November 10, 2016 In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy

A BETTER POPOVER/YORKSHIRE PUDDING RECIPE

[ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third] WE CAN ALL USE A LITTLE BETTER It can be depressing today, either for political or personal reasons (for me, both).  So let's not talk.  Let's just all, perhaps, realize something about ourselves and others today with, if you can, kindness and faith. I saw this recipe on a Bon Appetite's special baking issue, and it has proven to be much superior than my previous Yorkshire pudding recipes.  Mainly, because it allows me to completely forgo the "resting stage" that I had emphasized so strongly before, and that is because this batter is mixed with simmering milk which has prevented the gluten from forming by partially cooking the flour.  No more resting.  This batter can go straight from being mixed to being baked, into the glorious, optimistic, better puffs that they are. I can we can all use a little better today. [/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end][/ezcol_1third_end] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end][/ezcol_1third_end] [ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end] [ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end] [ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][amd-zlrecipe-recipe:131][/ezcol_1half_end]

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November 3, 2016 In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy

EGG FLORENTINE IN PULLMAN “BOWLS”, FOR CYNTHIA

WE ARE GOING TO DISCREETLY PAN-FRY THESE IN AN INDECENT AMOUNT OF BUTTER, UNTIL THEY ARE PRACTICALLY SOAKED ON THE INSIDES, AND DELICIOUSLY CRISPY AND GOLDEN ON THE OUTSIDES. YOU KNOW, THE BUTTER-EXUDING CRUNCH? [ezcol_1half] Have you seen Ben Stiller's movie, While We're Young?  Well, if you haven't, there's no need to really.  Given that it has its moments here and there, all in all, it's not entirely spectacular.  But the reason that I'm bringing it up is because - well, equally as unspectacular and unrelating to the majority demographic - I'm kind of in the same pickle. I'm 36 years old, and very early on in life, I have made a very conscious decision not to have children.  I'm happy married, stable, as far as I know, reproductively unchallenged and relatively speaking, mentally healthy, and I consider myself an affectionate if not responsible dog-parent.  So as I said, the decision is a very deliberate one and the reasons for which, well lets just say, don't quite belong in this post.  Uh, ok whatever, might you add, but where's my fucking pickle?  Well, this is where the movie might be more articulate, not to say much more entertaining, in illustrating my quandary.  Thing is, most of our friends,

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September 7, 2016 In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Sweets

SICHUAN PEPPERCORN BLUEBERRY OATMEAL PIE

[ezcol_1half] A SERIOUSLY FLAKEY PIE WITH BLUEBERRIES SCENTED WITH FLORAL SICHUAN PEPPERCORNS, MYSTERIOUS AND SUBTLE, AND CREAMY OATMEAL ON THE BOTTOM TO SOAK IT ALL UP [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end] Easy as pie.  I’m sorry.  Was that supposed to be funny? Pies are anything but easy.  In fact, it took me two years of really, really, humiliatingly sucking at it; and another three years of total denials and nightmarish phobias; and then another year to pick up the pieces of my self-esteem to try again; and then, finally then, last week, before landing on something that I feel happy enough to share with behind closed door.  And today, six years plus a couple tweaks later, to talk about it openly on the internet.  This recipe is my collected wisdoms on pie-making from years of failures and heartbreaks (think those pies as a house presented with a giant sink hole, sewage flooding and electrical fire, all at the same time). What it is, is a seriously flakey pie, like no-kiddingly flakey, with blueberries scented with a mysterious, floral tone from sichuan peppercorns that is subtle but distinct, and a bed of creamy oatmeals to soak it all up.  The sichuan peppercorns are not gonna make you go “Chinese food!“, ok?, it won’t.

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September 5, 2016 In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Noodle/Pasta/Rice, Travel

France Part II, and chicken w/ morels and rice pilaf

[ezcol_1half] ONE OF THE BEST DISHES I COOKED. I AGREE. [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end] Lourmarin is what it promises, a picturesque village in the Luberon region in Provence, and more. No matter what kind of cynicism you bring along, or distaste for anything that seems to fit too squarely into Martha Stewart magazines, you come here, you see it, and it's hard not to surrender, even just for a moment, under Lourmarin's somewhat curated but irresistible, undeniable charm. We arrived at 7 o'clock in a summer evening when this village draped with honeysuckle vines and buzzing bumble bees were casted under a slanted, pale blue light. With just one deep breath of its brisk, floral and light beige linen atmosphere, everything felt just right. May I even remind you that this was after 9 hours of driving from Lyon cutting through the gruesome, annual European migration to the south in the middle of August? If it weren't for the highlight of us stopping midway at an orchard, and me may-or-may-not having stolen a bright red apple and ran, the day would've all seem to be in ruin. That ain't pretty. But Lourmarin made it worthwhile. [/ezcol_1half_end] [ezcol_1third] (may or may not have stolen an apple from

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August 14, 2016 In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy

CHEDDAR SNOW BRUNCH CAKE

[ezcol_1fifth]  [/ezcol_1fifth] [ezcol_3fifth] GRATED WHITE CHEEDAR!  ON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING!!  ON TOP OF EGGY SPONGE CAKES!!! Hey, what’s up?  I’m in the middle of my France cross-country road-trip!  But to make you feel good as well, here’s a cheddar snow brunch cake!  It’s got double layers of sponge cake, loads of cream cheese frosting, and yes!, avalanche of grated cheddar snow!!! Gotta go now.  See you on the other side! Kitchenaid mini mixer in the house. [/ezcol_3fifth] [ezcol_1fifth_end]  [/ezcol_1fifth_end] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end][/ezcol_1third_end] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end][/ezcol_1third_end] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end][/ezcol_1third_end] [ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end] [ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end] [ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end] [ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end] [ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end] [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:122]

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May 13, 2016 In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry

ULTRA SOFT STRINGY, STICKY RICE BREAD

[ezcol_1fifth]  [/ezcol_1fifth] [ezcol_3fifth] Is it going to be blue or purple, this wall, or perhaps, a minty green?  Should I tile the bathroom, covering it in organized shines, or leaving it as is, a rustic plaster of diffused grey?  Those clusters, years of emotional settlements that are solidified in actual physical forms, are bothering me, a lot, and I want to dump them all away and start over, as if it could work both ways.  Did I mention these walls here where I stand, damn it, made of fucking concrete, are mockingly strong and defeating and apparently, impossible to drill through by whatever strength and tools I have left.  What's happened?  I used to be able to drill through lots of things, now apparently, not anymore.  Now I can only paint shit over.  Maybe there's nothing wrong with that, that it's just life bitch, but the mirror that came to us from an obliviously happy time of my life from a wholesaler in Jersey City, broad, reflective and inescapable, is now helplessly laying against the ground, catching things ruthlessly from a low and unnatural angel, a woman standing with her head cut off.  The mere wish to just to get it 3 feet up in perspective, to frame things, once

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February 24, 2016 In All recipes, Bakery/Pastry, Dairy, Sweets

ZERO-FOLDING PASTEL DE NATA, A HYBRID

[ezcol_1half] Ever since I came back from Lisbon, the question haunts me. What is a perfect pastel de nata? Well for me, now more than ever, that depends on who you're asking. If you were from the Asian parts of the world as I am, growing up, this wildly popular pastry since the 90's actually came from, and have always been, more as a Macao thing.  Sure it's known as the Portuguese-style egg tarts from Macao, the former Portugal colony famed for its many Portugal-influenced hybrid foods, but notice that it is NOT called pastel de nada, not even Portuguese egg tart, but ambiguously, "Portugese-STYLE" egg tart.  Style?  The name itself oozes deniability, suggesting that on one level or another, these tarts can't be expected as a 100% identical replica of the originals, but a mere adaptation of some sort.  Therefore with time, as the popularity of these tarts swept through every bakeries in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and even KFC (yes, they sell these at KFC here

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