Tomato Puree Soup

It is November all of a sudden. The holiday season is approaching loudly and right on schedule before you are ready to roast the turkey, make the stuffing, wrap the presents all at the same time. I didn't grow up with Thanksgiving. Although in school my American teachers usually organize a potluck in class and there are a few turkey posters around campus. That's all really. We don't even get a day off.

But growing up, I learned to leave my mother alone when she was preparing for Chinese New Year. Every little trouble irritated her like a tic-toking time bomb. While my mother hangs up the red curtains, stuff dumplings and run errands my little brother and I keep quiet on the side guesstimating how much money we will receive this year.

I love winter and it always make me nostalgic. It is full of holidays, gifts, and joy. The gloomy weather also makes everything much more poetic. You can't have a festive Christmas wreath on the door without bare trees and dry leaves in the background. The sadness that come with the surrounding make you appreciate what you have. Too bad LA never gets cold enough for me to feel sad and joyful at the same time.

I make up for the lack of winter with soup. Soup is a staple in winter. All it takes is a bowl of hot soup to make you feel loved from the bottom of your heart.

Tomato Soup
Serves 4

4 large tomatoes
half of an onion sliced
4 garlic cloves minced
1 teaspoon tomato paste
a handful of basil

Boil a pot of water for the tomato. While the water is cooking, remove the stem and cut an X at the back of the tomatoes. Drop the tomato or tomatoes (depending on the size of your pot) into the boiling water for 10 seconds. Take tomatoes out and peel off the skin and cut out any white stem. Over the sink, squeeze the tomato seeds out. Dice the skin-free and seed-free tomato into large chunks.

Take a stock pot and heat it up on medium heat. When the oil is hot, sautee the onion and garlic till fragrant. Add the tomato chunks and tomato paste and use a wooden spoon to incorporate everything together. Pour enough water to cover the foods and throw in some basil. Turn heat on high and let cook for 30 minutes.

Let soup cool in the pot for a while and either pour into a blender or use an immersion blender to puree everything till velvety. On low heat, continue cooking for 1-2 hours until dinner time.

Cut an X

Boil the tomato for 10 seconds then peel off the skin

Cut out the white stem

Squeeze over the sink to remove the seeds

Ta da!

Tomato Basil Spaghetti

It's been quite a while since I last updated. Too much has happened and my head never spun around to cook a proper meal at home. First was the moving then came the unpacking, which is still in process (even after two weeks). The first place I organized was the kitchen, however, and I was able to make a delicious plate of spaghetti for lunch the other day.

It is a simple recipe that calls for tomatoes, basil, and grated parmesan. That's all it takes to make a light meal for summer. With the temperature high above 90s (or even higher in other cities) you really don't want a heavy meatball in your stomach while the heat weighs down on you.

I personally don't have much appetite in the summer. To me, comfort foods like mac-n-cheese and chicken soup are for colder days. All I want in the summer is fresh produce or lemony, vinegary, cold dishes; such as, stone fruit salad, lemon verbena ice cream, cold soba noodle, and sushi.

What you need for a light spaghetti meal is
4 tomatoes
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, diced
2 twigs of fresh basil or more/ 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
parmesan
salt & pepper

remove tomatoes' core
with a knife, make an X at the tip
boil a pot of water and bath tomatoes in boiling water for 8-10 seconds
remove tomato skin
chop up the tomatoes into 1/4 inch chunks
heat a skillet on medium heat with some olive oil and fry shallot and garlic till fragrant, 3-5 minutes
add the tomatoes into the skillet, season with dried or fresh basil, salt and pepper
stir occasionally and remove from heat after 15 minutes
while tomato is cooking, boil linguine as instructed on the package
drain noodle, keeping a few tablespoon of noodle water, mix noodle with tomato sauce
use a large fork and twirl the noodle into a huge lump, untwist onto a shallow bowl
sprinkle with parmesan and basil
enjoy!

Sweet Potato Corn Bread

Mini corn bread to share

The Farm of Beverly Hills serve the best table bread. Their corn bread melts in your mouth. It goes so well with this sweetened butter that comes with the bread. I am always tempted to run away with a basket of corn bread and order nothing from the restaurant.

I found a savior recipe that would save me from a trip to The Farm--no more over spending on corn bread, ha! Unlike The Farm, this recipe makes a slightly drier corn bread and not as buttery, but it a deeper corn flavor. Maybe the corn flavor comes with the quality of your cornmeal.

I made my own cornmeal by blending pre-popped corns in my Vitamix. Boy was it loud when I turned the Vitamix on. I was wondering if the blade will cut through those stubborn little thing. After five minutes of on and off blending, I got a bag of cream colored cornmeal!

Now on to baking: get all the ingredients measured and melt the butter in your microwave. Next peel, cut, and boil one sweet potatoes for 5 minutes. Cool them in a bath water after you take them out from their hot bath, and don't forget to drain the potato again before you incorporate them into your batter.

Instead of baking them in a square pan, I baked them in cupcake liners. It's just easier to share with friends. I did have some leftovers which I baked in a mini loaf pan. The cornbread from the loaf pan is more moist than the cupcakes. If you want muffin corn breads, only bake for 15 minutes to retain the same level of moisture.

Another note is, sweet potato is optional. I had one on my hand and didn't know what to do with it.

Corn bread anytime!

Applesauce Carrot Cake

I've been looking for ideas on what to bake next. There are so many recipes out there I want to try, but so little time on my hand. Whatever I decide to make have to click with me. When I'm on tastespotting, I'm just like a child oohing and aahing at every delicious treats. In my browser, a pile of saved recipes are all yelling and begging me to try them.

What clicked with me last weekend was carrot cake. I enjoyed a fluffy carrot cupcake from Dots a few days before my take on carrot cake. The cupcake had less sugar, which balanced perfectly with the slightly more sugared cream cheese frosting. And the frosting wasn't sky-high. There was just enough for you to indulge in that mini cake.

I tried this applesauce carrot cake from The Baker's Dozen Cookbook. It's not a fluffy delicate like the one from Dots, but it certainly has deeper flavor. Adding the applesauce also makes the cake more moist, but I think it makes it a bit more dense too.

To cut down on the fattiness, I dotted the cream cheese on top instead of frosting and layering the cake. I definitely miss the cream cheese frosting on my cake though.

For my next trial with carrot cake, I'm going to leave out the applesauce and see what that do to the cake. Maybe I'll get low fat cream cheese and just indulge myself in cheesy sweet frosting.

Dotted cream cheese frosting on applesauce carrot cake

The Time Traveler's Soup

Cold weather makes me crave for hot and steamy soup. It reminds me of Shanghai when my mom always prepared a pot of soup for dinner. In the dining room, a wide floor length glass opens over looks a river and a row of parasol trees (梧桐). I would sip my bowl of soup and watch the leaves roll in the coooold air. I missed home. I missed how it smelled like dinner after school. I missed how the family would sit around a large round table and share stories of the day. A simple bowl of soup can bring up so much memory. Now that the bowl is empty, it reminds me how precious those memories are.

A little too late for pi day

First time making a savory pie. It's amazing how you use the same butter pie base but once you change the filling, it's not a dessert anymore.

I love to make pies with my hands. I like that feeling of butter and flour crumble on my finger tips. The key to an easy and no mess pie is to work fast! Rub the butter and flour together as fast as you can. Then sprinkle some ice cold water to bring everything together. If the butter is melting, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate it for 10 minutes. Afterwards, quickly roll it out thin and pat it down in the pie dish.

Since I was planning on filling my crumbly pie shell with feta cheese and garlic and crimini mushroom, I thought why not add some pepper and paprika into the pie dough? Well turned out you can't really taste the extra flavor in the pie because the butter overpowered them. I think I'll skip my fancy little additions next time and see if there's a difference.

Roasted Tomato, Mushroom, Squash Feta Cheese Pie

I didn't follow any recipe, kind of just pulled random things from the fridge. The basic ingredients is eggs, cheese, and milk. If you add frozen spinach it would turn out to be a quiche-like pie and maybe use double the cheese topped with pepperoni to get pizza pie! Yummm...let the pie shell be your canvas and food your paint. Enjoy!

Make the dough first. You can even stop after step 8 and freeze it.

Change the filling as much as you want but keep the eggs and milk.

No More Excuses but Yes to Shake!

Summer is coming! At least in Los Angeles the sun decided to come back out again! I love to complain about the weather in LA to friends living on the east coast. Like a few days ago when I took out my winter jack cause it was 60 (or 15C) in the day. I had on a scarf and pulled down my boots from the top drawer. What a perfect chance to take out my winter gear again (har har, I miss my President's Day weekend at New York when I had to sleep with woolen socks and long PJ pants).

I like how cold weather gives you the excuse to munch on hot chocolate or warm cookies. You tell yourself your body will burn it off in the cold. But then I give myself the same excuse when the weather gets hot. A smoothie isn't that bad; I'll go out and be active cause it is hot...then I'll burn off the ice cream.

No enough of excuses! I need to curb my sweet tooth period. That way I can taste the world's cuisine before I develop type II diabetes.

If you are like me who love sweets and need it at all times, try this healthy shake made of kale, cashew, date, and cocoa powder. The veggie and cashew fills you up, and the date and cocoa powder kicks up the taste without giving you a sugar hype.

Four ingredients + water to make a healthy shake!

The best part about this shake is that you actually get the real shake consistency! The magic lies in the cashew. The cashew powder thickens the drink, so if you prefer your shake so thick you can barely get it up the straw, then double the cashew from a thin layer to a thicker layer in the blender. I also added a few cacao beans and two spoonfuls of cocoa powder for stronger flavor. After blending the three together on Variation 5 speed for a minute or two, you should get the following result:

Cashew & cacao & chocolate powder

With that as your base, fill your blender up with either date or honey as sweetener and fill the cup with kale.

Kale is such a versatile veggie plus it is super healthy. I've heard about kale chips, salad, stews...My most favorite way is still to blend it up into a shake though. It's too fibery for my liking, and it takes a while to cook down.

What I have at the end of all this hard work, thank you vitamix, is some guilt free shake that will replace my lunch today...if I can stop myself from entering the kitchen.

"I'm no ugly shake!"