Recipe: Apple Crisp

(Sorry no pictures on this blog)

So it was the last day before I went off to college, and I figure that I would make some food for some friends. This apple crisp recipe looked great so I tried it out.

I made some homemade vanilla ice cream again to accompany the apple crisp.

The Result: Incredible. By far one of the best fruit crumbles i've ever made. The consistency of the crumble on top was perfect, adding just the right amount of sweetness and butteriness to the dish. The sauce on the bottom had an enormous essence of cinnamon and nutmeg, bringing an almost Christmas-like aroma in the entire kitchen. The best part of the dish was the amalgamation of the ice cream and apple crisp together. The ice cream definitely elevated the crisp to a whole new level, adding a cool and creamy flavor that accompanied the strong cinnamon and apple flavor nicely.

Apple Crisp:

Ingredients:

4 pounds of Fuji apples (10 apples)

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Topping:

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup old fashioned oatmeal

1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel and core apples and cut into large chunks. Place fruit in a large bowl and toss with zest, juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2 inch baking dish.

For the topping, combine flour, both brown and white sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1-2 minutes, or until the mixture is in large crumbles. Sprinkle evenly over Fruit, covering he fruit completely.

Place baking dish on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake for 50-1 hour, until the top is brown and fruit is bubbly.

Recipe: A Good Breakfast

So today, I woke up rather late, saw that my fridge was full of good ingredients. I made breakfast, which I usually don't do.

Nothing complicated, just scrambled eggs, a simple arugula salad, and bacon, with toasted sourdough bread.

The result: Nothing's better than having a slow Monday Morning: watching World Cup and eating comfort food.

A Good Breakfast:

Scrambled Eggs:

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of European Butter

1/2 tablespoon Creme Fraiche (optional)

Generous portion of freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Break eggs into a small frying pan or small pot and add butter. Stir over medium heat until eggs clump. Do not stop stirring, or else eggs will heat too quickly and will harden to a rather rubbery consistency. If available, add a 1/2 tablespoon of Creme Fraiche. The Creme Fraiche will make the consistency of the eggs much smoother, and more mild. Season with salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.

Arugula Salad:

Ingredients:

Handful of Arugula

1 tablespoon of good extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper to season

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk olive oil and lemon juice together until combined. Add seasoning. Taste and adjust if needed.

Combine arugula with dressing, until each arugula sprig is coated evenly with dressing.

Cooked Bacon:

Ingredients:

Good Bacon (Not the crappy cheap mass produced kind, make sure you buy bacon with no artificial smoke flavors or no preservatives)

Directions:

Set flame to medium low. Add bacon to pan. Make sure that when placing bacon on the pan, bacon does not overlap with other strips of bacon.

When bacon fat begins to render off and one side starts to change color to a gold brown, flip bacon. Don't be hesitant to continually flip bacon. By frequently flipping bacon, you will be able to tell whether or not its burning on the other side.

The puddle of fat in which the bacon is cooking in, is truly a flavor element, and SHOULD NOT BE POURED OFF THE PAN. The rendered fat that the bacon is cooking in makes the bacon taste delicious.

When the bacon grease starts to show some white bubbles of fat, the bacon is just about ready. take it off the pan, and pat it dry with paper towels.

Recipe: Blackberry Slump

So I was reading through Saveur Magazine, and I came across this picture of a "Blackberry Slump" that looked so fricken good, I had to make it the next day.

A Slump is similar to a cobbler with more of a cake consistency.

Before the bad boys are covered in crumble topping

Before going into the oven.

I made some Vanilla Ice Cream the night before, and I ate it together with the Blackberry Slump.

Mixing together the hot slump with the ice cream was the bomb.

The Result: Superb dessert. The cake part of the Slump was extremely moist and rather decadent. The combination of the crumbled top with the blackberries was a superb match. What made the dessert special was the combination of the hot slump with the cold vanilla ice cream. Mixing the two together created a flavor amalgam that was truly special.

BlackBerry Slump

Ingredients:

(makes 8 servings)

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes, chilled, plus 8 tablespoons melted and more for greasing.

1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 pound fresh blackberries

Vanilla Ice Cream (see Good Ol' Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe from March)

To make crumb topping, combine 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons of chilled and cubed butter in the bowl of a food processor and process until mixture takes on texture of coarse bread crumbs, about 10 seconds. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease eight 6 oz. ramekins with butter and dust with flour; set aside

In a medium bowl, whisk remaining flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large measuring cup, whisk together melted butter and wine, and set aside

In a larger bowl, whisk together remaining sugar, vanilla, and eggs until pale and thick, about 2 minutes. Add wine mixture to eggs and whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture, mix until just combined.

Divide batter between ramekins and top each with berries. Sprinkled crumb topping evenly over berries. Put ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 1 hour. Transfer to a rack and let cool for about 15 minutes. Serve with scoops of ice cream on top.

Damage done.

Recipe: Japanese Fluke Crudo

Crudo is a raw fish dish dressed in olive oil, sea salt, and citrus juice.

I just picked out some Japanese Fluke from the Japanese Supermarket. Any fresh sashimi grade fish can be substituted for this recipe.

Using a sashimi/sushi knife is the best way to go with cutting raw fish. If you don't have a sashimi knife, use a fish knife or any knife with an extremely sharp edge with a blade much skinnier than your average chefs knife.

For crudo, the better the olive oil, the better the dish will taste. I use Stonehouse Olive Oil, which is an extremely flavorful olive oil that is much more aromatic than your average olive oil. Use extra virgin at least.

Maldon sea salt is your best bet for the best quality sea salt you can buy. Texturally and flavor wise, its one of the best out there. Using normal sea salt works for this recipe as well, but once again, better ingredients make better food.

The crudo

Topped with some chopped shiso leaves with a bit more olive oil and several drops of balsamic vinegar (oops I spilled a little)

The Result: Your classic crudo flavor, with a bit of liveliness and earthiness from the shiso leaves. The fluke had great texture and the flavor combination of the lemon, salt, and olive oil was outstanding. The shiso leaves truly gave a surprising sharp earthiness that helped elevate this dish to a whole new level.

Ingredients:

Red Snapper, or any white fish that is sashimi grade

About 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of Maldon Sea Salt, or any high grade sea salt

Generous squeeze of lemon juice

Shiso Leaves (optional) for garnish

Couple drops of Balsamic Vinegar for garnish

Cut sashimi grade fish diagonally at about a 40 degree angle, cutting them at about 1/4 inch thick. When cutting, use only one stroke of the knife to cut through the fish. Repeat.

In a mixing bowl, combine olive oil with lemon. Add fish, and mix gently until every piece of fish is coated with olive oil mixture.

Add sea salt. If using Maldon Sea Salt, crush salt particles finely with fingers before adding to the fish. Taste test, and make adjustments if necessary.

Chop shiso leaves finely, and place in the center of the fish.

Dress with more olive oil and some balsamic vinegar.

Recipe: Spaghetti alla Carbonara

I love pasta. And I need to add pasta recipes to this blog. So why not start off with one of my favorites, Spaghetti alla Carbonara.

The word Carbonara is derived from the italian word for charcoal. Some believe that the dish was first made as a hearty meal for Italian charcoal workers. The theory gave rise to the term "coal miner's spaghetti," Others say that it was originally made over charcoal grills, giving it the color of carbon. Another rumor of the origin of the name suggests that the way abundant black pepper was added to the dish, made the black pepper among the sauce look like charcoal.

All recipes for Carbonara vary, though many agree that Pecorino Romano, Egg, black pepper, and cured fatty pork is used among the sauce. Traditionally Guanciale, cured pork cheek, is used for carbonara, but I will be using panchetta, as I could not find any guanciale in my local super market. I used half an onion as well, just because I felt like it.

For cheese, Italians have argued the use of Parmigiano-Reggiano in Carbonara, arguing that Pecorino Romano should be the only cheese used in Carbonara. I think a mixture of the two is best. Pecorino Romano is a rather sharp cheese made from goat milk, and the combination of the naturally sweeter Parmigiano Reggiano with the sharpness of the Pecorino Romano adds more depth to the dish.

When making this dish, you must use free range eggs. They taste way better with this dish. Seriously.

The Result: A rich and extremely smooth pasta. The abundant black pepper gives a strong kick to the eggy creamy pasta, bringing a nice contrast in flavor. The saltiness of the panchetta with the rather sweet onion compliments the sauce.

*The recipe is very much adjustable. No measurements were used when making this dish.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Ingredients:

70 grams of Spaghetti

40-60 grams of Panchetta or Guanciale

Half an onion, preferably Maui Onion

Half cup of grated Pecorino Romano

Half cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Alot of Black Pepper

Good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until tender, yet firm (al dente).

Dice panchetta in 1/2 centimeter pieces. Fine dice the maui onion.

Heat olive oil in a deep skillet, or medium sized pan, over medium flame. Add a good amount of black pepper to olive oil. Add maui onion and saute about 3 minutes. Add panchetta and saute for about 3 minutes, until bacon is crisp and the fat is rendered.

Beat egg and add equal parts Parmesean and Pecorino to egg. Add about small handful of both cheeses. Beat together. Add generous amount of black pepper.

When pasta is ready, add 1/2 cup of pasta water to panchetta mixture. Drain pasta well, and add to panchetta mixture and toss for 2 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and pour egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, whisking quickly until eggs chicken but do not scramble. If desired, thin out sauce with a bit more of pasta water, until sauce reaches desired consistency.

Season Carbonara with several more turns of black pepper and taste for salt.

Add MORE CHEESE!!!

Recipe: Thomas Keller's Chocolate Bouchons

Today was my friend's birthday, so I decided to try something new.

Thomas Keller is famous for his restaurant Bouchon, serving food that is strictly French Bistro fare. Bouchon also has a bakery thats famous for their famous Chocolate Bouchons, which looks like a dark chocolate brownie in the shape of a cork.

The result: Decadent and extremely rich. Coming right out of the oven, I think they came out a little too soft. Flavor wise, everything was spot on. The texture was like a crossbreed between a chocolate souffle and a brownie, in the sense that it had the fluffiness/moistness and strong dark chocolate flavor of a souffle, while having an outer crust similar to that of the crust of a brownie. This recipe is a keeper.

Thomas Keller's Chocolate Bouchons

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons (75 g) of unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 oz (90 g) bittersweet chocolate

1/3 cup all purpose flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoons salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Confectioners' sugar for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Set Silicone baking mold on a baking sheet. Grease each well of the mold with shortening or with cooking oil spray

Melting the chocolate in a double boiler is a pain in the ass. I did it, but its easier to just use the microwave. So put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and microwave until melted, about 1 1/2 minutes, and stir immediately. You may alternatively, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter and chocolate and heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Let cool for 10 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt until combined.

In another bowl, whisk together sugar, whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until well combined. Add chocolate/butter mixture and whisk until incorporated. Whisk in the flour mixture little by little, slowly and gently, until combined.

Scoop about 2 tablespoons of batter into each well of the mold. Transfer mold, still on the baking sheet, to the oven and bake until tops of the chocolate corks are shiny and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, taking about 20-22 minutes.

Transfer the mold to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Carefully invert the mold to remove the chocolate corks and turn them right side up on rack. Let cool on the rack for at least 30 minutes before serving. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Food for Thought.

Food has been an integral part of my entire life. And honestly I spend most of my hours thinking about what im gonna cook for dinner or what I'll have for lunch.

People always ask me: why do you love food so much.

I actually had to think about it for a while, and eventually I wrote my college essay on being a foodie.

I couldn't find the final copy version, so please excuse my grammatical errors

Hope y'all enjoy.

Life of a 17 year old Foodie

The gourmet grocery store, to me, is quite possibly the equivalent that Disneyland is to a five year old. So what makes this emporium of foods so exciting to me? Simply put, I am a foodie.

I first heard the term “foodie” from a family friend in Napa Valley my freshman year. Grocery shopping with this man was a delight. He would compare different cheeses in the market, observing the color, sniffing it, and joyfully sampling creamy rich cheeses while gazing at it reverently. In the meat section of the market, he’d paw through the beef until he found the most perfectly marbled steak of the bunch. (“Not too lean, you need a little fat to give it flavor,” he’d say.) He would hold the package as if cradling a newborn baby and declare it “gorgeous.” After spending a day with him, I became so engrossed in the food culture that food was all I could think about during my leisure time. After several months, friends and family recognized me as the “foodie” in the family.

One experience, however, changed my perspective and my views on food.

I traveled to rural Japan in during the summer break of my sophomore year to visit my grandparents. In Japan, summer is harvesting season for many fruits and vegetables in Japan, such as bamboo shoots, onions, lettuce, and peas. One morning my grandmother asked me to help her dig some vegetables out of the ground, consisting mostly of eggplant and potatoes. Digging up these vegetables was a long and arduous task, as the heat and humidity made the task even harder. That afternoon, my grandmother used the vegetables we dug up and prepared a dish of stewed eggplant and steamed potatoes for lunch. I remember the subtle sweetness of the eggplant and the silky smoothness of the potatoes tasting so good that I asked for seconds and thirds. My grandmother then said, “I planted these crops with my heart and soul, and I hope you enjoyed the food.”

This is the beauty of being a foodie.

To be a foodie, food should evoke memories. My experience with my grandmother taught me that being a foodie doesn’t have so much to do with one’s ability to cook or one’s penchant for fancy gourmet food, but rather your openness to all food experiences and your willingness to partake in the great banquet of life by surrounding yourself with people and sharing food you love. It’s about balance, too. A foodie enjoys a once-a-year Big Mac or the occasional jelly donut just as much as the foodie enjoys the osso bucco, foie gras, or tuna tartare the foodie eats at a trendy eatery. And finally, the foodie will always love the comfort food he grew up on (like hot chicken soup) because it evokes beautiful memories of cold winter days spent underneath bed sheets listening to Grandpa’s jazz music while looking at the beautifully decorated Christmas tree.