11.21.09
Best Apple Pie!
White House pastry chef Bill Yosses’ light, flaky pie crusts have earned him the nickname “The Crustmaster” from President Barack Obama. His trick to making fruit pies worthy of a president is to bake the bottom crust first, then fill and top the pie and bake it again.
Yosses prefers to mix the dough by hand to avoid overworking it but for an easier home version, suggests using a food
BILL YOSSES’ APPLE PIE
Start to finish: 3 1/2 hours (30 minutes active)
Servings: 8
For the crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
10 ounces unsalted butter, cold, cut into small chunks
3 ounces lard, cold, cut into small chunks
1/2 cup ice water
For the filling:
2 pounds apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
For the egg wash:
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
Sugar, for sprinkling
To make the crust, in a food processor pulse together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and lard, then pulse briefly until the mixture forms small crumbs. Add the ice water and pulse just until a dough forms.
Divide the dough into 2 pieces and shape into discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
To prepare the pie shell, on a floured surface roll out one disc to a 14-inch circle. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased, deep 9-inch pie pan, leaving a 1 inch overhang. Refrigerate the crust in the pan for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
When ready to bake the bottom crust, heat the oven to 375 F. Line the cold crust with foil and fill with baking weights, rice or dry beans to hold it in place. Bake the pie shell for 30 minutes. Leave the oven on once the crust is done.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a large saucepan, toss together the apples, sugar, honey, cornstarch, vanilla, cinnamon and lemon zest and juice. Let sit for 20 minutes.
Bring the fruit mixture to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until the fruit thickens. Let cool.
When the bottom crust is baked and the filling has cooled, pour the fruit into the crust.
Roll out the second disc of dough to about 12 inches.
In a small bowl, beat the egg with the salt. Use a pastry brush to brush the egg on the edges of the cooked crust. Place the top crust over the filling. Gently crimp the top crust, sealing the pie around the edges.
Puncture the top of the crust with a paring knife in several places to create steam vents. Brush egg wash over the crust, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the top crust is golden brown.
Let cool for 1 to 2 hours before serving.
(Recipe adapted from Bill Yosses, White House pastry chef)
10.05.09
Olive Oil Cake
Came across this article in NYMag on the emergence of the Olive Oil cake in cafes and decided to try this as a replacement to Banana Bread. I no longer have to wait for bananas to blacken!
09.28.09
Nailis on the Runway!
09.19.09
For all your Taiwanese imports….
So I headed down to this event that my Grandma’s ’school’ was holding – it was a food fair fundraiser. Found every Taiwanese dish from beef noodle soup, to fermented rice to bubble tea… all the food you grew up with. Came across these tiny tapioca balls – I’ve always avoided making the regular tapioca that you find in the tea shops – the larger 1cm diameter ones because it needs to be watched, carefully cooked and is time consuming. Found these tasty small ones about 1/5 the size – cooking time 5 minutes!
Got introed to this Taiwanese warehouse that supplied the tapioca, along with Taiwanese imports such as rock sugar, tea, fruit syrups (for all your bubble tea needs), 8 treasure beans (and all your ice plate needs), grass jelly, egg milk powder etc.
Shine Enterprise Limited
1624 West 75th Avenue
Vancouver BC V6P 6G2, Canada
tel: 604-737-8403
Fax: 604-737-9849
09.04.09
Nail art in Vancouver
Snazzy, 3-D nail art goes to crazy new lengths
By Sarah Rowland
Running out of body parts for expressing yourself creatively? Don’t need your hands for anything practical? Got time and money to spare? Well, Japanese-style nail art may be just the thing for you. This is where specialized nail technicians mount meticulously handcrafted 3-D acrylic sculptures on super-long gel extensions.
Not surprisingly, this claw craze started in Tokyo about 10 years ago. That’s when Asian celebs started donning elaborately themed fake nails that, in addition to raised acrylic designs, were decorated with increasingly ornate trinkets, including jewels, lace, pearls, and anime characters.
Now, the trend is invading the Lower Mainland, with specialty salons popping up everywhere from Vancouver’s Kaen Beauty Design Studio (846 Thurlow Street) to Burnaby’s Graceful Beauty studio (by appointment only) to Richmond’s Glam Nail Studio (1020–8766 McKim Way), which has been making a name for itself beyond B.C.’s borders. Glam director Keiko Matsui has nail queens coming in from Edmonton, Seattle, and Toronto to get their hands decked out by her and her technicians. Not only that, her unassuming salon is starting to get worldwide recognition.
This year, one of her up-and-coming nail technicians, Chinatsu Oyama, won first place for the best hand-painted nail art in the novice category at Nailpro magazine’s annual competition in Las Vegas. The theme was USA—Oyama painted a Barack Obama portrait that spanned 10 long-ass claws. Meanwhile, Matsui took home a third-place prize for best sculptured nail. The theme was the prehistoric period. Yup, there were dinosaurs aplenty.
Back at the shop, however, the three biggest requests from customers are a little more girlie-girl in nature: Hello Kitty, flowers, and ribbons. I wanted to give this spa sensation a try myself, but since I need my fingers for typing (and opening wine bottles), I thought I should probably just get one nail done. And even though I haven’t done blow since the ’80s, it’s always been a secret fantasy of mine to sport the ultimate coke nail. But what pattern to choose? Hmmm, decisions, decisions. Perhaps a ’70s sunset with a few tastefully placed rhinestones? Or maybe something a little more dangerous, like a skull and crossbones? At one point, I contemplated getting an Obama coke nail, but decided against it, as that would be disrespectful. Stevie Nicks, though—now that would have been perfect.
But Matsui’s specialty is 3-D art, so I opted for an awesomely tacky leopard-print nail with a nice red rose sculpture planted on top. (A whole hand of this pattern would set you back about $90 and take two hours.) I sat down in the nail parlour, where apparently nothing is safe from Matsui and her Swarovski-happy crew. The mouse, the calculator, and the tape dispenser were all jewel-encrusted, another service they offer at Glam. So if you want your iPhone case bejewelled in a blinged-out Hello Kitty pattern, they’ll do it for $30 to $230.
Before Glam, there was K’s Nails, Matsui’s own mobile manicure/pedicure service. It was through this business that the Blanche MacDonald Centre grad realized that French manicures weren’t cutting it anymore. Increasingly, customers were requesting more and more elaborate fingertip flair. “I couldn’t take any more clients,” says Matsui, as she finishes off my itsy-bitsy leopard spots. “It was an overflowing situation. People were like, ‘Whenever I call you, you don’t have any more space.’ ‘Okay, but I only have two hands.’ ” And with that, she opened Glam. The challenge now is to find technicians who possess the same God-given talent as Matsui. After all, not every manicurist has the artistic skills to create something as beautiful and timeless as my pimpin’ Peruvian pinky.
08.29.09
Packing burgers
From Chef T himself (my cousin) – burgers will shrink horizontally, but expand vertically. So make sure to make the patties a little wider (use a cookie cutter) and a little thinner. If it’s too watery, add breadcrumbs. Stack only 2.
08.24.09
Top 10 Secrets From The Skin Experts
Top 10 Secrets From The Skin Experts
Posted using ShareThis
06.16.09
Taiwanese Salt Pepper Chicken (鹽酥雞)
As usual, all measurements are just a guideline, but this came out quite delicious! Just need to figure out now to make it even crispier – if I remember correctly, my 2nd uncle (who’s a fantastic cook) double fried it in a large vat with lots of oil and over a gas stove.
Ingredients:
Marinade:
1 lbs chicken – cut into bite sized pieces
1 tbsp cooking wine
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 scallion/green onion – segmented
sliced ginger – large pieces
sugar
Coat:
sweet yam flour/starch
corn starch
flour
egg <– I didn’t use this, but will try the next round
Season:
peppercorns
salt
five spice powder
Other:
oil
pan
pot
tongs/chopsticks
gloves
paper towels/lettuce leaves
1) Combine all the marinade ingredients and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Don’t cut the ginger and green onion too small or they might stick when you fry it and will burn.
2) Heat oil slowly in pot. I also pan fried a few pieces to see the effect – about the same, but used less oil. For best results use a gas stove, heat on low heat for about 5 minutes, then increase to low/medium. Adjust accordingly.
3) Combine all the dry ingredients for the coating. Should be 60% yam flour, 25% flour, 15% corn starch.
4) When the oil is hot enough, coat the chicken in the egg wash (optional) then dip into dry coat mix. Make sure it’s fully coated, squeeze as much powder as you can get on it (makes it crispier/fluffier) and drop into oil. Try a piece at first to test if the temperature of the oil is right. Fry till brown and remove onto paper towel or lettuce leaf.
5) Top with seasoning (see below) and serve immediately.
Seasoning:
1) In pan, panfry dry ingredients on very low heat till fragrant. Pepper 50%, salt 40%, five pice powder 10%.
06.06.09
Summer smoothie/milkshakes recipes to try
Kiwi Connection Smoothie
“Kiwi, mango and pineapple are blended with sweet and creamy yogurt and ice for this refreshing fruit smoothie.”
INGREDIENTS
- Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Pour into glass and serve immediately. Yields 2 servings.
Pineapple Smoothie
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
- 1 cup 1% buttermilk
- 2 cups ice cubes
- 2 (8 ounce) cans unsweetened crushed pineapple
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor; cover and process until smooth. Pour into glasses; serve immediately. Yields 6 servings.
Sugar-Free Cardamom-Mango Smoothie
INGREDIENTS
* 2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, and diced
* 1 cup fat-free plain yogurt
* 8 cubes ice
* 2/3 cup nonfat milk
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
* 1/2 cup granular sucrolose sweetener (such as Splenda®), or to taste
1. Place mango, yogurt, ice, and milk into a blender. Sprinkle in cardamom and sweetener to taste. Puree until smooth, frothy, and creamy. Yields 4 servings.
Mango Lime Smoothie
This is a delicious and refreshing summer drink. It also makes an excellent cocktail with the addition of rum. Serve in margarita glasses for a festive touch.
INGREDIENTS
* 3 mangoes, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1-inch chunks
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
* 1 tray ice cubes
1. Place the mangoes, lime juice, confectioners’ sugar, and ice cubes in a blender. Blend until slushy. Yields 4 servings.
Strawberry Banana Smoothie
INGREDIENTS
* 1 1/2 cups vanilla yogurt
* 2 bananas, cut up
* 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
* 2 tablespoons wheat germ
* 1 tablespoon honey
1. Combine the yogurt, bananas, strawberries, wheat germ, and honey in a blender; blend until smooth. Yields 2 servings.
