Recipe on Kitchen3N

Chocolate Pudding or Pastry Cream

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I had a revelation this week: pastry cream is basically pudding, with perhaps an egg yolk or two more. Both start off with a milk/sugar base, thickened over the stove top using some combination of cornstarch/flour/egg yolks then flavored with vanilla, chocolate or any other flavor of choice. This recipe, in my opinion, can pass for both.

Pistachio Layer Cake

Thu, 07 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I've been making pistachio cakes in various forms since my friend asked me to make one for her wedding last year. The truth is, it's very difficult to make a strongly pistachio flavored cake. It's not like ice cream where the nuttiness easily comes through the cream and sugar. In cakes, in its attempt to compete with all the flour, eggs and dairy, it struggles to maintain its flavor while maintaining a light, tender crumb we expect in a cake. I changed this recipe from the original, to include pistachio paste (which you can get online). I looked at peanut butter cake recipes and saw they utilized peanut butter in lieu or in combination with butter, so I thought I'd apply the same principal here. It provides a rich, creamy pistachio flavor. The cake is then lightened with beaten egg whites to add lightness. The result is a light, nutty cake. I'm not sharing an accompany frosting recipe, because in all honesty, I haven't got one. I tried making the boiled milk icing from the original recipe, but oh my God did it die on me. It was a runny mess (perhaps my boiled milk/flour/sugar combo was too thin?). I spent all morning trying to salvage it - first by adding some confectioners sugar, then some more cream cheese, then butter, then more confectioners sugar. After removing a small amount to mix with pistachio paste (my last ditch effort to salvage at least some of it), I was able to make a concoction that held up JUST enough to fill the cake. For the outside, I went with a tried and true (and quick) recipe: chocolate ganache. Which isn't much of a recipe at all as it's just some baking chocolate bars, broken up in chunks, then melted in the microwave at medium power with half its weight in heavy cream (so in this case, 24oz chocolate with 12oz heavy cream). Mixing every once in a while until completely melted and smooth. Not to say it's straightforward to make ganache. There are plenty of ways to muck it up. If you mix it before it is warm enough, it will start to get grainy. If you make it too hot, it will get grainy. Basically you need the Goldilocks temperature to get chocolate ganache just right (between 90 and 110 degrees). I recommend using an instant read thermometer to get your ganache just right, but if you don't, just make sure it's warm to the touch while you are stirring. I then placed it over a bowl of ice water, whisking with an electric mixer until it was thick and glossy. Finally, I decided to try decorating with pistachio sugar shards. I'm not sure if that's what it's called, but it's not quite praline, not quite toffee, not quite caramel either. It's just 1 cup sugar melted with 1/4 cup water until light golden in color. I then poured it over 1/4 cup shelled pistachios on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and let it cool. Once cool enough to handle, I broke it up into big chunks to decorate, then further crushed the remaining chunks with my rolling pin and a ziploc bag. It was surprisingly tasty. Next time, I will definitely add some salt to make them even better!

Recipe adapted from Handle the Heat

Umami Vegetable Soup

Thu, 01 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

If you follow my Snap or Instastories, you saw me make pull this soup together last night. I’ve been looking to finish up all the vegetables and herbs that I bought as a part of my Thanksgiving groceries, herbs that I don’t use very much apart from that day (sage, thyme, rosemary). In the version I made last night, I threw in the last of my turkey leftovers, but it didn’t add much to the soup, so the version here is without meat, and it’s delicious!

Mushroom and Carrot Salad

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

My best friend Moury and I are total health nuts…NOT!

She has sworn off salad greens and fruit. I am a dessert fiend and thanks to my husband, no stranger to midnight snacks (though not nearly as bad as he is…ahem empty pint of green tea ice cream sitting in recycling bin). But now, as I’m trying to lose the remaining baby weight, I’m trying to take baby steps towards better health (pun!).

Guacamole

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000

For a long time, I hesitated on posting my take on the classic appetizer, guacamole. Mainly because it’s so far removed from a traditional guacamole, I hesitate to even call it that (avocado salsa is more like it). In fact, a Mexican former colleague of mine completely dismissed the notion that I could even make guac for lack of a Molcajete - a Mexican mortar and pestle made from a highly porous volcanic rock. Apparently, true guac can only be achieved in a Molcajete that has been pre-seasoned with a thin layer of ground poppy seed.