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Sunday, February 27, 2011
| Quick Bread Mix |
Saturday, February 26, 2011
| Baking Powder Experiment |
J has a science project for his class. He chose to test out what baking powder does in a cookie recipe. (Yes, yes, yes, I had quite a bit of influence over his decision. ;)
After looking for a simple sugar cookie recipe with baking powder for awhile, I was surprised to find out that a lot of cookie recipes don't use any leavening agent. Who would have known that? I ended up choosing the Sugar Drop Cookie with Oil from Joy of Cooking
. For J's experiment, we made 4 batches, one without any baking powder, one with half the amount, one with the specified amount, and one with double the amount.
What's even more astonishing is that there wasn't any significant difference in the end results in either the size or the taste, other than that the batch with half the baking powder was a little softer. So puzzling. Can someone explain this to me? Maybe cookies are not the best thing to test out baking powder. Maybe I should have made some muffins or cakes?
Sugar Drop Cookies with Oil
adapted from Joy of Cooking
2 ½ all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar (plus more for rolling the cookies in)
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Combine the sugar and oil. Add 1 egg at a time, mix well each time. Add vanilla extract, mix well.
Add the flour mixture. Shape the dough into ½-inch balls. Roll in balls in additional sugar.
Drop the balls on a cookie sheet. Flatten a little bit.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
After looking for a simple sugar cookie recipe with baking powder for awhile, I was surprised to find out that a lot of cookie recipes don't use any leavening agent. Who would have known that? I ended up choosing the Sugar Drop Cookie with Oil from Joy of Cooking
. For J's experiment, we made 4 batches, one without any baking powder, one with half the amount, one with the specified amount, and one with double the amount.What's even more astonishing is that there wasn't any significant difference in the end results in either the size or the taste, other than that the batch with half the baking powder was a little softer. So puzzling. Can someone explain this to me? Maybe cookies are not the best thing to test out baking powder. Maybe I should have made some muffins or cakes?
adapted from Joy of Cooking
2 ½ all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar (plus more for rolling the cookies in)
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Combine the sugar and oil. Add 1 egg at a time, mix well each time. Add vanilla extract, mix well.
Add the flour mixture. Shape the dough into ½-inch balls. Roll in balls in additional sugar.
Drop the balls on a cookie sheet. Flatten a little bit.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
| Buried in Pork |
A week ago, hubby's friends came to visit for a little "ski trip" at Snoqualmie which is only 45 minutes away. After a few hours of skiing and a brief tubing session, we got back to the comfort of our home, simply relaxed and chatted. When they found out I had a blog, they asked if I cooked mostly Chinese food. While I denied it, I felt a little guilty that I've been posting mostly Chinese recipes. Maybe I HAVE been cooking more Chinese lately without even realizing it. =)
I seem to have a tendency of going to the extremes. To break the streak of Chinese cooking, I made a quintessential American dish - Pulled BBQ Pork, not on a grill, but in a slow cooker. It IS still winter after all. (We are even having a snow day today. *sigh*)
This is so easy that the most time consuming/labor intensive part of the recipe is shredding the roast. =) The 8-pound pork shoulder blade roast (Boston butt) yielded so much that it could feed an army. We'd probably still be eating this next month. (Yes, I did freeze most of it.) Next time, I'd try a smaller roast. Does anyone want some pulled pork?
Slow Cooked Pulled Pork
8 lb bone-in pork shoulder blade roast (about 7 lb 10 oz de-boned)
2 12-oz cans of light beer
4 small Spanish onions (about 14 oz), thinly sliced
BBQ sauce (about 2 ½ cups)
Lay half of the onion slices in a 7 qt slow cooker.
Remove the blade bone. Put the roast on top of the onions. Top with the rest of the onions. Pour the beer over the roast.
Cook on low for 10 hours, flip over half way through.
Take out the onions and the meat. Discard the cooking liquid. Shred the pork. Mix the onions and the pork with BBQ sauce. Put them back in the slow cooker, cook on low for 5 hours.
Mix with more BBQ sauce if desired. Serve in sandwich buns.
We are not an onion-loving household. The 14 oz of onions practically disappeared in the mounds of pork. Feel free to add more onions. I'd even consider topping the pork with caramelized onions.
For the BBQ sauce, you can use any brand you like. I made one based on Tomato Barbecue Sauce from The Gourmet Cookbook
. It yields about 2 ½ cups. If you’d like more sauce on your pulled pork, try doubling it.
Barbecue Sauce
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook
1 cup tomato puree
¾ cup cider vinegar
⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp apple juice
3 tbsp unsweetened pineapple juice
3 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cayenne
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Stir together all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 5 minutes.
I seem to have a tendency of going to the extremes. To break the streak of Chinese cooking, I made a quintessential American dish - Pulled BBQ Pork, not on a grill, but in a slow cooker. It IS still winter after all. (We are even having a snow day today. *sigh*)
This is so easy that the most time consuming/labor intensive part of the recipe is shredding the roast. =) The 8-pound pork shoulder blade roast (Boston butt) yielded so much that it could feed an army. We'd probably still be eating this next month. (Yes, I did freeze most of it.) Next time, I'd try a smaller roast. Does anyone want some pulled pork?
8 lb bone-in pork shoulder blade roast (about 7 lb 10 oz de-boned)
2 12-oz cans of light beer
4 small Spanish onions (about 14 oz), thinly sliced
BBQ sauce (about 2 ½ cups)
Lay half of the onion slices in a 7 qt slow cooker.
Remove the blade bone. Put the roast on top of the onions. Top with the rest of the onions. Pour the beer over the roast.
Cook on low for 10 hours, flip over half way through.
Take out the onions and the meat. Discard the cooking liquid. Shred the pork. Mix the onions and the pork with BBQ sauce. Put them back in the slow cooker, cook on low for 5 hours.
Mix with more BBQ sauce if desired. Serve in sandwich buns.
We are not an onion-loving household. The 14 oz of onions practically disappeared in the mounds of pork. Feel free to add more onions. I'd even consider topping the pork with caramelized onions.
For the BBQ sauce, you can use any brand you like. I made one based on Tomato Barbecue Sauce from The Gourmet Cookbook
. It yields about 2 ½ cups. If you’d like more sauce on your pulled pork, try doubling it.Barbecue Sauce
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook
1 cup tomato puree
¾ cup cider vinegar
⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp apple juice
3 tbsp unsweetened pineapple juice
3 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cayenne
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Stir together all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 5 minutes.
Friday, February 18, 2011
| Oh, Eggplants! |
Perseverance pays off!
I absolutely LOVE eggplants. It's one of my favorite vegetables. After years of tweaking the way I cook eggplants, I have finally figured out the recipe that hubby would happily eat without the "It's good, but I don't like eggplant." comment. (What a backhanded compliment! Isn't that just a nicer way of saying "not good enough to win me over"?) Even J loves it. I still need to work on D, but I'm confident that he too will come around in due time. =) Now I can buy a big bag of eggplants without any guilt thinking that I was being selfish making something that only I enjoy.
Eggplant in Garlic Sauce
3 long Chinese or Japanese eggplants (about 1.5 lb)
5 oz ground pork
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp chili bean sauce
vegetable or canola oil
⅓ cup chicken broth
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp corn starch
2 tsp soy sauce
4 tsp oyster sauce
Marinate:
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp corn starch
2 tsp soy sauce
1 ½ tsp water
white pepper
Marinate the pork in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Mix chicken broth, sugar, corn starch, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Set aside.
Cut the eggplants into 2 - 3 inch long sections. Quarter each section lengthwise. Microwave them in batches till tender. (About 5 minutes on high if they are not crowded.) Drain.
In a pan, heat 3 tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add only enough eggplant pieces that would fit in a single layer, cut side down. Pan fry for about 30 seconds till the sides are golden. Flip the pieces to fry the other cut sides. After 30 seconds, when the sides are golden, remove and drain. Repeat with more eggplant. Add more oil when necessary.
Leave about 1 tbsp of oil in the pan. Add garlic, when the aroma comes out, add the chili bean sauce, stir. Add pork, stir till no longer pink. Add the eggplant and the sauce. Mix and stir till thickens.
Serve with rice.
Traditionally, the eggplants are deep fried. Just like carrots, eggplants can absorb a lot of oil. Microwaving then pan-frying greatly reduced the amount of oil it takes, making it a much healthier alternative.
If you are a die hard eggplant lover like me, raise the eggplant to meat ratio, and adjust the sauce quantity accordingly. If you are a carnivore like hubby, resist the urge to add more meat. Trust me, 5 ounces are more than enough.
1 tbsp of chili bean sauce is still relatively mild. If you enjoy really spicy food, feel free to add more. I often reduce it to 1 tsp, so that my kids can partake in it.
I absolutely LOVE eggplants. It's one of my favorite vegetables. After years of tweaking the way I cook eggplants, I have finally figured out the recipe that hubby would happily eat without the "It's good, but I don't like eggplant." comment. (What a backhanded compliment! Isn't that just a nicer way of saying "not good enough to win me over"?) Even J loves it. I still need to work on D, but I'm confident that he too will come around in due time. =) Now I can buy a big bag of eggplants without any guilt thinking that I was being selfish making something that only I enjoy.
3 long Chinese or Japanese eggplants (about 1.5 lb)
5 oz ground pork
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp chili bean sauce
vegetable or canola oil
⅓ cup chicken broth
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp corn starch
2 tsp soy sauce
4 tsp oyster sauce
Marinate:
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp corn starch
2 tsp soy sauce
1 ½ tsp water
white pepper
Marinate the pork in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Mix chicken broth, sugar, corn starch, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Set aside.
Cut the eggplants into 2 - 3 inch long sections. Quarter each section lengthwise. Microwave them in batches till tender. (About 5 minutes on high if they are not crowded.) Drain.
Leave about 1 tbsp of oil in the pan. Add garlic, when the aroma comes out, add the chili bean sauce, stir. Add pork, stir till no longer pink. Add the eggplant and the sauce. Mix and stir till thickens.
Serve with rice.
Traditionally, the eggplants are deep fried. Just like carrots, eggplants can absorb a lot of oil. Microwaving then pan-frying greatly reduced the amount of oil it takes, making it a much healthier alternative.
If you are a die hard eggplant lover like me, raise the eggplant to meat ratio, and adjust the sauce quantity accordingly. If you are a carnivore like hubby, resist the urge to add more meat. Trust me, 5 ounces are more than enough.
1 tbsp of chili bean sauce is still relatively mild. If you enjoy really spicy food, feel free to add more. I often reduce it to 1 tsp, so that my kids can partake in it.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
| Happy Lantern Festival |
Happy Lantern Festival! I hope you all had some yummy sticky rice balls, just like us. =)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
| Braised Beef Noodle Soup |
In Northern China, noodles are sometimes more a staple than rice. Just like Western chefs are often tested by how well they can make eggs, I always order noodles when trying out a new Chinese restaurant. What seems simple can be a true test of the chef's ability to make something ordinary extraordinary.
Having a grandma who's an expert at making all things flour, I often judge by the high standard I was accustomed to. After making my own braised beef noodle soup, I now have a new found respect for noodle making. It is so time consuming that it's probably a good idea to find a favorite noodle house, just for the sheer convenience. Don't get me wrong, the result is exceedingly satisfying and totally worth it. And when you can plan ahead, definitely give it a try. Well, since I still haven't found such a gratifying place, I will just have to continue making my own when I get the craving.
Braised Beef Noodle Soup
Braised beef (recipe below)
Beef bone broth (recipe below)
Noodles
Vegetables such as baby bok choy, or spinach
In a bowl, fill ⅓ way up with beef bone broth. Add ⅓ bowl of noodle and a couple of spoonfuls of its boiling water. Top with a few pieces of braised beef, vegetables, and a couple of spoonfuls of the braising liquid.
Beef Bone Broth
3 lbs beef bones
1 tbsp cooking wine
1 green onion
4 ginger slices
In a pot with cold water, add all ingredients, bring to boil. Continue to boil for 5 minutes till all the blood drains out of the bones. Rinse the bones clean.
In a deep pot, add the bones, green onion and ginger. Fill with 12 cups of water. Bring to boil. Then turn the heat down to low. Simmer uncovered for about 3 hours till the liquid reduces to half.
Braised Beef
2 ½ lbs brisket (and or tendon)
2 tbsp oil
5 garlic cloves, peeled
1 green onion, 2 inch long sections
5 ginger slices
1 tbsp spicy bean paste
8 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp cooking wine
1 tsp white pepper
1 oz rock sugar
2 dried red chili peppers
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
5 Szechuan peppercorns
Put chili peppers, peppercorns, star anise, bay leaf, and cinnamon stick in a sachet.
Cube the beef. (You can dice them small for easy serving to children, or cut into large chunks like restaurants do.) Blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the size.
Heat oil, add beef. Stir for a minute till the outside are slightly seared. Remove the beef and set aside.
Add garlic, green onion, and ginger to the remaining oil. Stir till the garlic and green onion become yellow. Add bean paste, stir till the aroma comes out. Add the beef back in. Add cooking wine, soy sauce, white pepper, and enough water to almost cover the meat. Bring to boil. Transfer to a clay pot, add the sachet. Simmer for 2 hours till the meat is tender.
Add rock sugar, simmer for another 30 minutes to an hour.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE tendon. So I used a mix of brisket and tendon. Raw tendon is extremely difficult to cut, either have your butcher cut it or leave it whole and cut it when cooked.
I couldn't make this too spicy for little kids. You can adjust the amount of increase the chili bean paste to 2 tbsp, and add more chili peppers and peppercorns if desired.
Having a grandma who's an expert at making all things flour, I often judge by the high standard I was accustomed to. After making my own braised beef noodle soup, I now have a new found respect for noodle making. It is so time consuming that it's probably a good idea to find a favorite noodle house, just for the sheer convenience. Don't get me wrong, the result is exceedingly satisfying and totally worth it. And when you can plan ahead, definitely give it a try. Well, since I still haven't found such a gratifying place, I will just have to continue making my own when I get the craving.
Braised beef (recipe below)
Beef bone broth (recipe below)
Noodles
Vegetables such as baby bok choy, or spinach
In a bowl, fill ⅓ way up with beef bone broth. Add ⅓ bowl of noodle and a couple of spoonfuls of its boiling water. Top with a few pieces of braised beef, vegetables, and a couple of spoonfuls of the braising liquid.
Beef Bone Broth
3 lbs beef bones
1 tbsp cooking wine
1 green onion
4 ginger slices
In a pot with cold water, add all ingredients, bring to boil. Continue to boil for 5 minutes till all the blood drains out of the bones. Rinse the bones clean.
In a deep pot, add the bones, green onion and ginger. Fill with 12 cups of water. Bring to boil. Then turn the heat down to low. Simmer uncovered for about 3 hours till the liquid reduces to half.
Braised Beef
2 ½ lbs brisket (and or tendon)
2 tbsp oil
5 garlic cloves, peeled
1 green onion, 2 inch long sections
5 ginger slices
1 tbsp spicy bean paste
8 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp cooking wine
1 tsp white pepper
1 oz rock sugar
2 dried red chili peppers
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
5 Szechuan peppercorns
Put chili peppers, peppercorns, star anise, bay leaf, and cinnamon stick in a sachet.
Cube the beef. (You can dice them small for easy serving to children, or cut into large chunks like restaurants do.) Blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the size.
Heat oil, add beef. Stir for a minute till the outside are slightly seared. Remove the beef and set aside.
Add garlic, green onion, and ginger to the remaining oil. Stir till the garlic and green onion become yellow. Add bean paste, stir till the aroma comes out. Add the beef back in. Add cooking wine, soy sauce, white pepper, and enough water to almost cover the meat. Bring to boil. Transfer to a clay pot, add the sachet. Simmer for 2 hours till the meat is tender.
Add rock sugar, simmer for another 30 minutes to an hour.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE tendon. So I used a mix of brisket and tendon. Raw tendon is extremely difficult to cut, either have your butcher cut it or leave it whole and cut it when cooked.
I couldn't make this too spicy for little kids. You can adjust the amount of increase the chili bean paste to 2 tbsp, and add more chili peppers and peppercorns if desired.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
| Here Comes the Holidays! |
My parents have a big lemon tree in their backyard that produces the biggest, most beautiful lemons all year long. And best of all, they are 120% organic! While their clementines are what I miss the most about California, these are hubby's favorite. In the past, we only used the juice. Even though I felt extremely wasteful and guilty to throw away those plump lemon peels, I had no other use for them.
That is until I started making the Christmas presents last year. (Yes, I realize it's a little late to be writing about what to make for Christmas gifts, but I really didn't want my friends to find out what they were getting. Doesn't everyone love surprises?! =) In 2009, when I started reading food blogs, I fell in love with the idea of home-made Christmas gifts. So I cooked and baked, and cooked and baked some more, and gave everyone a box containing jam, cupcakes, crackers, candies, cookies, etc. totalling 9 varieties! While it was enormous amount of fun, it was also exhausting, and on top of that, I had way too much sweets left in the house. (Hubby and the kids didn't complain a bit! =) So last year, I decided to make something a little simpler but just as festive - panettones. And home made candied lemon peel is the perfect way to use the peels of the last couple of lemons from my parents.
For the panettone itself, I tried a number of recipes. Some got too hard to knead that the butter and dried fruit couldn't get mixed in evenly. Some were too crumbly. My final version is built on Joy of Cooking
's "No-Knead Yeast Coffee Cake or Panettone" recipe. It's not perfect, but it is very good, if I do say so myself. To make it more buttery might require more butter than I'd like to consume. =)
Panettone
1 cup of water 105 - 110 F
2 packages (1 ½ tbsp) active dry yeast
2 cup (240 g) all purpose flour
2 ½ (300 g) bread flour
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon rind
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp candied lemon peel, cut into tiny pieces (recipe below)
1 ¼ cup mixed dry fruit (golden raisins, raisins, craisins, apricots, mangoes, etc.)
Cut up candied lemon peel, and large pieces of dried fruit such as apricots and mangoes. Set aside.
Sift together 1 cup (120 g) of all purpose flour with the bread flour. Set aside.
Mix the yeast with a generous pinch of sugar in a large bowl. Pour in the water, and let sit for 5-10 minutes.
Stir in 1 cup (120 g) all purpose flour. Cover this sponge with a towel. Let it rise in a warm place for at least 30 minutes.
In the meanwhile, beat the butter until soft in a mixer. With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar, and beat till creamy. Beat in one egg at a time. Mix in salt, lemon rind, and vanilla extract.
Beat in the sponge when ready. Add the flour in 3 batches. Starting at the lowest speed, gradually increase the speed. When mixed in well, add the next batch. Switch to the dough hook after adding the last batch of flour. Let the mixer run for at least 10 minutes after the dough is mixed well.
Mix in the dried fruit pieces. Cover with a towel, and let it rise for 2 hours.
Cut a large piece of parchment paper to build a 7" tall wall inside a 7" springform cake pan. Grease the bottom of the pan. Punch down the dough, and transfer it to the cake pan. Tuck in the all the fruit. (Exposed fruit pieces might get burned.) Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes to an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Brush the top with melted butter. Bake for 55 minutes or till a skewer through the center comes out clean.
Candied Lemon Peel
2 large lemons, washed
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
Peel the lemons with a potato peeler to get strips of lemon peel. If there is too much pith on some of the peel, remove with a paring knife.
Blanch the peel in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse.
In a small saucepan, add water and sugar. Slowly bring it to simmer, whisk frequently, so that the sugar dissolves completely, and the syrup is clear. Add the peel to the syrup, and simmer for at least an hour till the peel is translucent and tender.
Remove from the syrup and dry for a day on a wire rack set over parchment.
Add some sugar in a small bag. Add a few pieces of peel at a time. Shake to coat the peel evenly with sugar. Repeat with the rest of the peel. Add more sugar when needed.
That is until I started making the Christmas presents last year. (Yes, I realize it's a little late to be writing about what to make for Christmas gifts, but I really didn't want my friends to find out what they were getting. Doesn't everyone love surprises?! =) In 2009, when I started reading food blogs, I fell in love with the idea of home-made Christmas gifts. So I cooked and baked, and cooked and baked some more, and gave everyone a box containing jam, cupcakes, crackers, candies, cookies, etc. totalling 9 varieties! While it was enormous amount of fun, it was also exhausting, and on top of that, I had way too much sweets left in the house. (Hubby and the kids didn't complain a bit! =) So last year, I decided to make something a little simpler but just as festive - panettones. And home made candied lemon peel is the perfect way to use the peels of the last couple of lemons from my parents.
For the panettone itself, I tried a number of recipes. Some got too hard to knead that the butter and dried fruit couldn't get mixed in evenly. Some were too crumbly. My final version is built on Joy of Cooking
's "No-Knead Yeast Coffee Cake or Panettone" recipe. It's not perfect, but it is very good, if I do say so myself. To make it more buttery might require more butter than I'd like to consume. =)
1 cup of water 105 - 110 F
2 packages (1 ½ tbsp) active dry yeast
2 cup (240 g) all purpose flour
2 ½ (300 g) bread flour
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon rind
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp candied lemon peel, cut into tiny pieces (recipe below)
1 ¼ cup mixed dry fruit (golden raisins, raisins, craisins, apricots, mangoes, etc.)
Cut up candied lemon peel, and large pieces of dried fruit such as apricots and mangoes. Set aside.
Sift together 1 cup (120 g) of all purpose flour with the bread flour. Set aside.
Mix the yeast with a generous pinch of sugar in a large bowl. Pour in the water, and let sit for 5-10 minutes.
Stir in 1 cup (120 g) all purpose flour. Cover this sponge with a towel. Let it rise in a warm place for at least 30 minutes.
In the meanwhile, beat the butter until soft in a mixer. With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar, and beat till creamy. Beat in one egg at a time. Mix in salt, lemon rind, and vanilla extract.
Beat in the sponge when ready. Add the flour in 3 batches. Starting at the lowest speed, gradually increase the speed. When mixed in well, add the next batch. Switch to the dough hook after adding the last batch of flour. Let the mixer run for at least 10 minutes after the dough is mixed well.
Mix in the dried fruit pieces. Cover with a towel, and let it rise for 2 hours.
Cut a large piece of parchment paper to build a 7" tall wall inside a 7" springform cake pan. Grease the bottom of the pan. Punch down the dough, and transfer it to the cake pan. Tuck in the all the fruit. (Exposed fruit pieces might get burned.) Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes to an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Brush the top with melted butter. Bake for 55 minutes or till a skewer through the center comes out clean.
Candied Lemon Peel
2 large lemons, washed
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
Peel the lemons with a potato peeler to get strips of lemon peel. If there is too much pith on some of the peel, remove with a paring knife.
Blanch the peel in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse.
In a small saucepan, add water and sugar. Slowly bring it to simmer, whisk frequently, so that the sugar dissolves completely, and the syrup is clear. Add the peel to the syrup, and simmer for at least an hour till the peel is translucent and tender.
Remove from the syrup and dry for a day on a wire rack set over parchment.
Add some sugar in a small bag. Add a few pieces of peel at a time. Shake to coat the peel evenly with sugar. Repeat with the rest of the peel. Add more sugar when needed.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
| Cafe Campagne |
I have told you about honey's weakness for duck, but I forgot to mention mine. Not only would I order foie gras at EVERY place (yes, I know that traditional foie gras is goose liver, though most, if not all, foie gras served in the US are duck livers =P) , my knees would go weak at the mention of duck too. So when I found out that Cafe Campagne, my favorite happy hour place, was offering the Twenty Buck Duck deal last month, I knew we had to go.
Hubby shared Soup du Jour ($6), a spiced carrot soup, with J. It was creamy and well seasoned. Hubby thoroughly enjoyed it, he didn’t even detect the ginger flavor that he dispises. However, cumin and ginger, such spices are more suited for matured taste buds, instead of a 6-year-old.
My Twenty Buck Duck started with Oeuf de Canard Poché. A poached duck egg sat on two thick potato slices deep fried in duck fat, with duck jus. I'm not big on runny yolk mixed into the dish, but I have to admit that it makes things better. Individual component wise, it was really bland despite the fact that the egg was flawlessly poached, the potatoes were perfectly fried. J, however, preferred this and ditched his soup.
My entreé, the Confit d'Cuisse de Canard, was a flavorful Muscovy duck hen leg confit with the skin beautifully pan fried to crispiness. Now, as much as I love duck, I often hesitate on ordering since I've had more than my share of dried out tough legs, and gamy breasts. I vaguely remember (I must be getting old and forgetful now =) visiting the Campagne restaurant upstairs during the Duck offer last year, and feeling disappointed. That's when Campagne dropped off of my favorite restaurants list. However, this time, Campagne has certainly rectified itself, even though the leg was completely intact, it was so tender that the meat fell apart at the lightest touch. The surrounding puy lentil ragout, studded with finely diced carrots, onions, and bacon, was wonderfully savory. Even the escarole pieces, soaked with the juice, was delightful. As picky as I am, I have nothing to complain about this dish! =)
Hubby's Steak Frites ($23) was roasted to a nice medium pink. It was served with garlic sautéed escarole (a little too garlicky for our liking), and crispy pommes fries. The star of the dish though, at least to me, was the Roquefort butter accompaniment. The smooth butter not only mellowed out the salty and tangy Roquefort cheese, it also made it lighter with a hint of sweetness. It was so good that even though I was already satiated with all that duck and lentils, I still couldn't help myself but smearing a thick layer of this on a large piece of bread. Yummmm!
Now, if only they have more dairy-free offerings, this would be the perfect place for us. (Yes, I know I'm greedy, but a girl can dream, can't she? ;)
Cafe Campagne
1600 Post Alley (between Pine St & Stewart St), Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 728-2233
Now, if only they have more dairy-free offerings, this would be the perfect place for us. (Yes, I know I'm greedy, but a girl can dream, can't she? ;)
Cafe Campagne
1600 Post Alley (between Pine St & Stewart St), Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 728-2233
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