Warm Chocolate Tart

I had leftover cream and chocolate from making a chocolate-coconut cake so I looked for a recipe that listed  these as the main ingredients. Luckily, Francois Payard's Simply Sensational Desserts (the same book I took the Chocolate-Coconut Cake recipe from) has a delicious and very simple recipe for warm chocolate tart.

The most time-consuming part was making the sweet tart dough from scratch since you will need to refrigerate the dough between steps. After I pre-baked my tart shell, there was a crack in the side so I patched it up with some bread. It would have been better to just not throw out my excess tart dough.

This is definitely one of my favorite desserts. It was easy to make and the chocolate ganache was rich and creamy.

Click here for the recipe.

Turkey Pesto Sandwich

This past Friday was more of a low-key event--sandwiches and some Wingstop (yum!). I made asian pesto sauce the night before from the book Simply Ming (delicious!--pesto made with fresh basil, mint, cilantro, peanuts, jalapeno and lemon zest). I toasted ciabatta bread with pesto sauce slathered on one side, and slices of Yancey's Fancy Jalapeno & Peppadew Cheese on the other. Afterwards, I put some turkey slices, lettuce, onions and avocado, and voila! Delicious! I would have to say, best sandwich I've ever made--best dish out of everything I've posted (except the pizza :P which reminds me--I might make some more pizza... with the extra pesto sauce I got!)

Marinated Tofu with Edamame Stir-Fry

Another Friday night, another night to experiment with recipes that look good.  This past Friday, I decided to try making Asian Ginger Soup, Marinated Tofu with Edamame Stir-Fry, and Cold Soba Noodles. While the last Friday dinner was a success, this one was, sadly, more mediocre than great (hence, the short post).

I got the recipe from a magazine, so unfortunately, no links for today! Basically, I marinated the tofu in a mixture of rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, chopped ginger and chopped garlic for 30 minutes. After frying the tofu, I stir-fried edamame, sliced mushrooms, bok choy, bell peppers and onions, added the marinade (thickened with cornstarch) and finally, topped it off with the cooked tofu. I've thought of a few tweaks I can make to the dish--when I've perfected it, I'll definitely post!

Asian-themed Dinner Part 1: Miso soup

(photographer: Kelvin Chu :P)

I decided to have an Asian-themed dinner this Friday to wind down after a long week--Miso soup, Garlic Soba Noodles, Garlic Parmesan Flatbread (leftover dough from the pizza), and some Almond Jelly (courtesy of my sister)

To start our Asian-themed dinner, I made some simple miso soup using miso paste and some firm tofu (forgot to buy some seaweed). I didn't really have a specific recipe that I followed, just had some boiling water, added some miso paste to taste (the trick is to mix the paste to boiling water in a separate bowl to avoid clumping), and some dashi granules (which is basically fish stock). Once the soup tasted like I wanted it to, I added the firm tofu, which I already cut into cubes and let it boil. Done!

Asian-themed Dinner Part 2: Garlic Soba Noodles

For the main course of the night, I decided to try a recipe I saw online. This recipe looked good from the first time I saw it--simple, quick and tasty. I didn't exactly follow it step-by-step, just sort of went with my gut (whoops--slightly tasteless there... maybe I should've measured). But it didn't turn out so bad!


To summarize the recipe, I fried firm tofu that had been dipped in egg, then covered with a mixture of breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic powder and salt. After boiling soba noodles, I stir-fried it with garlic powder, some chopped garlic, and parmesan cheese for flavor. I also added some green onion, and topped the dish with the firm tofu (sliced). Delicious!

Experiment #3: Pizza (with homemade dough)

The pizza itself was really easy to make, just choose a sauce and toppings. I used pesto sauce (from Trader Joe's) and varying toppings (I made 3 pizzas, all with different combinations of the following: stir-fried chicken, avocados, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, olives).


For the pizza dough, I used this recipe (although, as you can see, my dough did not turn out as delicious looking as this website's). Instead of 4 1/2 cups of flour, I used 50% whole wheat flour and 50% all purpose flour. And instead of the instant yeast, I used active dry yeast, but only 75% of a teaspoon (approximate) according to this.

The pizza dough takes the longest time--after letting it rest overnight, bring it out 2 hours before baking and knead it a bit to form mini pizza-sized dough. Let rest.


When the dough is ready, spread the pizza sauce of your choice onto it (I don't like crust, so I tried to put pizza sauce as close to the edge as possible) and add whatever toppings you like--don't forget the cheese!

Penne alla Vodka

I spent a year in Beijing to learn Mandarin; to eat healthy, I bought a ceramic cooker so I could "cook" my own meals rather than eat the greasy food from the school cafeteria (or any restaurant in Beijing). Truth is, the only dishes I could cook was anything I could boil (i.e. pasta) or steam (i.e. frozen dumplings). Since getting home, I have wanted to cook a dish that did not come from opening a jar and simply pouring the contents out onto a pan for heating. I found this recipe for Penne alla Vodka on the 101cookbooks.com website. Reading the recipe, it sounded simple enough for a virgin-cook to pull off; moreover, it was quick, healthy and delicious. I usually can't eat much of a cream-based pasta but this tomato-cream sauce was flavorful and rich without being too heavy.

Click here for the recipe.