These past weeks and months have been filled with a lot of holiday prep, baking, and cooking. We usually spend Thanksgiving at my Grandparent’s house, but since they were out of the country we had to host ourselves. It has been such a long time since my family had to plan, cook, or execute a Thanksgiving meal that we didn’t really know where to start. My mom wanted to make a traditional turkey with traditional sides, but I wanted to take this opportunity to try something new. We decided on two smaller turkeys and we had a few sides.

This was my first time ever cooking a whole animal, let alone a turkey! I decided to use Bon-Apetit’s Cider-Brined Turkey with Star Anise recipe and purchased a locally raised, heritage breed turkey to go up against my mom’s Butterball to see if there really was any flavor difference.

To go along with the cider turkey, I opted for an alternative stuffing. Food & Wine’s Sticky Rice Dressing was complex, earthy, and delicious, and though a bit time-intesive, was pretty straight forward. I also made a side of curried quinoa with balsamic roasted brussel sprouts and my Grandmother’s pumpkin chiffon pie. I haven’t been able to perfectly re-create the pie using my Grandmother’s recipe, so I’ll hold off on posting it here until I can refine it further.

For Christmas, we went to our Grandparents’ and had a sort of second Thanksgiving/Christmas mash-up.

With my boyfriend, I made four different types of cookies to dish out to friends and family. Of course, we made the traditional milk chocolate espresso cookies (with Valrhona cocoa, one of my Christmas presents!) and linzer cookies filled with blackberry preserves and lingonberry preserves, plus two other types. It’s tradition for my boyfriend and I to look over the Washington Post’s Christmas Cookie Feature and this year we chose Cardamom-Brown Sugar Snickerdoodles and Salted Nutella Thumbprints. The Snickerdoodles (half recipe) were *awesome* and, to me, were a chai-inspired spin on the traditional. The thumbprints were very similar to the espresso cookies, so I wouldn’t make them again (just put nutella on the originals!).

This year I also made truffles with my friend Stephanie and also tried my hand at homemade vanilla extract. Last year we made many different types of truffles (base recipe to come in a separate post), so this year we simplified and made only two types of truffles and peppermint bark. Stephanie’s truffle was: Horchata – Milk chocolate ganache with egg nog, rice protein, dipped in white chocolate and drizzled with dark chocolate, sprinkled with nutmeg. Mine was: Christmas Cookie Truffle – Speculoos Cookie Butter Semi-Sweet ganache, dipped in dark chocolate, sprinkled with ginger crackers.

My family always celebrates Chinese New Year on New Years Day and this year was no different. We find it easier to have visiting relatives extend their Christmas stay by a few days and gather again for New Year, and members of the family in school always have the time off and are available. Chinese New Year changes every year, from January to February (this year was 1/23), so it’s easier for everyone this way. For the new years, we had two delicious roasted long island ducks, char siu chow fun noodles, potato stuffing with duck liver and many other delicious things. Unfortunately, I was so excited about the food that I neglected to take any pictures! My Grandmother’s cooking is so good, can you blame me? Since my family is from Hawai’i, we also ended the night with a delicious slice of Guava Chiffon Pie, using guava concentrate from the islands.

Lastly, on Martin Luther King Day I took the extra time off for the holiday to try out my mini-donut pan that I received as a gift for Christmas. I used a gingerbread cake recipe from Everyday Food January 2012 which subs pumpkin puree for most of the fat to make them healthier. Since I was baking them in a mini-pan, I followed the cooking directions on the back of the pan’s packaging and greased the pan, then baked them for 9 minutes, letting them cool a bit. These donuts were cute and tasted delicious, though they didn’t look as pretty after transport to the office. Also, the pan only holds 12 donuts, so I had to make *many* batches.

Do you make any special foods for the holidays?

Curried Quinoa with Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts

• brussel sprouts, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
• 1/2 tablespoon ancho chile powder

Combine all quinoa ingredients (last 7) in a rice cooker on quick setting, open, stir, allow steam to dissapate. If you don’t have a rice cooker, simmer all ingredients in a covered saucepan for 20 minutes.

For the brussel sprouts, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut off the ends of the brussels sprouts and then cut them into quarters. Place sprouts in a medium bowl and toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sprouts on a baking sheet and roast 30-35 minutes or until sprouts are tender. Make sure you stir them a couple of times while they are roasting so that they don’t burn.

Mix together quinoa and brussel sprouts, serve warm.

I made chocolate whoopie pies with vodka caramel cream cheese filling (tinted green) for a co-worker’s going away celebration in March around St. Patricks Day. The cookies in a bag are from my boyfriend’s mom and are molasses spice cookies (I think the recipe is on the side of the Grandma’s Molasses jar). She also made the delicious chocolate cake in the bottom left. My boyfriend and I made the oatmeal raisin cookies in the bottom right (recipe from the Quaker Oat’s container).

For a work potluck, I made a simple blueberry and quince tart by layering blueberries and poached quinces on top of a pie crust and topping it with a simple crumble. Some parts of the quince were a bit tough since I didn’t remove the parts near the seed pods all the way, but it was a great way to use up fading fruit!

Around Christmas last year I made gingerbread houses with my family and spent two days during December making homemade truffles (Oreo, Fleur de Sel, and Hibiscus Tea) and peppermint bark for family, friends, and co-workers with my bestie Stephanie. We packaged them up with twine, artist tape, and stickers for the season. If I get around to it, I’ll post our truffle adventures, including a truffle class and recipes.  I also made gingerbread cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and milk chocolate espresso cookies since exchanging cookies during the winter is a family tradition.

At a local chocolate shop, my mom picked up these Star Wars chocolate molds. My dad loves Star Wars so I made him some chocolate pops. Some of them have malt powder or pop rocks in them to give them texture.

These are also creations for work potlucks. In the top left corner is a red velvet cupcake with cream de cacao caramel cream cheese frosting and red and white decoration. Next to that are cinnamon rolls with strawberry/peach preserves, almonds/walnuts, white chocolate chips, raisins and a candied ginger cream cheese glaze.  The bottom row are pictures of s’more cupcakes with marshmallow fluff topping, hershey chocolate, and a teddy graham. I didn’t have a kitchen hand torch, so I popped these under the oven broiler. They turned from “not-charred-enough” to “burnt!” very quickly. Oh well, I’m the type of person that always lights my marshmallows on fire anyways.

Like I said, my dad loves Star Wars, especially Yoda. For Father’s Day this year I made Star Wars sugar cookies using the cookie molds sold at Williams-Sonoma. Of course my cookies don’t look as good as the display ones, but it took a ridiculous amount of time to decorate and bake them! I was quite proud of myself when I viewed the final product.

In the winter I fell in love with ratatouille and made an adaptation of the original recipe by opting to use Rasika Goan Curry instead of tomato paste/sauce. As I predicted, it was delicious. I had cooked the curry with shrimp in it for dinner the night before and used the left over sauce as the base so I wouldn’t waste the expensive sauce.

A yummy drink enjoyed on New Year’s eve (Chairman’s Rum & Domaine de Canton, if I remember correctly), spiced with a chunk of crystallized ginger.

I also participated in an iced tea competition at Zen Tara Tea. We were given 2 oz of tea and could add whatever we wanted to to make our iced tea concoction. I brewed hibiscus tea and crystallized ginger together (left) and was an honorable mention. Stephanie had something crazy with almond milk and ice cream (and cookies) and got second place! I love visiting this small tea shop and trying new teas or getting new accessories. They have great educational tasting events too.

I’ve made these mini pumpkin whoopie pies with candied ginger and cream cheese filling several times and they’re always a hit. It’s best to make them with a partner because the assembly gets a bit time-intensive. The right-side is home-made rice pudding with slivered almonds, a treat my mom used to make us when we were growing up.

I went to stand in line with Stephanie for Harry Potter 7, part 1 (you realize how old these pictures are now), so made a bento we could dig into while we waited. There are glazed carrots, ratatouille, curried butternut squash soup, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. To the left are tortellini with butternut squash soup as the sauce. The rest are Thanksgiving leftovers (turkey fried rice mixed with curried butternut squash soup) and a cocopop with shaved manchego, chile, and prosciutto on top.

I recently picked up a spice blend from the Spice & Tea Exhange  and used it to create backwoods hickory rubbed potatoes and chicken. The other photos are delicious homemade sai min and roast pork soup that I had while eating at my parents’ house. I don’t remember eating this good when I lived there!

This past October I made “Happy Birthday” linzer cookies for my dad since he’s been requesting them ever since Christmas 2009! I think they turned out pretty awesome after I used my alphabet cutters from Japan to cut-out a special message for him in each cookie. I also made linzer cookies for Christmas 2010, though they didn’t turn out as well.

Another of my dad’s favorite things to eat are macaroons. These are ridiculously easy to make and reminded me of the days back when I worked at Godiva and would dip these every morning. They’re crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside — just the right amount of sweetness!

Last but not least, here are some awesome pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting that my boyfriend’s mom made. We have a running joke with this pink container that it’s never sent back empty, always returned with delicious treats inside!

This is a big chunk of what I’ve been making in the past months, but I have some special posts coming up, including totoro cookies, blueberry coffee cake, carrot cake cupcakes, and peach cobbler bars, peach jam, and peach cinnamon rolls.

Last Thanksgiving I was looking for ways to mix new and familiar flavors together in order to get people to try new ingredients. When I saw the recipe for Pumpkin Layer Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting and Quince-Ginger Compote from a local food blog Bitten Word, I knew I had found the perfect fit. These cupcakes were such a hit at my office that I made them once for our group Thanksgiving Potluck and a few weeks later for our organization’s Holiday Bowling party.

The frosting is basically half goat cheese and half cream cheese, which makes the final product thicker and tangier. This way, it doesn’t compete with the spicy cake or become too sweet when paired with the quince topping. Since I used the recipe for a two-layer cake and adapted it into cupcakes, there was a lot of quince topping left over. This just meant that the second time I made the cupcakes I didn’t have to make the topping again! The topping also goes well with yogurt, oatmeal, or could be baked into a dessert of its own. I also drizzled some of the quince syrup on top of the cupcakes to add some more moisture and flavor.

If you aren’t able to find quince in your local grocery store, try substituting with Asian pears. The peak for the quince market often depends on your physical location and by the time you hear whispers of quince, they’re already gone!

Last year, October 16th 2010 I went to Crooked Run Orchard with my boyfriend to pick apples. Crooked Run is a bit of a trek from the city, but it isn’t the furthest orchard by far. Prices were quite reasonable and there were many variaties to choose from. Pumpkins were advertised, but the gourd lot was barren. Parking was a bit tight, but the day was crisp and sunny. After picking the apples I couldn’t believe that I had never been apple picking before! It’s such a fun activity, especially when you’re able to move at your own pace. We took our spoils home with us and made an apple pie out of the apples we picked. In my experience, picking or growing whatever produce you use makes the end product taste much better, since you know exactly what went into it.

Here is my boyfriend’s family’s apple pie recipe, which has been in his family a while.

Mom’s Apple Pie

Make dough for crust first and put in refrigerator to chill while you’re peeling the apples.

Pie Crust

• 1 c. flour
• 1/2. c. Crisco
• 1/4 c. ice water (scant cup)

In small mixing bowl combine flour and Crisco by smashing the two together with the back of a fork until completely mixed.  Add ice water and mix together with the back of the fork.  Chill for an hour if possible.  It will roll out better if it’s cold.

Apple Filling

About 6 cups of Macintosh Apples, peeled and sliced.. Mound the apples up as high as you can in the pieplate to measure.

In a small bowl, mix together:

• 3/4 c. sugar (If using Splenda, only use 1/2 c. and omit the cornstarch)
• 2T. cornstarch
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. nutmeg

Add sugar mixture to apples in a large bowl and mix to coat.

Divide chilled pie crust dough into half, and roll out bottom crust on a floured board.  Put in pie plate, addapple mixture, then roll out top crust.  Make slits in top crust so steam can be released.  Put over apples and crimp the edges.  Sprinkle top of pie with cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 55 minutes.  You may need to put foil under the pie plate as it may bubble over in your oven!

These cupcakes were made by my boyfriend’s mother last September. She used a recipe similar to the carrot cake cupcakes she made for CupcakeCampDC 2010 and won first place for!  The little fox in the bottom right hand corner is a baby fox that I picked up at the Christmas Store in Outer Banks the month before.

Several months ago I made some delicious miniature blueberry cheesecakes for a potluck at work. I couldn’t remember the recipe for them, just that the filling was cream cheese, an egg, and sour cream. I was able to combine several different recipes, using mostly this one from The Pioneer Woman. The great thing about cooking miniature cheesecakes is that you don’t have to have a springform pan and you don’t have to wait for it to cook for over an hour. While it was a little bit more of a hassle to transport to work, I also didn’t have to bring a knife and plates to share these sweet bites.

The original recipe calls for pecans to be added to the crust. I just added some more cookies and replaced some vanilla extract with almond extract. I wanted to keep the fruit topping bright and tart, so I added lemon juice into the berries. The side profiles of these bite-size cakes are great; divided into three even layers of crumbly crust, fluffy cake, and tart topping. Unfortunately, I didn’t think of taking a picture while these were being devoured by my co-workers, but I was able to snap the above picture using my phone before the feast began.

• 8 oz  Vanilla Wafers
• ½ stick (4 tablespoons) of unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 12 oz cream cheese (1-½ packages of standard Philadelphia)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• About 12 oz blackberries
• lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar (for topping)
• 1 tablespoon Water
• 24 metal cupcake liners & muffin tray(s)
• small cookie scoop

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush cookies in the bowl of a food processor, then add melted butter and extracts. Add about a tablespoon of cookie crust to each cupcake liner and press down with fingers. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until completely smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add sour cream and mix again. Make sure there are no chunks of cheese or cream in the mixture, then scoop mixture into liners using a small cookie scoop. Bake for 20 minutes in muffin trays. While the cakes are baking, add blackberries, 1/4 cup sugar, water, and a few drops of lemon juice to a pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the berries reach the consistency you desire. Remove from heat and allow to cool before topping cheesecakes. Once cakes and topping are cool, top with about a tablespoon of berries and set in the fridge for at least 2 hours (overnight is best).

Last April I attended a 29 1/2 minute vegetarian cooking class with my friend Stephanie at Whole Foods. A dish that was made for us and that we got to taste was a dish using pesto and quinoa called “Quinoa Awakening”. This was my first time tasting quinoa and I’ve been interested in it ever since.

Recently, we’ve been bringing quinoa into rotation for meals more frequently. It’s half way in-between rice and cous cous, has more protein, and cooks in the same amount of time (or quicker!). So far we’ve tried plain quinoa and red quinoa. Plain, or white, quinoa is easier to find, but if you can find red quinoa, try it! It has a more nuttier taste and more protein than regular quinoa. Even though I live in a major city, most grocery stores still don’t carry quinoa, and if they do it’s in gourmet “exotic grain” packs. I was able to snag a big pack of quinoa at Costco and I’ve seen it in affordable packages in Wegman’s and in some bulk sections of Whole Foods.

Our favorite way to eat quinoa is curried or in a fresh raw salad. When cooking the curried quinoa, it thickens on the stove like risotto. For the salad, which is a mixture of raw vegetables and cooked red quinoa, I actually cook the quinoa in the rice cooker and it turns out perfectly!

Have you ever tried quinoa? If so, what’s your favorite way to eat it?

Quinoa Awakening

From Whole Foods Arlington, VA Facebook Page
Serves 4-6

• 1 cup quinoa (grain)
• 2 ½ cup vegetable stock (flavor liquid)
• ½ teaspoon oil
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cup arugula (leafy green with herbal qualities)
• 1 clove of garlic (onion bulb flavor)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (acid for sharpness)
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a sauce pot bring vegetable stock with a tsp. of oil and a pinch of salt to a boil, add the quinoa and reduce to a simmer put a lid on top and simmer for 15 minutes. While the quinoa is simmering; in a food processor add the arugula, garlic, oil, lemon juice and puree until is it the consistency of pesto sauce. You may have to scrape the sides down several times to get everything chopped evenly. After the quinoa is finished cooking stir in the arugula pesto and taste adjust seasoning if needed.

Red Quinoa-Avocado Salad

Adapted from Wegman’s Menu Magazine Winter 2011

• 7 oz Red Quinoa, cooked and chilled
• 12 oz corn
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 cup green onions or green chiles, thinly sliced on the bias
• 2 plum tomatoes, 1/4-inch dice (about 1 cup)
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, cubed small
• 1/4 cup White Balsamic Vinaigrette, 1/4 cup lemon juice, combined
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds with Salt

Back in October, my aunt came to visit my family and we carved pumpkins. I couldn’t let all of the meat and seeds go to waste, so I separated them out and ate them! When I carved a pumpkin a few weeks later for Halloween with my boyfriend, we roasted some more seeds. (Bonus pumpkin carving pictures below!)

The meat went to a Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup, inspired by Mango & Tomato’s recipe. I topped the soup with roasted pumpkin seeds and a few drops of white truffle oil.

The seeds were cooked three ways: 1) just with sea salt 2) cinnamon & sugar 3) spicy. The spicy ones were the best, with the sweet seeds just being thrown away. We halved the recipe for the seeds and used the same pan, one half being spicy and the other half being sweet.

On the left: Spicy, On the right: Sweet

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, With Flavor

• ~1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or any other oil
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (or any other spice)
• 3/4 teaspoon another type of spice, such as paprika, cayenne pepper, or a blend

Preheat to 350°F. Toss the seeds with the oil until coated thoroughly, then add seasonings. Salt to taste. Spread seeds on non-stick sheet in one flat layer. Bake until the seeds are golden brown (~30 minutes). Every 10 minutes or so, stir the seeds around.

Pumpkin Seeds

Because of this, our meals are always a melting pot of food from all over the world. Whenever I eat at family gatherings, I can just taste the love in the food. It makes you warm all over, especially when you know everything is home made.

This year we had:

• Turkey with Gravy
• Cranberry Sauce
• Green Beans
• Candied Yams
• Rolls
• Mashed Potatoes
• Stuffing/Dressing
• Guava Chiffon Pie
• Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
• Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (I used this recipe)

I really love my grandma’s yams and stuffing. Some of the stuffing she bakes inside the turkey and some she bakes outside so she can mix them together to get the perfect consistency. After we eat our big dinner at around 3pm, we drink some coffee, watch football, and play games.

We usually end up at home around 9pm, where my dad has been making his “Aorta Soup” in the slow-cooker all day. It’s that little something that hits the spot after a big, early meal so you don’t go to bed hungry. I don’t know how all the flavors are still fresh and vegetables still crispy after stewing several hours, but this soup is delicious. Sadly, no pictures of that since I ate mine up immediately before heading home.

What are some traditions you have for when you’re with your family?

Thanks to my mom and sister for snapping pictures!

Hawai'ian Sea Salts: Red & Pink

Last month I saw a tweet from Marx Foods about a photography challenge they were having for salt. I told them I was interested and I received 5 samples of cooking and finishing salts: Hawaiian Red Salt, Hawaiian Pink Salt, Ginger Salt, Espresso Salt & Flor de Sal. I was tasked to create two photographs: one of just salt, and the other of a finished dish that shows the salt well.

Immediately, the dish kālua pig popped into my head. I’m in the process of planning a vacation with my family and my sister’s Girl Scout troop to Hawai’i, so Hawai’i has been on my mind. We intend to have a “Hawai’i Day” next spring before going on the trip to expose the girls to the food and culture of Hawai’i so they don’t experience culture shock when they land on the island.

Kālua pig is one of the most popular dishes in Hawai’i, and is featured everywhere from the diner-style mix plate lunches locals eat midday, or the elaborate luau feasts held for special occasions (or tourists). It’s also one of the hardest dishes to find on the mainland, especially the east coast! We usually bring our kālua pig with us from Hawai’i on the plane, frozen, or have it shipped to us from the islands.

But, seeing the Hawai’ian red & pink salt in the package from Marx Foods reminded me that the only ingredients in kālua pig are pig and Hawai’ian sea salt. I then began to research how to recreate a mini imu in my oven at home. It seemed that all the recipes were for larger pieces of meat, and varied on temperature and time.

I settled on a 1.75 piece of pork butt and cooked it at 350 for  2 hours and 45 minutes. I cut 1/4 inch deep slices every inch and rubbed it with 2 tablespoons of a mixture of red and pink Hawai’ian salt and 2 tablespoons of liquid smoke. I wrapped the pork with banana leaves secured with toothpicks and then wrapped with aluminum foil. I set it in a small baking dish and then put it in a larger dish. I added 2 cups water in the outer dish and set in the oven. I took the pork out after 2 hours to check on it, added 45 more minutes and 1 more cup of water around the dish. After 2:45 the pork was perfectly tender and easy to shred with 2 forks. I would suggest serving this dish hot and fresh. If you have leftovers, sprinkle with water before heating up or serve with a sauce to add some moisture back in. I ate some with rice and some red chile tortillas for lunch.

Flor de Sal, Ginger, and Espresso Salts with Milk Chocolate Caramels

In my excitement to make this dish, I forgot that all of the beautiful salt would dissolve when cooking! I then used the other three salts on some milk chocolate caramels and shared them with my friend Stephanie.

The ginger salt was surprisingly very strong and spicy flavored. After eating the caramels, the spice lingered in the back of our throats for a while. The espresso salt was a tad milder and sweeter than the ginger salt. The flor de sal was strong and straight-forward and paired perfectly with the sweet chocolate and gooey caramel.The salt granules were softer and smaller than the other two flavors, so the salt was easier to mix with the chocolate and caramel while tasting.

While we were tasting pork and caramels, we also decided to try the new Top Chef: Just Desserts truffles from Godiva that I had picked up over the weekend.

From top left, clockwise: Acai Berry – Dark chocolate ganache layered with acai, rose, and berry ganache in a dark chocolate shell decorated with a red heart; Passion Fruit – White chocolate and passion fruit ganache in a white chocolate shell; Chocolate Mendiant – Dark chocolate ganache between two dark chocolate disks, topped with bits of organic dried apricot, tart cherry, and sea salt; Green Tea – Matcha tea mousse center in a white chocolate shell decorated with green stringing.

The berry ganache tasted like alcohol or cough syrup, the passion fruit was bright, fresh, and smooth, the mendiant was rich but balanced with the salt, and the green tea was far too rich with the white chocolate and too much artificial green tea flavor in the center.