. dash of food .

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)...

Photo posted by Kaishin Chu © 2007. 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 t...

(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 b...

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 pan...

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.

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) I n 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 cranbe...

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 ;-)