Just a weekday meringue

On a weekday (like today), I like to bake something. Just because it's cold outside and I feel like baking! 

Here is a recipe for the ultimate lemon meringue pie that is as simple as simple gets when it comes to baking (since in this recipe I cheated a little and used a pre-made pie crust).  Once you take a bite it's sure to take you back to sitting in your grandma's backyard on a warm summer day eating a slice of this pie...extremely light, fragrant, with charmingly fluffy meringue. 

My Lemon Meringue Pie 

1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced and zested
2 tablespoons butter
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
4 egg whites
6 tablespoons white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

1. To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. 
2. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. 
3. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. 
4. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. 
5. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
6. To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown

Bitter mood makes bitter food! So fucking smile! :D

Just...so good.

I am pretty late on this post, sorry guys, just had a pretty good and busy week/weekend. A short recap: Went to my best friend's university grad...which lead to drinking quite a solid amount! It was a fantastic time. I also watched many movies ( I would recommend watching these, if you haven't already: Perfume, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Amadeus, Se7en, Contagion, and Castaway) plus ate lots of food- as per the norm hehe. 

I have a couple recipes to share with you guys from my recent feast. 

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup:

Tofu

Shrimp

Fillet of White fish 

wood ear mushrooms

eggs (2)

bamboo shoots

chinese cloud mushrooms

garlic

ginger

scallions

lilly buds

soy sauce

sesame oil 

corn starch + water mixed into thick paste

chicken broth (powder)

red vinegar 

rice vinegar

sweet vinegar

chili sauce (none of that restaurant hot ketchup shit)

white pepper 

smoked paprika

5 spice 

-Dice everything in the first chunk of the list into no bigger than an inch in size. Except the shrimp. 

-Beat the egg

-Throw it all into a container. Add in sesame oil, paprika, 5 spice. Mix until everything is coated in spices and oil. 

-Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil, then add the chopped and mixed ingredients to the boiling pot. The water should just cover the ingredients. 

-Add chicken broth powder, 3:1 ratio of the water. 

-Stir very slowly till water boils again. 

-Add in the 3 vinegars: red and rice vinegar being the top priority must be equal amounts of each. Sweet vinegar should be 1/6th of the two other vinegars. Adjust to your preference of sourness. 

-Stir slowly until fish is cooked through.

-Add in corn starch mix. 

-Add in chilli sauce-to your own preference of heat/spice.

-Add in the beaten eggs. 

-Stir very slowly until the soup thickens. 

-When it boils again, turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer. Occasionally stir-about every 10 minutes. 

-From this point on the longer you let it simmer on low heat, the thicker and more intense the flavours get. 

-Add in white pepper powder at serving, if you want. 

Taiwanese oil noodles: 

Spinach flat noodles (or any non-sticky rice noodles- flat vermicelli also works. Only as a last resort will pasta noodles do.) 

Ground beef 

Garlic

Mushrooms (White mushrooms) 

Scallions (Just the green part) 

Cumin

Sesame oil

Black bean paste 

Black soy sauce

Teriyaki Sauce 

Chinese fermented tofu 

-Boil water and throw the noodles in. Do NOT add anything to the water. They should take about 15 minutes. 

-During this time: dice everything into very small pieces. 

-Heat up a sauce pan and add sesame oil. 

-When the oil is hot, throw in the garlic, scallions, cumin (about a teaspoon). Let this sear at a sizzle for about 10 seconds or until garlic turns very dark brown. 

-Throw in ground beef (break up into small bits) as well mushrooms. 

-Keep the heat a high and stir the ingredients very quickly.

-Cover the pan. Let cook on high heat for about a minute. Turn the heat off. Take ingredients out into a bowl to cool down. 

-Fill a small bowl with about a teaspoon of water, microwave until water is warm-hot. Add in 3 teaspoons of bean paste, 2-3 teaspoons of teriyaki sauce, 2 cubes of fermented tofu, and 1 teaspoon of soy sauce. ----Mix until well combined. 

-Drain water from noodles. Keep noodles in colander and keep cold water running over them. Until the noodles are cold. 

-Once noodles are cooled, take them out into a large bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, mix until noodles are coated. 

-Serve cold. With Sauce and ground beef on the side. 

-Mix the noodle and sauce/beef to your own liking. 

All I can say is this was...such a great meal! :) 

Enjoy!

Bitter mood makes bitter food! So fucking smile! :D 

Raw Raw Raw Potato.

With my week of freedom coming to an end, I have decided to share a really unique recipe with you guys. It's a recipe I learned from my very best friend, he made it one time and I didn't expect it to be as delicious as it turned out. Try this one out, don't be intimidated by the raw potato!

Ingredients:

Potato (raw and sliced into thin strips)

Cumin, white/black pepper, garam masala to taste 

Soy sauce

Regular vinegar 

Ginger, however much you want depending on the strength of flavour you are after (sliced like the potato)

Garlic, 2 cloves, crushed 

Cut the potato into thin strips, of relatively the same size. 

Next, let the potato sit in some cold water while you prep the ginger. **Make sure to drain the water from the potatoes before adding vinegar and soy sauce**

Once ginger is cut, put the potato in a large container, add sliced ginger, and pour enough soy sauce and vinegar to just cover the potato. The ratio of vinegar to soy sauce really depends on how sour or salty you want the dish. I usually do about equal parts of both. 

Once the potato is floating in the liquid, add spices, pepper, and garlic. Mix together. 

Let the potato stand in the fridge for a few hours before serving. 

Yes, it's this simple, and yes, it is delicious. This makes a great beer snack, too! 

Hope you like this recipe as much as I do! 

Bitter mood, makes bitter food! So, fucking smile! :D 

Midnight Bite

Hello all. It's 12:40 am as I am typing this...I was watching episodes of Family Guy and eating a delicious salad (my midnight snack). I think this is a terrific, light meal if you are hungry but aren't really in the mood for anything too heavy. So, decided to share it with my readers!

Here it is:

1 small tomato, roughly diced
1/4 of an onion, thinly sliced
Soft Mozzarella cheese cubed (add as much of this as you like)
Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste
A little bit of fresh lemon juice
*this salad also goes great with avocados if you have any*


Combine all the ingredients and enjoy with a slice of warm bread and some tea.


Alright, well off to bed I go. Good night!





Bitter mood, makes bitter food. So, fucking smile! :D

V-Day.

I managed to wake up at 3 PM today...pretty proud of myself. 

If you don't think anyone cares if you're alive, try missing a few car/cellphone payments.  

At any rate, happy Valentines Day to those who have found their second half! I hope this day is filled with awesomely sappy love letters, expensive dinners, flowers, gifts...and all that jazz. Now, if you don't have enough money for all this courting...just remember: the quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket. 

And for the rest of us: the best thing to cheer anyone up on this 'Forever Alone Day' is a bunch of heart and tummy warming recipes (well, of course, besides the bottle of booze next to you) am I right or am I right? Okay, enough fluff, here are a couple things to go with that vodka.  

I'm starting with one of my favourite desserts-because it truly is the best course, I learned this one from my old friend's mom who is Cuban. She showed me how to make (what I call ) "Banana-Condensed Milk Bun-Ice cream thing" this really is filled with totally unnecessary calories but it is just unreal. 

For the Bananas: 

1. 4 large bananas, peel and slice them on the diagonal to increase their surface area
2. Throw them into a hot pan with a couple tablespoons of butter-allow the butter to melt on the pan before you toss the bananas on. Let them bubble away in the hot butter for a few minutes without moving them at all. 
3. When you lift one slice and see that it has started browning flip them all over. 
4. Now add a table spoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2 table spoons of sugar, and a splash of rum if you like, add a bit more butter if needed. 
5. Allow bananas to fry in his mixture until the sugary sauce is nicely melted over and around the bananas (but make sure the heat isn't too high or the sugar with burn).  
6. Take them off the heat immediately and lay them out on a plate to rest. You can keep the sugar mixture in the pan but off the heat until ready to serve. 

For the Condensed Milk Bun: 

1. Get a white bread burger bun and slice it in half if it isn't already.
2. Open a can of sweetened condensed milk. Take the top half of the bun and smear a healthy spoon full of the sweetened condensed milk onto the flat part of the bun.
3. Do the same for the bottom half. 
4. You can use as many buns as you like; for 4 bananas I would use 2 buns. 
5. Lay them out on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at about 350 degrees Celsius until they are lightly toasted-carefully watch them to make sure they don't burn. 

Plating: 

Take two halves of a bun and place them on a plate (condensed milk side up) and place the slices of two bananas on the buns, then plop a scoop of vanilla ice cream over top and drizzle some of the left over sugar sauce over the ice cream or around the plate. Repeat this for the second plate and enjoy! 

This second dish I want to share with you is the epitome of comfort food for me, since this is what I grew up eating as a kid. I guarantee you will love this recipe as much as I do...and if you don't well it's a shame because it is delicious and you suck. :) 

Matzo Ball Soup!

2 (10 ounce) packages of matzo crackers
1/2 cup butter
6 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1 medium carrot, sliced
2 onions, minced
5 ounces matzo meal
96 ounces chicken broth

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. 
2. Break matzo crackers into small pieces, and place in a large bowl. Add water to cover; allow to soak for a few minutes, until soft. Drain the excess water once they soften.
3. Melt butter in a large pan, over medium-high heat and stir in drained matzos. Sauté until the mixture is dry and slightly brown. Remove from heat, and mix in eggs, salt and pepper to taste, and onions. 
4. Mix in just enough matzo meal to make mixture hold together. Roll one golf ball-size matzo ball. 
5. Place matzo ball in the boiling water. The ball must rise to the top.
6. If it doesn't rise, that means you've added too much matzo meal. In this case, add another beaten egg to the mixture and try again. 
7. When desired consistency is reached, roll all of mixture into golf ball size balls. 
8. In a large saucepan, bring chicken broth to a slow boil over medium heat with the carrots, and parsley wait until the carrots are softened; add the matzo balls to the broth. Serve soup as the balls rise to the top of the broth.

Home-made Chicken Broth:

1 stewing hen (or 3lb/1.5 kg chicken)

3 small carrots (unpeeled) coarsely chopped 

3 small onions (unpeeled) coarsely chopped

3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic, smashed

10 fresh parsley sprigs

½ tps (2 mL) salt

½ tsp (2 mL) black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

8 cups (2 L) cold water

1. In a large stockpot, toss in hen, carrots, onions, celery, garlic, parsley, salt, peppercorns and bay leaves. Then pour in water. Cover and cook (simmer) over low heat on stove top for 4 hours (or if you want to make it quicker boil over medium-high heat for an hour, skimming the top for a clear soup). 
2. Discard hen. Strain broth through cheesecloth-lined sieve into large bowl, pressing vegetables to drain all of the broth. 
3. You can make this ahead; just let it cool for 30 minutes, then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. 

Enjoy!

Bitter mood, makes bitter food. So, fucking smile! :D 

 

My weekend of gluttony

Sooo the start of my reading week, the only crappy part? It ends in 7 days.
My profs assume I will be catching up on assignments (personally I don't understand why they still have hope for this). We all know that what actually goes on is a week of partying, sleeping, over eating, and catching up on missed episodes of favorite tv shows rather than anything school related-oh and for me, a shit-ton of new recipes to test. Yep. I can speak for all students when I say that no matter how much we WANT to do work and finish anything that needs to be done for right after break, we will never get to it until maybe the Sunday before we go back. Resulting in a sleepless night, ergo, coming into class looking like we truly did spend all week craming/working/studying.

Righ, so, this weekend...err...well I can only say that I thank Jeebus for my relitively high metabolism, otherwise I would be seriously screwed.

Bitter mood, makes bitter food. So fucking smile :D !


P.s. Look me up in a few days, I will have some recipes that will make you feel like you are having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.