Hazelnut Roll

[ts]
Another "sweet" post from [eatingclub] vancouver? Wonders never cease!

[js]
We were watching French Food at Home the other day, and somehow, yet again, Laura Calder managed to make 5 dishes in the space of 30 minutes, including this hazelnut roll.

She made this hazelnut roll seem so easy, finishing it in what must have been just the first five minutes of the show -- and that, while wearing what seems to be an uncomfortably tight-fitting outfit.

Or maybe the dress was comfortable, who knows, but then my standard of "comfortable" is very high (or is that very LOW?), as my idea of comfort is a loose T-shirt and pajama bottoms.

TS, being the hazelnut-lover that she is, immediately set about making this roll.



[ts]
Good thing this recipe was in her book, French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating. It saved me the trouble of taking notes while watching the program.

She really makes everything look easy. So, even though I had to roast, then peel, then grind the hazelnuts myself, I persevered.



[ts]
To make the cake, I used an electric mixer to beat eggs and sugar over simmering water until the mixture was thick, light-colored and ribbony. Then the ground hazelnuts and a touch of flour were added. Onto a baking sheet the batter went, and into the oven. It only took about 10 minutes to bake.

Note: My baking sheet was larger than in the recipe, so it took even less time to cook.



[ts]
Then, I rolled the cake in a tea towel to cool. It looked so cute (meaning: tiny, hehe). This was the hardest part: the waiting!



[ts]
Finally, I whipped some cream with a tiny bit of sugar (I didn't bother with the cinnamon or vanilla) and spread it onto the cake. One final roll, and done!



[js]
I find it hard to believe that this cake will serve 6 to 8 people. It is not very big and it is a very light cake that one is just tempted to eat more of it.

[ts]
Exactly. The resulting roll was tiny! I think 4 servings is probably the correct number. Of course, that's just me and my gluttonous self talking. If it were up to me, this would make just 1 serving.

Oh, hazelnut roll. You were so intoxicating with your roasted hazelnut aroma and a full flavor to match.

One could definitely eat this in one sitting.


Open wide!

Our Laura Calder & Laura Calder-inspired posts
Piedmont Marinated Eggs
Stuffed Savoy Cabbage with Pork
Pain Perdu (French Toast) with Sautéed Cherries
Hazelnut Roll

Laura Calder website

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Recipe
Hazelnut Roll
from French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating
Makes 6 to 8 servings

3 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup (70g) ground hazelnuts, more for garnish
2/3 cup heavy cream
A drop of vanilla
Pinch cinnamon
cocoa powder, for dusting
icing sugar, for dusting

Heat the oven to 400F (200C). Butter an 8- x 12-inch (20x30cm) sided baking sheet, line the bottom with parchment, and butter the parchment.

Put the eggs and sugar in a glass or metal bowl, set it over a pot with an inch of simmering water in the bottom (do not let the bowl touch the water), and beat until tripled in volume and very thick and ribbony, like cake batter. This will take about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Sift the flour and nuts over the batter, and gently fold together. Pour evenly into the pan. Bake until slightly golden on top, 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, get set up for unmoulding the cake: lay a damp tea towel on a cutting board or on the back of another baking sheet. When the cake comes out, flip it onto the towel, carefully peel off the parchment, trip the edges of the cake if you want, and immediately roll it up from the short side, rolling up the towel with the cake. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Whip the cream to stiff peaks with a hint of vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon. Unroll the cake, sieve over a light dusting of cocoa powder, spread over the cream, and roll up the cake again, this time without the towel. Set on a platter, seam side down.

Sift over a little icing sugar and cocoa powder. Decorate with a button row of hazelnuts. Cover, and refrigerate until serving, which you'll want to do the same day, preferably within a few hours.

Cuban Pastelitos de Guayaba y Queso (Guava and Cheese Pastries)

[ts]
We had almost forgotten about these little treats. I first had these guava and cheese pastries several years ago when JS and I, along with a couple of the gongs (our cousins), went on a trip to LA. One of our stops was Porto's Bakery. Actually, we made a few stops at Porto's, including a stop to stock up on pastelitos before flying back to to Vancouver.

Porto's Bakery (Glendale, CA)



[js]
My original plan was to grab a couple (okay, TWO DOZEN) of these pastelitos from Porto's on our way up to San Francisco (to attend the Foodbuzz Food Blogger Festival). But, as you well know, that didn't happen.

Oh well. I consoled ourselves with the thought that there's always a next time.

I didn't know that next time would be today, when TS had it in her sight to make these morsels of deliciousness. I casually reminded her that we did have guava paste in the pantry. The guava paste was a purchase several months ago, just a purchase on who-knows-what-whim.



[js]
I never expected that the guava paste would be enlisted to a higher calling.

[ts]
I rushed out of the house to buy puff pastry. Then, I realized that I wouldn't be able to make these pastries the same day because the puff pastry had to thaw! The waiting!

The next day, I prepared the cream cheese filling -- cream cheese loosened with some milk and lemon juice, and sweeteened with the smallest amount of sugar -- and the rest was basically an assembly job.

For various reasons, I had a really trying time with the whole job. I was actually very annoyed during the whole time, but I willed myself to finish because despite the annoyance, I was still very excited to eat them.



[ts]
I decided to cut each pastry sheet into 9 pieces, as I knew the more pieces there are, the better. Look at how sorry my pastry squares looked.



[ts]
I filled each square (or whatever shape these can be called) with some cream cheese filling, then some of the guava paste.



[ts]
The first 9. Look at how ugly those shapes are. The next 9 didn't fare any better. I brushed egg wash on them before placing them in the oven. When they were fairly golden, I brushed some simple syrup on them -- equal parts of water and sugar, heated until the sugar is dissolved -- and baked them some more.



[ts]
Here they are out of the oven. Almost all of them were not sealed properly and had either cream cheese or guava, or both, oozing out of them. I guess that's what happens when one greedily overfills tiny pastry squares. As I said, it was a very bad day for me and these pastelitos.



[ts]
But, no matter.
These Cuban pastelitos were fantafreakingbuloutastic!

Brushing them with simple syrup seemed to be a must, as it gave the exterior the same quality as the pastries from Porto's. I was quite powerless to resist these, stuffing my face even though I was extremely full. It was probably for the better than I only made so few. And yes, 18 small pastries is a few.

[js]
Just like the Refugiados from Porto's, I couldn't stop eating these! The filling was the perfect balance of sweet, tangy, fruity, creamy. Needless to say, we finished off our batch in a couple of hours.


interior of a pastelito

[ts]
I made sure to save some to give to the gongs. They had no trouble at all remembering these pastelitos.

Actually, gong2 almost missed out altogether! She mistakenly held out until the next day to eat one, and only managed to snag HALF of one as she caught someone taking the final pastry.



One could probably just wing it when making these pastries. But, this is the recipe I referred to. For the Love of Food: Guava Pastries

[eatingclub] vancouver Regional Recipes posts
Greek Meatball Soup (Giouvarlakia)
Simmered Saba Mackerel with Daikon Radish (Saba Oroshi-ni)
Thai Fried Chicken
Roast Pork Belly with Puy Lentils
Beef "Ribbon" Kebab (Pasanda Kabab) with Cilantro Chutney
Canadian Onion Soup with Oka Cheese
Muffuletta
Börek with Beef Filling
Korean Pork Bulgogi (with Muu Namul, Kong Namul)
Lobster Congee from a Lobster Feast
Pork Jowl (Pork Cheeks) with Brown Sugar Rub
Beef Salpicao
Cuban Arroz con Salchichas (Yellow Rice with Vienna Sausages)
Cuban Pastelitos de Guayaba y Queso (Guava and Cheese Pastries)

Enjoyed this post? Why not subscribe to our blog? Subscribe via reader or subscribe via email. Thank you!

We're submitting this to Regional Recipes, a blogging event created by Blazing Hot Wok that celebrates food from all over the world.

The region for this edition is Cuba. The round-up will be hosted at Blazing Hot Wok and will be posted after November 15.

Regional Recipes information

Cuban Arroz con Salchichas (Yellow Rice with Vienna Sausages)

[ts]
JS and I were at a loss at first when we found out that Cuba is the focus of this month's Regional Recipes. But, I realized that I was subscribed to Nathan's blog, La Cocina de Nathan: Cuban, Spanish, Mexican Cooking & More. Perfect. A quick browse, then I quickly remembered that I had bookmarked a specific dish from his blog so many months ago. (Regional Recipes information at end of post.)

[js]
Looking at recipes of Cuban food, I can't help noticing how similar some of the Cuban dishes are to Filipino dishes. This is not surprising, as both the Philippines and Cuba have a shared Spanish colonial history and a similar American "liberation" period.

Which I suppose explains the fascination with canned vienna sausages. We grew up on Purefoods (a Philippine brand) Vienna sausages. In desperate times and not-so-desperate times, a tin can of Vienna sausages would tide us over to the next meal.

We usually pan-fried these sausages to develop a crispy crackle on the outside, and we would eat them sometime with eggs, sometimes with garlic rice, sometimes with "tasty" bread (which was what we called soft, white bread).



[js]
However, I don't remember our Philippine Vienna sausages having the flavour of smoke. In fact, when I first tasted these Maple Leaf sausages oh-about-two-decades ago, I recoiled because the smoke flavour was just overwhelming. Time is such a great equalizer and I don't mind these Maple Leaf ones as much. I don't eat them that often, though, so I suppose that might have something to do with not minding them as much.



[ts]
I'm not a Vienna sausage fanatic, but for some inexplicable reason, arroz con salchichas spoke to me. I have even taken to calling it my "fantasy recipe." Granted, it did take me almost a year until I finally made it, but I was as excited as could be once I realized I could make this dish for our Regional Recipes entry.

I skipped to the kitchen, clapping my hands, and started my fantasy recipe.


achiote/annato seeds

[ts]
The recipe called for annato (achiote) powder. We've used up the last of ours making another pot of kare-kare recently (delicious!), so I decided to grind up some whole annato/achiote seeds.



[ts]
To start, some onions and green peppers sweated it out in our wok, followed by garlic and red peppers.



[ts]
The seasonings were next: ground achiote/annato, cumin, and dried bay leaves. I used 3 4-oz cans of Vienna sausages, each sausage cut into thirds. Those went in last.



[ts]
Next, the magic of the rice cooker!


before & after

[ts]
For people who haven't used rice cookers before, they usually come with a little cup for measuring raw rice. Then, it's a simple matter of filling the cooker with rice, then pouring in water until it reaches the appropriate level. There are grooves on the inside of the cooker for this purpose. Using 4 "cups" of rice? Pour the water until it reaches the "4" line.

Nathan's recipe called for 3 cups of rice. Since the standard "cup" size for our rice cookers is actually 2/3 cup, I used 4 rice-cups. I measured this all out, then added the Vienna sausage mixture. I pushed the switch to "cook" and the rice cooker did all the work. After that little "click" from the rice cooker, it was done.



[ts]
Following Nathan's example, I ate this with some leftovers: my mother's soy-braised long beans and some Vietnamese fried spring roll from a nearby eatery.



[ts]
Well, the spring roll was just for show. The wrapper didn't really fare well after a night in the refrigerator.

Seeing the wok and its bell peppery residue, JS and I thought it was the perfect time to make shakshuka (post coming soon). If I had to wash the wok, I might as well use it one more time before doing so, right?

So, I ate the rice with long beans and my shakshuka (not pictured).



[ts]
Our rice didn't turn out as yellow as Nathan's, probably because of my achiote; perhaps they weren't ground fine enough. But, I don't think that the dish suffered because of it. We're quite happy to have discovered a piece of Cuban home-style cooking. As with home-style dishes, this one hit the spot.

Up next, a Cuban treat that we've almost forgotten. We gorged on these several years ago during a trip to LA.
Cuban Pastelitos de Guayaba y Queso (Guava and Cheese Pastries)

Recipe from La Cucina de Nathan: Arroz con Salchichas

[eatingclub] vancouver Regional Recipes posts
Greek Meatball Soup (Giouvarlakia)
Simmered Saba Mackerel with Daikon Radish (Saba Oroshi-ni)
Thai Fried Chicken
Roast Pork Belly with Puy Lentils
Beef "Ribbon" Kebab (Pasanda Kabab) with Cilantro Chutney
Canadian Onion Soup with Oka Cheese
Muffuletta
Börek with Beef Filling
Korean Pork Bulgogi (with Muu Namul, Kong Namul)
Lobster Congee from a Lobster Feast
Pork Jowl (Pork Cheeks) with Brown Sugar Rub
Beef Salpicao
Cuban Arroz con Salchichas (Yellow Rice with Vienna Sausages)
Cuban Pastelitos de Guayaba y Queso (Guava and Cheese Pastries)

Enjoyed this post? Why not subscribe to our blog? Subscribe via reader or subscribe via email. Thank you!

We're submitting this to Regional Recipes, a blogging event created by Blazing Hot Wok that celebrates food from all over the world.

The region for this edition is Cuba. The round-up will be hosted at Blazing Hot Wok and will be posted after November 15.

Regional Recipes information

Yehliu 野柳 Geopark; Dried Seafood (Taiwan)

Queen's Head Rock (image from Yehliu Geopark informational materials)

[ts]
Since we are not frolicking about the streets of Mexico City, but instead are back to our old routine (almost) in rainy Vancouver, I thought it was high time I get to posting about our visit to Yeliu Geopark in Taiwan eight months ago.

(In case any of you are wondering, the scratch on my cornea is now "very tiny". I have another appointment at the end of this week so the doctor could check if it has healed completely by then.)

Since we were kind of "lost" during our first few days in Taipei with regards to our daily itinerary, we did not get to go to Yeliu Geopark until our final day there. I'm just glad we didn't leave it out altogether! You'll see why.



[ts]
Getting there was a little exercise in faith.

The night before, JS and I had dinner with our cousin and having told him our plans of going to Yehliu, he pointed us to the bus station from where we would ride a bus.

By "pointed", though, I mean that we were standing about one to three blocks away from the bus station, and he literally pointed to the bus station building. It was hard to see, though, as it was far away enough and it was at night. However, it still helped as we at least had some information to go on. We probably received a bit more information as well, but I can't recall now.

So, on the day of, we rode the metro, got out of the designated stop, and walked towards that pointed-to bus station. After a few misses, we finally found it. Once at the bus station, the agents we asked for information kept telling us to go to the "other" bus station nearby. I must say, they were very vague and simply gestured with their hand. Exiting the main structure, we circled it a few times before figuring out where to go.

Once there, we had to figure out which bus to take. There was not a bus labelled "Yehliu", but after a few more times gesticulating, we found the correct bus to take.

So, we rode the bus. We told the driver we wanted to go to Yehliu and it seemed that he understood. After a while (perhaps an hour or so), it was time to get off the bus.


nondescript street corner

[ts]
We were dropped off in the middle of nowhere!

There was no apparent or discernable signage pointing to Yehliu. Hmm, are we at the right place? As you can see, there was nothing remotely "geo" about this street corner.

I decided to walk towards the more "sea"-like of the 3 directions.

After blocks and blocks, it really did become decidedly more seaside-ly, with more of a breeze in the air. Finally, we saw a sign aimed at tourists! Woohoo!

Then, finally, some actual water.


fish nets/baskets


I'm not sure if they're visible from this picture, but the boat had really cool lanterns/lights.

Yehliu 野柳 Geopark


[ts]
We were there! I was very happy as it was very windy. Nice counterpoint to the sun. We got ourselves a map and basically just followed the path.

Here's the write-up on their material:

Yehliu is a long cape formed by the Datum Mountain reaching into the sea. Rocks in this area were formed 10 to 25 million years ago. With the help of sea erosion and weathering, many fantastic geological works of nature had come into being, including intriguing stones in the shapes of candles, gingers, and mushrooms that become landmarks of Yehliu.

Their trademark rock formation, of course, is the Queen's Head (see first image of post).

Mushroom Rocks, Candle Rocks, Honeycomb Rocks, Ginger Rocks, Pot Holes, etc.


[ts]
The water is so nice. Look at the top right portion of the image: mushroom rocks!

(At least, I think that's what they were. I'm not exactly sure which formations are which.)


This looks like it had been machine-cut. Very straight edge. I don't know what that white thing is: litter?


Pot holes! I love the guy's pose up there. =)




They are like reverse doughnuts. See which things I'm referring to?

Why People Hate Tourists

The nerve of these people!

[ts]
Walking around the park, I decided that I should at least have one photo with the Queen's Head Rock. It's actually not that big, and it's not as interesting as the other formations, I thought. But, I wanted to do the touristy thing.

Obviously, there were other visitors who were even more "touristy". That's them right there, hogging the Queen's Head Rock. All of them wanted to take his/her pictuire with the Queen's Head Rock INDIVIDUALLY, taking several shots per person.

I waited alongside them and, of course, they expected me to wait until their ENTIRE group finished. Whatever. I lost patience and decided to just walk away and explore surrounding areas.

That was when a bunch of them started yelling at me. I didn't know I was the object of this cacophony of sounds at first. Finally, I looked back and they, as a united group, were SHOOING me away! I wasn't really near them at this time, as they had to gesture wildly to let their intentions be known.

Apparently, they wanted me out of there as I was visible in the background of their photos.

Wha--?! You people are insane.

Back to the rocks and such



Close-up of rock surface.


The green is so nice.


A closer look at the bi-colored rocks.



[ts]
Looking back at my Yehliu pictures, I realized that I didn't really capture a lot! So, these are some random links I found of Yehliu Geopark photos. I've included keyword searches on Flickr as well.

Click on them: Geological weird stuff are very pretty.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=582440
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=yeliu&w=all
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=yehliu&m=text


We didn't even really cover a lot of the park. There were so much more that I didn't get to see! But, JS decided it was time to go. [sigh]

On our way out of the park, we saw this.



C'mon, people! These rocks weren't waiting here for millions of years to be your personal ashtray!

I've scanned some informational material about the different geological formations at Yehliu Geopark. Click image to enlarge:


Outside the park

I guess these are to prevent flooding?

Dried Seafood


[ts]
Beside Yehliu Geopark, there was a covered structure filled with booths/stalls selling dried seafood. I guess these are the specialties of the area. It looks like a sanitized version of what was there before, I assume.

The above would be dried fish or squid snacks, differently prepared and flavored.


Here's a closer look. They're formed into these "flakes" or strips for easy snacking.


There are also dried little shrimp and dried little fish.


Dried little fish.


Fish floss!

They even had these machines making fish floss! Fish floss is like pork floss, but made from fish. (Yes, I know, very helpful.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_floss
Chowtimes.com: Pork Floss


Our loot.

We bought a whopping 8 bags of dried fish snacks to take back to Vancouver. You better believe I made sure to double or triple bag them. I didn't want to take any chances! Fish-smelling clothes in the the luggage would not have been fun at all.

Links
Yehliu Geopark sites
http://yeliou.northguan-nsa.gov.tw/
http://ylgeopark.org.tw/flash_intro/YAW.html
Wikipedia: Yehliu

Taiwan trip 2009
Taiwanese Bakery Goods (including ChiaTe Bakery)
Dan Shui 淡水, Taiwan (including food)
Taipei Quick Eats: Mos Burger, Hong Ya Breakfast, Ay Chung Flour-Rice Noodle
Taipei Convenience Store Foods
Shilin Night Market 士林夜市 (Taipei, Taiwan)
Breakfast Buffet at the Shangri-La (Taipei, Taiwan)
Taiwan Beef Noodle Soup, 4 versions (Taipei, Taiwan)
Yehliu 野柳 Geopark; Dried Seafood (Taiwan)

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Distrito Federal No Más (Eye Injury, Part 2)

[ts]
First of all, sorry to each and every Spanish-speaker for butchering your language. The title is a literal -- and probably very wrong -- translation of "Distrito Federal No More."

Second of all, thank you to everybody who expressed concern about my freak eye injury.

JS and I are now back in Vancouver, arriving last night. Here is how our time in LA (well, suburbs near LA) played out:

Tuesday, Day 1
Various errands and such.

Wednesday
After waking up with pain in my eye and not being able to open it, JS drove me to see a family doctor at a walk-in clinic (after trying several places). This was followed by driving to an eye clinic. Then, with me sleeping the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Thursday
Back at the eye clinic for a follow-up. We decide to cut our trip short and just head on home. The rest of the day was spent with JS calling airlines, hotels, etc. and cancelling our bookings/reservations.

Friday
Back at the eye clinic for another follow-up. Straight to the airport for our flight back to Vancouver.

What happened?

Apparently, it's a freak thing, as the doctors at the eye clinic were wondering why I would get a corneal abrasion. It seems I don't have any reason for developing one (eg, wearing contact lenses or whatever else).

I guess the dry desert air did not agree with me, especially after the dry airplane cabin air. Also, apparently, my right eyelid does not close all the way! Huh?!!

Best theory
Airplane + desert air dried out my right eye. Then, during sleeping, my "unclosed" eyelid dried it out even more, resulting in a small part of the cornea sticking to the back of my eyelid. When I woke up and blinked, the eyelid tore my cornea. Fun stuff.

Not only did we miss/are missing the Foodbuzz Food Blogger Festival in San Francisco (with all that food!), but we also had to cancel our trip to Mexico City, aka Distrito Federal. (Hence, the post title.)

We were so looking forward to this trip. All that food!!! [sigh]

But, we decided it was better to let my eye heal completely at home, in case something happens. I am quite attached to my eyes, after all, and the vision they give me, blurry though it is. Being an injured animal in a big, big, big city is not a good idea, I guess.

Eye Injury and Disappointment

[ts]
This is the email I sent a few minutes ago to Alexa of Foodbuzz:

Hi Alexa,

I'm very disappointed to say that my sister and I will be unable to attend the Foodbuzz Food Blogger Festival after all!

We are actually currently in LA ready to make the drive to San Francisco tomorrow. Unfortunately, I got a scratch on my right cornea a few nights ago. I was hoping the condition would be much better by today, but that is not the case. I am currently unable to see and hence, barely able to function.

Sorry for the short notice and we're really disappointed to be missing this. =(

We're really disappointed and we're sorry to miss meeting you guys!

-TS & JS

Yellow Layer Cake with Orange Vanilla Frosting

[ts]
A few days ago, Boss #1 came up with the idea of making a cake. Naturally, CSC, his mother, complied.



[ts]
This was the very first time anybody in our household has made a layer cake! I guess we should thank Boss #1 for this.



[ts]
CSC made a recipe of All-Purpose Buttery Yellow Cake from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. She then chose to make the Orange variation of Quick and Rich Vanilla Frosting.



[ts]
After all that hard work by CSC, I set to work decorating the cake. I was a bit at a loss on how to finish the top of the cake when I remembered the pistachios in the freezer. I shelled some and toasted them. A quick run-through with the knife, then chopped pistachios rained on the cake.



Warning: Gratuitous cake photos ahead.


Have a slice! Or two...


Jewel-hued pistachios


Look! Ants! ;)


The ants took a big slice!

CSC and CSC-related posts
Carrot Cake
Lemon Bars
Cheesecake-Marbled Brownies
Mario's Pine Nut and Ricotta Tart
Pancakes!
Shanghai Potstickers, Faux Siu Mai and "Huo Tyeh" (aka CSC's Chinese Dumplings)
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Quick and Rice Chocolate Frosting
Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with Earl Grey-White Chocolate Ganache
Yellow Layer Cake with Orange Vanilla Frosting

Enjoyed this post? Why not subscribe to our blog? Subscribe via reader or subscribe via email. Thank you!

Recipes from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

All-Purpose Buttery Yellow Cake
Makes two 8- or 9-inch layers
Serves 8 to 12

2 3/4 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole milk, room temperature

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350F. Lightly coat two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil spray, then line the bottoms with parcement paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light anhd fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in the vanilla.

3. Reduce speed to low and beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Beat in half the milk. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture, then the remaining milk, and finally the remaining flour mixture.

4. Give the batter a final stir using a ruibber spatula to make sure it's thoroughly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the top. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cakes comes out with a few crumbs attached, 20-25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.

5. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a paring knife around the edge of the cakes to loosen, then flip out onto the racks. Flip the cakes upright, discard the parchment, and let cool completely before frosting, 1-2 hours.

Quick and Rich Vanilla Frosting
Makes 3 cups

2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

Stir the cream, vanilla, and salt together in a small bowl until the salt dissolves. Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, 30 to 60 seconds. Reduce the speed to medium-low, slowly add the confectioner's sugar, and beat until smooth, 2-5 minutes. Beat in the cream mixture. Increase the speed to medium-high and beaty until the mixture is light and fluffy, 4-8 minutes.

Orange Variation
Add 4 tablespoons fresh orange juice and 1.5 teaspoons grated orange zest to the heavy cream, vanilla and salt mixture.

Beijing Pickled Cabbage

[ts]
Looking at some past photos of stuff we've made, I discovered this one. I don't even remember with what we served this. JS just happened to make some random dish from Pei Mei's Chinese Cook Book Volume I.

JS and I were walking aimlessly in Taipei 101 when we saw an English-language bookstore. Finally, a store we can patronize. Browsing its cookery shelves, we were ecstatic to find Pei Mei cookbooks in English! We snapped up Volumes 1 to 3 of this series, plus 2 volumes of her Homestyle Cooking books.

Granted, this isn't a very snazzy introduction to her cookbooks, but at least we can enter this into Wandering Chopsticks' Weekend Wokking event.

about Fu Pei Mei
http://www.flavorandfortune.com/dataaccess/article.php?ID=379
http://tofuwatch.com/2009/07/decades-later-fu-pei-meis-chinese-recipes-particularly-tofu-still-inspire-who-was-she/

Pei Mei cookbooks



[eatingclub] vancouver Weekend Wokking posts:
Ravioli "Caprese": Tomato, Basil, Bocconcini
Eggplant "Clafouti"
Bibingka
Pumpkin Congee w/ Pumpkin "Beignets" & Sesame-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese w/ Pipián Verde
Adobo Mushroom Tart
Duck and Orange Crêpes with Orange-White Wine Sauce
Almond Eggplant "Bisteeya" (Bastilla)
"Mashed Potato Beef Burger" (Red-skinned Potato Salad in Taiwanese Sacha Cheeseburger)
Korean Soybean Sprouts Pancake (Kongnamul Jeon)
Lemon Chamomile Tiramisu
Cilantro Horchata
Strawberry Cilantro Salsa, on Grilled Flank Steak
Duck Enchiladas with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Clear Oxtail Soup with Corn, Cabbage and Potatoes
Beijing Pickled Cabbage

We're submitting this recipe to Weekend Wokking, a world-wide food blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks celebrating the multiple ways we can cook one ingredient.

The host this month is Graziana of Erbe in cucina.

If you would like to participate or to see the secret ingredient, check who's hosting next month.

Check out all Weekend Wokking Roundups.

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Recipe
Sweet & Sour Cabbage Salad, Beijing Style
from Pei Mei's Chinese Cook Book Volume 1

Note: This may be kept for 1 week in the refrigerator.

Ingredients
900g cabbage or Chinese cabbage
1/3 cup red chili shreds
1 tablespoon ginger shreds
1/2 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns

Seasonings
2/3 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil

Rince and cut the cabbage into shreds about 4 cm long. Put into a bowl, sprinkle with salt, mix and let sit for about 1-2 hours.

Squeeze out the salty water from the cabbage. Place cabbage into bowl and add the red chili shreds and ginger shreds.

Heat sesame oil in a pan, add the Szechuan peppercorns, and cook until they are fragrant and turn darker in color. Add sugar and vinegar, and bring to a boil. Pour this mixture over the cabbage and mix well. Cover with a lid, and let sit for about 1-2 hours, until the cabbage absorbs the flavors.

Sautéed Kohlrabi Sticks

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This will probably seem like the most boring post ever, especially following an Ethiopian stew! In any case, it was something out of the ordinary enough for our household.

We bought a couple of kohlrabi bulbs a few months back, but had no idea what to do with them, not having worked with them before. Finally, I just decided to cut them into sticks and sauté them until done (soft but not mushy), with just salt and pepper for seasoning.

They looked remarkably like French fries, which could work for you, or in the case of our household, resulted in some disappointment at the realization that they were not fries.

In any case, they were pretty good and tasted pretty much like cabbage stems. If anybody has excellent kohlrabi ideas, please share. Perhaps we may buy them again. ;)

Easy Dorowat (Ethiopian Chicken Stew)

[ts]
We've had The Slow Cooker Recipe Book: Over 150 one-pot dishes for no-fuss preparation and delicious eating for quite a while now. It was a gift from LSC (see links to her recipe contributions at the end of the post).

This is quite an informative and useful book, with chapters on slow-cooking basics (of course), useful equipment in the kitchen, information on beef, lamb and pork cuts, information on poultry and even game (such as rabbit and hare), prepping fish and shellfish, basic techniques for making stock, cooking soups and stews, making sauces, puddings, preserves... all in addition to the recipes within.

I've been eyeing several recipes in this book since it came to be in our possession and finally, when we had some chicken in the fridge, I seized the opportunity. I had to choose something that would be friendly to all members of the household. Since this dorowat was cumin-free, I decided it should be "safe".



[ts]
I've renamed this "Easy Dorowat" since the recipe seems to be a much simpler way to make this chicken stew. No need to make berbere (Ethiopian spice mix) and nit'r qibe (niter kibbeh; spiced butter), and the spices needed were minimal.

It's more or less a dump-into-a-pot kind of affair, our favorite. I've adapted it for stovetop cooking as our slow cooker is actually too small to cook an adequate amount for the family.


cloves; cardamom seeds still hiding inside pods; nutmeg yet to be grated

[ts]
A "safe" blend of spices: cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon and turmeric (not pictured).



[ts]
The dish starts with onions, garlic and ginger, followed by tomatoes.



[ts]
After the tomatoes have been cooking for a while, I added the spices. The chicken pieces went in next. I covered the pot and let the stew simmer.



[ts]
In the meantime, I boiled some eggs. Bet you didn't expect that, eh? (Or, maybe you did!)

When the chicken were almost done, I added the peeled hardboiled eggs into the stew.



[ts]
As a final touch, a little bit of hot paprika went in. (We didn't have cayenne on hand, nor "regular" hot paprika, so we used smoked.)



[ts]
Some sliced red onions and cilantro were needed to top the stew and it was done!



[ts]
You may have noticed that for photo purposes, I cheated and stuck in some "breakfast pita", which cannot/must not be mistaken for injera (Ethiopian bread). As this was supposed to be an "easy" wat (stew), we did not make any injera, but rather, ate the stew with plain white rice.



Wow, we actually made something Ethiopian before!
Eggplant (or Duck!) with Dried Fruit Stuffing

Recipes contributed by LSC
Ginataan
Ginataang Manok (Chicken in Coconut Milk)
Bulalo (Beef Marrow Bone Soup)
Dinuguan (Pork Innards in Pork "Chocolate" Sauce)
Papaitan (Beef Innards in Bitter Sauce)

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Recipe
Dorowat
from The Slow Cooker Recipe Book: Over 150 one-pot dishes for no-fuss preparation and delicious eating

Serves 4

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1-inch piece ginger, peeled & finely chopped
3/4 cup chicken/vegetable stock
1 cup passata or 14oz can chopped tomatoes
seeds from 5 cardamom pods
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
large pinch ground cinnamon
large pinch ground cloves
large pinch ground nutmeg
3lb chicken
4 hard-boiled eggs
cayenne pepper or hot paprika, to taste
salt & pepper
roughly chopped cilnatro
onion rings
flatbread or rice

Heat oil in a large pan, add the onions and cook for 10 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add the stock and the passata/chopped tomatoes to the pan. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened, then season.

Transfer the mixture to the ceramic cooking pot (of the slow cooker) and stir in the cardamom, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Add the chicken in a single layer, pushing the pieces down into the sauce.

**slow-cooker instructions**
Cover with the lid and cook on high for 3 hours. Remove the shells from the eggs, then prick the eggs a few times w/ a fork or fine skewer. Add to the sauce and cook for 30-45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

Season to taste with cayenne pepper or hot paprika. Garnish with cilantro and onions rings. Serve with flatbread or rice.