Archive for April, 2010

Our friends came back from a trip recently and brought back some tasty treats from Narita, Japan!

Juice box sake

Yes, this is Japanese sake in a juice box!  It was actually pretty good sake and super strong.  AM and I had to share one box.  Leave it up to the Japanese to come up with an ingenious way to carry sake around.

Mochi box

The box of mochi was wrapped in such pretty paper that I didn’t want to open it.  Unfortunately for the paper and fortunately for our bellies, I decided to open the box up and have some for dessert tonight.

Mochi

What a colorful variety of mochi!  We sampled a few and AM tried to trick me by saying they didn’t taste good and proceeded to grab the box and place it on his lap.  I leaned over to grab one and he swatted my hand away!!  When I was able to wrestle some mochi away from his ninja death grip, I did my happy dance.  AM catches me doing my happy dance when I’m eating something really tasty.

So colorful

I had to take the box away from AM or else he would finish the entire thing.  I might have to bring the box to work with me tomorrow just so I can guard it.  HAHA.

Cupcake

Cupcakes are great for parties or any celebratory event.  A full size cake is always good, but I think cupcakes are better because they are individual servings of cake that you can just pick up with your hands.  You don’t need a plate and fork to eat.   In our move towards a greener “reduce, reuse, recycle” world, it is the better choice!

Cupcakes are wonderful because they can each be decorated individually for customization for a party, like spelling out a word with each cupcake having a different letter or each cupcake having a different design but all tied together with an overall theme.  They can also be decorated the same to provide a clean uniform look.  It can be very aesthetically pleasing.  A huge decorated cake can be wonderfully beautiful or can be a giant monster.

I prefer cupcakes.  I like making cupcakes.  And I love making them for other people.  This weekend, I made these tasty chocolate cupcakes topped with pink buttercream for a colleague’s surprise baby shower.  Pink because she is having a girl…duh!  Chocolate because AM likes chocolate and apparently so does the mother to be!

One pound of butter

I used a recipe from Magnolia Bakery’s recipe book.  Magnolia Bakery is located in NYC and has been recognized as the shop which started the cupcake craze, mainly because they were featured in Sex and the City.  Since then cupcake shops have been sprouting all over the country and some say have made the cupcake a trend or fad.  Noticeably, they really haven’t made it to Hawaii.  There are like two cupcake shops on all of Oahu!

Magnolia’s owners supposedly had a falling out and one decided to open up her own bakery called Buttercup Bake Shop.  I used to go there a lot when I lived in NYC.  There was one a few blocks from my apartment.  The cupcakes were similar to those at Magnolia’s.  I used to make a trip down there and pick up a couple for myself and also the doorman in my apartment.  There were three to four doormen covering the 24 hour shift and they were the bestest doormen ever!

Melting chocolate using double boiler method

Ready for baking

Cooling the cupcakes

Pink buttercream

Ready to party!

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
(Adapted from recipe by Magnolia Bakery)

Serving size: 3 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks or 1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melting chocolate
1. Cut up bar into pieces and place in a heat safe bowl fit nicely over a pot of simmering hot water.
2. Stir until all the chocolate has melted.
3. Take bowl off from the heat and set aside to cool while you prepare the batter.

Cupcake batter
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour and baking soda and set aside.
3. In a measuring cup, mix vanilla into buttermilk.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, cream the butter on medium low setting until smooth.
5. Set timer to 3 minutes. Add white and brown sugars and beat until fluffy.
6. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each egg is added.
7. Add chocolate and mix until well incorporated.
8. Add 1/3 of the flour and baking soda and mix until incorporated. Add 1/3 of buttermilk and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Repeat for the remainder of the flour and buttermilk. Do not overbeat!
9. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber or silicon spatula and make sure ingredients are mixed in well together and batter is smooth. May have to fold batter in a few times.
10. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill about 3/4 full with batter. I spooned the batter into the liners but you can use a small scoop and scoop the batter into the liners instead.
11. Bake for 22 minutes or until a cake tester (I used a long bamboo skewer) inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
12. Transfer cupcakes to cooling rack and let fully cool before icing.

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
(Adapted from recipe by Magnolia Bakery)

Serving size: Makes enough for 3 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks or 1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
6 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Food coloring (optional)

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add butter, 4 cups of sugar, milk, and vanilla.
2. Set timer to 5 minutes. With the paddle attachment, on medium speed beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Add remaining sugar 1 cup at a time and beat well after each cup added. Set timer to 2 minutes before each addition. Add more sugar for thicker consistency.
4. Add a few drops of food coloring to get desired color and beat until color is mixed in. With rubber spatula, fold icing over a few times to make sure the color is mixed in thoroughly.
5. Ice cupcakes immediately or place in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Rack of lamb

Not a lot of people like the taste of lamb.  My mom finds it a bit gamey.  AM and I, on the other hand, really enjoy this variety of meat.  When I go out to eat, I will usually order lamb if it is on the menu.  I remember my first lamb entree I enjoyed when I was little.  It was at a nice Greek restaurant in Astoria, Queens.  My parents took me there a few times and I remembered it was a fancy establishment.  It was one of my favorite places.  Their lamb was always so good and that was the only entree I ever ordered there.  Sadly, I don’t think the restaurant is in business anymore.  Another great restaurant that serves super delicious lamb is Parkside Restaurant, which is in Corona, Queens.  It is probably THE best Italian restaurant in NYC.  No joke.  Fancy, but not snobby.  It is very mafia-ish.  Their lamb, as well as the rest of their food, is amazing.  Also, very reasonably priced, by NYC standards.

My auntie Mabel cooked her version of rack of lamb one time I visited Vancouver on my way to Whistler for a snowboarding week.  The lamb was so tasty that I requested the recipe which she gladly shared.  I made this lamb for AM and he was hooked.  HOOKED!  He even made a special request for this dish for his birthday dinner.  It is really good.

Check out my rack!

Drizzling olive oil for the marinade

Marinating

I usually marinate the meat for 2 hours at room temperature, like the recipe instructs.  I actually prepped it the night before and placed the lamb soaking in the marinade overnight.  Before placing into the oven, I took it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.

Resting for 5-8 minutes before cutting

GRILLED RACK OF LAMB
(Recipe by Auntie Mabel)

Serving size: 4

Ingredients:
8 rib rack of lamb
1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (optional)
3 tablespoons chopped shallots (I used half an onion this time)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (dry is ok)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt & pepper to taste
Basil, chopped

1. Marinate for 2 hours at room temp, or longer in the fridge.
2. Set oven at 425 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes for medium rare, fat side up.