Kitchen Unplugged

Street Food of Hongkong: Vegetable-n-Fish Soup

2009-10-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

The food sold by streetside vendors usually is connected with junk food, fast food. Most of them are, but this one isn't.

When I was a kid my mom ran a tiny store selling some popular street food like soy pudding and chicken soup. Next to us there was a couple selling fish ball and lettuce soup.

Everyday after school I got to work at the store. One of the favorite parts of my job (it's soooo important to create fun from work :) :) was, going to the next store and looking into their soup's pot during the closing hours. All the soup was gone and left with a mountain of fish heads, fins and tails etc... why kid so amazed with such battlefield-like scene?... Those bones were never thrown out, the couple everytime just added in more new bits before making another batch of soup base. So every essence from old bones and a fresh taste from new bits all went into one soup pot!

Then the couple proceeded to washing and chopping the lettuce, mincing fish meat and checking every bottle of sesame oil. They prepared their soup exactly what every mama did at home except in a larger scale, so which never was junky nor fast.

Back then I could resist the calling from ice-cream truck and saved my money for their fish soup! With that light broth, tender fish balls, and peppery and sesame aroma, I almost quited from my mom to work for the couple :D

The street vendors don't really shape the fish paste into ball ... think of selling a hundred bowls a days it is just impossible to hand-make a thousand of fish balls. The vendors scrape a bit of fish paste into boiling soup with a wet spoon, so their fish balls are always irregular in shape. But just to cook to a few people, it really doesn't trouble me when I shaped the fish balls by hand.

The authentic version adds with a lot of white pepper and sesame oil, but now I'd like to try another version that skips the two, but put into arugula to maintain a peppery taste in soup.

Recipe of White Fish Ball, Lettuce and Arugula Soup (for 2 persons) To make the soup base, you will need:

fish bits (tails, fins, bones, heads, etc) of at least 3 fish
shrimp's shells and heads, a big handful
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 small carrot
1 leek, or spring onion, white parts only
oil, salt and pepper
water

Pre-heat some oil in a pot, saute the garlic and leek/spring onion over very low heat for a minute, then add carrot and water. After the water boils, drop the fish's and shrimp's bits, continue to boil the soup over medium-low heat (with little bubbling is good) for 1 - 2 hours. Salt and pepper to taste.

Best to leave the soup base overnight.

To make the white fish balls, you will need:

meat from one whole fish (the meat preferably not firm and flaky, I used dory)
3 - 4 shrimps, shelled
spring onion, green parts only (or parsley if you prefer), finely diced
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon of oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mince the fish meat and shrimp until they turn into paste, combine with oil, corn starch, salt and pepper. Shape into small balls, about the size of hazelnut

To finish up the dish:

In a serving bowl, place some chopped lettuce in the bottom.

Bring the soup base to boil, drop the fish balls in and cook until they just cooked, probably only take you a minute (overcook will make the fish tough). Spoon the soup and fish balls into the serving bowl. Drop a handful of arugula on top. Serve immediately.

Parmigiano-Reggiano & Potato Scones topped with Green Fig

2009-10-17T23:24:00.000-07:00

Whenever I have a chance to talk to my mother-in-law who lives in NJ of America in the phone, I like to ask her about the price of fruit and vegetable over there.

It is because back then their prices always scared me. Okay, apples are cheap, but I couldn't just live on them. I loved apricot and fresh figs, but forget it since there's no way I could afford them. I even felt guilty if I bought more than 2 red bell peppers which cost 3.99 or up high to 4.99 per pound.

Now my mil asks me how much for this or that, I'd say I'm not sure... I only know they are all real cheap so I even don't bother to look for the price tags. When strawberries were in season, people actually carried a whole tray away. We don't pick a few red bell peppers, we fill them up a whole bag... such and such... I just feel that they are essential food, if the manufacturers are already able to make giant tub of junky snack or 2 liter of soft drink under 2 dollars, they should have a way to set an affordable price to most fruit and vegetable too.

Oh well... back to the lovely green figs, we don't stuff them in bag, vendors would gingerly place them in a nice plastic tray for us. The purple figs and the green figs are the same sweet, for me I find the latter more refreshing and I can eat the skin as well. Green figs only appear in market for a very very short time that makes me treasure them even more.

I am disappointed that these scones didn't rise as much as I anticipate, probably due to my handling or the type of potato I used. But apart from that, I am actually love the moist interior which matches perfectly with the tender figs. I cut the scones into bite-size and topped them with green figs, they are such a pleaser on a high-tea table :D

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Bizcocho topped with date & sesame spread

2009-10-10T00:25:00.001-07:00

Recently my husband and I suddenly like to talk about our those years of living in Singapore. Our memory lane stretches to everywhere but always finally curls back to the weather: just h_o_t, every single day throughout a whole year. The city is very modern, and has many nice shops and malls equipped with air-conditioning. However it has nothing to do to someone like me who always loves to get out for a scroll. Back then I found myself mostly walking in the neighborhood area, in case I got heat stroke and passed out, my husband could come to rescue fast (ok, this part is only kidding :)

The fact is, the place where I lived was very charming. With a rather big malay population, I found their shops more exquisite, their food more intrigue. Another thing I liked a lot was the huge bazaars they set up for celebrating their religious events. Inside the market I was completely dazzled by their colorful clothing, blinking lights (similar the one we used for Christmas), festive music, sizzling food on hot grill... but then suddenly I stopped, by the stalls where they sold dried dates. Each variety was put in its own giant wood tray, and the trays were laid out a long row . I didn't count how many varieties or how long the rows were, but good enough to divert all my attention away from the buzz of exravaganza.

Probably because of the heat, or that long walk, or just feeling overwhelmed, I wanted nothing but very simple food like dried dates to pick up my energy quick. They were incredibly moist and soft, it could be too unecessary to let my teeth sink into the flesh!

Good dried date is already star on its own, so I won't do too much on this dessert.

I selected the dried dates which looked glossy and plump, able to see the carmel-alike moisture bursting out even better.

To make the spread, peel and pit the dates, stir in a spoonful of berry preserve, sprinkle a bit of toasted sesame seeds, mash.

Photo on left - spread the date spread between two bizcochos (plain sponge cake), top with fresh cream and zest of tangerine.

Photo on right - top the bizcocho with the date spread, a thin date slice and some sugar.

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How I do food styling when I'm in rush...

2009-10-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

I am going to draw the subject away from cooking this time :) Please let me state clear, I'm not any professional, but since we food bloggers probably have more or less the same limitation on equipment and resources, our experience in photo-taking could be more relevant to each other, I think ?!

How our photos coming out involve way too many topics, so this time I just limit to one area - food styling especially under the condition of no time.

Before I start, I already have the mood (of foto) set in my head. Like this one - very brown and warm; I got such feeling during the baking :D

I start taking photo before the sun is getting strong (harsh), for me usually at 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning.

The biggest enemy when we do thing in rush is stress. So here below I show you how I do it quick and how I deal with the stress...

Step 1 (left)

Work on a small table, like 50cm x 50cm. Bigger space requires more props, more planning on position, light source and such (meaning: time)

And use small plates (like saucers or decorative plates for candle are perfect), food got to be small as well.

Don't place all the garnish at once... do the basic/ minimum first (like my case just power sugar); as garnishing can be very tricky, what you think 'should be' can look like a road-kill in foto.

Position the food in the most safe/typical (or call it uncreative if you like) way, to let you have a few photos at least technically corrected. Later you can go crazy, if nothing works out you still have some decent photos on hand:D

Step 2 (right):

Then proceed more decoration to enrich the picture. I added one more spoon, and dropped the chocolate pudding on the brownies.

I wanted to focus on the second brownie, but that scoop looked so unattractive... so I either re-did the deco or swifted to focus to another brownie. I chose the latter

Step 3 (left): here I accomplished another batch of decent shots... up to here it had took me about 15 minutes. From now on my pressure was off, so I could play around the decoration, not to worry too much on ruinning it.

Step 4 (right): I tried placing a tiny, a very cute eating chocolate on the pudding... oops, it looked stupid :P

Step 5 (left): so I broke the chocolate, much better to me.

Step 6 (right): in between I also took some close-ups.

Step 7: Finale...

For me to make thing intricate or surprising got to be spontaneous. So I messed up that oh-so-predictable-straight-line-position, and causally dropped the spoons behind.

This shot turns out to be my favorite. All the food and the spoons are forming a circle, seemingly call me to 'dig in!!!' Hope you agree with me :D

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Pomegranate-sweet-n-sour fish on chard's flan

2009-09-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

For some reason sweet-n-sour pork is perceived as a tourist dish in Hongkong. But for no reason westerners are immediately seen as tourist by most waiters in Chinese restaurants. The waiters would react very differently... or more often, strangely and unprofessionally.

So my husband (back then many, many years ago) kind of hesitated to order sweet-n-sour pork in the beginning. He's already look different from us, he didn't want any more wrong association from this dish forced on by the waiters...

Those year 10 out of 10 times I would see, without asking the waiters took away his bowl and chopsticks, returned him with a fork and a plate. Then some of them just stared at us (actually him) during the whole meal, probably marveled at the maneuver on picking food with his chopsticks?

Oh, the focus of my post isn't to complain... in fact, every meal we still ordered the dish and had a big bite on that shiny and juicy pork in front of those Chinese waiters; you can tell the charm of sweet-n-sour flavor!

The idea to use pomegranate to make the sauce is from looking at those red stains on my cloth :D :D Its faintly critic taste goes beautifully with the fish. I just poached the fish to let the pure aroma from all the natural ingredients to stand out better. And the idea of the chard's flan (think of very smooth quiche just without a crust) is from a local magaize Comer bien issue 158.

Ingredients for making pomegranate sweet-n-sour sauce (sorry I eyeballed the amount so can't specify it here)

pomegranate juice... about 2cup
a clove of garlic
red bell pepper, about an half, chopped
1 ring of (from tin) pinapple, chopped, save the juice
vinegar
sugar
salt, corn oil
corn starch dissolved in water

Simmer the pomegranate juice until it looks slightly thicken
in a skillet, drizzle a bit of oil, saute the garlic and red pepper with pinch of salt for a minute or so over medium heat, then add in chopped pineapple, about 1/2 cup (or more) thicken pomegranate juice and the pineapple juice, simmer for 3 minutes after it boiling.
Taste the sauce, add some more juice, sugar and/or vinegar if necessary. Drizzle some corn starch liquid and stir quickly if you prefer the consistency even thicker. Remove the skillet from the heat.
You can coat the poached fish with the sauce like what I did here, or just pour the sauce over cooked meat.

Ingredients for making the chard's flan (per single serving)

big handful of chard leaves
2 or 3 bunches of flat-leaf parsleys, chopped
1 table spoon of Italian hard cheese, grated
1/2 clove of garlic
1 egg
a bit of milk
white pepper
salt
corn oil

Heat the skillet with oil, saute the chard leaves, parsley and galic, a pinch of salt and white pepper until they look soften. Further finely chop them or puree them. Let cool
Pre-heat the oven to the medium heat. Prepare a pot of hot water on the other hand.
Combine the chard mixture, cheese, an egg and a few tablespoons of milk, pour the mixture into a small baking cup. Let it sit into another bigger tray that fills with hot-warm water. Send the tray into oven and bake it over medium heat until the flan gets set.

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Cheese Cake with Fig and Pistachio

2009-09-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

One of my friends who is of Indian descent has been living in this region of Spain for 13 years.

After I moved here not for long, I called her for tea at 2:30 p.m.

'What?' her first response.

People don't start their lunch not until 2.

Since then I have lunch with her at 2:00. But when I'm at home, would stick to 'normal' hour.

Months go by a few more ladies join in. Most of them are local but have experience of living aboard. Yesterday we went to an Indian restaurant. This time one thing we talked about was the time for dinner.

One lady her and her son just moved to Switzerland. One day her son came home from a friend's (American) home with an unset stomach. He joined their dinner... the food wasn't the problem but the time, which was at 5 p.m. People in Barcelona have their dinner even later, at 10 p.m is pretty common.

My Dutch girlfriend when she was still at school in Holland, had dinner at 5, slept at 7:30. Now she asks us not to arrive her home before 10:00 (for dinner), then heads to the club at 2 a.m. Becomes one local...

Meal time in Hongkong is normal ... yes! I'm partial to it ... 12:30 - 2:00 for lunch while 7:00 - 9:00 for dinner. It is only in general, quite many restaurants open 24 hour (so as in the States too to be fair).

Anyone out there have the meal at an 'awkward' hour?

One more question, what can sooth an upset stomach after a spicy meal? I was told that milk or yogurt. So I have made this cheese cake (non-baked kind), topped with yogurt, for my friend yesterday.

Good to see you again!

2009-09-20T04:22:00.000-07:00

Canapé: (left) with hard swiss cheese and pickles (right) salmon mousse and roasted pepper and garlic

wow, I have been gone for 2 months. I didn't do much in Hongkong, I rather spent more time with my family. We ate out 1 or 2 times everyday, plus my mom always made something at home. Everyone and everything fought for the attention of my tastebuds...

Hongkong cuisine can be overwhelming (ingredients used) and complicated (cooking method). By the night time I felt the need to unwind myself so opted for the most simple food, like wine, oysters, bread. People from other tables were never able to sit still to enjoy their food, always jammed in some actions, like tossing dices, smoking turkish water pipes, pressing cell phones for sending sms or calls... but they didn't do each at different time, but all at the same time.

In the street I saw countless of ESO Canon camera (the high price-range ones) with an arm-length len. People struggled with snuggling their camera... and their young kids... and the melting ice-cream... and the flying away balloons...

Our life is frolicking confetti!

I wonder how they react when they sit in a tiny aeroplane seat for 12 hours...

... and when they see this sandwich: a lye roll with a slice of Gruyère and a bit of pickle.

Such roll was served to us during the flight to Zurich. It looked so 'sad' in the beginning, but no no no! I was so wrong; after one bite... heavenly!!! The simplest ingredients come together for a mighty favor!

Less is more.

I can't recreate lye roll at home, but I got some of the best artisan bread at local bakeries, starting from there I've done 2 types of canapé. Let this little fiesta continues in Barcelona :)

The ingredients for making the first canapes: You'll need good quality of artisan rolls, hard swiss cheese like Gruyere or Emmentaler and pickles

The ingredients for making the second canapes: You'll need salmon, milk, a yolk from salted duck egg, spice and cornstarch (all these for the mousse), roasted garlic, roasted red pepper and mint leaves.

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It is time for ...

2009-07-08T01:19:00.000-07:00

... summer vacation :D :D :D

I will be staying in Hongkong for 2 months. Not sure if I will visit the neighboring countries, but definitely I continue coming to see your wonderful blogs!!!

Peachsauce Muffins

2009-06-30T00:28:00.000-07:00

"Twinkie" (a long small cake in US) shape is also found in Barcelona. I baked the muffins in the paper moulds and found the texture pretty good.

Flat peaches have come to markets these weeks. They are very sweet and juicy.

There is a Chinese proverb, the back translation roughly is: Friends seeing each other once in a while, satisfied; but living under one roof; horrified.

Even the reason is just some little things, but two supposed-good friends once got to face it everyday, eventually it turns out to be nightmare.

It is so true, at least to one time which dated back to the last days of my college. School was just finished, my classmates, 4 or 5 buddy-buddies coming together formed a group, decided to take a trip to explore other countries. One group went to Eastern Europe, one to Western Europe, one to Silk Road, one to India, my group to Beijing, and many others...

As a result, for the "lucky" ones, those friends could just barely tolerate each other and waited until came back to Hongkong to breakup. For the "unlucky" ones, they splitted up in the middle of the trip.

There were only two groups still "intact" from start til' the end. The one to India, but one of the classmates was sick for 20 days during the trip, and the trip only lasted 21 days, what a bummer. And the other was my group.

Of course there were many time we argued, and so not talking to each other for a day. But everytime our team leader (we always put the blame on him...dear him) would come back with some cobs of corn (boy, they were bigger than my arm!) or a bag of juicy peaches to apologize.

Ahhh... that peaches! So good, so juicy, for days I wouldn't eat anything except peach!

Maybe, when two friends live together, just make sure the pantry filled with good food, probably that helps?!

Dried cherries were added in the batter. Personally I think they are too sweet, I'd prefer dried apricot next time.

I made these muffins simply because I have lots of peaches at home... the price now are real cheap (a euro or 2 for a big bag) and the taste is excellent... there were so many peaches left so I made some peachsauce (the same idea of making applesauce).

You may like to use any applesauce muffin's recipe you like, then replace the applesauce with the peachsauce. My muffins included semolina flour, poppyseeds and dried fruits in the batter.

To make the peach sauce, first peeled the peaches and removed the stones, sliced the flesh. Pre-heat a skillet, added a spoonful of butter, cooked the peaches over medium/medium-low heat with a spoonful of brown sugar. In a few minutes, more juice would be released and the flesh turned soft, used the back of a spoon to mesh the fruit, and continued simmering until the sauce thicken.

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Moist Coconut Tartlets (HK style)

2009-06-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

I am living in a business district in Barcelona. Besides of banks, lawyer offices and insurance companies, there are many cafes as well.

People come to office at 10. Around 10:30 they sneak out to have a cup of coffee, may or maynot have a mini sandwich but definitely some cigarettes, plus a long chat with their colleagues . At noon they'd have another coffee break since they have been "working" the whole morning. At 2:00 they're off for lunch, come back to office at 4:00. But an hour later ... oh you're so clever... yes, another coffee break! (A side note... the office hour in general is from 10 to 8, people do work for a very long hour, however their inefficiency is pretty well-known...)

I was half-joking to my husband, if I couldn't reach my bank officer/lawyer/insurance agent, I know where I could get them...

In conclusion, everyone loves cafe.

Hongkong people share a similar cafe culture... but minus the frequency... and we must eat, mostly sweet buns, pastries or tarts. In old time, these baked goods were loaded with butter, cream and eggs. This is the reason I think... back then the economy was kicking off, diversifed ingredients were imported, people were liberating their wallets, so as their stomach... So come to pastries and tarts, we like them very, very rich, from the inside filling through the outside crust.

Coconut tart is my all-time favorite. If you are a real coconut-lover, this HK-style tart is the ultimate! No no no, there is no custard inside, it is totally coconut-y! A couple of ingredients (like milk and butter) keep the filling soft, but leaving them overnight is the key to turn them moist.

(actually I made the tartlets weeks ago but couldn't post it as I had been sick. Now I am fanatically looking for the missing recipe ... please give me some time and I'd try to post it as soon as I can. Thank you)

Last but not the least, I am very happy to receive Beautiful Blog Award by Margot at Coffee and Vanilla. Being one of gorgeous blogs herself, Margot features delicious European and Caribbean cuisine, and actively promotes food blogging by organizing various events. So please check out the details of Beautiful Blog Award, you might like to nominate someone as well, or you would be the next one!

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Steamed Ginger Egg Custard, garnish with poached pears

2009-06-17T03:30:00.000-07:00

These two weeks my body has been fighting an infection (not serious), not sure because of it or the medicine I took, I just felt so weak. Some important emails are still pending, a trip should have been prepared but never start, house is dirty, family is lacking my care ... I even felt asleep on a dentist chair yesterday! Right away I told myself I couldn't live like this, I got to grab plenty of rest and eat something good. Last night I forced myself to sleep a few hours more (that makes a whole lot different!), then proceeded the latter... poaching pears in red wine, cooking ginger in milk, steaming it with eggs...

The pears I used for garnish are real tiny, the size is even smaller than a ping-pong ball's. They are just come out the market this week, vendors call them 'perita San Juan' (Sant Juan little pears). Actually many streets, places, schools, people and food are named after saints, some may have a story behind, some I really don't think so. (note later: I just realized June 23 night starts the traditional midsummer party, the celebration in honor of San Juan, St John the Baptist)

The whole dessert only takes minutes to prepare, most of the time is inactive anyway. Less work, more sleep and more nutrition make the best remedy :)

Recipe of Steamed Ginger Egg Custard

(yield: for 2 - 3 persons)

250ml milk
3 - 5 slices of fresh ginger (you can freeze the rest for next time or other use)
a pinch of salt
3 Tbps sugar
2 medium-size eggs

Use a big knife or the back of its handle to smack the ginger slices, place them together with sugar, salt and milk in a small pot. Slowly bring them to almost boil. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Whisk the eggs, just 30 seconds should be enough. Combine the eggs and the milk mixture.
Place a sieve under while pouring the milk into serving bowls.
Place a short rack inside a big pot, fill with water for 1 or 1 1/2 inches, bring the water to just about boiling. Place the bowls of custard on the rack, steam them with the lid close under very low heat... make sure the water is only simmering but not bubbling. Check the custard in the first 5 or 7 minutes ... make sure you dry all the water under the lid before you place it back on. My custards totally took less then 10 minutes to get done.
Serving the custard hot or cold.

Recipe of Poached Pears

Pears of your choice, preferably with firm texture after cooked. Mine are miniture so they don't need to cut, only peeled
Half glass of sweet red wine
1 cinnamom stick
1 slice of lemon
some sugar
some water

In a small pot, stir in wine, water, sugar, cinnamon and lemon, bring them to boil. Lower the heat, put the pears in, keep the liquid barely simmering for 30 minutes. I'd prefer soaking the pears overnight, but I run out of time so mine were soaked for 2 hours.

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Plantain Custard Roll (fried)

2009-06-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

Originally I filled the custard in the hollow plantain 'log', then the whole log went to deepfry. The custard is found to lost its sheen.

Can I speak Spanish? Not really. So I was a bit anxious before I visited a Peruvian friend.

Although it was around 4 in the afternoon , she had already prepared me a nice full meal :)

While she was serving me, she was also running in and out of kitchen preparing another meal for her husband. In order to cut all her running, I decided to stay with her in the kitchen. She was frying plantain... peeling, slicing, deep-frying, draining, seasoning... at the same time she was doing most of the talking, and listening my Spanish (the latter the toughest!). From that moment I realized that frying plantain got to be easy ... while cooking one still is able to entertain a foreigner!

A lot of food bloggers have been showing many wonderful plantain dishes, but my experience was only limited to making savory plantain chips, and eating it as-is (when it's totally ripen). So your comment to this roll is most welcome! The custard is made out of plantain, milk and egg. The roll is actually a cored whole plantain, coated with semolina and flour. The only thing is, after it filled with custard and went deep-fried, the custard lost the sheen and part of its flavor. Maybe I change to fill the custard after the frying next time.

The custard added in after the roll is fried

Recipe of Plantain Custard Roll

For the roll -

one whole plaintain, the skin starts turing yellow but still firm to touch
1 Tbp of very fine semolina
2 Tbps of flour
corn oil for frying
for finishing - ground coconut and icing sugar

For the custard -

(some plaintain... will explain later)
little water
1 yolk
2 Tbps white suger
1/2 Tbp flour
a good pinch of cinnamom
1 tbp butter
100 - 120 ml milk

To prepare the custard - First take out the plantain, cut off the two ends and hollow out the center with a help of very long and thin knife. Now we just need the scraping bits and the fruit from the ends for this custard. Dice the fruit, place it in a very small pot and cook with just enough water until it is soft. Puree. Dissolve the flour and sugar in milk, add into the pot and keep whisking. After it boils, lower to simmer for a few minutes, it should be thicken then. Taste the sweetness. Leave the pot off the stove, quickly whisk in the yolk, the butter and a pinch of cinnamom.
To prepare the plantain 'log' - Now the log is no longer curl up but straight after the ends cut off. Peel, brush with egg white and coat with the semonlina/flour mixture, fry in pre-heat oil for at least 10 minutes or until it is done.
Fill the log with custard (but I haven't tried this step... I fried the filled log instead). Sprinkle icing sugar and cococut allover. Serve hot.

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Pumpkin & Nut Pastry

2009-05-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt that there is another "you" living in another place or country? You and "You" aren't related although look identical. You two share the same thoughts, and seem to be aware of each other on some level .

For me the feeling can be creepy, so am very glad that it is only a plot for a foreign movie - la double vie de Veronique.

But in food, discovering its look-alike/ double in an entirely different country the experience is exciting though.

Louh-Pau Ban (back translation: wife's pastry) in Hongkong.

And Pastel Cabello in Barcelona.

LPB's filling has candied winter melon. Depending on how the bakers treat it, the texture can be gummy with crunchy bits. I thought very unique.

Until I tried pastel cabello. Probably there are various types, the one I had the filling was made out of pulp of pumpkin or gourd. The color appeared to be transparent and the texture was crispy also. I've definitely glimpsed a peripheral vision of candied melon!

Now I am not trying to recreate either of the pastries (candied winter melon isn't available in many stores, and I don't have a recipe for that store-bought pastel cabello), but the whole experience has just inspired me on making a pumpkin filling for a Chinese pastry crust. Is there someone else in somewhere doing the same thing?... mmm... ...

Recipe of Chinese Pastry Crust

(recipe courtesy Florence at Do What I like. I have changed a couple of things from the original recipe to suit my own taste

yield: 12 pastries

Dough A

100g flour
25g icing sugar
25g butter, cold, cut into cubes
30g water (adjusting it while forming a dough)

Dough B

100g flour
25g butter, very, very soft
20g corn oil (adjustable)
1 egg for egg wash

To form dough A - in a mixing bowl whisk to combine the flour and icing sugar. Drop in cold butter cubes, use finger or a pastry blender to further cut the cubes until the whole mixture has a texture of coarse cornmeal. Gradually mix in water and knead a few times until a soft dough is form. Divide into 12 small balls.

To form dough B- in a mixing bowl well combine the flour, very soft butter and the oil. The dough is tender and soft as well. Divide it into 12 small balls.

Roll Ball A to a flat circle, place Ball B in the center, wrap up and seal the circle, seal-side up.

Left photo - Roll the ball to a rectangle, from the short side roll it up. Up to this point the gluten in dough probably develops too tight, you may need to cover the roll-ups and rest them in fridge for 30 mins or so, therefore you will feel easier when you do the further rollings.

Right photo - Place the roll-up vertically, the seal-side faces up, roll it to a rectangle, and roll it up. Rest (cover and chill) the roll-ups for 30 mins again.

Roll a roll-up to a flat piece, you can use a mold or just create a free-form pastry, wrap into the filling. Egg wash each top. Since I wanted the pumpkin cook a bit longer, so I set my oven to 185C (Florence used 200C), bake pastries 30 minutes. Cool them off on rack.

Recipe for pumpkin and nut filling

yield: 12 small portions (a portion eqv to 1 tablespoon)

260g pumpkin, finely shredded
1/4 cup sugar
70g almond, blanced
20g unsweeten desiccated coconut
3 teaspoons poppy seeds
50g icing sugar

Mix the pumpkin with sugar, cover and stay overnigh in fridge. Place the pumpkin in a tea towel and squeeze out the liquid as much as possible.
Slightly toast the almond, then ground them.
Combine the pumpkin, almond, cocnut, poppy seeds and icing sugar. Mine the moisture is just perfect, in case of being too dry, I think it is possible to add some honey or maple syrup.
I chose to use a shallow mould, so the (raw) pumpkin is only spread to be a thin layer and able to cook through.

"Shanghai" scallion flat bread

2009-05-24T04:28:00.000-07:00

If the scallion bread is really from Shanghai, or what the one in Shanghai looks like, sorry I can't tell. But it is what Hongkong people like to call, and this is how the vendors like to make: a bit flaky, quite chewy, very aromatic and so highly addictive!

In the 80s and 90s in HK, vendors selling Shanghai/northern-style food were used to be everywhere, sort of like pizzerias in Roma or hotdog carts in NYC. But later, they one by one disappeared, is it due to the (bad) nature of HK people who always keep changing their taste, or due to the ridiculously high rent that killed their business? My husband and I are so sad that now we only find scallion bread at fancy restaurants. In order to charge a higher price, the bread is always overdone (creating excessive flaky layers and adding some lard bites), it is more like a pastry rather than a down-earth bread...

So a few years ago I decided to make my own... started from searching the recipes on internet, testing a few, improvised a bit here or there (no need for too much as the ingredients are so simple!). Since I have been making it many times, I can just estimate the amount. So when you make it based on my recipe, please do count on your eye-n-hand judgment as well.

You know how happy for a kid when the mom hands him/her a big lollipop? I saw the same happy face on my husband when I put down a plate of scallion bread :D

When I lived in US and now in Barcelona, there are not many local stores carrying scallion. They have something similar but that's from related onion family, however, in my opinion, they can't yield the best result (e.g. the green part is too fibery, tastes too dull... or too expensive). Scallion is available at all asian supermarket, and is very, very cheap :)

Ingredients (yield 12 - 13 bread, each about 9 cm in diameter x 1/2cm thick)

320g flour
1/4 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
2 tsp of vegetable oil (but not olive oil)
220 - 230 ml water, boiling hot
about 6 stalks (or more) of scallion
a small bowl of oil, set aside. With a brush
a small bowl of fine sea salt, set aside

Finely chop the scallion, I use the whole including the white part (but not the root though), but try to chop the white even finer as its taste is more pungent than the green part. Set aside.

Well combine the flour, 1/4 tsp salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl, set aside.

Boil the water, add in oil. Then pour most of the hot liquid into the flour mixture, stir very quickly and see how the texture goes, then pour the rest of hot liquid. The dough should be slightly sticky (it will dry up a bit when you work on it later), knead it a few minutes or until it looks smooth.

Place dough in a bowl, pre-greased, cover and rest for an hour.

Evenly divide the dough into 12 or 13 portions. Remember to cover those doughs that you are not working on.

Roll one ball of dough to a flat circle with a thickness of 0.2 or 0.3 cm thick. The dough is soft and tender, but shouldn't be sticky enough to require adding flour on work table.

Brush some oil, sprinkle a good pinch of sea salt and scallion. Check how much scallion I put on, it can go a little more, but not less.

Roll up the circle.

Coil the roll-up.

Gently press down the coil with your palm. Then roll it flatter to the thickness close to 1 cm.

Pre-heat a 9cm skillet, drizzle one teaspoon oil, place 3 slices of bread, cook for 3 or 4 minutes over medium heat. Then cook the other side for another 3 minutes.

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Vegetarian Gelatina, Medlar & Chrysanthemum Flavor

2009-05-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

Medlar only taste sweets after being bletted, so the skin wrinkles and turns dark brown. I placed those i-am-ugly-but-i-taste-good ripen medlar in the behind

In May while some fruit like cherry is swiftly arriving, some other sliently fading away from this city. But this fruit the local called níspero (medlar in English) has been steadily sitting on shelves throughout the whole month. Medlar is a little bit bigger than apricot with the same delicated golden hue. Once cut open, you'd see the seeds totally go wild though; they can be just three, or 6, or more, all tightly packed in the center, whick look so much alike to some tropical fruit in Asia. I was curious and so (... bought some, and ate some first :) :) looked up Wikipedia, and learnt that medlar is native to southwest Asia, like Iran. The flavor is claimed to be like applesauce, but to me more like plum, with a faint scent of parsimmon.

To produce the liquid for this gelatina, I boiled some medlar with dried chrysanthemum in water. I could have used dried rose in order to get a better look, but I gave up the idea as this flavor right now is so perfect! Very light, very delightful!

Next, to create jelly, instead of gelatin, I use a pure vegetarian option - agar-agar (see this previous post to see their difference).

You can replace medlar with other acid fruit, or simply puree the medlar to be more direct when you make the juice.

I took an extra step to cook the fruit all due to my allergy to most fruit... still not sure if to the fruit itself or to the pesticide that has been permeable into the fruit... but once the fruit cooked it won't cause me any allergic reaction. Anyone has similar experience like me?

We don't really eat the dried flower even it is edible as it is fibery. Agar-agar and dried chrysanthemum are widely distributed at Asian supermarket if you live overseas.

Recipe of vegetarian gelatin, medlar and chrysanthemum flavor

(for 4 persons)

7 very soft medlars, skin and stone taken out, sliced
500 ml water
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp agar-agar powder
15 dried chrysanthemum

Bring the water and the medlars to boil, add (most of the) sugar and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste the sweetness, it requires slightly sweeter than you normally like as it will be just perfect after it's cold.
Once the liquid cools off, cover, keep (including the fruit) in fridge for one day.
Drain the fruit, I got 450 ml of liquid. Add in agar-agar and flower , bring the liquid to boil, keep stirring until agar-agar totally dissolved.
Drain out the flower, pour the liquid in molds. Drop in the flowers if desire for garnish. If the flower floats on the top, just wait when the gelatin 50% set, push down the flower with a toothpick.
Chill the gelatin in fridge until it totally sets, may take a couple of hours.

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Chocolate Spiral Pastry filled Chocolate Fudge

2009-05-14T05:15:00.000-07:00

East meets West... this pastry combines an Asian pastry crust and a western filling. In Hongkong, the pastry usually comes with white crust (no chocolate added) and fills with sweet paste that made from lotus seed or azuki (tiny red) bean.

My American husband likes Asian food, still (but it's very usual), he can care less about the sweet paste that I've described. How to make the pastry more appealing to him? The thought about it led me replace the filling; as a result I decided on chocolate fudge.

The pastry crust is very flaky. Making it is much less complicated than that of European pastry. I think it should have deserved much more attention/priase worldwide because it is pretty, unique, delicious and easy!

Whole-heartedly thank to my old blogging buddy Angie, who first introduced this pastry to me. Although now she is inactive in blogging, I will always remember all the food she made :)

Recipe for the chocolate spiral pastry (crust only) (yield 16 pcs more or less, the size of a ping-pong ball)

The orginial recipe is from Chinese Pastries III at the blog of My Kitchen:My Laboratory

Ingredients

Dough A (white)

100g flour
14 g powder sugar
40 g cold butter, cut into cubes
40 g water
a tiny pinch of salt

Dough B (chocolate color)

90g flour
45 g oil
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 tablespoons of coco powder
a tiny pinch of salt

For Dough A, well combine the flour, the salt and powder sugar. Drop in butter cubes and further cut them by a pastry blender until you got the texture similar to very coarse cornmeal. Add water and form a dough. Divide it into smaller balls, each weight 20g.

For Dough B, well combine the flour, oil, sugar, coco powder and salt until a dough is formed. Divide it into smaller balls, each weight 15g.

Roll one white dough to a flat circle, wrap in a chocolate dough, close the circle. Seal side up.

Roll the ball to be a rectangle with the thickness near 5mm. I rolled it too thin and broke some laminates, ended up a less puffy pastry :( Roll up the rectangle.

Place the roll-up vertically as the photo shows, the seal-side faces up. Roll it again and form a rectangle, this time it turns out to be shorter and rounder. Use a very sharpe knife to cut it into two halves, cut-sides face up, chill them in fridge for at least 10 minutes.

Turn the roll-up's cut-side down, roll it flat with a thickness of 3 mm, place the filling in the center, wrap up the dough and seal it gently. Bake the pastries in a pre-heated oven with 185C temperature for 30 minutes. Depending the type of filling you use, otherwise the pastries store well for 4 or 5 days.

Recipe of Chcolate Fudgy Filling

note from me: I was aiming for a rather chewy texture similar to brownie, instead of bombons, so you'd find flour in my recipe. I don't totally satisfy with the result, need to work on it again. But the followings are what I did.

1/3 cup flour (thinking of cut it down further)
1 1/2 tablespoons coco powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
a tiny pinch of salt
6 oz good chocolate (I like milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet), finely chopped
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 egg yolk

In a mixing bowl, whisk to combine the flour, coco powder, baking soda, salt. Set aside.
Slowly melt the chocolate over a double-boiler. Once it turns smooth, remove from the heat, combine with corn syrup and the yolk (feel the temp of the chocolate which shouldn't be too warm). Then well-combine with the flour mixture.
Chill the fudge in fridge until it sets, scoop up a spoonful and roll into a ball.

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Another Danish Pastry Dough (light)

2009-05-05T04:31:00.000-07:00

Danish pastries are not supposed to be weight-watcher-friendly.

And they are not supposed to be easy to make.

However, this danish is light(er) and easy(ier). But if you know me, less fat or less work can't make me feel interested enough, unless the taste. Yes, it is very delicious.

I have been using this regular danish pastry dough, and always love it. Probably because of this tangy strawberry preserve I made, or this comfortable spring weather, I desired for a pastry that could be light on palate. So based on that original recipe, I reduced 30% of butter and quit the heavy cream totally, then replaced with little creme fraiche and lemon zest.

Technique-wise, the author breaks through the traditonal method - the dough wrapped with a big block of butter and being pounded to flat - which doesn't exist anymore. Instead, the flour is simply mixed with chunked butter. Even one (painful) step is omitted, good understanding on how gluten behaves and good rolling skill are still essential. If you are very good at making pie-crust, I believe this danish is a beeze to you.

Recipe of Danish Pastry Dough - light version

yield 10 - 12 pastries

the recipe is inspired by Beatrice Ojakangas, a professional baker in America, and her excellent book, The Great Scandinavian Baking Book.

25 g fresh yeast
520 g flour
220 g cold butter (I used Irish butter which I think has the best flavor)
1/2 + 1/4 cup skim milk, lukewarm
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
a pinch of salt
70g creme fraiche
zest from a half lemon

How-to:

In a small bowl, whisk milk, sugar, salt, egg & 1 yolk, cream franchie and lemon zest. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, carefully break the fresh yeast into the flour.
Preferably doing this step in a very cool room if you can't work fast and efficient... cut the butter into 2-cm-thick, drop them the flour. Use a pastry blender to further cut the butter cubes until they have the size of kindney bean. Then add milk mixture and stir to combine. The dough should be sticky and very thick. Cover, and refridgerate for 4 hours or overnight.
For the rest of steps and photos, please refer the original recipe's direction (starting from the 4th step)
After the last rolling and resting finished, roll the dough to your desired thickness, mine was about 1 cm. Divide to individual-serving portion, create some pattern if you wish, spoon in some fruit preserve (any of your favorite filling). Cover the pastries and rest them for an hour.
In the meantime, pre-heat oven to 210F
Bake the pastries in a 210F-overnfor 5 mintues, then lower to 190F until they turn golden brown.

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Almond Milk Pudding (vegetarian)

2009-04-29T05:26:00.000-07:00

Almond Milk Pudding, garnish with strawberries. The milk is from the first pressing, enriched with flavor and all-white color.

If you don't know what agar-agar is, think of gelatin but in a vegan-friendly form. Some gelatin can contain slaughter by-products but agar-agar is derived from seaweed.

This pudding is made out of dairy-free almond milk (home-made), thickened by agar-agar.

I remember agar-agar dessert was very, very popular in Singapore (and also its neighbor countries), not sure if it relates to the significant portion of population who don't consume a certain kind of animal meat. Anyway, they made amazing agar-agar desserts. Just for this already worth my staying.

We use gelatin and agar-agar the same way. Which is better? For me, I'm totally on agar-agar!

Agar-agar jelly is slightly firmer and gummier, it definitely gives out a better "mouth-feel".

Besides using with the traditional fruit juice like pineapple or orange, it goes particularly well with coconut milk. It doesn't limit itself in sweet treat, agar-agar strips are commonly added into (savory) salad because people simply enjoy the chrunchy texture.

About a month ago, markets in Barcelona started selling strawberries. They were a bit tasteless back then. Now another supply just arrived, maybe they are now in their peak (?), that's why they are so sweet... and inexpensive (for 2 euros I got a small wood case). Can't wait to use them in this dessert :) :)

The milk is made from the 2-nd pressing (repeating the process as followed), the flavor is just sufficient but it doesn't have much white color

Recipe of Almond Milk

(yield 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup of almond, blanched
2 cups of water
1/8 cup white sugar (for less sweet)
almond extract (optional... for more bold flavor)

Process the almond with the water, and soak overnight
On the next day, pour the almond mixture through a tea towel to another container. Sneeze the towel very tight and try to sneeze out all the milk.
Mix it with sugar and bring it to boil. Taste.

Recipe of Almond Milk Pudding

yield: 2 - 3 persons

1 1/2 cups almond milk
1 1/8 teaspoons agar-agar powder (for firmer texture, goes to 1 1/2 tsps)

In a small pot, whisk the almond milk and agar to combine, bring them to boil until the agar dissolves. Pour the mixture into containers, after they cool off, chill in the fridge until they set, that may take 1 or 2 hours.

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Simple cookies

2009-04-19T04:02:00.000-07:00

I come across a couple of cookies recipes, they call for hard-boiled egg yolks only.

Interesting. Why someone rather takes the fuss to fix one single ingredient? Isn't it more quick if we use raw yolk, just like most recipes do?

It is my thinking: some food is already there and it may go waste if we don't pay attention. Some recipes like this just put it to good use, at least it is my case.

I love hard-boiled egg, but still I'd throw out some yolk (for less cholestrol in-take) if I eat more than one egg. See? I have already had the ingredient readily available, no fuss, no being waste.

The yolk after cooked carries great flavor, could it be a reason to explain why these cookies are so tasty? Somehow they remind me of the delicious danish cookies that sold in a blue tin :)

Ingredients: (yield 18 cookies) The recipe originally is called Norwegian Butter Cookies, from "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook", written by Marion Cunningham,

4 oz good butter, soften but not melting
1 hard-boiled egg yolk
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
a pinch of salt (if your butter is not salted)

How-to:

Pre-heat oven to 375F
Whisk the butter, sugar and yolk until it is light and fluffy
Combine with the flour (and salt if used) and the yolk cream until a soft dough is formed
You can use a cookies presser. For me, I just divided the dough into 18 portions, place them on a baking tray, gently press each down a bit to form a disk before create a thrumb print. Bake them for 10 - 12 minutes.
Remove them from the tray, and let cool completely on the rack.
To garnish, I add cream cheese filling, topped with organic edible flowers and mint leaves.
Without any garnish/topping, the cookies keep well at least 3 days if keep in a air-tight container.

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Gold Potato & Spring Onion Focaccia (proofing in fridge)

2009-04-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

Just a thought... each post's heading and photo are going to mark with "by: gattina, posted in: gattinamia.blogspot.com" ... could it be effective to stop people lifting my materials?

Or... it just makes me look stupid?

A few weeks ago there's a storm in the food-blogsphere. A guy, without asking, blindly scrapped the posts from some bloggers and put them at his site. I say "blind" because, he even lifted the whole content of one blogge's post, but in which was actually complaining about his stealing.

My deepest impression on this incident is the kindness of the foodblog-community though. Lara, Mango Power Girl and one anonymous, even we may not have any contact to each other before, quickly informed me about my posted being stolen. Thank you all!

This focaccia is surely more than enough for four of us, so you come to join us too? :)

I have been liking the previous potato focaccia, since my taste and life style have changed (the former goes lighter, the latter goes laxer), this time I give it a couple of impoverishments.

First about potato. The previous recipe uses a rather large quantity of baking potato (e.g. russets). I cut it down to a half, aiming for a more spongy bread. But I specified Yukon Gold Potato since I totally adored its buttery-tasting flesh.

Second, I retarded the fermentation by proofing the dough in fridge overnigh. Two benefits here. The bread is tastier since those herbs, olive oil and potato are given more time to develop the flavor. Last but not the least, what is better than prepared everything a night before; next day I, literally effortlessly, can have a hot and fresh foccacia for brunch.

Ingredients: (yield: 9" x 13")

8 oz (about 2 medium-small of) gold potatos, or any type that yields a good flavor
f25g fresh yeast
3 cups flour (+ 1/4 cup for dusting)
1 cup whole milk, lukewarm
2 tsps sea salt (and extra for topping)
5 tsps corn oil
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil ( and extra for drizzling on top)
2 tsps dried crushed oregano
a little water (if the dough too dries)
a handful of spring onions, chopped, use the white and pale green parts
a little chilli flakes or red peppercons

How-to:

Boil the potatos until it's done, mash them right away while still hot (as easier). Let cool completely
In a large mixing bowl, combine fresh yeast, flour, potatos, oregano, two oils and salt. Add milk (most of it but not all... later during the kneading after you get a good feeling of its moisture, then to decide more milk or not)
Keep that 1/4 cup of flour handy, dust the work table with it. Knead the dough until elastic and smooth. Please note that the dough in the beginning feels a bit dry, but later turns sticky (so don't rush to add excessive liquid too soon). The dough should be slightly sticky.
Put the dough in a pre-grease (with e.v. olive oil) large bowl, cover with pre-greased cling wrap, place the bowl in the lowest shelf of the fridge, let it proof overnight.
Next day take the dough out and fold it (but not knead) a few times, just to re-distribute the yeast cells.
Grease the baking tray with olive oil, and your hands too; gently press the dough until it reachs the sides. If the glutin too tight the dough would refuse to spread, then, let it sit (cover with a damp towel) for 15 minutes and try again. Sprinkle the spring onions and a bit of chilli flakes. Cover with a plastic, let rise until it has a double of the volume.
In the meantime, pre-heat oven to 230 C
Bake the focaccia for 5 minutes, then lower to 200 C until it's done, it may take 20 - 25 mins in total. Unmold the bread and let it completely cool off on a rack.
The focaccia tastes best in the first 2 days.
Good enough to make 6 sandwiches, or simply to cut into chucks, accompanied with tomato sauce.

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Prawns in garlic-n-chilli olive oil

2009-03-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

It is a dish that I love to order in a restaurant in Barcelona, which is famous for Galicia cuisine (north-western Spain).

Slow-cook (so in a very low heat) lots of sliced garlic and one chilli in a generous amount of olive oil (not extra-virgin), then raise up the heat and saute some fresh prawns (pre-salted) until they're about half-way done. Put the prawns in a cray dish and carefully pour in the hot oil until it cover the prawns so that the heat continues do the cooking. By the time we dig in, the prawns will be perfectly done!

My dearest friends, I am now going to New Jersey and will be back after Easter. Happy Easter to you *hug*

Marmalade Tart

2009-03-19T01:28:00.000-07:00

The part of Barcelona I am living in is more built-up; really not much natural beauty left...

But the town authority is so thoughtful; almost all alleyways are planted with fruit trees, like tangerine, orange and lemon. The authority also makes sure that every single tree is well trimmed, and no single rotten fruit lays on the ground.

Many trees are so close to apartment blocks. Practically the residents can reach the fruit from balcony. I wonder if they would make their own marmalade then...

I live in a very high floor; I have to buy my own marmalade...

The crust is Italian-style crostata, supposed to be very sweet. For pursuing a healthier eating habbit, I have cut down the sugar. It is sweet enough, but is still rich due to a high portion of butter and eggs.

The dough is very tender; good thing is rolling becomes so easy. But the dough will turn sticky quick (due to a lot of butter), so please do the cutting and fitting fast. Always lightly floured your hands should help too.

Recipe of marmalade tart

yield two 8" standard tarts or approx. 10 small tartlets, lattice top included

superb quality of marmalade, made from organic fruit
for the crust:
300 g flour
160 g butter, cold, and cubed
90 g sugar
a small pinch of salt
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk (only)
1 Tbp cold water
a bit lemon zest

How-to

Pre-greased and lightly floured the pans. The 8" one should have a removable bottom.
Pre-heat oven to medium/medium-high, about 180
In a small bowl, whisk the egg, the yolk and a table spoon of water. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, lemon zest and sugar.
Use a pastry blender, cut the butter cubes into the flour mixture until the whole content has a texture similar to very coarse corn meal. Combine with the egg mixture and form a smooth dough (Kneading briefly may be necessary, but must not over-do it otherwise the butter will start melting).
Divide into three doughs, wrap each with clingwrap and rest them in fridge for half day.
Roll out each dough to 1/4"-thick or less. Cut to fit your pan's size. If you make 8" tarts, two doughs go for the bottom crust. The last dough is for cutting to long strips.
Fit each pan with bottom crust, fill with a thin layer of marmalade, arrange long strips on top or create lattice top if you like.
Bake the tarts until they turn golden brown, time is various to the size. For the big one may take 30 mins, the small 20 mins.

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White Fish filled Roasted Red Pepper

2009-03-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

We make sure that we have something to eat before we go to pub in Barcelona.

Some pubs may have fries and cheese sandwich, but that's about it. Forget that buffalo wings, burgers, onion rings ...

There is one pub close to our house, and the owner makes his own beer. Very unusual, he also creates a few exquisite snacks, this pepper & fish is one of them.

The whole texture is so soft and creamy that reminds me of cloud, pillowing my tastebuds and delighting my soul.

Due to the very soft filling, the original pepper rolls look very sagging, taste-wise is superb though. When I re-created the dish, I attempted a better shape, so I formed a cone with a very thin slice of pineapple and inserted to the pepper. Although the authentic texture is changed, the pineapple does give the rolls a more interesting flavor.

Recipe of White Fish filled Roasted Red Pepper

yield: 3 rolls

100 g white ocean fish, preferably with soft texture, cubed
3 roasted red peppers in oil, store-bought
a small clove of garlic
1 - 2 Tbp(2) flour
1 Tbp butter
some milk
salt and pepper to taste
veg oil
very thin slices of pineapple (optional)

How-to

Pre-heat a skillet, drizzle veg oil, saute the garlic and fish until they are almost done, salt and pepper to taste. Puree.
Use the same skillet, add butter and flour, fry and keep stirring them over a very low heat for a minute or 2, gradually add milk and continue to stir very well until you get a thick sauce, simmer for 2 minutes more, salt and pepper to taste.
Combine the fish puree and the thick cream.
Pre-heat the oven to medium. Line a baking pan with foil.
Fill the peppers with the fish filling and pineapple (if use). Arrange the rolls on the pan, brush veg oil on top.
Place the pan on a higher shelf of the oven, bake until the rolls heat through, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.
The filling can also prepared a day ahead, then do the stuffing and baking on the next day.

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Coconut & cinnamom cookies

2009-03-04T23:56:00.000-08:00

Friends share... food, good time, or even shoes or bags :)

People in this city are simply gracious, sometimes, they share with everybody.

One time we flew from Switzerland to Barcelona. The flight was in the early morning and so short, just an hour; we were only served with a plain round bun ... err ... does your language use any creature to express boredom? Spanish uses oyster, Chinese uses bird... whatever it is, that bun surely puts everyone's taste buds to half-sleep. But what a nice thing happened: one Spanish guy shared a big block of chocolate with as many passengers as he (or it) could. We put it inside the bun, instantly, we got a chocolate roll, which actually is a popluar breakfast item in Barcelona.

Patricia at Technicolor Kitchen always shares wonderful recipes. Herself is an excellent baker, and her recipes are always good. Like this recipe of chocolate chip cookies, I have made it over 10 times. For the best recipes like this one, I'd never feel like to change anything. So I urge you to try it too :)

But I guess after 10 or 20 times, I'm confident enough to reform the recipe. My family and I love coconut, so based on Pat's recipe, these coconut cookies are born.

Recipe of Coconut and cinnamom cookies

the recipe is based on Chocolate Chips and Almond Cookies, published at Technicolor Kitchen by Patricia

(yield: est 45 cookies)

11o g butter, soft
70 g granuated sugar (white)
2 tablespoons of light corn syrup
1 very small egg
195g flour
40 g dessicated coconut, unsweetened
a pinch of salt
1/2 + 1/8 tsp of baking soda
for the outside coating: combining 1/3 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut + 1/8 cup Demerar sugar (I prefer it to regular brwon sugars as Demerar is more dry) + 1/4 cup granuated sugar + 3 tsps ground cinnamom

How-to

Pre-heat the oven to 375F
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, coconut, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
In another mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Add egg and syrup, continue to beat for another minute.
Combine the flour mixture with the butter mixture. The dough should be thick, soft, and sticky.
The size of this cookie shouldn't be too big (more crispy). Spoon out a bit of dough and drop it onto a plate of coconut coating mixture, roll the dough until it is fully coated. Then place the dough on a baking tray, gentle press it down into 4.5cm (diameter) x 0.5cm (thick) round disk. Contiue to the rest of the dough.
Bake the cookies until golden brown, about 15 minutes. After they are taken out from oven and all right to touch, remove them from the tray and place them on a rack to completely cool off.
Store the cookies in a air-tight container, they can keep well up to a week.

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Cardamom cakelets

2009-02-26T05:06:00.000-08:00

Back then ... when the weather was getting warmer in New Jersey (usually around May), some of my neighbors would have cafe/dining alfresco. What a beautiful picture I saw - a big family sat by a long wood table, grandma was busy in taking out the food and pouring everyone some wine, their laughs were mixed with the spring breeze ...

Ironically, my food was dotted with flies.

The February in Barcelona can be as warm as the May in NJ; I did my cafe alfresco yesterday!

With these wonderful tiny cakes ... enjoyed alone, without any company of fly... in the balcony.

Also glad that I made my alfresco on time... today my balcony's covered with an inch of dust; the neighbor above me has just started a big renovation work...

I would recommend only the mini size for this recipe.

The cakelets fill with the fragrance of cardamom and the tangy taste from creme fraiche. They in fact taste much better on the second day. Once coming out from oven, the texture is more similar to muffin's, a bit dry on the top. But after keeping them overnight, and letting the strawberry slices moist the crumb, they turn out to be lovely and tender cakelets on the next day.

Recipe of cardamom cakelets

yield : about 24 cakelets (I used 2" or 5cm tartlet pan)

1+ 1/2 cups flour
cardamom seeds from 3 green cardamom pots, finely crushed
100 g creme fraiche
55g butter, soft, room temperature... plus a bit extra for topping
1/2 + 1/4 cup sugar
egg white from one large egg
1/2 cup milk (or less)
lemon zest from one small lemon
6 or 7 strawberries, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt

How-to

Pre-greased and lightly floured the tartlet pans, set aside
Pre-heat the oven to 350F
In a large bowl, combine the flour, the cardamom, the salt, the baking powder, the baking soda and the lemon zest. Set aside.
In another mixing bowl, beat the butter with the sugar until very light and fluffy. Add egg white, continue to beat for another minute or 2. Incorporate with creme fraiche and the milk.
Well combine the flour mixture with the cream mixture. Spoon the batter (it is slightly thick) into the tartlet pan, about 3/4 full.
Top the batter with a slice of strawberry, dot with a tiny cube of butter, sprinkle a bit of sugar on top.
Bake the cakelets for 15 - 20 minutes, or until they just start turning pale golden.
Unmold the cakelets and let them cool off completely on a rack.
Keep them in a container, cover, and store in a cool room. Enjoy them on the next day.

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