This weekend, Kevin and I reminisced over our wedding in New York and shared a peach galette for breakfast. Peach was one of our wedding colors. We weaved the color into our wedding décor and flowers. We wanted to celebrate our one year New York wedding anniversary, so I made a simple peach galette using some fresh peaches, turbinado sugar, and homemade pie dough. Galettes are one of my favorite simple breakfasts to make in the morning. They can be sweet or savory depending on your mood. During busy fall weekends, I like to make a pear and apple galette for a sweet version or a tomato galette with my sharp cheddar pie dough for a savory version. The best part about a galette is how simple and easy it is to put together. This weekend has been a fairly busy weekend for me. I spent most of my time working on class projects for the final home stretch of my two photography classes. In between working on my final class projects, I’ve continued to test out new recipes (including my lemon peach galette). My lemon peach galette uses just a few ingredients, and comes together in a snap. I began by preparing a batch of my simple pie dough using my food processor the evening before. Once the pie dough was ready, I formed it into a disc, wrapped it up in plastic wrap and stored the pie dough in the fridge until the next morning. When I woke up in the morning, I removed the pie dough from the fridge to give it some time to adjust to the temperature in the room. If I just started rolling out the pie dough immediately, it can be a bit difficult to roll. As the pie dough was resting on my kitchen counter, I thinly sliced two fresh peaches using a sharp knife. I also prepare an egg wash for brushing onto the edges of my galette. When I was ready to make the galette, I rolled out the pie dough to about ¼ through ½ inch in thickness, grated some lemon zest onto the center of the pie dough, sprinkled on some turbinado sugar, layered the peach slices in a circle around the center of the dough (leaving about ½ to 1 inch around all sides for folding), and then began folding up the edges of the galette. I finished the galette by brushing the egg wash around all edges, sprinkling more turbinado sugar all over the galette, and then popping the galette into the oven to work its magic. After 30 minutes, my galette was ready for eating. Kevin and I enjoyed the galette as we reflected on how much fun we had just a year ago.
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Peach Salsa and Sheet Pan Tacos
One of my favorite meals to make on weekdays is fresh salsa and sheet pan tacos. I call it a chop, toss, roast, and eat meal. All I do is chop up some protein and vegetables, toss them in a sheet pan with some spices, and pop the sheet pan into the oven to roast away. While the taco ingredients are roasting away, I get started on preparing a fresh salsa using some fresh ingredients I have on hand. I usually like to make a simple fresh salsa using tomatoes, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, salt, and pepper. This time around, I put a spin on my usual fresh salsa by adding a ripe peach into the mix. In less than 45 minutes, the salsa is done, and the beep from the oven lets me know the sheet pan tacos are also done. The only step left is to assemble and devour the tacos. I love how quick and easy this meal is to put together from start to finish. Quick and easy meals have been such a time saver during my end of summer semester dash. I spent the earlier part of 2019 taking baking classes and working towards completing my leadership certificate program. I did have a break during the summer, so I enrolled in two photography classes to help me improve upon my photography skills. Flash forward to end of July and I realized my two photography classes will be ending in just two weeks. Thus, I’ve been trying to work ahead of schedule to complete projects and study the review sheets for the final exams. My summer days have consisted mostly of going to work from early morning to late afternoon, squeezing in a quick dinner, and then working on projects and studying the class material. During these days, the quicker I can get dinner to the table, the better. Fresh peach salsa and sheet pan tacos make for the perfect summer dinner because of how versatile and easy the meal is to prepare. You can use up pretty much any summer fruit you have around to liven up your standard fresh salsa. The taco filling can be a combination of any vegetables you have on hand. I had some pork chops, portabella mushrooms, peppers, and onions, so I chopped up these ingredients, and tossed them onto a sheet pan with some spices. From start to finish, it seems as if my meal was ready in minutes. With another meal down and Wednesday over, I’m excited to finish out the rest of the week, so I can relax a bit over the weekend.
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Kimchi and Chicken Fried Rice
My newest, absolutely amazing creation is kimchi fried rice. It was the side dish of choice for Kevin and I to bring to our friend, Court’s home for a relaxing Saturday evening of food and games. She asked us to bring a side dish to share with our friends and I ended up making a batch of kimchi fried rice to share. I wasn’t sure if our friends would be into kimchi fried rice, but to my delightful surprise, they absolutely loved it. Kimchi is one of my favorite side dishes to eat at traditional Korean restaurants. Most of the traditional Korean restaurants I’ve eaten at growing up in Brooklyn always serve a side of kimchi as one of many appetizers before the main course. Kimchi makes for a great appetizer because of its spicy, sour, and salty flavor profile. It always seems to wake up my taste buds in anticipation of the main course (usually bulgogi, bibimbap, or seafood soup for me). On Friday, when I went grocery shopping for the week, I spotted a jar of kimchi in the supermarket aisle where the prepared vegan foods were. I had initially thought about bringing my tried and true tomato basil pasta salad to the food and games night at Court’s on Saturday, but the jar of kimchi looked too good to pass up. Plus, I was starving by the time I got to the supermarket (which is never a good time to go shopping for groceries). Luckily, I had enough restraint to keep me from picking up too many snacks at the junk food aisle. When I got home, I put away the groceries and made a note to whip up a batch of kimchi fried rice the next day for the food and games night. On Saturday, I started preparing the kimchi fried rice early in the afternoon. I did spend the morning testing out a new scone recipe. More to come on this new creation in a later post. I reserved the afternoon to make a large batch of kimchi fried rice. Kimchi is wonderful to eat on its own, but it does make for a great addition to fried rice.
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Sausage, Mushrooms, and Spinach Baked Ziti
My cravings for baked pasta kicked in again this month. It came in the form of baked ziti. Baked ziti is a classic Italian inspired dish I grew up eating at the local pizzerias in Brooklyn, New York. My favorite will always be the baked ziti at the local pizzeria where my family lived when I was a kid, but I never turn down baked pasta from almost any pizzeria in New York City. The melty cheese paired with the hearty meat and vegetables swirled into the large tube-shaped pasta and slathered in tomato sauce always satisfies my strongest carb cravings. The version I made this week is no different. The only change I made is to reduce the amount of cheese, but still keep all of the flavors and aromas of my favorite baked pasta. My baked ziti starts with packaged dry ziti pasta cooked according to package instructions just 2 minutes shy of the “al dente” recommended cooking time. As the pasta is cooking away, I prepare a medium hot skillet, brown a mixture of sweet and spicy Italian sausage, add in some thinly sliced portabella mushrooms, fold in some fresh spinach, sprinkle in a good amount of kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, and then waited until the pasta was ready before folding the pasta into the meat and vegetable sauce. I finish off the pasta with some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and toss everything around before pouring the pasta into two medium sized baking dishes, topping them with more Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and adding some fresh mozzarella cheese. I alternate between covering the pasta with aluminum foil and not. Covering the pasta with aluminum foil keeps the pasta on top from hardening. Most people may prefer this method. I, however, like to have different textures and sometimes prefer some hardened pasta on top. Depending on your preference, you can either choose to cover the pasta or just skip this step. The entire pasta from start to finish takes about 45 minutes. The end result is always a steaming plate or bowl of cheesy, tangy, and savory goodness.
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Chicken Tenders with Sriracha Ketchup Dip
We’ve been experiencing a massive heat wave over the last few weeks in Ohio. The heat has a way of permeating through even the thickest walls of our home. This morning, I went for a quick morning walk, and in less than 5 minutes, my back was dripping with sweat. Typically, when it is this hot outside, I try to avoid using the oven or stove. Leaving the oven or stove on for even 20 minutes can warm up our home by 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit, which adds even more heat to the already warm home. I avoided the oven and stove for breakfast, but by lunch time, my cravings for chicken tenders led me back into the kitchen. I ended up turning on both the stove and the oven to make chicken tenders. Kevin is a huge fan of chicken tenders and would request some form of chicken tenders at least every other week. Actually, any fried food is on Kevin’s list of favorite dishes. Since I was in the mood for some chicken tenders this weekend, I decided to fry up a batch of crispy chicken tenders and served them with my favorite sriracha ketchup dip. I started off by making a flour mixture to use to coat the chicken tenders and some lightly whisked eggs to help the flour mixture adhere to the chicken tenders. I coated the chicken tenders in the flour mixture, lightly whisked eggs, and back in the flour mixture to create a nice coating. I then fried the chicken tenders in a Dutch oven pot for a minute on each side before finishing the chicken tenders in the oven. I like to fry and then bake the chicken tenders because the extra step gives the chicken tenders an even crisp all around. While these chicken tenders are absolutely wonderful on their own, I still like to dip them in some sriracha ketchup, one of my favorite go-to dipping sauces for fried foods. To round out the rest of my meal, I made a simple slaw (using precut packaged cabbage blend) and some iced hibiscus tea sweetened with honey. The simple lunch helped me stay fueled for the rest of the afternoon while I worked on some class projects and homework assignments.
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Mini Lemon Buttercream Floral Confetti Cakes
The best way to recover from summer travel fatigue is with mini lemon buttercream floral confetti cakes. It has been a couple days since my parents and aunt visited me in Ohio. I spent the last week thoroughly exploring downtown Columbus and showing my parents the wonderful attractions Ohio has to offer. The last time they visited Kevin and I was two years ago. My parents, aunt, and brothers all traveled to Ohio from New York City. We all had a blast exploring the food and culture of Cincinnati and its surrounding areas. This time, only my parents and aunt came. My brothers were off to their own adventures. Peter traveled to Rhode Island with his wife, son, and in-laws. Yu went on a cruise with his girlfriend. I didn’t want my parents to miss out on an adventure, so I invited them to experience Ohio. On the weeks leading up to their visit, I listed out a bunch of places I wanted to take them to. On the top of my list was Red, White & Boom followed by Hocking Hills. Both experiences were unique to Ohio and I truly believed they would enjoy both experiences. My parents and aunt arrived on July 2nd and stayed for almost an entire week. You can read more about our adventures during the week of July 4th here and here.
This week was my first full week back to work. I spent most of my Monday catching up on emails and most of my Tuesday following up on immediate requests. When I got home today, I wanted to share a recipe I worked on two weeks ago for my mini buttercream floral confetti cakes.
Read MoreJuly Celebrations and Candied Bacon
Happy Fourth of July!
My family arrived in Ohio on Tuesday evening. I convinced them to visit me during the week of July 4th because of the festivities in downtown Columbus. I was especially excited to take them to see Red, White & Boom in downtown Columbus. Red, White & Boom is touted as the biggest display of fireworks in the Midwest. I went to see the fireworks last year and had a great time. This year, I wanted to show my family what Ohio has to offer. I ended up having to go to work on July 3rd, so I printed out a map of downtown Columbus, circled a few spots, and let my family wander through the city. When I got off work, I met up with my family at Columbus Commons park. We made a quick stop at Tiger + Lily for dinner before heading to the river walk. My parents and aunt ordered some ramen. I had a vermicelli bowl. After dinner, we dodged the rain, made our way through all of the food stands by the river walk, looped around Cosi, snapped a few pictures along the way, and found our spot right on Front street. Like clockwork, once it was 10:00 p.m., the show began. The fireworks started right on time and did not stop until about 10:26 p.m. My mom, dad, aunt, and I watched the fireworks in awe. After about 5 minutes, the smoke did begin to fill the air. Our eyes remained glued to the fireworks most of the time. My parents’ eyes did alternate between the live fireworks and their phones. They had their phones ready to capture videos and photos of the fireworks display. Once the show ended, my parents headed back to their hotel. I headed back home. Dad kept reliving the moment and watching videos of the fireworks on his phone. Mom sent a few updates to my older brother to let him know what a blast she had. Aunt was just tired and was ready to sleep off her exhaustion. As we parted ways for the evening, my family already started asking what we had planned for July 4th. Well, let’s start with my simple recipe for candied bacon made with just three ingredients – brown sugar, black pepper, and (of course) bacon.
My friend, Paul, introduced me to the joy of candied bacon a few years ago when he brought the most splendid candied bacon to a potluck. He used a combination of maple syrup, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, kosher salt, and cayenne pepper in his version. I just had to share the ingredients for Paul’s wonderful candied bacon with the world because it really was that good. My simplified version only has brown sugar and freshly cracked black pepper, but let me assure you my candied bacon still has all of the amazing flavors you would expect in candied bacon. My candied bacon is sweet, smoky, crispy, salty, and has just a little kick of spice from the freshly cracked black pepper. The bacon was so good, I could not stop myself from eating more. As a warning, the candied bacon is irresistible. If you make too many, you will eat them all in one sitting. I cooked my bacon on a metal rack placed over a large sheet pan. I find this method of cooking bacon to yield the most evenly cooked bacon. The time it takes to cook the bacon depends on the thickness of the bacon, and the temperature of your oven. I cooked my candied bacon in a 350°F oven for 30-45 minutes. I used thick cut bacon and started checking on the bacon after 30 minutes of cooking time. For me, 45 minutes worked best as it yielded extra crispy bacon that had just the right amount of browning. Once the bacon was done cooking in the oven, I let it rest for 15 minutes on the metal rack before serving up the candied bacon in a glass cup. The candied bacon made for such a simple, yummy, and satisfying snack. Now, I need to get started on a red, white, and blue treat to celebrate Independence Day. Wishing you all a happy fourth!
For the Candied Bacon:
· 9 slices of thick cut applewood or hardwood smoked bacon (or as many as you can fit on your metal rack and sheet pan)
· 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
· 25-30 turns of freshly cracked black pepper, or about a teaspoon
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Place a metal rack on top of a large sheet pan.
2) Begin laying the thick cut strips of bacon on the metal rack right next to one another. It’s okay to place them right next to each other. Once the bacon starts to cook, it will shrink.
3) Sprinkle on the brown sugar and freshly cracked black pepper on both sides of the bacon strips.
4) Place the sheet pan in the oven and let it cook for 30-45 minutes. Around the 30-minute mark, begin checking on the bacon strips every two minutes. Remove the candied bacon once it reaches your desired doneness.
Takeaways: Candied bacon is a very customizable recipe. You can add some paprika or cayenne pepper to the bacon strips to up the spice factor. If you prefer, you can try Paul’s recipe and coat the thick cut bacon with maple syrup, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, kosher salt, and cayenne pepper before cooking the bacon in the oven. If you stick with some element of sweetness and spice, you can’t go wrong.
Cilantro Citrus Coconut Soup with Mussels
I don’t cook seafood too often (because Kevin strongly dislikes seafood), but yesterday, I had the whole day to myself and ended up making a version of a Thai inspired coconut soup with some mussels. The inspiration for this dish came from a meal I had a restaurant in the Over-the Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati. Last year, some of my friends from Ohio threw a small bachelorette party for me in Cincinnati and brought me to a dainty wine bar and restaurant in OTR. We started the afternoon off with making candles at The Candle Lab before heading to Zula for dinner. When we got to the restaurant, we were seated almost immediately. We glanced at the menu and our eyes were immediately drawn to the mussel bar. The four of us ordered four pots of steaming mussels from the restaurant’s mussel bar and each took turns tasting the many soup bases. I ordered French classic filled with a creamy wine base. My friends ordered the Vietnamese Pho style, New Orleans style, and Thai style. Each soup base had its own distinctive flavors and aromas from the country it drew its inspiration from. The flavors of all four soup bases were so satisfyingly good. While I loved all of the different soup bases, the Thai version featuring Thai basil, coconut milk, fish sauce, lemon grass, and ginger was my favorite. At the time, I made a mental note to recreate this dish at home somewhere down the road. Well, more than a year later, I finally decided to recreate this dish. I put my own spin to the dish by making a cilantro citrus coconut soup base, and tossing some separately steamed mussels into the pot to finish simmering with the soup. The soup with the mussels turned out so good, I just had to share the recipe. My Thai inspired version of the soup base featured coconut milk, ginger, lime, lemon, cilantro, fish sauce, and soy sauce. All of the ingredients were added to the pot to simmer away. While the soup was simmering in one pot, I separately steamed some frozen mussels in its vacuum sealed package in a separate pot following the instructions on the package. Once the mussels began to open up, I removed the mussels from the package, tossed them in the coconut soup, and allowed the mussels to simmer in the soup for another minute before serving up the mussels and soup for lunch. My cilantro citrus coconut soup with mussels transported me back to the moment I shared with my friends over a year ago.
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Mushroom Beef Stew
It’s not winter, but I had an intense craving for some warm, comforting stew this week. I looked in my refrigerator, saw some carrots, mushrooms, and beef sitting on the shelves, and thought to myself why not make a beef stew. I love making beef stews on cold winter days. While hot summer days aren’t ideal for leaving my Dutch oven pot cooking for long periods of time on the stove, my cravings trumped the inconvenience. Beef stew is actually one of the first recipes I ever made when I first started cooking. My first version of beef stew was just a bunch of vegetables and some precut beef dumped into a pot and cooked over low heat. While my first attempt was acceptable, I definitely refined the flavors and technique over time. Browning the beef ahead of time definitely makes for a beef stew with more depth of flavor. I love making stews because it is one of those dishes where you really can’t get it wrong. You brown your favorite protein, choose your favorite vegetables, and dump it all in a pot to cook until all of the flavors come together. The best part is it is both approachable and a one pot meal. Next week is the fourth of July. I’ve been doing some light summer cleaning to keep my home neat for when my parents visit next week. In between work and projects, I’ve been able to squeeze in some time to tidy up my home. I’m excited for my family to visit during the fourth of July week because of the festivities in Ohio. Columbus has its annual red, white, and boom celebration which always draws in a large crowd from around the world. Last year, I attended the event with a friend and thought it was a really neat celebration in central Ohio. This year, I wanted to take my parents to the event so they can see some of the great aspects of Ohio. I even completed some of my photography assignments ahead of time just so I can spend quality time with my family without having to worry about looming deadlines. Mostly, I will have some time to cook with my mom and dad in the kitchen. My parents cooked a lot throughout my childhood. One of the dishes I’ve been hoping to learn from my parents is the Pan family braised beef. Stay tuned on whether or not we will have the opportunity to make it during their visit. In preparation for their visit next week, I’ve been refining my mushroom beef stew recipe.
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Chicken and Egg Rice Bowls
Today, I’m excited to share my chicken and egg rice bowl recipe, a very loose adaptation of the oyakodon. I love a chicken and egg rice bowl at any time of day. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and for multiple times throughout the week. My chicken and egg rice bowl is one of Kevin’s favorite comfort breakfast foods. He too can eat it at any time of the day for multiple meals throughout the week. I consider my chicken and egg rice bowl to be a pantry, go-to comfort dish. If I have one of those days where I want something quick, and comforting with flavors from my childhood, I prepare a chicken and egg rice bowl using mostly ingredients I have stocked in my refrigerator and pantry. It’s one of those extremely easy and tasty dishes which comes together quickly and fills you up. With just a few ingredients prepped ahead of time, you can easy whip up a warming bowl of chicken and egg over rice. The month of June seemed to have zipped by fairly quickly. I’ve been immersed in work, classes, projects, photography, and cooking all month long. My photography classes have kept me busy during my free time. Most of my photography assignments prevented me from just vegging out on my couch. The assignments actually encouraged me to step outside more often to capture some of the beautiful aspects of nature. Learning about the fundamentals of photography have also helped me improve on my food photography. My favorite time to take photos is usually in the morning when there is still a good amount of soft light outside. Alternatively, I also head outside in the evening right before sun begins to set. Over the weekend, I spent a good amount of time in the morning snapping photos. After an hour or so, I worked up an appetite for breakfast. I prepared two chicken and egg rice bowls for both Kevin and I. I start by preparing the rice in a small pot over the stove. As the rice is cooking, I begin thinly slicing a small onion, scallions, and chicken breasts. Once I’ve prepared those ingredients, I move on to making the base for the sauce. The sauce I use is a combination of Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, granulated sugar, white pepper, and black pepper. At this point, I add half of the sauce to the thinly sliced chicken breasts to marinate the chicken pieces in the sauce. I heat up a skillet on medium heat, add the thinly sliced onion and scallions and let the ingredients cook until softened. I then add in the chicken pieces with the marinade and let the chicken pieces cook through before adding the remaining sauce and cracking two eggs directly into the skillet. I swirl the eggs into the mixture slightly and allow the chicken and egg omelet to cook until set.
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