Hibiscus Tea [Jamaica]

Hibiscus Tea Flowers (Dried)

How it turned out!

I love drinking this agua fresca, or "fresh water," on a hot summer day or when I'm eating really spicy Mexican food. The taste is tangy, sweet, and refreshing. I usually buy a cup of jamaica, or "hibiscus tea," for around $2 dollars at a Mexican restaurant or fast-food place such as Gordo Taqueria. I squandered my money on this drink, until I realized I could make jamaica on my own! It is super easy!

I took a trip to an organic foods market and found hibiscus flowers sold in the bulk foods aisle. I bought 1 cup of dry hibiscus flowers which cost about $1.60.

I adapted the recipe on: http://www.muybuenocookbook.com/2011/03/agua-de-jamaica-hibiscus-tea/ and halved the recipe since I didn't buy enough flowers:

Ingredients:

1 cup dry jamaica/hibiscus flowers

3/8 cup granulated sugar (I found that less sugar tasted better)

3 cups water

How to make:

1. Wash the flowers.

2. Boil the water.

3. When water boils, add the dry hibiscus flowers and sugar.

4. Cook for 1 minute.

5. Turn off heat.

6. Cool & drain the tea.

7. Refrigerate.

8. Ready to drink!

It came out to about 2 glass cups of hibiscus tea, which is cheaper than buying store-made and super easy to make. Next time I will use less sugar because it came out a tad bit sweet/ tasted a little like sweet grape juice. Overall, I am satisfied with the turnout and can't wait to save a little more by making this drink.

Tea Leaf Eggs

I used a combination of recipes:

http://rasamalaysia.com/chinese-tea-eggs-tea-leaf-eggs-recipe/2/

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chinese-tea-leaf-eggs/

Ingredients:

Black tea

Star anise

Cinnamon stick

Black peppercorn

Light & dark soy sauce

I ended up using too much soy sauce (6 tbsp), and after I let the eggs simmer for about 2 hours, most of the liquid became dry. Next time, I will add more water and reduce the amount of soy sauce.

Macarons 馬卡龍- failure

Trial & Error:

My first time making macarons (minus the ganache/ filling).

I followed the recipe on http://www.annies-eats.com/2012/12/28/how-to-make-macarons-step-by-step/, which involves the Italian method. 

I couldn't get the egg whites to form stiff peaks. The batter came out too runny, so there was a lot of spread. 

The overall result was okay- at least there were some feet that formed, and the taste was good.

I'll try again some other time!

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.