New Take on Appetizers!

Looking for new appetizer ideas? Check out this site!

 They're super easy, too!

Asian Tea Smoked Chicken Lettuce Skewer

Traditional Japanese Miso Soup

Great for Fall and Winter, even Spring!

Hearty Shiitake Mushroom and Miso Soup

Recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch scallions, sliced thin, white and green parts separated
• 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 8 cups water
• 3 (6-inch) pieces dried kelp (kombu)
• 1/4 cup bonito flakes
• 3 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1/2 cup light miso
• 1 pound baby bok choy, cut in quarters
• 8 ounces firm tofu, cut into cubes

Directions

In a large soup pot over medium heat add the scallion white parts, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil. Cook for 1 minute and add 8 cups water. Rinse the kombu and add it to the pot along with the bonito flakes. Bring it to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes - do not let it boil. Remove the kombu and set it aside. Add the dried mushrooms and miso to the pot and let it simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the mushrooms are hydrated and tender. Add the bok choy and simmer until it is tender, about 10 minutes. Add the tofu and cook for another 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the reserved green parts of scallions. You can also top it with slices of the Campfire Pan-Roasted Chicken and garnish with the Crisp Soba Noodles

 
Here's a link to another blog I love, complete with a recipe for the heart-warming traditional Miso soup.
See: Mimi's Recipe

Becoming A Chef!

We have given recipes for several different types of food in all courses of a meal. These are easy to make meals that even you and me as college student could whip up. I myself have never thought about going further beyond cooking in my small little kitchen. This might be because without step by step directions like the ones we have given, I would be a TERRIBLE cook. I've never been the one to step up and want to cook a meal every night. Don't get me wrong I love a good new recipe I can experiment with, but there are limitations. For those of you who just can't take that apron off, here's a video with suggestions of what is needed to become a "top chef" Enjoy!

Becoming a Chef

Other recipe blogs

There are several other recipe blogs just for the mere fact that we as Americans LOVE food! I was searching for other blogs on food and came across one called FoodBlogs. The tag line is "discover, learn, share." This is exactly what I wanted to do with this blog and hope you have gotten some great recipes from us! This blog in particular is place for anyone to share great food or new recipes. I think having blogs on different foods is a great way to express yourself and maybe even your culture. Here is the blog go check it out for more great recipes!

Food Blog

Eight Precious Pudding

When it comes to Chinese cuisine desserts are not as prominent. Dessert to Chinese people often means something less sugary such as fruit. Also for much of their history many people did not own a refrigerator to be able to chill desserts. 

This following recipe is traditional for Chinese banquet setting!

What you will need

1 ounce lotus seeds

2 cups cold water

2 ounces Chinese red dates

2 cups glutinous rice

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons oil

1 red maraschino cherry, stemless

1 cup any candied fruits

1 cup red bean paste

How to Make It

Add lotus seeds to cold water in saucepan. Bring to boil. Simmer on low heat 20 minutes. Drain and cool. Split into halves. Set aside.

Put red dates in bowl on rack in pot or in steamer. Steam covered over boiling water 30 minutes. Set aside.

Put rice in pot with water level 3/4 inch above rice. Bring to boil. Simmer 20 minutes. Stir in sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Mix well. Set aside.

Grease medium-sized bowl heavily with oil. Place cherry in center. Arrange lotus seeds, red dates, and candied fruits in circles around bottom and up to edge of bowl, glazed side down.

Spread a layer of rice mixture over fruits carefully so as not to spoil the design. Spoon a layer of red bean paste over the rice. Cover with another layer of rice. Pack tight.

Place bowl on rack in pot or in steamer. Cover. Steam over boiling water 1 hour. Remove pudding carefully by running flexible spatula around edge. Put serving plate over bowl and invert bowl.

Serve pudding with Sweet Almond Sauce - Boil 3 tablespoons sugar in 1 cup water, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir in 1 teaspoon almond extract. Thicken with 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water.

Source: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/d

No Reservations

I know we usually have a theme per week and post recipes about it, but I thought i'd share something a little bit different today. I'm a big fan of Anthony Bourdain and his show No Reservations. Basically Anthony Bourdain travels to different parts of the world and tries different types of their local cuisine. I think it was around two years ago when he did a special on the Philippines, which I enjoyed a lot because it's where i'm from. I attached a clip that you can watch a little bit of that special. It's a fairly long show so this isn't the whole thing or even close to it, but if you find it interesting I definitely recommend watching his show --

Ariana

Chinese Restaurants...

There are a few Chinese Restaurants that I like around Santa Clara. Here they are..

Fu Lam Mum. This restaurant is in Mountain View and I like a lot. They serve dimsum twice a day which is basically small portions of different types of dumplings, meats, and all sorts of other kinds of things. It usually gets pretty full in the mornings when they have dimsum since it's a really great place to go.

Here's a link to the website and some of the yelp reviews that they have!

Another restaurant I really like that's kind of Chinese Fusion is Sino. It's on Santana Row so it's pretty close to school. They also have some dimsum dishes, along with other typical Chinese cuisine. Check out their menu here.

A place that I found recently is called Cooking Papa, and I think it's really great. I'm from the Philippines and we have a lot of Chinese food there. I was craving for it pretty bad one night and I ended up finding this one on yelp. It had really good reviews so I tried it out and was really happy with it. I think I went twice in two weeks. Here's the website, and another link to the yelp reviews that it has. I definitely recommend this place.

If you want something quick and easy, there's always Panda Express! There's a bunch of different locations and they serve a huge amount of food. It's not authentically Chinese, but it's pretty good anyway!

Hope you enjoy!

- Ariana

Favorite Chinese Restaurant

My favorite restaurant in the area is right down the street from SCU. It is called China Delight...I like to call it China D. The owner of the restaurant is really nice and will recognize you if you go more than once. She talks with her customers and makes sure they are happy. The food is to die for! There are all kinds of dishes including appetizers, soups, main course, and dessert! Check it out it is on Homestead and San Thomas. Cross over San Thomas and it is on your left hand side corner before the next stop light!

- Emily

Chinese Chicken Salad

A great combination of flavors and textures; all the sweetness and crunch you could ever want in a salad!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon hot chile paste
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 16 (3.5 inch square) wonton wrappers, shredded
• 4 cups romaine lettuce - torn, washed and dried
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. To prepare the dressing, whisk together the hoisin sauce, peanut butter, brown sugar, chili paste, ginger, vinegar and sesame oil.
2. Grill or broil chicken until cooked, cool and slice.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Spray a large shallow pan with nonstick vegetable spray, arrange shredded wontons in a single layer and bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
4. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, wontons, lettuce, carrots, green onions and cilantro. Toss with dressing and serve.

The Vegetarian Choice!

For those of you who are vegetarians or who just want to heat healthier look into this egg roll recipe!

1 pkg egg roll wrappers
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 green onion
2 tbsp and 3 cups peanut oil
1 tsp pre chopped garlic
1 pkg of coleslaw mix
1/3 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce

1. Rinse the mushrooms under running water and dry them thoroughly. Chop them into small pieces and set them aside.
2. Rinse the green onion and dice it. Then set it aside.
3. In a non stick pot or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of the peanut oil on high. Add the pre chopped garlic and stir fry for about 1 minute or until the garlic is slightly browned.
4. Add the coleslaw mixture and mushrooms and stir fry for about 3 minutes or until the coleslaw is soft.
5. Add the green onion, peanuts, pepper, sugar and soy and stir fry for just 1 more minute. Then remove the pot from the heat.
6. Begin to fill the egg rolls by taking a wrapper and placing it so that it is in the shape of a diamond and one of the longest points is pointed toward you. Set out a small bowl of water close by so that you can wet the wrapper to seal it together.
7. Place about 3 to 4 tablespoons of the filling on the middle of the wrapper. Fold the bottom point over the filling. Then using your fingers, slightly dampen the two side points with water and fold them in. Then dampen the far end of the wrapper and roll up the rest of the egg roll. Lightly press to seal it together and set it aside.
8. Once all of the egg rolls have been filled, heat the remaining 3 cups of oil on high to 350 degrees.
9. Once the oil is hot, slowly submerge each one into the oil and fry for about 3 minutes. Remove the egg rolls with a slotted spoon and place them on paper towels to drain.

    10. Serve with duck sauce and hot mustard.

Italian Wedding Soup

Great recipe from Giada  De Laurentiis! Super quick, prep takes 20 minutes!

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 1 small onion, grated
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 slice fresh white bread, crust trimmed, bread torn into small pieces
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 8 ounces ground beef
• 8 ounces ground pork
• Freshly ground black pepper

Soup:

• 12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 pound curly endive, coarsely chopped (1 pound of escarole would be a good substitution)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

To make the meatballs: Stir the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese, beef and pork. Using 1 1/2 teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet.

To make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and curly endive and simmeruntil the meatballs are cooked through and the curly endive is tender, about 8 minutes. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzlethe egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg, about 1 minute. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. Finish soup with parmesan cheese if desired.

In case you're not a meat eater, here is a Vegetarian Option! 

Chinese Food!

Chinese Food has so many different things to choose from. I chose the main course of Chinese Spareribs with Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients

- 2 (4-pound) racks pork spareribs, trimmed of excess fat
- 1/2 cup Chinese five-spice powder
- Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 cup grapefruit juice
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
-1/4 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 inch piece fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- chopped fresh cilantro and green onion

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Rub the ribs all over with the five-spice powder; then season generously with salt and pepper. Put the ribs in a single layer in a roasting pan and slow-roast until they are almost tender, about 2 hours.
Meanwhile make the glaze. In a large bowl combine the soy sauce, grapefruit juice, hoisin sauce, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, chili, garlic and ginger in a saucepan. Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until the sauce reduces and thickens then remove from the heat. strain the sauce and reserve.
When the ribs are about 30 minutes away from being done, baste them with the teriyaki sauce. Cook until the meat pulls easily from the bone (about 1/2-inch of bone will show).
Just before serving, preheat the broiler. baste the ribs again with the teriyaki sauce and brown them under the broiler for 5 to 8 minutes. (Keep a close eye on these guys - ribs go from perfectly crips to perfectly burnt in seconds.) Separate the ribs with a cleaver or sharp knife, pile them on a platter, and pour on the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, chopped cilantro, and green onion before serving.

I found this on the Food Network site.

This recipe looks like it takes some time but i'm sure it'll turn out great! Enjoy

- Ariana

Holy Cannoli!

Cannoli's are one of the most traditional Italian desserts! They are fried pastry tubes filled with creamy and sweet filling. Speaking from experience I had my first Cannoli 2 years ago and they are delicious. The prep time is long but it is worth the wait :)

FUN FACT: Cannoli's are featured on Cake Boss on TLC from Season 2 called Castles, Cannolis, and Cartoon Characters. 

What You Need

Shells:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons shortening
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup sweet Marsala wine
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 egg white
• 1 quart oil for frying, or as needed
•  
• Filling:
• 1 (32 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup chopped candied citron
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (optional)
• 
  
• Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the shortening until it is in pieces no larger than peas. Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg, egg yolk, Marsala wine, vinegar and water. Mix with a fork until the dough becomes stiff, then finish it by hand, kneading on a clean surface. Add a bit more water if needed to incorporate all of the dry ingredients. Knead for about 10 minutes, then cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
2. Divide the cannoli dough into thirds, and flatten each one just enough to get through the pasta machine. Roll the dough through successively thinner settings until you have reached the thinnest setting. Dust lightly with flour if necessary. Place the sheet of dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a form or large glass or bowl, cut out 4 to 5 inch circles. Dust the circles with a light coating of flour. This will help you later in removing the shells from the tubes. Roll dough around cannoli tubes, sealing the edge with a bit of egg white.
3. Heat the oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) in a deep-fryer or deep heavy skillet. Fry shells on the tubes a few at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden. Use tongs to turn as needed. Carefully remove using the tongs, and place on a cooling rack set over paper towels. Cool just long enough that you can handle the tubes, then carefully twist the tube to remove the shell. Using a tea towel may help you get a better grip. Wash or wipe off the tubes, and use them for more shells. Cooled shells can be placed in an airtight container and kept for up to 2 months. You should only fill them immediately or up to 1 hours before serving.
4. To make the filling, stir together the ricotta cheese and confectioners' sugar using a spoon. Fold in the chopped citron and chocolate. Use a pastry bag to pipe into shells, filling from the center to one end, then doing the same from the other side. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar and grated chocolate for garnish when serving.

Source: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/cannoli-2/Detail.aspx

Food Blogs!

Serious Eats 

Serious Eats is a blog that has a little bit of everything to do with food. There are a variety of different categories. These are: articles, recipes, places to eat, videos and even a shop section. It's great because you can probably find most things that you are looking for related to food pretty easily. I think it's something that you can spend a lot of time on just looking around because you learn about new recipes and even new places that you can try out for something you might be craving.

This is Why You're Fat

I used to follow this blog regularly and it's actually a little bit ridiculous. It has recipes of food that is all types of unhealthy for you. Some of the creations don't really look that good to eat even. I just find it interesting how people come up with such creative things. There are mixes of all kinds of food or even just some where people play around with food. One post, for example has a 'burrito unicorn'.

These are two blogs that I found that I find to be really interesting and enjoyable for everyone. If you have time, you should check them out and see some interesting food creations or even find a new idea or place for the next time you're hungry!

- Ariana

Valentines Day!

I was looking at the Food Network website, and they had a meal to cook for Valentines Day. I noticed that the main dish shown was Shrimp Scampi, an Italian dish. Since we were talking about Italian food this week, I thought i'd throw this in. The link is directly under and it's a pretty short and simple recipe if you're interested.

Shrimp Scampi with Linguini 

There's also an entire Valentines Day menu to look at on the site.


Happy Valentines Day!
- Ariana

Bruschetta The Italian Appetizer

This is one of my favorite appetizers and I order it whenever I go to an Italian restaurant. I recommend this to make at home or order in a restaurant.  Enjoy!
Ingredients

    * 6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
    * 2 cloves garlic, minced
    * 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    * 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
    * 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

    * 1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
    * 1/4 cup olive oil

Method

1 Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. (If the tomatoes are too hot, you can protect your finger tips by rubbing them with an ice cube between tomatoes.) Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice.

2 Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.

3 While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4 Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta.

5 Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up. Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.

Lasagna

One of my favorite Italian dishes is lasagna. I found this great looking recipe from the food network chef Giada De Laurentiis which may take some time to make but has great reviews and looks delicious. 

Ingredients

- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons for the lasagna
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups whole milk at room temperature 
- Pinch of Freshly Grated Nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
- Salt and White Pepper
- 1/4 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil


- 1 Pound Ground Chuck Beef
- 1 1/2 pounds ricotta cheese
- 3 large eggs
- 1 pound lasagna sheets, cooked al dente
- 2 10 oz packages of frozen spinach, thawed
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a 2-quart pot, melt 5 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When butter has completely melted, add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to prevent any lumps from forming. Continue to simmer and whisk over medium heat until the sauce is thick, smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of wooden spoon. Remove from heat and add the nutmeg and tomato sauce. Stir until well combined and check for seasoning. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

In a saute pan, heat extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Brown meat, breaking any large lumps, until it is no longer pink. Remove from heat and drain any excess fat. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

In a medium sized bowl, thoroughly mix the ricotta and eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Into the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch baking dish, spread 1/3 of the bechamel sauce. Arrange the pasta sheets side by side, covering the bottom of the baking dish. Evenly spread a layer of all the ricotta mixture and then a layer of all the spinach. Arrange another layer of pasta sheets and spread all the ground beef on top. Sprinkle 1/2 the mozzarella cheese on top of the beef. Spread another 1/3 of the bechamel sauce. Arrange the final layer of pasta sheets and top with remaining bechamel, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into 1/4-inch cubes and top lasagna.
Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place lasagna dish on top, cover and put on the middle rack of the oven and bake until top is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue to bake for about 15 minutes. 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

- Ariana

Henry's Fresh Mexican Grill

One of my favorite restaurants to eat by school is definitely Henry's. It's definitely a restaurant popular to SCU students since it's right across campus. I first heard about it my freshman year here and decided to go since I heard lots of great reviews from people. Since thenn i've gone there quite a bit and have tried a bunch of different burritos they have and every single one i've tried has been pretty great! They have more than burritos though. They have tacos, nachos and  quesadillas as well. I hear the fish and shrimp tacos are good, but I haven't had a chance to try them myself. I'm a really big fan since the service is quick and the people who work there are always very friendly.

If you haven't already tried it, you should definitely check out Henry's for Mexican food when you have the time.


This is their address:
787 Franklin St
Santa Clara, CA 95050

- Ariana

Frozen Strawberry Margarita

To pair with  the Chocolate Tres Leches dessert indulge in Frozen Strawberry Margarita. Treat yourself!

Ingredients

• 6 fluid ounces tequila
• 2 fluid ounces triple sec
• 8 ounces frozen sliced strawberries in syrup
• 4 fluid ounces frozen limeade concentrate
• 
  
• Directions
• 
  
• Fill a blender with ice and crush. Pour in the tequila and triple sec. Add the strawberries and limeade. Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth. Serve in margarita glasses with the rims dipped in powdered sugar.