Corn Chowder

I'm off work today because I'm feeling a bit under the weather. You know that saying "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?" I think I caught the flu bug from our recent trip there, and it, unfortunately, didn't stay in Vegas. This is my second bout of the flu this year. So I was craving some comfort food to help heal me, and what better way to heal than a nice bowl of soup.

Corn is in abundance nowadays and they were on sale at the supermarket, so I bought a few ears over the weekend. Why not make some corn chowder? I haven't made it in a while and haven't included it on this blog yet. This recipe was adapted from one of Paula Deen's Corn Chowder recipe that I tweeked a little bit, and it always satisfies my need for some comfort food.

4 Tbsp. butter

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 of a large carrot, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

pinch of ground nutmeg

salt & pepper to taste

1) In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add potatoes, carrot, onion and garlic. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add flour to make a roux. Continue cooking until roux begins to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

2) In a microwave safe bowl, combine chicken broth and corn kernels. Microwave just until broth begins to boil, about 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk broth mixture into roux. Continue whisking until lumps are almost gone. Return saucepan over medium heat. Cook mixture until it becomes very thick.

3) In another microwave safe bowl, combine milk and cream. Microwave for 1-2 minutes. Whisk cream mixture into corn mixture until well combined. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking chowder until potatoes are softened. (Note: if chowder is not thick enough, combine a tablespoon of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water and add to chowder to thicken). When ready to serve, stir in a pat of butter (optional) to enrich the chowder.

Studio B Buffet @ the M Resort & Casino

I have a love-hate relationship with buffets, especially in Las Vegas. I love buffets if the food is fabulous, which often is not. To me, the foods at buffet restaurants are mass-produced, therefore there's a lack of taste and quality. So its rare to find a really good buffet restaurant. And when we do find a good buffet restaurant, I hate what it does to my waistline.

Sometime last year, we visited one of hubby's cousins in Las Vegas and she and her family took us to eat at the buffet restaurant at the new M Resort & Casino. The hotel is way off the strip, so it isn't as busy and rowdy, which is a nice change of pace. The food was awesome and since that trip, hubby and I vowed to always go to the M Resort for their buffet. Our Vegas trip last fall was a miss. We decided to try to go their buffet on our way back home on a Sunday afternoon. I guess everyone knew about how fabulous their buffet was and decided to eat there the same time we wanted to, because the wait was about 2 hours. Never mind. We ate a quick deli.

This past weekend trip to Vegas, we decided to change our strategy. We had brunch on the Saturday, when we know everyone is coming in to Vegas and staying at the strip. No lines. Woohoo! M Resort, oh how I've missed you.

What I love about Studio B Buffet is their huge selection of different Asian dishes, where most buffets in Vegas have only a small selection. They even had Pad Thai. What buffet does that???

My eyes are obviously bigger than my stomach, because I always seem to fill my plate up. Which is why buffets are never good for my waistline.

Their dessert selection is awesome. The M Resort has a sweet shop, Baby Cakes, that also serves their treats at the buffet. And instead of the regular soft serve machine that is often seen at buffets, Studio B has a gelato counter. Yes, gelato.

My dessert plat consisted of 2 cups of gelato (nougat and chocolate cookie dough flavors), a Tiramisu shot, a Panna Cotta shot, and a Creme Brulee cup.

The Studio B Buffet did not disappoint me again. We'll definitely be coming back to Vegas again, if not only for the Studio B.

Red, White & Blue Cupcakes

No holiday is ever complete unless I make cupcakes. I've had this recipe bookmarked since last 4th of July from Sing for your Supper and I wanted to make it a point to make it this year. I loved how these cupcakes turned out. Especially the different layers of color. They look so festive. And they taste like the ones I buy at one of my favorite cupcake shops. Especially the frosting. I've actually been looking for this frosting and I'm glad to have encountered them in this recipe. You can definitely omit the food coloring if you want to make them a plain, white cupcake.

Cupcakes

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

4 egg whites

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tsp. grated lemon zest

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

2) Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Whisk together buttermilk and egg whites. Set aside.

3) Place sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer and rub them together with your fingers until sugar is moist and fragrant. Add butter, and using a paddle attachment, beat at medium speed for 3 minutes until mixture is very light.

4) Beat in vanilla extract. Gradually add one-third of the flour mixture. Beat in half of the of the buttermilk mixture, then half of the remaining flour mixture until well incorporated. Add the remaining buttermilk mixture and beat until homogeneous. Add the remaining dry ingredients. Continue beating for another 2 minutes to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.

5) To color the batter, divide batter into three medium bowls. Add red food coloring to one bowl until desired color is reached. Add blue food coloring in another bowl until desired color is reached. Place about a good tablespoon of of blue colored batter to the bottom of the cupcake liner. Top with another tablespoonful of white batter. Then add a tablespoon of the red batter. Cupcake liner should be half filled. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until cupcakes are well risen and springy to the touch. Transfer to cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

6-8 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Place butter in a bowl of a stand mixer. Add milk, vanilla, and 4 cups of confectioner's sugar. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.

2) Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition, until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading or piping consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. Use and store icing at room temperature as the icing will set if chilled.

Bibimbap

Last week, our friend, Reni, came down for a quick visit from Portland and we took her out for a lunch at a local Korean BBQ restaurant. We decided not barbecue our meats for fear of smelling like the grill when we finished. So we decided to order our own plates. I decided on Bibimbap, a Korean vegetable and rice dish. I've had bibimbap once before, but it was a more fusion-type bibimbap from Roy's Restaurant. So I felt a little embarrassed that I didn't know how to eat the real, authentic bibimbap. After our other friend, Vivian, took charge and added the house-sauce and mixed it all up, I was able to enjoy this light, yet filling dish.

I enjoyed my dish so much, that it inspired me to attempt to make it. And since it was a light dish, I figured I'd make it today, instead of barbecuing in the heat. The house-sauce reminds me of the sauce I use for one of my Korean tacos. So I figured Bibimbap wouldn't be too difficult to make. I looked at a few recipes and the common way of making it is by just cooking all the vegetables separately and seasoning them with sesame oil and salt. The sauce actually was similar to the sauces for Korean tacos. I finally settled on this recipe from the Food Network. It took a while to get all the vegetables cooked. I also used my Korean Bulgogi Beef recipe and chopped up the beef really finely using a food processor. The final product came out really well and I was quite pleased with the results. So was hubby.

steamed white rice
Bulgogi Beef, finely chopped

1 carrot, julienned and sauteed in sesame oil and salt

bean sprouts, sauteed in sesame oil and salt

1 lb. spinach, blanched and then seasoned with sesame oil and salt

4 cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced and sauteed in sesame oil and salt

2 zucchini, sliced and sauteed in sesame oil and salt

eggs, cooked over-easy

Gochuchang paste (recipe below)

1) Place desired amount of rice on the bottom of a bowl (individual bowl or serving bowl). Nicely arrange bulgogi and vegetables on top of rice. Place an egg on top of vegetables and drizzle desired amount of Gogchuchang paste.

When ready to eat, garnish with sesame seeds and sesame oil and mix all ingredients together.

Gochuchang paste

4 Tbsp. gochuchang (Korean red pepper paste)

1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

3 tsp. sesame oil

4 tsp. water

1) Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well incorporated.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

This weekend, hubby has been quite busy studying for his state board exam and fixing up the back yard so we can put up the above-the-ground pool for our daughter. We decided to put up the pool so we can have a pool/bbq party for 4th of July with my folks tomorrow.

Fresh strawberries are in abundance out at all the local grocery stores nowadays. Being that it's 4th of July tomorrow, I thought it would be festive to have some bright-red, Fresh Strawberry pie out on display when my family comes over tomorrow. My family and I love fresh strawberry pie and we buy at least one from our local bake shop every summer. The other day, my co-worker, Stacy, introduced me to a new blog and I found this great recipe for Fresh Strawberry Pie from Southern Plate. I've found a few other recipes from blogs I frequent. But the glaze that goes on the fresh strawberries look too thick, almost solid, and didn't look like the pie that I'm used to. This recipe, however, looked like the same consistency as the ones I buy at the bake shop. And it tasted great and easy to make.

1 ready-made pie crust

1 pint fresh strawberries

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. strawberry gelatin (do not use sugar-free)

3 heaping Tbsp. cornstarch

1 cup water

1) Bake pie crust according to directions. Set aside and cool completely.

2) In a medium bowl, combine sugar, strawberry gelatin, and cornstarch. Stir until incorporated. In a medium saucepan, add water and stir in gelatin mixture until well combined. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and clear. Set aside and cool completely.

3) Wash and hull strawberries. Cut strawberries in half and arrange in baked pie crust. When filling has cooled, pour over strawberries. Chill until ready to serve. Serve with whipped cream.

Atchara (Pickled Green Papaya)

Growing up, my lola used to make a lot of pickled items such as pickled mangos and pickled green papaya relish (atchara). She would bottle them and it would remain in the fridge for months and months. They're often an accompaniment to fried dishes with rice. However, I was never a huge fan of the pickled mangos or atchara. I was a kid and didn't like the sour-ness of them. Then a few months ago, hubby and I went to a food truck fest and ate off of a Filipino food truck. They had the standard rice and tocino. But their plates had a side of atchara with it. I don't think I remember my grandparents or my parents eat their tocino with atchara before. Then flashbacks of me not liking atchara when I was kid ran through my mind. But hey, I'm older now and have a more sophisticated palette. So I gave it a shot and ate it together with my rice and tocino. What did I miss all these years??? The sour-ness balances the flavors of the meat and rice perfectly. Hubby took a taste of it and asked if I could make atchara. And it gave me an idea. So I did a search and found this recipe from Panlasang Pinoy.

One of the reasons why I started this blog was for my daughter to have a record of her culture in food. With all the desserts and other non-Filipino dishes I make on this blog, sometimes I lose that vision. So this atchara dish somehow takes us back to that. And when I tasted my final product, it somehow took me back to my days with my lola.

3-4 lbs. green papaya, juliennned

2 medium sized carrots, julienned

1 large onion, sliced thin

10 cloves garlic, sliced thin

2 Tbsp. peppercorn

1 inch fresh ginger, julienned

1/4 cup, plus 1 1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups white vinegar

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 small boxes raisin (optional)

1) In a large bowl, combine green papaya and 1/4 cup salt. Mix until salt is well distributed. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2) After papaya has been treated, place in a colander and thoroughly rinse under running water. Wrap rinsed papaya with a cheesecloth or clean cloth towel. Squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the papaya.

3) Return papaya in the large bowl. Add carrots, garlic, ginger, onions, peppercorns, and raisins (if using). Mix until evenly distributed. Place in a large, clean mason jar (or evenly distribute among several smaller mason jars). Set aside.

4) In a medium saucepan, add vinegar and cook over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir in sugar and remaining 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt until well diluted. Remove from heat and cool completely.

5) Pour vinegar mixture in the prepared mason jars until the vegetables are completely submerged. Seal jar and refrigerate for 5 days to 1 week. Serve with fried dishes as desired.

Indonesian Shrimp Fried Rice

This recipe popped up on my reader the other day from What's Cookin' Chicago? and looked really yummy. I've been looking for a savory dish to make and add on to my blog, because I've noticed that, lately, I've been making a lot of sweets. I need to make more new dinner recipes. And what's not to like about fried rice. This was pretty easy to make. You can make this into a spicy dish by adding some red pepper flakes or diced jalapeno into the sauce. But because my daughter would be eating this, I omitted the spice. Hubby actually asked what makes this dish "Indonesian." I assumed it was the sweetness and spice of the sauce. Whatever it is, this still came out quite good and Hubby and daughter were really pleased with this dish.

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. light or mild molasses

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 1/4 tsp. salt

4 eggs

3 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. vegetable oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

12-14 extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 cups left over cold rice

1/2 cup frozen peas & carrots, thawed

4 green onions, sliced thin

lemon or lime wedges

1) In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, molasses, soy sauce, fish sauce, and salt. Set aside.

2) In another small bowl, whisk together eggs and 1/4 tsp. salt. Heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat. Pour eggs into pan and allow to set. Pull the cooked edges towards the middle and tilt the pan to allow runny eggs to coat the bottom of pan. Continue to do this as need until no runny eggs remain.

3) With a spatula, carefully flip the egg to cook the top side. Remove from heat and break into pieces. Set aside.

4) Heat the remaining 3 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over over medium heat. Saute onions, stirring constantly, until translucent. Add shrimp and cook, stirring constantly, until they turn opaque. Push shrimps to the side.

5) Crumble rice into middle of skillet. Cook rice and shrimp until rice is warmed and slightly toasted, about 5-7 minutes. Add sauce mixture and toss to coat. Stir in peas, carrots, and eggs. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add green onions and remove from heat. Transfer to a serving platter and serve with lemon or lime wedges.

Fauxstess Cupcakes (aka "Hostess Cupcakes")

When I was a kid, "fresh off the boat" from the Philippines, my only experience as far as sleepovers were when my cousin, Mary, would invite me and 2 of our younger cousins for sleepovers. She was only a couple of years older than I was, but I thought it was so cool that I got to hang out with someone older. She would think up creative ways to keep me and my younger cousins busy during those 2 days she had us. Then she would feed us sandwiches for lunch or dinner. I had never had American sandwiches before and I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Then for snacks, I had my first taste of "Hostess" treats: Ding Dongs, Hostess cupcakes, or Twinkies. I even remember the time we went to a drive-in movie and she brought us Ding Dongs to snack on. However, Hostess cupcakes were my favorite. Funny thing was, even though I loved them, I never ate them when I was at home. Perhaps it was because my parents never bought them for us nor had I ever thought to ask them to buy some.

I came across this recipe from Beantown Baker, and I began to reminisce about those sleepovers at my cousin Mary's house 25 years ago. I haven't had a Hostess cupcake in a long time. I think its time to introduce them to my own daughter and hope that she, too, would have fond memories of eating these yummy treats. And they came out so well. The filling was not overly sweet, unlike the original version. Hubby loved these and thought they were "so cool." I thought they looked pretty cool too :) This recipe goes out to my dear cousin Mary. Love you cuz ♥

Cupcakes

1/2 cup cake flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

2 large eggs, separated at room temperature

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. water

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Line muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3) In a large bowl, beat together egg yolks, canola oil, 1/2 cup sugar and water until well combined. Add dry ingredients and mix by hand just until combined.

4) In a clean medium bowl, beat egg whites at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat until stiff and glossy. Beat one quarter of the eggs whites into the batter to lighten the mixture. Add remaining egg whites and gently fold mixture together until no streaks remain.

5) Evenly divide batter into prepared muffin pan, about half full. Bake for 13-16 minutes, or until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched in the center. Cool on a wire rack before adding filling and topping.

Cream filling

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2 Tbsp. water

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1) While cupcakes are cooling, combine filling ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan with simmering water. Beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until thick and fluffy, about 6-7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. Reserved half of the filling to use for piping the swirls on top of the cupcakes at the end.

2) Once the cupcake have cooled, cut a hole on the center of the cupcakes. Pipe the filling in the hole. Set aside.

Ganache

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1) In a small saucepan, heat cream until steaming. Remove from heat, add chocolate and let sit for 3 minutes. Add butter and stir until smooth.

2) Transfer frosting into a small bowl. Dip the top of each cupcake to thoroughly coat.

3) Spoon the reserved filling into a pastry bag fitted with a very small plain tip. Pipe swirls across the center of each cupcake. Refrigerate cupcakes for at least 10 minutes to set frosting.