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.
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 minutesminutes
Cook Time 13 minutesminutes
Ingredients
Ingredients
12ouncecan water pack tuna, well drainedbetter to get light tuna instead of albacore, less mercury
4Tsweet relish
2hard-boiled eggscoarsely mashed
4Tred onion, diced
1stalkgreen onion, chopped
Dressing
1/2cup+ 1T mayonnaiseregular or light
1tspFrench’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
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.
2 8-ouncepackages cream cheesesoftened 455 grams total
1cupunsalted butterat room temperature 2 sticks, 8 ounces or 230 grams
1-1/2cupspowdered sugarsifted if lumpy 240 grams, or to taste
4teaspoonsvanilla extractto taste, can use less
2tbspsour creamor 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)
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!
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 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 12servings
Ingredients
Cake
1cup all-purpose flour125 grams
3/4cupfinely ground graham cracker crumbs95 grams
3/4teaspoonbaking soda
1 1/2teaspoonsbaking powder
3/4teaspoonfine sea or table salt
1 1/2teaspoonsground cinnamon
1/4teaspoonground nutmeg
3/4teaspoonground ginger
3/4cupgranulated sugar150 grams
3/4cupdark brown sugar145 grams
3/4cupplus 3 tablespoons neutral oil or melted butter210 grams (i.e. 1 tablespoon short of 1 cup)
3large eggs
3cupspeeled and grated carrots (using larger holes)12 3/4 ounces or 360 grams
Frosting
28-ounce packages cream cheese, softened 455 grams total
1cupunsalted butter, at room temperature2 sticks, 8 ounces or 230 grams
2cupspowdered sugar, sifted if lumpy240 grams
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
2 tbspsour 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.
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.
Keyword chocolate cookies, toffee bar recipe, Toffee Bars
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Ingredients
Cookie Base
1/2cupbutter
1/2cupbrown sugar
1teaspoonvanilla
1cupunsifted all purpose flour
1/4teaspoonsalt
Topping
6 1.2ouncemilk chocolate barsor 2 baker's German milk chocolate bars
3/4cupfinely chopped nutspecans
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.
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 started nodding off while listening to the conversation. I fought hard to keep my eyes open. How could I be so rude?! Finally, during one visit, I asked for her eggnog recipe. Not only did she gift me her recipe, but 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 generous 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.
3 large bowls, 1 should be your serving bowl, like a punch bowl
Ingredients
1dozen eggs12 eggs
1pintheavy whipping cream2 cups
1cupsugar
1cupbrandy / bourbon/rumoriginal recipe has 1-2 cups lol
1quartmilk4 cups
1tspvanilla 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 mixer with wire whisk attachment (infinitely easier) or hand mixer, beat egg whites until they are firm and peaked. Do not overbeat. Set aside (or put in fridge).
Start whisking egg yolks and gradually add 1 cup sugar. Whisk until light and frothy, slightly thickened. Add 1 cup brandy/bourbon to the egg yolk mixture. Whisk to blend completely.
Pour 1 pint (2 cups) of heavy cream into 2nd chilled mixing bowl, using whisk attachment, start at medium and gradually increase speed to beat cream. When it starts to thicken, add vanilla. Continue to beat until cream is thick and has firmed peaks when stirred with a spatula.
Pour egg yolk mixture into a serving bowl or punch bowl, add milk stirring to blend. Add egg whites and whipped cream and mix thoroughly with a spatula or wooden spoon (fold egg mixture over cream and egg whites. Garnish with nutmeg, and chill overnight.
Enjoy! Ladle eggnog into martini glasses or small bistro glasses. Garnish with nutmeg and a cinnamon stick.
Notes
1/2 recipe6 eggs. 3 eggs1 cup whipping cream. 1/2 c whipping cream1/2 cup (100gm) sugar 1/4 c sugar 1/2 cup brandy, or rum, or Bourbon 1/4 c brandy2 cups whole milk 1 cup milk1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1//4 tsp vanillaNutmeg for garnish
Brrrrr… getting chilly out there. While I love summer, I do look forward to winter. As the temperature drops I start dreaming of dishes that warm the body and soul. Soup bowls and spoons that have languished on the shelf all summer are now front and center, waiting to be filled. Soups, rice bowls, stews, nabes, dumplings, noodles, and casseroles are always in the winter rotation. Comfort food with a capital C.
Some of my favorite casseroles or soups don’t require hours on the stove, this is one of them, Jjim Dak or Korean Braised Chicken. Jjim Dak is a hearty chicken, vegetables, and glass noodle dish that comes together in an hour. It’s flexible in terms of ingredients (which mean any veggie you have hiding in your crisper is fair game), and filling due to the addition of potatoes and glass noodles. A TikTok video for this dish caught my attention so I headed to my favorite Korean recipe site, http://Koreanbapsang.com. A quick search of her site and bada bing, bada boom…I found her recipe for Korean braised chicken.
Let’s get to it…Bowl Food is Soul Food
This is a very flexible recipe. The foundation is chicken, potatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms and chili. Braise the chicken in soy sauce, oyster sauce, a bit of sugar and mirin. This is an easy one-pot meal that comes together quickly and is guaranteed to chase the chilly weather away.
Use chicken thighs or drumsticks, preferably bone-in and cut into large bite-size pieces. You can use boneless but you run the risk of overcooking the chicken while braising the vegetables. You can find cut bone-in pieces of chicken at most Asian markets. If you cut it yourself make sure to rinse the chicken after chopping for bone fragments.
Veggie So Many Choices, So Little Time…Cause I’m Hungry
Traditionally, this dish has the usual suspects, carrots, potatoes, onions, and scallions. Feel free to add whatever you like and it will be divine. I added mushrooms, Korean radish, and Korean radish leaves (so excited when I saw the tops on the radishes at the market). Hands down yummy. So add whatever you like, including KALE (nooooo, can’t believe I wrote that). Cut the veggies in smaller bites due to quick cooking time. In fact, if using boneless chicken, I would dump everything in at once and not cook the chicken first. Make it in advance, if you can, to let the flavors develop.
The glass noodles take this over the top. They add texture, flavor (the noods suck up the flavor from the sauce, chicken and veggies-yummo) and substance to the dish. You can find mung bean noodles or glass noodles at most Asian stores. Do not confuse it with rice noodles or vermicelli. Pre-soak noods to soften, drain well before adding.
The sauce ingredients are readily available. Use Korean soy sauce or Kikkoman which are a bit more similar to each other than Chinese soy sauces. I could go down a rabbit about soy sauces…. Oyster Sauce, as always, my go-to is Lee Kum Kee with the lady and boy in the boat label.
Braised chicken with assorted veggies, perfect for dish for chilly nights
Course comfort food
Cuisine Korean
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Equipment
Prep Time
20minutes mins
Cook Time
30minutes mins
Total Time
50minutes mins
Ingredients
The Stars
1medium-sized chickencut up (2.5 to 3 pounds of cut pieces)
3ouncessweet potato starch noodlesdangmyeon, 당면
2medium white or yukon gold potatoesabout 10 ounces
1medium carrot1/4 inch slices on diagonal
1/2medium onioncut in half and sliced 1/4-inch thick
3 - 4mushroom capsrehydrated dried shiitake or fresh shiitake, white, or baby bellas
2scallions
2 - 3dried whole red chili peppersoptional, mild use 1
1 - 2fresh chili peppers or jalapenosoptional
2tablespoonsminced garlic
1teaspoongrated ginger
Braising Liquid
1/2cupsoy sauce
2tablespoonsoyster sauceIf unavailable, use more soy sauce
2tablespoonsrice wineor mirin
2tablespoonsdark brown sugarif unavailable, use regular sugar
3 to 4tablespoonscorn syrupKorean jocheong (rice syrup), Oligodang (oligo syrup), or 2 to 3 tablespoons honey Adjust to taste or agave would probaly work
1/4teaspoonblack pepper
Finishing
1tablespoonsesame oil
1teaspoonsesame seeds
Instructions
Soak the starch noodles in warm water for about 30 minutes while preparing the other ingredients. Drain well before using.
Clean chicken and cut into small to medium-sized pieces.
Cut the potatoes in chunks (about 1-1/2 inch), soak them in water while preparing the other vegetables. Cut the carrot (1/4-inch slices), mushrooms, and onion into bite-sized pieces.
Add the chicken pieces to a large pot. Pour 3 cups of water over the chicken. (You should reduce the amount of water if not using the noodles.) Add the sauce ingredients except sesame oil and seeds. Bring it to a boil over high heat, uncovered, and continue to boil for about 10 minutes. Skim off the foam.
Add the potatoes, carrot, mushrooms, onion, dried whole red chili peppers, garlic and ginger. Cover, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. There may still be a lot of liquid, but the potatoes and starch noodles will soak up a lot of it.
Stir in the green chili peppers (if using), and glass noodles. Continue to cook, uncovered this time, for an additional 3-5 minutes. Stir in the sesame oil. Garnish with sesame seeds, scallions. Serve immediately.
In my effort to curtail my cookbook acquisitions, I have limited my cookbook buying to books by POC authors. There are exceptions of course, anything by Dorie Greenspan and if you own a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, Maine, and pub a new book, iykyk 😉, I’m all in.
Here is my weak defense. Pickowicz, at first glance, is not an Asian last name, so the fact that she is part Chinese escaped me. The title, More Than Cake also threw me off. I’m not a big cake person, more of a cookies and pies gal. As soon as I saw the word Cake…I tuned out, the MORE THAN got by me.
When I realized she was Asian and that her book contained WAY more than just cake, her book landed on my radar. Then I found out she organizes amazing BAKE Sales for Planned Parenthood and Brigid Alliance and has raised thousands of dollars (lots of thousands), so I ordered a copy immediately. It now has a spot on my cookbook shelf.
Holiday Traditions
Thanksgiving is in the books (no pun intended) which means a couple of things in our house. First, I play Patrick Stewart’s version of A Christmas Carol which also kicks off 24-7 holiday music in our house, I am so stoked. Second, time to plan those holiday cookie boxes! I pulled out More Than Cake and found her recipe for Nubby Granola Shortbread. Shortbread, y’all know I LOVE shortbread. Time for a test run.
These crispy, buttery bites are made in a food processor. A little pulse magic and the dough is done. How easy is that? Plus, shortbread cookies travel well and keep longer than most cookies. These are delicious, lighter, and crunchier than traditional shortbread, perfect with a cuppa coffee or tea. I made a batch of Jule’s Granola which worked perfectly in these cookies. Flecks of dried fruit from the granola added a bit of color and sweetness to the shortbread, an unanticipated bonus.
PLUS, I’ll fill cute canning jars with the remaining granola to give away. Oh this cookie is definitely going in the holiday cookie box.
Tips
Use your favorite granola, store-bought or homemade. You don’t have to make your own. I love making granola so NBD.
Using a food processor makes quick work of the dough. It starts with chilled butter (yay no waiting for butter to soften).
Rice flour makes for a fine texture, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth-cookie. Bob’s Red Mill has rice flour and can be found at larger supermarkets, Whole Foods, and online.
No rolling out dough, the dough is pressed into the pan. The recipe can be cut in half and baked in an 8×8 pan.
The tricky part of this recipe is the baking time. Rice flour produces a drier cookie than AP flour therefore try not to overbake these cookies. After removing the pan from the oven, lightly score the dough and allow to cool. Once cooled, cut through the score marks. Sprinkle with flaky salt and dust generously with powdered sugar to finish cookies.
A buttery, crunchy, gluten-free shortbread cookie that keeps and travels well. This is a keeper.
This breakfast-inspired shortbread is a great way to use your favorite granola. It adds a nice crunch to the buttery cookie. Sandy ultrafine rice flour makes a melt-in-your-mouth fine texture. It's delicious!
Course cookies, granola, shortbread
Cuisine American, Asian-American
Keyword granola, Shortbread
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 27 minutesminutes
Ingredients
2cupsyour favorite granola
3/4cupwalnut piecespecans or almonds would work but lack that characteristic tannic edge of walnuts
2cupswhite rice flour
3/4cupgranulated sugar
1teaspoonkosher salt
8ouncesunsalted butter (2 sticks)cut into 1/2-inch cubes, well chilled
Finish
flaky sea salt
powdered sugarfor dusting
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Fit a sheet of parchment paper into a quarter-sheet pan (9 by 13 inches). Lightly mist the parchment with cooking spray.
In a food processor, combine the granola, nut pieces, white rice flour, granulated sugar, and kosher salt, and pulse until the mixture is pebbly and fine.
Add the butter and pulse another 8 to 10 times, until the mixture feels like damp, coarse breadcrumbs. The butter should almost disappear into the dry ingredients but not be taken so far that the dough is clumping and gathering around the blade.
Scatter the dough evenly in the prepared sheet pan. Use your knuckles to lightly press the crumb into an even layer. It should be about 1/2 inch thick. Do not apply too much pressure, as this would make the shortbread dense and gummy.
Bake until the edges of the shortbread are lightly browned, and the center feels soft but cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes (see tip).
Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the surface with flaky sea salt. While the shortbread is still hot, use a small knife to score it into 24 squares.
Let cool completely, then cut the cookies, still in the pan, along the scored lines and dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
The pan of shortbread can be held in the freezer for up to 1 month and baked from frozen.The shortbread can be stored, tightly wrapped at room temperature, for up to 1 week.TECHNIQUE TIP: It's tricky to tell when an unfamiliar recipe is done in your oven. Never throw away a seemingly botched batch of anything — there's always another purpose for it. If the baked shortbread tastes undercooked or feels gummy, invert the shortbread onto a clean sheet pan, so the crumbs spill out. Break it up with your fingers and bake again at 325 F for 10 minutes. Now you have instant streusel. Is the shortbread overbaked and dry? Tip the crumbs into a food processor and blend until fine and add big handfuls to your next layer cake.
My favorite foods can be eaten in a bowl and with a spoon. The perfect fall day would be snuggled up on the couch with a spoon and a bowl of goodness nestled in my hands, watching my favorite K-drama.
Bowl Food (noun 1)
synonym: bowl of goodness, bowl food-soul food
a concave usually nearly hemispherical vessel: a rounded container that is generally larger than a cup, filled with deliciousness such as Braised Pork Rice (肉燥饭), Ramen, Udon, or Won Ton Noodle Soup
food that immediately transports you back to your childhood
So, it is not surprising that the first recipe I tried from Clarissa Wei’s new book, Made in Taiwan, was a recipe for Rou Zao Fan or Braised Pork Rice. It fits the definition of bowl food to a tee. A rich, flavor-packed sauce made with diced pork belly and shallots, served over rice. Rou Zao Fan is the southern Taiwan version of Lu Rou Fan. A simpler version of Lu Rou Fan., which means no star anise (5 Spice powder) YAY or shiitake mushrooms BOO. Just pure porky goodness accented with soy paste, soy sauce, and sugar. Two favorite Taiwanese rice bowls include Lu Rou Fan, and Ja Y i Fan (Turkey Rice), which is the perfect way to use any extra Thanksgiving turkey…that is, besides a turkey, stuffing, cranberry, gravy, and mayo sammie.
Ingredients
Pork: Use pork belly with skin. You will find recipes that use ground pork or pork shoulder which are pretty darn good. But, for the real deal, use pork belly. The fat provides flavor and unctuousness that is unmatched. Pork belly is just unsliced bacon. Yes, it’s rich. This dish is so flavorful, so jam-packed with umami that a little goes a long way. Whether it was born out of necessity, meat is generally not the main ingredient in a Chinese meal. Rice, noodles and vegetables are the base, and meat is the accent. I make a big batch to eat right away and freeze what’s left for quick meals down the road.
Pork belly can be found in most Asian stores. If you can’t find it in a slab, buy the thickest sliced pork belly and cut it into 1/4-inch pieces. If your local grocery store has a butcher counter ask if they have uncured pork belly.
Fried shallots: Pick up fried shallots at any Asian Store. It is relatively inexpensive BUT you can also make your own using the microwave. Place 1 cup of thinly sliced shallots in a microwave-proof bowl (I use an Anyday bowl, I found the recipe on their site) with 1-1/4 cup vegetable oil. Microwave uncovered for approximately 7 minutes (1000-watt microwave) or until golden brown. If the shallots aren’t brown enough, microwave in 20 to 30-second increments. Don’t let the shallots get too dark. They will continue to cook after zapping them. Let the dish sit in the microwave for an additional minute before removing.
THE BOWL & OIL WILL BE SUPER HOT, REMOVE THEM CAREFULLY WITH GLOVES. Remove shallots with a strainer, place on a paper towel, and cool completely. This will also work with scallions and leeks. BONUS. The aromatic oil can be used in stir-frying or for making sauces. The fragrant oil makes homemade fried shallots worth the effort.
Convenience hack: During the holidays Trader Joe’s carries fried onions in a can for the proverbial green bean casserole. They work pretty darn well for this recipe and Taiwanese Turkey Rice.
Taiwanese Soy Paste: Unique to Taiwan and found in Chinese grocery stores. It’s soy sauce on steroids. The addition of sugar, and sweet rice, creates a viscous, sweet, salty pourable sauce (despite being called a paste). It is similar to oyster sauce without the crustacean vibe. If you can’t find soy paste, you could try oyster sauce…🤷🏻♀️
Soy Sauce: I know what you’re thinking, got this…but, sorry to burst your bubble. Taiwan’s soy sauce is different from China’s or Hong Kong’s. Nuanced? Yes. Widely available, Taiwanese soy sauces include Kimlan, Wan Ja Shan, or Amoy. It is similar to Japanese soy sauce. If you don’t have a Taiwanese soy sauce I would use Kikkoman, in particular their organic soy sauce. Both are a little sweeter than Chinese/HK Soy sauces.
Add soy sauce, soy paste, sugar, garlic, and water or low-sodium broth.
Bring to a boil and add the fried shallots. Lower heat to a simmer and continue cooking for approximately 2 hours, or until the pork is tender. If the stock gets low add a bit of water or stock.
Finishing Touches
Serve with steamed broccoli, bok choy, or greens of choice, and of course, spooned over a bowl of rice. Add hard-boiled eggs, I like them jammy like a ramen egg, but traditionally Taiwanese eggs are hard-boiled. You can add diced shiitake mushrooms to braise with the pork, which adds a little healthy vibe to it. Garnish with scallions, or cilantro, and more fried shallots!
A classic Taiwanese dish, Braised Pork Rice, this is Taiwanese soul food served in a bowl with a spoon of course.
Course Breakfast, dinner, lunch
Cuisine Asian, Taiwanese
Keyword Pork Belly, Rice Bowl, Rou Zao Fan, Taiwanese
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 2 hourshours30 minutesminutes
Ingredients
2poundsskin-on boneless pork belly900 grams
1tablespooncanola or soybean oil
3garlic cloves
Sauce
2 ½cupswateror low sodium chicken broth
½cupplus 3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 ½tablespoonscoarse raw sugarsuch as demerara
2tablespoonsTaiwanese soy pastein a pinch, use oyster sauce
2tablespoonsTaiwanese rice winemichiu or cooking sake
½cupfried shallotsstore-bought, or homemade, see post
Accoutrements
Cooked short-grain rice for serving
Ground white pepper
hard-boiled eggs
choice of greens, ie. bok choy, broccoli, steamed
Instructions
Freeze the pork belly until partially frozen, about 1 hour. This make it much easier to cut. Dice the pork belly into 1⁄4-inch (6-millimeter) cubes.
In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat oil. When it starts to shimmer, add the diced pork belly. Cook, stirring often, until the pinkish color of the meat is gone and the fat begins to render a bit, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, and saute until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the water, soy sauce, sugar, soy paste, rice wine and shallots.
Cover, bring to a boil, and then reduce flame to simmer over very low heat, leaving the lid slightly ajar. Stir occasionally, until the pork is melt-in-your-mouth tender, 1½ to 2 hours.
If the braising liquid is reducing too fast and beginning to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pot, add up to 1⁄4 cup (60 milliliters) more water. The pork is done when it’s soft and tender. Season with white pepper to taste.
To serve, scoop approximately 1/4-1/3 cup of the finished braised pork belly over a bowl of cooked rice. Serve with steamed bok choy or greens of choice. Cucumber salad is also a nice side.
Notes
To make a more richer version of this dish, use low-sodium chicken stock instead of water. This dish tastes better with time like many stews or braises. Make a day ahead and refrigerate overnight. Skim and discard the white layer of fat that has accumulated on top and reheat over medium-low heat until it is heated through. Add more water if the sauce seems too thick.
Fresh Tomato & Sausage Pasta-When Comfort Food is Required
Our final road trip with Moosie (for context, my daughter’s Bernedoodle whom we have been sitting for the last 4 months) took us first to Lake Tahoe for a couple of days. A pit stop before our final destination, Salt Lake City, where we were to hand off the pooch to Sam. Moose was bound for New York, back to Jamie and Sam. 😢
It has been a while since we last spent time in Tahoe. We took time to wander around and check out some the new eateries. Our favorites include Coffeebar (☕️☕️☕️☕️/5), Great Gold (🍝🍝🍝🍝+/5),and Truckee Food Stop (🥙🥙🥙🥙/5). We also perused the shelves at a very cute bookstore Word After Word(📕📕📕📕+/5). I LOVE bookstores.
Perfect way to start the morning, coffee and a buttery, delicious pastry.
Great Gold, its roots are from Flour + Water in San Francisco, a beautiful restaurant, with great pizza and pasta, don’t pass on the Brussels sprouts!
Truckee Food Shop features pre-made meals to take home. They also have a nice curated selection of wines, pastas, spices, and cookbooks. Don’t walk out without an order of their ceviche.
Comfort Food
We spent our last evening in the cabin cooking, sipping wine (thanks to whoever left that nice bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge), and playing with Moose. I had brought this week’s farmers market bounty, dry-farmed tomatoes, onions, and basil from my garden (apparently the only thing I can grow) with us. We picked up Italian Sausages and pasta and made a quick and easy dish, Fresh Tomatoes, Sausage, and Pecorino Pasta.
Used spaghettini the first night, I prefer a tube pasta like rigatoni mezze
Tomorrow we start the drive to Salt Lake City, maybe we should turn around and head home? Guess that would be considered dog-napping though, lol.
Just what I needed a nice, big, bowl of pasta to ward off the pending “I ain’t got me a dog no more blues”. This sauce comes together in the time it takes for you to cook the pasta. Chop your tomatoes, thinly slice an onion, smoosh some garlic, crumble the sausage, combine, and saute for a couple of minutes. That’s pretty much it. Right before serving, hit it with some fresh herbs, and grated cheese. The OG version calls for Pecorino Romano, which packs a bigger punch than Parmesan so I cut it back a little. You could also use Parmesan.
So, while you can still get wonderful fresh tomatoes (we are so spoiled in California) this is an easy, lovely meal. Bowl food is soul food has always been my mantra. Round it out with a glass of wine, a fresh salad, and some crusty bread. Boom, done.
I tried this with canned tomatoes and my advice is, don’t. I doctored it with some sugar and butter but still not the same. Unless it is the dead of winter and fresh, summer tomatoes are a distant memory…no, still don’t. This dish is meant for fresh, sweet, tomatoes. I’m thinking of making a batch and freezing it. That might work.
Ripe, summer tomatoes are juicy and delicious in this pasta dish, with no seeding or peeling necessary.
Course dinner, lunch
Cuisine Italian-American
Keyword comfort food, fresh tomatoes, italian sausage, one dish meal, quick and easy, rigatoni
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 12 minutesminutes
Ingredients
8ouncesuncooked penneor meze rigatoni, or tubular pasta of choice
8ouncessweet Italian sausageor spicy works too
2teaspoonsolive oilGo crazy, use a tablespoon of oil, lol
1cupvertically sliced yellow onion
2teaspoonsminced garlic
1/2teaspoonchili pepper flakesoptional
1 ¼poundstomatoes, choppeddry farmed or Romas work well, or any ripe sweet tomato, some may have more moisture
6tablespoonsgrated fresh pecorino Romano cheesedivided. sub Parmesan if you want
¼teaspoonsaltto taste
⅛teaspoonblack pepperto taste
¼cuptorn fresh basil leaves
2tbspItalian parsley, choppedoptional
Instructions
Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside. In the Cooking Light edition this is adapted from, the recipe omits the salt and oil when cooking. I add salt to the pasta water.
A carryover from when the kids were little. I drain the pasta and hit it with butter and parmesan cheese. It seems to give the dish that extra oompf. I then add sauce to the pasta. I do this with my ragus, bolognese recipes also. TOTALLY OPTIONAL
If using sausage links, remove casings from sausage.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add sausage and onion to pan; cook 4 minutes, crumble sausage. by smooshing with your spatula.
Add garlic; cook 2 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes; cook 2-5 minutes depending on how you like your sauce.
Lower heat; stir in pasta, julienned basil, 2 tablespoons cheese, salt, and pepper. If I have Italian parsley I throw that in too.
Final Touches
Pour into a big serving platter or individual bowls. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese or let folks sprinkle their own. Garnish with remaining basil leaves. Enjoy!
