Mushroom Soup

It's been pretty cold, so I wanted to make something warm and hearty, but relatively easy to make. I decided to visit 101 Cookbooks, which I used for a lot of my recipes in the past and found a Mixed Mushroom Soup recipe that looked too good to pass up.


Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good variety of mushrooms at the local grocery store, so I just got one kind, and cut it up really small. I also used green onions instead of chives. I was afraid that the soup would not be a success, considering I was straying so much--I didn't have any barley or rice to add either, but it turned out great! Huge success, according to the boyfriend :)

Will definitely try again!

Chinese Corn Soup

I've been on a soup obsession recently, and have been looking for different soup recipes to try. This one is an oldie but goodie for sure:

It's really easy to make, here are the ingredients:
2 cans chicken stock
2 eggs (beaten)
2 cans creamed corn
1 can corn kernels
cornstarch
salt/pepper
green onions, chopped


Place chicken stock and creamed corn in soup pot and let boil. I like to put water in the empty chicken stock cans and swirl it around to get any chicken stock left, and add that to the soup pot. Use your judgement: if you feel that the amount of liquid is not enough, add more water (be careful though, I've added too much water before and ended up with really watery tasting soup). Once it's boiling, add corn kernels (as well as any meat/veggies you want to add--soft tofu is delicious with this soup) and let simmer. Make a cornstarch/water mixture in a small cup/bowl and add to soup until you reach the consistency you want. Remember that soup gets thicker once cold, so don't add too much cornstarch to the soup! Mix in eggs. I like to stir while adding about 1/2 of the eggs to get that nice wispy quality to it, and then not stirring as much with the rest, to leave bigger egg portions in the soup. Finally, add some salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with green onions. Enjoy!

Tri-berry Muffins

Ever since I made the cream of fresh tomato soup, I've been itching to try another Barefoot Contessa creation. There was one that I've been eyeing for a while now though, and now that berries are in season, I've finally gotten the chance to try it out!


From the Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook, Tri-Berry Muffins!

It turned out great! Relatively easy to make also--the main berries were strawberries (chopped), blueberries, and raspberries. The only thing was, I thought I put the oven temperature for 375, but apparently, I actually put it on 325. Whoops.

So I'm not exactly sure how that affected the muffins, but for next time, I'll definitely make sure to double check. And probably put a little less sugar. And butter. Try to at least make it a bit healthier. :)

Chicken and Orzo with Parmesan and Basil

After such a long cooking hiatus, I finally made something! (Mostly because I had some orzo leftover and needed to make something with it). I found this recipe online and decided to give it a shot.

It turned out pretty well! And the recipe is actually really easy to follow. After prepping everything, I melted some butter over the pan, and put some garlic in for taste. I sauteed the orzo in the pan until it was brown (just a warning, once the orzo starts to brown, it burns pretty fast). After taking out the garlic, I poured a can of chicken broth and let the orzo cook. Once all the liquid had evaporated, I added the parmesan cheese (a bit less than what the recipe called for), basil, and some cilantro. Salt and pepper to taste.

For this dish, I decided to add some ground chicken also, which I cooked beforehand (with some salt and pepper) and added at the very end. I was afraid the dish would taste weird with it and so I wanted to sample it first before adding all the chicken in. The combination is actually pretty good.

I highly recommend it--it's easy and tasty!

Hot Fudge Sauce

Baskin Robbins' Jamocha Almond Fudge is my all-time favorite ice cream flavor. Sadly, Baskin Robbins closed in the Philippines and I can no longer indulge in what was a staple during my childhood (My aunt owned a Baskin Robbins franchise and I used to eat it everyday. It's truly a miracle that I'm not diabetic and was  underweight.). I decided to make my own hot fudge sauce using my leftover Valrhona to enjoy with the pint of coffee ice cream that was in my freezer. I used Guanaja (70%) and I think the bitterness of the chocolate was a good balance for the sweetness of the ice cream. I added slivered almonds as a topping. I tried my hot fudge both after I had let it cooled down and was warm enough to enjoy with my ice cream without melting it instantly, and when it was cold from storing it in the fridge. I can taste the flavors of the Guanaja more intensely when it's served warm but I like the thickness of the sauce when it's served chilled. With Valrhona, there are really very few things you can do that will make it unpalatable.

Christmas Dinner Part 2: Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup

A few months ago, I went on a trip to LA for a cousin's wedding, and was introduced by my aunt to Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. I heard lots of good things, but had to try her out for myself. So I rented a whole bunch of her cookbooks from the library when I got back from my trip, and decided to try this recipe first (mostly because I'm a sucker for any kind of Tomato-based soup).

My aunt was not wrong! This soup was DELICIOUS. I highly recommend picking up one of her cookbooks and trying  out her recipes. Fortunately for anyone reading, I found an online version of the recipe I used. It was relatively easy to make, it just took a LOT of time, mostly because I wanted to make a large batch (so I doubled the recipe) and had to run several batches through the blender (I didn't have a food mill, as the recipe asked for). It came out slightly chunky, but very tasty!

Christmas Dinner Part 1: Szechuan Green Beans

During a recent trip to China, I had the best green bean dish in a small restaurant next to the apartment complex I stayed at. After that, I wanted to see if I can make it myself for Christmas dinner. So, after some research, I found a recipe I wanted to to try.


It was a relatively easy recipe to make, the only problem was, I made too much sauce for too few beans.. so the dish was too salty. Unfortunately, even after the dish was watered down (I saved the leftover sauce and used it for another green bean dish), it still didn't taste quite like that elusive green bean dish.

I guess this means the hunt for the best green bean recipe is still on!