Cook Patrol

Apparently, this happens to be a Vietnamese recipe! I love getting avocado smoothies at Ambrosia in Chinatown and thought I’d try making it myself. It’s pretty easy, adjust the condensed milk to your liking. Also good to try with a light drizzle of chocolate syrup just before serving.

* Ripe avocado — 1
* Ice cubes — 1 cup
* Milk — 1/2 cup
* Sweetened, condensed milk — 1/4 to 1/3 cup

Add all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. The smoothie lasts a good day in the frig.

Note: This type of dumpling is usually made with the thicker circle dumpling wrappers (not the thinner square wonton wrappers). I only had square wonton wrappers on hand (which makes these more “wonton dumplings”), but I usually just use the circle dumpling wrappers.

Pork and Cabbage Dumplings:
Makes about one and a half packages of wonton wrappers (approx. 76 dumplings)
Prep Time: Approx. 1/2-1 hr
Wrapping Time: Approx. 1 hr 15 min for one person to wrap
Total Time: about 2 hrs 15 min.

Directions:

**DEFROST FROZEN WRAPPERS OVERNIGHT (alternatively: defrost in the fridge for a couple of hours – recommended. Or defrost at room temp for 45 min-1 hr.)

1) Combine raw pork, cabbage & green onions. Use a fork to mash and stir to combine.

2) Combine in separate bowl the rest of the ingredients. Pour this mixture over the meat mixture and stir to fully incorporate. (Optional Taste Test: sauté a small portion in a skillet until cooked through and adjust seasoning as needed.)

3) Keep the wrappers and filled dumplings covered with a damp cloth/paper towel to prevent the dough from drying out and cracking. They will crack and have holes as you fold the dumplings if not properly covered.

Round Dumpling/Gyoza Wrappers: Place some filling in center (do not overfill). LIGHTLY dip your finger in cold water and wet the top half of the circle. Fold in half and press to seal. Be sure to press out as much air as possible.

Square Wonton wrappers: Place some filling in center (do not overfill). LIGHTLY dip your finger in cold water and wet the top edge and wet half-way on the 2 side edges. Fold in half to make a rectangle (press as much air out as possible). Fold the top lip down, and pull the two edges together. Wet just one corner and press ends together to seal. You can fold this any way you want, if this is way too complicated.

4) When all dumplings are assembled, you can cook immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to several hours (same day) or freeze for a longer period of time. If freezing, place in a single layer on a plate so they are not touching each other. Allow to fully freeze, then gather them up and store in a freezer safe container or ziplock bag. Repeat for all dumplings. If they are touching each other while freezing, they will stick together and you will have a big lump of 70 dumplings.

To Boil FRESH dumplings:  Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling, gently slide in the dumplings (don’t overcrowd). When water returns to a boil, turn heat to a simmer and gently cook for 6-8 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and repeat with remaining dumplings.

To Boil FROZEN dumplings: Boil for about 10 min. If you want, you can cut one in half to check it’s cooked through.

Serve with hot chili oil or in soup noodles!

Parts of this recipe came from a Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen recipe, but I tweaked it to try to make it more like a dish I tried at BJ’s Restaurant (the Angel Hair Toscana). The dish turned out very flavorful and is something I’ll definitely be making again! Plus, it’s fairly healthy (for a pasta dish, that is).

Angel hair with roasted bell pepper, garlic, and olive oil
Makes about 5 servings or so

2/3’s of a 1 lb. pkg Angel hair pasta
4.5 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup garlic, minced
3 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1 red bell pepper, roasted and chopped (see recipe below) OR use jarred roasted red bell peppers (found in condiment section of grocery store)
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup Sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (Optional)
Fresh basil leaves, chopped
Parmesan, grated
Cooked chicken meat (or any type of meat, like grilled shrimp)

1) Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2) While water is heating, in a medium skillet add olive oil, minced garlic, dried parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook over LOW heat. Once it starts to sizzle a bit, stir constantly until garlic foams and is sticky, 10-12 minutes. (Cook the garlic slowly, so you don’t rush and burn it.) Remove from heat and stir in tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes (if using), roasted red bell pepper, and basil.

3) When water is boiling, add pasta and salt liberally (about 1-2 TBLS). Boil for 5 min (or to your preference). When finished cooking pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain the rest.

4) When ready to combine ingredients, mix the reserved 1/2 cup pasta cooking water with the pasta. Pour the olive oil mixture over the pasta and combine. Add the warmed chicken meat and grated Parmesan.

This is a really good quick lunch idea and satisfies your pizza cravings. I made my own pizza sauce, but you could use any sauce you want as well as any toppings. I used whole wheat pita and baked it until the pita was crispy — tastes like a delicious personal size flat bread pizza.

Original Pita Pizza recipe: noobcook.com
Original Pizza sauce recipe: allrecipes.com

Hawaiian Pita Pizza:
Makes 1 pita pizza

Ingredients:
1 pocketless pita bread
pizza sauce; see recipe below (or any sauce you want)
fresh or canned pineapples, cubed
3 slices Canadian bacon (or any ham), cubed
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1 . Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Place one pita flat on a cookie sheet.
3. Using the back of a spoon, spread some sauce evenly over the pita.
4. Add half of the toppings. Then sprinkle cheese evenly. Then top with the rest of the toppings.
5. Bake for 10-20 min, or until the cheese has melted. Bake a little longer if you want the pita to be crispier.

Pizza Sauce (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 (14 oz.) can Tomatoes (or 6-oz. can Tomato Paste + 6-oz. warm water)
3 TBLS Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoons honey
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes (optional)
1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
salt to taste

Directions:
1 . In a saucepan, add the canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil and let it reduce and thicken.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients.
3. Put sauce in a food processor and process until smooth.
4. Allow sauce to rest for 30 min to blend flavors before using for pizza.
5. Store extra sauce in an airtight container, like a mason jar, in the fridge.

Note: If using Tomato Paste + warm water, you don’t need to use food processor nor heat up in a saucepan. Just combine all ingredients and mix together, breaking up any cheese clumps.

From The America’s Test Kitchen “Family Baking Book“

I made this Tres Leches cake for Valentines Day and it was delicious! I would maybe skip the frosting as it added a lot of sweetness to the cake and was a little overpowering. I topped the cake with sliced strawberries. It does make a difference when you serve this cake at room temperature instead of cold out of the frig — for some reason when it was really cold it was too sweet.

Makes: one 13″x9″ sheet cake
Serves: 15-18

“Test Kitchen Tip: Tres leches cake typically contains “three milks”–evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and cream–but in our research we found one cake that stood out from the pack. It included dulce de leche, which is a caramel made by boiling an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk for about an hour. We didn’t want to spend an hour for this step alone, so we popped open the can, poured it into a bowl (covered), and microwaved it until just slightly darkened and thickened — which took only about 15 min.”

Ingredients:
Milk Mixture:
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup whole milk
8 TBLS (1 stick) unsalted butter; cut into 8 pieces
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar

Whipped Cream Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
3 TBLS corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
For the Milk Mixture:
1) Pour the condensed milk into a microwave-safe bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on medium-low power, stirring often and replacing the plastic wrap several times, until slightly darkened and thickened, 9-15 min. Gradually whisk in the evaporated milk, cream, and vanilla. Set the mixture aside to cool to room temperature, about 30 mins.

For the Cake:
2) Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 13″x9″ baking pan. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Heat the milk, butter, and vanilla together in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted.

3) In a large bowl, whip the eggs with an electric mixer on medium-high speed and gradually add the sugar, about 1 min. Continue to whip the mixture until very thick and voluminous, 4-8 mins.

4) Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the melted butter mixture until combined about 30 seconds. Add the flour mixture, in 2 additions, until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and whip the batter until fully combined and smooth, about 30 seconds.

5) Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and gently tap the pan on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 30-35 min, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 mins.

6) Using a skewer, poke about 50 holes in the warm cake–you do not need to poke all the way through. Slowly pour the cooled milk mixture over the cake. Let the cake cool slightly at room temperature for about 15 min, then refrigerate it until the milk mixture is completely absorbed and the cake has cooled, about 3 hours.

For the Frosting:
7) Let the cake sit at room temperature for 30 min and chill a medium bowl where you’ll mix the frosting. Beat the heavy cream, corn syrup, and vanilla together in the chilled medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed to soft peaks, 1-2 min. Spread the frosting evenly over the top of the cake to serve.

(Be careful when whipping the whipped cream. Be sure to stop once the peaks are soft. If you over whip it, it will turn into butter FAST)

This tastes great inside tacos or burritos (like Chipotle or Qdoba does). Of course, it tastes good on the side as well.

Ingredients:
1-2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
uncooked long-grain white rice, washed
cold water (the appropriate amount needed for however much rice you cook. Follow instructions on the rice packaging or your rice cooker’s suggested water lines)
dash salt
2 limes
small handful of cilantro, chopped

Directions:
1 . Juice the 2 limes and set aside. Heat some oil or butter in a skillet or saucepan, then add minced garlic and stir fry until aromatic.

2. Add the washed rice and toast it a bit. Then add the lime juice, stir and toast a little more.

3. Add the appropriate amount of water in the pan with a dash of salt, cover and bring to boil. Once boiling, stir the rice scraping the bottom of the pan. Replace cover and turn down the heat and let cook until all water is absorbed (approx. 20-30 mins).

Alternatively: I just threw all the rice from the pan (after toasting it with the lime juice) into my rice cooker and followed my rice cooker’s suggested water lines and added a dash of salt. I just let it do it’s thing until its done.

4. When the rice is finished cooking, fluff the rice with a fork while adding the chopped cilantro.

Thanks Cori for letting me join this pretty site! 

My first post…well, it has to be this one cuz I know my fellow cooks here have enjoyed it.  I’ve always loved bread pudding.  Nothing fancy though…no raisins, nuts, or chocolate.  I like me some simple, warm, sweet, gooey goodness.  Hence I adjusted from recipes I’ve found, and just used plain white bread here.  How many servings?  hmm…this makes a pan, so let’s just say 1-10 servings depending on the day.  This stuff can be refrigerated and reheats well too!  Top with ice cream for additional “party in your mouth”. 

Ingredients:
Cinnamon Syrup

Bread Pudding

Directions:
Cinnamon Syrup
1.  Combine water and brown sugar in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil until the syrup reduces to 1/2 (about 1/2 cup), about 6-8 minutes. 
2.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream and cinnamon. 
3.  Keep the syrup warm. (The syrup can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Re-warm before serving.) 

Bread Pudding
1.  Lightly butter (or spray with cooking spray) a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread cubes in prepared dish.
2.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, and sugar to blend. 
3.  Pour the custard over the bread cubes, and press the bread cubes gently to submerge. Let stand for 15 minutes, occasionally pressing the bread cubes into the custard mixture. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) 
4.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake until the pudding puffs and is set in the center, about 45 minutes. 
5.  Cool slightly. Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, drizzle with the warm Cinnamon Syrup, and serve.

The first time I made this, I used half Hawaiian red sea salt and half smoked salt and omitted the liquid smoke. I heard that lots of people don’t like liquid smoke because of a funky aftertaste, so I just omitted it and tried smoked course sea salt to get the smoky flavor. For some reason I could hardly taste the salt or smokiness after it was cooked. My second attempt at making this, I used up the very little bit of Hawaiian red sea salt that I had (less than 1 TBLS) and just used Smoked sea salt to make up the rest of the 1.5 TBLS. It tasted great! Next time, since I don’t have any more Hawaiian red sea salt, I’m just going to use only smoked sea salt to get even more smokey flavor.

Recipe from: La Fuji Mama

Makes 12-14 servings

Ingredients:
5-6 pound pork butt roast (a.k.a. Pork shoulder, Boston shoulder roast, Boston roast, Boston butt, Shoulder butt, Shoulder blade roast)
1 1/2 tablespoons Hawaiian coarse sea salt (or coarse smoked sea salt, if omitting liquid smoke)
1 1/2 tablespoons liquid smoke

Directions:
1 . Pierce the pork roast all over with the tip of a sharp knife.  Place the roast in a large slow cooker and rub the salt all over the meat.  Drizzle the liquid smoke over the meat.

2. Cover the slow cooker and cook on Low Heat for 16 to 20 hours, turning the roast over once half-way through the cooking time.  Depending on how hot your low setting is on your slow cooker, you may or may not need the full 20 hours.  When the meat easily shreds with a fork it is ready.

3. Remove the meat from the slow cooker and shred with two forks, adding drippings from the slow cooker as needed to moisten the meat.

*Note: For this size of roast, you will need a 6-qt. slow cooker.  If you have a smaller slow cooker, use a smaller roast and reduce the amount of the other ingredients accordingly.

My friend, Alisa, gave me this recipe. She raved about how delicious and easy it is to make. I have yet to try making it myself but it sounds yummy! I’m not sure where Alisa got this recipe, so unfortunately I’m unable to credit the source!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds beef round steak, cut into cubes (I used chuck roast)
• 1/2 teaspoon EACH salt and pepper
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) can sliced mushrooms (I do NOT add these)
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 6 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes (reduced fat)
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream (reduced fat)
• 12 ounces egg noodles

Directions

Place first 11 ingredients (through soy sauce) in 6-quart crock-pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours. Increase heat to high (if necessary) and stir in cream cheese cubes. Continue cooking for 30 minutes until melted. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions, drain well. Add sour cream and noodles to crock pot and cook 10-20 minutes longer until heated through.

Number of servings: 8

This recipe I found from FoodNetwork.com. It turned out great, although next time I’d add ham, prosciutto, or smoked salmon. It needed a salty meat to go with it.

My favorite bread is Como (found it at Safeway and had them preslice them). I think it’s a blend of sourdough and french. It’s delicious!

If you have a silicone egg poacher, that’s the easiest way. But you can find instructions online on how to poach eggs if you don’t have a poacher.

Ingredients
Sliced bread
Fresh arugula
Eggs
Garlic
Truffle Oil
Salt & Pepper
Ham, Prosciutto, or Smoked Salmon

Directions
1. Lightly brush bread with olive oil and toast in oven (or grill)

2. Poach egg (in my egg poacher, I did it for 6.5 minutes and it was perfect – somewhat runny on the inside)

3. Saute garlic on low heat with olive oil and then add arugula with a little bit of water. Cook until arugula is wilted.

4. Top toasted bread with slice of meat, then with sauteed arugula and garlic mixture. Add poached egg, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with truffle oil.