Simple. Healthful. Delicious.

I’m talking about sliced asparagus topped with fried pancetta, on a bed of steel cut oats.

Who needs a recipe for something as easy as that? (Some do, if only for the methods, and I will happily oblige at the end of this post.)

People underestimate the value of their taste buds and instincts in the kitchen. I know that too well having been cooking-challenged for most of my life. I didn’t even bother to cook, because I (and everyone else) knew I was incapable. I was the one family members would silently worry about because I had no interest in spending time in the kitchen. Part of the reason for that was because cooking was not only a daunting chore, I was also afraid of the judgments to be made with the way I cook and the end product of my rare culinary attempt. The thought of cooking anything that does not provoke victorious gasps among meal partakers was just too much to bear.

So what changed? As much as I cannot stand to watch Rachel Ray these days, I used to like her pre-pre-Oprah…in her $40 A Day days when extended cable was my friend. Then I caught a few episodes of 30-Minute Meals when it started, when I had Food Network on all day, like…all day. Finally in September 2006, I found the very first recipe in my twenty-something adult life that, for some crazy reason, made me try cooking. It was..drum roll…Rachel Ray’s “You Won’t Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta” [The name of the dish still make me cringe]. Perhaps, I didn’t have to hide under the kitchen sink when asked who wasted all the ingredients with that kind of cooking. It was actually quite good, now that I looked at my blog entry then (not here). I enjoyed it so much that I cooked it again with linguine with sliced beef sausage and ham:

Yes, this is the actual photo I took of the 2nd dish I cooked, back in October 2, 2006 (thanks to Flickr and my blog archive, I don't have to commit everything to memory). It's inspired by Rachel Ray's "You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta."

I’m much more confident in my cooking these days, and can make something out of whatever is available. The kitchen and I, we’re like bread and butter now. Cooking and baking relax me, like meditative symphonies, and the outcome is something that others can enjoy–everyone’s happy.

Ms. I-Don’t-Cook, I am no more. Good-bye to the days of subsisting solely on someone else’s cooking, or making reservations for dinner so I can have my crème brulée fix. Today, I’m the one who misses cooking at home when I travel. I’m the one gently encouraging to friends and family to try recipes, because cooking good food could be so very easy AND delicious. It doesn’t take a magician or a day of labor.

And it took Rachel Ray to inspire me to get out of my (non-cooking) shell.

Recently, she and Jamie Oliver have been called out in this article as advertising and marketing “on behalf of the processed food industry.”

Jamie, for one, has promoted real food for the longest time. Both their recipes can be really quick, but they are a far cry from Hungry Man and Lean Cuisine dinners. Quick and easy meals may raise the eyebrows of food snobs, but the bottomline is:

Rachael Ray and Jamie Oliver bring people to the kitchen.

Jamie’s Food Revolution has stirred interest in the school lunches of America, and the way people eat in general. People need to start somewhere, and if these two can bring people home from the takeout/drive-thru line and out with their pots in front of their stoves and to the dining tables, then so be it.

A lot of us in the online food blogging circles take the time to cook, because first and foremost, we already love to cook. I have to constantly remind myself when I write and post recipes that, not everyone is like me. It is so easy to get tunnel vision when you live a certain lifestyle, are comfortable, and have time to ruminate on the good things in life, or how you could be less busy to make meals, but…

People do get busy. And tired. And lazy on some days. I don’t have kids, I don’t have any obligation to cook for anyone or attend to anyone, I work from home, and YET, there would still be days when I am just too swamped with work, too exhausted, and too famished to cook. I speed dial the pizza place. Or I take some French bread, slice some cheese, rinse some fruits, open a bottle of wine and call it Joy’s Awesome Dinner. There would be week-long stove lulls in favor of eating out with friends and re-heating take-outs, meeting work deadlines or riding over the lazy days. I’m sure you’ve had that. I can’t imagine what it must be like for parents who both work and have kids, and no sitter.

And then, there are so many people who don’t know where or how to begin cooking. And this could be for a variety of reasons: they never cooked, they don’t like cooking, they couldn’t care less about cooking, didn’t grow up around people who cook, etc. I  grew up with good food and family and household help who cook, and I was lucky enough to have learned the basics in school, and we even had meal-planning as part of our Home Economics subject. We even had to come up with our own recipe! It was a drag then, I admit. University was a cooking write-off, limited to a one-range stove to make breakfast, boil water for ramen, re-heat take-out, and make the occasional leche flan.

If you told me 5 years ago that I have to learn cooking for my own good, I would have brushed you off (and something worse that’s for your imagination). I wouldn’t see you eye to eye. Someone who loves to cook take joy in even talking about food, while someone who doesn’t would think the food lover needs to shut up about the juicy, garden fresh tomatoes already. Try to feed someone some good, simple, home-cooked meals and at one point or another you could get a conversation going about how easy it is to make and they could make it, too. It’s a process. You can’t push it, but you’ll just have to try and it’s not a chore for you because it’s something you love to do.

I used to avoid cooking at all costs. I progressed from a kitchen miser because of an inspiration. Oh, love! My approach to food is romantic at its very core. I’m not trying to make people cook or bake if they really don’t want to. I would love for people to appreciate good food, if not love it. Food is not only physical nourishment, but a body of more than the sum of all its ingredients–with it comes conversation, momentous occasions, a time to pause and relax, a wink, a smile…memories!

Of course, not every meal could bring butterflies in your stomach or be imprinted on your mind, but it can be enjoyed…alone, with company, to celebrate something, to banish a bad day, or seal a good one. Food can be that good. And it doesn’t have to be complicated, such as Asparagus with Steel Cut Oats.

Here’s the “Un-Recipe” for 2 vegetarian loving eaters, or 3 to 4 people enjoying this as a side dish:

For the asparagus: Wash about 450 grams of medium asparagus spears to make 2 cups, sliced. Slice diagonally, about a third to a quarter of a centimeter in thickness. In medium heat, melt a tablespoon of unsalted butter in a large frying pan until froth starts to turn brown. Saute asparagus for a few minutes until the bottom of the pan is almost dry. Add a tablespoon of water and allow to steam. Add 3 more, evaporating in between additions. Add salt and pepper to taste. Eat as is, with rice, quinoa, or with cooked steel cut oats and top with some fried-till-crisp pancetta or bacon for flavor.

Cooking steel cut oats (also called Irish or coarse-cut oats) as a stand-in for rice: Place 1/2 cup of steel cut oats with 1 cup of water in a small pot and cook in med-high heat. Once it boils, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for about 10 minutes or more, until you reach the doneness you prefer (I like it really chewy). Add water by the tablespoons if needed. I typically cook it like this when I am going to eat it for something savory. For breakfast, I go with the 1:3 oats to water ratio.

Do you have any favorite dishes that require no recipes? I’d love to know, so please share them in the comments!

Can you have a good cheesecake with just little sugar and no eggs? Can it be smooth and creamy, and melts in your mouth and before you could even think, you’ve already reached for your next bite? Why, yes and yes! Say hello to our family’s lifelong addiction: the no-bake cheesecake. This is also perfect for those who don’t like the heaviness of regular cheesecake. Perhaps you could even say it’s a tad better for indulgences, too. Maybe…I like to think that. -Joy

This is a personal invitation to try another favorite of our family. Signed, sealed, posted, it's yours to enjoy.

No-bake cheesecake and our family goes way, way back in the 80′s. My mother would spend Friday or Saturday nights on the dining table after dinner with her bowls, wooden spoons, stand mixer and springform pan to make cheesecake. The truth is, for the longest time I thought cheesecake was only made using my mom’s no-bake method. Hahaha.! Unfortunately, my mom doesn’t have the recipe anymore. I think everyone in our family will agree –that was gut-wrenchingly sad.

Uh, what are we going to do now?!

Sometime between my teenage years and our move to Canada, there was a cheesecake void in our household, we all got busy and us kids moved cities away for high school and university.

It wasn’t until 2002 or 2003 that I discovered (and had the inclination to make) a no-bake cheesecake recipe online. It didn’t quite taste like my mom’s but the methodology was close. I tweaked the ingredients until we were all satisfied with the taste. Then, at some point–GASP!–I lost the recipe. Gone. Not in my computer. Not in my mom’s. Our family friend, Tita Thess (go check her out, she makes gorgeous bead jewelry) even asked for the recipe many moons ago, but it turns out I never sent it to her. In between moving and traveling, and not being in the kitchen much, the recipe was gone. There was no trace of it.

….

For the longest time, I’ve put off creating a recipe from scratch to replicate my mom’s no-bake cheesecake because a) it’s so time-consuming to get the combination; and b) I almost had it and then I lost it! Exasperating to say the least. However, these are the things in life you just have to be grown up about and deal with–so I did. These were the only things I remembered it had and outlines my starting point:

• 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
• some amount of sour cream
• some amount of Knox unflavoured gelatin
• graham crackers
• sugar
• butter
• lemon zest (god…that lemon zest that I would forever associate with cheesecake!)

It’s rather vague to say the least. I’m looking at my notes on my calendar (yes, I know) and it was still back in the beginning of February. And let’s just say that my weight is pretty much indicative of the amount of cheesecake I’ve consumed to reach until March to get the recipe right. I just can be so dedicated to finding a “solution” to my problem that I will not stop until everything is resolved — in this case, until the taste, texture and consistency is correct.

How hard could it be to come up with our “holy grail” recipe?

I got the recipe for the crust right the 1st try, but the cake was lumpy because of the difference in temperature between the dissolved gelatin and the cream cheese mixture. It tasted good (not the best–too sweet), but one never should have to associate cheesecake with the word lumpy (= lame).

It doesn't look like much right out of the pan, but for our family this elicits groans with, "Put the topping already!"

On the second try, the cheesecake tasted better (still not perfect), but the texture was smoother. However, the cheesecake held up so well it almost looked fake, like when you buy cheesecake at a cheap establishment and it’s almost like buying white Jell-O. Not good.

You can make it party-ready by using the smooth edge of a table knife to scrape and smooth the cheesecake. Works like a charm.

And then the third: melts-in-your-mouth no-bake cheesecake. And I made it again and again. And it’s done.

It IS as good as it looks.

Nutella on crack — as in, Nutella made with more hazelnuts! Creamy, crunchy, and chewy Nutty Nutella Mochi (mochi = sticky rice cake) is like an Asian version of one of my guilty-pleasure chocolate, Ferrero Rocher. It’s very easy to make and lots of fun!

I used to be hooked on Ferrero Rocher as a child. I would have these gold foil-wrapped chocolates in my school bag and the pocket of my school uniform. When I discovered Nutella, it was like manna for my insatiable chocolate-loving young palate and definitely a much cheaper option than Ferrero Rocher. I would eat it mindlessly by the big spoonfuls (prior to Nutella, I consumed jar after jar of extra creamy peanut butter!). At some point I did learn to restrain myself…sometimes. Nutella lovers — you know what I mean, right? It’s just physically straining to not give in to the craving! Ha ha.

It is with glee that I will participate in World Nutella Day (hosted by these lovelies: Ms Adventures in Italy, Bleeding Espresso, and World Nutella Day) with this Japanese-inspired  treat:

I’ve always wanted to make stuffed mochi (addendum: I grew up with mochi or sticky rice cake, but we just call them by different names in the Philippines), so I thought I’d combine that with Nutella. And guess what? They are perfect together!

It’s very easy to make. Crushed hazelnuts and nutella are combined, lumped into balls and placed in the freezer to keep its shape when molding the rice cake around it. The rice cake is a combination of glutinous (sweet) rice flour, water and a little sugar. A little food coloring if you want to make it interesting. You can add flavors as you wish. The resulting paste is zapped in the microwave for a couple of minutes and then the wrapping begins!

The stickiness is the tricky part and it’s easy to solve by keeping your hands and work surface generously floured. Put in the freezer again to set. And voila! You got yourself some Asian Ferrero Rocher to snack on. No spoon needed.

I loved this experiment so much that I’m going to make more over the weekend. This will be a fun Valentine’s treat for friends, family and lovahs.

Happy World Nutella Day and Happy Friday!

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Dare I tamper with our Ultimate Brownies?

Yes, yes I did!!!

Hop on over to Craftzine for my guest post about the “healthier” version!

Here are the ingredients of the two versions, side by side:

Download the Original recipe:     

Download the Healthier recipe:  

This is the first pumpkin recipe I’ve ever made. Shocking for some of you, but growing up in the Philippines where pumpkins weren’t easily available, it’s not for me. I’ve never had the urge to buy them or even carve them, but I wanted to change that this year. I’ve inadvertently snubbed it in the the kitchen for far too long.

I picked some a common Asian ingredient combination: onions, tomatoes, celery, carrots and cilantro.

Sautéed them…

Then I threw in some ground chicken in there.

And all these lovely flavors when into these pre-baked ‘bowls’:

And voila, a very satisfying dinner:

I must admit that even though I didn’t grow up with this kind of dish, it did taste like comfort food. The chicken was a tasty complement to the natural flavors of the pumpkin. And the chicken ‘stuffing’? Boy, that’s surely a winner. I’d make that and mix it with rice anytime!

STUFFED BABY PUMPKINS
Ingredients

• 3 baby pumpkins

• 2 medium (2 to 3 1⁄4” in diameter) yellow onions, chopped

• 1 celery, sliced perpendicular to the length thinly (2-3mm thick)

• 5 garlic cloves, chopped (about 5 teaspoons chopped)

• 1 ripe tomato, chopped

• 1 medium (7-8” long) carrot, peeled and chopped

• 1-1/4 pounds ground chicken

• 4 stalks of fresh marjoram, stems removed, leaves chopped

• 4 stalks of fresh cilantro, chopped; and extra for garnish

• 1 lime, sliced

• vegetable oil

• salt

• pepper

• cayenne pepper

Equipment

• Any size baking sheet

• Large pan

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F with the rack in the upper middle part of the oven.

2. Wash pumpkins and place upright on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on  the counter for 10 minutes.

3. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F.

4. Slice the top portion of the pumpkin perpendicular to, and around, the stem using a serrated knife. Cut into the pumpkin to remove the stem. Take out the seeds and pulp with a spoon to clean out the insides of the pumpkins. Smooth the surface of the insides by leveling carefully with your paring knife.

5. Place pumpkins upright on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Set aside.

6. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil on a large pan over medium to high heat. Sauté yellow onions until they become translucent. Add and sauté the following ingredients, for 30 seconds each according, to this order: celery, garlic, tomato, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper, carrots and chicken. Mix the chicken with the vegetables for 2 minutes and cover for 10 minutes. Stir in 1⁄4-teaspoon cayenne pepper and cover again for another 5 minutes. Taste and add salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper as needed. I tend to like it spicy.

7. Turn off the heat and sprinkle meat mixture with marjoram, cilantro and juice of one lime. Give it a good stir before placing into individual pumpkin bowls.

8. Lightly put and press down stuffing into the pumpkin bowls. Distribute the juice of half the lime among the 3 pumpkins.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Cool on the counter for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with a cut stem of fresh cilantro.

I was told a while ago: ‘Every dish tells a story.‘  At the same time, food is meant to be savored with every bite. Since leaving the FoodBuzz event last week, I have had more desire to achieve more than I had since starting this blog.  Joy’s been an incredible inspiration for my cooking and I hope that this is a trend that continues.

Upon my return to the office, there was a flier posted next to the time clock, “Holiday Potluck!’ So I figure, Cool! I’ll make something simple, easy, and enjoyable. My first thought was a simple garlic mashed potato dish. A few days after that posting, the HR manager asked me what I was making for the potluck because she knew about our little journal from previous discussions.

“I’m going to keep it simple, garlic mashed, I think.”

“What? Don’t be boring! I’ve seen the stuff you guys make! Give us something more gourmet!”

A challenge, huh? I was game. So a few more nights passed, then it hit me. Of all the things of a Thanksgiving meal, there is not much that is not considered ‘comfort food’. Then I started thinking about the various comfort foods of a meal that could not only serve 30 people, but have the flavor and memories that follow with each taste.

I would stick with the potato idea. I browsed various sites for perfect dishes but nothing was out of the ordinary.  Then it hit me. Crème fraîche Loaded Whipped Mashed Potatoes! Yeah, try saying that to your guests at your next dinner party when you make this dish.

So, I decided I would not have a toungue twister and simplify it to “Gourmet Loaded Potatoes“. It is a relatively simple dish, but its attention is needed. If you stick with it, you’ll have an incredibly tasty, rich, and flavorful new spin on the potato.

I took this challenge head-on and I am proud of the results. I got rave reviews at the pot luck and I look forward to serving this dish again soon.

-Daniel

Gourmet Loaded Potatoes

Ingredients [Serves about 30, as a side dish]

• 10 lbs of Russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1/2 lb of thinly sliced pancetta
• 1 ½ cup of heavy cream, with extra just in case
• 1 7.5 oz package of crème fraîche
• 1 3-ounce package of cream cheese
• 6 tablespoons of butter (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup diced fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon salt (seasoned salt preferred)

Equipment

• Large bowl or strainer for holding the cooked potatoes
• Electric mixer

Preparation

1. Prepare the potatoes by submerging them in cold water in a large pot on medium-high heat. Add salt to the water and bring the pot to a boil uncovered. When you get to a rolling boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes, covered. At the end of the 10 minutes, try piercing a potato with a fork. If it goes straight through, it’s done. If not, cook another 4-5 minutes and check again.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, heat oil in a pan in medium heat and cook the pancetta. You’re looking for a total crisp, nothing undercooked or limp. This cooking time will change depending on your pan, heat, and if you used any oil to help cook. Remove from the heat and pat dry any excess oil or grease with a paper towel.

3. Drain the potatoes from the pot completely and set them aside. Put the pot back onto the stove.

4. Add ingredients into the pot in this order: butter, crème fraîche, cream cheese, heavy cream. Grab the cooked pancetta and crumble it as much as possible. Then add the potatoes back into the pot. By the time the potatoes get into the pot, the butter should be completely melted and the cream cheese should as well.

5. Add the pepper, chives, cheddar, and the remaining salt.

6. Blend all ingredients together with a hand mixer starting with the lowest speed and progressively working to medium, about 5 minutes. When everything is well mixed, check the consistency. If it’s not whipped and/or enough, add 1/3 cup of heavy cream and continue mixing for another minute. Serve warm and enjoy!

This is my ode to the beet. I love it. It is good steamed/boiled, but why stop there? Surely the humble, yet provocatively deep red-colored, beet has more to offer beyond the boundaries of salads, or worse, as a natural red food color. The result of an evening of inspiration and creativity was this Creamy Sweet Beet Pie with Hazelnut Crust. The yogurt syrup makes it even better. Oh my! Even the beet skeptic might be swayed to the beat of the beet!

•  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •

Like a northern snowbird, I headed south last week. To get used to the time, I had this not-so-great idea to tough it out on my first night: stay up, finish writing this, get some work done, and be early to bed the next evening to ‘reset’ my circardian rhythm. My thirty-something body, on the other hand, had other plans–like succumbing to exhaustion before midnight, not feeling my laptop slip from the bed and not hearing the heartbreaking sound of the machine hitting the hardwood floor. Nope. I had woken up in a daze at 3am, local time, and slowly realized that ACK! MY LAPTOP!!! Blood drained from my face when I saw it closed, but monitor at the bottom. #$&(*&%! I leaped from the bed to assess the damage, praying that the screen didn’t $hatter into piece$.  Thankfully, everything was still intact except for the corner dent, and most importantly: it still worked! Whew. After that, I couldn’t bring myself to push my luck in the staying-up-too-late-to-post department for the rest of the week.

•  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •

Beets, we meet again. You and your unpretentious exterior.

Your unassuming presence change once peeled and cut, and you resemble rubies or garnets.

Just looking at you make me smile. Jewels, you are.

Oh, god, I talk to vegetables. Secret’s out!

Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go back to being sane.

Enamored is an understatement as to how I feel about beets. I wanted to do something more than roasting and boiling them for salads. When I got more beets, I had PIE in my mind, thanks to the  apple pie and pumpkin pie I had in rotation in the kitchen, so pie it is.

For the crust, I wasn’t feeling the flaky dough crust, so I decided on a graham cracker crust. Well, well, guess who ran out of graham crackers (or crumbs)? Haha. I still had whole hazelnuts, so I ground them into powder consistency and added wheat germ and butter.

The ground-nut crust was borne out of last month’s almond-grinding for the macarons. Since then, I’ve ground more almonds and hazelnuts for crusts that have earned raves among family members.

The hazelnut and wheat germ crust went perfectly well with the beets.

It could have been a planet’s unattractive red surface at first glance, and I wasn’t quite confident of the outcome that I was ready to toss it if it didn’t turn out good. However, my doubts melted after I took my first bite. I was in awe of how good everything melded together. It’s an odd marriage of ingredients, spices and textures, for sure, which really made for an interesting dessert.

I wasn’t the only one taken by it, judging by how fast it disappeared from the pie plate, down to the very last crumb. And I mean…the very last.

If you haven’t had beets as a dessert, then here’s your chance! Yummy, yummy, yummy. Dare I say it’s even healthy?! I think so. :-)

Creamy Sweet Beet Pie with Hazelnut Crust and Yogurt Syrup

Ingredients:

Filling

• 500 grams fresh whole beets (approx 3-4″-diameter beets), peeled and cut into ½” cubes
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 7 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crust

• 3.5 oz shelled hazelnuts, ground to powder consistency in a food processor
• 2 oz wheat germ
• 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Syrup

• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup icing sugar

Equipment

• food processor (for grinding hazelnuts)
• 2 small mixing bowls
• 9″ glass pie plate
• 1 baking sheet
• parchment paper
• 1 medium mixing bowl
• 1 large mixing bowl
• aluminum foil

Preparation

For the Crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F with the rack in the lower middle position.
2. Mix ground hazelnuts, wheat germ, brown sugar and melted butter in a small bowl to create a gritty paste.
3. Transfer onto the pie plate. Press and level against the bottom and sides of the plate with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool on a trivet.
   Keep the oven on.

   For the Filling:

4. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour and spread cubed beets on the parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes. After removing, place the oven rack in the upper middle position.
5. Put baked beets in a medium bowl and toss with lemon juice.
6. Mix flour, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg using a spatula in a large bowl. Pour beets into the mixture and toss to coat.
7. Beat eggs with heavy cream in the medium bowl from #5 with a fork. Pour over the beet and flour mixture, and stir together with a spatula until there are no dry spots left. Assembling the Pie:
   
8. Transfer the beet mixture into the pie plate with crust. Level with a spatula. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
9. Remove pie from the oven. Increase the temperature to 400°F and place the rack in the lower middle portion of the oven. Cover the pie plate with foil and return to the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes.
10. Cool the pie (still covered with foil) on the trivet for 30 minutes, then uncover and cool for 30 minutes more.

    Making the Syrup:

11. Beat the icing sugar and yogurt together until smooth.
12. Slice beet pie and serve with yogurt syrup. Instead of the yogurt syrup, you can also top with vanilla ice cream or crème fraiche.

Notes

Beet preparation: The original recipe calls for cubed fresh beets that are pre-baked to cook and dry a little to make them chewy. You can also  shave or grate the beets if you have trouble chewing or if you don’t like them chewy; and you may then skip Step #4.

Serving suggestions: You can top the pie with vanilla ice cream or crème fraiche, instead of yogurt syrup. Best served warm. Re-heat in microwave for 10 seconds before serving.

Hazelnut Crust: Very versatile and I urge you to use it with other fruits (or veggies!).

In the course of my adventurous summer with food, when I tried ingredients I’ve never eaten or cooked before, I picked up a rutabaga. Also called swede, yellow turnip, or wax turnip, it is part smooth, part rough/hairy/bumpy, hard and so foreign to me. I laughed when I got home because I absolutely had no idea what it tasted like. I just assumed it can be boiled. Peeling it revealed what looks like a raw sweet yellow potato flesh. Trying to cut into it tested my patience. Be very careful when slicing it raw. Save your hands and fingers. They are tough little buggers that could roll off your cutting board and kitchen counter if you don’t hang on to them.

Ever since I got it, I can only think of cooking it with coconut milk.  No idea why, it just sounded delicious at the time. Then someone from Twitter asked me if I use turmeric in my cooking, and I replied ‘No’, so the next day I decided to remedy that and added the ginger-family spice. It made the rutabaga in this recipe even yellower. In Medieval Europe, turmeric was known as “Indian Saffron” due to its wide use as an alternative to the pricier saffron, and it is a significant ingredient in commercial curry powders, thus the resulting taste and color of a curry dish:

It was just the right blend of subtle flavors, without overpowering the rutabagas. Biting into each chunk of rutabaga feels like biting into a vegetable that is a cross between a turnip and squash, without the latter’s mushiness but a hint of its taste. I love that it holds its shape without easily disintegrating when cooked. The peppers were a nice complement to the rutabaga and coconut milk, and the turmeric added just enough character to the taste of the dish. Having this for dinner one quiet, dreary evening brought a smile to my face. I just love it when my food experimentation works out. Mmmmm….

Pork Cutlets with Rutabagas & Green Peppers in Coconut Milk

Ingredients (serves two)

• 1/2 lb tenderized pork loin cutlets
• 1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1- to 1.5-inch chunks
• 1/2 small yellow onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1/8 tsp ground turmeric
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper
• canola oil
• coconut oil

Preparation

1.    In boiling water with a pinch of salt, cook the chunks of rutabaga until tender; about 25 to 30 minutes in medium heat. Strain and set aside.

2.    Heat a large frying pan, with about 1/2-tablespoon canola oil, in medium-to-high heat. Once the oil is hot, cook each side of the pork cutlet till golden brown (not burnt), about 3 to 4 minutes each side.

3.    Lower the heat to medium and add 1/2-teaspoon coconut oil. Saute the onion slices for a few minutes until they become transparent, and then add the chopped garlic and bell pepper slices. Cook for a couple more minutes before adding the rutabaga chunks. Fry until the edges of the rutabaga begin to brown.

4.    Pour coconut milk, turmeric, and a pinch of salt. Stir and wait for it to boil before adding more salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Serve over the pork cutlets and enjoy with steamed rice.

I thought this post would never published, or if it would it would just be the photo with a sorry note attached to it.  For a couple of days I could not find (or remember) where I wrote the recipe for this magnificent (ok, I’m completely biased) frozen yogurt my brain spit out (glamorously said…). I made this two nights before the party when I began the flurry of cooking, and I put everything away during the clean up. Oops. That’s why it’s always a good idea to create a draft in WordPress of the recipe right after making something in the kitchen. I’ve lost many recipes  just because I didn’t write them down immediately or worse, lost them. Does that happen to you?

I made two flavors of frozen yogurt for my birthday: the raspberry one for something light and summer-y, and this for something sweet and creamy. It was interesting to see how our guests reacted to them. Some found the raspberry too tart for their taste, others find it welcoming on that hot summer evening. I also found out that one friend has an aversion to maple syrup because of a cleanse we both did. Go head, name that cleanse!

I love feeding a lot of people and hearing their feedback in one evening. The truth is–but I hope this won’t tarnish my “street cred” (haha!)–I don’t think my family or close set of friends have ever used any of the my recipes. Not a lot of them cook, and some just zone out when I start to talk about how to cook something. So really, cooking for friends and family is the best, if not only, way I will get to hear what they think about the dishes I make. Sadly. Thank god really, for my “online support group” called Twitter and this blog. Then again, I’m thankful for this spice of life! It wouldn’t be an adventure if you can find everything you need in one store, right? ;-) Always the positive thinker….and my glass is always half full–of something good:

Oh, yeah. A soft and smooth–no, SILKY–frozen yogurt that tastes and smells like caramel popcorn. Hello lovah! It goes really well with OR in coffee, between two pieces of Oreos, with rooibos tea, with hot chocolate or chocolate syrup, but I haven’t tried it with caramel popcorn. Hah.

People started calling it the Butterscotch ice cream at the party, and then later asked what exactly is in the butterscotch. Or if I put scotch in it. And caramel, too? Oh god, such a fun night of friends and family coming together to eat and laugh…

On a food geeky note: What is the difference between butterscotch and caramel? I wanted to know after being stumped at and after the party. According to whatscookingamerica.net, the difference is in the sugar used:

The flavor of butterscotch is a blend of butter and brown sugar.

Caramel is a mixture produced when granulated sugar has been cooked (caramelized) until it melts and becomes a thick, clear liquid that can range in color from golden to deep brown. A soft caramel is a candy made with a caramelized sugar, butter, and milk.

Basically the difference is the type of sugar used.

According to baking911.com, the difference is in the cooking temperatures:

Q: What’s the difference between caramel and butterscotch ?

A: Caramel is produced when sugar has been cooked (caramelized) until it melts and becomes a thick, clear liquid that can range in color from golden to deep brown (from 320° to 356°F on a candy thermometer).

The flavor of butterscotch is a blend of butter and brown sugar. It is popular for cookies, ice-cream toppings, frostings and candies. (Soft Crack Stage 270 to 288 degrees F)

Now, if you really want to complicate things (ah, research), here are the differences between caramels, butterscotch AND toffee from thenibble.com:

* Butterscotch and toffee are made by combining sugar, butter and water.
* Classic English toffee has no other ingredients than those—no vanilla, no chocolate, no nuts.
Toffee, made in a slab and broken up. Commercial toffee is made in a mold.
* Butter toffee is a redundant term: Toffee is made with butter, except in situations where mass marketers substitute cheaper fats.
* Butterscotch and American-style toffee, as opposed to English toffee, can add vanilla and other flavorings. Butterscotch is then boiled to the soft-crack stage (270°F to 290°F on a candy thermometer), toffee to a hard-crack (295°F to 310°F).
* Caramels add milk or cream (and sometimes, flavors) and are cooked at a lower heat, to the firm-ball stage (248°F). Both of these factors make them softer and chewier.
* If it’s soft, it’s caramel. There are numerous candies on the market called “toffee” that are actually caramel. More than a few caramel apples are erroneously called “toffee apples.” Feel free to point out to the vendor that if, in fact, there were toffee on the apples, you wouldn’t be able to bite into them.

Why did I even start to look these up? After talking to people, I wasn’t sure what to call this baby. Is Brown Butter Caramel correct? I’d hate to call it Brown Butter Butterscotch (tongue twister!). Why do I even insist on using “brown butter”? The brown butter makes this fro-yo The Fro-Yo. I eventually stuck with the first name that came to mind while I was making it, because it reminds me of caramel popcorn, with lots of brown butter. It tastes AND smells delicious! Yummy!

Finally, recipe time!

Brown Butter Caramel with Maple Syrup Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup milk (cold)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup (cold)
• 500 grams of Fage 2% greek yogurt (it’s the big/tub container) (cold)
• pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. In a small saucepan, cook butter in medium heat until it’s fully melted, the solids turn golden brown and the scent you can smell from it is not milky-buttery, but nutty — then you have brown butter. Immediately add the brown sugar and a pinch of salt, and wait for it to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set it aside on a trivet to cool, about 20 minutes.

2. In a blender (I used a Magic Bullet because of the small volume), blend the brown butter mixture with milk, until the sugar is fully dissolved and you get a homogeneous mixture. You will notice at the beginning that the sugar settled down at the bottom of your saucepan. You don’t want to taste solid sugar crystals in your frozen yogurt, so blending might take a few minutes to dissolve the sugar but it will be worth it. Cool it in the fridge or freezer afterward, depending on how patient you are, and just before mixing in the next step, pulse it.

3. In a large bowl, blend all the butter and milk mixture, yogurt, and maple syrup with a beater until well-combined. Transfer the mixture your ice cream maker according to its instructions and churn for 20-30 minutes, until thick. Mine thickened quite a bit faster than my fruit frozen yogurt, so just keep an eye on it.

4. As always, I recommend letting it rest for 24 hours before serving. However, you can always lick the ice cream maker, paddle, and spatula clean! ;-)

It took me a week to fully recover from my home-cooked birthday party and the blogathon, but it was well worth it. A huge thanks for my family and friends who came to celebrate with my mom and I for our July birthdays, and for those who sponsored me for Blogathon 2009 for the benefit of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. The party actually looked like a Facebook meetup, really, with my different groups of friends finally meeting each other after sort-of knowing each other on my Facebook wall and photos. Funny how this social networking goes. We had a fun party and I’m so glad that everybody was enjoying themselves and the food. That’s all that matters to me.

This Verrry Raspberry Frozen Yogurt was one of the desserts I made and served at the party. It’s so absolutely refreshing! Try it with (sweet) fresh blueberries…Oh my! Cold heaven in a mouthful. If you like a little bit of tartness with fruit, here’s your wish! It’s just a tad tart because of the yogurt complementing the yogurt’s tartness. A lot of our guest liked this over the sweeter and creamier flavor I made.

And I know why: This is the Perfect “cure” for the heat wave!

If you’re in the Pacific Northwest like I am, you know how excruciatingly hot and painful to bear this week has been, especially if you don’t have A/C. So come on take out your ice cream maker if you haven’t already, and make this! Put yourself out of misery now.

This is easy to prepare for your ice cream/frozen yogurt maker:

Verrry Raspberry Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3//4 cup water
• 350 grams fresh raspberries
• 500 grams 2% Fage Greek yogurt
• 1 cup cold milk

Preparation

1. Make a simple syrup by boiling water and sugar in a medium sized saucepan until all the sugar crystals are dissolved; no need to stir.

2. Add the raspberries and cook in medium heat until it starts to boil, then decrease to low-med heat. Stir with a heat resistant spatula, and occasionally pressing the berries against the bottom of the saucepan. You can mash it as fine or as chunky as you like. Cook until the mixture becomes thick, but not as thick as jam. Set aside to cool on a trivet first, then in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

3. In a medium sized bowl, pour all the (cold) ingredients and mix with a spatula first to avoid splattering, then with a hand mixer until well blended. You can add more fresh raspberries at this point if you like. Pour into prepared ice cream maker and mix until thick, about 30-35 minutes. You will notice that this does not thicken as fast as your usual creamy ice cream or frozen yogurt, but don’t worry.

Best if frozen at least 48 hours before consuming, but I won’t tell if you eat it right away!