Wednesday, December 9, 2015
peanut butter raisin oat cookies
Peanut Butter Cookie fans and Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Fans rejoice, for tonight we settle our differences and come together for the holidays. I know, lately tensions have been running high between our cults, but if anything can bring peace to our warring sides it is this cookie.
Creamy peanut buttery, chewy raisin oatliciousness, this cookie is not only flavor packed, but texturally symphonetical—made up a whole bushel of words in that sentence. But miracles happen when cookies like this enter our hearts. Enough dawdling, let's get on with the recipe.
Labels:
baking,
cookie,
cookies,
dessert,
easy,
easy recipe,
easy recipes,
oats,
peanut butter,
winter
coming soon - peanut butter raisin oat cookies
If there were some contest to see what the ultimate holiday cookie was, this cookie would win it. If you're a peanut butter fan, this is your cookie. If you're an oatmeal raisin fan, this is also your cookie. If you don't like either, well sucks for you cause the rest of use love Peanut Butter Raisin Oat Cookies. The recipe is coming soon!
Sunday, November 22, 2015
thanksgiving sour cream biscuits
If you're reading this post, you're one of two people: (1) Thanksgiving just passed and you're trying to see how long you can last before the food coma takes you too, or (2) you're panicking because Thanksgiving is tomorrow and you just remembered that mother-in-law Margaret only comes to Thanksgiving dinner for the biscuits! Whether you're the former or the latter, these super easy biscuits can solve your problems. Did I mention they only take 5 minutes (of effort) to make!
Take a quick look at the picture of me in the left sidebar. No matter how strong your astigmatism is, I am definitely not the face of an expert biscuit maker. Nor do my parents look like expert biscuit makers (picture me...thirty years older). The fact is, Chinese people are not expert biscuit makers, nor are they even that fond of eating biscuits. If any person was as unqualified as I was to show you how to make a biscuit, it would be a babbling two-year old. Nevertheless, there in that statements lies my point. If I can make these damn good lookin' biscuits, you can definitely make them...and they'll probably turn out even better than mine.
Labels:
baking,
biscuits,
bread,
easy,
easy recipe,
easy recipes,
fall,
pastry,
quick bread,
sides,
sour cream,
winter
coming soon // thanksgiving sour cream biscuits
Everyone has leftover sour cream. Everyone likes sour cream biscuits. Make 'em in less than 5 minutes (of effort) and serve before the big thanksgiving meal!
Sunday, November 1, 2015
pomelo curd crème brûlée
Is it "un-American" to not hand out candy during Halloween? My parents and I wrestled with the idea for a solid 3 minutes before deciding that it wasn't and went to our favorite celebratory restaurant far away from home (just in case the trick-or-treaters followed us). If karma is a thing, it sure hasn't hit me yet because I'm sitting here at my desk with a smile and cup of crème brûlée that I smuggled from the buffet line. You know when a crème brûlée is good when it is felony-worthy good.
And while the crème brûlée I had at the restaurant was the inspiration for this recipe, I didn't want to just copy it. I wanted to make an elevated crème brûlée, one that after your first bite you can't stop eating until all the cows and chickens say enough is enough. The resulting concoction, the convergence of a pumelo sale at the store, my experience at the restaurant, and the all-important cow-chicken factor, was this Pumelo Curd Creme Brulee. No need to thank me. Just enjoy.
coming soon - pumelo curd crème brûlée
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
strawberry (and cherry) cheesecake parfaits
Officially the summer months are coming to an end as companies reintroduce pumpkin spiced everything and Halloween décor to the masses. These transition times usually lend me to a certain shortsighted nostalgia. I think about all of the fun things that I’m going to miss as one season lay rest to a new. As summer ends and fall takes over, a part of me cannot let go of the sun soaked memories and meals that summer brought. If my wimpy frou frou nostalgia shpeal isn’t reason enough for you to try this recipe, let me remind you that you still have a 30 quart Ziploc bag full of strawberries in your freezer that you need to get to before freezer burn does. Let’s celebrate the beginning of autumn with this blast-from-recent past summer treat: Strawberry (and Black Cherry) Cheesecake Parfaits.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
coming soon - strawberry (and cherry) cheesecake parfaits
Homemade crumb topping adds nutty buttery texture to thick cheesecake filling and plump macerated summer berries. If you have frozen summer fruit in your freezer, you won't want to miss this recipe! I'll try to get it out on Tuesday.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
chocolate peanut butter chip biscotti
The other day I was walking through my local specialty shop and found that they were sampling "authentic" Italian biscotti. Naturally, I stopped by...multiple times, until the lady cutting the biscotti began to give me looks. By then I was already full. On my third or fourth visit, I caught glance at the unit price for an "authentic" Italian biscotto (the singular for biscotti): $2.oo per biscotto. I'm all for quality, but at that price I might as well be eating gold bars speckled with diamonds! Then I had an epiphany. I could make a killing selling biscotti around my neighborhood. But because food bloggers are inherently exercise adverse (at least this one is), I set aside that idea for a good three weeks until today. Turns out, biscotti are much easier than the "authentic" Italians are leading them up to be. Follow these easy steps and you too can enjoy authentic biscotti without taking the equity out of your home to pay down biscotti loans. You might even become a millionaire selling them to your neighbors. As always, I hold a 30% royalty on all recipes you sell to your loved ones. ;-)
Labels:
baking,
bars,
biscotti,
chocolate,
cookie,
cookies,
dessert,
easy,
fall,
pastry,
peanut butter
Monday, September 14, 2015
coming soon - chocolate peanut butter chip biscotti
Last night I sat in the corner of my living room curled in a ball with a fluffy blanket and my old stuffed animal rabbit that I dug out of the closet. I was sad. Sad because I let myself and you down. I told myself I would write a blog post at least every week. More than three weeks since my last post, I'm back, and back for good whether y'all like it or not. Tomorrow I'll have this chocolate peanut butter chip biscotti for y'all to munch on. Have a great day!
Chow!
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
food adventures in chicago // the girl and the goat
I'm not a restaurant critic, nor do I plan to make many restaurant reviews in the future; nevertheless, today I had to turn my inner fan girl loose. For the past week, we (the fam and I) have been in Chicago. On our trip, we sampled dishes from some of the most highly acclaimed restaurants in the Midwest. We at places like Mon Ami Gabi (My Friend Gabi in French), Deka, and the Tavern (previously called Tavern on the Town, my parents favorite place to socialize and eat when they lived in Chicago). I suppose, all food bloggers like to believe they're qualified to review restaurants; they like to believe they're part of an elitist super-race, one which sports highly discriminating taste buds that can pick apart dishes into their elemental components. I can't speak for my fellow foodies, but I am part of that super-race. Here is my review of my favorite restaurant we ate at in Chicago—The Girl and the Goat.
Monday, August 3, 2015
carrot cauliflower corn slaw + honey mustard dressing
After a brief break from blogging, I'm back and punnier than ever. Since posting the chow creations' first ever video recipe a couple weeks ago, I've been purtey busy: I made a blue table, aced my sixth semester at college, and bought a fancy-shmancy strobe light, which only set me back $200. I'm still learning how to apply my newly found skills and equipment, so this post will be a test run on many fronts, especially the lighting. Forgive the lighting.
You, like me, may be reading this with a mild case of the end-of-summer glooms. Well, gloom not my friends for this cauliflower slaw is the cure to all end-of summer ailments. In fact, this slaw is so easy and refreshing you'll be wondering why you waited this long to learn how to make it and why I waited so long to post it. The answer is simple. I'm a selfish lazy bastard. That's my problem, not yours. Rehashing the past is pointless. Going forward I promise I will be a good blogger, the type that posts every week with the reliability of heartburn after a jalapeno.
Labels:
cooking,
easy,
honey,
mustard,
raw,
salad,
side,
sides,
slaw,
summer,
vegetables,
vegetarian,
veggies
Sunday, August 2, 2015
coming soon // carrot cauliflower corn slaw + honey mustard dressing
After four long weeks from blogging (I had summer school), Aaron returns with a bright summer recipe to cheer up the end-of-summer glooms. This carrot cauliflower corn slaw is not only fun to say, but it's fun to eat (cut me some slack, my descriptions haven't warmed up yet). The recipe will be out in a day or two, so stay tuned. Hey that rhymed. Maybe I still have it. ;-)
Sunday, July 12, 2015
our first video recipe // white peach galette
Saturday, July 11, 2015
our first video coming soon // white peach galette
Sunday, June 28, 2015
grilled mac & cheese sandwiches
Labels:
cheddar,
cheese,
childhood,
cooking,
easy,
easy recipes,
main,
nostalgic,
pasta,
sandwich,
summer
Thursday, June 25, 2015
coming soon - grilled mac & cheese sandwich
C'mon. C'MON!!! I doubt you can fathom the awesomeness of just looking at a picture of this! It is not even close to how good you're picturing it in your head. The recipe is coming out in a bit!!! (mind you I'm sorry if i don't get the post out for awhile, i have a lot of summer homework. please check back often though.)
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
mango blueberry sherbert
People all over the world - except Australians and their backwards idiosyncrasies - are on the brink of summer; however they're ill prepared and I'm here to help. My suggestion? Go to Costco, buy a 24 family pack of sunblock, grab 6 industrial sized towels, and some summer fruits - provided that you left Costco otherwise you're gonna have to buy a lot of fruits (which is probably a problem only particular to the first world). After you finally leave Sampleworld with all of your beach day things run home and make this sherbert! It's so good, and surprisingly easy.
When I was making this recipe I overestimated the capacity of my ice cream maker and when I measured the first batch I realized only an eighth of the mixture could fit in at one time. I practically have a toy ice cream maker. I concluded that the only sane thing to do was to make the sherbert by hand. So, every 30 minutes I took the sherberts out of the freezer and stirred them. That's probably why the blueberry one turned out kind of icy. Nevertheless I loved it even more because I literally made it myself. So the moral of the story is don't get your cooking equipment from Dave & Busters.
When I was making this recipe I overestimated the capacity of my ice cream maker and when I measured the first batch I realized only an eighth of the mixture could fit in at one time. I practically have a toy ice cream maker. I concluded that the only sane thing to do was to make the sherbert by hand. So, every 30 minutes I took the sherberts out of the freezer and stirred them. That's probably why the blueberry one turned out kind of icy. Nevertheless I loved it even more because I literally made it myself. So the moral of the story is don't get your cooking equipment from Dave & Busters.
Monday, June 8, 2015
coming soon - mango blueberry sherbert
If you didn't know, sherbert is a sorbet with cream. I make mine with plump fresh blueberries, tropical mango, and creamy coconut milk. Must I say more except coming soon.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
virgin mango bellinis + basil
For the entire week I have procrastinated writing this post because I wondered whether it was really necessary to write down a recipe that has only 3 ingredients, and even less steps (and I was being lazy). Making these bellinis was so easy that I'm pondering whether I should change this blog to an only bellinis blog. I mean, the alliteration is right there.
Truthfully, if there weren't any laws mandating that children under 21 can't drink, these bellinis would be totally non-virgin. But, laws and regulations and stuff. What can you do.
Labels:
basil,
drink,
easy recipe,
easy recipes,
fruit,
healthy,
learning,
mango,
summer,
vegan
Saturday, May 23, 2015
coming soon - virgin mango bellinis + basil
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
maple-roasted nectarine pancakes
The photography in this post is going to be a bit erratic because 1) I shot it at different times of the day, 2) I'm not very good at photography, and 3) I'm kind of an idiot. As the days pass I'm slowly but surely degrading into a mushy pile of peanut butter and pancakes.
But enough about me, let's turn our focus to the important matter, the thing which is captured within the execrable photography - the humble pancake stack. It all started with a question. A question of whether it was possible to incorporate maple syrup, a topping that dowses and sogs pancake stacks all across America, within the batter itself. Finally the answer would come to me a whole 2 hours later - simply substitute sugar with maple syrup. Any simpleton could have come up with that. That's why I had to push the envelope; cue the maple-roasted nectarines.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Friday, May 8, 2015
momma's day // 30 min brie + chive puddle scones
I'm not a person of hyperbole, usually, but THIS RECIPE IS POSSIBLY THE BEST THING I'VE MADE IN THE PAST TWO YEARS!!! Salty, creamy, fluffy, cheesy, buttery, herbaceous, when executed correctly (which doesn't take much effort or know-how) these scones could seriously be a game changer in the world of patisserie. Usually, bakers, to preserve that traditional flaky texture of the scone, will use a hard sharp cheese like cheddar or gruyere. I wanted to see how I could incorporate a softer, silkier, more luxurious texture to this already luxuriously buttery and creamy pastry. And thus, the unofficial birth of the cheese puddle scone, pockets of liquid gold oozing from seams of pillowy flaky pastry.
Cooking out of my small home in San Diego, I sometimes wonder whether the rest of the world gets to enjoy the deliciousness that just a few sprinkles of flour and cheese can procure. It's partially the reason why I like writing this blog because I feel like this type of mouthgasmic amazeballness just needs to be shared. If you're looking for a cheap, easy gift for your special momma this Mother's Day look no further...actually look further...down this recipe...okay just keep reading.
Labels:
baking,
breakfast,
brie,
cheese,
chives,
heavy cream,
lunch,
Mother's Day,
pastry,
savory,
scones,
sides,
summer
Thursday, May 7, 2015
coming soon - 30 min brie + chive puddle scones
Cheese scones are one and a million in the food community. I've seen many people use hard cheeses like asiago or gruyere to keep that iconic crumbly scone texture. But, I suggest to you, what if we turned the tables. What if we used soft cheeses. Ladies and gentlemen, the resulting miracle, the unofficial birth of the cheese puddle scone. Melty pockets of cheesy gold surrounded by light and creamy pastry. Coming soon!!
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
scrambled eggs and tomato | a childhood favorite
Those of you who have scoured cookbooks and websites in search of a quick and easy recipe for the weekdays and nights, exposing yourself to computer viruses whilst scraping the dark underbelly of the internet, scour no more. Often times the best things in life are the simplest, case and point, the humble scrambled eggs and tomato. After reading the comments you guys left me on my social media (links in the sidebar), I learned that many of you also grew up eating this dish. Some of you suggested adding onions while others emphatically yelled "witchcraft" from their rooftops. While suggestions are encouraged they aren't necessary because today we're sticking with the crowd-pleaser. Passed on to my momma from her dad and generations before him, this dish needs no accoutrements or augmentations. Remember, the simplest things are often the best.
While I'll admit it was difficult to shoot this dish because of it's somewhat brain-like features, the poorly taken photography in no way degrades the deliciousness of the recipe. Because this is so easy to make and can be achieved with only basic refrigerator staples, this is a dish you can prepare whenever you want in whatever mental state you're in. On a completely unrelated note, this is the perfect hangover food. I know this not by experience so one need not call the Center for Underaged Drinking. My point is nostalgia can be had by you whenever you'd like in less than five minutes. Cheers!
Labels:
anytime,
breakfast,
chinese,
dinner,
easy recipe,
easy recipes,
eggs,
lunch,
mom,
momma,
side,
sides,
tomato
Sunday, April 19, 2015
coming soon - scrambled eggs and tomato
My mom makes these eggs for us whenever she's too tired to make an elaborate dish. We don't really complain because it's our favorite dish! This is so easy and great for any and every meal of the day. Stay tuned!
Thursday, April 2, 2015
crunchy chocolate peanut butter chip cookies
In retrospect, I should have patented chocolate and peanut butter when I discovered it in '08. Now look how its blown up. I don't know if you've heard about it but now there's this little company called Reese's that makes chocolate and peanut butter candies. Actually Reese's and I go a long ways back. He and I used to be roommates until he stole my recipe and wouldn't give me credit. I had to kick him out of the dorm. Well actually I left. Technically he kicked me out for what he dubs "inappropriate" and "salacious" behavior. Whatever that means right. I actually know what it means. His lawyer made me look up "salacious" in the dictionary when I was taken to court. It means vulgar or explicit. What was I talking about...oh yeah chocolate and peanut butter. One of the best combinations in the world.
Similar in texture and appearance to your traditional peanut butter cookie, this upgraded crunchy chocolate peanut butter chip cookie has crunchy salty pretzels and creamy peanut butter morsels laced throughout. The bitter notes from the cocoa and the salty sweet combination from the pretzels and the peanut butter make this the perfect cookie flavor. I guarantee this is way better than the boring peanut butter cookies you've had in the past. Not to mention, these are super easy to make and you can make a lot of them for parties and potlucks. I'd like to see Reese get a hold of this one. What type of peanut butter morsels am I using? Reese's...damn you Reese and your delicious confectionary products.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
coming soon - crunchy chocolate peanut butter chip cookies
Your classic peanut butter cookie, but with a hint of chocolate, crunchy pretzels, and many creamy peanut butter chips laced throughout, stay tuned for the recipe!
Thursday, March 26, 2015
meatballs & marinara - juicy balls of deliciousness
If you're an atheist, vegan, or Indian (from India), you should probably shield your eyes from what I'm about to say. Thank you God for making cows edible. Amen. I guess I should be thanking him for pigs too cause these are beef and pork meatballs, but then I'd have to list every ingredient and then the "Indian" criteria wouldn't really work. Analogies, can't live without them, can't form all-encompassing logical statements with them.
The interweb is inundated with meatball recipes. In fact, unbeknownst to me Foodnetwork just came out with an edition entirely dedicated to the little balls of meat. Yet, there's been this void inside me that has been pecking at my sanity ever since I started this blog. A meatball shaped void that when filled I can finally call this "thing" a food blog. Plus, it was an excuse for me to make meatballs. Mmm meatballs. Meatballs. If you're uncomfortable with the word you should probably stop reading now.
Labels:
beef,
bread,
cooking,
dip,
easy,
easy recipes,
main,
main course,
mains,
meat,
meatballs,
parmesan,
pork,
sauce,
spring,
tomato
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Thursday, March 12, 2015
vanilla cupcakes + sour cream chocolate ganache frosting
As said to me by my filipino gardener, "These cupcakes are good. Better than sex." For those imposter bloggers who throw around the term #foodporn willy nilly, don't listen to them anymore. This recipe is literally food porn. (it gave this man a foodgasm!)
In today's world, where the temptations of pretentious cronuts and yuza matcha pavlova ice cream sandwiches bombard us from twitter and instagram, sometimes it's nice to take a step back and reminisce about good ol' times. Those days when we happily nibbled on vanilla cupcakes and overly sweet chocolate frosting, not because they were even that good, but because that's all we knew. The only difference is this time it's going to taste good. I mean so good, you're going to find yourself having to make another batch cause you somehow ate a dozen cupcakes in the span of writing a short paragraph.
Labels:
baking,
cake,
chocolate,
cupcakes,
frosting,
ganache,
party,
potluck,
sour cream,
spring,
vanilla
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