little ones may be about 15 minutes (10-20 minutes bake time avg) taking them out is based on color
larger is about 25 minutes give or take

13. you can fill with cream via piping bag if you stick it up the choux butt (but I like a heavy cream to puff ratio so I cut them almost in half and fill with a spoon, less pretty)

On the 28th the mushrooms were craaaaaaaazy huge. I wasn't home all weekend so it really tripped me out. They were tasty too. Some of the fishes are really developing their color now. By some I mean two but the others should catch up soon. Marietta lent me a dress for the alumni banquet! I just need to figure out how to have a temp hem placed now...

Mushrooms

It is day 2 of my mushroom minifarm, lets see how long it takes. Also the baby guppies were born april 1 and one of them is showing some orange in the tail.

Coconut layer cake or Banh Chin Tang May or Banh Da Lon

Honestly, I didn't know the name of this dessert when I bought the mix for it at the chinese grocery. I just know I like eating it.

  

  

The directions were simple enough. I would have made it last night but I was just too darn tired. Anyways, part of the reason was that I'm trying out a new pandan extract and I want to know if it is any good.

  

The mix was in one packet and all went into a bowl with the coconut milk. 

  

Then in went a teeny bit of pandan extract, it didn't look too impressive.

But it did make everything pretty green so that was impressive! It also doesn't smell like horrible chemicals the way the other one did. (only half the batter got some green).

 Into my awkward steamer it went. The bowls didn't quite fit so the whole thing came out tilted but that's ok.

  

After about 4 minutes the next layer went in, and so on alternating colors. The last one I tested it at 4 minutes with my finger and it was a bit liquidy so I left it in, saw another recipe that suggests leaving it for 10 minutes after the last layer ( I did like 5 minutes testing it with a fork at the end cuz I thought it might be hot, springy and solid).

 

So out they came!

 

Here you can see the tilt it caused. With the amount I had I only got 4 total layers, I guess I made them too thick.

 

Hehe, a close up. I am still waiting to get to taste it because it needs to cool for half an hour and I am waiting for Thomas to get here.