Mango Cream Scones

I baked scones at midnight a couple days ago because:

1. I was craving scones
2. I had leftover dried mangoes
3. There was some sour cream and heavy whipping cream in the fridge
4. I was very sleepy from studying

That last point obviously points to baking at midnight. Derrr

I looked around the web for some scone recipes, and I usually go to EatingWell and CookingLight for relatively healthy recipes. This slideshow was nice and I selected their Apricot Scones recipe to model my midnight baking off of. I pretty much did everything in the recipe, but made it delicious again by using heavy cream and sour cream instead of buttermilk (plus I didn't have buttermilk and didn't want to use skim milk+lemon juice), and I used dried mangoes. I also cut them into squares, because I really don't like the triangle shapes they come in. Makes it hard to share with someone. Like, oh, let me break this evenly in half and give you an awkward shaped triangle or rectangle.

Drawn by me!! :-D

Just no. Make them squares or circles, but triangles are just selfish :'(

The scones come together sooo easily. They're great; they barely stick to your hands even when you knead or pat them out. I used a little less sugar, cream/egg mix, which may have contributed. When they get close to baking, you can smell the soft aroma of butter, cream, and slight sweetness in the air. They brown lightly and break easily. Mmm mm!!! These were so good, they made me remember why I love scones so much.

Mango Cream Scones (makes 12 squares)
Adapted from CookingLight
Ingredients
2.5 cups flour (I use Ultra-grain flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3-1/2 cup granulated sugar (I bet you can try mixing part brown sugar if you want)
3.5-4 Tbs salted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
6 dried mango slices (more or less to your liking, probably like 1/4-1/2 cup chopped)
1/4 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 deg Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease with oil or butter.
2. Soak dried mango slices in warm water while you prepare the batter.
3. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in butter with knife, fork, or hands till the mixture resembles coarse sand. (I use my hands and try to incorporate the butter well without melting it. It is imperative that scones use COLD butter)
4. In a medium to large measuring cup or small bowl, mix sour cream and buttermilk. Beat in eggs one at a time.
5. Drain mango slices. Chop up into small pieces.
6. Mix just enough of the wet ingredients into dry till you have a slightly sticky, not too wet batter. Mix till just incorporated. Add mango slices and mix to incorporate. Knead in the bowl about 4-5 times.
7. Place the dough on the prepared parchment paper, dusting hands with flour if necessary. Pat out into a 1/3-1/2" thick rectangle and cut into squares using a wet or floured knife. Separate pieces and place evenly on the baking sheet, reforming cute rectangles as needed.
8. Bake in the 400 deg F oven on the middle rack for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then on a wire rack for another 5 minutes.
9. Enjoy warm with some milk, tea, or coffee. They are great as breakfast, afternoon tea snacks, or midnight snacks!!!

Nutritional Info (1 of 12 scones):
195 calories, 7 g fat, 28 g carbs (9 g sugar), 5 g protein, 222 mg sodium

Quick Dan Dan Noodles

Dan dan turkey noodles

I always wanted to try dan dan noodles, but I've never gone to a restaurant to try them before. I heard about them by reading food blogs online, and it seemed simple yet satisfying. After forgetting about it so many times, I finally had the means and the memory to make it!

I looked up a recipe as a guideline and then started cooking with what I had on hand and to my preferences. Instead of traditional ground pork, I used ground turkey, which is generally heralded as healthier than pork or beef. I try not to eat a lot of pork anymore, in part because I do not eat that much meat anymore and because my mom decided one day pork was bad for us and decided not to cook it anymore at home. I also do not eat or buy beef very much because of the low amount of meat I just normally eat, and because I don't really know how to cook chunks of beef.

I doubled the recipe, but added much less soy sauce and other salty sauces than called for because I do not like things to be too salty. Despite this, the sauce came out still very salty and I will remember to lightly dress my noodles and meat with the sauce. I did not have sesame paste, but I did have leftover toasted sesame seeds from yesterday's sushi prep, so I threw those into my coffee/spice grinder, along with 4 garlic cloves, and a 1/2" knob of peeled ginger. I ground this into a chunky paste for the dan dan sauce, in place of the recipe's sesame paste. I also did not have hot chili oil nor Sichuan peppercorns, but I have an awesome Vietnamese substitue: Huy Fong chili garlic sauce! You should have this in you kitchen. I like it even better than Sriracha for cooking.

I tossed a huge glob of this into the sauce and DANNGGG was the sauce spicy. I can't ever imagine eating true Szechuan/Sichuan food. I think my tongue would light on fire and I'd die on internal burning.

So, if you don't have typical Chinese ingredients at home, but have access to soy sauce, vinegar, chili garlic sauce, fresh vegetables, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and Chinese wheat noodles, it is very easy to make a Dan Dan-like noodle dish at home in nearly 30 minutes!!!

Pauline's Easy Dan Dan-like Noodles (Serves 3-4)
Meat Ingredients
1/2 lb (8 oz) ground turkey
1 Tbs grapeseed or olive oil
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs vinegar
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
Black pepper to taste
(I added some chopped kale leaves too. Yay vegetables!)
 
Sauce Ingredients
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2-ish Tbs sesame seeds (toasted, optional)
1/2" knob of ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 cup of water (I accidentally added 2)
3-4 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs vinegar
2 tsp white sugar
3-5 Tbs of Huy Fong chili garlic sauce (to your spicy desire)

8 oz (3-4 servings) dry Chinese wheat noodles
Other veggies (I used alfafa sprouts and thinly sliced carrots, but you can throw in spinach, green onions, bok choy, or none at all, but veggies are so good for you!)

Directions
1. Prepare the meat topping: Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbs of oil, then toss in the meat and cook, chopping into small pieces. As it starts to turn brown, add the kale (optional), soy sauce, vinegar, Chinese five-spice powder, and black pepper. Continue stirring over medium heat until the meat and kale are fully cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Prepare the sauce: Puree the garlic cloves, sesame seeds, and ginger in a food processor (or spice grinder) until you get as minimally chunky paste as you can. Meanwhile, heat 2 cups of water in the skillet from step 1. When it gets warm, throw in the paste and stir to distribute throughout the water. Add soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and chili garlic sauce. Taste and adjust accordingly. Let cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes.
3. Boil the noodles according to package directions, adding vegetables in the last minute. Drain.
4. To assemble: Place noodles with vegetables in a bowl. Top with meat, then drizzle a ladle of the sauce on top, about 1/2 to 1 full lade is good, depending on how salty/spicy you want it and how much you are eating. Garnish with green onions or more sesame seeds, if desired. Enjoy!

Giant California Rolls

My senior year of undergrad at Berkeley, my best friend there taught me how to roll sushi. It was a really fun experience and tasty. I also tried this raspberry beer called Framboise and I was genuinely surprised that there was a beer out there that I liked. Sometime after that, I invited a bunch of my Vietnamese Student Association friends over to my apartment for a sushi rolling party. We made a lot of different rolls, but primarily imitation crab meat filling if I remember correctly. Every time, we made maki rolls, which are sushi rolls with the nori seaweed sheet on the outside. Recently I wanted to try my hand at making California rolls, where the rice is on the outside, then the nori, and then the fillings on the inside.

Maki sushi on left. California-style sushi on right. source

I prepared the crab filling using canned crab meat this time instead of imitation crab sticks. I simply drained the water from the can of (sustainably caught!) crabmeat, and added 2 Tbs of mayo and about 1/2 to 1 Tbs of Sriracha. I also sprinkled in some lemon pepper seasoning and ground black pepper. Seeing as it was still too moist (I did not drain it that well) and my eyes thought it was not enough meat, I sprinkled in vegetarian pork floss (something like this).

source

For vegetable fillings, I sliced some avocado, cucumber, and carrots into thin strips. I also washed fresh alfafa sprouts. I just looked up the health benefits of alfafa sprouts. One cup of alfafa sprouts contain about 10% women's DV of vitamin K. It also contains vitamin C and phytoestrogens, which can help reduce risks of heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. Alfafa sprouts also contain saponins, compounds linked to reducing LDL cholesterol and raising HDL cholesterol - although the site did not say how much saponin a cup of alfafa sprouts contain nor how much saponin is needed to be effective. Nevertheless, alfafa is a green vegetable and is definitely healthier for you than filling up on fatty, meaty fillings!

Ingredients all prepped.

I made the sushi rice using Kokuho Rose brand sushi rice. I washed a cup of rice under water for a while (they recommend doing it till the washing water is clear, but this brand says "No washing necessary", so I only did it briefly), then spread it out to dry for ~30 min along the walls of a colander. After cooking the rice, I mixed 1-1/2 Tbs rice vinegar, 1 Tbs sugar, and 1/2 Tbs salt. I poured the vinegar mixture over the rice and mixed it in with chopsticks. To add something a little extra, I toasted white sesame seeds in my toaster oven and mixed some in as well.

To assemble, you spread the rice in a thin layer on top of a sheet of nori, completely covering the nori. Sprinkle more sesame seeds if desired. Place a plastic sheet on top then flip it over. Place it on a sushi rolling mat and then put the fillings inside. I spooned on 1/4 of the crabmeat, then generously added all the vegetables. I tried rolling it over, but my rolls were not tight and I had forgotten how to correctly roll these, since I had done it so long ago. My rolls ended up looking like sushi burritos! HUGE! I ate two that night, because my friend and I made 3 altogether. I know sushi is not good the next day and did not want to waste those last 4 slices of my sushi.

HUGGGEEE sushi roll

After slicing into 8 pieces.

The nori I got is not that good. I will have to buy a better brand next time. Do any of you have suggestions on good nori for sushi?

Next time, I will definitely read up on the proper sushi rolling technique and also cut my avocados thicker.

In all, after not cooking for a month because of being on winter break at my mom's fully stocked house, it was good to get back into preparing my own meals. And sushi is a great first meal back at school!

Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone!

The magic of the City in one week

As I sit here watching the sun set
in Sunset
It is hard to believe the pleasure this trip has been
I came in with no real plans
No expectations
Just hope and happiness
To return to what I call my homeland
The Bay Area.
Long ago, I had said I did not want to live in San Francisco,
"The City," as they say,
For it was too crowded, too busy, too expensive.
Too hilly, too too too too much.
But now, after having spent a week here,
Generously guided by my host,
I have fallen under the San Franciscan charm.
West of the tourist area of San Francisco,
West of Union, Pier 39, SOMA,
Lies Sunset, Golden Gate, Land's End, Twin Peaks,
Haight and Ashbury, UCSF Parnassus.
All of it beautiful and unique and bustling in its own charm,
Without the hectic feel of the east part of SF.
Little local shops, individual and unique
Yet fitting into the San Francisco culture all the same.
The shops: Tibetan, vintage, boutique, hippie, retro, random, bizarre.
The food: classy, one-of-a-kind, fresh, local genius, diverse.
Oh, the food! What can I say?
What can I do to engulf all the edible beauty before me?
The carefully constructed platters, pieces, pastries.
A tender, careful eye to ingredient selection.
Artistry and culinary expertise in the composition.
Walk down Irving Street and oggle
At the Chinese, Vietnamese, Eritrean, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean restaurants;
At the adorable little Japanese shop, the Posh Bagel shop that sells cronuts,
A store dedicated to vacuums, to glasses, to tarts.
Everything just being there beckons to you,
Come, experience what I have to offer,
But one week is not enough to see it all.

What I did in these past few days are many, but they will forever be held lovingly within my memory:
The view of the City from Twin Peaks at night
The hike up to and view from Land's End
Reindeer and butterflies and more at the California Academy of the Sciences
The ramen with the Japanese breaded fried egg at Ikazaya Sozai
Swing dancing at 9:20 social with my old instructor/buddy
Walking around Haight, browsing the vintage shops and sampling artisan chocolate
The dry-fried chicken wings at San Tung
Touring Genentech in South San Francisco
Watching soccer in the 37 degree weather in San Jose at night and witnessing a short tussle
Seeing all the unique trees decorated by organizations at Christmas in the Park, San Jose

Then there was the return to my old home
Berkeley...

How I have missed you, Berkeley.
Your cracked and hilly streets,
The vagabonds and hobos and smell of weed down those same streets
Students going about their own business, worried about classes,
About relationships, about organizations.
New shops popped up, old shops still there, others gone, maybe replaced.
Holiday craft street fair, showcasing local unique gifts
Things always bustling, always exciting
Music, people chatting.
Walk, continue walking, through the campus, up the hills.
Past the beautiful buildings, colors not just brown, different.
Big grassy Memorial Glade.
People with dogs and frisbees, the Campanile rings its bells in the background.
The breeze plus the sun combine into the best of feelings.
If happy had a recipe, this was it.
The feel of walking all over again, instead of driving everywhere,
Invigorating, healthy.
Visit old friends, blend in with the students,
Sit on the steps of Sproul, munch on a sandwich,
People watch.
Man with milk crate heralding some speech or dialogue or opinions.
Shorter man break dancing
Girl asks directions to architecture building
Lots of Asians, I am surprised by Caucasians.
Leave, wander, buy Cal gear,
Because now after being in the middle of nowhere Texas for a while
I appreciate what I had and left.
Cal, Berkeley, a Bear: this is who I am and who I will always be
I am proud to be a Cal Bear,
Proud to bleed Blue and Gold.

Better yet, proud to be a Californian,
Spurred on by the collective progressive mindset,
To be the leaders in the green movement, sustainable, active, proactive.
Integrate it into all aspects of life.
So what, not every man is a Southern gentleman,
There is not cheap BBQ everywhere,
and there are a lot of more homeless and a lot less free parking,
But this is the exciting life, where one can explore everything one can be.
This is why I shall return to you, Bay Area, California,
I will come back and embrace you with all my heart,
Because you and I are one.

It is..
Love.

Tomorrow, I say good bye to the things that captured my heart.
Good bye, and I hope we reunite again.
May fate bring us together in the future,
The future, uncertain but always promising...

Pretzel Crust Sour Cream-Topped Cheesecake

I am always looking for a way to use up random items held in my pantry. Once long ago, I bought a big bag of mini pretzel twists from Wal-Mart to make chocolate covered peanut butter pretzel sandwiches. These were okay, as I tried to minimize the amount of sugar and butter in the recipe, and the pretzel twists don't squeeze around peanut butter filling as well as those square pretzels.

So I have these pretzels, and yesterday, I wanted to snack while studying, so I started dipping them in some whipped strawberry cream cheese that I had from Einstein's Bagels. This was really tasty because of the salt crystals crunching in your mouth, imparting savoriness, while melding with the sweet creaminess of the strawberry cream cheese. Pretzels and sweet cream cheese are a great combo!

Now, I am a lover of sweet and salty desserts. Sweet, sweet, sweet desserts are just to cloying to me. You really need a cup of tea, milk, or water to wash each bite down. Cheesecake is one of those decadent desserts that I have always just *kinda* liked if it wasn't too thick. I thought it'd be great to make a salty pretzel crust to cut through the heavy sweetness of the typical cheesecake filling, and adding a sour cream topping would add an extra tang and lightness that would make cheesecake more complex and palatable.

To achieve this concept, I combined three recipes I found on the internet. For the pretzel crust, I used the crust from Peanut Butter Pretzel Cheesecake Squares by Brandie from Home Cooking Memories. For the filling, I referenced Small Cheesecake by Lynn at Happier Than a Pig in Mud. Finally, for the sour cream topping, I used the part from Fruit-Topped Cheesecake with Snyders Pretzel Crust by Ellen Christian at Confessions of an Overworked Mom.

I used a 9 or 10 inch glass pie pan, which fit the pretzel filling very nicely, but when I poured the cheesecake filling in, it only filled it to halfway! I needed to double the sour cream topping from 1 cup to 2 cups in order to fill the crust the rest of the way. If you are using an 8 inch pie pan or an 8 by 8 inch square pan, I am sure the same filling and the 1 cup sour cream topping would fit. You would probably need only 2/3-3/4 of the pretzel crust though, unless you like a thick crust, to which I say  go ahead!

So, enjoy this pretzel bottom, sour cream top cheesecake and enjoy the start of fall!

Pretzel Crust Sour Cream-Topped Cheesecake

Pretzel Crust:
3 cups mini pretzel twists
1 stick butter (I used vegetable oil-based baking sticks)
 cup sugar

Filling:
1 (8-oz) package of regular cream cheese
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs

Sour Cream Topping:
2 cups (16 oz) (lowfat) sour cream
4 Tbs white granulated sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1) Crust: Preheat the oven to 325 deg Fahrenheit. process pretzels in a food processor until finely ground. Pour into a bowl and mix thoroughly with melted butter and sugar. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan. Press the pretzel crumbs firmly into the pan and try to get the crust even along the bottom and sides. Bake in preheated oven for 10 min. Take out and let cool while you make the filling.
2) Filling: Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat in eggs one at a time until combined. Pour into slightly cool crust and bake at 325 deg F for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes while you make the topping.
3) Beat 2 cups of sour cream with 4 Tbs sugar and 2 tsp vanilla extract. Pour over cheesecake. Place back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack for 1 hour, then cool 6-12 hours (~overnight) in the refrigerator.
4) Top with chocolate shavings, sliced fruit, drizzle of fruit compote, or just keep it plain. Slice and serve!
Serves 10

Turkey Veggie Chili

Fall is setting in and I've been in quite the soup and stew phase. Since last week, I have made bo kho (Vietnamese beef stew), turkey veggie chili, and potato parsley soup! With the rain and colder weather setting in here in Texas (which, granted, is still rather warm), I need to battle the looming potential for colds and flus by eating lots of soup.

First, the turkey veggie chili.

This is a simple, quick, and tasty recipe that goes well on its own, with tortilla chips, or maybe even cornbread if you want that. I typically like eating chili with cornbread, but that is truthfully because I want a reason to make cornbread and eat a lot of my sweet cornbread. This time, though, I ate my chili with tortilla chips and I liked it a lot better than with cornbread. The salty crunch from the chips really gave an extra texture and salty slightly sweet corn flavor profile to the chili.

Now, I will describe what veggies I used, because that is what I had on hand, but feel free to use other good stew vegetables you have on hand. For example, zucchini/courgettes, carrots, onion, celery, broccoli stalks, green bell pepper, etc.

Turkey Veggie (Vegetable) Chili
Ingredients:
1 lb (16 oz) lean ground turkey (15% fat)
1/2 diced onion
3 minced garlic cloves
2 chopped carrots
1 chopped zucchini
2-3 cups chicken broth
2 medium-large fresh tomatoes, diced
1 (15-oz) can of beans (I used Simple Truth organic tri-color), undrained
Chili powder
Paprika, dried oregano
Salt and black pepper
(Arby's sauce, *see Personal touch)
Green onion, cilantro, parsley, for garnish

Directions
1)  In a large pan or pot, saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat until light golden brown. Add in the minced garlic and saute until lightly browned. Add in the turkey and cook over medium-high, breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon until the turkey is cooked. Remove the turkey from the pan into a bowl and set aside.
2) Add the carrots too the pan and add some water just enough to slightly steam the carrots and just enough so that the water will evaporate quickly (< 1/4 cup). Once the carrots have quickly steamed but are still firm and the water has evaporated, add some oil and saute the carrots till somewhat softer but with a little bit of firmness. Add in the chopped zucchini and saute briefly to undercook. The vegetables will cook further when simmering.
3) Return the turkey and all the juices from the bowl back into the pan. Mix together of medium heat, then pour in the chopped tomatoes and all their juices. Let cook over medium-high for a couple of minutes. Add in the chicken broth, mix. Add in the can of beans, mix.
4) Season with 2-3 Tbs chili powder, some dashes of paprika and dried oregano.  Season with some salt and black pepper. Adjust with more chili powder if desired.
*Personal touch: I wanted to give a little extra flavor to my chili, so I went through my fridge for random sauces or condiments I could add. I found a packet of Arby's sauce, which is like a ketchup or BBQ sauce but not. You can omit this or use ketchup or BBQ sauce instead
5) Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer, with a slightly open cap, for 20 minutes. Give a stir occasionally and add more broth or water if necessary.
6) To serve, ladle into bowls, add a dash of black pepper, and sprinkle freshly chopped green onion, cilantro, and/or parsley. Serve with restaurant-style tortilla chips.

Serves 4-6

This is a relatively healthy chili. It uses turkey but not the 90% lean because that would be too dry and too healthy. There is a good mix of vegetables and beans without overwhelming the meat portion. I hope you try this out, or use it as inspiration for your own chili! Thanks for reading!

I refuse

Maybe these repeated occurrences means it's just not for me. I am capable, but my happiness is elsewhere. I know I am hard working, inquisitive, eloquent, but maybe this is just not my style and I need to find the place that fits me, rather than crumpling my paper heart up to fit it. My mind and heart are fragile like paper, lightweight such that I fly away in the free breeze. The hard times do make the achievements all the greater, but must the hard times be like a fatigue test, stressing you till you finally break with catastrophic results? A psyche should not be turned into a psycho, but nurtured into a science about yourself. Some may say I don't know how to cope; maybe the truth is that I refuse to...