. dash of food .

.dash of food. has a new home!

2009-04-28T03:03:00.001-07:00

New home here.

moving to a new space

2009-04-16T10:05:00.002-07:00

After having wanting to make the jump with my blog going onto the next phase for quite a few months, I've finally done it! The .dash of food. blog has a new web address now :) You can see the changes over at www.dashoffood.com! Hope you enjoy your visit there, and please update your RSS reader with the new feed address as well. For those subscribing to the feeds by email updates, I will shortly update the feed link, so you shouldn't have to do anything to continue receiving the email updates from the new site.

Thank you for following along my sporatic adventures in and outside the kitchen. With the update of the site, I hope to become better at posting more often and making your visits and reads worthwhile.

Basil Pistachio Pesto

2009-02-01T00:11:00.003-08:00

The Bonus - Basil Pistachio Pesto

Well, after lamenting over the loss of production from my basil plants, I had a colander full of uninfested basil leaves that were rescued one by one from the culled stalks. J washed and cleaned these one by one to make sure there were no hidden baby scale bugs still attached. I had never before made fresh basil pesto before, but seen many different recipes, so figured I couldn't go too wrong. One thing missing though, was Pine nuts. I haven't seen pine nuts here yet, though I know China produces them and does eat them in the north country. I figured I would try substituting with the excellent pistachios we had on hand for sake of experimenting. It turned out great and was delicious :)

Ingredients:

Phase 1:
2 cups fresh basil, packed
2 med - large cloves garlic, peeled, roughly chopped (about 2 tbsp, or half this, if you prefer)
1/2 cup pistachio nuts, shelled
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp.fresh lemon zest
optional: 1/4 cup grated parmesan ( I choose to be frugal with my hard to come by parmesan stock, and only used it ontop of the pasta at the end)

Phase 2:
1 -1.5 cup(s) extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

1. Put all ingredients from phase 1 into a blender. Pulse to rough chop and blend ingredients.
2. Pour 1/2 the oil into mixture and blend, drizzle in remainder of oil when mixture starts to appear smooth.
3. add salt and pepper to flavor to your liking.

Makes enough for 4 servings. (mixture can be saved for upto one week in fridge or longer in freezer. Put mixer into air tight container and layer olive oil to cover mixture, to seal air out.

Cook up linguini 1 min less than fully cooked, using a pasta scooper, scoop pasta into pasta bowl, add pesto and mix, adding a little of the cooking water if needed too dry, or use olive oil.

Serve while hot with fresh shaved/grated parmesan and cracked black pepper. Buono Appetito!

Roasted Warm & Rich

2009-01-29T07:37:00.006-08:00

One thing both J and I love to smell during the winter months esp. is the smell of garlic roasitng in the house. It is intoxicating. We figured out the settings needed for our toaster oven to do a proper job, and we are so happy for it.

(it's been much cooler in the month of Dec - Feb here, temp avg. around 11-17C, and with non insulated housing [ for the humid months] and no central heating, it took a bit of playing around to get the right temp to cook it in the proper time.)

----

Cut top off, drizzle olive oil, dash of salt, cover with foil in pan, roast, enjoy aromas, then devour.

Toaster oven in winter: 375F for 1-1/4 hour, then left inside to cool down for 1/2 hour.

In our Vancouver convection oven: 325F for 45 min, and left inside to cool down for 1/2 - 1 hour.

If you like it less pungent, lower temp and lengthen roast time :)

Kona Blue | Kona Kapachi

2009-01-26T23:23:00.003-08:00

Has anyone seen this in the Vancouver markets and tried it? A sustainable tuna, yum!!

Kona Kampachi® is a delicious, sushi-grade Hawaiian yellowtail, sustainably raised in the pristine open ocean off the coast of Hawaii.

In the wild, Seriola rivoliana would be known as Almaco Jack or kahala, but Kona Kampachi® is substantially different from its wild counterpart. Kona Blue nurtures its Kona Kampachi® through its entire life cycle from hatch to harvest, yielding one of the healthiest and most delicious fish on the market today.

WrightFood - another food blog I enjoy

2009-01-26T22:56:00.007-08:00

Mouthwatering and heartwarming food event...

Balsamic Vinegar Pancakes

2009-01-25T06:20:00.007-08:00

Photos posted by Kaishin Chu © 2009.

I created this recipe a few years back while we vacationed in Tofino in a log cabin. I had hoped to make buttermilk pancakes (a recipe originally developed in my college days), but we couldn't find any buttermilk to purchase at the local little market on our way into town. Since I often adapt recipes in lieu of missing ingredients, so in this case seeing that I had brought a container of strawberries macerating in balsamic vinegar, I thought I would use the vinegar with milk to create something similar to buttermilk. I figured it couldn't hurt.

Photos posted by Kaishin Chu © 2009.

The breakfast turned out amazing, the pancakes were fluffy yet substantial, moist and full of flavour, esp. with maple syrup... After the meal, the idea for a proper recipe was set forth. Last year, I dreamt up another delectable recipe using balsamic vinegar left over from macerating fruit, to make panna cotta... I'll save that recipe to share with you for another day ;)

Photos posted by Kaishin Chu © 2009.

Balsamic Vinegar Pancakes

In med/lrg bowl, mix the following dry ingredients together:
1 c flour
35 ml sugar
15 ml baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 dash of cinnamon

In small bowl or larg measuring cup, combine and mix well:
10 ml vanilla
15 ml balsamic vinegar
150 ml milk (+50ml for extra if needed)
50 ml vegetable oil
2 med eggs

Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour in the liquid ingredients. Mix with fork or whisk by hand, until just mixed with small lumps in the batter. If the batter seems too thick, you can use the extra bit of milk to thin it down.

Heat up a skillet on med high heat, and using a pat of butter or some vegetable oil to fry/cook up the pancakes. (I personally like butter for the lovely flavour, and since I'm indulging myself with pancakes, why not go all the way, right?) Using a 3/4 c measuring cup, scoop batter and drop into pan. When bubbles appear all over the top, flip pancake and cook until underside is nice and golden brown. You may need to adjust your heat to get the best result. I've used a gas stove and light non-stick skillet in this case. Keep the cooked pancakes in the oven to keep warm until ready to serve.

Makes 6 med. pancakes (approx 6" width) or 8 small pancakes (3-4")

Serve with Maple syrup and/or balsamic vinegar macerated strawberries on top (and maybe a little whipping cream too) :)

You can pre-prep the dry and even wet ingredients into separate containers to take with you on a camping trip say, and then make yourself the most popular person on the trip ;) Trust me.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1985

2009-01-22T04:37:00.004-08:00

J had this one in his wine collection, and since we've decided to travel abroad indefinitely for the time being, he decided that there was no time like the present to open it with family for Christmas Day dinner.

Though it did need a bit of time to breathe, it was still drinkable, a bit too 'old' tasting for my taste, but perhaps it was due to the disintegrating cork.

Good to see artisanal foods make it into the online market

2009-01-07T19:04:00.003-08:00

I came across this site via a trend spotting newsletter I subscribe to, and wish I was back at North America for a short time where I could then order and try some of these artesan foodie items!!

Check it out for yourself... *drool*

Teriyaki Chicken Sushi Rolls

2008-10-01T05:31:00.003-07:00

This was my first attempt at making sushi rolls in Zhuhai, had to be a little bit creative with ingredients. Since then, I've managed to find all the ingredients needed :)

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast - cut into strips and sautée, then add a bit of water to thin the sauce (marinated in soysauce, brown sugar, crushed garlic, cornstarch, cooking wine)
Cucumber - julienned
Mayonaise (Kewpie Mayanaise used here)
Green Onion - slivered
Avocado (not pictured, as we couldn't find this product here yet)
Short Grain rice - cooked and cooled
Seaweed Sheets
Bamboo Rolling Mat

Steps:
1. wrap your bamboo mat with plastic wrap
2. place seaweed sheet 1/4" from the edge closest to you
3. fill rice layer right to edges of only 3 sides, leaving the edge away from you with 3/4' empty. Works best if your rice is lukewarm, as it's more pliable and it will help to soften seaweed just enough for it to stick and make it easier to cut.
4. put filling just above the halfway mark of the rice bed, towards you.
5.put mayo or sauce down first, then the most loose items, then the last the sturdy straight items, such as cucumber. about 3/4" diameter of filling is needed if your rice bed is about 1/4". The rice ratio vs. filling ratio is usually were it determines if the roll will be successful.
6. when rolling edge in, use fingers and the mat to cram the edge right around the underside of filling and squeeze the roll to get the rice on rice contact for binding, then pull mat edge out, then finish up the roll. (this is where the plastic wrap comes in real handy, no rice and filling crammed into the slats to clean up )
7. place side with flap of sushi down on a flat surface to rest while you roll the next roll. Then cut the first one, after you rolled the second one. This allows the flap to seal, and allow the seaweed to soften up a bit, but not too much were it gets elasticy, allowing better cut surface.
8. cut with cleanly wiped damp knife with each cut, Z sliding movement. Keep a damp cloth handy, wiping the knife after each or every other cut.

Enjoy :)

Italian styled Garlic Prawns with Spicy Sausages

2008-06-28T02:57:00.007-07:00

Italian styled Garlic Prawns with Spicy Sausages © Kaishin Chu 2008

I made this for a potluck gathering, it turned out really well as it reheated under the broiler perfectly. Don't forget to have some good bread for dipping and soaking up the juices at the end.

2 Cups of fresh prawns or room temp. defrosted ones, shells off with tails on (easier as finger food)
1 cup spicy Italian sausages, sliced about 1/4" - 3/8" thick pieces
1/2 cup minced red onions
1/4 cup diced red and yellow peppers + 1 TBsp for garnishing
1 Tbsp. crushed or finely minced garlic
2 tsp. paprika
Sea Salt and Peper
1/4 tsp. chili flakes
chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Use a decent amount of olive oil (2-3 tbsp) and butter (1-2 tbsp) to quickly heat the garlic, onion, chili flakes, and peppers, just till the aroma comes out. Then add the sausages in to cook. saute until cooked through. Then add Prawns, and sprinkle in the paprika, stir and sautee till just slightly undercooked, then turn off heat, this way the prawn will get cooked by the remaining heat, and not get tough. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Plate it and add parsley and bell pepper to garnish.

Buono Apetito!

Scalloped Potatoes and Onions

2008-06-28T02:01:00.002-07:00

scalloped and pretty © Kaishin Chu 2008.

Purple potatoes layered with onions, and yellow potatoes.

Drizzle layers with olive oil and sprinkling of sea salt and fresh black pepper. cover with tin foil and bake till almost tender, then remove foil to brown the top layer while finishing up the cooking. remove to cool a bit from oven. heat 3 tbsp of olive oil and put in 1 tbsp of minced basil and 1tsp of minced/crushed garlic. heat just enough till aromas come out and lessens the bite of the garlic. spread on top of potatoes. serve.

So exciting! A photo of mine and my food blog got mention and usage...

2008-05-09T01:09:00.005-07:00

Wow! I'm absolutely delighted and elated that an online kitchen/cooking knowlegde site named, 'Apartment Therapy - The Kitchn' blogged with my photo and gave mention to my food blog :)

Click on the image, should you want to check it the web page :)

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/good-questions/good-question-what-does-short-mean-in-a-recipe-050169

Prosecco

2008-05-03T23:51:00.008-07:00

One of my favorite year round drinks to have is Prosecco from Italy. It's crisp, light and fruity flavours always lift my spirits. Since having moved to China for a short term, I've been craving it. It was almost readily available in Vancouver, through certain stores, but here, no luck seeing it yet.

The images above are a just a few of my favorites, by Mionetto Valdobbiadene, sold at BC Liquor Stores, and some cold beer & wine stores. There are quite a few other brands that are just as good, but not as readily available outside of the BC Liquor stores.

If you haven't tried it, really you should, esp during the warm summer days. The Italians would drink it throughout a meal, which can last for hours, esp. with dinner and friends.

It also makes great cocktails, just add fruit mash to it, sort of like an eye-opener.

Those of you with access to this, have one for me please!

Being censored at my end..

2008-05-03T23:45:00.001-07:00

Sphaghetti Bolognese - Chinese fusion, originally uploaded by .kaishin..

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick update from Zhuhai. It appears that I still cannot view my own blog here, due to censorship from China, with not allowing commoners to have access to personal blogs, where freedom of speech is performed.

It seems that I can still post, just won't be able to see how it looks post posting. So here goes, first of my posts from China.

Sphaghetti Bolognese - Chinese fusion
Doing with what was available.

Tomato Pulp
Ground Pork
Fresh Tomato
Garlic
Black Ground Pepper
Chilli Flakes (Chinese kind)
Yellow Onion
Green Onion (a bit of it for colour and herb flavour)

Flavour turned out quite well. Def. had a bit of a Chinese flavour to it, due to the difference in pork flavour and it was more chunky, as well as the green onion. Never the less, it was really nice to have some pasta for a change. Now if I could only get my hands on some soil and pots, then I can test grow some of my herb seed pkts I brought with me... then I'll have BASIL!!!

Grilled Lamb with Tomato Quinoa and Veggies

2008-03-25T16:13:00.005-07:00

For the first time, I cooked with lamb. Bought a lovely pkg of lamb leg steaks, organic to boot! Med rare seems to work best here. Also for the first time, cooked the quinoa with some tomato juice (V8 was used) along with water. The flavour was richer and the grains became a bit more sticky, as the juice helped to carmelize a bit.

Lamb Leg steak, pan grill till med rare with sea salt and black pepper.

Quinoa cooked 1/2 water and 1/2 tomato juice for the liquid.

Panfried Broccoli & Cherry Tomato halves with minced Garlic, salt & fresh black pepper.
(saute garlic first to bring out aroma, then add tomatoes to get them heated through, then add broccoli to cook. Add a TBSP of water and put lid on to allow flash steam heat. Remove lid after a min, and cook another min or two... depending how cooked through you like your brocs.)

Humus and Bruschetta

2008-03-25T16:05:00.005-07:00

Humus (Chick Pea Dip)

1 can (540ml/19 fl oz) of chick peas/garganzo beans or can substitute with Cannelli Beans to make a Bean dip
2 tsp of crushed garlic
2 -3 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice ( you can adjust this to your taste, don't be afraid to put some of it first, blend then taste to see if you need more)
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil

1/4 - 1/2 cup Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Paprika

Put Beans, garlic, lemon juice, and sesame oil into food processor and blend until pureed. With process running, drizzle in Olive oil, enough until mixture smooths out to a consistency you like. Add 1/2 Tsp Salt and fresh ground pepper. Then scoop out into serving container, then sprinkle paprika and drizzle some fresh olive oil. Let sit for an hour or two to let the flavours meld, or serve immediately.

Brushetta

Your favourite loaf of rustic bread or bagette
Olive Oil
Garlic Clove

Slice your bread about 1/2 thick on the bias, then place on baking sheet to broil until golden brown, approx. 5 - 10 min depending on your oven/broiler. Then remove and take the garlic clove and gently rub over the toasted side, essentially grating hte garlic over the toast. Then brush a thin layer of olive oil over each piece of toast and put under broiler for 1 min just to heat up the garlic/oil to bring out the aroma, then Serve!

my food photography and graphic designer hero

2008-02-12T00:34:00.001-08:00

Matt is my hero when it comes to food photography, teamed with his beautiful graphic asthetics. Here's a great article on Matt Armendariz, with links to his food blog and websites.

Scalloped Potatoes with Onions

2008-02-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

scalloped and pretty, originally uploaded by .kaishin..

purple potatoes layered with onions, and yellow potatoes.

drizzle layers with olive oil and sprinkling of sea salt and fresh black pepper. cover with tin foil and bake till almost tender, then remove foil to brown the top layer while finishing up the cooking. remove to cool a bit from oven. heat 3 tbsp of olive oil and put in 1 tbsp of minced basil and 1tsp of minced/crushed garlic. heat just enough till aromas come out and lessens the bite of the garlic. spread on top of potatoes. serve.

Kai's Egg Nog (a.k.a. Knog)

2007-12-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

Knog = Kai's Egg Nog... hahah

This has become my Christmas classic, as it seems friends and family request it now. This Nog has even converted non-eggnog lovers to liking egg nog, the real egg nog that is. It's so much better than store bought container nog, which has been thickened with cornstarch or other.

One year I even made Egg Nog daiquiris, which was extremely yummy and popular even in the month of July, while at my Christmas in July party. All you need is vanilla ice cream, some ice, and a blender, and voila!

This recipe uses imitation Rum to flavour the nog, allowing people to choose whether they want rum in their nog, and how much cheer to add ;-)

First make the Soft Custard:
3 large free range eggs, beaten (if not using free range, then you may add 1-2 drop of yellow food colouring to the custard to help get the yellow colour)
1/3 Cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 Cup 2% or Whole Milk
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Mix well together eggs, sugar, salt in a large saucepan (2 qt), heavy bottomed.

Gradually stir in milk and mix well.

Cook over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly (otherwise you can get curdles or lumpy textures). When mixture can coat the back of a metal spoon, remove pan from heat.

Stir in vanilla (and food colouring, if you are using it)

Place pan in a large mixing bowl or deep baking dish, and fill dish/bowl with cold water, careful not to get any in the custard mixture. Allow custard to cool. To help speed this up, when water feels warm, change water.

Once cool, then refridgerate at least 2 hours before using to serve.

Putting together the Egg Nog:
1 Soft Custard
1 Cup Whipping Cream
2 Tbsp Icing Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. Imitation Rum flavour
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg, fresh preferably

Beat whipping cream, icing sugar, vanilla and rum flavouring in a chilled bowl, until stiff peaks form.
Take Custard out of fridge. Stir it up a bit, if it appears curdled, you can take an egg beater and beat it up on low to smooth, careful not to incorporate too many air bubbles.)
Take approx. 1 cup of whip mixture and fold/mix into custard mixture to create the nog.
Pour nog into serving bowl or pitcher, and dallop remaining whipping cream mixture on top
Sprinkle nutmeg to garnish and flavour.
Serve immediately. If you want to keep it cool, place bowl on top of a tray of ice perhaps.

Approximately 10-12 servings, punch cup sized.

* this recipe is my variation of a classic Betty Crocker recipe from the 1950's.

Pan seared Cod with Sesame Soy Garlic/Ginger Glaze

2007-11-08T22:39:00.001-08:00

Finally got around fine tuning the Glaze recipe. Sorry for the wait Heather!

Sesame Soy Garlic/Ginger Glaze

3 Tbsp Soy Sauce (or any other soy based sauce, Memmi or Teriyaki works well too)
1 Tbsp Cooking wine
1 tsp Crushed garlic
1/2 tsp crushed ginger (optional)
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp brown sugar (if you are using Memmi or Teriyaki sauce, omit the sugar)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1-2 tsp of sesame seeds
Add all ingredients together in a bowl or cup. Let sit.

After pan frying fish filets that have been lightly salted and peppered, remove from fish from pan. Remove pan from stove and add 1/4 cup water to deglaze pan and cool down a bit. Use your spatula to scrap up any flavour goodies on the pan.

Stir up your soy mixture, so that cornstarch is stirred up, then add mixture to pan. On med. low heat, stir constantly till mixture thickens and clears up, then remove from heat.

You can now either place your fish back in the pan to coat pieces, or plate the fish and drizzle the glaze/sauce over the fish. sprinkle a few more sesame to garnish on top.

Makes enough sauce for 2-3 servings.

This glaze works well with prawns as well.

Polpette di Kai

2007-07-24T13:07:00.001-07:00

(Italian style Meatballs or Burger Patties)

Photo posted by Kaishin Chu © 2007.

I made a scrumptious ground meat recipe that worked both for meatballs and hamburger patties. I did spaghetti the classic Italian way for Jason, while I used kamut rotini for myself, since I'm to avoid wheat and rice.

2 kg Ground Pork ( you can use both beef and pork or just of one or the other)
2 Eggs, room temp.
2 cups Day old bread Crumbs (use food processor to break down to fine crumbs)
2 cups Parmesan, grated
2 med Onion (yellow or white), minced
1/2 cup Green onion/scallions, minced
2 cloves Garlic, crushed or finely minced
2 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
4 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Red Wine
3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp Italian seasoning (dried basil, oregano, chili flakes, etc..) or minced fresh Basil and Oregano

Combine all ingredients and knead to mix well. If mixture feels a bit too wet, add a bit more bread crumbs to thicken, little bit at a time. Use water if it's too dry, tbsp. at a time to moisten.

Roll into meat balls of desired size (remember they shrink about 1/3 of it's size when cooked), or shape into hamburger patties

Use fresh or freeze them on a parchment/plastic wrap lined cookie sheet, then package into zip lock bags for use later on. Stores well upto a month if well sealed.

Makes about 12-14 large patties (to fit Kaiser buns) or enough meatballs to feed 8-12 people!!

Velvet Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche filling, and Caramel Butter Frosting

2007-05-28T00:17:00.002-07:00

Photos posted by Kaishin Chu © 2007.

Velvety Chocolate Cake
1-3/4cup pre-sifted flour
3/4cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three 9" cake pans with 1-1/2" sides. (If using non-stick, omit this step.) Then line bottome of pans with parchment paper.
2. Sift first 5 ingredients into medium bowl.
3. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended.
4. Add eggs to the butter mixture, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
5. Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions each, beating until well blended. Divide batter equally among prepared pans, smooth top of batter.
6. Bake cakes until tester inserted into centres coes out with some moist crumbs still attached, approximate 25 min.
7. Cool cakes in pans on racks for 15 mins, then turn cakes out onto racks, and peel off paper to let cool completely.

** Cake can be made 1 day ahead, covered, storing at room temperature.

Dulce de Leche
1/2 tin of 14 oz tin of condensed milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
( some milk for thinning, if desired)

1. Scrape condensed milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepot.
2. Heat over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. 3. Cook milk until it thickens and becomes a rich caramel colour, stirring constantly with metal whisk. This takes about 20-30 minutes. 4. Remove from heat and scrape dulce de leche into a heatproof bowl (glass or plastic might melt initially), stir in vanilla and allow to cool to room temperature.
5. If you find the Dulce de Leche a bit too thick after cooling, you can heat up in the microwave and add in some milk, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well, and letting it cool to test consistency.

Curried Lentil Tapenade (or Soup)

2007-01-16T00:05:00.001-08:00

1 medium onion diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Saute with Olive Oil on medium until slightly translucent

Add 1 1/2 cup dried french/puy lentil
saute 5 minutes (if it's sticking to the pan, add a bit more olive oil)
Add 1 1/2 Tbsp biryani curry paste** and continue to saute till well
mixed
and aroma comes out.

For Tapenade:
Add 1 cup chicken stock, 2 cups water
Bring to a boil, then lower heat to low, to simmer for 45 minutes to an
hour, to
desired tenderness/texture, stirring every so often.
Add salt and pepper if desired for extra flavour, to your taste

makes about 3 cups worth.

**can substitute with any other curry paste or powder

Great when served the next day, just heat up with microwave. Eat with
tortilla chips as an appy, it's excellent!

For Soup:

Add additional 1 cup chicken stock, and 1 cup water.

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

2006-12-18T22:22:00.000-08:00

I revised an old recipe I had to freshen up the holiday classic of making shortbread cookies. I simply fell in love with the dough... ice cream like texture flecked with ruby red dried cranberries.... hmmm maybe La Casa Gelato could make a new flavour of gelato to add to their 208+ flavours...

Photography by *kaishin*

So, you'll need the following to get started:

2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 cup unsalted rm temp. butter
½ cup confectioner's (powder) sugar
½ cup chopped dried cranberries
1 Tbsp flour (to coat cranberries)

In a small bowl sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In medium bowl, cream butter with electric beater on high, until ver soft and creamy. Then add sugar and beat until completely smooth. On low speed, gradually add dry ingredients in, scrapping bowl with spatula and beat until smooth.

Mix the Tbsp of flour into the chopped cranberries, this is to prevent them from clumping up in the dough mixture. Then put cranberries into dough mixture and using rubber spatula, mix until the cranberries are well distributed.

Transfer dough to large piece of parchment paper or foil, wrap, and flatten to disc shape slightly, then chill for 2 hours. Do not freeze.

When ready to roll out dough, set oven racks divided into thirds, and preheat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil.

Place dough on lightly floured parchment paper or pastry cloth, making sure to turn dough over to flour both sides. Roll dough out to 1/4” thick, then cut either into small 1” squares (use metal spatula and ruler) or use a simple-designed cookie cutter. To help ease the dough out of the cutter, make sure to dip cutter into flour each time before cutting into dough. Press scraps together, chill, then re-roll and cut.

Place cookies 1” apart on cookie sheet. Place one sheet on top third and one on bottom third of oven. Bake for a total of 16-20 minutes, making sure to switch top to bottom and rotate front to back half way through at 8-10 min. When cookies are slightly tinged with a golden color, remove from oven.

Use wide metal spatula to transfer cookies to cooling racks, as cookies are very delicate.

Enjoy!!

Makes about 4 dozen 1” squares.

Christmas Gingerbread Houses

2006-12-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

Photography by *kaishin*

Well, the holidays are soon to be here, and thus the holiday baking begins...

First off, I want to convey the fun that is to be had when especially baking and decorating with friends. This year I decided that I wanted to make Gingerbread houses and gingerbread cookies. For the Houses, I had decided to focus on the fun part, thus used graham wafer cookies instead of baking gingerbread. My friend Rachael and I, spent about two hours making our houses and decorating it, while we gabbered and had many laughs.

For the cookies... see next post ;-)

Gingerbread Cookies... ah men, women, super heroes and monsters?

2006-12-11T22:17:00.000-08:00

Originally uploaded by *kaishin*

I recently hosted an AMU gathering (Artists Meet Up!)and the theme was Christmas and crafts. Each person could bring whatever art media they wanted to work on OR join me in decorating gingerbread cookies. It was so much fun, as all of us being creative and crafty, it was soon apparent that our gingerbread men/women in particular, were going to be differen than the average stuff.

To see more photos from the session, click here

The decorators:
Jason
Rachael
Kirsti
Susie
myself

Roasted BBQ Ribs and Garlic Crunch Potatoes

2006-12-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

Photography by *kaishin*

Okay, here's my working recipe (I just came up with this recipe and have yet to work out any tweaks it might need in the write up of hte recipe.)

Crunch Potatoes

Take 2-4 medium russet potatoes, washed and cleaned.
Poke holes for steam to escape with fork on 4 sides and top and bottom,
then place inside a bowl large enough where a cover/plate or another bowl can cover on top, and cook on high for 4 min + 1-2 min per extra potato ( if 2 med. potatoes, then 5-6 min). Test with fork for doneness, add more cooking time if needed.

Take potatoes out and slice in half with a wet knife lenght wise, careful not to cut through entirely, then cut it crosswise in the same fashion into fourths.

Take a loaf pan and and line with foil, shining side out, grease bottom of foil with a bit of olive oil, then place potatoes in.

Dressing: take 2 cloves finely minced garlic & 3 tbsp. Olive Oil, heat up until garlic aroma comes out and garlic is softened. Use back of spoon to squash garlic bits a bit to release more flavour. Sprinkle coarse sea salt and fresh cracked pepper over potatoes, then drizzle dressing on top, use brush if need to spread better. place in oven while finishing off ribs (approx. 20 mins) at 350F on the middle rack to allow the tops of potato to get crunchy and lovely.

When ready, scoop up entire potato onto plate and allow it to fall open. Then garnish with chopped green onions/scallions or parsley.

Buono Appetito

Ginger Vanilla Creme Brulee

2006-07-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

Photography by *kaishin*

Hi everyone,

Finally got my recipe written out to my satisfaction... for those who asked for this recipe, thank you for your patience! Hope you enjoy using this recipe!!

Buon Appetito! - Kai

You need:

1 c Light cream 18%mf
2 c Whipping cream 33%mf
1 ½ tbsp Peeled ginger, coarsely grated
12 Large egg yolks
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 c Sugar
Extra sugar for brulee
8 med Ramekins OR 12-14 small ramekins

Steps:

Preheat oven at 325F
Place creams and ginger in heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then remove from heat, cover pan with lid, and let sit for 20 minutes.
Then strain cream into bowl with fine sieve, pressing on solids to release more flavour.
In separate med. bowl, gently whisk yolks, sugar, and vanilla extract to blend.
Gradually mix the cream into the yolk mixture.
Spoon custard mixture into ramekins, filling ¾ full only.
Place ramekins in large roasting pan, then pour warm water to fill pan, water reaching ½ way up to to the sides of the ramekins.
Bake until just set when ramekin is gently shaken, approximately 45 minutes.
Remove ramekins from water bath, and chill uncovered for at least 3 hours. Then cover and chill overnight if not serving right away.
Brulee or caramelize the tops of the custard...
Decorate with fresh fruits (raspberry and mint leaf) or a dusting of icing sugar, or leave plain.

Broiler:

Preheat broiler
Sprinkle sugar on top of custard, enough to rotate ramekin to get full coverage, and dump out extra sugar.
Place ramekins in roasting pan or tray, and place under broiler, watching and rotating the ramekins to get even caramelizing.

Torch:

Sprinkle sugar on top of custard, enough to rotate ramekin to get full coverage, and dump out extra sugar.
Use torch to caramelize sugared tops to a lovely bubbly caramel brown.
Let crème brulee cool down, so the tops can harden.

JiaoZi, Potsticker, Gyoza

2006-06-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

mix 3 cups reg. ground pork, 1 egg, 1 c minced chives, 1 T garlic, 1/4 c dark soy, 1 T salt, 2 t blk pepper, 2 Tsesame oil, and 2 T cornstarch. Then spoon into store bought wrappers and seal with a bit of water and pinch shut, then creat pleats. Cook right away or freeze for usage later. Cook in boiling water for 10 min when fresh, 14 min when frozen.

Durian - Dragon Fruit

2006-04-18T10:32:00.002-07:00

Photographs by Kaishin Chu © 2008.

Jason decided to purchase a fresh one of his own and thus our smelly adventure started and lingered in our apartment for the next couple of days.

.dash of food. | aStore

2006-01-27T06:16:00.002-08:00