Super Bowl Sunday

Let me begin by saying that I am not a huge fan of football. Actually, I think that is a bit of an understatement, I usually go out of my way to avoid football. Then about 4 years ago, Chelle, a friend of mine began inviting me to her Super Bowl parties. The Super Bowl parties at Chelle’s house focus on the commercials rather than the game. In fact, we have been know to “shush” people if they are talking during the commercials. Sometimes, if we get too far behind on the game, we actually fast forward through the slower parts of the game (yay for Tivo!). This year, I decided it was time to learn about the game. I mean I get the basic idea…get the ball to the other side / stop the ball from getting to the other side, and the basic points system. Bill was patient enough to try and explain a little more to me, although Chelle kept shushing us during the commercials. LOL.

Another great thing about this gathering, is the food. Chelle is the best cook I know. Kat and Laurel are really good cooks as well, and well, I try to keep up. This year we did a finger food pot luck. Chelle made some awesome chicken wings, homemade guacamole with freshly fried tortilla chips, and assorted vegetables with dipping sauce. Kat and Laurel made an assortment of nibbles, including my favorite, bacon wrapped water chestnuts, as well as stuffed mushrooms and deviled eggs. While the bacon wrapped water chestnuts is so simple, the flavors of the bacon and the water chestnuts go together so well, and I always say, bacon makes everything better. For my contribution, I made my Ba-chan’s (grandmother's) won tons with sweet and sour sauce. While we (the family) would never claim that these are anything near authentic Chinese won tons, they tend to be a crowd pleaser. I also baked red velvet cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting. The color of the cupcakes was not selected to represent a preference in teams. The cupcakes turned out nicely, moist with a bit of chocolate flavor and a deep red color. The cream cheese frosting was the perfect texture for piping and the slightly tart flavor complimented the rich cupcake.
I found the neatest thing to transport my cupcakes, I purchased this awesome 3-in-1 CaddyFrom From Sur La Table, one of my favorite stores. It can hold a rectangular cake, and the insert also allows you to carry either 12 regular sized cupcakes or 24 mini cupcakes.

Bacon wrapped Water chestnuts
Sliced bacon
Canned water chestnuts
Toothpicks

Cut bacon slices in ½, wrap around water chestnut, and secure in place with toothpicks.
Bake at around 400 degrees in oven, until bacon is crispy.

Serve warm, either just by itself, or with a honey mustard dipping sauce, or a barbeque dipping sauce.

Ba-Chan’s Won Ton Recipe
1 lb. Lean Ground Pork
1 T Oil
1 T Shoyu
1 tsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1/3 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Corn Starch
Chopped Green Onion

1. Mix ingredients together and let stand for 1/2 hour.

2. Portion out pork mixture, about 1 tablespoon on to square won ton skins.. Moisten two adjacent sides of the won ton skin with water. Fold dry edges over onto moistened edges at a slight angle, so the opposite corners don’t quite match up.. This fold should be on the diagonal forming a slightly off center triangle. Firmly press the edges together to seal.

While preparing the won tons, I usually layer them into a baking dish with a piece of plastic wrap separating each layer. You can also freeze them this way. If you freeze them, to prepare them later, just thaw and deep fry.

3. Deep fry until golden brown, allow to cool and drain on paper towels or brown bags.

Serve either hot or at room temperature with sweet and sour sauce.

Sweet & Sour Sauce
1 cup Pineapple Juice
1 T Oil
1 T Soy Sauce
3 T Corn Starch
3 T Japanese Vinegar
6 T Water
1/2 cup Sugar
Red Food color

Wisk together ingredients in a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook until sauce begins to turns translucent and thicken. Remove from heat and serve.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes

Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
2 1/3 cups minus 1 tablespoon of cake flour
3 tablespoons of Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of buttermilk
1 1/2 tablespoons of red food coloring
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each is fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

4. In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

5. In another bowl whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring.

6. Add a fourth of the dry ingredients and mix, then add a third of the wet. Continue adding in a dry, wet, dry pattern, ending with the dry ingredients.

7. Scoop into cupcake papers, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes of baking to ensure even baking.

8. Allow to cool for ten minutes in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the vanilla extract and mix.

3. Add the powdered sugar, continually taste to get to desired sweetness.

4. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Vampires

I’ve been a bit obsessed lately. A good friend sent me a couple of books for Christmas. She sent me the first two Twilight books by Stephanie Meyers, Twilight and New Moon. I became engrossed in the teen vampire romance story of Bella, Edward and Jacob. As I was completing those two books, I ordered the following two books, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. A friend and I were trying to debate what the draw of these books are, yet were unable to pinpoint it, beyond Stephanie’s Meyer’s ability to tell an enthralling tale. The series is ridden with painful teen angst, at least the first 3 books are. And the relationship of the romantic leads seems way too co-dependant, yet we are drawn into the story telling. In fact, about all my free time in the last two weeks was spent with my head buried in these books. As a finale, I went to see Twilight, the movie, which fortunately was still playing at the Metreon. Otherwise, I would have had to sadly await the March 21, 2009 release of the DVD.

To continue the vampire theme, Rosalie (my vampire-enthralled friend) and I went to see Underworld; Rise of the Lycan on opening weekend. It was entertaining and I had been looking forward to the back story of Lucian and Victor’s daughter. I enjoyed the movie for what it was, an a** kicking vampire versus werewolf movie. Even though it wasn’t the same without Kate Beckinsale, My only complaint was that I was a little disappointed that they didn’t touch on the story behind Kraven and Lucian’s arrangement that was revealed in the original Underworld movie.

Family and a ME day

I was determined to get out of the house a little bit this weekend, especially since it was such a beautiful weekend. The temperature was in the mid to high 60s, quite balmy for mid-January in San Francisco.

On Saturday, I visited my brother and his family and we went to watch my niece’s basketball game. While their team did not fare so well in the game, my niece is getting really good! And I don’t think I am just a doting aunty when I say I think she’s one of the best ball handlers on the team.

After the game we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Cupertino called Hong Fu.
I really enjoyed our meal. We had their house special fried rice, which was made with chicken, char siu, and shrimp. My brother and I did not agree on whether we liked it or not. I loved it, partially because of the char siu, and my brother didn’t like it, mainly because of the char siu. We also had the beef chow fun, the salt and pepper pork chops and the fried green beans, which everyone agreed were really good. We also had the triple delight in bird’s nest, which was made with shrimp, scallops and chicken, while my brother really enjoyed it, the rest of us thought it was good, but were not quite as excited about it.

On Sunday, it was a me day. I slept in, then made myself a nice breakfast with Peet’s Italian roast coffee, thick cut bacon, eggs fried over medium, and a whole wheat English muffin with guava jelly. All I can say is YUM!

After my weekly errands, I went for a walk / jog on Ocean Beach. It was such a beautiful day and there were a lot of people and dogs on the beach, including a really adorable pug. There were lots of surfer’s out too…what can I say, it was a beautiful day out.

Then I came home and made a wonderful dinner consisting of a creamy tomato soup, a garden salad and a bacon cheddar chive scone. The creamy tomato soup recipe I used from Cook’s Illustrated didn’t call for actual cream, but I added some for richness. What can I say about the scones, but as Joey from Friends would say…”What’s there not to like…” bacon, good…cheese, good…butter, good! That recipe came from King Arthur Flour, and I think it will be a great dish for the next brunch with The Group.

Happy New Years and Happy to be Home

Happy New Years! I can’t believe its 2009 already! I am so happy to be home relaxing after a fun, yet tiring 2 weeks of holiday.

I had great Christmas with the family in Sunnyvale. Mom, dad and my sister came up to celebrate at my brother’s house, with his wife and kids. We had lots of fun playing with the kids’ new toys, the favorites among all of us appears to be Bananagrams and the Nerf target thing, although the bubble toy for Kyle and the remote control helicopters were quite popular too.

I am happy to come home to Cricket & Sebastian, we spent the evening cuddling on the couch with one of my great Christmas presents, an electric blanket (Thanks Patti!) Actually, I don’t have much of a choice regarding the cuddling; I can’t seem to remove Cricket from the blanket! She is like a yo-yo, every time I try and throw her off, she comes right back. I highly recommend the blanket for anyone who gets cold and has a hard time getting their body temperature up. It is so cozy.

Then I ordered Chinese food from one of my favorite delivery place in the area, Ton Kiang. They also have wonderful dim sum, however if you don’t get there by 10:00 a.m, be prepared to wait for a table. My upstairs neighbors introduced me to their vegetable chow mein, which I love. I also ordered the Peking duck and the salt and pepper spare ribs which were both really good! I ordered their BBQ Pork fried rice, which was not the best I’ve had, but it is still good.

I received many other wonderful presents, however, I'll post about those as I get the opportunity to use them.

Happy 2009!

Sunday Chores, Sourdough Flop and Butternut Squash Soup

I accomplished some strategic Christmas shopping on Sunday. I mapped out what I wanted and where I was going, then started early…well 10:00, which is pretty early for me. I was able to get in and out pretty fast and even got home in time for my Sunday nap. Ok, so maybe some chores got waylaid in order to squeeze in a luxurious nap. Eh, I have enough clean underwear to get through without doing laundry for another week…barely.

I experimented with my sourdough recipe this weekend, with sorry results. The crumb was tight, and the loaf didn’t rise very much in the last rising. My theories of what may have gone wrong: 1. I may have possibly over kneaded it. I used the mixer, and I let it go longer than I think I should have. I think good evidence of this was when I was trying to roll the dough into a batard shape; it kept trying to spring back to a tighter form; 2. I added too much flour. It is hard to tell when the dough is still shaggy if it is too wet, so I added some more. Definitely, not worth a picture. Perhaps I need to error more on the side of wet next time. The one thing that has improved is the splitting of the loaf. The scoring turned out a lot better this time, now that I am actually getting the blade to cut and not pull. Well, I think I need to get back to reading Hamelman’s book, Bread: The Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes and work out of that.

Since it was rainy and cold outside, I thought some nice hot soup would be nice, so I decided to prepare a butternut squash soup, which has a lot of flavor and I really enjoy. I adapted it from a bisque recipe; however one of the changes I made was instead of adding heavy cream to the soup, I limit it to a garnish at the end. That way I still get the rich cream taste and body, but am not killing myself with the fat.

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
1 butternut squash
Olive oil to coat
½ cup diced onions
½ cup diced carrots
½ cup diced celery
1 tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp allspice
56 oz. of chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
heavy cream

Clean and de-stem the butternut squash.
Split the butternut squash in half lengthwise.
Coat the halves and place open side down on a baking sheet with sides.
Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 35-45 minutes, until the squash is soft.
Allow squash to cool, then scoop out the flesh.
Heat vegetable oil, add onions, carrots and celery. Sautee until soft.
Add the butternut squash flesh along with the spices to the mire poix.
Once the mixture is combined add about 28 oz of chicken stock, let simmer.
Once the vegetables are soft, puree with immersion blender or food processor.
Add remaining stock until preferred consistency.
Add cream upon serving to taste.

Mmm, too bad I only had a dense sourdough bricks to dip in my soup.

My Wild Friday Night

It is a cold and windy night in San Francisco. The moon is spectacular (well it was before the infamous San Francisco fog rolled in to obscure it); apparently it is the fullest moon in the last 15 years. I was able to capture a picture of the moon amidst the crazy cloud formations from my back deck.

These days, my idea of an enjoyable Friday night is relaxing at home with the cats and enjoying a glass of wine while surfing the internet and watching TV. Tonight, my new favorite blog is http://www.fuckyoupenguin.blogspot.com/ And tonight's TV line up includes Stargate Atlantis and Sanctuary. While I enjoy Stargate Atlantis, I still prefer Stargate SG1, which I still miss. As for Sanctuary, I enjoy it, it is a little darker than what I normally like.

Now back to relaxing in front of the heater with a cat or two on my lap.
Have a good weekend!

Birthday Cakes and Waffles, What a Tasty Weekend!

This weekend we had a birthday party for Bill and Kat. In honor of their birthdays, I baked a cake for each of them. A chocolate cake for Bill and an orange ginger carrot cake with an orange cream cheese frosting for the ginger loving Kat.

Ever since I started baking this chocolate cake from The Barefoot Contessa at Home, it has been a frequently requested item. It is a moist, dark brown chocolate cake with a hint of coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor. I prefer Valhorna and Sharffen Berger cocoa powders for this recipe.

I made a couple of mistakes this time around, neither of which altered the flavor, however the look of the finished cake suffered. First, I was being lazy and didn’t sift the powder sugar in the chocolate frosting, which lead to little white specks of powder sugar lumps in the frosting. In an attempt to rid the frosting of the little lumps of powder sugar, I made my second mistake and whipped the frosting, which caused it to thicken to a stiff consistency. The stiff frosting made it difficult to spread on the cake and then if formed a kind of shell on the cake. Lesson learned, laziness didn't pay off in this cake. I need to work on my presentation of the cake. Fortunately, the room was dark and the audience raved about the cake, the mistakes will be my little secret.



The second cake was inspired by Kat and her love for ginger and also by my need to experiment. In perusing the various recipe resources, I found this recipe for an Orange Ginger Carrot Cake with and Orange Cream Cheese frosting on the Cooks Illustrated website. I am not always a huge fan of ginger, however I enjoyed it in this cake. The diced crystallized ginger added a nice testure to the cake and the ginger flavor really complimented the orange and the spices of the carrot cake. I also liked it because the spice were moderate and didn't overpower the cake. The orange accented cream cheese frosting really brought the flavors together nicely.



For dinner, Kat and Laurel prepared an awesome pork rib roast. They coated it in lemon olive oil, lemon juice, a seasoning rub that they really like and lemon pepper (?) and roasted on a bed of sliced lemons. It was juicy, tender and so flavorful. And Chelle prepared her sinful scalloped potatoes made with a béchamel and gruyere cheese. We garnished this fabulous meal with some steamed asparagus with an aoli.

Of course we had some nice wine over the course of the evening. We started with the 2005 Novy Syrah, Judge Family Vineyard. It had some very nice dark fruit notes, which came out nicely after we let it breathe a little. From there we had a 2006 Robert Young Red Winery Road Cabernet Franc blend. It has a really nice bright fruit and floral nose. It has a softer finish, which makes it enjoyable now. This was one of the bottles from my first wine club shipment from Robert Young Estate Winery. After that we had a Leal Lavanda. The nose on this is so full of fruit and it is such a well rounded wine.

One of my favorite things to do on a weekend morning is to sleep in with the kitties and then get up and enjoy a nice breakfast with my Peet’s Coffee. This weekend I made myself sourdough waffles with my sourdough starter. The King Arthur Flour website had an excellent suggestion of what to do with the cup of starter you throw away before feeding the remainder of your starter. I have made these before and really enjoy them. While I think they taste best immediately out of the waffle iron, heated up in the toaster oven works too.



Lots of good food and wine this weekend. I think I'll have to go back to eating lighter this week. Hopefully next weekend I will be able to find some time to continue my experimentation on bread baking.