Tiramisu

This was a very food-filled weekend. After going into Nicole's for takoyaki and okonomiyaki, a couple of my cousins came over for a potluck. I made tiramisu for dessert, definitely tried and true ^^

Ingredients (Serves 6-10)
3 eggs, separated
0.25 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
475g mascarpone
1-2 shots rum (optional)
1 cup coffee
1-2 shots coffee liquer
200g ladyfingers
cocoa powder for dusting


Method:
Beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside.
Beat yolks, sugar and vanilla until creamy.
Add in mascarpone and rum and beat until smooth.
Fold in egg whites.

In a wide, shallow bowl, mix together coffee and coffee liqueur.

Spread a thin layer of cream on the bottom of a large bowl (2.5L) or rectangular pan (9x13).
Hold the ladyfingers so the flat side is parallel to the counter. Dip the bottom half into the coffee mixture.
Place the biscuits as a single layer, then spread the cream.
Arrange the next layer of biscuits so they are perpendicular to the first layer.
Finish with a layer of cream.
Cover and chill in the refridgerator for at least 3 hours for the biscuits to soften.
Just before serving, sprinkle with cocoa.

Comments:
If you are worried about bacteria, quickly rinse the eggs with hot water. Be careful not to leave the eggs in the water, or they will cook. You could also probably bypass this by using whipped cream and cream of tartar to give it volume.

Ladyfingers will soak up the liquid quickly, so don't keep it there, or it will disintegrate. If the biscuits still feel hard, don't worry. They will soften between the layers of cream.

Liquor is optional; it just gives it more flavour.
The easiest way to sprinkle cocoa powder is to keep some in a spice shaker and just shake it out. Any clumps should separate.

The ingredients for this are rather expensive, but it's worth it. You can get both the cheese and the ladyfingers at Italian markets for slightly better prices.

This is rather rich, so it would be a good idea not to serve restaurant-sized portions after a big dinner.


Verdict:
Did I not say "tried and true"? ^^ I love it, but Will's not so into desserts, so I can only make this when we have people over.

Samosa Garden (Circle Square on Kingsway) & Tipper Restaurant (Kingsway @ Victoria)

Ange is going to India soon, and so we wanted to get together. She does, however, have a bajillion assignments to complete, so she couldn't do dinner.

Will, Cindy and I went and had Indian food at Samosa Garden. Our food:
Fried Mogo:
This is deep fried cassava, and it really tasted like potato fries. I used the tamarind sauce exclusively, as the hot and sour sauce was too hot. I was just happy to get a grease fix ^^

Butter Chicken:
Super creamy, and the chicken was super tender.

Shahi Paneer-something:
This was basically cheese in butter chicken sauce, and dude, it was good! The sauce had more tomato and spices, so it was really tasty. Definitely my new favourite, since I tend to find that there's too much chicken in butter chicken for me.

Naan:
I love their naan. Fluffy, chewy and soft--perfect for dipping and wrapping!


Then we went to the Tipper for drinks and dessert. It had a nice cozy feel. Unfortunately, a lot of our choices were not available: Strongbow, Trufflicious Cake, Classic European Cheesecake, and Ice Cream for the apple pie.

I mean seriously? It's a Saturday night. Most restaurants know to restock on Thursday for the weekend crowd. The wine and beer that were available were good, but the tiramisu cheesecake was definitely purchased.. the centre was frozen -_-;;

I think it would be a good place to go for casual lunch or dinner..burgers, fries, pasta.

Mashed Cauliflower

Cindy found this alternative to mashed potatoes, and wanted a chance to try it out. (I know, why mess with something as perfect as potatoes, right?)

Being the foodie that I am, we got together for a dinner at home. I'd provide the pot roast (remember the leftover sirloin tip from a few days ago?) and dessert, and she'd take care of the sides.


Ingredients:
1 cauliflower
1 cup milk
salt to taste
paprika for garnish


Method:
Core the cauliflower and steam it until it can be pierced easily with a fork (~20 min).
Puree with the milk and add salt to taste.
Move to an oven-safe deep dish.
Sprinkle with paprika.
Bake at 350F until bubbly and some of the moisture evaporates.


Comments:
You can use whatever seasoning you would use for mashed potatoes.
The original recipe called for only 1/8 cup of milk. I couldn't get the blender to go with so little liquid.
I would mash it by hand, to get more texture and to make it drier. This felt like baby food because it was so smooth and almost liquid.


Verdict:
Surprisingly good. I suspect it would be better with the above adjustments. Will, unfortunately, does not like cauliflower, so the chances of this being on the menu again would be slim. I'll put up a post if I happen to trick him into thinking it was mashed potatoes.


For those interested, one of our desserts was Turtles Ice Cream--With mini caramel-filled chocolates shaped like turtles! ^^

Candia Taverna, W10 @ Sasamat

Last night, we finally addressed my Greek craving.

The place had a nice feel to it, and there were a few tables with guests; not bad for a Wednesday night.

Service was good, and prices reasonable, but the food itself was not as good as I am used to. Our selections:

Calamari:
The batter was too greasy and it was bland overall. The tzatziki was like hollandaise instead of sour cream or yogurt. weird.

Moussaka:

Their version was quite different. Instead of coming out as a lasagna-esque slab, it came in a metal dish. I would've liked it, if not for the fact that it was too salty.


Lamb Souvlaki:

Tasty, but the meat was poorly cut, so some pieces were ultra chewy.


I got my Greek fix, but next time, we'll go a little further down the street to Athene, or a few streets over to Kerkis.

Beef Stew

We had some beef that was suffering from freezer burn, and we didn't want to waste it. Coincidentally, beef was on sale, as were potatoes, so we decided to make this super easy dish that would last for days ^^

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs beef (our was a sirloin tip roast), 1" cubes
1 lb carrots, cut into 1" pieces
1 lb celery, cut into 1" pieces
1.5 lbs potatos, cut into 1" cubes
1 onion, cut into wedges
2 tbs Maggi seasoning
1 small can tomato paste
flour to thicken


Method:
Put the tomato paste into a 6-quart slow cooker. Use hot water to rinse out the can and pour the tomato juice into the cooker. Mix  so the consistency of the paste thins.
Marinade the beef in Maggi (similar to soy sauce) briefly.
Coat the beef in flour.
Throw all ingredients into the cooker.
Add water to about 2/3 up the pot. Mix well.
Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10.
If it is still too thin, add more flour and stir.
Serve alone, with bread or rice.


Comments:
You don't have to coat the meat in flour. It just helps to thicken the stew.

It helps to have the meat covered in water to prevent drying. Our pot's lid doesn't fit properly, so we've had problems with stuff drying out. Otherwise, most recipes call for the pot only being half-filled with water.

Roast typically comes in quantities much greater than 1.5 lbs. We cut some of the remainder into cubes for another day, and the rest of it is going to be a pot roast some time in the future. The meat is currently frozen; we hope to fish it out of the freezer before freezer burn sets in.

If you don't use tomato paste and instead use beef buillon for flavour, it's like Campbell's Chunky soup, only with fresh ingredients and some MSG.


Verdict:
EASY! LOVE the slow cooker. One of the best presents I have asked for thus far, and believe me, I've gotten many fabulous presents over the years, courtesy of my awesome friends ^^

Baked Chicken with Tomato Sauce

So I was thinking about making HK-style baked pork chop on rice. Two problems:
1. Will doesn't like pork, and would rather not have it if there is an alternative.
2. I would've had to deep fry the pork, and that's plain messy.

I found the recipe on bakedporkchopguy's blog, and adapted it for my own use.


Ingredients:
5 chicken legs with backs
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
oil for frying
4 tbs ketchup
1 tbs Worcesterhire sauce
1 tbs sugar
0.5 tsp salt
pepper
Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning
flour to thicken


Method
Rub chicken with seasonings and arrange in a deep baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Sautee the onions until partially cooked. Add in the garlic and sautee until fragrant.

Add the tomatoes and let cook until falling apart.

Mix ketchup, Worcestershire, salt and sugar together and add to pan. Mix well. Taste and adjust as needed.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and bake for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and take the chicken from the sauce and set aside.

Remove excess oil that has floated to the top of the sauce.

Sprinkle flour onto the sauce and mix to thicken.

Crack some pepper on top and serve with rice.


Comments:
I'm not sure why I have a 'comments' section as well as 'next time', when they could be combined into one. Anyway...

I used 5 legs because that's how many came in the tray.

I obviously was not thinking when I made this. Before starting on the sauce, I should have seared the chicken to seal in the flavour and to drain it of fat. The skin would've brown nicely to give it flavour.

You can use whatever you want to marinade the chicken. I was just going for the quick and dirty by sprinkling on Mrs. Dash.

I would probably use fish sauce instead of salt for more depth of flavour.

I kinda forgot to add in the flour to the pan, so that's why I did it at the very end. It probably worked out, since so much fat floated to the top. But next time, with the searing, I would definitely thicken the sauce a little bit first, though it might burn onto the baking dish.

We needed more sauce. I'd say 1 tomato and 1 tbs of ketchup per chicken leg. Plus one more tomato and tablespoon of ketchup for the pot. More, if you like to have lots of sauce on rice.


Verdict:
Yum! Just make sure you're not uber hungry, because the bake time takes a while.

Burgoo on 10th

Will took me to Burgoo today, and while I was originally going to try ratatouille, figuring I should know what something is supposed to taste like before attempting to make it, I decided to try out the mac and cheese.

We got there just shy of 6:30, and the place was mostly empty (yay! no wait time!).

A rundown of our food:
Bruschetta: the tomato was really good, and the garlic was not overpowering at all. I could, however, done with a softer bread.

Russian Borscht: had a bit of a twist in that it had cumin, or some sort of spice that was reminicient of curry. It could've been that there was so much pepper that my tastebuds had gone out of wack, but I can't be sure.

Irish Stew: I only had a couple bites, but it was good.

Mac & Cheese: The baked, browned cheese was great. The rest of it was ok. Maybe I had too much expectation going in, but I can't say I was wowed. I also think it was way too hot when it came out, and so, having delayed my gratification, I was knocking points off again.

Sticky Toffee Pudding: The top layer of sugar was way too sweet, but the bread/cake/pudding part was yummy.

Raven Cream Ale: as Will was saying, "you can't go wrong with a cream ale". In this case, it was true.

Black Mead: It was ok. I think part of the problem was that I didn't know what mead was supposed to taste like, and this had black currant in it, so I still don't know how mead is supposed to taste. It was kinda like vodka and juice.


Overall, the meal was good if you're really craving comfort food, but I think I'm much more of an ethnic cuisine kinda girl. I could've attained the comfort food from a pub.

Chicken Ciabatta

One of my favourite sandwiches. And ever so easy to make. It would pack well for lunch, as there are no soggy bits.

Stole this from Earl's. I loved having this for lunch, with shoestring fries. The cheese-meat-fruit combo is lovely.


Ingredients:
Boneless, skinless chicken breast
Mrs. Dash seasoning mix
Pepper
Olive oil for frying
Ciabatta bread
Havarti cheese, sliced
Blackcurrant jam
Anjou pear, sliced



Method:
Butterfly cut the chicken breast.

Rub some seasoning onto the meat.

Fry in a bit of oil until cooked. Set aside.

Slice the bread in half, like a hamburger bun.

Spread each half with jam.

Layer with pear, cheese, chicken, and top with bread.

Cut the sandwiches diagonally and use toothpicks to secure them.

Can be served warm or cold.



Comments:
Any cheese will do, but havarti and brie are excellent for their taste with fruit.

Any jam will do as well, though strawberry and currant tend to go better with cheese and chicken.

Apple, pear or peaches work best for the fruit. The crunch of pears and apples provide a nice contrast of texture.

Meinhardt carries excellent ciabatta for this. It is soft and spongy, whereas Cobs has ciabatta that is chewier and has large air pockets, making it harder to spread the jam.

Mrs. Dash seasoning is really just garlic and oregano. You can use whatever herbs you like for the chicken. It could be as simple as just salt.


Verdict:
LOVE!

Eggplant Roulade

I got this from the show "Fearless in the Kitchen" on the W network. LOVE the show, especially since it makes me feel better about myself. (The people on that show start off as EPIC failures as cooks, but they get really good at the end).

They are little rolled eggplant appetizers, with cheese, dried fruit and nuts on the inside.


Ingredients: (makes about 12 bite-sized rolls)
1 long eggplant
4 oz cranberry bleu cheese
pecans
olive oil for frying


Method:
Cut the eggplant in half so you get two short halves.
Slice into 1/4" slices lenghtwise, so you have about 12 slices all together.
Fry them in batches, about 3 minutes per side.
Let cool.
Just before serving, roll a bit of cheese and nuts into the eggplant slice. Hold with a toothpick.
Warm in the oven set to 325F until cheese is softened.


Comments:
It was diffiuclt to cut the eggplant into equal thickness, which then makes it hard to cook all of them without overcooking. Once the eggplant is overcooked, you can't really roll it.

Keep a close eye for when the cheese just starts to soften; you don't want all that cheesy goodness to ooze onto the pan and be forever lost.

The original recipe called for currants and pine nuts. Currants are hard to find here, and pine nuts are crazy expensive. I was originally going to substitute the currants with dried cranberries, but the cranberry was already in the cheese, so I skipped it.


Verdict:
Good. I liked the cheese-fruit-nut combo. Would be mm mm good, but the bleu cheese was a bit too sharp, even with the mellowing effect of the cranberry.


Next time:
I would use a less crumbly cheese that is great with fruit, like havarti or brie. It was rather messy to get the bleu cheese off my knife and onto the eggplant.

I would also consider roasting the eggplant in the oven, because I got really impatient waiting for them to fry. Maybe also, to get that nice browned flavour, I would set it on the top rack and broil it at the very end of the roasting time.

I am also curious as to whether or not this would be good as a round... as in cut them into round slices, roast them, cool them, then top with cheese and nuts and bake in the oven. I'm not entirely convinced that toothpicks are compostable, so this would be one way to get around that.

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

If I had known how easy and cheap it would be to make my own salad dressing, Will and I would not have thrown out so many half-bottles of dressing gone bad.

Found out via web the approximate ratios. Most of this was mix and taste until it tasted right, so I'm not even sure that this would qualify for the tag 'recipes' =P


Ingredients:
3 parts Olive oil
1 part Balsamic vinegar
1 part Dijon mustard
1 part Honey
Pepper
Dried parsley


Method:
Mix vinegar, mustard and honey with a fork. Taste it and make sure it is to your liking.
Mix in the oil, about a third at a time until it is the right consistency.
Season with pepper and parsley.


Comments:
The parsley will expand and give the dressing nice flakes.

Adding in more of any of the ingredients will not kill the dressing.

The emulsifying agent is the mustard, so if the oil keeps separating, even with a good mixing, use more mustard.

Olive oil is apparently somewhat delicate, so if you use an electric beater to mix the dressing, be careful not to overdo it, as the oil will turn bitter.


Verdict:
Thumbs up! I tossed it into a super healthy salad of red and iceberg lettuce, topped with orange peppers, grated beets, tomato, cucumber, boccoccini, and basil. I hit up 4 differ colours in one dish ^^


Next time:
Probably try out a sundried tomato vinaigrette.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

A nice, easy one to ease into foodblogging.

Found the recipe on allrecipes, but cut down on some of the sugar.

This recipe is supposed to make a dozen, but I decided to make bigger cookies, and had 8 in the end.


Ingredients:
0.5 cups unsalted butter, softened
0.5 cups packed brown sugar
0.25 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
0.5 tsp baking soda
0.25 tsp salt
1 tsp hot water
1.5 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips (milk this time, but should be semisweet)
0.5 cups chopped pecans

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F. Use the middle rack.
Cream together butter and sugars.
Dissolve the baking soda and salt in the water and beat it into the batter with the egg and vanilla.
Stir in the flour, chocolate and pecans.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Form the dough into golfball-sized rounds and space them about 2" apart on the sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until browned.


Comments/Observations:
There's gotta be a less messy way of creaming butter and sugar. I had bits flying around, and it happens almost everytime I use the electric handmixer.

The original recipe called for an ungreased cookie sheet, but lining it with parchment paper just made stuff easier to clean. You can reuse the paper, so I didn't feel too bad about using something that's disposable. Apparently, silicone baking mats tend to be slippery, so the cookies migrate during baking. Seeing how I don't have those, I can't say whether or not this is true.

I was a bit worried that the cookies would end up like stubby cakes, but they flattened out quite nicely.

The bake time will be shortened if the cookies are smaller, so start watching it at the 10-minute mark.


Verdict:
Yum! Especially with cold milk (or soymilk, in my case). I've been craving fresh cookies for a while now, and these did it, especially since they were soft on the inside.


Next time:
I might cut out even more sugar, since Will's got concerns about his genetic predisposition to diabetes. I wonder if it would work with just brown sugar...