Last post of 2007: Caprese salad on a stick

This was another appetizer that I made for the Turducken dinner. I love Caprese salad and thought why not eat it on the go? This isn't really Caprese salad in the sense that I didn't use mozarella, but we can call it my version.

Ingredients:
a container of boconcini mini cheese balls (36 in Tre Stelle)
a pint of cherry tomatoes
toothpicks (I happened to find red and white plastic ones that matched PERFECTLY with the tomatoes and cheese)

Directions:
It's pretty simple folks. Just Poke and spear onto the tooth picks.

Now for the sauce:
The sauce is really just a balsamic vinaigrette.

Ingredients:
UGH..I hate measurements. I eye ball and taste as I go along.

balsamic vinegar (I use a sweet one)
olive oil
lemon juice
honey
brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Stir and serve.
Note: This is the same balsamic vinaigrette that I usually use in salads.



Happy New Year!

Pear & Brie on Focaccia

Isn't this so pretty? I love the use of earth tone colours. (Wow, that sounds lame.) As lame as it is, it is true. Anyway, this was one of my contributions to the Turducken dinner party. I got this idea by looking at a picture and I just ran with it. I wish life was as easy as cooking. *sigh*

This was a hit at the party. I was happy with the taste and the appearance. I will definitely make it again. When my best friend comes back from the Philipines, I will make it for her since she loves brie cheese.

Ingredients:
1 focaccia (mine was store bought), or flat bread, pizza dough
1/4 cup of sliced red onions
1/2 of a pear, sliced thinly from top to bottom
3 teaspoons of brown sugar
8 slices of brie cheese (I bought the double cream one so it was extra bubbly in the oven)
a few sprigs of lemon zest as garnish
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Directions:
Place bread on top of parchment paper (flat surface). Brush evenly with olive oil.
In a pan, heat up olive oil, begin to carmelize the red onions. Add brown sugar, salt, pepper and stir. That should take about 3 minutes. When done, place evenly on top of the bread.
Next, pan fry the pears in olive oil at medium heat. I didn't add anything in the pears, but you could add brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste if you wish. Sometimes I'm a purist and this was one time... I just prefer the natural taste of the pear. Cook the pear slices for about 4 minutes, flip on both sides. Then arrange the pair slices on the bread.
Onto the cheese! Arrange the brie cheese slices, alternating with the pear slices.

Since I'm a fan of lemon zesting, I added a few sprigs on top. My intention was purely for ashetic purposes but it actually added another dimension of flavour onto the bread! The bitterness of the lemon zest contrasted wonderfully with the sweetness of the pear.

Ok, so you've got bitter lemon, sweet pear, salty onions, creamy cheese, and chewy bread. WOW. Enjoy!


Pear & Brie on Focaccia

The Ever Epic Turducken

A Turducken is a dish consisting of a partially de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The name is a portmanteau of those ingredients: turkey, duck, and chicken. The cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with, at the very least, a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird.
Courtesy of good ol' Wiki

My friends Aldous and Christina (incidentally in-laws) successfully cooked a turducken for a party of 15 last night. It was my first time eating one and the verdict is that it was delicious. Albeit, one serving is over 1000 calories, I believe it it well worth those extra sit ups. I proposed to make it a post-Christmas tradition amongst us, I think everyone except for the chefs agreed with me. =p

Here are some pictures of the delightful bird(s):


Error uploading, more to come. =)

Term of Endearment: Soupy?

I want a soup man. That's right, a man who will make me soup. :)
This is a picture of "The Original Soupman" made famous by Seinfield. I ate there as my last meal in NYC. For $12, I had a bowl of soup (crab bisque), apple, piece of chocolate, bottled water and a chicken panini. YUM-O!

I long for soup in the cold weather. Soup on a cold day really has the ability to hit the spot. It satisfies me to a tee! Today I made a soup that combines Eastern and Western soup "philosophies". Asian people prefer watery soups whereas Western soups are a lot thicker and stew-like. I made a soup today that uses Asian ingredients, but cooked Western style.

Alie's Winter Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of cold water
3 tsp of corn starch
2 cloves of garlic
1 giant king oyster mushroom, julienned
2 large shitake mushrooms, chopped into tiny bite size pieces
1/2 of a bar of fried fish cake (totally optional), sliced
7 large dried scallops (this is the money right here, baby!)
1/2 cup of squash, chopped into tiny bite size pieces
1 tsp of white cooking wine
1 bunch of vermacelli, cooked

Directions:

Additional prep work:
You need to cook the vermacelli noodles and dried scallops before putting it in the soup. In a pot of boiling water, put in vermacelli noodles and dried scallops. Cook for 10 minutes. Drain water into a strainer.

Let's get on with the soup!

Turn the stove to a med-high heat. In a pot, add a tsp of olive oil and when the oil heats up, add in chopped garlic. When the garlic is infused, add in shitake and king oyster mushrooms. Keep stirring. Add in fish cake slices, dried scallops and squash. Keep stirring. Add in white cooking wine. At this point, the ingredients are almost cooked. Add in chicken broth. Keep stirring. Add cold water mixed with corn starch into the pot. Keep stirring. Finally, add in vermacelli noodles. Keep stirring! Turn to a low-medium heat and keep it simmering for 10 minutes.

Soul Food: Love in a Pan

It has been snowing non-stop for the past twelve hours. Everything that I was supposed to do today has been cancelled. Thus, I spent the day cooking. =) Even when I was half awake and stirring in bed, I was dreaming up recipes of what to create today.




I wanted something warm, gooey and comforting.

Ingredients:
8 small Russet potatoes, sliced in 3
1/2 cup of corn
1/2 cup of shredded squash
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. of organic salted butter
1 pinch of herb de provence
3 tsp. of dill
1 sprig of parsley
a few slices of cheddar cheese
a dash of chicken broth
a dash of milk
2 cloves of garlic

Directions:
I basically put everything in a pan and baked it. haha. Ok, here goes:
First you put a tsp or so of olive oil onto the pan. Then you add in the chopped gloves of garlic. Then you slice the potatoes (3 to 1) a throw them into the pan. Add in the milk and chicken broth. Then you add in the squash, and season away! You top the pan with the corn, cheese and butter.
Bake in the oven at 400 C for 40 minutes.

Epic!

Are you a self-professed foodie?
Do you like to try out new restaurants?
Do you like to create your own gastronomical delights?

If this sounds like you, then you might be interested in joining a diner's club that I'm in the process of establishing. This group of diners will meet once a month to try out a restaurant. The restaurant doesn't have to be expensive/fancy but somtimes will be (because we all like to be high rollers now and then). We plan to kick this off in the new year.

Leave me a message if you're interested in joning. Spaces are limited.