A gift to myself

Recently there have been a lot of Birthdays within my food loving circle. I decided to get into that gift giving spirit and buy myself something nice...drum roll please....

A NEW PIPING TIP SET!!!!!! Aren't they beautiful?

Cats like gyozas too!! Thanks Joanie for posting this!

Culinary School

Obviously cooking and food is a large part of my life. Baking is a way for me to relieve stress, and I really really love it. So as some of you may know, I've been thinking a lot about going to culinary school. I'm leaning towards the Pastry Arts program. Last week I had two info sessions at local Culinary Schools in Boston.

The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts




Located in Porter Square, just minutes away from Harvard Square (perfect location for me). It's a small school that's been established in Cambridge for 36 years. Everyone was really nice, and the founder of the school was there to greet us. It seems like the teachers are really in touch with their students. The class sizes range from about 10 to 15 students with a 1 to 5 teacher/student ratio. Classes are two 8 hour days, with one night of lecture. It leaves room for me to work as well.






Le Cordon Bleu

Located in Cambridge, across the street from the Galleria Mall, (a little further than CSCA). It's a much bigger school, with a well known name. The school has more than a dozen huge kitchens, with class sizes between 20 to 30 students. It is a full time program Mon - Fri for 8 hours a day. If I chose LCB, I'd definitely get a lot of experience. In addition to the great facilities, they also have their own student run restaurant. LCB is definitely well established, but it's also twice as expensive as CSCA.










I'm still torn between the two schools, they're so different...any suggestions? I'm still going to look around at other schools as well.

Peking Duck!!!

One of the traditional meals in Beijing is Peking Duck. It's definitely one of my favorite dishes. SOOO GOOD!! It consists of wrapping hoisin sauce, scallions, celery, rice, and thinly roasted duck with crispy skin.


Scallions and celery. Hoisin sauce with sugar, vinegar and sesame oil



:) :)

Unforgettable Meals from Around the Globe

Since my two passions are Food and Traveling, I was excited when I saw this on the cover of the Food section in the Globe yesterday.


For those of you who can't read it, it says:

"Boston to Addis Ababa, filling station to church basement, travelers recall
their unforgettable meals from around the globe"

I don't know if I can pick my favorite meal abroad, but I do have ones high up on my list.

[in no particular order]
1. Location: Macau

2006. I remember walking down small winding streets of Macau with my mom and aunts from Hong Kong. They brought us to this tiny little restaurant tucked away behind the Casinos. This was one of the most delicious meals I had in Macau. Crab porridge was so flavorful.

2. Location: Newton Food Area - Singapore

2006. After a long long flight from Boston to Singapore, my mom and I got off the plane starving. At 2am, we were sure we'd go to bed hungry. I thought I'd ask the cab driver if there was a chance of anything being open; he recommended Newton (funny, Newton is the name of the town I'm from, must be fate). It was this awesome outdoor food court. We got lobster, clams, Laksa (a popular spicey noodle soup in singapore), and of course coconut drinks!!! Definitely my favorite meal of our trip to Singapore. What a great way to start off our trip!

3. Location: Paris


2009. The Pastries in Paris are to die for. Honestly, I could have eaten chocolate croissants for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When I went to Versailles, I just packed my backpack full of french bread and pastries. Nothing like sitting down at a bench in Versailles and having some freshly baked pastries. Also, having a glass of wine and having your picture drawn by a local artist isn't too shabby either.

4. Location: The Aussie: Sydney, Australia


2009. I don't care how cute Kangaroos are, they are DELICIOUS!! Plus, in the Land Down Under, Kangaroos are like deer to us; they're everywhere. I'd have to say Kangaroo pizza was one of my favorite things to eat. Mmmmm, topped with berries and peppers. Defintely something to try if you're ever in Sydney. The Aussie aka The Australian Hotel is located just steps away from the Sydney Bridge Climb.




5. Dragon Beard Candy

[not my picture, got it off google]
This is such a delicious dessert. Its hard to explain. It's made out of Fine sugar, peanuts, corn syrup, and glutinous rice flour. You will never have anything like it. First bite will glue your mouth shut for about 5 seconds then melt away. It's sweet, crumbly and sticky all at the same time. You can't get these in Boston...unless someone has decided to make them, which would be AWESOME. The only places I've seen them at are NY, Montreal and California. GET A MOVE ON IT BOSTON!! I think i'll try to make these next.

Butternut Squash ravioli with a Sage Butter Sauce!!!

You guys might remember that I took a pasta making course a while ago. I finally have some time make some at home. I already had the dough premade the night before. But here is the recipe for the filling.

Butternut Squash filling Ingredients:



1 Butternut Squash
2 TBL Olive Oil
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
10 Ginger Snap Cookies
2 Large Eggs (lightly beaten)
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 tsp Nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds and stringy flesh with a teaspoon. Cover Cut Side with Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper to Taste. Place squash halves, cut side down, in a baking dish just large enough to hold them. Roast 40 to 50 minutes until tender. Remove from oven and let cool.



Scrape flesh out of shells with a spoon and place in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Place processed Squash into a cheesecloth, & wring out as much liquid as possible.

Pulse Ginger Snap Cookies in Processor until course, but not sandy. Add back Dry Squash Pulp, Nutmeg & Eggs. Pulse 2-3 times. Add Grated Cheese and process until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Form and Shape the ravioli - Then boil to cook

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sage Butter Sauce:

8 Oz Unsalted Butter
1 Shallot, Sliced
8 O Reserved Pasta Water
1/3 cup -grated Parmesan Cheese

Fresh Sage
Season Salt & Pepper & add Parsley, to taste

Over med-low heat, gently melt Butter. Add desired Herbs & remove from heat. As soon as Pasta is draining in colander, add in ½ to 1 whole cup of Pasta Water to melted butter & Swirl to combine.

Add your Cooked Pasta to Sauce. Dust Pasta with Grated Italian Cheese of choice. Serve immediately.

I also blanched some tomatos, removed the skins and served with sauce.

UPDATED - PHANTOM GOURMET FOOD WINE PHEST!!!

UPDATED: It was 5 hours of food, wine and fun!! I posted some pictures at the end of this post. Click them to enlarge...

I don't know how I missed this, BUT THE PHANTOM GOURMET FOOD AND WINE PHEST IS THIS COMING SATURDAY APRIL 10, 2010!!!!!!

$30 bucks in advance. $40 at the door if available.
21+
30 Different Wines + 30 types of Phantom's favorite foods!!!

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!!

Basil Ice Cream - a little taste of heaven

As promised, I made some Basil Ice Cream this weekend. A perfect pairing with the amazing 70 degree weather. I'm convinced this has climbed high up on my list of favorite ice cream flavors. Definitely battling Pistaccio for first place. Anyways, it was so refreshing, light and flavorful. My family absolutely loved it, they ate all of it!! (sorry to my foodie friends who didn't get to try some. I will make more this week!)


Many thanks to Chef Edgar for the recipe. He got it from Bravo.com - Top Chef Masters - Chef Michael Charello recipe

So far starters, here are the ingredients:

1) 1.5 cups of goat milk
2) 1.5 cups of heavy cream or milk
3) 3/4 cup of sugar (put a little less)
4) a pinch of gray salt
5) 1 vanilla bean (i used 1.5 tsp of vanilla extract)
6) 6 egg yolks (yes i know, it's a lot)
7) Fresh picked basil

First combine: goat milk, cream, sugar, gray salt, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil, stir occassionally to melt sugar. [THE NEXT STEP IS VERY IMPORTANT] remove 1/2 cup of mixture and let it cool a little, then add it to the 6 egg yolks. [MAKE SURE IT IS NOT PIPING HOT OR ELSE YOU'LL COOK YOUR EGGS!!] Whisk together and add egg mixture back into the milk/cream mixture. Heat until it's slightly thickened and slowly runs off your spoon. Remove from heat and Strain the mixture through a sieve. Let it fully cool.

Next, Blanch your basil in boiling water for 5 seconds, then place in an ice bath. It is very important to drain and wring the basil dry. I use a towel to sqeeze it dry. Chop the basil. Put the ice cream base and basil in the blender. Blend until it's smooth and light green. (I found out yesterday that my blender broke, so I had to use a food processor...not quite a blender but it still worked. It actaully didn't change color until after I was done freezing it). After blended, strain the mixture if you dont want basil specs in your ice cream.

Chill basil ice cream mixture in the refridgerator for 1 to 2 hours. Then pour into ice cream maker. Let the ice cream maker work its magic for about 25 mins, then scoop out ice cream into a bowl and freeze until ready to serve!! (I mixed some fresh strawberries with a little bit of balsamic vinegar and sugar...SO PERFECT!!)