Japanese Cheesecake....FAIL

I googled this recipe -- unfortunately it's not been validated, so i thought i'd test it in my kitchen. I put the springform pan on my x'mas list for this very purpose. So here goes the recipe.

• 7 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar (caster sugar aka baker’s sugar) This should be next to the rest of the sugars in a well stocked super market
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup cornstarch (don’t use flour!!)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 1/2 cups boiling water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 9-inch cake tin with cooking oil spray.
3. Beat cream cheese with milk to soften.
4. Add half of the sugar, all the egg yolks, all the cornstarch and all the lemon juice to the beaten cream cheese.
5. Beat until smooth.
6. Beat egg whites separately in a medium sized bowl until foamy. Do NOT let any grease get in the eggs whites or you‘re screwed and by screwed I mean your egg whites will fail to get fluffy and peak!
7. Gradually add the remaining sugar and all of the cream of tartar to the egg whites, beating on high speed until soft peaks form, about 8-10 minutes. This may seem excessive but you must get those peaks!
8. Gradually fold beaten egg whites into the cream cheese mixture, stirring gently. DO NOT BEAT them into the mixture.
9. Pour into cake pan and smooth the surface.
10. Place cake pan into a larger roasting pan and place in lower rack of oven.
11. Pour enough of the boiling water into the roasting pan to come half way up the side of the cake pan.
12. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a pick inserted in the middle of the center comes out clean.
13. If the surface becomes too dark while baking cover with a piece of tin foil, but be careful not to open the oven door until it has been in the oven for at least 20 minutes.
14. If you can, let the cheese cake (which is a soufflé in disguise) gradually cool for one hour in the oven with the oven turned off.
15. If you like, you can treat the cheesecake like its Western counterparts and spread some fruit filling on top of it. (I don‘t recommend lychee as it overwhelms the cheesecake).

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so here is an update on the try-out. notice there are no pictures with this post --- the reason being the new pan i received for x'mas leaked on the bottom despite my every careful effort. Ian was so good to eat the non-soaked part and declared it "the best japanese cheesecake" he's ever had. I have a good husband, but a very very bad japanese cheesecake.

This is definitely a fail.

Once I've worked out the courage to start again, I'll let you know.

Knowing that this was a technically and equipment issue, the recipe still remains uncontended/unvalidated. however you wanna look at it.... so there is still a glimmer of hope.

Mrs. Fields Cinnamon Sugar Cookie

Best thing for x'mas shopping is a good 1/2 dozen of mrs. fields cookies. When I got to MRs. Fields this year, there were only 2 left! So i decided to look up a recipe and make my own!

They turned out marvelously and actually they were really fun to make, and lasted forever, this recipe turned out about 60 bite-sized cookies.

What to make next...

So I've been baking basically everyday, BUT in order to make something other than two dozen of chocolate chip cookies, here are some ideas that I'm aiming for.

French Macaroons
Why? I love them, that's why. I've been thinking about them since I saw Marie Antoinette.

Cream Scones
Went to a bridal shower at the King Eddie and I just couldn't get enough of this -- plus Devonshire cream, of course!

Finnish cardamom cake
There was a bake-off at the CCAC United Way Campaign and one of the ladies who work in the call centre baked this wonderful thing. It just looked like a normal coffee cake, but it was anything but! It wastotally extraordinary! It was just the perfect mix of spicy and sweet. She passed by my office just after the lunch was over and I sat her down told her she missed my calling and can i have the recipe. I told her she shoudl sell it -- funny enough, when i went back to my office, someone else came to see her and they said exactly the same thing! Cardamom Coffee Cake

Pumpkin Loaf

Gingerbread Halloween man -- recipe still to come!

Pistachio Coffee Cake

That's a good list, don't you think?

Chocolate Muffin with Cream Cheese Filling

You just can't go wrong with this recipe. Those who know me probably can hear me saying, well, anything that's got butter, cream cheese, sugar, and chocolate mix together is basically a no-fail endeavour. Even so, this is a real no-fail recipe.

I added about 1/2 c of flour in addition to the original recipe b/c when i first mixed everything together, it was just too wet! Also, I piped in the cream cheese filling vs using a spoon, it just gave it more of a uniform structure in the middle of the muffin as opposed to creating a giant mess at the top of the muffin.

This recipe made 12. we ate two for breakfast -- its' not a breakfast food, but we just couldn't help it -- it was so good straight out of the oven, there was a molten custard cheesecake feel to it. And two days later, they were good, but not AS good -- i even put it in the microwave for 20 sec. the texture was good but nothing compared to when it first came out of the oven. i brought it over to Jamie, Sean, and Miko -- and Miko had her first taste of "cheesecake"!

Sweet Butter Dora Fish with Almond Parmesan Crust

This was done completely by accident while I watched Amazing Race with Ian. We'd just come
back from Barbados and our time clock is all weird. We had a late lunch (at A and W's)...and I started getting the munchies around 8 pm.

1/4 C butter
1 tbsp butter
1/4 C almond slivers
2 tbsp of provencal mustard
two cloves of garlic sliced
two slices filets of dora fish
parmesan cheese -- grated
salt
pepper
garlic powder
honey 1. 5 tbsp
sprinkle of tabasco

This fish recipe is great with basmati rice and
1 C basmati
2 C water
pinch salt
squirt lime juice
1/2 tbsp butter

Cook the rice first b/c fish is not going to take long.
Boil the 2 cups of water, when it comes to a boil, put the rice in. Add the butter, lime, and pinch of salt. Let it simmer for 12 mins and then take it off the heat and cool for 5 mins.

Now, the fish...
Heat the oven by putting it on broiler -- HI. using a casserole dish that can hold two fillets . put the butter, oil, and garlic into the dish. Put the dish into the oven. Heat for 5 minutes -- the garlic is sizzling but not burnt.

Meanwhile, pat dry the fish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and garlic powder.

Remove the cassarole dish carefully from the oven. Add mustard, lime juice, and honey. Stir to mix well. Lay the two fillets on the dish, turn once to cover the fillets with the butter mixture.
Sprinkle the almonds across the fillets and then sprinkle the parm all over.

Put it in the oven and wait 6 minutes or until the almond top is toasted/dark golden brown. Cut open the fillet to make sure it's cooked.

Viola! Sweet Butter Dora Fish with Almond Parm Crust.

Banana Bread Muffins getting better! (slightly)

I have now made banana bread muffins 3 times and this is the best... so far. but by far not the best banana or muffin I've ever had.

2 C flour
1/2 C oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 C sugar
1 egg
3 very ripe bananas

Mix all liquid ingredients. Then add the dry ingredients one by one.
I also added 1/4 cup of pecans and also 1/2 cup chocolate chips. and also 1 tsp vanilla.

bake in cups for 35 mins. I think 32 mins. should be fine. This makes 12 muffins and actually i did get some muffin tops.

......If at first you don't succeed ... try three more time and then keep going....

Thea's Amazing Accidental Cha Sui! (Homemade Chinese BBQ pork)

Ian makes a very good pork tenderloin. It's basically the $4 pork tenderloin that you get at Metro or loblaws, you make little cuts into it and you stuff the little cuts with slivers of garlic. They you cover it with olive oil and then spices like salt, pepper, paparika. Pretty white-man bland, but really good when it comes out of the oven.

So I tried to recreate it, went to chinatown and bought something that looked very similar to pork tenderloin but is actually another very similar cut that's leaner, with a very small/thin amount of fat only on one side. It's called "lau mui" i think.

I bought some lee cum kee cha sui sauce as well -- this is the key, honestly i would never try to make my own cha sui sauce, that's just crazy.

I guess it was about 1.5 lb of meat. I put it in a ceramic loaf container and cover it with cha sui sauce, grated about 1 in. of ginger, 1 tablespoon of soya sauce, grated 4 cloves of garlic. I spread the sauce/grated material all over so it's covers the meat evenly. DON'T PUT ANY SALT, the sauce is tasty enough, trust me.

Baked it for 45 mins covered with aluminum foil at 450 F. Then uncovered it and baked for 20 more minutes. I think it could have been done in 30/15. We'll give that a go next time.

I totally didn't follow ian's recipe..but it still turned out quite amazingly. Goes great with fried noodles. total meal cost = $2/person. taste like the stuff you get at a chinese bbq store.

oh yeah ...and my mom makes this too. I must have accidentally channeled my mom's cooking abilities! Thanks mom!

Meringue Ghost Colony!

Happy Halloween everyone!

So when i saw this cute little recipe on Joy of Baking, I just couldn't pass it up.

They turned out so cute and was sooo easy to do -- Ian and I had such a great time making them. Yes, ian did like 1/2 of them. And they turned out exactly like the picture, except i used chocolate chips instead of googly eyes. (I think they actually taste better and gives a good contrast) Btw, pics to follow.

Everyone in the office love them. Naz this one's for you!

Ginger Orange Meat Balls and Asian Roasted Potatoes

This was honestly one of the easiest meals I've every made!

Potatoes
small potatoes wash and cut in half
boil in microwave for 15 mins

salt
pepper
grated lemongrass -- 1/2 stalk and chopped 1/2 stock
6 cloves of garlic -- 3 grated , 3 sliced
cumin to cover each
paparika to cover each
oil to cover
green onions 1 stalk chopped (green parts only)
heat oven to 450 F roast for 20 mins.


Meat Balls
Frozen meatballls (as many as you need -- I usually do about 6 per person, max!)
VH orange ginger sauce
soya sauce
ketchup

boil meat balls, drain, put it back into the pot, add oil, brown the bottom/sides of the meat balls, add sauce to cover, turn down the heat, let it boil for a few minutes, add two big squirts of ketchup, sprinkle of soya sauce.

I paired this with sliced fresh orange peppers and cucumber. good balance.

There were no veggies left, but the potatoes and meatballs lasted a dinner and a lunch.

Thea's Lasagna

Ok I've made lasagna before. But it's never been this good!

I'm no Italian, but i don't need to be one to tell me a lasagna's good.

All u need:

1 pkg of lasagna noodles
1 can of Primo tomato pasta sauce
1 lb fresh ground beef -- i always do lean, but if you do not-lean (fat) they it's more beefy for sure. (you'll just have to make sure you eat less of it? what? nevermind)
two packages of cheese, this particular recipe took a "pizza" mix and an "italian" mix. the former being a mix of cheddar and mozz and the latter being a mix of povalone and mozz. -- the secret is really in the cheese
I clove of garlic
salt and pepper
onions
diana sauce (secret)
soy sauce (secret)
olive oil

--

brown the beef slightly
add generous salt and pepper
1 table spoon (I just eyed it) just a bit all over diana sauce original
sprinkle of soya sauce

continue to brown
add can of sauce when 1/2 brown
grate in the one clove of garlic using a rasp
chop 1/2 an onion and put that in the sauce once it's on a soft boil (turn the heat down and put on a clear lid (if you have one, so you can make sure it doesn't burn. I'm not kidding make sure it's turned down to a gentle boil like min-med or you're gonna get little red sauce volcanoes -- you don't need this)

Boil some water at the same time, enough to cover your noodles
Boil the noodles for about 6 - 8 mins. (7)
Do NOT salt the water, honestly there is no need
After done al dente, drain and add olive oil all over so the noodles don't stick together, plus olive oil is just yummy!

Ok, now assembly. Make sure you have your cheese ready. if you are gungho, you can buy your cheese in a block and grate/process if you're lucky enough to own and have room in your downtown condo for a processor.

choose a container that you like that can go in the oven. if i don't think there is any difference between a teflon coated aluminum, glass, or ceramic. I think everything under the top layer is basically the same: wet, gooey cheesy and saucy goodness. I use a glass container that has a plastic lid -- so i can close it up when it cools down -- it makes an amazing lunch! everyone at the office will be jealous.

layer the sauce , cheese, and noodles in whatever order you like. make sure that you stick to that order though, so that you don't get double layers of anything. if the lasagna is not spaced out correctly it may fall apart (2+ consecutive layers of sauce and cheese) or be too dry (2 plus layers of noodle) when you go and cut it open to eat it.

ok last step: preheat the oven to 425 F . once you have it stacked, make sure the top layer is lasagna and just sprinkle enough cheese in a thin layer. when you look at the top, you should see mostly noodle and not cheese. this is how we make a crunchy lasagna top.
make 16 - 18 mins. (17).

Take out the lasagna -- the top should be crusty, crispy and slightly brown on the edges. sprinkle garnish as you like. Let cool for five minutes. I don't know why, this is ian's advice. and it turned out great and who can argue with greatness.

This will make at least 6 regular servings. 10 servings if this is a second course of three.
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Since this is a pretty hearty meal, I paired it with fresh thickly sliced cucumber. Very refreshing -- bon appetite!

Mini Chocolate Brownie Cheesecakes

So here is my next project, and it involved everyone on my team at work. After having them try out my banana chocolate chip muffin recipe and the chocolate chip cookies. i thought I'd get on a row to challenge myself to keep baking.

so i did a poll and they came up with a few key words/ingredients:

1. chocolate
2. low fat
3. cheesecake
4. brownie

--

The answer came just minutes after the poll, seconds actually. So scrambling those, we have:
Low Fat, Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake.

(I'll throw in the mini)

Mini, low fat chocolate brownie cheesecake.

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What's the recipe?

I thought I'd start off with thinking about the bottom and go bottom up.
And combine a few recipes at the same time. What can I say I love hybrids.

Starting at the bottom: A chocolate wafer.
Then...a variation of the mini cheese cake.

Then top it with a roasted marshmellow and some chocolate shavings OR whole chunky cherry glaze.

Just got one other amazing idea. i can bake for the prizes of an upcoming event and put our tag to them: Theian Catering?

Best Egg Salad! -- SIMPLE!

6 eggs

that's all it takes. i used only 3 - 4 of the yolks -- in my feeble effort to decrease my cholesterol.
Hard boiled.

also didn't have any celery. but i thought, what's refreshing, crunch and green? A celery replacement? Good ol' english cucumber.

so what did i do after the eggs are good and hardboiled?
1 tablespoon of mayo/ or more if you like it more creamy
then season to
2inches of cucumber. Sliced, then use 2 slices for dicing , put it in the egg mixture. Use the rest for garnish. nice to chew on while you enjoy the salad.

Even better. if you get a chance to stop by and get an olive baguette from Kensington , the salad goes great on the bread sliced and toasted!

enjoy!

Banana Bread/Muffins

One of my best friends, J, just gave birth to a little girl (little "M) and i thought I'd bring her/them something while she's in hospital. I worked at that same hospital years ago and really the food isn't that great. If there is one thing that j and I can't live without, it's good food.

So here is the recipe i'm trying out and actually the baking takes more like 30 mins and not ten from the original recipe on google.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 bananas
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup *Chocolate Chips

Mix, fill muffin cups, Bake at 375 for 28 mins.

enjoy!

Amazing Chololate Cookies

Let me just start by saying: I HATE CHOLCOLATE AND I HATE COOKIES AND I HATE BAKING.

But somehow, These are the best CHOCOLATE, CHIP, COOKIES, that i ever BAKED!

the batter lastest forever! and i cooked them every day! actually like everyday i baked at least 10 cookies over three days.

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, melted
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 egg
• 2 egg yolk
• 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

melt the butter.
mix all the stuff together.

bake for 16 mins in a 325 F oven.

good luck! like i said this will make a huge batch of cookies that you can bake over three days.

Asian Deep Fried Chicken Wings

I made the most AWESOME deep friend chicken wings.

Shrimp paste
lemon grass
ginger
garlic
fish sauce
soya sauce
3 lbs chicken wings

1/2 cornstarch + 1/2 flour OR just corn starch for coating
oil for frying

1. clean chicken wings of feathers etc. The easiest way to do this, is to boil a pot of water and blanch
them quickly.
2. then make sure they are pat dry/drained
3. mix all the ingredients for the marinade. The secret weapon here is the rasp! use the RASP! just grate the amount you want into the sauce boom there ya go! as for the wet parts, make sure you mix enough of the sauce of cover the chicken up properly.
4. taste it -- not if it's been contaminated by the chicken.
5. mix it with the chicken
6. soak the marinade in the chicken (or vice versa) say for 15 mins.. b/c this this really salty stuff!

7. make sure that you PAT DRY. this was my mistake the first time around. make sure the wings are really dry and THEN pat them in flour. DON'T SKIP this step or you're gonna be stuck with three pounds of wet/soggy wings.. and no one wants that.
8. pat with 1/2 cornstarch and 1/2 flour. or just rice flour. make sure you use very little and pat the wing free to excess flour jsut before frying. Dont' "pre-pat" b/c it will be less crispy.
9. make sure oil is 350 F or sizzles slowly
10. after you patted the wings lightly with flour, fry slowly.

then drain on a cookie rack/other metal rack.

enjoy!

Artistrhi is Awesome!

Just look at these before and afters.. i don't think you can beat this.

Montreal Hookahs. Toronto Hookahs.

Ok, it's not what you think.

It was a rainy day in montreal, actually more than torrential rain that herded us indoors. Thanks to Maude, we landed in the best of places.... a small homey awesome little hookah bar on Rue St. Dennis.

Now I'm determined to find its equivalent in TO. It was the best smoking experience i've had.... so far.

Looks like i've already found my first one.

and second... wow this one is even better!

why don't i just share the whole map?

Paneer, my dear!

Ok, so I've always dreamed of a test kitchen, where better to start than indian food? (really? coz that's not easy).

I remember the time i made "cinnamon buns" when I was 10 years old... what a disaster. We didn't have any yeast at home at the time, but i figured, how needs yeast? It came out like the "doughy dolls" that you make at camp, except in cinnamon bun shape....my mom was so kind to still encourge me to cook..! yay mom.

So what have i made? Paneer, my dear!
and i think i added WAY to much lemon juice b/c the cheese tastes sour... I don't think that's supposed to happen. also it didn't drain very well -- althought perhaps it was bc i got lazy and didn't get a real cheese cloth. and also i used two percent milk. in retrospect, i really should've thought this through. what i thought would take 15 mins took almost two hours. plus clean up (still not done).

the "end product" is sitting on the kitchen counter...i keep it around thinking it'll get better with age. Ah, denial, what would i do without you?

What's next? I'm going to perfect it. it seems easy enough.

But what to do with paneer? Mutter.

Mutter paneer is one of my all time favourites. every since i had it at ghandi on queen w. honestly it was love at first eat -- and of course, it was ian who introduced me to it. (who else?)

What else with mutter paneer though. good as it may be, you can't eat it just by itself (although i probably could; mutter paneer to me is like raw cookie dough for most people: you shouldn't eat i just by itself, but you couldn't help it)

How about naan?

There are so many recipes.

And what else? Gol Guppi! I got this amazing recipe from Sharon. this girl should write a blog.

i'll let you know how it goes.

Dining With TasteTO – Please Join Us at Harvest Wednesdays at the Gladstone Hotel

Dining With TasteTO – Please Join Us at Harvest Wednesdays at the Gladstone Hotel

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For Home: Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ok, so what's the deal with having to cook everyday? What's wrong with having leftovers?

Nothing, except that I come from a family of in-house food critics...that is, they evaluate each dish that they ever eat whether they are at home, dining out, on vacation, or dreaming about it. My mom, dad, aunts, uncles, brother, grandparents ALL comment on the trifecta of food criticism: taste, smell, look/feel.

Needless to say, they would probably disown me if they found out that I had leftovers -- the same leftovers -- not one day but five days in a row.

So what is the miracle dish that's kept me eating it everyday for an entire work week?

Spaghetti and Meatballs.

Spaghetti. Not handmade spaghetti. No fancy semolina flour + fresh eggs pasta (although I have a recipe for that too). Just primo spaghetti, two dollarfulls, cooked 8 minutes, till al dente. Drained, then mixed with olive oil. I didn't even have to season the water.

And Meatballs. What but Janes' Swedish Meatballs. 5 meatballs per serving is enough. Boil them, drain them, and then into the sauce it goes!

What sauce you ask? Primo (again) 2 cans, with a package of basil + a bit of cumin and paparika (this last bit is Ian's special touch; dont' know where it came from, but it give it a nutty taste which so reminds me of home).

It's about 50 cents a serving and great with salad.

Another mundane piece of life becoming extraordinary.