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Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai / cupcake Earl Grey cupcakes with citrus Swiss meringue buttercream
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 8:00 AM
The reign of tea-flavored cupcakes continues.
Yesterday I posted a recipe for green tea cupcakes. Today, I'm sharing with you a recipe for Earl Grey-flavored cupcakes with a citrus Swiss meringue buttercream.
Earl Grey is a tea blend with a distinctive aroma and flavor due to the addition of oil from bergamot, a citrus fruit. I've always been curious as to what it might taste like in a cupcake, so here it is! To compliment the bergamot flavor, I paired the tea cupcake with a citrus frosting.
To create the Earl Grey flavor, I tore open three tea bags and gave the contents a whirl in my coffee grinder to finely grind up the tea leaves before adding it straight to the batter. When you bite into a cupcake, you'll see flecks of tea. To deepen the flavor, I also steeped one tea bag in the half cup of milk the recipe calls for. (Again, I used Magnolia Bakery's vanilla cupcake recipe as my base recipe.)
For the frosting, I went with a silky smooth Swiss meringue buttercream flavored with two types of citrus – lemon juice and orange zest. The resulting cupcakes were fragrant and floral.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Recipe / Contributors / Breakfast Buckwheat pancakes
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 8:00 AM
Here's something you can make for a healthy breakfast this weekend. Scrap those boxed pancakes mixes full of additives and try these natural buckwheat pancake instead.
You'd think buckwheat flour is a grass, but it's actually a seed. According to Wikipedia,"despite the common name and the grain-like use of the crop, buckwheat is not a cereal or grass. The grain is called a pseudocereal to emphasize that the plant is not related to wheat."
Gluten-free buckwheat is nutritious – it's packed with minerals and flavonoids, which act as antioxidants.
This recipe comes from the back of the Hodgson Mill bag of buckwheat flour. The pancakes came out light and fluffy, with a slight tang because I used buttermilk.
If you're looking for it at the grocery store, here's what the package looks like:
Buckwheat Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg beaten
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. melted butter
Directions:
Preheat griddle of large skilled to 375 degrees, grease lightly with oil.
Griddle is ready when small drops of water sizzle and disappear almost immediately.
Mix dry ingredients together; add egg, milk and butter, beating well after each addition.
Pour 1/4 batter for each pancake onto hot griddle. Cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, turning when edges look cooked and bubbles begin to break on surface. Continue to cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until golden brown.
(For buttermilk buckwheat pancakes, use the recipe above, but add in 1 tsp. baking soda and substitute buttermilk for milk.)
Monday, February 28, 2011
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai / Chicken / Dinner Thomas Keller's Simple Roast Chicken
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 8:00 AM
This roast chicken recipe is the easiest thing I've probably ever made, and it's probably one of the tastiest dinners to have ever come out of my oven.
Thomas Keller of the famous restaurant French Laundry in Yountville, CA choses his own roast chicken to be included as part of his "last meal" in the book "My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs And Their Final Meals: Portraits, Interviews, And Recipes."
I can understand why. The chicken comes out with perfectly crisped skin and juicy, flavorful meat.
What's ridiculous is that this roast chicken recipe can't possibly be any easier. You take the chicken, wash it, dry it, truss it (if it's not already trussed), sprinkle it with salt and pepper, throw it in the oven, add some thyme, and voila. Done.
I served it with some sauteed green beans and roasted red potatoes.
Side note: While washing the dishes after dinner, I found my dining companion licking (yes, licking) the chicken-juice-covered cutting board when he thought no one was looking ... I guess the chicken is that good.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai / Dessert Banana pudding conquered
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 8:48 AM
If you remember, banana pudding has been the bane of my existence.
I know it's simple to make, but for some reason a good banana pudding has always eluded me. I have refused to take the easy road by using boxed mix for the vanilla pudding.
This stubbornness resulted in a nasty grainy, mess last time. (Check out my failures here and here.)
Well, I am happy to say I finally reign supreme over banana pudding. I made a creamy vanilla bean pudding from scratch and layered it with bananas and Madagascar Vanilla Wafers from Trader Joe's.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai / Dessert / Cookie Chocolate Chubbies
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 3:52 PM
Don't you just love the name of these cookies? Chocolate Chubbies!
Too cute.
These little chubby cookies are full of chocolate, pecans, walnuts, and more chocolate. They are like rich mini brownie nugget bites. The recipe comes from the cookbook Sarahbeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours.
I suggest you make these. Soon. Valentine's Day is coming up, so obviously you have the license to eat all the chocolate you want (guilt-free) from now until Feb. 15.
For these cookies, I used a honking large bar of dark chocolate from Trader Joe's, chopped into chunks, as well as semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips from Ghirardelli. Yes, it's really an overload of chocolate, but it happens to work so well in these cookies.
I plan to share these fatties with friends during my weekend ski trip, as I should really stop inhaling them myself.
Hmm... but these Chocolate Chubbies do happen be just right size to pack into the pockets of my jacket... these could make for a nice little snack on the ski lift perhaps...
Here's a photo montage of the entire process:
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai / Dessert Chocolate Armagnac Cake
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 8:10 AM
Ar-men-yak.
... In case you were wondering how to pronounce "Armagnac," like I was. Think along the lines of cognac. According to Wikipedia, Armagnac is the oldest brandy distilled in France.
This rich, sophisticated Chocolate Armagnac Cake comes from my favorite baker Dorie Greenspan. The cake contains 10 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, cognac, and surprisingly, prunes. It is so good – perhaps the best chocolate cake I've ever made.
The texture of the cake is like a hybrid of a flourless chocolate cake and a fudgy brownie. The chocolate and dried fruit flavor combination reminds me of those Cadbury Fruit & Nut chocolate bars that come wrapped in purple packaging. Tart fruit enrobed in creamy bittersweet chocolate. Ground pecans aren't a prominently featured ingredient in the cake, but its presence adds to the complex flavors of the cake.
At one point in the recipe, you'll need to set the cognac-soaked prunes aflame. Don't be scared. It's really easy, so don't let that stop you from making this cake. Since chocolate is the star ingredient, make sure you use high-quality bittersweet chocolate (I used Scharffen Berger).
I can't wait to serve this cake at my next dinner party.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai / Dinner Sweet & Spicy Sticky Chicken
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 8:02 AM
I've been making this recipe for Sweet & Spicy Sticky Chicken since it was published in the November 2001 issue of Fine Cooking. That's almost 10 years. I don't think I have many recipes that stand the test of time. I usually cook recipes once, toss, and then look for the next best recipe.
This recipe has stuck around because I really like the flavors here. It's sweet from the brown sugar, spicy from red pepper flakes, and it's pretty salty from soy sauce and fish sauce. Some people don't like fish sauce, but I love it. I'm not really sure how it's made (and I don't think I want to know), but it has a distinct, pungent flavor. You can find it at any Asian grocery store.
The dish is pretty healthy as it calls for boneless, skinless chicken thighs and only requires 1 tablespoon of oil for cooking. Serve it with rice to mellow out the salty sauce.
I've made my own Bento box here ... a little rice, a few chicken thighs, and a side of pickled mustard greens:
Sweet & Spicy Sticky Chicken
Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper flakes
1 tablespoon peanut oil or 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 scallions, thinly sliced
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, excess fat removed
fresh cilantro stem (optional)
Directions:
In a bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, fish sauce, water, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, black pepper and crushed red chile flakes.
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the scallions and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.
Add the thighs and the brown sugar mixture. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, turning the thighs occasionally for about 20 minutes.
Then turn the heat back up to high and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until sauce thickens and slightly browns chicken. Garnish with cilantro.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai / Dessert Bacon and pretzel toffee
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 9:00 AM
Ok, as promised, we will now return to our normal programming of ... unhealthy sweets.
A few weeks ago I shared a recipe for healthy granola. This week it's back to my usual cavity-causing, calorie-laden baked goods.
You're welcome.
I found a recipe for pretzel toffee on Serious Eats, and kicked it up a few notches by adding bits of crisp bacon. The bacon and pretzel toffee combined with a layer chocolate and a dusting of fleur de sel (sea salt) will satisfy that sweet/savory craving. It's crisp, creamy, crunchy, and so delicious.
The bacon gives the candy a slight smoky flavor and another layer of saltiness. Two meat lovers have sampled this stuff so far and both gave it a big thumbs up.
Be careful when boiling the butter and sugar mixture. Once it reaches 200 degrees, it will cook fast. Be sure to stand by and keep an eye on it. I'll admit I burned my first batch. Kitchen fail...
Friday, January 21, 2011
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai / Breakfast Extreme Makeover: Muffin edition
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 11:49 AM
I love muffins because they're like cupcakes, but you can eat them for breakfast. Both are small, cute, and tasty.
While I like my cupcakes fluffy, sweet, and tender, I like my muffins almost the exact opposite – hearty, dense, and with just a hint of sweetness. I can't stand those cake-like muffin impostors that are greasy and full of fat and sugar. That's no way to start your day.
Baking queen Dorie Greenspan has a fabulous recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins, which was widely blogged about recently as it was the chosen recipe for the virtual baking club "Tuesdays with Dorie." Photos of her luscious lemon poppy seed muffins popped up on blogs everywhere, tempting me with their cute little black and yellow polka-dot look.
I took those suckers and gave them an extreme makeover. The original recipe called for 1 stick of butter, 2/3 cups of sugar, and a good dose of sour cream. It sounds like a recipe for a mid-morning sugar crash. I re-did the recipe using some whole wheat flour, half the sugar, 2 tablespoons less butter, and Greek yogurt.
The recipe makeover resulted in muffins with a strong lemon flavor, light sweetness, crunchy poppy seeds, and a texture that was a mix between a muffin and a biscuit. The tangy lemon glaze on top added some sweetness too. Just my type of muffin.
Below is the original recipe with my makeover modifications in parenthesis.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai / Breakfast Easy Homemade Granola
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 12:57 PM
Here's a little something for all you people who made New Year's resolutions to lose weight and to be healthier this year – a recipe for granola.
Yep, I'm jumping on that healthy band wagon ... for now. (Next week, we'll be back to cupcakes and meat.)
Seeing as I can't get within a 1-mile radius of a gym without getting stampeded by newbie gym-goers eager to start their New Year's resolutions to lose weight, I'm going to aim to eat healthier instead of working out. Good reasoning not to go to the gym, right?
This granola is as healthy as they come – it's full of oats, fruit and nuts. The recipe hails from the cookbook Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, written by the owners of Baked, a big-time bakery in NYC and Charleston, SC.
This was my first time making granola, and it probably won't be my last. This is good stuff ... bordering on addictive. Tart cherries, golden raisins, almonds, oats, and a touch of cinnamon and honey. The original recipe calls for hazelnuts too, but I didn't have any on hand. It still tasted delicious though. The granola can be purchased on their website for $6.50, but why buy when you can make it yourself?
Eat it by itself or on top of thick Greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey ... or on top of ice cream.
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Crockpot Arsenal: Teriyaki Sesame Pork with Asian Slaw 1
If you like sweet and smoky barbecue sauce, this will be right up your alley, but also a nice change of pace.
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Restaurant owner Tela Loli talks business
She makes it her goal that everyone who enters Le Peep’s doors has a pleasing, and filling, food experience.
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Tricia Childress
