Bake Sale this Saturday in the city!

Exciting news! I will be partaking in San Francisco Food Blogger's bake sale on Saturday, May 14th.

All proceeds from the the sale go to Share our Strength, an organization whose goal it is to end childhood hunger in America.

Please come out an enjoy the beautiful weather and delicious treats made by our very talented food bloggers. You can stop by at one of these two locations(OR BOTH!)

18 reasons
593 Guerrero St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
10 AM to 6 PM

Kiehl's
2360 Fillmore St.
San Francisco, CA 94115
Noon- 4 PM

Now, the more difficult question is deciding what I should make! Cake? Cheesecake? Cookies? Something Indian? Keep guessing.

Molten chocolate cake

So my recent obsessions with Pinterest and Foodgawker have led me to while away hours at work and otherwise, but I also find myself constantly itching to making something new. And drooling at work, too, might I add. I'd been particularly entranced this particular recipe I saw at PinchmyYums excellent blog.

I've been fascinated by molten chocolate cake(also known as lava cake) for quite some time now. What's not to love about gooey chocolaty goodness? This recipe is slightly different and has a pudding like consistency, but also rather good.

The cakes came out rather well for the most part except that I added 1 cup boiling water instead of half of 1 1/4 cup as directed by the recipe. I will have to try it out again too see if it makes a real difference. Mine ended up being more gooey inside with all the cake on the outside, but I would have liked more cake.

Ok here's how you make it.

Ingredients:

• All Purpose Flour - 3/4 cup
• Sugar - 2/3 cup
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1/2 cup (divided)
• Baking Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Low Fat 1% Milk - 1/2 cup
• Canola Oil - 3 tbsp
• Brown Sugar - 2/3 cup
• Semisweet Chocolate Chips - 1/4 cup
• Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
• Hot Water - 1 1/4 cups

1. I started with my beautiful ramekins and greased them with some Canola oil.

 

2. Boil 2 cups of water. This is where I messed up. I think the rule of thumb is that you  boil 2 cups of water but the water reduced down to 1 1/4 cup. I ended up putting in 1 cup(halved) into the ramekins, which I think was too much.
3. In a bowl, combine the flour, the sugar, half the cocoa powder, the baking powder and salt and stir until mixed. I did not sift the ingredients, but it might have been a good idea.

 

4.Then add the milk and oil.

 

5. Divide the mixture into the ramekins. I actually halved the recipe, and I divided the mixture into 3 ramekins.

6. Sprinkle the brown sugar and half the cocoa powder on top.

7. Top it all off with the chocolate chips.

8. Combine the vanilla with the water.

9. This is the tricky part. Divide the water into three parts and pour it on top.  Bake for about 15 minutes at 350 F.

10. The should come out looking like this!

I was pretty pleased, but I'm going to try again using the right amount of water. I ended up using 1 cup water instead of 5/8 as directed. O well, next time!

Spicy Mac and Cheese

I've never been much of a mac and cheese girl. Sure, I've had it occasionally, but something about store bought liquid cheese always seemed off-putting to me. Through my recent obsession with foodgawker.com, I was somewhat more tempted given that the pictures always looked so amazing. What's not to love about beautiful browning cheese?

In engaging in more food-porn, it struck to me that mac and cheese could indeed be made very creatively! You can play around with the kinds of cheeses you use, what base you use, what spices/seasoning to add, and it's nearly impossible to go wrong with such wonderful quantities of cheese.

I'm also proud to note that this will probably be my first ever recipe brought to fruition solely through my imagination, and while it may not be any great feat, it's rather exciting to know that you concocted something delicious, even while being inspired by many sources. Ok so here goes the recipe. It's rather straightforward:

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
2 cups low fat milk
1/4 cup flour
3/4 pack wheat macaroni shells
about 2 cups cheese. I used a combination of monterey pepper jack, cheddar and dill fontina.
1 onion
1 jalapeno pepper
1 serrano pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 tbsp crushed peppers
salt and pepper
2 tbsp habanero pepper for heat


1. Melt the butter in a pan, and add the flour to it until the mixture turns a light brown. Meanwhile, heat up the milk in the microwave until it has reached a lukewarm temperature. Pour the milk into the flour and butter mixture and stir around the sauce for around 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.

2. Meanwhile, chop up the onions, peppers and bell peppers finely and sautee them in a pan until the onion is golden brown in color. Allow to cool.

3. Also, in the meantime, cook the macaroni shells and allow them to cool once cooked.
4. Once the sauce has thickened add the cheese to the mixture and blend in the cheeses with the sauce to create a thick and rich cheese sauce. Add in the crushed peppers, salt and pepper at this point.

5. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Combine the cheese sauce with the vegetable mixture and add in some habanero sauce for more heat if you like. Bake for around 25 minutes.

Baked spaghetti squash with tomato and basil

Spaghetti squash is not a vegetable I've worked often with. Turns out, it really is super cool, and what a delicious and healthy alternative to starchy pasta. I love my pasta, my spaghetti squash is pretty unique in its own right too.

I was inspired by some pictures I saw on foodgawker.com, but mostly I just wanted to take the spaghetti squash and jazz it up with some delicious cheese and bake the hell out it. The result is beautiful as you can see:

Here's how you make it:

Recipe and instructions- Baked spaghetti squash with tomato, basil and rosemary

Adapted from: http://www.cookingwithmykid.com/recipes/baked-spaghetti-squash/

1 medium spaghetti squash
1 cup ricotta cheese
3 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
rosemary
1/2 cup basil
1/2 cup yogurt
2tbsp chili powder
salt and pepper

1) Take the spaghetti squash and poke holes all around it with a knife or other sharp object. Heat it up in the microwave for about 12 minutes, stopping every 4 minutes to turn it over. In the end the skin should be wrinkly and easy to scrape off.

2) Scraping it out! Cut it into two and scrape off the seeds and store them for later. You can make some delicious chutney with the remaining squash seeds and center. After you're done taking off the center, use a fork to scrape off the spaghetti layers.

3) Making the sauce. Slice the onion and garlic and sautee them until they turn light brown. Add in chopped tomatoes and the chili powder.You can also add some vodka or wine at this point to enhance the flavor. I did not use vodka this particular time. After a paste has formed turn off the heat and add the yogurt to the mixture along with some salt and pepper.

4) After the tomato mixture has cooled, combine the tomato mixture with the ricotta cheese, the rosemary and basil. Finally add the spaghetti squash and mix it up. Bake them separately into individual ramekins. Bake for around 35 minutes at 350 F.

Back from a hiatus; Orange Lemon Bread

 A major twitter design blog discovery inspired me to start blogging again. This time it's mostly about the pictures. I'm in love with my new Nikon D50 camera, and I couldn't stop gushing at how luminous an orange looked. I'm still learning though, so expect the pictures to get better.
Meanwhile, I visited my sister in the city yesterday and she introduced me to her friend's blog which then inspired me to try one of her recipes- olive oil bread, which I'm renaming orange lemon bread here. I did make a couple substitutions. I used corn starch as a substitute for egg and I used wheat flour instead of flour. The result was pretty delicious, but I think using regular flour would have definitely elevated the taste. I'm also going to try using egg the next time around. Here's the recipe and LOTS of pictures!

Recipe and instructions:

Adapted from epicurious.com


- 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 2 eggs(I used 2 tbsp cornstarch + 4 tbsp water)
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- zest and juice of one lemon
- zest of one navel orange + juice of half an orange
- 1/4 cup of slivered almonds

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Whisk the egg(or egg substitute) with the milk and olive oil. Fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until the mixture is just combined. Gradually add in the lemon and orange zests and juices. Transfer the mixture into a loaf pan and top with slivered almonds. Bake for 55-60 minutes. 

New camera!

Also, I'm just in love with my new digital SLR camera. So expect bigger and better pictures.

 

Butternut squash and Kale Lasagna

I hadn't made lasagna in a while, so I wanted to try a new recipe. I found this excellent recipe from my Mom's recipe treasure, and I surely wasn't disappointed. I was afraid the butternut squash would end up being too sweet so I balanced it by making the tomato sauce extra spicy and the bitter kale works well with the sweet butternut squash as well. I also added almonds to add some crunch. Turned out fabulous.


Recipe adapted from Sunset magazine's recipe

1 medium butternut squash
9 sheets wheat lasagna pasta
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
2 cans diced tomatoes
paprika and chili powder to make it spicy
thyme or sage
1 can riccotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cups chopped almonds
nutmeg
black pepper
crushed pepers

1. Chop onions and garlic and sautee until soft. Add the tomatoes; spice it up with some chili powder and crushed peppers and cook for about 30 minutes.
2. Chop up the butternut squash into 1 inch cubes. Marinate in thyme and olive oil and bake at 350 F until the butternut squash is soft. Puree the butternut squash to make a fine paste.

3. Cook the Kale and chop up finely.

4. Cook the lasagna pasta and set aside.
5. Mix the riccotta cheese with 1 cup mozzarella cheese and nutmeg. Add in the chopped almonds and mix.

6. Arrange layers of tomato sauce, butternut squash paste, kale and the riccotta mixture. Top off the a generous layer of the 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 F.