Oven cooked yam + beef

For a while, I got so lazy and just wanted to eat out all the time, which is very expensive and unhealthy. I got back to cooking because my friend showed me her friend's Facebook pictures of 100+ meals cooked, and I was totally inspired since I wanted to broaden my cooking menu and try cooking new things.

I also got sick of making claypot rice over and over again as my dinner meal plan, so I started cooking food in the oven. For lunch, I made potato wedges in the oven. For dinner, I continued this trend and cooked some beef and yam in the oven (early Thanksgiving much?) 

Basically, I marinated the beef using salt, cornstarch, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little bit of MSG (I know, MSG is bad so I didn't add too much :) I coated the yams in some oil so it didn't stick to the pan (I didn't have any parchment paper). I just tossed everything in the pan and cooked on 350 degrees- the beef took less time (approximately 15-20 minutes) so I took it out first. However, the yams took longer (I even had to add some more oil to get it to ripe faster)- about 35-40 minutes. It took a lot of discretion and patience, but it was SO DELICIOUS! This meal kept me inspired to cook again. My new goal is to cook new savory foods and expand my knowledge of cooking. 

Chocolate Pancake

Pancakes are my NEW OBSESSION! So it all started when my roommate craved pancakes that her mom makes. She then bought this pancake mix called Aunt Jemima and made some pancakes. I got hungry for breakfast one day, so I made it, and although I do prefer making everything from scratch (that is my motto), the mix is amazing! I followed the recipe on the box but I halved everything.

I really craved chocolate pancakes, the ones with chocolate chips inside, but I was too broke to buy chocolate chip morsels at Walgreen's (they were about $5!) so I got an idea: use that Starbucks' Hot Cocoa Mix that was sitting up on the kitchen cabinet and infuse it with the milk.

The end product: I got TWO LARGE CHOCOLATE PANCAKES!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Aunt Jemima pancake mix
3/8 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon oil
1 egg (I didn't halve the egg because it was pretty small and it made the pancakes more moist, which I like)
1 tablespoon hot cocoa mix (I'm pretty sure you can use regular cocoa powder as well) 

How to Make:

1. Heat up the milk a little (not boiling) and mix in the hot cocoa. 
2. Add it to the rest of the ingredients. 
3. Heat up saucepan with a little oil on medium heat. Don't forget to turn it over quick because it heats up pretty fast!
4. Enjoy!

Chocolate + Green Tea Marble Cupcakes [双色巧克力加绿茶蛋糕]

I tried this amazing recipe from http://www.bakerella.com/bundt%E2%80%A6-whats-matcha/ !!

I love the chocolate + green tea combo; it has such a rich taste that no whipped frosting is needed :)) The only thing I did differently is bake into cupcakes and the baking time was less- approximately 30 minutes.

Almond [Milk] Pudding

The Chinese "Almond" Pudding (杏仁豆腐) uses apricot kernels instead of the brown pointy almonds. Since I didn't have any apricot kernels, I made this pudding with real almonds grounded into powder. When I put it into a pudding mold, the effect looked like glitter! : 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 + 1 1/4 cup milk (divided)
1 envelope (.25 oz) gelatin
1/2 cup almond powder
1/3 cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract


How to make:

Heat 1 1/2 cup milk in a pot on medium heat. When steam starts to form, stir in the gelatin until it is dissolved. Then turn off the heat.

Stir in 1 1/4 cup milk, almond powder, sugar, and vanilla extract. 

When mixture is fully dissolved, pour into strainer to filter out the almond residue.

Pour the liquid into pudding molds and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Tres Leches Cake

不是三杯鸡， 是三杯蛋糕啊! xD
Made this today. It was a success, thanks to the recipe on http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/tres-leches-cake/. The only thing I did differently was I halved the milks on the recipe- I used 1/2 cup condensed milk, 1/2 cup evaporated milk, and 1/6 cup heavy whipping cream.

Me gusta este pastel porque no es seco y la leche tiene buena aroma.

 Filled with 1. condensed milk 2. evaporated milk 3. heavy whipping cream 

 I had to make a star lol

 Piercing the cake with a fork

 Drizzling the cake with the 3 milks

 Final: pastel de tres leches

Green Tea + Chocolate Chiffon Layer Cake

Two layers of yummy chiffon cake!
I followed http://smallsmallbaker.blogspot.com/2011/07/aspiring-bakers-9-chocolate-swiss-roll.html for the chocolate chiffon cake layer. For the green tea chiffon cake layer, I subbed 20g green tea powder, which can be bought at 99 Ranch Market. 

Strawberry mousse filling... was a fail! 

Someday... I will make better!

Whipped topping... I still need to work on frosting the cake better!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

I saw this recipe on the back of the Hershey's baking cocoa container & tried baking this. I LOVE it! The chocolate cake is super moist and not too sweet. Of course, I still need to learn to frost a cake better and more professionally.

Recipe source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hersheys--perfectly-chocolate-chocolate-cake/

Chiffon Cake

Another favorite from Asian bakery stores- chiffon cake! It's very spongy, eggy, and light. I learned that butter is NOT used but instead vegetable oil- that's why it does not harden even after a few days but rather retains its moisture. 

Thanks to http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chiffon-cake/detail.aspx for the recipe!

Green Tea Cake Roll

I've eaten this cake from 99 Ranch Market, a lot of Asian bakeries. Thought I'd make this for a try. I grinded the tea leaves from Lipton Green Tea bags into the Vitamix blender, on high variable speed, for about 5 minutes total to get green tea powder (I had a hard time finding this powder in the stores). I guess I didn't pour enough batter into the baking sheet, so it came out a little too thin & sadly, the cake did not rise a lot. I will try again next time! :)


Thanks to: http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2010/06/green-tea-matcha-swiss-roll.html for the recipe!

猪肉饼煲仔饭 Claypot Rice

Very yummy & easy!


Fill pot with the amount of rice you want to eat. Add water to a level about 1/4" above the rice. Add a little oil (can be vegetable, sesame, any kind) and stir it in the rice. Place uncovered pot over stove on high heat. Once water starts to boil, add grounded pork, garlic, ginger (whatever contents you like) into the pot & close the lid and turn to very low heat. Cook for about 10-15 min. 


You can also pour this sauce over rice:
Soysauce + hoisin sauce + chicken broth mixed together.


Enjoy!


*Note: The heat settings are based on a gas stove. I have not tried making this over an electric stove, which can take longer to cook the meat thoroughly.
**Because the meat has a lot of water content, the rice should not have too much water or else it would soak up the water and become super soft.

纸包蛋糕 Paper Wrapped Cake

So soft, spongy, and not too sweet! This is a cake that is very popular in Asian bakery stores. The batter is poured into tin cups lined with baking paper, hence where the cake gets its name.  (I didn't have any tin cups or baking paper, so I poured the batter into muffin cups and unwaxed paper cups).


Thanks to http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2008/08/cake-wrapped-in-paper-hong-kong.html for the recipe!