Food Archives - Page 7 of 54

Cold Noodles with Tomatoes (Tomato Triple Play)

By threejamigos | July 31, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

I have taken over tomato duties from the hubby who has given up on becoming an urban farmer. We just haven’t had any luck with turning our garden into a summer veggie paradise. My bounty from 5 tomato plants so far has been a grand total of 4 tiny red orbs 🤦🏻‍♀️

FORTUNATELY, we have a wonderful farmer’s market in town.

My haul from last week’s farmer’s market included a variety of cherry tomatoes including Bronze Torch Cherry Tomatoes (pictured on the right above) from Live Earth Farm in Watsonville. We have been buying Live Earth produce since my kids were toddlers and they’re in their twenties now! The Bronze Torch Cherry Tomatoes are simply AH-MAZING. Sweet, tomatoey, delicious.

Tomato Trifecta

I am a big fan of Eric Kim. He writes regularly for New York Times Cooking and just published a wonderful cookbook, Korean American. It is hands down one of my favorite books. His recipes are easy and delicious and his writing is even better. You can also find him on YouTube making many of his recipes, he’s funny, personable, and charming. I went to his book signing at Omnivore Books in SF, fun, I’m such a food groupie.

I love his Grape Tomato Quick Kimchi which I make all the time. Serve as Banchan (side dish-pictured on the right above) one day and as a sauce over noods the next day. It is downright delicious. As soon as I saw his Cold Noodle with Tomatoes recipe I jotted it down on my MAKE ASAP list. It is so easy and incredibly delicious. It should go on your list too.

Start with cherry tomatoes, slice them in half, and sprinkle with salt. Let the tomatoes sit in the bowl while you put together the rest of the dish. No need to use a strainer as the juices from the salted tomatoes become part of the broth. Mince garlic, get out the rice vinegar, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, and sesame oil, and toss it all in a bowl along with the tomatoes. Next, add cold-filtered or bottled water to the bowl (use water that tastes good). Add diced scallions, and slices of radishes (the little red ones) or cucumbers to the broth. Set the broth aside.

Here’s the Hard Part

How to cook your somen. DO NOT COOK YOUR SOMEN while you are getting the other components together. Make the broth and set it aside. Focus on the noods so you don’t overcook them. For somen (thin Japanese wheat noodles), start with plenty of unsalted water. Somen has salt in it. If you use too little water, the noods will absorb too much water because of the salinity. Watch them like a hawk, and stir them with chopsticks or tongs while cooking to separate the noodles, this takes 3-4 minutes TOPS. Remove from heat, rinse thoroughly under cold water and drain well.

Before serving, twirl noodles into a bundle and place them in a bowl. Add crushed ice to the tomatoes and pour it over your noodles. Garnish with additional scallions and sesame seeds. It’s so refreshing, the perfect summer meal. Carnivores, feel free to add shrimp or chicken or half of a hard-boiled egg. Serve asap on a hot summer day. Sooooooo good.

BONUS, Ottolenghi’s Charred Tomatoes and Cold Yogurt. Yes, my trifecta of tomato recipes. Tomatoes, roasted with thyme, cumin seeds, lemon, and garlic, served over yogurt or Labneh. It’s my go-to party appetizer, especially in the summer. It’s “lick the bowl clean” good. A showstopping, easy dish. Make it, you’ll thank me.

Cold Noodles with Tomatoes

Refreshing, delicious, and easy to prepare, Eric Kim's Cold Noodles with Tomatoes

Course noodles, one bowl meal, pasta, Soup

Cuisine Asian, Asian-American, Korean

Keyword cherry tomatoes, Cold noodles, Cold Noodles with Tomatoes, soup

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 5

Ingredients

The Star

2 pints ripe cherry tomatoes halved
2 teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)

The Noods

12 to 14 ounces somyeon somen, capellini or other thin wheat noodle

Soup and Seasonings

¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce Kikkoman, Sempio 501 or 701 or LKK Premium Soy
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large garlic clove finely grated
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 cups cold filtered water or bottled water of your choice.
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

The Garnishes

2 radishes thinly sliced, or cucumbers work in a pinch
2 scallions thinly sliced at an angle
2 cups crushed or cubed ice

Omnivore Options

cooked shrimp or shredded chicken
hard boiled eggs, but not too hard-boiled lol

Instructions

In a large bowl, toss together the tomatoes and salt. Let sit until juicy, about 10 minutes.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the noodles according to package instructions, drain and rinse under cold water. Set aside. See post for how to cook somen noodles.
Add the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, mustard and sesame oil to the tomatoes, and toss with a spoon until well combined. Stir water into the tomatoes and sprinkle the surface of the broth with the sesame seeds, radishes and scallions.
Right before serving, add the ice to the broth. Divide the noodles among bowls, and ladle in the broth and any unmelted ice, making sure each serving gets a nice sprinkling of tomatoes, radishes, scallions and sesame seeds.

Napa Cabbage Salad-Summer’s Here

By threejamigos | July 24, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

The dog days of summer are here, the perfect time for salads to be the star of any meal. Ok, maybe not breakfast, but any other meal. I don’t like making salads, but the convergence of hot weather and gorgeous produce at our local farmer’s market trumps the drudgery of making one.

Define Salad

Back in the day when I was dating a poor medical resident (now the hubster) we went out for dinner at the famed Angeli Caffe on Melrose Ave in LA. If memory serves me, this quite possibly was our first solo date (without our mutual matchmaker friends-LONG STORY). This was back in the day of a burgeoning dining scene in LA. Think Spago, Mauro’s, and Michael’s. I was a fledgling foodie, and friends with benefits for me meant they had an expense account for dining, LOL.

We ordered a Caprese Salad and a pizza with olives, onions, and sausage. The salad arrived and my now hubster looked at it, then at me, and asked quizzically, where’s the lettuce? I’ll save the pizza story for another post…

Winner, Winner, Salad Dinner

Tasked with making a salad for dinner at my kid’s place (I’ll do anything for smoked brisket), I took stock of what was available in the fridge, Napa Cabbage, red cabbage, scallions, carrots, and my laptop (not in the fridge). I mashed together a couple of recipes found online and on Tik Tok (haha) and badabing-badaboom…my quick and easy version of an Asian Napa Cabbage Slaw was born. Stir sesame oil, a touch of soy sauce, honey, and rice vinegar together for the dressing and you’re done. It’s very adaptable so add whatever veggies and or herbs that float your boat. I like bell peppers, cilantro, mandarin oranges and nuts, peanuts, or almonds. This is vegetarian BUT if you would like to add protein, shredded chicken is the bomb in this.

Why Napa Cabbage? I usually cook Napa cabbage but rather recently discovered it is delicious raw. Used as a wrap for Korean bbq or Bosaam, it’s delicious. It’s milder and sweeter than regular cabbage and is pretty nutritious, think fiber, and anti-oxidants. It is crunchy, refreshing, and versatile. You might see little black specks on the leaves, NOT to worry, not bugs, but rather a reaction with light that causes spots, it doesn’t affect the taste.

The dressing is a simple soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil blend. Whisk all the ingredients together. I add a bit of regular vegetable oil to give the dressing a nicer mouthfeel. You can omit it if you want. Garnish with additional sesame seeds, don’t forget a couple of grinds of black pepper when serving.

Asian Napa Cabbage Salad

A refreshing napa cabbage salad with a soy-sesame dressing perfect for summer!

Course dinner, lunch, Salad

Cuisine Asian-American

Keyword napa cabbage, napa cabbage salad, sesame dressing, vegetarian

Prep Time 20

Ingredients

6 cups napa cabbage thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 red bell pepper julienned
1/2 cup carrots shredded
2 stalks green onions thinly sliced on the diagonal

Options

1 cup Red cabbage shredded, replace 1 cup of the napa cabbage with this
1/4 cup cilantro chopped, optional
1/2 cup Mandarin oranges or oranges segmented
1/4 cup almonds or peanuts chopped

Dressing

3 T rice vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1/2 T honey can substitute sugar
1/2-1 tbsp toasted sesame oil to taste, I love sesame oil, I use 1 tbsp
1 tbsp vegetable oil you can leave this out but it gives the dressing a little more body
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds + extra for garnish

Instructions

Cut Napa cabbage in half lengthwise. Slice leaves crosswise into thin strips. Rinse and dry cabbage and place in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients, julienned bell peppers, shredded carrots, red cabbage, and half of the green onions.
Place dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk to blend. Pour into the bowl of cabbage and other ingredients. Toss, and garnish with remaining green onions, cilantro, and chopped nuts/sesame seeds

BBQ Pork Hand Pies (叉燒酥) Char Siu Soul

By threejamigos | July 18, 2022 | Comments 2 comments

My best description/translation of a favorite Chinese pastry, 叉燒酥 (Char Siu Sou) is Chinese bbq pork hand pie. Flaky, tender pastry surrounding a sweet-salty filling of bbq pork, and onions. Char Siu Sou can be found in tea houses serving dim sum and in Chinese bakeries.

Surprisingly, there is quite a selection of pastries made with the Chinese version of puff pastry. More often than not, they are savory. Traditional Chinese pastry is made with two doughs, wet dough and a short dough, laminated together. Folks used lard back in the day which made for a very flaky and flavorful crust.

E-pie-phany

One of my favorite recipes from King Arthur Baking is their Blueberry Hand Pies. The dough made with sour cream is easy to work with and makes a tender, super flaky, buttery shell. When I make hand pies this is my go-to pastry recipe. I’ve used fresh peaches, strawberries, and preserves for the blueberry filling. “Hands” down, a winner.

Char Siu Soul- I Did It My Way

Instead of the traditional Chinese pastry dough, I decided to make the hand pie dough recipe. It’s fewer steps and WORKED like a charm, flaky, buttery goodness, callin’ it Char Siu Soul. Visions of the possibilities like curry beef, Bulgogi, or Vietnamese Caramelized Ground Pork as fillings danced in my head. Yum.

Good Things Come in Pastry Packages

The dough comes together easily. If you are a novice, check out King Arthur Baking’s Martin and Arlo video on making hand pies. The keys to success are cold butter, working quickly, not overmixing, and letting it rest. The crust can be made by hand, by pinching the butter with the flour mixture. You’ll end up with butter flakes coated with flour, a key to creating the flaky layers.

If using your hands to mix the butter and flour, cut the butter into slices instead of cubes. Much easier to pinch. If using a pastry blender cubes are fine.

Add sour cream and stir until mixture is shaggy. Don’t overmix! Pour onto a counter or flat surface to press the dough into a rectangle. Roll out to form an 8×10 rectangle.

Fold the dough in thirds, like an envelope. Helps to use a pastry or bench scraper to gather, fold and square off the dough.

Fold the dough a couple of times and then CHILL the dough until set or firm. If you are making the dough early, take it out of the fridge and allow it to soften just enough to make it easy to roll out.

Make any shape you want. Rectangles, squares or triangles work well, no leftover scraps of dough. Cutting out circles will leave scraps of dough that can be re-rolled (more work). Place approximately 1 heaping teaspoon of filling, egg wash the edge, fold one side over and crimp the edges.

Cha Cha Char Siu

Trust me, you don’t have to make your own char siu or bbq pork. Plenty of Chinese delis make delicious bbq pork. But it’s not hard to make, I have 2 versions to make your own, oven-roasted or braised BBQ Pork. Make a batch, you’ll have plenty for Char Siu Soul and for Pork Buns, Fried Rice, sammies, scrambled or steamed eggs. It freezes well, so make a big batch.

The filling is easy to make. Make sure it is cool before filling the pastry. Dice the char siu small, don’t mince. You don’t want a mushy filling. You can use either yellow or white onions or shallots for the filling.

Use a handy dandy fork to crimp the sides. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

I’m Okay, It’s Okay (A Nod to the K-Drama)

Need these delightful pastries in a hurry or on short notice? Feel free to start with frozen, pre-made puff pastry or pie crust (won’t be quite as flaky) for the pastry. Finally, buy Char Siu, Chinese delis make fantastic bbq pork, a huge time saver. It’s okay!

Char Siu Soul (BBQ Pork Pastry)

Classic dim sum or tea house dish, bbq pork filling encased in a tender, buttery, flaky pastry.

Course Biscuits and scones, dim sum

Cuisine Asian, Asian-American

Keyword Bbq Pork Pastry, Char Siu Sou

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 20

Chilling time for dough (min) 30

Ingredients

Pastry

2 cups All-Purpose Flour (8-1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup cold unsalted butter 16 tablespoons
1/2 cup cold sour cream

Char Siu Filling:

2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey or agave syrup
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons peanut or vegetable oil
¼ cup finely chopped yellow onion or shallots
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
4 ounces char siu Chinese BBQ pork finely diced (homemade or store-bought)

Instructions

To make the pastry:

Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the butter, working it in to make a coarse/crumbly mixture. Leave most of the butter in large, pea-sized pieces.
Add the sour cream, and stir until the mixture starts to come together in chunks. Turn it out onto a floured work surface, and bring it together with a few quick kneads.
Pat the dough into a rough log, and roll it into an 8" x 10" rectangle. Dust both sides of the dough with flour, and starting with a shorter end, fold it in three like a business letter.
Flip the dough over, give it a 90° turn on your work surface, and roll it again into an 8" x 10" rectangle. Fold it in three again.
Wrap the dough, and chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

Char Siu Filling:

In a small bowl, stir together the water, sugar, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil, and set aside.
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until translucent. Stir the flavoring sauce into the onion and heat for 30 seconds or until bubbly.
Give the cornstarch mixture a final stir and add to the skillet. Cook for 30 seconds longer, or until the sauce has thickened. Stir in the char siu and remove from the heat. Cool to room temperature.

To Assemble and Bake:

To assemble and bake: Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the prepared dough into approximately 14-inch square.
Using a ruler, trim off the uneven edges to make a 12-inch square, then cut the dough in thirds crosswise and quarters lengthwise to make 12 (3-by-4-inch) rectangles.
Place 1 tablespoon* of the char siu filling across the center of each square leaving about ½-inch border on either side for sealing. Overlap the dough over the filling (like enclosing a photo in a letter). Press down to seal in the filling on all sides. If the dough isn't sticking together easily you may dab the inside edges of the pastry with water before folding it closed.
Flip the pastry over so the seal is on the bottom, and use the tines of a fork to seal the short edges. Place on the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough and filling, spacing pastries 1-inch apart on the baking sheet.
Brush the pastries with egg wash, then sprinkle them with sesame seeds. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool briefly on a wire rack. These are best served warm, but are good at room temperature.
Reheat in a toaster oven at 350 for approximately 5 minutes.

Notes

The pictured pastries are approximately 2 x 3 inches. Use a generous teaspoon of filling for this size.

The Cookie Bible from Rose Levy Beranbaum!

By threejamigos | July 6, 2022 | Comments 2 comments

I have been a big fan of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s books for a very long time. I went to my bookshelf to see just how many of her books I have, I counted six. Of these six, my absolute favorite is Rose’s Christmas Cookies. I can’t recall a Holiday Cookie Tin that has not featured at least one of her cookies. I was eager to take a sneak peek at her newest book coming out, The Cookie Bible.

See below for the recipe for Lemon Madeleines.

The Layout

Intro – brief description and a memory or an anecdotal story for the cookie.
Temperature, baking time, and equipment – organized into a table.
Ingredients – listed in volume and weight measurements also organized in a table, easy to see and follow.
Directions
Mise en place-steps that need to be done before making the dough ie. taking out butter to soften or bringing eggs to room temp.
Making the dough-If a particular cookie can be made in either a food processor or stand mixer, both methods are listed. I love this. Followed by:
Forming cookies
Baking cookies
Cooling cookies

All her cookbooks are organized this way, meticulous and thorough. It’s like getting a Master Baking class in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Each recipe finishes with Baking Gems, MORE valuable tips, and tweaks!

The Recipes

I flipped through the book to earmark recipes I wanted to try. This is where I felt like the book came up a bit short. The selection of cookies seemed just a bit dated. Today’s cookies include new flavors and spices and eye-catching colors created by using freeze-dried fruits.

Few recipes in this book jumped out at me and shouted MAKE ME! Quite a few recipes in the book are also in Rose’s Christmas Cookies. Recipes I already make and love like Cloud Cookies, Meltaways, Lion Paws, and Spritz Cookies. If I didn’t have Rose’s Christmas Cookies I might have been putting Post-Its on those very pages. Recipes have been scaled back in the new book to yield smaller batches of cookies, a good thing, as it limits how many cookies I can eat.

Read through the recipe before making it. I found this book even more detailed than her older books. Explicit directions like when to take the butter and eggs out before making the dough or what type of flour to use for each recipe.

If only I had taken my own advice and read the recipe first

I plowed through the first recipe, Dream Chocolate Chip Cookies, only to be stumped when I found I hadn’t added the egg. Turns out that twenty minutes before making the dough, I was supposed to crack the egg into the mixer bowl, add the vanilla, and cover it so it can come to room temp first. The egg should have been in the mixer when I creamed the butter and sugar.

Lemon Poppy Seed Madeleines were next up. Once again, detailed instructions produced a tender sweet-tart Madeleine. Next time, I would reduce the poppyseeds, a bit too much crunch. I actually liked them more the next day as the syrup had time to absorb so the cookies weren’t sticky to touch and the tartness had mellowed.

The Verdict

With all that being said. Here is my take. If you do not own a Rose Levy Berenbaum Cookbook, this would absolutely be a lovely addition to your kitchen. This book will make you a better baker. Filled with invaluable tips and technique information, it takes that extra step of explaining why specific ingredients and techniques work in a recipe. Although there isn’t a photo for every cookie in the book, the photos included are gorgeous.

Happy baking!

I reviewed The Cookie Bible via NetGalley

Lemon Madeleines

From Rose Levy Beranbaum's upcoming book, The Cookie Bible

Course cookies

Cuisine American, French

Keyword easy recipe, leomn poppy seed madeleines, madeleine, rose levy beranbaum

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Servings 24 servings

Ingredients

Oven Temp 350f/175c. Baking Time: 14-15 min for large madeleines Special Equipment: Madeleine molds-lightly coat with baking spray with flour. Disposable pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-1/2 inch pastry tube. 2 baking sheets lined with plastic wrap and lightly coated with nonstick spray.

Batter

8.5 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons, unsalted butter 120 grams
2 large eggs 100 grams 1/3 cup plus 1 T, (94ml)
1 teaspoon vanilla 5ml
2 tablespoons milk 30 grams (30ml)
1 cup bleached cake flour, sifted into the cup and leveled off 100 grams
1/2 cup sugar, preferably superfine 100 grams
1/2 teaspoon baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup sugar 5.25 ounces = 150 grams
2 teaspoons loosely packed grated lemon zest 4 grams (from about 2 lemons)
2 tablespoons poppy seeds, optional 19 grams I would use a little less

Lemon Syrup

1/4 cup sugar 50 grams
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained 47 grams

Instructions

Preheat Oven

20 minutes or longer before baking, set oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of oven. Set oven to 350°F.

Mise En Place

30 minutes to 1 hour ahead, cut butter into tablespoon-size pieces. Set on the counter to soften.
30 minutes ahead, into a 1 cup/237 ml glass measure with a spout, weigh or measure the eggs. Whisk in vanilla. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set on counter.
Wash lemons with dishwashing liquid, rinse, and dry before zesting. Finey grate lemon zest. Freeze any extra for future use.

Make the Batter

Add the milk to the egg mixture and whisk it in.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and optional poppy seeds on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and half the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides.
With the mixer off between additions, add the remaining egg mixture in two parts. Beat after each addition, starting on medium-low speed and gradually raising the speed to medium, then beating on med speed for 30 seconds, to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Pipe the Batter into the Molds

Fill the prepared pastry bag about 3/4 full with batter. Pipe the batter into the molds. filling them about 3/4 full (4gms for each mini-mold, 16 gms for large cavity). No need to smooth the batter. Refill the bag as needed.
Ok, I didn't pipe I just used two spoons and scooped the batter into the molds.

Bake the Madeleines

Bake the mini-madeleines for 10-12 minutes, large ones for 14-15 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the centers comes out completely clean and the madeleines spring back when pressed lightly in the centers. While they are baking, make the lemon syrup.

Make Lemon Syrup (1/3 cup/95gms/79ml)

In 1 cup/237ml glass measure with a spout, stir together the sugar and lemon juice. Heat in the microwave just until the sugar is dissolved. (Or use a small sauce pan over medium heat.)

Brush the Medeleines with Syrup, Unmold, and Cool

As soon as the madeleines come out of the oven, place the pans on a rack, poke the madeleines all over with a wire tester, and brush it with 1/3 of the syrup.
Metal molds, use a toothpick or pin to carefully dislodge them from molds and then invert them onto the prepared cookie sheets (this prevents sticking)
Brush madeleines with remaining syrup and allow to cool completely. Let sit for 2 hours for syrup to distribute.
STORE: Airtight one layer; room temp, 3 days; refrigerated, 5 days; frozen, 3 months.

Baking Gems

Use superfine sugar for the best texture
After coating with baking spray with flour, brush molds with pastry brush to remove excess spray to prevent air bubbles from forming in the fluted tops of the madeleines.
If you do not have enough molds to bake all at once, chill batter in fridge until ready to use.
When done, madeleines will spring back when pressed lightly in the center even before they are done.

Muffins de Mochi con Misugaru

By threejamigos | June 29, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

You might be wondering why this post is named Muffins de Mochi con Misugaru.

WELL, let me tell you why…

Apparently, I’m not supposed to use the term Mochi Muffins. It’s been trademarked.

How crazy is that?

Third Culture Bakery, out of Berkley, has trademarked mochi muffins and has been sending Cease and Desist letters to folks that have used the term mochi muffins, including small mom & pop bakeries, bloggers, Instagrammers, and AAPI-owned businesses.

The term mochi muffins, if you are Asian or Hawaiian, is pretty ubiquitous. And yet some bozo in the government granted a trademark to Third Culture Bakery in 2018. Shame on the trademark office for not doing their due diligence and shame on Third Culture for trying to trademark a term that is descriptive for a product they did not invent. Y’all, folks have been making mochi muffins, donuts, and cakes long before they came into existence.

The Happy Ending

It took a little while for me to post these mochi muffins and in the interim much has happened! After more bad press and focus on the story, Third Culture Bakery re-examined its stand and relinquished the trademark. Yay! Score one for the little guys and Subtle Asian Baking, a FB group that brought to light the trademark issue. So now I can go back to using Mochi Muffins!

Best of Both Worlds

I love how Asian American pastry chefs have been blending Asian ingredients with French techniques and visa versa. Croissants filled with Chinese BBQ pork or mochi, custard flavored pandan, ube snickerdoodles, I could go on and on.

So my contribution? A riff on Butter Mochi Muffins. I added Misugaru Powder and oat milk (instead of regular milk) to my butter mochi muffins and SHAZAAM, we have a winner.

Misugaru Powder is a Korean multigrain drink that includes different grains, rice, and beans like sweet rice, brown rice, oats, azuki beans, and sesame seeds. You can find Misugaru at any Korean store or online. Mixed with milk or water it is a drink with a sweet, nutty, malty flavor. Kind of like Carnation Instant Breakfast, but tastier and healthier. I found various recipes using the powder in cookies and breads and thought, why not?

For the uninitiated, mochi is glutinous rice flour also known as sweet rice flour. “Stuff” made with sweet rice flour has a wonderfully chewy, elastic texture, think dense but still soft marshmallows. My first post on Mochi Muffins is by far the most popular post on 3jamigos. A staple in Asian and Hawaiian desserts, it was only a matter of time, before it would make its way into mainstream American desserts like muffins, donuts, and brownies. Besides being delicious and texturally so intriguing, mochi desserts are gluten-free! Win-win.

Notes on Making Mochi Muffins

Sweet Rice Flour: There are different mochi flours available. Mochiko by Koda Farms is probably the most widely available and works for almost all recipes. Asian stores will carry Thai and Korean Sweet Rice Flour in addition to Mochiko.

Milk: Regular or 2% milk can be used in place of the oat milk. Skip the skim. For Coconut milk, use full fat if possible. My go-to brands are Arroy-D, Chaokoh, and Trader Joe’s (super convenient).

Butter the muffin tins generously, and use regular rice flour (not the mochi flour) to prep the pans. If you don’t have any, skip the flour and just butter the pan.

I played with the baking temp to see if I could minimize the pointy top. I lowered the temperature to 360 degrees on a subsequent batch and it did seem less domed. This is appearance preference, the muffins tasted the same.

5 from 1 vote

Misugaru Mochi Muffins

Misugaru, is a multigrained Korean beverage that adds a subtle, toasty, malty, nutty flavor to these delicious chewy mochi muffins.

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine Asian-American

Keyword butter mochi, Gluten free, hawaiian, misugaru, mochi muffins, muffins

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Servings 12 muffins

Ingredients

The Wet Stuff

1/4 Cup Unsalted butter 55gm
3/4 Cup Coconut milk 170gm
1 Cup Oat Milk 240gm, You can use reg 2% milk, do not use skim
2 Large Eggs

The Dry Stuff

1-3/4 Cup Glutinous rice flour 225gm
2 tbsp Misugaru powder
1 Cup Granulated sugar 200gm
1 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp salt If not using sprinkling salt, increase this to 1/2 tsp

Wrapping it up

Butter for muffin tin
Fleur de Sel or Maldon Flake Salt to sprinkle
Shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened for garnish, optional
Black and white sesame seeds for garnish, optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Brush the cupcake tins liberally with butter and dust with regular rice flour
Combine coconut milk and butter in a microwavable bowl, nuke for 1 minute on full power
Remove and add milk or oat milk and eggs. Whisk until combined.
In a medium-sized bowl combine the glutinous rice flour, sugar, salt, Misugaru powder and baking powder.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until smooth. Use a spoon or spatula instead of a whisk to minimize bubbles. The batter will be the consistency of pancake batter.
Pour the batter evenly into a 12-cup muffin tin. Tap gently on a counter to remove air bubbles. You will have enough batter to fill each cup 7/8 full.
Top with black and white sesame seeds or coconut flakes if you like, and sprinkle with Fleur de Sel or any flaked salt, bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown center and dark brown edge.
Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes in tin, then remove to cookie rack. Allow muffins to cool completely.
Muffins will keep at room temp for 2-3 days. They can be frozen for longer storage.

Jangjorim (Soy Braised Beef 장조림)

By threejamigos | June 13, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

I have a total backlog of recipes I want to share with you and this one is top of the list. I have made this as many times as I have made Eric Kim’s Quick Grape Tomato Banchan or Ottolenghi’s Charred Tomato and Cold Yogurt (so good) and that is saying a lot.

Do You Banchan?

Jangjorim or Soy Braised Beef can be served as banchan (those yummy little dishes that come with every Korean meal) or as a topping to a rice bowl or in a bento box.

I’m not a salad lover. Well, let me rephrase that, I’m not a salad maker…so much trouble. But banchan? Worth the trouble, I’ll make a batch of each, keep them in the fridge and pull ’em out for lunch and/or dinner. They go with everything, rice, noodles, or sammies. Want a little funkiness in your grill cheese, add kimchi (김치). Want crunch and spice in your noodles, add spicy cucumbers (오이무침). Pickled or braised veggies go so well with rice, maybe that’s why I like them.

Koreanbapsang’s recipe for Jangjorim is my starting point. First step, make the stock to cook the meat. The stock includes onions, scallions, garlic and Korean radish (mu,무). The radish gives the dish sweetness, I save the radish to serve with the Jangjorim. It’s delicious.

Shank-alicious

Next, cut beef into cubes and simmer in the stock. Use brisket, flank, chuck, or my favorite, shank. Shank is both flavorful and economical, win-win. For those not familiar with shank, it comes cut crosswise into pieces with the bone in the center. Remove the meat from the bone and cut it into pieces. Throw the bones into the cooking broth for extra flavor. I’ve also used pork shoulder or butt as a substitute with nods of approval from the fam. After simmering, remove the meat and place it in another pot along with 2.5 cups of the original stock and add the seasonings. Reserve the radish. Cook meat on medium heat for approximately 20 minutes. Then add shishito peppers, boiled, peeled eggs, kelp (optional), and the reserved radish. Cook for another 10 minutes or until meat is tender.

Shishito peppers can be a bit spicy, so if you have little kids or big kids that are spice averse, use bell peppers or Anaheim peppers, and cut into manageable bite-sized pieces. Cook eggs as you would six-minute ramen eggs. Chill eggs thoroughly before final braising to avoid overcooking the eggs. Normally, the eggs are hard-boiled but jammy eggs are my jam.

Jangjorim can be served at room temperature to warm as banchan or over rice. The meat can be shredded or sliced. It’s so flavorful, a little bit goes a long way.

I love this dish and hope you will try it!

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Jangjorim (Soy braised Beef)

Jangjorim or Soy braised Beef, adapted from Korean Bapsang, is a delicious Korean side dish that works well in a bento box too!

Course Meat, Side Dish

Cuisine Asian, Korean

Keyword Banchan, Korean, shishito peppers

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1

Ingredients

Da Stars

1.5 pounds shank meat or beef brisket you can sub pork shoulder or butt
10 to 12 Shishito peppers or other fresh green peppers Use less and cut into halves if using large peppers
3 boiled eggs* peeled

Da Stock

1/2 medium yellow onion
2 stalks scallions white part only save green parts for garnish
6 ounces Korean radish (about 1/4-1/3 of one radish) mu, cut into big chunks
7 cloves garlic
3 slices thin ginger about 1-inch round
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppers or ground peppers to taste

Da Sauce

5 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons soup soy sauce guk ganjang, 국간장 (or use more regular soy sauce)
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons rice wine or mirin
1 piece 3-inch square dried kelp substitute a bay leaf

Instructions

Cut the beef into 2-inch chunks. This recipe is very flexible. You use brisket or flank. I love beef beef shank which is very economical. It has great flavor and texture. You could even use pork shoulder or butt. Delicious!
In a medium pot, bring 8 cups of water and Da Stock ingredients to a boil. Cover and continue to boil for 5 minutes over medium-high heat.
Drop the meat into the pot. Bring it to a gentle boil, and remove the scum. Reduce the heat to medium. Boil, covered, for about 30 minutes.
Remove the meat. Strain the cooking liquid into a large bowl, and then add 2.5 cups of the liquid back to the pot. (You can save the remaining broth to make a soup or stew later.)
Add the meat and sauce ingredients to the pot. Bring it to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, and boil, covered, until the meat is tender and the sauce is reduced to about ⅓, about 20 minutes. You can cook longer if the meat is still not tender enough.
Add the optional dried kelp, peppers and eggs and continue to boil for about 10 minutes. Discard the kelp, and transfer everything else to an airtight container for storage. Cool before storing in the fridge. Shred the meat and pour some sauce over to serve.
Optional: Serve the radish and onions with this dish! Normally, the meat is shredded, and served with shishito peppers and eggs.

Notes

Refrigerate in an airtight container. It will keep for a week. If you want to keep it longer, boil the meat and sauce again after a few days.
The meat will become hard in the fridge. You can soften it by leaving the shredded beef out at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes, or microwave for about 20 seconds to soften.

Eggplant Unagi Don

By threejamigos | June 11, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

From one of my favorite sites, Two Plaid Aprons, a vegetarian version of Unagi Don! Eel grilled with a sweet and savory sauce or “tare” is called unagi. Don is short for donburi, which refers to the bowl and rice that serves as the landing spot for toppings like unagi. Rice bowls, in my humble opinion, scream comfort food and this riff is no exception. If you are looking for some protein try a fam fav like Oyako Donburi, a Chicken and Egg Donburi.

Grilled and sauced unagi yields a smoky, savory-sweet, melt-in-your-mouth bite of deliciousness. Eggplant braised in the same fashion makes a great stand-in for the unagi. According to the hubster, the resident carnivore in my house, this will satisfy any meat-eater. The tare is made with soy sauce, Mirin (sweet sake), sake, and sugar; ingredients found in most Asian grocery stores. I like substituting dashi soy for the soy sauce which is a blend of soy sauce and fish stock that gives the eggplant a hint of brininess.

Anyway You Slice It

Leave the skin on the eggplant if you like. The other thing you can do is score the eggplant crosswise to mimic the striations on unagi. Fry the eggplant until nicely charred, lower the heat and pour in unagi sauce and green onions. Cover and let the eggplant braise for 5 minutes or until tender but not mushy. As the eggplant braises, it picks up the flavor of the sauce and becomes tender and soft like…eel. YUMMO.

Take the eggplant out and place it over your rice. Garnish with green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately. OR, take it over the top with a runny, sunny-side-up egg. Enjoy!

Eggplant Unagi Don

Eggplant Unagi Don, a delicious, easy prep, vegetarian version of Unagi Don

Course dinner, lunch, one bowl meal

Cuisine Asian, Asian-American, vegetarian

Keyword eggplant, mirin, Rice Bowl, soy sauce, vegetarian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Ingredients

Da Stars

2 Japanese eggplant or Chinese eggplant washed, sliced in half lengthwise and crosswise if they are long.
4 cups cooked white rice Feel free to use whatever grain you like, brown rice, farley, quinoa (not my choice but hey)

Da Sauce

4 tbsp sake
4 tbsp soy sauce regular or low sodium or Dashi Soy
4 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp mirin
2 stalks Green onion, sliced
1/8 tsp dashi powder or granules optional use with low sodium soy sauce

Da Garnish

Toasted white sesame seed, sliced green onions

Instructions

Unagi sauce:

In a small bowl, mix together sake, soy sauce, sugar, mirin and dashi if using. If you use Soy Dashi, skip the powder. Set aside until needed.

Eggplant Prep

Cut off stem of the eggplant and peel the skin with a vegetable peeler, this is optional, if you like skin, save yourself a step. Cut the eggplant in half crosswise, then slice each half evenly lengthwise. Lightly score eggplant crosswise every 1/8-1/4 inch, don't cut thru! This makes it look more like unagi.

Cookin' It

In a 10-inch shallow pan over medium high heat, add a couple tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, place eggplant flat side down and sear until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip eggplant and sear the other side for a minute or two until golden brown.
Stir the prepared unagi sauce and pour it into the pan. Reduce heat to medium/medium-low to keep the sauce at a simmer. Place a lid on the pan and cook eggplant slices for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, remove the lid and flip eggplant slices to their flat side. Add half of the sliced green onions to the sauce and continue simmering for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the eggplant slices are tender and the sauce is reduced to a thick glaze. Remove pan from heat.

To Serve:

Scoop a serving of hot rice into each bowl.
Place two slices of eggplant unagi flat side up on each bowl of rice. Garnish with the remaining green onion and sesame seeds. Bowl food is soul food!

Chamomile Tea Cake with Strawberry Icing (Slice of Tea Cake & A Cuppa Tea)

By threejamigos | May 11, 2022 | Comments 8 comments

He needs to stop. I would like to dive into Eric Kim’s cookbook, Korean-American but have not been able to and it is all his FAULT. Yep, the blame lies squarely on his shoulders.

Eric is on staff at the NYT Cooking. I’m not sure what his obligation is to the venerable paper, a column every week, every couple of days. Don’t know. What I do know is he keeps coming up with tasty recipes for the NYT that prevent me from cracking open his book.

Sheesh

So I am asking Eric to please STOP, or at least, slow down with the content for NYT cooking so I can finally try the recipes in your beautiful book. I’ve only had time to read the stories, which I love, while making your recipes in the NYT.

I’m kidding of course (am I?). His recent contribution to NYT was a Chamomile Tea Cake with Strawberry Icing. It looked luscious and sounded delightful …so of course, I made it. His cookbook, Korean-American, will just have to wait a little longer. Although, in all fairness, many of the recipes printed in the NYT are also in his wonderful book.

But Not This Cake

I adore this cake and I wasn’t sure I was going to. First, I’ve never had a cup of Chamomile Tea in my life. I’m Asian…it’s Oolong, Jasmine, Roasted Barley, Green Tea…no herbal teas in my house. My only non-Asian Tea is Lipton”s Black Tea (I’m not even sure I would call it non-Asian, lol) and that’s to make Hong Kong-style Milk Tea. But the cake looked luscious, very maker-friendly and is an Eric creation, so my knee-jerk reaction after seeing the recipe was to pull out my loaf pan.

A Cup of Tea

This cake can be made by hand, yep, you don’t need to drag out that 50-pound mixer BUT I was lazy so I pulled mine out. This makes the cake incredibly easy to make. The key is to not overmix to avoid toughening the cake…this is the universal problem when using your mixer, too much muscle.

I bought a box of Chamomile teabags, and the first thing I did was make a cup of tea and try it. It was soothing, mild, and refreshing…in other words, perfect for this cake.

Chamomile Tea swimming in a butter bath, the life. The tea is infused in every step of this cake, the butter, and the milk, so the flavor of the tea really shines. I might try it with different teas in the future, like Jasmine, my favorite.

Back to Cake by the Machine. The butter will solidify a bit as it sits with the tea. Beat the butter, sugar, and salt until light and creamy, about 1 minute on medium speed. It will be light in color and fuller in volume, add your eggs one at a time. The eggs should be at room temperature which helps minimize curdling or breaking of the batter when liquid is added to your fat mixture.

Deb Tip-when adding zest to a recipe. I reserve a couple of tablespoons of sugar from the recipe and run that with the zest in a mini-food processor, then add it back to the original sugar. No big pieces of zest and the citrus flavor is well distributed. That’s just me though.

You can add your zest, baking powder, and vanilla as listed in the recipe. The recipe calls for adding vanilla, and leavening agent into the creamed mixture before adding the flour. This works since you haven’t added the flour yet, no worries about overmixing and developing gluten.

Flour Power

First, add half the flour, mix on medium just until the flour disappears, then add the milk, mixing just to incorporate. Finally, add the remaining flour and mix at medium speed. Mix until you don’t see any streaks of flour, it should look cohesive. Avoid overbeating which can lead to a tough cake (gluten development) did I already mention that, lol.

The Icing On the Cake

The icing is key. It adds a bit of sweetness and a textural complement to the cake. I saw a few complaints that the cake was overly sweet. I didn’t think so although I did use freeze-dried raspberries instead of strawberries which have a bit more tartness. The raspberries made a vibrant garnet-hued icing that was very eye-catching.

The weight to volume of freeze-dried fruit was off, possibly due to humidity. I used the half-cup volume measurement, you can adjust the taste and color to your liking.

5 from 1 vote

Chamomile Tea Cake With Strawberry Icing

From Eric KIm, tea cake flavored with Chamomile Tea that is as delicious as it is easy to make!

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine American, Asian-American

Keyword chamomile tea, ERic KIm, Strawberry, tea cake

Prep Time 1 25

Cook Time 50

Equipment

1 9x5 loaf pan

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray To prep loaf pan

Steep 2 Tea Blends: butter + tea and milk + tea and set aside

2 tablespoons (6 grams) chamomile tea, divided in half approximately 4 to 6 tea bags, crushed fine if coarse
1⁄2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter
1 cup (240 milliliters) whole milk

Cream Tea + Butter Mixture

1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
2 large eggs

Add to Creamed Tea-Butter Mixture

1 tbsp lemon zest (original recipe calls for zest of 1 large lemon) You can increase or decrease zest to your taste or use combination of orange and lemon zest 1.5 teaspoons of each. Keep the lemon, yiu will use the juice in the icing
1⁄2 teaspoon Morton's coarse kosher salt or increase to 3/4 tsp if using Diamond Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1⁄2 cups (192 grams) all-purpose flour

Icing

2 tbsp Lemon juice from zested lemon
1 cup (124 grams) confectioners’ sugar
1⁄2 cup (8 grams) freeze-dried strawberries

Instructions

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat (or microwave until melted). Add 1 tablespoon chamomile to a large mixing bowl. Pour the hot melted butter over the chamomile and stir. Set aside to steep and cool completely, about 1 hour.
Use the same saucepan (without washing it out) to bring the milk to a simmer over medium-high heat, keeping watch so it doesn’t boil over. Remove from the heat, and stir the remaining 1 tablespoon chamomile into the hot milk. Set aside to cool
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with the nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper so the long sides of the pan have a couple of inches of overhang to make lifting the finished cake out easier.
Add the sugar and salt to the bowl with the butter, and whisk until smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, vigorously whisking to combine after each addition. Zest the lemon into the bowl; add the baking powder and vanilla, and whisk until incorporated. Add the flour and stream in the milk mixture while whisking continuously until no streaks of flour remain.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until a skewer or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are OK, but you should see no wet batter), 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes.
While the cake cools, make the icing: Into a medium bowl, squeeze 2 tablespoons juice from the zested lemon, then add the confectioners’ sugar. Place the dehydrated strawberries in a fine-mesh sieve set over the bowl and, using your fingers, crush the brittle berries and press the red-pink powder through the sieve and into the sugar. (The more you do this, the redder your icing will be.) Whisk until smooth.
If needed, run a knife along the edges of the cake to release it from the pan. Holding the 2 sides of overhanging parchment, lift the cake out and place it on a plate, cake stand or cutting board. Discard the parchment. Pour the icing over the cake, using a spoon to push the icing to the edges of the cake to encourage the icing to drip down the sides dramatically. Cool the cake completely and let the icing set.

That’s the Way the Strawberry Cake Crumb-les

By threejamigos | May 6, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

Right about now my weekly trip to the farmer’s market starts in the line, 30 minutes before it opens, at the P&K Strawberry stand. Yep, the strawberries from this family farm in Moss Landing are that good. As much as I like them out of hand, I can’t resist trying recipes that take advantage of these ruby-colored gems.

This Strawberry Crumb Cake from Cambrea Bakes landed on my “Definitely making this” list the first time I saw it. Three delectable layers, starting with a fine crumbed cake reminiscent of buttery pound cake that’s topped with a layer of berries, bound by a squeeze of lemon juice, a bit of flour, and a touch of sugar. The cake is then finished with a generous, crispy, crumb topping. It’s gorgeous and yummy.

Keys to Success

The crumb topping is classic flour, butter, and sugar. After mixing the ingredients together, so it looks like a mish-mash of clumps, spread it on a small plate and put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes or however long it takes to assemble the rest of the ingredients. Chilling the crumb topping ensures it won’t melt during baking such that you end up with a nice crunchy, buttery top. If you are nuts about nuts you could throw a handful of chopped pecans or walnuts into the crumb.

Dice the berries and add the sugar and flour. Use fresh berries, not frozen, which have too much liquid. I added blueberries to the mix just for a little color pop and because I had some. My tweak would be to add a little more fruit (I love berries), I would scale up to 2 cups of fruit, I’ll let you know how it goes, it may throw off baking time and cake. *Instead of adding more fresh strawberries add 1-2 tablespoons of strawberry jam to bump up the berry flavor.

Sift together the dry ingredients for the cake and set aside. Sifting allows for an even distribution of the baking powder and salt in the flour. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. This adds air that contributes to the rise and tenderness of the cake.

Bring eggs to room temperature before using. This helps prevent the batter from breaking (where your batter looks curdled and lumpy) when you add eggs or a liquid to the creamed mixture. A trick to help prevent this is to add the eggs slowly (roughly an egg at a time) and mix until each egg is absorbed into the batter before adding more.

No Curdle Zone

When it starts to look like it is going to curdle (usually when adding the last egg), add a couple of tablespoons of your flour mixture with the remaining egg mixture. The flour is the mediator preventing the break. Just that little bit helps keep your batter smooth without making the cake tough.

Add remaining flour in two parts alternating with the room temp buttermilk. The batter will be thick, not pourable. Use an offset spatula to spread it evenly in a prepared pan. Layer the berries and then crumb topping. I like putting the topping in the freezer and then chipping it into pieces to scatter on the fruit.

Crumb Fans Rejoice 😋

Finally, bake the cake. The first time I made this cake, it was a wee bit overbaked. I didn’t trust my thermometer. How goofy is that? My advice, invest in a good thermometer. Cakes should be about 205+/- 5 degrees with an instant thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer, use a bamboo skewer or toothpick over a metal cake tester. (Nothing sticks to a metal pick unless it is super underbaked). With fruit and crumb impeding the tester, it’s just hard to get an accurate read.

That rosy pink layer of fruit on top of the buttery yellow cake, this cake is a beauty. Bake it, bake it now.

Strawberry Crumb Cake

Delicious Crumb cake with a fine crumb and a layer of fresh berries with a buttery, crunchy crumble topping from Cambrea Bakes.

Course Breakfast, Cake, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword crumb cake, strawberries

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 55

Ingredients

Crumb Topping

6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Strawberry Field Forever

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh strawberries or a mix of blueberries and strawberries
1 tbsp granulated sugar
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 lemon juiced

Da Cake

1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large whole eggs at room temperature whisked together
1 tsp vanilla extract overflowing, you can never have enough vanilla!
1/4 cup buttermilk room temperature

Instructions

Butter or lightly spray with cooking spray a square 8x8 baking pan. L ine it with parchment paper on all sides. Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C.

The Crumb

In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, flour, sugar, and brown sugar until crumbly. Spread on a plate and place in freezer for 10-15 minutes or for as long as it takes to make the strawberries and cake.

Da Strawberries

In a medium bowl, combine the chopped strawberries, sugar, flour, and lemon juice until combined. Set aside.

Da Cake

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes on medium to medium-high speed.
Scrape down the bowl. Slowly add in the whisked eggs and vanilla, mixing very well after each addition. Do not do this too quickly or the mixture will curdle.
Add half of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until almost combined. Add buttermilk and mix until combined, add remainder of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. The batter will be quite thick.
Using an offset spatula, spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking pan, then spread the strawberries evenly over the top. Break up the crumbs and sprinkle for an even layer over the strawberries.
Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The berry layer may make it difficult to test leaving residual moisture on tester, try not to overbake.
Cool cake for 20 minutes on a wire cooling rack, then remove from the pan and cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.