Apple Bread

     It been awhile since I last posted to my blog, I am sorry for keep you waiting. I have been cooking at my parents’ house in Florida. I still have no kitchen here in Ontario, Canada after the BIG FLOOD.  So I used my sister’s kitchen to make my favourite bread.

This kind of bread is called Quick Bread, it doesn’t need yeast and you don’t need to knead. You simply mix the ingredients, though you do need to do a bit of work on the main ingredients such as peeling and shredding the apple.

This recipe is great for people who want to learn how to make bread. You can eat it for breakfast, snack, dessert and any other time you want an apple bread fix.

There are few ways to shred apple; you can hand shred it with a grater, or use a chopper.  Be careful if you use a food processor.  Too long and you have applesauce not shredded apple.

Have fun!

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 beaten egg

1 cup sugar (you can use less sugar, about half cup)

1 ½ cup shredded, peeled granny smith apple

¼ cup cooking oil (such as vegetable or canola oil)

1.     Pre heat oven to 350 F

2.     Grease the 8x4x2 inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and clove. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

3.     In another medium bowl combine egg, sugar, apple and oil. Add apple mixture all at once to flour mixture.

4.     Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy not smooth so don’t over mix it) Spoon batter into prepared pan.

5.     Bake in the oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

6.     Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. (I said this but sometime I like to eat the bread while it is still warm)

7.     I like to wrap and store overnight before slicing because I find it tastes even better than when it is still warm. 

Warm mushroom and Onion with goat cheese salad

My parents asked me to make them salad for dinner recently.  I was glad to do that, however, they didn’t have many interesting ingredients for me to use.  So I decided to be creative, I hunted for vegetables in their fridge. I found lettuce, mushrooms, sweet onion and goat cheese. I thought it would work for a warm onion and mushroom salad. The results were fantastic!! It was easy to prepare, needing just a bit of cooking time for the onion and mushroom.  This would go well with spinach or arugula as well.

Serve 3 to 4

2 cups mushrooms

1 sweet onion such as Vidalia

Lettuce (any kind)

2 tbsp goat cheese

3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

1.5 tbsp ponzu sauce

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1.    Thinly slice the onion and set aside.

2.    Take the stems off the mushrooms and thinly slice as well.

3.    Put oil in a large fry pan over the medium heat, when the oil is hot add onion and stir, then turn the heat to medium low.

4.    Stir onion often to keep it from becoming brown too fast. Meanwhile, wash lettuce and dry.

5.    Continue cooking onion until it becomes soft and slightly darker in colour -- about 10 minutes, add mushrooms and stir.

6.    The moment the mushroom become soft add rice vinegar and ponzu sauce. If you feel there isn’t enough sauce you can add more. Then turn the heat off.

7.    Break up the lettuce and put in the bowls then top with goat cheese however much you like. ( I usually put about 2 tbsp in the bowl and break up the goat cheese.)

Top with the onion and mushroom and serve immediately

Chocolatey Raspberry Crumb Bars

I love my chocolate with a bit of fruit, it is always the best. I like to make my own dessert sometime when I am in the mood. This recipe is very sweet and rich, however this one is my love-hate relationship because it is so good that I have trouble stopping myself eating it until it is all gone. It is handy to have someone with me to keep an eye on me. heehee. 

It is easy enough to make but you have to be careful with a few things such as the butter which has to be soft. If it isn’t soft then put it in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. Make sure the brown sugar is light not dark. 

Have fun!!

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt 

2 cups (12 ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate morsels, (divided)

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 13 x 9 inch baking pan
2. Beat butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly
3. With floured fingers, press 1 1/4 cups crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan; reserve remaining mixture
4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown
5. Microwave 1 cup morsels and sweetened condensed milk in medium , uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute.
6. Stir. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 to 15 seconds , stirring just until then morsels are melted
7. Spread over hot crust
8. Sprinkled the reserved crumb mixture over the chocolate layer. Drop teaspoonfuls of jam over the crumb mixture. Sprinkle with remaining morsels.
9. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan on wire rack.
10. Cut into Bars

Lemon-cottage cheese pancakes with strawberries

 Good morning everybody! I had great breakfast because I made one of the best pancake recipes in the world! At least it is to me, I hope you will feel the same once you try this. I know putting cottage cheese in pancakes doesn’t sound so appealing, but trust me when it is mixed with lemon zest, it is out of this world! 

This recipe is great paired with strawberries but it can go with other fruit such as blueberries or raspberries if you prefer. Enjoy!

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbs sugar (white)

1 tbs baking powder

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 cup milk (1% or 2%)

1 cup cottage cheese (2%)

2 tsp lemon zest (thinly grated)

2 eggs

0.5 cup melted unsalted butter

a bit of vanilla
maple syrup

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl, then set aside.

2. Whisk milk, cottage cheese, lemon zest, eggs, butter and vanilla (and a bit of lemon juice if you want).

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry then mix. 

4. Add more milk if too thick. (I like it to be a bit thick)


5. Serve with Maple syrup if you like

This recipe would serve about 3 to 4 people.  Add a side of bacon or sausage and you’re good until dinner. 

Graduated then China!

Hello big, new world! I am not a culinary student anymore, now I am someone who studied at culinary school! I recently graduated from George Brown College chef school on Friday, I was very tense during final week because of the finals I had to take. I am glad to be done with school, I have had enough of school to last me a lifetime. I used to study at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Environmental Science for 5 years, then I decided that it wasn’t for me so I changed my major to Culinary Arts. Big change I know, but it is totally worth it because it is something I love to do. Cooking food is now my passion. 

Now that I have graduated from school, my next step is going to China! Yes, I said China! I am going to visit my uncle’s wife’s family.  They live in Shanghai and I am also going to visit many restaurants and get some great ideas about food.

I am so looking forward going to China! It has always been my dream to study Asian food. I am happy to say my dream is coming true!

 I might be happy but same time I am very nervous obviously because of the communication barrier, especially since I am deaf. I won’t let that stop me from doing what I want!

Don’t worry, I will keep up with the blog even when I am in China, I might leave on June 19. I have so many things to do! Visa, Insurance health, ticket, etc.... YIKES!

Chicken and Green Bean Salad with Apple and Radish Dressed with Miso Mayonnaise

     It has been a month since I last cooked in the kitchen and now I am back! I am sorry for keeping you waiting. I have two new recipes to share, I hope it is worth the wait. 

     The weather is becoming warmer and warmer, it is a great time to make these recipes because they can be served cold. They are good for a summer party.  These recipes are great to make ahead and these are also fantastic for leftovers.

    I love apple and radish, because they go well together, they have a slightly sweet taste and are refreshing to eat. 

    You can serve these dishes with any rice if you want. 

   

  

Chicken and Green Bean salad

2 chicken breasts

2 green part of a spring onion (shallot)

2 tbsp ginger, peeled and crushed

4 tbsp sake

1 2/3 cups green beans

3 tbsp mayo

1 tbsp hoisin (add more if you like)

1 tbsp milk

1 tsp chicken stock powder

salt and pepper

1. To measure the amount of water needed, put the chicken breast into a medium pot and add just enough water to cover, then remove the chicken and bring the water to coil.
2. Return the chicken to the pot with the spring onion, ginger and sake
3. Simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 10 to 15 minutes, cut the chicken to check  to make sure it is cooked throughly but don’t overcook. Remove and leave to cool.
4. Cut top and tail off the beans and chop in half diagonally
5. Bring water in the pot to boiling, put beans in for 1 minute or 2. Be very careful not to overcook them. Drain and pat dry
6. Roughly shred the chicken when it is cool enough to handle
7. Place the beans and chicken in a bowl.
8. Combine the mayo, milk, chicken powder and hoisin and stir into the beans and chicken.
9. Season with salt and pepper.

Apple and Radish Dressed with Miso Mayonnaise

Serves 4

Dressing:

2 tsp white miso

1 tsp superfine sugar

1/2 cup mayo

1 tbsp rice vinegar

2 1/2 Tbsp shelled walnuts

3/4 cup red apple

2 1/2 cups radish

1. In a bowl, combine miso, sugar, mayo, and rice vinegar.
2. Cook the walnuts uncovered in a microwave on very low heat for one and half minutes. Leave to cool and roughly chop
3. Wash the apple complete with skin. Cut into 4 wedges, removing the core, then slice each wedge thinly pieces. Soak the apple in the water to keep it from discolouring.
4. Slice the radishes into thinly sliced round pieces
5. Combine the apple and radish together then put a bit dressing in at a time, don’t put all dressing in at once. 
6. Arrange in a serving bowl and sprinkle the walnut pieces on top
   

No Kitchen

      Have you ever thought that your day would be beautiful and wonderful then it suddenly turned into a nightmare? It happened to me on Monday March 26th. It was a beautiful and warm day. I was working outside at my parents’ farm. When I went back inside huge floods greeted me in the first floor of the house. I was shocked, I mean it never happen to me before. 

     Therefore the beautiful day turned into insurance adjustors, cleaners, contractors. It was a sewage backup so that meant lots of the stuff on the floor had to be thrown out, floor, and the bathroom had to be taken out plus the laundry room. Of course, the basement was a mess as well since water got through the first floor. 

That is not the worse part, my kitchen had to be closed for inspection. I was told that I won’t be able to use it for about 2 to 3 weeks. That means no recipe for the blog for awhile. I like to take picture of the recipes I make on the blog, I am sorry you will have to wait awhile for more. 

I have been eating take out for more then one week and already I miss my cooking. One week of eating out had cost me more than what I spent on ingredients for one whole month. It is a hell of a lot cheaper to cook than eat out. Don’t worry my recipes will come back before you know it.