28 Jun
I attended a wonderful event at the Bronx Botanical Garden last Saturday, thanks to Alejandra of Always Order Dessert. It was a great chance to meet other bloggers, as well as to have access to all of the wonderful areas of the garden!
Unfortunately, my camera was not working properly, leaving me with a minimal amount of photos. I did end up using my blackberry to get some more pictures though. So sorry about that!
23 Jun
Lately, for whatever reason, my palette has been attracted to the sweet + sour + salty combination found in Southeast Asian dishes. This dish combines the same elements as my last eggplant entry – fish sauce, rice wine, chili sauce – but this time, it adds the sweetness of fresh mangoes!
I love mangoes! I’ve only actually seen Irwin and Kent varieties while growing up in New York City. I never knew that there were so many different kinds of mangoes until recently. In Haiti, I tasted some of the best mangoes I’ve ever had. They are the yellow kind and they are called Madame Francis mangoes. I love mangoes so much that I don’t even mind having to floss after eating one!
I realized that I never actually cook with mangoes, so I thought I’d give this dish a try. I’ve had it numerous times at Malaysian restaurants, and often found it to be too sweet, so I used a little bit of honey. It was a refreshing combination of sweet and sour, and went wonderfully with brown rice.
What are your favorite mango dishes?
16 Jun
I have some exciting news to share!
Doesn’t this cookbook cover look pretty?! One of my recipes made it in here! (Along with a funny photo).
ThinkFood is a cookbook sponsored and published by Posit Science, featuring 50 brain-healthy recipes from bloggers around the globe. It contains good for the brain snacks, appetizers, sides, salads, main course and desserts!
15 Jun
This has got to be one of my favorite eggplant dishes, whenever I go to a Sichuan (Szechwan, Szechuan) restaurant, which is not very often.
I had a craving for this specific dish the other day and remembered that I had bookmarked this recipe from the lovely folks at Choosey Beggars a while ago. I included a handful of chilies, as well as extra spicy sauce, which was way to spicy for my liking. It’s been adjusted in the recipe below, so feel free to add more if you want more of a kick! The color is also darker than I’d like, because I went a little crazy with the dark soy sauce. OOPS.
For some reason, I expected this dish to be super complex, but it’s actually super easy to make! It actually tasted even better on the next day, so feel free to make extra to enjoy for a couple of days.
10 Jun
Last night, I had the privilege of compete in a bakeoff for a fundraiser for The Lamp. The event was held at Double Windsor bar in Brooklyn. Many gathered on a rainy Wednesday night to taste the following desserts:
The following judges were also present:
Everyone got a chance to taste all of the delicious desserts and pick their favorite. There were two categories – an audience favorite and a judges’ favorite. I had the honor of being named the audience favorite, while Jen’s delicious strawberry cheesecake was a clear winner among the judges! As our winning prize, we were both mentioned in this NY Daily News column!
8 Jun
If you recall, shortly after the Haiti earthquake, I shared that I’d donate all of my January ad revenue to help with the disaster relief and asked for your help. Now I finally have an update for you!
In the fast revolving world of news, we are no longer bombarded by devastating post-earthquake images. Even though we may forget, people are still in need, maybe even more now than ever before, as they continue to rebuild their lives.
Once again, I’d like to thank Marc of No Recipes for providing an opportunity to contribute to Haiti in a creative way through Blog Away Hunger. And thanks to your persistence, dear readers, I just donated $72.32 to World Food Program. If you so feel inclined, feel free to contribute here.
Thank you so much for helping me help Haiti!
2 Jun
Pa Jeon (pa jun, paejon) is a simple pancake consisting of scallions, onions, zucchini and usually, seafood or meat. It’s a popular appetizer dish that is often shared at the table. This entry is an update to my earlier post. While the old recipe is fine, I wanted to update and share with you what I’ve learned since then.
When making Pa Jeon, I like to aim for two things: chewiness and crispness. I’ve had many unsuccessful attempts at achieving a chewy pancake when using just flour and eggs. It had a strange doughy aftertaste that I didn’t care for. As you know, it wasn’t until I attended this event that I found out what the secret ingredient was.
