https://yujian.coslife.net/ Fri, 23 Sep 2016 04:24:12 GMT ja © Ninja Tools Inc.
As promised, this week I used my Uncommon Goods Japanese earthenware cooker, also called a donabe, to make this delicious seafood soup. It’s been cold and rainy here all week, and over plaintive moans from my kids of “WHERE DID THE SUN GO,” I thought that a colorful soup made in my little Japanese donabe might be just what the doctor ordered.

Donabe cookers come in all shapes and sizes, and the one I have can best be described as the perfect cooker for two people to get a nice, hearty meal. For the five of us, though (au pair included), the size of this cooker is now known as our “snack cooker.” It’s about ten inches in diameter, which is big enough to give everyone a little taste of the tasty morsels inside, but definitely not enough to fill us up. In order to have enough food for dinner, I had to make a “side dish” of ramen noodle soup with pork belly and other veggies. I HAD TO. Otherwise, I’d still be dealing with children laying on the floor of my kitchen, crying and yelling “I’M SO HUNGRY I CAN’T WALK.” These are the theatrics I deal with when I’m trying to cook dinner.

The best part of a seafood soup made in a Japanese donabe is that I think the earthenware imparts a certain quality that makes the broth have more depth of flavor. I tested this theory by making a second batch of soup in a regular, All Clad stainless steel pot, and we all definitely noticed a difference between the two soups. Of course, the Japanese donabe is best known for its ability to make perfect, fluffy rice with a layer of crisped, golden-brown rice at the bottom. I’m so excited to try making this rice in my donabe that I can hardly sit still right now.]]> 美食 https://yujian.coslife.net/Entry/12/ Fri, 23 Sep 2016 04:24:12 GMT yujian.coslife.net://entry/12
Today was one of those days where keeping the oven light on, was truly a great source of comfort.

I attended the funeral of a very young boy, whose father is a friend and colleague.

The one and only time I ever met this sweet little angel was about two months ago and just a few weeks before Christmas. My colleague had brought his little boy to work. They visited me briefly in my office and I was so excited and happy. The little boy was understandably shy, having never met me, so his dad told him to give me a high five.

And he did.

I’ve been thinking about that high five ever since.

After the funeral, I came home and immediately set about baking. As I baked, I took the time to reflect on the day’s events and on the lessons to walk away with. While it was far too brief, I am so grateful that I had the chance to meet my friend’s son.

I was reminded that our loved ones are the greatest gift we have, and we shouldn’t waste a single moment. Ever.

I was reminded that love and faith will see us through.

I was reminded of the best high five I ever got, and that I will never ever forget.]]> 美食 https://yujian.coslife.net/Entry/11/ Wed, 16 Mar 2016 07:52:39 GMT yujian.coslife.net://entry/11
Christmas is over and I’m playing with candy canes! Always late to the party, as usual… But hey, if you’re looking for ways to use up those left over candy canes, I have to suggest these peppermint chocolate dipped madeleines. Actually I used peppermint snow on these, which is pretty much just crushed up peppermint candy cane with a fancy name, that comes in a fancy jar. But you could just put a few candy canes in a ziploc bag and crush them with a mallet Karson Choi!

For these madeleines, I broke open the seal to a brand new bottle of Fiori di Sicilia that I picked up while Christmas shopping. I’ve been dying to try this extract ever since I read this book called Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray. If you love baking and reading, you would enjoy this book, it is wonderful! And the extract, OMG, is to die for Karson Choi!

so a little bit will go a long way. I stored these madeleines with a whole bunch of Christmas cookies in the same container and the scent permeated into the other cookies as well, I didn’t mind it at all ;) . It is a combination of citrus and vanilla, so you could substitute it with vanilla and orange extract if you don’t want to purchase it just for one recipe, or just use vanilla extract if you don’t want to bother. Although, I can guarantee you won’t just use it once, I’m hooked and I want to put it in everything now. You just wait and see!

Hope you guys all had a wonderful and relaxing Chistmas! Soon we’ll be counting down to the New Year! Where did time go Karson Choi?]]> 美食 https://yujian.coslife.net/Entry/10/ Tue, 30 Dec 2014 06:14:24 GMT yujian.coslife.net://entry/10
Bacon and cheese wrapped in a yummy corn tortilla and baked until crispy, anyone?!? Yes, please!  I always welcome any opportunity to use bacon, although I make sure to either use turkey bacon or center cut bacon to minimize the calories from fat.  For many years, I avoided serving bacon or anything with bacon in it, mostly because I thought it was a pain to cook it.  I tried preparing it in the microwave, but could never get it to cook evenly and so I always ended up with burnt sections and undercooked sections right on the same piece of bacon (so frustrating!).  And I didn’t like cooking it on the stove top either, because of the splattering, and the need to babysit the skillet and turn the bacon every so often.  But now that I have learned how to bake my bacon, I want to put bacon in everything!  (DH is SUPER happy about that, as you can imagine!)  Baking bacon…maybe that should be called BAKE-ON??  BAKE-UN??  Well, no matter what you call it, it is easy and makes my family happy that I am using bacon more than I used to!

Between the bacon and the cheese and the corn tortilla, this meal has lots of flavor.  So, I decided to ‘sneak’ in a veggie too.  It is really not all that sneaky, though, because you can see the spinach right in the taquito.  However, you really can’t taste it with everything else going on in there, so there were no complaints whatsoever.  And I served a side veggie as well, so the kids got a double shot of their vegetables!  Score one for mom! 

This recipe makes 8 taquitos, which meant that each of us had 2.  But Thing 1 and Thing 2 both found that they wanted a third, so the next time I make this I will probably make 12.  I was happy with just 2, but DH probably would have liked a third as well. You will want to adjust the amounts based on your family members’ appetites!]]> 美食 https://yujian.coslife.net/Entry/9/ Thu, 31 Jul 2014 06:40:28 GMT yujian.coslife.net://entry/9
I was convinced I wasn’t a read meat fan, until I tried this recipe. These ribs slide right off the bone, and the home-made BBQ sauce is the perfect mix of sweet and savory. My usually tofu filled fridge will be making some room for these every once in a while.

I’ve made them two times so far, and it’s a simple and low maintenance dish to make if you get the timing right. The recipe starts off with boiling the ribs in water plus some flavoring for 1.5- 2 hrs. —> read: can’t eat it immediately. whelp. The first time I made these I realized I couldn’t finish cooking in time for lunch. But… after taking account the boiling time, the ribs were a breeze to make. I just set them to boil and do other things for 2 hours (keep the lid open or ajar and it won’t boil over) and then come back in time to cook them on a skillet !

To start this recipe off, you want to have 1/2 a rack of ribs. The recipe can easily be doubled to cook an entire rack at once, but my pot was not large enough to hold it all, so I did 1/2 a rack each time. When you buy the ribs, the store will probably cut it a few times, but you’ll have to chop a little at home to get it to about 2-3 inch width (follow where the bones end). It’ll look like this in size when you are boiling.

Chinese pork ribs, pre-cooking Boil with flavoring and vegetables (see recipe). When you’re done, a lot of the water will have evaporated (remember you are keeping the cap off or ajar while boiling) so it’ll look more like this:

Chinese BBQ pork ribs - yummy rib broth. At this point, the meat should be sliding off the bone and your kitchen will be filled with the tasty aroma of broth and ribs! The ribs would probably taste great just eaten like this, but if you want to add some more flavor, make the BBQ sauce and cook the ribs with it on either a grill, cast-iron skillet, or non-stick pot.At this point you can fish the ribs out of the broth and start grilling them. I grilled them on a skillet indoors, which consists mostly of placing the meat on the skillet, brushing with sauce, and flipping it over to cook and brushing the other side –> and repeat, till you have delicious BBQ ribs elyze.

So you’re done cooking the ribs, and you have about 3 cups of rib broth still in your pot. Don’t throw the broth away just yet! You can use it to make delicious noodle soup. Keep it in the fridge overnight so some of the fat accumulates on top of the broth, then spoon the fat off and then cook the remaining broth with noodles, some water. Add cilantro to garnish at the end, and you’ll have something like this:

The recipe for the BBQ ribs is adapted from Seonkyoung Longest’s BBQ sticky ribs recipe. She has a beautiful video on youtube showing how she made it. The recipe is are slightly different in the video, so keep that in mind if you’re following along the video elyze!]]> 美食 https://yujian.coslife.net/Entry/8/ Thu, 19 Jun 2014 06:48:43 GMT yujian.coslife.net://entry/8
Combine the sugar, water, corn syrup and flavorings in a double boiler over medium heat. Stir until smooth, then add the cream, butter, and white chocolate. Stir until incorporated, watching that it doesn't burn. Add coloring to preference.

Make the sponge and cool completely. Slice into quarters and freeze, placing wax paper liners between sections. When frozen thoroughly, using a long serrated knife (a bread knife is ideal) slice each quarter horizontally. Return to the freezer until jam, buttercream and syrup are finished.

Heat jam until liquid (I did this in small batches). Using one quarter of the sponge, brush the bottom half with the lime syrup then spread the jam over the syrup. Spread the buttercream on the bottom of the top half of the sponge, and place over the jam (sandwich style). Brush the top of the sponge quarter with the syrup again, and refreeze. Repeat with the rest of the sponge.

Once the sponge sections have been sandwiched and completely refrozen, slice into 1"x1" squares (you may need to clean your knife several times during this process). Return to the freezer while you make the fondant .

Place a wire cooling rack over a cookie sheet and arrange the cake cubes about 1 inch apart from each other. The following process works best if the fondant is very warm and liquid. Using a ladle, pour the fondant over each cube, using a toothpick to smooth out any gaps. Garnish with raspberries before fondant cools.

Allow petit fours to sit for a few minutes and fondant to harden. Using a sharp paring knife, free the base of the petit four from the rack and place into a cupcake liner. The leftover fondant from the cookie sheet/rack can be reheated and reused - just make sure it's free of cake crumbs. Keep finished petit fours refrigerated until ready to serve .]]> 美食 https://yujian.coslife.net/Entry/7/ Thu, 22 May 2014 06:44:33 GMT yujian.coslife.net://entry/7
Hold onto your hats: this post is going to be a doozy. Father's Day is still a couple weeks away but this year it falls in a busy month for me, and unfortunately my Dad doesn't live down the street for me to just give him a hug (much as I'd like to). So this year I was forced to plan ahead. I sound like a good daughter -- in reality, I'm a bad sister. You see, I had another reason for sending out my gift early; my brothers' birthdays came and went, and I completely forgot to remark on them. Oops.

So, in repentance, I overkilled. It was great fun though and I felt properly forgiven when they called to thank me and I could barely understand through the mouths-full. Nothing makes you feel more loved than a strong demand that you move closer :D

As I said, I overkilled. As such, I'm going to break the contents of the gift into two posts - these treats are to be savored. So! My first offering: Raspberry Macarons with White Chocolate Ganache and Raspberry Jam. MmmmMmmm. I've been on a macaron kick (like you hadn't noticed!) and as my parents had dutifully ooh-ed and aw-ed my pictures I figured it was fair they got a taste.

There's a little story to how these macarons came about though. I'd been eyeing the dried raspberry powder from L'Epicerie but didn't want to shell out the cash to try some. I resolved to make my own and see if it passed muster first. Drying raspberries isn't hard - they go straight from freezer to oven and sit there for a few hours at a reasonably low temperature (190 F) until all moisture is evaporated. The purpose is to completely dehydrate the raspberries, leaving only the concentrated pulp left for grinding. There are a few stipulations though: 1) The raspberries should be deep-frozen before baking, and 2) you shouldn't live somewhere with 100% humidity (yes, this again.)

Eighteen hours later (I started at 10am, gave up at 10pm and continued again for half of the next day) I finally had dried raspberry shells. Grinding them up in a coffee grinder produced a coarse-to-fine dark maroon powder that tasted strongly of raspberries. Good! This seemed usable. I set it aside for the designated weekend ...

....and the day after completing the powder, received a package in the mail. Inside were two packages of dried raspberry powder from L'Epicerie, a gift from my boyo's work. Wonderful people, they are! Now, even if you live in 100% humid climate, the homemade powder will do in a pinch. But oh, the superiority of the bought. This stuff turned the air around it raspberry-y. It was fine as dust and light as a feather, and had none of the grittiness of the homemade to it. Better yet, a tiny amount imparted plenty of raspberry flavor, so there was no need to over-use .]]> 美食 https://yujian.coslife.net/Entry/6/ Thu, 22 May 2014 06:43:11 GMT yujian.coslife.net://entry/6
I don’t make risotto nearly as much as I should. I never order it in a restaurant unless I’m absolutely sure they’re going to do it right because there’s nothing worse than a not-very-good risotto. But there’s nothing better than a good one. Especially a good one with bacon in it.


One night, back when I was working at Chez Panisse, Paul Bertolli, one of the world’s great cooks (Italian, and otherwise), was standing over the stove, tending to steamy pots of risotto for diners. So I go over to him and ask him for a lesson. And he was happy to teach me. As he presided over several pots of barely simmering rice, I got a few pointers from him .


The first tip he said was to use turkey stock if you can, which he said was more flavorful than chicken stock. The second tip was, as you go, to add more stock only when there was just a thin layer, ¼ inch (1cm), of starchy, cloudy liquid floating on the surface of the rice. Risotto is an emulsion, and like any emulsion, you try not to break them during cooking. So add the stock as studiously as possible.


Lastly, when you stir the rice, make sure to knock any rice grains off the stirring utensil, back into the pot.


Same with any rice grains sticking to the side of the pot after stirring. Knock ‘em off!


Those errant grains won’t cook at the same rate as the rice in the pot so you’ll have some uneven grains of rice in your risotto when it’s finished.


We never talked about what kind of rice to use, but most Italians have told me that carnaroli rice is better for risotto than arborio, so that’s what I use. It’s said to be starchier, resulting in a richer dish. I don’t argue with Italians so you can use either.


And perhaps I might get in trouble for going rogue, but I sometimes use pecorino or asiago in risotto, which may or may not be authentic, but sometimes it’s hard to cook with the authenticity police peering over your shoulder. And let’s face it, if you’re going to eat it, then you can do what you want preamp.


Here I used some gorgeous red chicory that one of the producteurs (producers) has been selling at the market. I first thought it was radicchio, but it’s less bitter. I don’t mind bitterness. In fact, bitter greens go well in risotto, a nice contrast with the starchiness of the rice and the richly reduced stock. So I make it with either.

To me, a bowl of risotto is a complete meal, although you know you’re in France when guests look around the table, and ask for the bread to go with the rice. And darn if my guests didn’t use the bread (which I’ve learned to have, just in case…) to sop up the rice. But traditionally risotto is served in a mound in the center of the bowl, meant to be eaten from the outside – where it’s cooler – keeping the thicker center warm, until you get there. The best accompaniment is a bottle of nice white wine, some Italian cheese to grate over the top, and, depending on where you’re from, perhaps some bread jimmy choo handbags.]]> 美食 https://yujian.coslife.net/Entry/5/ Fri, 09 May 2014 08:14:08 GMT yujian.coslife.net://entry/5
We were so upset that we made a pact to go in and let our teacher know that we felt totally ripped off. We agreed that when she inevitably gave us what had become known to us as her famous line, "If you don't like it, you can leave," we'd finally do it. We'd walk out together.
 
Once in the classroom, I raised my hand and stood up to speak to our teacher. About eight others rose to show their support. I explained how betrayed we felt as the seniors of the school to find the other eighth graders in free dress while we had to spend the day in our dorky uniforms. We wanted to know why she hadn't spoken on our behalf and made sure that we weren't left out of this privilege Bordeaux.
 
As expected, instead of showing sympathy for our humiliation, she fed us her famous line, "If you don't like it, you can leave." One by one, each of my classmates shrank slowly back into their seats. Within seconds, I was the only one left standing.
 
I began walking out of the classroom, and Mrs. Haggard commanded that I continue on to the principal's office. Sister Anna, surprised to see me in her office so soon after school had begun, asked me to explain why I was there. I told her that as class president, I had an obligation to my classmates to represent them. I was given the option to leave if I didn't like the way things were, so I did. I believed that it would have been a lie for me to sit back down at that point Flower delivery service.
 
She walked me back to class and asked Mrs. Haggard to tell her version of the situation. Mrs. Haggard's side seemed to be different from what the class had witnessed. Then something incredible happened. Some of my classmates began shouting protests from their desks in response to Mrs. Haggard's comments. "That's not true," they countered. "She never said that," they protested.
 
It was too much of a stretch for them to stand up and walk out with me that day, but I knew something had clicked inside of them. At least they finally spoke up.
 
Perhaps they felt that they owed me. Or they realized that we'd soon be at different high schools and I wouldn't be there to stick up for them anymore. I'd rather believe that when they spoke up that day, they had finally chosen to take control of their own destinies property hk.
 
I can still hear their voices.]]> 生活 https://yujian.coslife.net/Entry/4/ Tue, 29 Apr 2014 04:33:59 GMT yujian.coslife.net://entry/4
No young man believes he shall ever die. It was a saying of my brother, and a fine one. There is a feeling of eternity in youth, which makes us amend for everything. To be young is to be as one of the Immortal Gods. One half of time indeed is flown-the other half remains in store for us with all its countless treasures; for there is no line drawn, and we see no limit to our hopes and wishes. We make the coming age our own -- The vast, the unbounded prospect lies before us Death. Old age are words without a meaning. That pass by us like the idea air which we regard not. Others may have undergone, or may still be liable to them-we "bear a charmed life", which laughs to scorn all such sickly fancies wine buff hk.
 
As in setting out on delightful journey, we strain our eager gaze forward- bidding the lovely scenes at distance hail-and see no end to the landscape, new objects presenting themselves as we advance; so, in the commencement of life, we set no bounds to our inclinations, nor to the unrestricted opportunities of gratifying them. We have as yet found no obstacle, no disposition to flag; and it seems that we can go on so forever. We look round in a new world, full of life, and motion, and ceaseless progress; and feel in ourselves all the vigor and spirit to keep pace with it, and do not foresee from any present symptoms how we shall be left behind in the natural course of things, decline into old age, and drop into the grave Monsieur chatte.
 
It is the simplicity, and as it were abstractedness of our feelings in youth, that (so to speak) identifies us with nature, and (our experience being slight and our passions strong) deludes us into a belief of being immortal like it. Our short-lives connection with existence we fondly flatter ourselves, is an indissoluble and lasting union-a honeymoon that knows neither coldness, jar, nor separation. As infants smile and sleep, we are rocked in the cradle of our wayward fancies, and lulled into security by the roar of the universe around us. we quaff the cup of life with eager haste without draining it, instead of which it only overflows the more objects press around us, filling the mind with their magnitude and with the strong of desires that wait upon them, so that we have no room for the thoughts of death property agent.]]> 生活 https://yujian.coslife.net/Entry/3/ Fri, 11 Apr 2014 01:47:57 GMT yujian.coslife.net://entry/3