Hello World! My name is Le Creuset. I am Kiwi and I have just arrived at Stephanie's house.
Friday, May 11, 2007
I did it
I finally bought a Le Creuset! Yay!! It sits on top of my stove top and I look at it everyday to enjoy its prescense. I will cook lots of yummy food with it. YAY!!!!
Hello World! My name is Le Creuset. I am Kiwi and I have just arrived at Stephanie's house.
Hello World! My name is Le Creuset. I am Kiwi and I have just arrived at Stephanie's house.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Grimaldi's - Brooklyn, NY
We went to the famous Grimaldi's in Brooklyn for dinner tonight and it was good. The crust was chewy yet crisp; and the cheese, tomato and toppings were perfectly proportioned. I really don't know how to describe this pizza but it is something that you will not experience anywhere else. Many people say it's the water of NY, I am beginning to believe so.
Our Pizza
Our Pizza
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Ate out all week
After a couple weeks of adventurous cooking, this week was a complete slow down. I ate out 5 times this week and haven't cooked once (my finace cooked for 2 days). There are ups and downs to cooking I guess. Just thinking about having to defrost the meat, wash the vegetables and do the dishes weighs me down. I wish I have a sous-chef who does all of the above for me.
Anyway, hopefully I can start again this week.
Anyway, hopefully I can start again this week.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
My grandma's croquet
This is one of my favorite dish growing up. The night my grandmother makes her special croquet means I will end up over-eating, again. I don't know the exact measurements of all the ingredients, so I can only approximate everything here. I have added some of my personal touch into this dish and surprisingly they turned out pretty good. Here is how I did it ...
4 medium size potatoes
2 chopped scallions
~ 1 pound of lean ground beef
shaved parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil to taste
Remove all potatoes skin and boil in hot water. When potatoes become very soft, drain the water and let them cool. Put the cooled potatoes in a large mixing bowl and mash. Mix in chopped scallions, shaved parmesan, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Marinate ground beef with soy sauce, salt, pepper, and sesame oil. Cook it in saucepan until done. Drain all sauce and let it cool.
Combine the chilled ground beef into the mashed potatoes.
When ready, use your hands and form the potato mixture into small round shapes. Coat the croquets with small amount of flour for browning purpose. Brown the croquets in a saucepan with canola oil and butter.
4 medium size potatoes
2 chopped scallions
~ 1 pound of lean ground beef
shaved parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil to taste
Remove all potatoes skin and boil in hot water. When potatoes become very soft, drain the water and let them cool. Put the cooled potatoes in a large mixing bowl and mash. Mix in chopped scallions, shaved parmesan, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Marinate ground beef with soy sauce, salt, pepper, and sesame oil. Cook it in saucepan until done. Drain all sauce and let it cool.
Combine the chilled ground beef into the mashed potatoes.
When ready, use your hands and form the potato mixture into small round shapes. Coat the croquets with small amount of flour for browning purpose. Brown the croquets in a saucepan with canola oil and butter.
Chicken linguine with white wine mushroom sauce
I was tying of a hearty pasta dish and I thought of an episode of Ellie Krieger's show on making a healthy chicken pot pie. She gave an alternative on making a traditionally heavy white sauce. I found a Chicken Marsala recipe from Food Network and incorporated the healthy elements into the dish. It still turned out really delicious and it was really easy to make.
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
All-purpose flour, for dredging
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces mushrooms (I used mini-portabella and oyster mushrooms)
1/2 cup white wine (Any white wine that you would drink)
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium size onion
LOTS of garlic gloves (I love my garlic)
Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them; pound with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet. When the oil is nice and hot, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Slip the cutlets into the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side until golden, turning once – do this in batches if the pieces don't fit comfortably in the pan. Remove the chicken to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.
I used dark meat here instead, because I'm Chinese and we dig our Chicken legs!
Lower the heat to medium sautee the onions and garlic until onions are transluent or brown. Add in mushrooms until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper.
Pour the white wine in the pan and boil down for a few seconds to cook out the alcohol. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the butter and return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for 1 minute to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.
I chopped up some peppers, leeks, cherry tomatos and baked them in the oven for about 25 minutes. I chopped a lot of parsley and mixed it with the baked vegetables for a side dish.
Here is my delicious meal
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
All-purpose flour, for dredging
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces mushrooms (I used mini-portabella and oyster mushrooms)
1/2 cup white wine (Any white wine that you would drink)
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium size onion
LOTS of garlic gloves (I love my garlic)
Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them; pound with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet. When the oil is nice and hot, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Slip the cutlets into the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side until golden, turning once – do this in batches if the pieces don't fit comfortably in the pan. Remove the chicken to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.
I used dark meat here instead, because I'm Chinese and we dig our Chicken legs!
Lower the heat to medium sautee the onions and garlic until onions are transluent or brown. Add in mushrooms until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper.
Pour the white wine in the pan and boil down for a few seconds to cook out the alcohol. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the butter and return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for 1 minute to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.
I chopped up some peppers, leeks, cherry tomatos and baked them in the oven for about 25 minutes. I chopped a lot of parsley and mixed it with the baked vegetables for a side dish.
Here is my delicious meal
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Spicy Beef Shank Stew
Inspired by the beef shank entry on Not Eating Out in New York, I have decided to give beef stew a try. I found a similar recipe on Food Network and gave it my own twist. Nothing was particularly difficult in this dish, it was just really time consuming and I did not have a big enough pot. So I ended up using this industrial size pot that I bought by mistake on Target.com.
My twist is that I put in Kaofu, a Shanghainese delicacy that my grandmother makes once in a while. It is dried bran dough and it soaks up all the sauces when cooked. It is really delicious and it is one of my favorite food growing up. I also added TONS of hot pepper flakes because I am addicted to spicy food. The only mistake I made was leaving the bone marrow in, which made the stew really oily. Joe didn't seem to mind but I had a hard time eating it. Next time I am going to start cooking this much earlier because it takes at least 3 hours to get the beef tender. So if you want to tackle this, make sure you start cooking in the afternoon!
This is what Kaofu looks like, you need to soak it in water before you cook it.
Alternated version of Emeril Lagasse's Osso Buco a la Romagna
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
4 (1 1/2 inch thick) veal shanks, about 12 ounces each
3 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped carrots
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 bay leaves
1 1/4 cups red wine
1 canned tomato paste
3 cups beef stock or canned low-sodium beef broth
Instructions
Place the oil in a Dutch oven and heat over high heat. While the oil is heating, season the shanks with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt and 3/4 teaspoons of the pepper and dredge in the flour to coat. Shake to remove any excess flour. When the oil is almost smoking, add the shanks and cook until well-browned on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the shanks to a plate and set aside. Add the onions, celery, and carrots to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and lightly browned around the edges, about 4 minutes.
Add the garlic, bay leaves, rosemary, remaining salt, and remaining pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine to the pan and stir to combine. Add the tomatoes and beef stock and return the shanks to the pan. Bring the cooking liquid to a boil, cover the Dutch oven, reduce the heat to medium low and cook, covered, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until the shanks are very tender and beginning to fall away from the bones.
Sorry, not a pretty picture ... but you get the point.
My twist is that I put in Kaofu, a Shanghainese delicacy that my grandmother makes once in a while. It is dried bran dough and it soaks up all the sauces when cooked. It is really delicious and it is one of my favorite food growing up. I also added TONS of hot pepper flakes because I am addicted to spicy food. The only mistake I made was leaving the bone marrow in, which made the stew really oily. Joe didn't seem to mind but I had a hard time eating it. Next time I am going to start cooking this much earlier because it takes at least 3 hours to get the beef tender. So if you want to tackle this, make sure you start cooking in the afternoon!
This is what Kaofu looks like, you need to soak it in water before you cook it.
Alternated version of Emeril Lagasse's Osso Buco a la Romagna
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
4 (1 1/2 inch thick) veal shanks, about 12 ounces each
3 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped carrots
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 bay leaves
1 1/4 cups red wine
1 canned tomato paste
3 cups beef stock or canned low-sodium beef broth
Instructions
Place the oil in a Dutch oven and heat over high heat. While the oil is heating, season the shanks with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt and 3/4 teaspoons of the pepper and dredge in the flour to coat. Shake to remove any excess flour. When the oil is almost smoking, add the shanks and cook until well-browned on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the shanks to a plate and set aside. Add the onions, celery, and carrots to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and lightly browned around the edges, about 4 minutes.
Add the garlic, bay leaves, rosemary, remaining salt, and remaining pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine to the pan and stir to combine. Add the tomatoes and beef stock and return the shanks to the pan. Bring the cooking liquid to a boil, cover the Dutch oven, reduce the heat to medium low and cook, covered, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until the shanks are very tender and beginning to fall away from the bones.
Sorry, not a pretty picture ... but you get the point.
I made bread!
How'bout your bread?
When you go out to a respectable restaurant, don't you always expect they serve good bread? It should arrive at your table warm, crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Spreading butter on it should melt instantly and absorbs into your perfect bite. Well guess what? I baked bread this weekend and I accomplished just that!
I found a receipe by Jim Lahey of Sullivan St. Bakery. Never tried this Hell's Kitchen bakery but the recipe is all over the web, it shouldn't be THAT hard to do.
And so I did it. As an amateur and first time baking bread without the right instruments, I made a fantastic loaf of bread. I encourage everyone with a free weekend to try this out. I paired it up with a curry chicken stew that is full of healthy ingredients such as celeries and carrots. I was so surprised I was able to pull it off! May be there is a bit of domestication in me after all!
Here is the recipe:
Potato No-Knead Bread
(makes 1 1 1/2 lb loaf)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 5/8 cups boiled water, slightly cooled
In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt and pepper. Add water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18 (or two days) at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
The trick is, the longer you ferment the dough, the chewier it gets. So test your patience, people!
Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put douhg seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats.
I used a stainless steel pot for baking and it still worked. This is an indication that it is the recipe that works, not the pot! Here is the pot I used. However, I did moist the pot with my olive oil spray. But it didn't seem like that would matter ... just a thought.
When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
My bread was utterly crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. It was heavenly!!
When you go out to a respectable restaurant, don't you always expect they serve good bread? It should arrive at your table warm, crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Spreading butter on it should melt instantly and absorbs into your perfect bite. Well guess what? I baked bread this weekend and I accomplished just that!
I found a receipe by Jim Lahey of Sullivan St. Bakery. Never tried this Hell's Kitchen bakery but the recipe is all over the web, it shouldn't be THAT hard to do.
And so I did it. As an amateur and first time baking bread without the right instruments, I made a fantastic loaf of bread. I encourage everyone with a free weekend to try this out. I paired it up with a curry chicken stew that is full of healthy ingredients such as celeries and carrots. I was so surprised I was able to pull it off! May be there is a bit of domestication in me after all!
Here is the recipe:
Potato No-Knead Bread
(makes 1 1 1/2 lb loaf)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 5/8 cups boiled water, slightly cooled
In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt and pepper. Add water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18 (or two days) at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
The trick is, the longer you ferment the dough, the chewier it gets. So test your patience, people!
Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put douhg seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats.
I used a stainless steel pot for baking and it still worked. This is an indication that it is the recipe that works, not the pot! Here is the pot I used. However, I did moist the pot with my olive oil spray. But it didn't seem like that would matter ... just a thought.
When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
My bread was utterly crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. It was heavenly!!
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