Not exactly your ordinary (potato) cake

So, I haven't been meddling with my baking equipments lately largely due to, well, the lack of a good kitchen. Cooking/baking is personal (to me). I need to feel before I can start. After moving to SF, I found myself leaving most of my culinary gadgets in the garage of my mom's. Using my roommates' stuff is... just not the same... until I had a chance to cook for my birthday this past weekend at my friend Teresa's kitchen.

Teresa's gone through Le Cordon Bleu's intensive culinary program last summer. I admire her, and her pantry, and her kitchen. She has everything I want in a kitchen! When she gladly accepted my request to cook in her kitchen, I knew it was going to be a blast. On top of everything, she has all the cookbooks, including Ad Hoc at home!

I picked out the Scallion Potato Cake and it was a LOT of fun to make. On top of that, it goes with a variety of things. We ended up putting smoked salmon with horseradish cream on it. And it - was - yum-my!

(Recipe to come soon)

Back to Basic - White Icebox Sugar Cookies

Happy Chinese New Year!

It is celebrations like this reminds me of my root, my origin, and the importance of "basics." As we grow, we seem to master the basic elements fairly quickly, crawl, walk, speak, write, advancing in math, science and literature. Soon we graduate from college with some sort of specialized degree. (Some of us even advanced further to obtain a PhD or becoming a authentic figure in certain fields). Not that often did we look back and appreciate how far we've come in life, to become who we are today, and appreciate the foundation (the basics) that we painstakingly (yet conveniently forget) to acquire through the years.

Through my journey of a yoga retreat this past weekend, I found my way back to nature and reconnected with the most simple and basic inner-self. I wouldn't go as far to say that I have been enlightened. The experience, The Ojai Foundation friends, our hosts, the yoga teacher, friends I met on the trip, altogether created this unique experience, has lighted a path to my inner self. I hope I can continue to unravel this path upon my return and reconnect that integrate with my everyday living.

That's the prelude to my much needed "Back to Basic" course in cookie making. I've taken short-cuts in the past where I went on to some fairly complicated recipes in hope that I would be able to master them with ease. Truth is - as "gifted" a cook as I am, there is no shortcut to skill - practice makes better. I picked up the simplest Icebox Sugar Cookie recipe to sharpen my basic skill. As I progress through the experience, I found myself a lot more patient and less critical. I hope you'll find a culinary skill that you'd like to practice again.

White Icebox Sugar Cookies

Prep: 15 min * Cook: 8 to 10 mins * Other: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking sodar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoon butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg white
• Cooking spray

Mixing dry ingredients together:

1. Lighty spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Don't try to level by hammering the measuring cup on the surface, just simply spoon and level
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside

Making the doug:

1. In a electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. A common mistake is not knowing how "soft" the butter should be before going in. If the butter doesn't become light after a couple of minutes, you can remove the bowl from the mixer and hold it on top of a bowl of simmering water. You'll notice the butter starting to melt and do not over heat it. Place it back on to the mixer and restart beating. Notice the difference.
2. Add in sugar one spoon at a time. You may need to clear the sides of the bowl as the sugar may get stuck on the sides. Beat until fluffy and well blended
3. Add egg white and vanilla extract. Lower the speed to medium-low and beat until well blended
4. Slowly add in the flour mixture, one spoonful at a time. Once you have pour in all the mixture, turn the speed to "stir" and until well blended.

Forming the dough:

1. Take out wax paper.
2. Pour the dough onto the wax paper and form a 6 inch log
3. Be careful not to create wrinkles on the wax paper as it will affect the outcome of the shape
4. twist the ends of the wax paper securely
5. Freeze for 3 hrs or until firm

Baking:

When you are ready to bake your cookies, take a sharp knife and slice a 1/4 inch width piece.

Pop it into the oven 350 degrees for 8-10 mins.

Ad Hoc at Home

This is absolute torture that I wasn't able to bake lately due to... well, how would it be a start of a year without bruising my spirit with OT every night, stomach flu, (near)-ER visit and a flat tire (yes, my car never ever leaves me alone). But it ain't matter, I am sticking to my goal, no matter what!

On a brighter note, I finally got my hands on Ad Hoc!

There are many things I'd love to try, wait, I correct myself, to learn to make. What I love about this book is that he goes into the details for a beginner! I love how he emphasizes that anyone to keep practicing the same dish over and over again.

Let's see if I can do a mid night session tonight!

Almond Chocolate Cake

If you haven't noticed, I've been trying to get rid of my pantry stocking of almond slices by making a number of almond desserts. Yesterday, I baked my first cake ever from scratch for my friend's daughter's 1st birthday. Of course, mine is a "back-up" cake in case they couldn't get the fancily decorated winnie-the-pooh cake. :)

I followed Dave Liebermen's "Best Chocolate Cake" recipe with a few modification. The cake turned out to be quite moist and semisweet. The almonds were (sorta) not helping with the overall taste of the chocolate. (I don't know why I always thought that nuts and chocolates can go splendidly together.)

As always, I don't follow the recipe exactly. I substituted agave nectar syrup instead of sugar and semisweet chocolate for bittersweet.

Madeleine, Madeleine, and more Madeleine

I went to 3 different groceries today to stock up on all my weekend baking needs. As a complete novice (and a stingy cook), I've gotta report that Whole Foods is heaven! They sell everything by the pound that you'll need, well, at least everything that I need in this stage of my culinary career, and with great quality too! The only extra money you probably would need to spend is on empty containers to keep these ingredients fresh!

So, after laying everything out on the kitchen counter, I've decided to give the Madeleine recipe I tried two weeks ago with Nan another try. I'm super nervous because I no longer have the liberty of turning my head over and ask, "are the eggs beaten enough?!" every 20 secs. I am on my own now! I finally buckle down, put on my apron and set up all the necessary gadgets. Oh, and by gadgets, I meant putting on my cooking shoes. Now who says you can't cook in fashion. Mario Batali has his favorite orange Croc and I have my favorite UGGs (at least in the winter).

I am using Chicago Metallic's Madeleine pans (left). They are not the heaviest in all the madeleine pans but not as pricey. I also generally use stainless steel prep bowls because they keeps the ingredients cool.

Gadget Requirement:

• Small pan (for browning the butter)
• Mesh strainer (for filtering the brown butter liquid)
• Stand mixer (for whisking the eggs)

Here's Heidi's Madeleine recipe. I am linking it because I can't take credit for it.

Here's my notes on the recipe.

• Browning of the butter is super important. Don't go too fast on turning on the heat, let the butter simmer on the stove.
• In the mean while, prepare the rest of the ingredients including zesting the lemons
• Since these are non-stick madeleine pants, you don't need to sprinkle flours or spray the cooking oils on it. In fact, it'll brown your Madeleine.
• Last but not least, don't fold the ingredients in your mixer's bowl because the bottom is uneven and you won't have a good feel of whether all the ingredients are mixed or not. Instead, transfer it out of the bowl to another prep bowl to fold.
• When you are pouring the batter into the moulding, do not worry about the shape. As soon as it goes into the oven, it'll figure itself out (i.e. turn into the pretty shape of the madeleine).


• And I fill the moulds pretty high and the recipe makes a solid 2 dozens of Madeleine.

Happy Baking!!

White Chocolate Oatmeal Whole Wheat Cookie

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Ever since my little culinary set-back, I've been on the down for a few days. I couldn't pick myself up to step foot for another disaster until my friend Teresa kindly lent me her Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer (a.k.a The God-Sent). I, with all the courage in my heart and the vivid memory of using such a (god-sent) device from Nan, took out the "Tartine" cookbook and devised my very first cookie recipe.

Make no mistake, the recipe is largely the same as Tartine's Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie. I did the simple thing by altering the ingredients, the healthier choices. Instead of all-purpose flower, I substituted with white whole wheat flowers. Instead of granulated sugar, I used light brown sugar. Instead of dark chocolate, I used white (ok, this is purely personal preference but because I like it I feel healthier). :)

The result? I'll have to see after my testers tomorrow. That's right, if you happened to be the (un)fortunate ones on my cookie distribution list and found yourself with cookies on your desk. Please comment and let me know how you (dis)like it. Nonetheless, here's the recipe that I will (most likely) alter based on the feedback I get.

Yield: twenty-four 3-inch cookies

• 12 oz white chocolate (340 g)

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour (10 oz/285 g)

• 1 tsp baking powder (5 ml)

• 1 tsp baking soda (5 ml)

• 2 cups old-fashioned oats (6 oz/170 g)

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (8 oz/225 g)

• 1 3/4 cups sugar (12 1/4 oz/350g)

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tbsp whole milk (30 ml)

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract (15 ml)

• 1 tsp salt (5 ml)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick liner.

   
   

   Coarsely chop the chocolate into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces. A serrated knife works well for this task. Chill in the freezer until needed.

2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and oats. Set aside.

3. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and creamy. Slowly add the sugar and mix on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the molasses and beat until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition before adding the next egg. Beat in the milk, vanilla, and salt and then stop the mixer, again and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until well incorporated. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and fold in the chocolate chunks and the walnuts with the spatula.

4. Have ready a small bowl of water.* Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. An ice-cream scoop works well (about 3 1/2 ounces/100 g for each scoop). Dip your fingers into the water and press out each scoop into a thin, flat 3-inch circle.

5. Bake until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned but the centers remain pale, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool. They will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

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Almond Marmalade Cookie

So, I've had my first culinary set-back! It's not Dave Liebermen's fault. It's my hand mixer's fault. In a world of technology, chef's no longer assumes cooks lack proper gadgets and throws in 'use an electric mixer' as the way to prep. Let me say this again, chefs assumes the necessity of a electric mixer in every household. That's right, that $300 gadget is like a sink or a stove. Without it, they'll probably refer you to back to the stone-age of cooking - eating raw (which all by itself isn't a bad health regime, but let's leave it for another day).

If my setup above wasn't enough, let me tell you black and white right now - I don't have a electric mixer. Oh hell, I finally ordered one and it hasn't arrived! With all my energy to bake, I can't wait for another 2 weeks to use up my ingredients I freshly bought. I marched forward without a the proper weapon in my hand.

The result is disastrous! Heart wrenching! Too cruel to watch. In fact, I locked myself in my room for a good 10 mins before I can come out again to face my cookies, the sad flat face cripples all the other properly baked cookies would make fun of. Needless to say, I ain't gonna post any pictures of it.

Oh, and that was Jan 9th. I've been on a culinary strike until tonight.