Another batch of fresh pasta and a second tiramisu left me with more egg whites to use up so, naturally, I made another pavlova. The last one was delicious, but I wanted to try out something different this time. My original plan had been to do a vanilla meringue topped with coconut yogurt, passionfruit, and peaches and mangoes. Unfortunately the grocery store was all out of passionfruit, so that plan was out the window. But I still had the mango and the egg whites to use up. TF suggested just doing the same pavlova minus the passionfruit, but it felt a little lacking to me so I went hunting for inspiration.

Most of the mango recipes that I found didn't really appeal to me, but I did hit upon a couple that paired mango with ube (purple yam). Now that sounded like a good idea! And I loved the look of the pretty purple meringues. Of couse, that required either ube powder, ube extract, or both, neither of which I had. What I did have though, was frozen grated ube.

Some quick Googling said that I should be able to dry out the frozen ube in the oven and then just grind it into a powder for baking. It meant adding an extra day of prep time to the pavlova while I waited for the yam to dry, but now I have a bowl of ube powder, so I'd say it was worth it!

Ube Pavlova

Inspired by some recipes I saw online, but not actually following any of them

Ingredients

• 6 large egg whites
• 330g sugar
• 2 Tbsp. ube powder
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (or ube extract if you have it)
• 8 drops blue food colouring (optional)
• 6 drops red food colouring (optional)
• 500g coconut Greek yogurt¹
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 120°C (250°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Beat the egg whites until foamy and beginning to thicken.
3. Continue beating the egg whites while adding the sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time.
4. Add the ube powder and cornstarch 1 Tbsp. at a time while still beating.
5. Beat in the cream of tartar, then beat in the vanilla.
6. If you would like a stronger purple colour, beat in the food colouring at this point.
7. The meringue should be at the "stiff peak" stage by now. If not, continue beating until it forms stiff peaks. (This can take up to 10 minutes.)
8. Scoop the meringue out onto the prepared baking sheet and shape it into a thick disc with a deep depression in the middle.
9. Bake at 120°C (250°F) for 90 minutes.
10. When done, turn off the oven and leave the meringue in until completely cooled. (Overnight works well.)
11. Just before serving, top the meringue with the coconut yogurt and fresh mango. (Add a bit of toasted coconut as well if you'd like.)
12. Serve immediately!

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¹ I found the coconut to be the weakest component of this pavlova. I think next time I'd try making some sort of coconut-flavoured custard and garnishing with toasted coconut. ^Back

I bought a bag of quinoa ages ago, just to try it out. But I just never quite got around to using it. I've since discovered some quinoa dishes that I really like. But even so, I never seem to end up making them at home.

I did apparently use a least a little out of the bag at some point because when I went to get it out of the pantry, I found that it had already been opened. But I can't have used very much, because the bag is still basically full.

Anyway, I found this breakfast quinoa recipe and figured it was worth trying out. It's pretty similar to oatmeal or cog or any other sweet breakfast porridge, just made with quinoa instead of oats or corn. If nothing else, it uses up a bit more of my quinoa supply!

In the end, I think sweet quinoa is not for me. I like it better as a savoury salad than as a sweet porridge. It's fine. It's not bad. It's just not my jam. I'll stick to oats and corn and rice for my morning slurries. But, if you're big on quinoa and don't have the same biases as me, this is probably worth giving a go.

Breakfast Quinoa

Slightly adapted from Modern Proper

Ingredients

• 400mL lite coconut milk
• 100mL water
• 1 c. quinoa, rinsed
• ~2 Tbsp. unsweetened dried shredded coconut
• ~2 Tbsp. sliced almonds
• 1 c. frozen (or fresh) mixed berries
• 1/4 c. maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine the coconut milk and water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. (You can rinse the quinoa while waiting for the water to boil.)
2. Add the quinoa and allow to return to boil.
3. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15-20 minutes.
4. While quinoa is cooking, toast the coconut and almonds in a dry pan over medium heat.
5. Once quinoa is tender and most of the liquid is gone, stir in the berries, maple syrup, and cinnamon.
6. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
7. Top with toasted coconut and almonds and serve.

I cooked this one up a while ago, using Chinese bacon as the stand-in for the pork belly, but forgot to write it up (or take a photo, apparently).

Doenjang Ramen

Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• ½ yellow onion, sliced
• pork belly, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp doenjang or miso paste
• 1 packet ramen
• ½ tbsp gochugaru
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 hard-boiled egg, bisected

Directions

1. Cook pork belly and onion in pot. Remove and buffer.
2. Add garlic and doenjang. Cook low until fragrant, ~1 minute.
3. Add 2½ C water, ⅔ seasoning powder, and flakes, and bring to a boil.
4. Add gochugaru and noodles and cook for ~1 minute each side.
5. Drain and garnish with pork belly, yellow and green onion, and egg.

鸡肉米粉 (Chicken Rice Noodles)

This was posted on Woks of Life as "Chicken Mei Fun", so I'm kind of guessing at the Hanzi. I think that's probably what it'd be called in Chinese, but I can't swear to it. As far as I can tell "mei fun" is an alternate spelling/pronunciation of "mǐfěn", which is the Pinyin for 米粉 (as far as I know). 米粉 is "rice noodles" (or possibly sometimes "rice flour") and I've seen recipes for other dishes such as "Singapore Mei Fun" and "Chow Mei Fun" that use the same two characters, so I think I've probably got that right. From there I just prefixed 鸡肉 (chicken) to turn it into (I hope) "chicken mei fun". I just wanted to be very clear that I am guessing at the name here and there's a very real possibility that I got it wrong. So, you know, don't go asking for this at a restaurant or something!

I appreciate how quickly this dish comes together. As with many wok-cooked recipes, it's very important to get all your mise en place done first. But there's not too much to do for this one. Quickly prepapre a few rice noodles, a very quick chicken marinade, and chop a few veggies. Nothing major. And once you've got all that done, it only takes about 5 minutes to go from "the wok has finished warming up" to "dinner is served"!

I bumped the veggies up quite a bit when making this, but I think it could've easily tolerated even more. I think I'd also be tempted to do something a little different with the green onions next time. I found the bottoms weren't as cooked as I'd prefer, so I think next time I'd keep the tops in big 5cm pieces, but chop the bottoms smaller and add them earlier so they can soften up a little more. Other than that, it was great! Very fun and tasty recipe!

Hanzi/汉字: 鸡肉米粉
Pinyin/拼音: jīròu mǐfěn
English/英文: chicken rice noodles

鸡肉米粉

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

Chicken

• 200g skinless boneless chicken¹, sliced
• 1 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1/2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 2 tsp. 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine)
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1/8 tsp. five-spice powder
• 1 tsp. vegetable oil²

Noodles

• 200g rice vermicelli
• 1 tsp. oil³
• 1/2 tsp. dark soy sauce

Stir-Fry

• 2 slices ginger, julienned
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 small onion (~70-80g), quartered and thinly sliced
• 3 green onions, whites and greens separated, whites chopped and greens cut into 4-5cm pieces
• 1 carrot (~100g), julienned
• 250g cabbage, shredded
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 3 Tbsp. peanut or other high smoke point oil

Directions

Chicken

1. Combine the sliced chicken with the cornstarch, water, oyster sauce, wine, pepper, five-spice powder, and oil (or Laoganma/老干妈) and set aside for at least 20 minutes.

Noodles

1. Cook the noodles according to package directions (or your preferred method). I like to pour boiling water over them and let them sit in the hot water for 1-2 mintues before draining.
2. Drian the noodles and toss with the oil and soy sauce. Set aside.

Stir-Fry

1. Prep your ginger and garlic and set it aside. (In the same bowl is fine.)
2. Prep the onion and set it aside.
3. Prep the green onions, keeping the whites and greens separate.
4. Prep the carrot and cabbage and set it aside. (Carrot and cabbage can share a bowl too.)
5. Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, and pepper and set it aside.
6. Heat the wok over high heat until smoking. (Be sure to turn on your kitchen fan if you have one!)
7. Drizzle oil into the wok and swirl to coat.
8. Add the chicken, ginger, and garlic, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
9. Add the onion and cook for another minute or so.
10. Add the white parts of the green onions and cook for another 10-20 seconds.
11. Add the carrot and cabbage and cook for 1 more minute.
12. Add the soy sauce mixture and toss the veggies to coat them in the mixture.
13. Add green parts of the green onions and the noodles and continue cooking and mixing until heated through and well-combined.
14. Remove from heat and serve.

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Variations

Vegetarian Version

Ingredients

Chicken

• 200g extra-firm tofu or 五香豆腐干 (five-spice dry tofu), sliced
• 1 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1/2 Tbsp. vegetarian oyster sauce
• 2 tsp. 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine)
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1/8 tsp. five-spice powder
• 1 tsp. vegetable oil²

Noodles

• 200g rice vermicelli
• 1 tsp. oil³
• 1/2 tsp. dark soy sauce

Stir-Fry

• 2 slices ginger, julienned
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 small onion (~70-80g), quartered and thinly sliced
• 3 green onions, whites and greens separated, whites chopped and greens cut into 4-5cm pieces
• 1 carrot (~100g), julienned
• 250g cabbage, shredded
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 3 Tbsp. peanut or other high smoke point oil

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¹ The original recipe suggests chicken breast for this. I used two thighs and that seemed to work very well too. I think pork, shiitake mushrooms, or tofu would also be good. I think 五香豆腐干 (five-spice dry tofu) would work particularly well. ^Back
2 I'd be tempted to swap out the oil for 老干妈 (Laoganma) next time. It's still got a lot of oil in it, but the salt and chilies would give the chicken a bit more kick. ^Back
3 The original recipe suggests a neutral oil here, but I opted to swap it out for sesame oil. (Yes, you get to add sesame oil later in the recipe toward the end up cooking, but I really like sesame oil, okay?) ^Back

I based this on a recipe I found online, but tweaked it a bit to serve my purposes. I've included a proprotional recipe as well as one that uses absolute measurments. I like the proportional/ratio-based one because it's easy to scale for any amount of chicken. But if you prefer just having a set list of measurements, that is also included below.

General Purpose Chicken Marinade

Adapted from Mom on Time Out

Ingredients (Proportional)

• 1 part white peppercorns, ground
• 2 parts garlic powder
• 2 parts Italian seasoning
• 6 parts Dijon or Roman mustard
• 12 parts Worcestershire sauce
• 24 parts light (regular) soy sauce
• 24 parts olive oil
• 24 parts balsamic vinegar

Ingredients (Absolute)

• 1/8 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 3/4 tsp. Dijon or Roman mustard
• 1/2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
2. Add your chicken, cover, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
3. If possible, mixt the chicken around once or twice during marinating time.
4. Cook your chicken as desired (grill, bake, fry, etc.)

I've made this tiramisu twice now. (I've made tiramisu before, but I foolishly did not write the recipe down so I had to go hunting for instructions again.) Anyway, the first time I made this, I followed the recipe as written. The second time I made a few tweaks. I definitely prefer the results from the second attempt, so that's what I'm sharing here.

Tiramisu

Slightly adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

• 3/4 c. very strong coffee
• 1 Tbsp. + 1/3 c. sugar, divided
• 1 Tbsp. dark rum
• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp. water¹
• 1/2 c. mascarpone cheese
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream, chilled
• 22-24 ladyfingers

Directions

1. Brew the coffee and add 1 Tbsp. of sugar and 1 Tbsp. of rum. Mix well and set aside to cool.
2. Put a little water in a pot and bring it to a boil over medium heat.
3. Place egg yolks, remaining 1/3 c. sugar, and water (or wine) in a heatproof bowl.
4. Place the bowl in the pot so that it sits over the boiling water.
5. Beat the yolks on medium to medium-high speed for ~7 minutes. The mixture should become pale and increase in volume significantly. It should form a slowly dissolving ribbon when drizzled over itself. Once this stage is reached, immediately remove the bowl from the heat.
6. Add the mascarpone to the saboyon (yolk mixture) and beat until thoroughly combined and smooth.
7. Set the mixture aside to cool.
8. If you would like to be able to turn your tiramisu out, now is a good time to prepare your pan. Brush an 8.5x4.5" loaf pan with oil and then line it with plastic wrap (leaving a significant overhang). If you don't care about turning it out, then you can just assemble everything directly in the pan, no oiling or lining required!
9. In a clean (preferably chilled) bowl, whip the cream. Start at low speed and very gradually increase the speed to medium-high. Beat until cream is stiff.
10. Add the cream to the cooled saboyon mixtured a bit at a time: Scoop out ~1/4 of the whipped cream and gently fold it in to the saboyon. Repeat until all the cream has been incorporated.
11. Dip a ladyfinger into the coffee mixutre. Give it a few seconds to soak in. I soaked mine for ~8 seconds per side. Place the coffee-infused biscuit into the bottom of the loaf pan. Repeat process until entire bottom of loaf pan has been lined with biscuits.
12. Spread ~1/3 of the cream mixture over the biscuits.
13. Repeat the biscuit-dipping prodecure to create a second layer of biscuits.
14. Spread another 1/3 of the cream mixture over the biscuits.
15. Do one more layer of biscuits and top with a final layer of cream.
16. Cover and chill for 6-12 hours.
17. Uncover the tiramisu.
18. If you would like to turn it out, place a plate or serving platter over the loaf pan and carefully invert the assembly. Carefully and slowly lift the loaf pan up. You may need to gently hold or pull the plastic wrap to encourage the tiramisu to leave the pan. Once the pan is off, remove the plastic wrap.
19. Dust generously with cocoa powder and serve.

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¹ I meant to try swapping out the water for white wine, but I completely forgot. Something to try next time! ^Back

Rice Pudding (Early Modern -- with Flour)

I was craving dessert last night but I didn't want more tiramisu and we didn't have anything else easily to hand. At first I was thinking of making some sort of hot chocolate but, as usual, I wandered off on a bit of a tangent. I went from hot chocolate to possets to pudding and eventually settled on rice pudding as an appropriate midnight snack.

I found that Cooking in the Archives had done a couple of rice pudding recipes. One that pretty closely resembles a lot of the modern European rice puddings that I've seen: rice, cream, sugar, cinnamon, egg... The only major differences were that the early modern recipe contained no vanilla (which I would normally expect to see in a modern rice pudding) and did contain a few ingredients that would now be considered unusual, exotic, or down-right weird: breadcrumbs, rosewater, bone marrow, and ambergris.

That recipe sounded pretty interesting -- and I probably will give it a try at some point (minus the ambergris) -- but for now I focused my attention on the other rice pudding recipe. It looked very different from any modern rice pudding recipes I've seen (European or otherwise). Mostly because it called for rice flour rather than whole rice grains. It also called for a lot more eggs and butter than I'm used to.

In the end it came out almost like a flan (minus the caramel, of course). It was wobbly and custardy. Fairly bland, lightly sweet, and went very well with a quick mixed berry compote.

Rice (Flour) Pudding

From Cooking in the Archives

Original Recipe

To Make a Rice Pudding

Take six ounces of rice flower a quart of milk set them over y^e fire & stir them well together while they are thick, then put in half pound of Butter six eggs one nutmeg sweeten to y^r tast, Butter y^r Dish that you bake it in /

Modern Recipe

(Halved from original)

Ingredients

• 85g rice flour
• 2 c. whole (3.25%) milk
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 3 eggs, beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 23cm (9") pie plate or similar baking dish. (one that won't leak!)
2. Combine the rice flour and milk and cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat. I chose to add my sugar at this point as well rather than waiting for the mixture to thicken. Either way is fine.
3. It will seem like nothing's happening for a while and then the mixture should thicken quite suddenly all at once. Remove from heat.
4. Mix in the butter. I chose to do this 1 Tbsp. at a time.
5. Mix in the nutmeg.
6. Mix in the eggs. (I mixed them in one at a time.)
7. Pour the mixture into the prepred pie plate and bake for 40 minutes. It will still seem very jiggly and wobbly, but it should be nicely browned on top.
8. Allow to cool (I definite did not follow this instruction), slice, and serve with your choice of toppings: fresh fruit, jam, compote, whipped cream, etc.

I had originally been hoping to do a nian gao stir-fry for dinner tonight, but the Kidlet got sick last Wednesday, so we've all been trying to isolate just in case it's the COVIDs. (Her RAT came up negative but... given everything we know about Omicron, I figure there's still a good chance that's what she has.) She's double vaxxed and TF and I are triple vaxxed and she's bounced back really fast, so I figure we should probably be alright to start going out again by tomorrow. But that left me with nothing for dinner for tonight. So it was off to the Woks of Life blog with me to search for more dinner inspiration.

This clay pot rice dish sounded tasty and easy. We don't have a clay pot to cook it in, but I reasoned that the tagine would work well as a stand-in for a Chinese-style clay pot (it did). And it would allow me to use up the rest of the chicken thighs that I got in the last grocery order. Plus it would be an opportunity to try cooking with dried lily buds. (Which I have in the pantry, but hadn't gotten around to using yet.)

This recipe needs a little bit of advanced planning due to the soaking involved. But other than that, it's very easy and simple to put together. I like the one-pot nature of the dish, but I'd be curious to try the rice-less steamed version sometime too. I also realized (only after I actually began cooking everything -- that it's basically devoid of vegetables. So I would recommend having some vegetable sides on hand to serve with it. (In my case, I went for a quick cabbage stir-fry.)

Chicken and Mushroom Clay Pot Rice

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 6 dried shiitake (black) mushrooms
• 10g dried lily buds
• 5g dried wood ear mushrooms¹
• 200g skinless boneless chicken thighs, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1 Tbsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 2 tsp. oyster sauce
• 1 tsp. 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine)
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/8 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1 c. uncooked rice²
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1/4 tsp. salt³
• 1 slice fresh ginger, julienned
• 1 scallion, chopped, greens and whites separated

Directions

1. Place the shiitake, wood ears, and lily buds each in a separate bowl and enough boiling water into each to cover them. Set aside to soak for 2 hours.
2. Drain the shiitake, trim the stems off, and slice them.
3. Drain the lilies, trim the bottom 5mm of the stems, and place them in a bowl with the sliced shiitake.
4. Drain the wood ears, rinse them off, roughly chop them, and place them in the bowl with the shiitake and lilies.
5. Add the chicken to the bowl.
6. Add the cornstarch, soy sauce, oyster sauce, wine, sugar, sesame oil, and white pepper and mix to combine.
7. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
8. Add the rice to the clay pot along with enough water to cover it by a few cm. Set aside to soak for ~30 minutes.
9. Drain the rice and add the stock, oil, and salt (if using).
10. Get out the chicken mixture and stir it up.
11. Layer the chicken mixture over the rice.
12. Sprinkle the ginger and the green parts of the scallions over the chicken mixture.
13. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat⁴ and cook for 2-3 minutes.
14. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 25 minutes.
15. Remove from heat, sprinkle with scallion greens, and serve.

---

¹ I didn't have any wood ear mushrooms on hand, so I substituted an equal amount of Chinese black fungus. My understanding is that they're a bit smaller and taste a bit different than wood ear mushrooms, but I had to roll with what I had available. ^Back
2 The original recipe calls for jasmine rice. I opted to use long-grain brown rice. I have given the instructions for (white) jasmine rice here. You will need to increase both the liquid and the cooking time for brown rice. ^Back
3 If you're using commercial chicken stock, omit the salt. If you're using a homemade stock without too much salt, you will probably want to add the salt. ^Back
4 I'm always nervous about putting clay cookware directly on the cooking elements, so I use a flame tamer (or in this case a cast iron pan) under it to avoid hot spots. This however, did cause my tagine to take a little longer to heat up. Possibly this is why I found I didn't really need to extend the cooking time for my rice today. (Although I did use ~1/2 c. extra liquid.) ^Back

This stir-fry is really meant to be made with Chinese/Tiwanese cabbage, but I didn't have any of that on hand and I did have pretty much the exact right amount of plain green cabbage, so... Green cabbage it is!

Cabbage Stir-Fry

From Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine)
• 1 Tbsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 170g pork belly¹ or loin or chicken thighs, sliced (optional)
• 2 scallions, cut into 5cm lengths, greens and whites separated
• 5-6 cloves garlic, smashed and halved
• 2-5 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies, deseeded
• 680g cabbage (preferably Chinese/Tiwanese), hand-shredded into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 tsp. 镇江香醋 (Chinese black vinegar)

Directions

1. Combine the wine, soy sauce, sugar, and water and set aside.
2. Heat your wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke.
3. Drizzle in oil and swirl to coat the wok.
4. Add the pork (or other protein) and stir-fry for ~1 minute.
5. Add the white parts of the scallions and cook for ~30 seconds.
6. Reduce heat to medium, add the garlic and chilies and stir-fry for another minute or so.
7. Increase heat to high and add the cabbage and the sauce.
8. Stir to combine, then cover and cook for 1-2 minutes.
9. Stir in black vinegar and green parts of scallions.
10. Mix well and serve.

---

¹ I didn't have any pork belly, but I did have a few slices of bacon, so I just tossed those in instead. I think this would also be good with some marinated/bacon-flavoured tempeh or smoked tofu. Judy mentions that the protein element can be omitted entirely, but I did enjoy having the bacon in it. Even though I did use significantly less than the 170g called for. ^Back

It's been a while since we did Hello Fresh, but symbol and I have both been kind of discombobulated lately and deemed it a good idea for this week. The Kidlet picked this one out of the box and it was a hit; she said that it was "spicy, but I can handle it, and I actually like the feeling of the spicy in my mouth"! Maybe her spicy resistance has leveled up?

Black Bean Enchiladas

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 4 scallions, sliced, whites and greens separated
• 3+3 cloves garlic, minced and divided
• 2 tbsp enchilada seasoning
• 1½ C jasmine rice
• zest of 2 limes
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 4 tbsp mexican seasoning
• 740mL tinned black beans, with their liquid
• juice of 1 lime
• 12 6" flour tortillas
• 2 C tomato salsa
• 2 C grated mozzarella cheese
• 12 tbsp guacamole

Directions

1. Set instant pot to sautée. Add 2 tbsp oil, scallion whites, half the garlic, rice, and enchilada seasoning. Cook until fragrant, 2-3 minutes.
2. Add 1½ C water, cover, and pressure cook as normal for rice (4 minutes + 10 minute cooldown for white jasmine rice).
3. When rice is done, fluff it and stir in scallion greens and lime zest.
4. Meanwhile, heat 4 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
5. Add onions and remaining garlic and cook until onion is softened and turning golden.
6. Add mexican seasoning and black pepper and cook until fragrant, 30-60s.
7. Stir in lime juice and black beans (with their liquid), bring to a boil, and simer, stirring occasionally, until liquid reduces and beans soften.
8. Remove from heat and mash beans with a potato masher.
9. Divide beans between tortillas.
10. Roll tortillas into tubes and place, seam down, into a lightly oiled 9×13" baking pan.
11. Pour over salsa.
12. Top with cheese.
13. Broil on middle rack 5-6 minutes, until cheese and edges of tortillas are browned.
14. Serve with guacamole and lime wedges.

More Aaron & Claire Korean ramen recipes. This is a nice simple one, minimal ingredients, comes together fast. The original recipe called for peanut butter, but we have mixed peanut/sesame paste in the fridge and used that instead.

Tantanmen Ramen

Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 packet korean ramen
• 1 tbsp peanut-sesame paste
• ½ tbsp gochugaru
• 1 green onion, sliced
• bean sprouts, carrot, cucumber, or other vegetable(s) for garnishing

Directions

1. Boil ramen noodles and drain, reserving a bit of liquid.
2. Add flakes, seasoning, gochugaru, and sesame paste.
3. Garnish with green onion and other vegetables.

葱油饼 (Scallion Pancakes)

I really want to try making more Chinese baked goods. That said, I did just make a batch of milk bread, so I don't want to go too crazy with the baked goods until we've finished off the bread. I couldn't resist giving these scallion pancakes a try in the meantime though.

I found the dough for these pancakes to be quite stiff and dry. And I couldn't get the sesame seeds to adhere no matter how much I pressed or rolled them on. I'd be tempted to try adding a bit more water next time.

These pancakes are fairly plain on their own. The scallions are nice, but there's not much to them beyond that. Which, I guess, is why the recipe author recommends serving them with sauce. I had some leftover hotpot dipping sauce in the fridge, so I just used that. I think my sauce was pretty similar to the recommended soy-vinegar concoction though.

The sauce adds a nice bit of salt and umami to the pancakes, but I think what I relly wanted today was one of the flaky, high-fat pancakes. (I had been hoping to make one of those recipes today, but I was low on both scallions and energy.) If you want a nice, relatively lean, simple pancake though, this one fits the bill. And they freeze well too. So you can always roll them out and then freeze them to be cooked up later.

Hanzi/汉字: 葱油饼
Pinyin/拼音: cōngyóubǐng
English/英文: scallion pancakes

葱油饼

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. (+1-2 Tbsp.?) very hot water
• 2 scallions, sliced
• salt, to taste
• canola (or other neutral) oil, for brushing
• sesame seeds

Directions

1. Mix the hot water into the flour to form a dough.
2. Turn out and knead for 5 minutes.
3. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
4. Divide into three equal portions.
5. Working with one portion at a time, roll out into an 18-20cm (7-8") circle. Keep rotating the dough as you roll to keep it even and prevent it from sticking.
6. Brush the dough with a little bit of oil.
7. Sprinkle with salt and scallions.
8. Roll up the dough jelly-roll style.
9. Now curl the jelly roll/tube around into a spiral and tuck the end underneath.
10. Press the spiral flat and then roll it out into a 15cm (6") circle.
11. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the pancake and press firmly to adhere.
12. If not eating immediately, pancakes can be wrapped in waxed paper and frozen at this point. Frozen pancakes may be cooked direclty from frozen, but may need a little longer to brown and cook through.
13. Heat a cast iron (or similar) pan over medium-low heat and add a little oil to the pan.
14. Cook the pancakes ~3 minutes per side.
15. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.

Today, the Kidlet asked for noodles, so symbol designed a sauce and then made pasta from scratch (using the dough from this recipe) to go with it while I prepped the sauce. It was really tasty, and the Kidlet declared it a "super favourite". The sauce was also pretty easy to make, too; if not making the noodles from scratch I think this would be a pretty low-effort dinner.

Pasta with Sausage Rosé Sauce

Original

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh pasta, or (probably?) about ¾ lb dried pasta
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb italian sausage, skinned
• ¼ tsp fennel, ground
• ¼ tsp pink or white peppercorns, ground
• ¼ tsp chili flakes
• ½ tsp italian seasoning
• ¼ C white wine
• 1 C cream
• 1 C diced tomatoes
• ½ tsp stock concentrate (appropriate for ½ C of stock when prepared)
• ½ lb kale or spinach, chopped
• ¼ C sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• ½ C freshly grated parmesan, plus extra for serving
• basil for garnishing

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot and cook pasta al dente. Drain, reserving ½ C of pasta water.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat.
3. Add onion and cook until softened and starting to turn translucent.
4. Add garlic and cook for ~1 minute.
5. Add sausage and break it up into small pieces.
6. Add fennel, peppercorns, pepper flakes, and italian seasoning.
7. Cook, stirring often, until sausage is just browned.
8. Add wine and cook until the liquid has almost completely cooked off.
9. Add cream, tomatoes, stock mix, and pasta water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
10. Add greens and stir in until warmed through and (if spinach) starting to wilt.
11. Stir in sundried tomatoes and parmesan.
12. Serve topped with basil and additional parmesan.

红烧豆腐 (Braised Tofu)

I was tired and not very on the ball for dinner last night, so I turned to the "Quick & Easy" category on the Woks of Life blog. We had a block of tofu in the freezer and a bunch of veggies in the fridge, so I decided to give a modified version of this braised tofu a try. I think it would've been better with the snow peas and bamboo shoots that the original recipe called for, but I had to roll with what I had available. I ended up using some frozen broccoli, peas, and corn to make up for the missing snow peas and bamboo shoots. The recipe below reflects the original vegetable combination, but there is some wiggle room.

红烧豆腐

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1 1/2 c. chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 400-450g firm tofu
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms (or equivalent reconstituted dried mushrooms)
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 c. snow peas
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 bell pepper, sliced
• 1/4 c. bamboo shoots, sliced

Directions

1. Mix the cornstarch with the water and set it aside.
2. In a large measuring cup, combine the stock, oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauces, wine, and sugar and set it aside.
3. Heat wok over medium-high heat.
4. Drizzle in the oil.
5. Add the tofu in a single layer and cook for ~1 minute.
6. Flip the tofu and cook for another minute or so.
7. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
8. Add the mushrooms and the stock mixutre and bring to a boil.
9. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.
10. Add snow peas, carrot, bell pepper, and bamboo shoots and cook for ~1 minute.
11. Whisk the corn starch mixture to make sure it's well-combined and drizzle it into the wok.
12. Cook until sauce thickens.
13. Serve over rice.

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Variations

Vegetarian/Vegan Version

• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1 1/2 c. vegetable stock
• 1 Tbsp. vegetarian oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine
• 1/2 tsp. raw sugar or agave syrup
• 400-450g firm tofu
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms (or equivalent reconstituted dried mushrooms)
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 c. snow peas
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 bell pepper, sliced
• 1/4 c. bamboo shoots, sliced

Between making pasta and making tiramisu, I had seven excessed egg whites that needed to be used up. I figured that some sort of pavlova or angel food cake would be the best choice. (I debated doing a dacquoise, but I opted for the simplicity of the pavlova in the end.) I've done pavlovas before, but I wanted to try a different flavour combo. So I hit up the Internet to look for ideas.

There were a few interesting contenders, but I liked the look of this cherry one. It seemed relatively light and very easy to put together. I liked the idea of topping the meringue with yogurt rather than pastry cream or custard. And I was intrigued by the passionfruit-cherry combination.

The original recipe called for "good quality passionfruit yogurt". I couldn't get any that I felt would be "good quality", so I opted for a very nice plain yogurt instead and then just added some fresh passionfruit on top. I only got one passionfruit this time as I wasn't sure what to expect from it. TM didn't feel that the passionfruit really brought much to the table and thought that it would've been just as good without it. I do think that it was pretty subtle, but I enjoyed its presence. I think if I were to do this one again I'd just double down on it: get two or three passionfruit next time!

Spiced Cherry Pavlova

Slightly adapted from Taste

Ingredients

Meringue

• 6 large egg whites
• 330g sugar
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar¹ (optional)

Cherries

• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. cointreau
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 1 (8cm) cinnamon stick
• 400g pitted cherries
• 1/4 c. lemon juice

Assembly

• 2 c. very good plain Greek yogurt
• 2-3 passionfruit

Directions

Meringue

1. Preheat oven to 120°C (250°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.
2. Add egg whites to a scrupulously clean bowl and begin beating with clean beaters.
3. After 30-60 seconds of beating on high, add ~1 Tbsp. of the sugar.
4. Continue beating on high and adding sugar ~1 Tbsp. at a time until all of the sugar has been incorporated.
5. Beat in the cornflour.
6. Beat in the vanilla.
7. Beat in the cream of tartar (if using).
8. Beat for another minute or so. The meringue is done when it forms stiff peaks and stays in place when the bowl is inverted. If it holds its shape but slides along the bowl, it's not quite done yet. Be careful not to overbeat as it will break and go watery.
9. Spoon the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet and shape it into a circle with a deep depression in the middle. Aim for around 20-23cm in diameter. Make the depression a bit deeper than you think it needs to be.
10. Bake on the bottom rack at 120°C (250°F) for 90 minutes.
11. Turn off oven, but keep the door closed and leave the meringue in the oven overnight.

Cherries

1. Heat sugar, cointreau, lemon zest, and cinnamon over medium heat and cook for ~5 minutes.
2. Add the cherries and lemon juice and bring back up to a simmer. Cook for 1 minute more.
3. Remove from heat and set aside until ready to eat.

Assembly

1. Spoon the yogurt into the centre of the meringue.
2. Cut open the passionfruit and scoop the seeds out onto the yogurt.
3. Pour the cherry compote over this.
4. Serve immediately.

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¹ I usually add a bit of cream of tartar to my meringues, but this time I decided to use a bit of vinegar to wipe down the beaters and the bowl. This helps cut any grease residue that might be on them. Afterward, I dumped out the excess vinegar, but did not dry the beaters or the bowl. I figured the bit of acid this added would be similar to the acidifying effect of cream of tartar. ^Back

I know I've been doing a lot of waffles lately. I dunno, I guess I've been in a waffle-y sort of mood lately. These waffles are nice for a quick chocolate fix. They're much less rich and chocolate-y than the sourdough waffles. This can be a pro or con depending on what you're after. I also appreciate that they're very quick to throw together with no advanced planning needed.

Quick Chocolate Waffles

From Cafe Delites

Ingredients

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. cocoa powder
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 3/4 c. milk
• 1/3 c. oil

Directions

1. Combine flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix well.
2. Mix in the eggs, milk, and oil until smooth.
3. Cook your waffles according to the directions for your waffle iron.
4. Serve with Nutella, berries, syrup, icing sugar, and/or whipped cream.

This was originally written as a Brussels sprouts recipe. But I didn't have any Brussels sprouts and I did have a lot of cabbage...

I ended up using about half of a large cabbage in place of the Brussels sprouts. I also doubled the bulgur and added a drizzle of pomegranate molasses just before serving.

Surprisingly the Kidlet liked this one! I mean, she wasn't super enthusiastic about it, but she ate it all. Whereas she said the maple-roasted apples and onions were weird and not good. Go figure!

Pomegranate Cabbage

Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

• 1kg cabbage, shredded
• 3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. + 1 Tbsp. lemon zest, divided
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. bulgur, cooked
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 c. pomegranate arils
• 1 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Toss cabbage with garlic, oil, 1 tsp. lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a roasting pan.
3. Roast at 220°C (425°F) for 20 minutes.
4. Stir/toss the mixture and continue roasting for another 10-20 minutes.
5. Mix in bulgur, lemon juice, and remaining 1 Tbsp. of lemon zest.
6. Sprinkle with pomegranate arils, drizzle with pomegranate molasses, garnish with parsley, and serve.

I woke up with a hankering for waffles this morning. The problem is, all my favourite waffle recipes require starting the batter the night before. So... off to the Google for new recipe ideas!

I am really happy with how these waffles came out. They were quick. They were easy. They were tasty. The Kidlet liked them. They came out fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. And they're even relatively healthy as waffles go. They're whole grain (oats) with no added sugar or fat. The banana is the main source of sugars and most of the fat is in the eggs.

If you top these with some nut butter and fresh fruit, you're actually looking at a pretty decent breakfast nutritionally speaking (and a delicious one gastronomically)!

Banana-Oat Waffles

Slightly adapted from Kim's Cravings

Ingredients

• 2 c. rolled oats
• 1 c. milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder

Directions

1. Add everything to a blender and puré until smooth.
2. Let stand for 10 minutes. (You can preheat the waffle iron during this time.)
3. Preheat your waffle iron to a slightly higher temperature than you would normally use for waffles¹.
4. From here on out, follow the directions for your particular waffle iron to cook the waffles.
5. Top with chocolate, fresh fruit, nut butter, nuts, jam, syrup, and/or cream as desired.

---

Variations

Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 2 c. rolled oats
• 1 c. oat milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 flax eggs
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder

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¹ My waffle iron goes up to six. I normally set it to three-and-a-half for waffles. I cooked these ones on four. I'm not sure what that translates to in actual temperatures, but hopefully that gives an idea of where you should be aiming. If you normally cook your waffles on the highest setting, then just leave them in the waffle iron for an extra 30-60 seconds to help them crisp up a bit more. You can also try putting them into an oven preheated to around 95°C (200°F) for a few minutes. Use whatever method works best for you. ^Back

TF was in the mood for stuffed pasta. I was planning to get some in the last grocery order, but I didn't like any of the options. We both thought that something vegetable-y sounded good and, aside from some spinach-ricotta ravioli, there wasn't really much available in the way of vegetable fillings. Then I saw that MamaEarth had parsnips available this week.

With parsnip in mind, I set about looking for homemade ravioli recipes. I found a few that looked nice. In the end, I decided to go with this agnolotti recipe, but swap out the fried mint for fried sage. I think I'd probably swap out the hazelnuts for leeks next time as well. The hazelnuts were okay, but I didn't feel that they added much to the dish. (Maybe they would've been more harmonious if I'd chopped them, but I was tired and didn't want to deal with trying to chop nuts without making a mess.)

Parsnip-Pear Agnolotti

Slightly adapted from Rhubarb and Cod

Ingredients

Pasta

• 165g semolina flour
• 165g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 Tbsp. water

Filling

• 2-3 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 1 very ripe bartlett pear, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. mascarpone cheese
• 1 egg, beaten (for sealing pasta)

Sauce

• 1/4 c. oil (for frying sage)
• 1/4 c. fresh sage leaves
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter
• 1 leek, very well rinsed, white and light green parts thinly sliced
• Parmesan cheese, to taste

Directions

Dough

1. Combine the flours and salt and mix well. You can do this in a bowl or on a clean work surface.
2. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add your eggs and water. If working without a bowl, make sure the well is very wide.
3. Beat the eggs with a fork and gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet.
4. Once most of the dry ingredients have been incorporated, start kneading. Add a bit more egg and/or water if necessary. Especially if you intend to roll out the pasta without the aid of a machine; dough that's a little bit softer will be easier to work with.
5. Once the dough seems supple and has a big of spring to it, wrap it in plastic wrap and set it aside for at least an hour.

Filling

1. While the dough is resting, make the filling.
2. Add the parsnips to a pot and add enough water to cover them.
3. Bring to a boil and cook until tender (5-7 minutes).
4. Drain the parsnips and add them to a blender or food processor along with the pear, garlic, and salt.
5. Blend/process until smooth.
6. Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in the mascarpone.
7. Cover and chill for at least half an hour.

Making the Agnolotti

1. Divide the dough into quarters.
2. Working with one quarter at a time roll it very, very thin on a well-floured surface.
3. Brush a little beaten egg on the dough.
4. Place a line of filling down the long side of the dough. (You can use a piping bag with a round tip if you want to be fancy and neat about it. I just used my fingers and a spoon.)
5. Fold the dough over the filling, then fold it over again.
6. Press your finger across the middle of the pasta tube.
7. Move over a few cm and press again.
8. Work from the middle out in both directions.
9. Once you reach both ends, use a knife or a bench/dough scraper to cut through the middle of each spot you pressed.

Cooking and Serving

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the sage leaves a few at a time.
3. As soon as they stop sizzling, remove them from the oil and set aside to drain.
4. Reserve the oil for another purpose.
5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
6. While you wait for the water to boil, melt the butter over medium heat.
7. Add the leek and cook until softened.
8. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook for ~3 minutes.
9. Drain and add to the pan with the butter and leek.
10. Toss the ravioli with the butter to coat.
11. Remove from heat and transfter to a serving dish.
12. Top with fried sage and Parmesan.

There is no one canonical recipe for chicken cacciatora. I'm used to seeing it as chicken in a tomato sauce with olives and bell peppers, but it turns out that there are many different regional variations on the dish. I looked at a few recipes and then just sort of rolled my own based on them.

I went for a fairly mild flavour here because I wanted to serve it with some stuffed pasta and vegetable sides and didn't want the chicken to overwhelm everything else. If I were serving it on its own or over pasta, I would probably add some tomatoes and olives and chop the chicken up smaller. I'd probably also add extra garlic and maybe a bit of extra onion too. But, for what I wanted tonight, this was just right.

Pollo alla Cacciatora

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. flour
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1kg skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• rosemary and sage (fresh is best, but dried also works)
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 4-5 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 bell pepper, sliced (optional)
• ~12 olives, sliced (optional)
• 4-6 roma tomatoes, diced (optional)
• 1/4 c. vinegar (optional)
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 1/4 c. chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper.
2. If your chicken breasts are very large, split them so they're not too thick.
3. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture.
4. Heat the oil over medium heat.
5. Add the dredged chicken along with a few fresh sage leaves and sprigs of rosemary (or equivalent amounts of dried).
6. Cook until the chicken gets a bit of colour on it. Flip and do the same on the other side. Then remove it from the pan. (It will still be raw in the centre. That's okay!)
7. Add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper (if using) to the pan and cook until softened and starting to colour. Season with a little salt and pepper. (Omit the salt if you will be using commercial stock.)
8. Add the olives and tomatoes (if using) and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
9. If not using tomatoes, add the vinegar at this point and deglaze the pan. If using tomatoes, skip the vinegar.
10. Return the chicken to the pan along with any accumulted juices and any left over dreding flour.
11. Add the wine and mix everything around a bit.
12. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
13. Add the stock, stir, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.
14. Drizzle in balsamic vinegar (if using).
15. Serve on its own or over pasta or polenta.

I appreciate that you actually get some decent onion flavour coming through in this bread. Often times inclusions just sort of disappear into the dough without really adding much to it. I also enjoy the faux sourdough element. You get a bit of the flavour of sourdough (plus it uses up starter), but you get the speed of a dough made with commercial yeast.

I think it would be fun to play around with other inclusions, but it's already very nice as is. I think millet would go nicely in it. And it could also be interesting to add a little sage. Or go full Thanksgiving and add poultry seasoning to the dough.

Onion and Bay Loaf

Slightly adapted from King Aruthur Baking

Ingredients

• 170g (100% hydration) fed/active/ripe sourdough starter¹
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 1/4 c. whole (3.25%) milk
• 300g hard (bread/high grade/strong) whole wheat flour
• 7g coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. instant yeast

Directions

1. Get your starter all fed up and ready to go.
2. Once the starter is within an hour of being ready to use, combine the onions, bay leaves, and milk in a pot and bring to a simmer.
3. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and and strain. Reserve both the milk and onions. Discard the bay leaves. Set aside to cool while the starter finishes fermenting.
5. Add the ripe starter to the cooled milk and mix it around.
6. Add half the flour and all of the salt, yeast, and onions. Mix thoroughly.
7. Add the remaining flour, mixing and kneading until all the flour has been incorporated.
8. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes.
9. Turn the dough out onto an oiled surface and knead for ~1 minute. Add a little extra flour if it really needs it, but be sparing.
10. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
11. Knead for 1 more minute, then cover and let rise for ~1 hour (give or take depending on room temperature).
12. Knock the dough back. Knead it a few strokes if you like.
13. Shape your loaf. (I like to flatten it, fold it into thirds, and then roll it up jelly-roll-style.)
14. Place the shaped loaf into a floured banneton, cover, and let rise for ~90 minutes (give or take).
15. Preheat oven to 220°C (450°F) and place a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack.
16. Turn the risen loaf out onto a greased baking sheet dusted with cornmeal.
17. Slash the loaf as desired.
18. Bake at 220°C (450°F) with steam for 15 minutes.
19. Reduce heat to 180°C (350°F) and remove the water pan. Bake for another 25-30 minutes.
20. Once loaf is done (sounds hollow when bottom is tapped), turn off oven. Leave the loaf in the turned off oven for 5-10 minutes.
21. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ Make sure to feed your starter at least once or twice before baking with it. It's not super critical for this recipe since it has commercial yeast to help leaven it as well, but it's still better if your starter can be nice and active. Doing a 1:1:1 feeding 4-8 hours before baking is probably sufficient. I did 60g each of starter, flour, and water. (Yes, I know that adds up to more than 170g. It's fine.) ^Back,br />

I've wanted to try making a yeasted cake for ages. I was initially eyeing up a savarin. But then I came across this apple upside down cake and figured maybe it'd be fun to give it a try instead. It seemed very straight-forward and what's not to love about a combination of apples, brown sugar, nuts, and lots of butter?

I had intended to make this with pecans as the recipe called for. But it looks like we must have run out of pecans at some point and I forgot to restock. What we did have though, was lots of walnuts. In fact, we had somehow ended up with two open bags of walnuts in the freezer. So now we have marginally less walnuts and more cake. That seems like a pretty good trade to me!

I know you're supposed to peel apples for baked goods. But it's extra effort and then I either have to find something to do with the peels or throw them out. (And none of my attempts at making apple jelly have been terribly successful.) So I decided to just slice my apples with the peels on for this. I think it worked out just fine.

Yeasted Apple Upside Down Cake

Slightly adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients

• 110g unsalted butter, divided
• 100g chopped walnuts or pecans
• 180mL whole milk
• 100g brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1-2 apples, sliced
• 290g all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. instant yeast or 2 1/2 tsp. dry active yeast
• 50g sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, groud
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Grease a 20cm (8") square pan.
2. Melt half the butter over medium heat and add the nuts.
3. Cook until the nuts have browned a little.
4. Dump the nuts and butter into the prepred pan and spread into an even layer.
5. Add the remaining butter to the now empty pot along with the milk and place it over low heat to warm up.
6. Once the milk mixture is very warm (50-60°C), remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
7. Meanwhile, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the nuts in the pan.
8. Drizzle the honey over the brown sugar.
9. Layer the apple slices over the honey.
10. In a bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt.
11. Add the warm milk mixture, egg, and vanilla and beat with electric mixer for 1 minute. The batter will probably climb the beaters, just keep going as best you can.
12. Scoop the very sticky batter into the pan on top of the apples. Try to get it as even as you can, but it won't really be possible to spread the batter. Don't worry about it too much.
13. Cover and let rise for ~1 hour.
14. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
15. Bake cake at 190°C (375°F) for 20-25 minutes.
16. Immediately and carefully turn out onto a plate¹ (there will be lots of liquid).

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¹ The original recipe called for turning it out onto a cooling rack set in a rimmed baking sheet. This is what I did this time, but I think I'd just turn it out onto a plate next time. The bottom would get soggy, but it would be soggy with delicious delicious caramel and apple juice, so... I'm not really seeing the downside! ^Back

The grocery store tossed some free plant-based chicken-style nuggets into our grocery order a few weeks ago. They apparently came with a packet of barbecue sauce, but I decided that I'd rather enjoy them like this.

Sadly the Kidlet wasn't a fan of the plant-based meat and I do think it would've been better with freshly made chicken katsu. But this was a nice way to use up the nuggets and TF and I both enjoyed it.

Chicken Katsudon

From Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 100mL dashi stock
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. mirin
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 small onion, sliced
• 1 piece chicken katsu, sliced (or 100g chicken nuggets)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 green onion, chopped
• ~3/4 c. cooked rice

Directions

1. Combine dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook until onion has softened.
3. Add chicken.
4. Pour beaten eggs over and around chicken.
5. Sprinkle with green onion.
6. Cover and cook for ~1 minute.
7. Place rice in a large bowl.
8. Slide chicken-egg mixture out of the pan and onto the rice.
9. Serve with cabbage salad on the side.

I'm tired. This will be a short write-up.

Dashi Stock

From Just One Cookbook

Ingredients

• 10g konbu
• 10g dried bonito flakes
• 1L water

Directions

1. Use scissors to snip the konbu in a few places.
2. Add the konbu to the water and slowly heat it up over 10-15 minutes.
3. Just before the water boils, remove the konbu.
4. Add the bonito flakes and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-60 seconds.
6. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
7. Strain the broth. Konbu and bonito flakes can be either discarded or reserved for another purpose.

I accidentally bought two cabbages. Now we have A LOT of cabbage to eat. We had this cabbage salad with dinner tonight. It was a big hit. Even the Kidlet liked it.

Cabbage Salad with Sesame Dressing

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1/4 of one small cabbage, shredded
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame paste¹
• 5 Tbsp. Japanese mayo
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• sriracha (optional)

Directions

1. Shred the cabbage and place it in some cold water. Set aside while you make the dressing.
2. Combine sugar, sesame paste, mayo, vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil and mix very well.
3. Drain the cabbage.
4. Place a portion of cabbage in a bowl and top with a spoonful of dressing and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.
5. If desired, top with a little sriracha as well.

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¹ I had "mixed sesame paste", which is a mix of toasted sesame seeds and roasted peanuts. If you don't have any sesame paste, you can toast and grind some sesame seeds yourself. Alternatively, a good quality natural peanut butter (with no added sugar or salt) will also work. ^Back

I needed some side dishes to go with my pasta. (I probably should've been looking for proteinaceous sides, but I was in a vegetably sort of mood; what can I say!) I ended up settling on a modified cabbage and bulgur dish + these roasted apples and onions. The Kidlet did not like this dish, but it's hard for me to feel too sad about that because it meant that I got to eat her portion. And I thought it was delicious! Definitely way better than the cabbage thing.

TF has requested that we do a double batch the next time we make this. Which I am totally on board with. Especially since it's a super easy recipe. And we always have onions and apples on hand. The main thing will be to make sure that we have enough. The Kidlet goes through a lot of apples in a week and we use onions in pretty much everything. It's... unpleasant when we run out of either. So making a double batch of this would probably require a bit of advance planning just to make sure we're well-supplied on the key ingredients. It certainly doesn't take much else though! Five minutes of prep and then you can just bung it in the oven and forget about it! Beautiful.

Maple Roasted Onions and Apples

Slightly adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

• 3 onions, cut into wedges
• 3 royal gala (or similar) apples, cut into wedges
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp. fresh)
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Toss everything together in a roasting pan.
3. Roast at 220°C (4250°F) for 35-40 minutes.

I actually woke up early enough this morning to have the wherewithal to make breakfast. (Usually that falls to TF during the week.) I figured that since we had some leftover rice in the fridge, I'd give these rice pancakes a go. They're a bit fragile and tricky to flip, but I'm happy with how they came out overall. I had mine with a bit of scallion-soy sauce, TF had hers with ssamjang, while the Kidlet opted for plain, unadulterated pancakes (though I suspect she would've taken some ketchup on them if we'd offered).

Rice Pancakes

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 2-4 slices of bacon or veggie bacon
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1-2 green onions, chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 c. cooked rice
• 2-3 eggs
• 1 tsp. chicken or vegetable stock concentrate
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1-2 fresh red chilies, sliced on the bias (optional)

Directions

1. Cook the bacon.
2. While the bacon in cooking, chop/grate your veggies and combine them in a bowl.
3. Chop the bacon and add it to the bowl along with the rice, eggs, stock concentrate, and pepper and mix well.
4. Heat a bit of oil in a pan and spoon in some of the rice mix.
5. Flatten the mixture into a pancake. If using chilies, press a few slices into the top of the pancake.
6. Cook until the underside is lightly browned.
7. Carefully flip the pancake and brown the other side.
8. Remove cooked pancake from the pan and repeat with remaining rice mix. (You can cook 2-4 at a time depending on the size of your pan and pancakes.)
9. Serve with your favourite sauce: soy sauce, ssamjang, sriracha, hoisin, ketchup, mayo, etc.

牛奶面包 (Milk Bread)

This is not 湯種牛奶面包 (Tangzhong/water roux milk bread). Apparently many (most?) Chinese bakeries will use a gelatanized roux to help improve the texture and rise of their bread. As far as I can tell, this technique started in Japan and then got popularized throughout Asia. 湯種 is actually a Japanese loan word (which, I guess, is why I can only seem to find it written with traditional characters). That's actually the kanji for "water roux" (yudane), which has been borrowed back into Chinese and given the Mandarin pronunciation tāngzhǒng. Anyway, apparently using the roux is pretty characteristic of many Asian breads. This recipe, however, does not use a roux. It still manages to come out amazingly soft and light and high-rising. Seriously. Really incredibly so. But, if you're looking for a roux-based breaad recipe, this is not it. Just FYI.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, I can continue singing the praises of this bread. It is sweet and light and fluffy and delightful. It is very different from my usual whole grain recipes. But sometimes you just gotta have a sugary white loaf. I'm treating it as dessert and telling myself it's fine.

I think the biggest problem I had with this loaf was getting it out of the pan. I may have been a bit overzealous with the egg wash and it stuck a bit. And the loaf was just so soft and delicate (especially when it was still warm) that it was basically impossible to get it unstuck without some denting, squishing, and tearing sadly.

It's still delicious though!

I'm looking forward to trying this as a component in some other recipes. For now, here's the basic dough.

Hanzi/汉字: 牛奶面包
Pinyin/拼音: niúnǎi miànbāo
English/英文: milk bread

牛奶面包

From Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 160mL heavy (35%) cream
• 250mL milk
• 1 large egg
• 75g sugar
• 570g all-purpose flour, divided
• 11g yeast (instant or active dry)
• 7g coarse sea salt
• egg wash (made from 1 egg + 1 tsp. water)
• simple syrup (optional)

Directions

1. If possible, bring all ingredients to room temperature before starting.
2. Mix milk into cream.
3. Add the egg and mix until well-combined.
4. Add sugar and mix well.
5. Holding back ~80g of the flour, add flour ~70g at a time, mixing well after each addition.
6. Add 70g more flour along with the yeast and mix mostly incorporated.
7. Add the salt and mix again.
8. Spread the last 10g of flour on your work surface, turn the dough out onto it, and knead for 15 minutes.
9. Shape into a ball, cover, and let rise in a warm place for ~1 hour.
10. Knock back, knead for another minute or two, and then divide into two equal portions.
11. Round each portion and rest for ~5 minutes.
12. Grease two loaf pans very well.
13. Shape each portion into a loaf and place one into each loaf pan.
14. Cover and let rise in warm place for ~1 hour.
15. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
16. Brush tops of loaves with egg wash. Don't put too much or brush too close to the sides of the pan or it will weld itself to the pan and be very difficult to remove!
17. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 25 minutes.
18. If desired, brush the tops with simple syrup for extra sweetness and shine.
19. Let rest in pans for 5 minutes.
20. Carefully remove loaves from pans and transfer to wire rack to cool.

For this one we actually had packages of "bibim ramen" on hand, so I skipped the sauce described here and just used the sauce in the packet. I've included the full sauce recipe here, but if making it with bibim ramen packages from the cupboard, skip all the sauce assembly.

Bibim Ramen

Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 package ramen
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp gochujang
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• ⅓ of the ramen packet
• 1 hard-boiled egg, bisected
• ¼ apple or pear, julienned
• 2-3 slices cucumber, julienned
• a bit of cabbage, julienned
• sesame seeds

Directions

1. Cook ramen in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then quench in cold water.
2. Whisk together sugar, gochujang, vinegar, sesame oil, and ramen powder to form sauce; toss with noodles.
3. Top with egg, apple, cucumber, cabbage, and sesame seeds.