Super Easy English Muffins!

Happy Tuesday! So I’ve decided that I’m going to devote the next few posts to making Eggs Benedict (because it’s the perfect brunch menu, isn’t too difficult, and I absolutely love it)! But I’ll break it up into three parts so that the English Muffins will be today, the Poached Eggs will be next week or so, and the Hollandaise Sauce will be roughly the week after. So I hope you’re ready for this three-part recipe!

Ingredients – makes 6-8 muffins

·      1.5 tsp dry active yeast

·      2 cups all-purpose flour

·      ¾ cup warm water

·      2 tsp vegetable oil

·      1 tsp salt

·      1 egg white

·      Clarified butter

Activate the yeast by combining it in a large bowl with ¼ cup of the all-purpose flour and ½ cup of the warm water and letting it sit for 10-15 minutes. If you see that the yeast is awake, add all of the remaining ingredients and combine well (it should be very sticky dough once fully mixed). Cover with plastic wrap and transfer the bowl to a warm spot for about an hour until the dough doubles in size. Take the dough, flour a workspace, and make 6-8 seamless balls of dough. Grease a baking pan, place some oats on the pan, place the balls of dough on the pan, and sprinkle some more oats on top. Place the pan in a warm spot for about 1.5 hours until the balls double in size again. Heat up a frying pan over medium heat, melt some clarified butter, and fry the dough for about 7-8 minutes per side. Allow them to cool before splitting them open, and you’re all good to go!

Fairly simple, right? I really love this recipe because there aren’t many recipes that actually fry dough like this, and it’s really fun to watch the dough rise. So here’s part one of Eggs Benedict, so stay tuned!

Simple Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri

Hello again! Spring break just finished for me, so I’m now back in the game and bringing out some more recipes. So over break I was cooking and baking (eggs benedict was one, foil wrapped salmon was another, and many others), but today I decided to just give you a simple recipe for my version of a strawberry daiquiri! I do not drink, so I enjoy experimenting with different virgin cocktail recipes, and while this version of the daiquiri is a bit closer to a smoothie, it is really simple and delicious! And feel free to add as much rum as you’d like to this recipe.

Ingredients – serves 2

·      1 regular-sized carton of strawberries (this amount really depends on you depending on how tall your glasses are, and as always never follow a recipe to the last detail; make it up on your own!)

·      2-3 tbsp lime juice

·      2-3 tbsp sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Take a couple of cocktail glasses, dip the rim in a bit of water, and stick the glass in a plate of sugar (you now have a sugar-rimmed glass!). Put a cut in a fresh strawberry, add it to the rim of the glass, pour the drink in, and enjoy!

See, simple enough, right? A lot of cocktails are made simply by adding fruit and a few other simple flavor additives, such as sugar, lime, lemon, and various types of milk. Never be afraid to experiment with a few ingredients; failure is the best way to be successful! ^_^

Chiffon Back to a Dessert Recipe!

Ahahaha, I think these puns are getting worse, but oh well! I hope you’ve been having a good week so far! So I’ve been spending a lot of time watching cooking/baking videos (especially Food Wishes, so if you haven’t already definitely check this guy out on YouTube; he’s amazing), and I’ve gotten into the cake mood. One of the problems with being in college is that it’s fairly difficult to make time to create your own food, but it means that on break I get to make as much delicious food as I’d like! So because of my cake craving (both making and eating), today’s recipe is Lemon Chiffon cake! Chiffon cake is a blend between oil/batter cakes and sponge cake, which makes it both delicate and full of flavor. If you’d rather have an orange or lime cake, the lemons in the recipe can be pretty easily replaced, just so you know that you have the option!

Ingredients 
FOR THE CAKE

·      3-4 lemons

·      2 ¼ cups cake flour

·      1 ½ cups sugar

·      1 tbsp baking powder

·      1 tsp salt

·      ½ cup canola/vegetable oil

·      ¼ cup water

·      6 large eggs, separated and at room temperature

·      ½ tsp cream of tartar

FOR THE GLAZE

·      2 cupts confectioner’s sugar

·      2 tbsp lemon juice

·      1 tbsp heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Zest the lemons, set aside, and juice and strain the lemons until you have ½ cup of juice. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt onto a sheet of parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the oil, water, egg yolks, lemon juice, and zest, and beat until well combined. Using a spatula, gently fold the sifted flour mixture into the wet ingredients until the batter is smooth. In a separate large bowl combine the egg whites and cream of tartar, and beat until soft peaks form. Using the spatula from before, gently fold ¼ of the egg whites into the batter until incorporated, and keep adding egg whites gently until combined, smooth, and foamy. Pour the batter into a tube pan with a removable bottom (make sure you do NOT grease the pan, or the cake will have difficulty rising when baking because it won’t have anything to stick to in order to grow). Bake the cake in the oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out cleanly, remove from the oven, and invert the pan on a wire rack to cool for about 45 minutes IN THE PAN.

            To make the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and cream in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar dissolves and the glaze is smooth. Add some more sugar if too liquid-y and some water if too thick. Place the cake right side up over a rack with a pan underneath to catch the glaze, and pour as much of the glaze as you want over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Once the glaze dries, gently and slowly transfer the cake to a serving platter and enjoy!

And that’s that! I hope you enjoy this refreshing treat, and have a wonderful rest of the week!

Curry and bring me some food!

Goodness, to think when I wrote my last post it was really warm outside; now it’s always below freezing! It is certainly winter now, and there’s nothing better in the cold than having some comfort food to warm your cold body. And honestly, when you’re craving something hot, filling, and full of unique spicy flavors, there’s nothing better than curry. My policy on making curry is to glance at a recipe, see what ingredients and cooking style it uses, and then throw the book away and make it the way I want to. Curry is one of those beautiful dishes where it’s best to experiment with your own flavors to find the best curry for you! So today I’ll leave a recipe for Thai yellow curry (love it!), but please feel free to use your own vegetables, meats, and spices in there!

Ingredients:

·      2 medium potatoes (peel and cut them into medium-cubes)

·      2 cups coconut milk (leave undisturbed for a while to allow the thick and thin coconut milk to separate)

·      2-3 tbsp vegetable oil

·      ¼ cup fresh or commercial yellow curry paste

·      1 tsp curry powder

·      12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thinly slice)

·      2 tbsp palm sugar (granulated is fine)

·      2-3 tbsp soy sauce

·      1 medium onion (thinly slice)

·      2-3 cups cauliflower florets

Boil the potatoes in salted boiling water until just barely tender; drain and set aside. Spoon the thick coconut milk into a small bowl and reserve 2 tbsp for garnish. In a wok or a large frying pan, heat the thick coconut milk over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the curry paste and curry powder and fry, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Add the onions and cauliflower and cook until both are soft and cooked to your liking. Add the chicken and potatoes and coat all ingredients well in the roux. Add the thin coconut milk to the pan and bring to a boil. Add the palm sugar around the edges of the pan so the sugar melts before combining with the rest of the curry. Add the soy sauce to taste (always remember to keep tasting your curry to make sure it tastes the way you’d like it. And definitely add chili flakes or the hot spice of your choice to liven up your curry.), and simmer for 5 more minutes. Transfer the curry to a serving bowl, spoon the reserved 2 tbsp of thick coconut milk over the top, and enjoy!

Vanilla’s good, but Chocolate is the best!

Hello hello hello! I hope your week as been going well so far! Surprisingly, it’s been getting warmer here at college, so it feels more like autumn than winter. I enjoy not freezing to death, but I also love watching the snowfall and seeing everything a pristine white. Hopefully soon I’ll see some snow up here! But I digress; everyone is in the mood for ice cream when it’s cold (or at least I always am!), and since I did vanilla a week or so ago, today is chocolate! The process is basically the same as vanilla, the only differences being the ingredients.

Ingredients

·      2 cups heavy cream

·      1.5 cups whole milk

·      7 large egg yolks or 3-4 eggs (somewhere between if you want to use whole eggs)

·      ¾ cup sugar

·      ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

·      ¼ tsp salt

·      7 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (Valrhona is a good choice for this)

·      2 tsp vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan, combine the heavy cream and whole milk. Warm over medium-high heat until mixture barely comes to a simmer. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt vigorously until the mixture lightens in color and doubles in volume. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and whisk it continuously into the egg mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, whisk constantly over medium heat, add the chopped chocolate and vanilla extract, and stir until the mixture forms a custard think enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do NOT let it boil. Set up an ice bath in a large bowl and place the custard in a slightly smaller large bowl once it’s run through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard the vanilla bean and stir the custard occasionally until it cools down. Remove the bowl from the ice, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until very cold, roughly 4 hours or up to 3 days. Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon the ice cream into a freezer-safe container, cover tightly, and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours or up to 4 days.

And there you have it! The process is very similar to the vanilla ice cream, right? But this ice cream turns out rich, thick, and absolutely divine! So crack out the materials and make yourself some lovely chocolate ice cream!

Snow Cones or Ice Cream Cones?

Hello there! All moved back into college (finally, been gone for 5 weeks), and classes seem to be rolling smoothly! I’m on the east coast, so it’s pretty cold over here, especially since the snowstorm recently hit, but it managed to not hit my school, so there is no snow here. Anyway… I’ve been craving ice cream for the past two weeks (because honestly, who doesn’t crave ice cream when it’s cold?), so I’ve decided to write my vanilla ice cream recipe for you to enjoy! Don’t worry, chocolate lovers, I will include a chocolate ice cream recipe soon; I’m definitely biased to chocolate. But since the lovely snow is pristine white and fluffy (yes, fluffy), I’m going to match it with simple and sweet vanilla~!

Ingredients:

·      2 cups half-and-half

·      1 ½ cups heavy cream

·      1 vanilla bean

·      8 egg yolks or 4 whole eggs

·      ¾ cup sugar

·      ¼ teaspoon salt

In a heavy saucepan, combine the half-and-half, heavy cream, and vanilla bean pod seeds. Warm over medium-high heat until mixture barely comes to a simmer. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and salt vigorously until the mixture lightens in color and doubles in volume. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and whisk it continuously into the egg mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture forms a custard think enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do NOT let it boil. Set up an ice bath in a large bowl and place the custard in a slightly smaller large bowl once it’s run through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard the vanilla bean and stir the custard occasionally until it cools down. Remove the bowl from the ice, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until very cold, roughly 4 hours or up to 3 days. Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon the ice cream into a freezer-safe container, cover tightly, and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours or up to 4 days.

And that’s it! Enjoy some cold, delicious ice cream in this beautiful winter weather! Have a wonderful rest of the week! ^_^

Squishy Steamed Buns

Hello! Finally I’m able to get to writing this! I’ve been fairly busy with things around home, especially with my tasting menu done (pictures to come!), so now I’m going to share a recipe with you that is simple and produces absolutely delicious and fluffy results. SO LET’S MAKE SOME STEAMED BUNS! Be warned: you will need bamboo steamers for this.

Ingredients:

·      1 package active dry yeast

·      ½ cup warm water

·      1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

·      1 ½ cups cake flour

·      3 tbsp sugar

·      ½ tsp baking powder

·      ½ cup warm milk

·      1 tbsp canola oil

·      Parchment paper

Pour the yeast over the warm water in a small bowl and let it sit for a few minutes (it should start to foam and bubble). Combine the flours, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the warm milk, yeast with water, and oil, and combine the ingredients until a dough mass forms. Knead the dough until it is smooth and no longer sticky, roughly 5 to 10 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn the dough once to coat, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place the dough in a warm environment for 40 minutes to an hour so it may rise.

Divide the dough into roughly 10-12 balls. Roll each into ball form, fold up the edges of the dough into the center, and twist the center bit and press down into the rest of the dough. Cut out parchment paper squares that fit each ball and spread them out in your steamer (make sure each bun has breathing room). Fill a wok/pan (something that can hold 2” of water and is the same size as the bamboo steamers in accordance to the diameter) with water. Place the bamboo steamer on the pot and let it rest for 10 minutes. Place the pot with the steamer on the stove, turn the heat up to high, and reduce the heat to medium-high when steam starts coming out of the top of the steamer. Let this steam for five minutes, then turn off the heat and let it rest there for an additional minute. Remove the steamer from the pot, open the steamer, and allow the buns to cool.

So that’s it! Unfortunately, I don’t know if there is a way to steam buns without the steamer, but I definitely recommend getting one. They aren’t too expensive, and you can make delicious food with them, so what’s better than that? Hope you enjoy the rest of your week!