Category: Food
Shrimp in Lobster Sauce (No Lobster Here, “Ha Ha Ha” )

Shrimp in Lobster Sauce (No Lobster Here, “Ha Ha Ha” )

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Yet another recipe from the gorgeous cookbook, Made Here created by Send Chinatown Love. In a recent post, I wrote about the Made Here cookbook and shared one of its recipes,  Taiwan Bear House’s Lion’s Head Meatballs.  Based in New York, Send Chinatown Love, is a grassroots group created by young, POC professionals in response to the pandemic.  Their goal was to support hard-hit businesses in and around Manhattan’s Chinatown.  Most businesses in Chinatown are small, family-run shops that depend on a cash-only, in-person model. Which didn’t work during the pandemic. Additionally, anti-Asian sentiment kept folks away.  As a result, it was bleak in most Chinatowns throughout the country.

Kudos to Grassroots

Send Chinatown Love raised funds & awareness for NYC Chinatown. They purchased meals from local restaurants with donations, and then distributed them to those in need in the community. Volunteers taught businesses how to create websites, use alternative payment systems, and create social media accounts to broaden their reach. And then (drum roll please), they published a cookbook, Made Here which highlights these small businesses by sharing their stories and recipes.  It’s a beautiful book filled with photos, drawings, and tiny text (my one complaint due to my old eyes).  100% of the proceeds go back to the community.  You can order the book here, it makes a wonderful gift.

Shrimply Delicious and Easy to Make

Wing Hing’s recipe for Prawns in Lobster Sauce caught my eye.  It is an iconic Cantonese-American dish with absolutely NO lobster in it.  Rather, it has sauteed prawns in a sauce made with ground pork, chicken stock, and egg.  It is a riff on an old Chinese dish, Lobster Cantonese.  Cantonese American chefs recreated the dish using shrimp (widely available and cheaper) instead of lobster but kept lobster in the name to refer to the velvety sauce.  Now that’s what I call great marketing.

Assemble your ingredients first, mise on place is essential in Chinese cooking, especially in wok or stir-fry recipes.

The Ingredients

Shrimp- For an everyday meal, use medium size (21-25/pound) to large prawns (16-20/pound).  For special occasions splurge on jumbo shrimp (10-12/pound) Clean, peel, and devein shrimp.  This will be the most time-consuming part of the recipe.

Shaoxing wine- Chinese wine for flavor

Chicken stock- Base for sauce

Peas-For contrast and color, fresh peas would be lovely but frozen peas are fine

Egg-For flavor and texture. The raw egg is stirred into the simmering sauce to create ribbons of eggs

Cornstarch-To thicken sauce

Scallions- For garnish and flavor

The ROI for this dish is great.  It only takes minutes to make, yet the chorus of oohs and aahs it elicits will make you smile.

Eggs are not only used to thicken the sauce but also to add richness and creaminess.  Without ⬆️ , With ⬇️ 🍳🥚

I like to serve it over steamed rice, but it would be equally yummy over noodles.

Enjoy!

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Sauteed Prawns with Lobster Sauce

Classic Cantonese American Dish, Shrimp in Lobster Sauce that doesn't have lobster. Delicious and easy to make. Adapted from Made Here from Send Chinatown Love
Course main dish, seafood
Cuisine Asian-American
Keyword Cantonese cooking, Lobster sauce, prawns, shrimp
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces raw peeled and cleaned shrimp 16 to 20 per pound
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil
  • 1/4 lb ground pork
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Aromatics

  • 1 clove garlic grated
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger minced

Sauce Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon Shaoxing Wine or Sherry
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 1/4 tsp sugar

Thickener

  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch + 2 tablespoons stock or water
  • 1 large egg, beatened

Garnish

  • 1/2 cup green peas fresh or frozen
  • 2 scallions thinly sliced
  • Steamed white rice for serving or noodles would work too

Instructions

  • Peel shrimp. Using a small paring knife, butterfly shrimp, shallow cut down the length of the shrimp (don't cut through). Devein and rinse shrimp with cold water. Pat dry with paper towel and set aside.
  • Crack egg into a small bowl and whisk to blend.
  • Combine chicken stock, toasted sesame oil, wine, sugar, white pepper in bowl, set by stove.
  • In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with 2 tablespoons stock or water, set aside.
  • Heat oil over high heat in a large frying pan or wok, swirl oil around pan. Add ground pork and season with salt. Cook for a couple of minutes until pork loses its pink color, tossing frequently.
  • Add shrimp to pan and cook for thirty seconds or until shrimp just turn pink.
  • Add chicken stock mixture and reduce heat to medium-low, then add peas. Pour cornstarch slurry into pan and stir to incorporate. Bring the mixture to a simmer to thicken sauce about 1-2 minutes. Once sauce has thickened, reduce heat to low.
  • Whisk egg and drizzle all over the sauce in a thin stream. Let sit undisturbed to allow the eggs to start to set, about 10-15 seconds. Gently stir in one direction with a spatula or cooking chopsticks to create ribbons of egg.
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with sliced green onions
  • Serve with freshly steamed rice.
Kolasnittar-Caramel Slices from Kantine

Kolasnittar-Caramel Slices from Kantine

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Okay, I cannot tell a lie, my geography knowledge sucks.  I sat down to write this post on one of my favorite bakeries in San Francisco, Kantine, and on the cookbook, Scandinavian From Scratch, by owner, Nichole Accettola.  Tap, tap, tap on my keyboard, “Heavenly Scandinavian pastries inspired by her time in Copenhagen”, WAIT.  Isn’t Copenhagen in Denmark? Didn’t she live in Scandinavia?  Is that a country?  But her Jam Caves are Swedish.  I quickly Googled Scandinavia. Holey Moley, Scandinavia refers to Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.  Nordic refers to the Scandinavian countries PLUS Finland and Iceland.  Uh, where does Switzerland fit in, all those ⛰️ and 🏞️?  My bad, it doesn’t.  🤦🏻‍♀️  It took a cookbook and delicious pastries for me to learn my geography..sheesh.

I DIGRESS

I stopped by Kantine to get coffee and a treat. Lucky for me, Nichole was there (I’m a cookbook groupie) for a couple of questions, a photo-op, and a quick conversation.  She recommended the Kolasnittar, a simple, unassuming flat, rhombus-shaped cookie.  One bite and I knew I was going home and baking those bad boys. They’re buttery, caramel-forward, with crispy edges, and a slightly chewy center. What a cookie.

Get this Cookie Party Started

I gathered the ingredients for Kolasnittar or Caramel Slices and realized I didn’t have corn syrup.  So I rummaged through my pantry and pulled out the Golden Syrup.  Golden Syrup is made from sugar cane and has caramel undertones due to the manufacturing process.  It worked like a charm.

The process for making these cookies is “kinda” like making biscotti without twice baking.  The dough is shaped into logs and then flattened into a strip.  If you have a scale, weigh the dough and divide it into 4 equal portions or just eyeball it.  Roll each piece into a 12-inch log and transfer the log to a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Place two rolls on each cookie sheet, be sure to space them out (min. 2.5 inches in between).  Flatten each log into a 1/2-inch thick, 1.5-inches wide strip, keeping each around 12-inch length.  The dough will spread quite a bit while baking.

Take the cookies out when the edges are darker brown and the middle golden brown. Remove from oven and slide cookies and parchment onto a cutting board.  While the cookies are still warm, slice each loaf diagonally into 1-1/2 inch wide strips.

Let them cool completely.

Enjoy!

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KOLASNITTAR (Caramel Slice Cookie)

A delightful, buttery, crispy-edge, chewy-middle, caramel-flavored cookie from Scandinavian bakery, Kantine. The recipe is also in their book, Scandinavian from Scratch by author-owner Nichole Accettola
Course cookies, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American, European, scandinavian, Swedish
Keyword cookies, Kantine, scandinavian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes

Ingredients

Butter Mixture

  • 7 ounces 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 200g
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
  • 1/3 cup light corn syrup. 100g Substitute Golden Syrup 1:1
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 300g King Arthur preferred
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher or flaky sea salt I use Diamond Kosher, for table salt, use 1/2 teaspoon

Instructions

  • Line two baking sheets (approximately 13x17 inches, 33x46cm) with parchment paper. Preferably sheets without a lip.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla on medium speed, beating until it’s soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer midway to scrape down the sides.
  • With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mix until it’s well combined. Do not overbeat.
  • Lightly flour the countertop and scrape the dough onto the counter, kneading it gently until it’s smooth. Divide the dough into four equal parts. A scale really helps here.
  • Roll each portion into a log that’s 12 inches (30cm) long. If the dough cracks lengthwise while you’re rolling it, roll the dough a little toward you and use your thumbs to coerce the dough into the crack, then finish rolling the log, easing dough back into the crack as you go. Don’t worry if the logs are not perfectly smooth. They’re going to spread quite a bit when baked.
  • Place each dough log, evenly spaced on the baking sheet, (2 logs per sheet) then press the logs down to flatten them so they’re about 1/2-inch (1cm) thick and 1 1/2 inches (3,5cm) wide. Make sure there’s at least 2 inches (5cm) of space between each log and at least an inch (2,5cm) away from the edges of the pan.
  • Refrigerate the dough on the baking sheets for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and adjust the racks in the oven to the top and bottom third of the oven. Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheets and switching them on the racks, from top to bottom, midway during baking.
  • I usually bake one sheet at a time. Halfway through rotate the sheet. (If you want to bake them later, cover them with kitchen towels and keep them in the refrigerator.) Bake until the dough is golden brown across the top with browned edges, 16 to 18 minutes.
  • Slide parchment paper with cookie logs onto a cutting board.
  • Cut the flat, former cookie logs diagonally and crosswise each cookie should be 1.5 inches in width. Transfer the cookies from the baking sheets to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
Lions Head Meatballs (Made Here… in Chinatown NY)

Lions Head Meatballs (Made Here… in Chinatown NY)

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A slew of small mom-and-pop stores and restaurants in NYC Chinatown were hit especially hard during the pandemic.  In response, Send Chinatown Love, a volunteer community organization, was created to help these struggling businesses.  Donations to Send Chinatown Love were used to buy meals from local restaurants and distribute them to the elderly and vulnerable community members. A win-win.  Their volunteers also taught businesses how to modernize their business practices and broaden their reach via the Internet.  Even as the pandemic has receded, Send Chinatown Love has continued to help not just Chinatown but other Asian communities in New York.

A friendly greeting and words of affirmation in the recipient’s native language on a decorated postcard accompany every delivered meal.  This is the care and compassion of the organizers and volunteers of Send Chinatown Love.  Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this?  So while we were in New York, I made postcards and delivered them to a cute little bakery, Partybus Bakeshop with yummy breads & treats in Chinatown.  I hope my postcards helped brighten someone’s day.

Labor of Love

Send Chinatown Love’s latest foray is a self-published, GORGEOUS cookbook, titled Made Here.  Proceeds from the book go back to the community fund.  This wonderful compendium is filled with recipes, stories, and photos of local businesses.  The chapter on Taiwan Bear House in Chinatown included their Lion’s Head Meatballs (狮子头) recipe.  A homey dish made from ground pork and poached in a flavorful, light broth with cabbage (lion’s mane).  It is a quintessential Taiwanese dish.

Flashback to 17

Well…the last time I had Lion’s Head Meatballs I was 17 years old and sitting at a table in an army barrack in Taiwan. Across from me, a grinning Taiwanese soldier urged me to EAT.  Yo, it was sus, but I tried it and it was delicious. That was the summer between my freshman and sophomore year at Berkeley.  I was in a student exchange program in Taiwan.  My mom and dad sent me alongside other Chinese American kids sent by their parents, to discover their Chinese roots.  We learned a bit of Mandarin and Taiwanese culture, and a lot about having a good time.  We vastly outnumbered the teachers and chaperones so it was easy to sneak out to roam the streets and night markets in Taipei.

I was one of the youngest on the trip. This meant, bars and nightclubs were off-limits (I am not messing around in a foreign country, nope).  But shopping, wandering the streets, and absorbing everyday life in Taipei was fair game.  My fondest memories were of the food, especially at the night markets.  I stuffed myself silly with Guo Tieh (Potstickers), Xiao Loong Bao (Shanghai Dumplings), and omelets filled with briny oysters. We gawked at the old men tossing live shrimp into a bowl, splashing them with whiskey which caused them to jump on the plate. But as they slid into a drunken stupor, I watched folks pop them into their mouths, eek!  Was I brave enough to do the same?  I’ve blocked that memory.

This was my first exposure to street food and night markets. To this day whenever we travel we look for the local street markets. ❤️

The meatballs resemble the lion’s head and the cabbage is its mane.  Use your imagination.  Use pork with a bit of fat, I recommend 80%-20% pork to fat.

This recipe is super simple so embellishing is easy.  I like adding chopped water chestnuts for crunch and diced scallions for color and flavor.  The trick to tender meatballs is to stir the mixture vigorously, in one direction only until the meat feels sticky.  Preferably, use a pair of chopsticks to stir.  The logic?  Don’t know, my mom told me to do this and it works.

 

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5 from 1 vote

Lion's Head Meatballs (狮子头)

A classic Taiwanese Dish, Lion's Head Meatballs are savory, comforting and delisious, Adapted from the cookbook, Made Here, from Send Chinatown Love
Course dinner, homestyle, main dish, Meat, Soup
Cuisine Asian, Chinese, Taiwanese
Keyword Beef and Vegetable Soup, Lion's Head Meatballs, Made Here, Taiwanese
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Meatballs:

  • 1 lb. ground pork 80-20 percent pork-fat
  • 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Shaoxing wine or sherry
  • 1 Tbsp. soy sauce good quality, preferably a Taiwanese soy sauce, light if not, use Kikkoman Organic + 1 tsp sugar)
  • 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger peeled and finely grated or minced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt or 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp. ground white pepper
  • 1 scallions trimmed and finely chopped, optional
  • 4 ounces water chesnuts chopped, optional

FOR THE BROTH:

  • 1 small head Napa Cabbage or regular cabbage end cut off and roughly chopped (you could use a small head of regular cabbage, cored and chopped)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 1- in. piece of ginger sliced into planks
  • 3 sheets of kombu dried kelp each sheet should be approximately 3x3 inches/piece
  • 1 dried shiitake mushroom
  • 1 tsp salt

Garnish:

  • 2 stalks scallions
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • Steamed jasmine rice for serving

Instructions

Broth:

  • Wipe kelp with a dry cloth or paper towel to remove white powder (salt residual). Set aside.
  • Fill a large pot with 10 cups of water. Add ginger, shiitake mushroom, kelp, and 1 tsp salt. set over medium-high heat. As soon as it begins to boil, turn down heat so stock is just simmering. Simmer for 30-45 minutes, do not let it boil as the kelp will get bitter. Once done simmering, strain stock to remove kelp, ginger, and mushroom. Return stock to pot and keep warm while making meatballs.

Meatballs:

  • In a large bowl, combine ground pork, seasonings, garlic, ginger, and scallions plus water chestnuts if using. Mix thoroughly.
  • Using a pair of chopsticks or a long spoon, stir mixture vigorously in one direction only, until the mixture looks sticky or tacky. Scoop up the meat and slap it back into the bowl a couple times. This process helps to tenderize the meat.
  • Form the meat into 4-6 balls, roughly the size of tennis balls. (ok, I like them a bit smaller so make 6-8). Traditionally they are HUGE.
  • Gently drop meatballs into simmering stock and cook for about 15-20 minutes until the meatballs float and are tender.

To Serve:

  • Just before poaching the meatballs, bring stock to boil and drop in napa cabbage. Boil cabbage for 2 -3 minutes or until just tender. Remove from broth and set aside.
  • Before serving taste broth for seasoning. If needed, add a bit of finishing soy sauce or soup soy to add saltiness and depth of flavor.
  • Place cabbage in bowl followed by a meatball. Fill bowl with additional broth. Garnish with scallions and cilantro. If you are like my kids you will put a scoop of rice in your bowl then ladle in the soup.

Notes

This dish can also be made as a braised dish.  But I am a soup fan.
 
Glazed Butter Cake, Found

Glazed Butter Cake, Found

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I excitedly headed to the city a couple of months ago to pick up my copy of Erin French’s new book, Big Heart Little Stove. I became a fan after reading her biography and watching her show, The Lost Kitchen.  Her food is simple and beautiful.  She focuses on sourcing amazing locally-grown products from small farms.  If you watch her show, you know the setting for The Lost Kitchen is a historic, gorgeous stone grist mill set next to a waterfall.  The dining room exudes rustic charm and gives guests a birdseye view of the kitchen area.  In short, the setting is breathtaking.

On one episode she served a Glazed Butter Pound Cake with a poached donut peach and creme anglaise.  I adore a pound cake and knew I would be looking for the recipe.  Growing up, I loved pound cake, especially Sara Lee’s or Ping Yuen Bakery’s Pound Cake.  Many of you are familiar with the iconic Sara Lee version (HERE is a love letter & recipe to that very cake by Eric Kim, his version is SPOT ON), however, only folks around my age or older who lived or frequented San Francisco Chinatown, will be familiar with Ping Yuen Bakery & Cafe version. Conveniently, located downstairs from my parent’s office, we often stopped there to buy deli items and baked goods to bring home.  I always lobbied for their buttery, fine-crumb pound cake.

Pound Cake Groupie

The cake is in her new book and in my book, you can never have too many butter-pound cake recipes.  First, cream butter and sugar, then add eggs and follow with alternating the dry ingredients with the buttermilk into the batter.  Finish the cake with the butter and confectioner’s sugar glaze.

Vanilla paste with its seeds also works well in this cake.

There’s my postcard! Iykyk

Bake in a 9×5 loaf pan until golden brown.  It took approximately 45 minutes instead of the 25 minutes listed in the directions.  Start testing for doneness at 20 minutes. If the top gets too dark, cover it with foil.

Icing, Icing, Baby

Glaze cake with the butter-powdered sugar icing.  The addition of vanilla and almond extracts adds a ton of flavor.  Feel free to substitute rum or Bourbon for the almond extract.  The glaze gives the cake a shiny donut-like finish.

Serve with fresh berries, whipped cream, creme anglaise, or by itself.  Perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.  Enjoy!

 

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Glazed Butter Cake

Delicious, simple but elegant butter cake, flavored with vanilla and almond. From Erin French's newest book, Big Heart, Little Stove
Course Cake, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword erin french, Glazed butter cake, loaf cake, lost kitchen
Prep Time 15 minutes
Servings 8

Equipment

  • 1 9x5 loaf pan

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt or 1/4 tsp reg salt

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 stick unsalted butter 8 tbsp or 4oz.
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk shake well before measuring
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste

Butter Glaze

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 stick unsalted butter 8 T or 4 oz
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp almond extract substitute rum extract or rum or bourbon
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch loaf pan, line with parchment, set aside.
  • Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
  • Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy ~ 5 minutes
  • Add eggs, one at a time, incorporating the first egg before adding the next egg.
  • With the mixer on low, add approximately 1/3 of the flour mixture to butter, mix until combined then add 1/2 of buttermilk, again mix until well combined. Repeat this process, ending with the flour mixture. Add vanilla and mix just until combined.
  • Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until cake is golden brown and a cake tester in the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Note, my cake took about 45 minutes. Begin testing at 20 minutes. Remove cake and place it on a rack to cool. Meanwhile, make the glaze.

Glaze

  • In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, and 1/4 cup water. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally. Remove pan from heat and let glaze cool a little. Whisk in vanilla and almond extracts. As the glaze cools it will thicken slightly.
  • Allow cake to cool and remove from pan. Brush the bottom, sides and the top generously with the glaze.
  • Slice and serve. Feel free to add berries, whipped cream or a creme anglaise.
Wes’s Tuna Dip (Thrill of Victory & the Agony of Defeat, Tempered by Food)

Wes’s Tuna Dip (Thrill of Victory & the Agony of Defeat, Tempered by Food)

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I have been meaning to put the Hubster’s Tuna Dip recipe on 3jamigos for a long time.  Tuna Dip is mandatory for every birthday party, impromptu gathering, and of course, every 49ers football game.  Yep, Sunday is not Sunday unless there is a game on, a bowl of tuna dip and a giant bag of ridged potato chips.

By a stroke of good fortune, we are staying in New York for February.  It is no secret that I am a city girl. I grew up in San Francisco and LOVE urban life.  To spend a month in New York is a dream.  I’m convinced that NYC is one of the world’s great cities (after San Francisco of course, lol) and we are taking full advantage of our time here.  Added bonus, my kid lives here so we have been spending time with her, Sam, and Moose.

The High Line, NYC

Super Bowl Sunday in Manhattan

The Super Bowl table has to have Spam Sushi, and PIZZA!

It’s nice to be in a city that doesn’t have a team in the Super Bowl.  We escaped the 2 weeks of constant hype over the game by being in a city that frankly didn’t give a damn (no vested interest) and has been perpetually beaten down.  They were doing their darn-dest to forget about the Jets and the Giants and the last season.  Being diehard 49ers fans, of course, we were going to watch.  Sam & Jamie hosted a Super Bowl Party, and we made Tuna Dip, Spam Musubi, and Butter Mochi Muffins, cause you can’t watch a game without munchies.  Sadly, the game did not turn out as we would have liked (damn Patrick Mahones) …at least we had yummy finger food and great NY-style Pizza from Uncle Sam’s.  Besides, there’s always next year. 😭

This is hands down the fam’s favorite football food, chips and tuna dip.  It also makes great tuna sammies when you run out of chips and crackers.  It’s stupid easy.  It is the perfect dip.  If you’re feeling extravagant or have leftover salmon…BOSS substitute for the tuna.

Enjoy!

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Tuna dip

A family favorite, Tuna Dip, mandatory and any picnic, football game, just about any family gathering!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword tuna dip, chips
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 12 ounce can water pack tuna, well drained better to get light tuna instead of albacore, less mercury
  • 4 T sweet relish
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs coarsely mashed
  • 4 T red onion, diced
  • 1 stalk green onion, chopped

Dressing

  • 1/2 cup + 1T mayonnaise regular or light
  • 1 tsp French’s yellow mustard
  • couple of grinds of black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Drain tuna well and place in medium sized bowl.
  • Add relish, hard-boiled eggs and red onion to bowl.
  • Combine dressing ingredients in a bowl, stir to combine. Add to bowl with tuna. Stir to combine well. Adjust seasonings to taste. If it seems a little dry, add mayonnaise. Not tart enough, add mustard.
  • Serve with chips, crackers or veggies like cucumber, carrots or radishes
  • You can also use this for sandwiches!

Notes

For a little tang substitute a couple of tablespoons of sour cream for mayonnaise
Cream Cheese Frosting-Luscious, Creamy & Lump-Free

Cream Cheese Frosting-Luscious, Creamy & Lump-Free

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I LOVE Cream Cheese Frosting,.  It deserves its own post, and should not be an afterthought tacked onto a Carrot Cake or Banana Cake recipe.

TBH…it needs its own post because I was today years old when I learned how to make a creamy, luscious, LUMP-FREE Cream Cheese Frosting.  Yep, all those years I struggled to achieve a smooth and creamy frosting.  I tried cream cheese and butter at room temp before combining. I tried smooshing the cream cheese first that didn’t work. Sometimes, I resorted to using a hand blender to get rid of lumps which worked but added an extra step.  Then… on an episode of Zoe Bakes, I learned the secret to making lump-free, voluptuous, thick frosting.  Hallelujah.

COLD Cream Cheese Meets SOFTIE Butter

Cream Cheese- Start with cold cream cheese, beat it until it is smooth. Cold cream cheese prevents the frosting from becoming too thin as it is whipped.

Butter- Use unsalted butter at room temperature (~68 degrees).  It should be soft enough that it gives with little finger pressure but should not be melty.  Gradually add softened butter, approximately 2 tablespoons at a time to the cream cheese. Adding soft butter to the cold cream cheese minimizes lumps in your finished frosting.

Powdered Sugar- MY OPINION:  Cream cheese frostings have too much sugar.  Add powdered sugar to the level of sweetness you want. I add about 1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar to this recipe.  If I add sour cream or creme fraiche I bump it up to 1-3/4 cups.  Add sugar in 2-3 parts beating at medium-low speed and scraping the bowl after each addition (mandatory).  Be careful not to beat too much which can cause the frosting to break and become too thin.  If the frosting seems a little soft, chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or until it reaches a thick, creamy, consistency then frost your cake.

Creme Fraiche- A touch of creme fraiche adds a hint of tanginess and creaminess to the frosting.  Feel free to substitute with sour cream or mascarpone.

I made Zoe’s Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake and followed her frosting directions.  It worked like a charm.  Cream cheese frosting being my favorite frosting, it’s also featured in Hubby’s Carrot Cake, Smitten Kitchen’s delightful Carrot Graham Cake, my favorite banana cake from Clementine Bakery, and Sally’s Baking Addiction Banana Snacking Cake.  YUM!

Enjoy!

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Cream Cheese Frosting

The secret to making delicious, and decadent, cream cheese frosting
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Chocolate Devil's Food Cake, cream cheese frosting, zoe bakes
Prep Time 20 minutes

Equipment

  • 1 Mixer

Ingredients

  • 2 8- ounce packages cream cheese softened 455 grams total
  • 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 2 sticks, 8 ounces or 230 grams
  • 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted if lumpy 240 grams, or to taste
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract to taste, can use less
  • 2 tbsp sour cream or creme fraiche or mascarpone

Instructions

Making the Frosting

  • Start with cold cream cheese and room temperature softened butter.
  • With an electric mixer, beat cold cream cheese until smooth. With mixer running (medium speed), add room temp butter a couple of tablespoons at a time, blend each add in completely. SCRAPE BOWL with every couple of additions of butter. This helps to minimize lumps. Beat until smooth and creamy.
  • Add vanilla and creme fraiche (sour cream), then add powdered sugar half at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Scrape down bowl after each addition. Don't overbeat which will cause mixture to get runny.
  • If frosting seems too soft, chill for about 30 minutes to thicken before frosting cake.
  • Arrange first cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread with frosting; place top layer on it. For 8 -inch cake top each layer with approximately 3/4 cup of frosting.

Frosting the Cake

  • For the top and sides of the cake. Spread a thin layer of frosting on sides, called the crumb coat. This keeps the final frosting layer free of crumbs. If you have time, chill the cake to lock the crumbs in the crumb coat.
  • Remove chilled cake and finish frosting. To create the horizontal lines on the sides. Place cake on turntable. Place offset spatula parallel to side of cake in frosting and rotate turntable while keeping constant pressure on your spatula. Gradually lower your spatula towards the base of the cake creating a ripple effect on the sides,
  • Optional: Shower perimeter of cake with chocolate or multi-colored sprinkles.
There’s a New Carrot Cake in Town (Carrot Graham Cake from SK)

There’s a New Carrot Cake in Town (Carrot Graham Cake from SK)

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Well it was the Hubster’s birthday a week ago.  I had the nerve to make him a carrot cake for HIS birthday. As many know, his Carrot Cake reigns supreme.  Every birthday we celebrate, it is a given the candles will be on a Wes-created Carrot Cake.  Do I get jealous?  Maybe a bit, BUT then,  I don’t have to bake a cake.  It’s a win-win.  Although he normally has to bake his birthday cake, guilt got the best of me this year and truth be told, I had been eyeing a luscious-looking carrot cake from Smitten Kitchen.  Now was my opportunity to try it.

I am in the minority when it comes to the add-ins for different carrot cake recipes.  Luckily, my family is unanimous regarding nuts…none, zippo.  We put the kibosh on nuts a long time ago.  That goes for coco-NUT too, none.  Wes has experimented over the years and has landed on the family favorite of raisins and pineapple in his recipe.  Being a jealous contrarian, I like his carrot cake but I would LOVE it if it were a little bit lighter and cakier.  I am in the minority though, my family looks at me and rolls their eyes…mom being a turd.  Hey, I’m entitled to my opinion, especially on my blog, lol.

So with that, I decided to try Deb’s version of carrot cake. No nuts, pineapple, or raisins, just carrots and crushed-up graham crackers…well, and the usuals, flour, oil (butter), sugar, and eggs.  Without further ado, let’s get to it.

This is an easy cake to make.  You don’t need a mixer, just a large mixing bowl, and a spoon or spatula to stir everything together.  How easy is that?

Graham Crackers-Honey Maid of course or use your fav.  I throw the crackers in a plastic bag, take out my trusty rolling pin and CRUSH 💪 them into fine crumbs.  You can use different cookies such as Digestive Cookies (It’s a British thing, lol), Speculoos or Biscoff.  Just make sure to crush em’ up good.

Carrots-Most recipes have you use the small holes for finely grated carrots.  I used the bigger holes 🤷🏻‍♀️  for coarsely grated carrots, worked like a champ!  If you are using a box grater, I don’t think it matters much.  Don’t buy pre-shredded carrots and don’t forget to peel you carrots!

Fat-I use oil in this cake, either a canola, grapeseed oil, any oil that is neutral in flavor should work.  You can use butter, I’m not sure there is an advantage since butter flavor is not necessary for this cake.

Add-itions-Ok, if you must, you can add raisins or nuts to this cake.  Stir into the batter after adding the carrots.  Use approximately 3/4 cup of either.

Pour batter into three parchment lined 9×2 round pan equally.  For a slightly taller cake bake in 8×2 cake pans, adjust baking time.  I have a scale so I weigh the total amount of batter, place each cake pan on the scale, zero it and pour 1/3 of batter by weight into each pan.  Takes the guessing away but that’s just me.

The layers bake quickly, so keep an eye out, and they will be pretty flat, perfect for frosting.

It’s All About the Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting.  Sometimes I think cake is just an excuse to have frosting especially cream chesse frosting.  I have been binging Zoe Bakes and lucky for me she has an episode on carrot cake.  More importantly, her method to make creamy, smooth, cream cheese frosting.  No more lumpy frosting!  The cream cheese frosting is an adaption of Hubby’s.  Add powdered sugar to taste, approximately 1.5 cups to 2 cups max.  The creme fraiche adds creaminess and voluptuousness.

The trick is to start by beating COLD cream cheese until smooth and then gradually adding room temperature butter.  When you have finished adding the butter, add vanilla and creme fraiche and beat until combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl periodically.  Add one third of the powdered sugar and beat at low speed to combine. Repeat with remaining sugar.  Careful not to beat the frosting too much.  Beat just to combine the sugar and cream cheese mixture until it is smooth and creamy.  If it seems too soft, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 30 minutes or until it firms up.

The Finish

Icing on the Cake

To make things easier, I weigh the frosting and then divide into 4 equal portions using my trusty scale.  Place cake on a turntable (see my IG video!)  Place one layer on cake turntable, top with frosting and spread to the edge using an offset spatula. Repeat with remaining layers.  For the top layer and sides, start with a crumb layer, a thin layer of frosting to lock in any crumbs on the cake for a clean look to your frosting,  Then finish frosting.  It’s not necessary to frost the sides.  If you don’t, divide the frosting into thirds.  I went with the “skimpy” sides frosting look..something I have seen a lot lately. Kinda cool and very easy.

With an offset spatula, starting at the center of the cake, move the spatula tip through the frosting towards the outside perimeter, groovy right?

For a fun touch, use a cookie cutter to create design in the center with sprinkles.  Enjoy!

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Carrot Graham Cake

A lighter, less than version of the traditional carrot cake with hints of graham flavor. Of course topped with a classic cream cheese frosting that is smooth, creamy, buttery with a hin of tartness from sour cram. Yield: 1 9-inch 3-layer cake
Course Cake, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Carrot Graham Cake, cream cheese frosting, smitten kitchen
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 12 servings

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour 125 grams
  • 3/4 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs 95 grams
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar 150 grams
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar 145 grams
  • 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons neutral oil or melted butter 210 grams (i.e. 1 tablespoon short of 1 cup)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 cups peeled and grated carrots (using larger holes) 12 3/4 ounces or 360 grams

Frosting

  • 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened 455 grams total
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 sticks, 8 ounces or 230 grams
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy 240 grams
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp sour cream, or creme fraiche or mascarpone

Instructions

For cake:

  • Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line three 9-inch cake pans with a fitted round of parchment paper and coat with a nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together flour, graham crumbs, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Set aside.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugars, oil and eggs until smooth. Stir in grated carrots. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until flour just disappears.
  • Pour batter evenly between three prepared baking pans. Bake each layer for 15 to 18 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Cake will seem soft and likely still sticky on top. Let rest in pans for 5 minutes on a cooling rack, then run a knife around the edges of the first cake layer to ensure no parts are sticking to the sides, flip cake out onto cooling rack, remove parchment paper and flip back right-side-up on another cooling rack.
  • Repeat with remaining layers and let the cake layers cool completely before frosting. If you are in a rush, you can place cake layers in your freezer until cool and slightly firm. The cake will be easier to handle

For Frosting

  • Start with cold cream cheese and room temperature softened butter.
  • With an electric mixer, beat cold butter until smooth. With mixer running, add room temp butter a couple of tablespoons at a time and allowing each add to blend in completely. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and creme fraiche, then add powdered sugar, don't over beat which will cause mixture to get runny. Add graually. Beat in vanilla and sour cream until combined.
  • Arrange first cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread top with frosting; repeat twice with remaining layers. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to create the heart shape in the center, fill with sprinkles. Let cake chill until serving.

Notes

Cake is delicious on the first day, and even more moist on the second and third days. Keep in fridge. To prepare in advance, make the cake layers, wrap each well and freeze them.
Mrs. S’s Toffee Squares

Mrs. S’s Toffee Squares

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I found it!  Buried in my recipe binder, a treasured recipe from my friend Joy’s mom.  My favorite holiday cookie, Mrs. S’s Toffee Squares.  As soon as we received her plate of Christmas Cookies I laid claim to those Toffee Squares, and truth be told, her Crescents, Pecan Tartlets, and Spritz Cookies… lol.

These delightful toffee squares made their appearance, courtesy of Joy, at our preschool cookie swap last week.  A gentle reminder to find and post the recipe.  So I dug into my cookie files that haven’t been digitized, lol, and luckily found her recipe.  I might have to make a batch today to celebrate!


Our 25th Preschool Cookie Swap not only included a variety of delicious cookies but traditional, made from scratch, eggnog.

I also love Alice Medrich’s Toffee Bars, a recipe very similar to Mrs. S’s recipe.  The directions offer a little more detail than Mrs. S’s recipe and are equally divine.

Tips for Mrs. S’s recipe:

Use salted butter.  This is an old recipe, I imagine, only salted butter was available.  If you use unsalted butter, increase salt to 1/2 teaspoon.

Gold Medal or Pillsbury Flour was and is, the most widely available flour.  One of those would have been the flour Mrs. S used, but if you only have King Arthur, spoon it lightly into your measuring cup. I have read that folks compensate for the protein in King Arthur by reducing the amount of flour in the recipe by 1 tablespoon per cup.  Haven’t tried it myself yet.  Mainly because I’m nuts and have multiple varieties of flour on hand including Gold Medal, King Arthur, Bob’s, White Lily 🤷🏻‍♀️

Reminder,  do not overwork the dough after adding the flour to the butter-sugar mixture.

Go crazy, use different chocolate varieties for the topping, dark, milk or bittersweet.  Change up the nuts too.  Her recipe calls for milk chocolate and pecans or almonds, my “grown-up version” uses dark chocolate and hazelnuts.

Enjoy!

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Toffee Squares

Course bar cookies, desserts
Cuisine American
Keyword chocolate cookies, toffee bar recipe, Toffee Bars
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

Cookie Base

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup unsifted all purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

  • 6 1.2 ounce milk chocolate bars or 2 baker's German milk chocolate bars
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped nuts pecans

Instructions

  • Cream butter, beat in sugar and vanilla.
  • Combine flour and salt, stir into the creamed mixture.
  • Pat dough evenly into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch ungreased pan.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
  • Remove from oven, lay chocolate bars on top. When melted, spread evenly over dough. Sprinkle with nuts. Let cool, cut into diamond shape.Makes 44 cookies.
Mrs. Singer’s Eggnog, The Real Deal

Mrs. Singer’s Eggnog, The Real Deal

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How many of you have had REAL eggnog?  Not the ultra-pasteurized, homogenized version of eggnog found in every supermarket during the holidays.  Who drinks that stuff?

Context

I did a bit of sleuthing on the origins of eggnog.  It has been around since medieval England (1300s), that’s a LONG time.  Its lineage starts as a posset, a milky, warm ale-like drink.   Fast forward to the 1700s, eggnog came along for the ride to the new colonies in America. Farmland was plentiful for cows and chickens which in turn provided lots of milk and eggs.  Rum, the inexpensive alcohol of the time, rounded out the nog.  Thus, eggnog became the festive drink of choice for the everyday man.

Unlucky for us,  the advent of supermarkets and technology led to the eggnog so many of us know.  As soon as pumpkin lattes disappear after Thanksgiving,  red and green cartons of super sweet, weirdly thick (like slime) non-alcoholic eggnog pop up in its place on supermarket shelves.  Whenever I volunteer to make eggnog for a holiday soiree’ I am invariably met with a chorus of yucks and eewwws.

The Eggnog Caper

To which I launch into my oratory, on the much-maligned REAL eggnog.  It starts with the story of Mrs. Ethel Singer.

When my brother and I were babies we were taken care of by a family out in the Sunset, the Singer Family.  Mrs Ethel Singer was the sweetest, most amazing woman, who ran a nursery for babies.  A friendship was born from our stay there and it became a tradition for us to visit them every Christmas. As I admired their gorgeous Christmas tree with an entire miniature town around the base, she brought out her homemade cookies and eggnog.

Not Your Mama’s Eggnog

We would sit sipping our eggnog merrily chatting away. Much to my chagrin, I often found myself getting very sleepy while listening to the conversation. I fought hard to keep my eyes open. How could I be so rude?!  Finally, during a visit I happened to ask for her eggnog recipe. She went over the recipe step by step,  “A quart of milk, 12 eggs (my arteries spasmed), sugar, heavy whipped cream, milk, and make sure to use a CUP of GOOD brandy, like Christian Brothers, lol.   My dear Dr. Watson, the mystery is solved regarding my annual, ill-timed bouts of narcolepsy.  Blame it on the alcohol, the alcohol…

Yes, roughly 15% alcohol, masked by sugar, milk, heavy whipping cream, and eggs. A smooth, creamy, sweet, calorie-laden, festive, delicious, diabolical drink.

Our Annual Cookie Swap

So, for our annual preschool holiday cookie swap, I pulled out Mrs. Singer’s Eggnog recipe.  Martini glasses filled with eggnog seemed a fitting way to toast 25 years of cookie swaps that began with toddlers in tow. Back then we were new moms who could not imagine those toddlers becoming adults making their way in the world.  It seems like in the blink of an eye we have arrived at that point.

Remember When…

2000

2001

2002

2015

2023

Happy Holidays!

Feel free to HALF this recipe

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5 from 1 vote

Ethel Singer's Eggnog

(from an add for Yellowstone Whiskey in SF Chronicle, circa 1952)   Note: You should prepare at least 12 hours before serving
Course Drinks
Cuisine American, English
Keyword brandy, Eggnog, eggs, holiday drink, whipped cream
Prep Time 20 minutes
Chill Time 12 hours

Equipment

  • 1 stand mixer
  • 3 large bowls, 1 should be your serving bowl, like a punch bowl

Ingredients

  • 1 dozen eggs 12 eggs
  • 1 pint heavy whipping cream 2 cups
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brandy / bourbon/rum
  • 1 quart milk 4 cups
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Nutmeg for garnish

Instructions

  • Need 3 mixing bowls (2 chilled), and one punchbowl
  • Separate egg whites into 1 chilled bowl, and yolks into room-temp bowl (make sure no yolk is in the egg whites or they won’t beat).
  • Using a stand or hand mixer, beat egg whites until they are firm and peaked.
  • Add 1 cup sugar and 1 cup brandy/bourbon to egg yolks, use mixer to blend completely
  • Pour 1 pint of heavy cream into 2nd chilled mixing bowl, beat until firm – add 1 tsp vanilla
  • Combine beaten egg whites, yolks/sugar/brandy mixture, and beaten cream into a punchbowl, and then add 1-quart milk – mix thoroughly, garnish with nutmeg, and chill overnight.
  • Step 6 Enjoy

Notes

1/2 recipe
6 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup (100gm) sugar                   
1/2 cup brandy, or rum, or Bourbon
2 cups whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
Nutmeg for garnish