Shredded Sesame Chicken Faux Bao Buns

I wanted to make Bao buns from scratch, but when I looked up the recipes, I realized I would be spending my entire afternoon on them. So this cheater’s technique came to the rescue – steaming Pillsbury biscuits! http://www.foodgal.com/2010/03/cheaters-baos/ I was skeptical but they absolutely did the trick.

The filling is slow cooker shredded honey garlic chicken, recipe from Closet Cooking:

http://www.closetcooking.com/2017/01/slow-cooker-honey-garlic-sesame-chicken.html

I love when experiments come to a happy end!

Salted Coconut Tahini Cups with Black Fig

I am a closet vegan. I am always attracted by vegan recipes, although I am not brave, ethical or disciplined enough to become fully vegan and forswear dairy, meat or eggs 😦 But I will indulge in vegan experiments often. I diverged from the recipe in this one, because (sigh) dates are getting boring. They are used so widely in vegan recipes that I needed a change. These chewy figs fit the bill. Just sliced them and added them to the coconut tahini mixture. By the way, this needs way more than a few tablespoons of maple syrup… and I am sure I shouldn’t overindulge with them – tahini+coconut oil <- this is probably one hell of a calorie bomb!

http://runningonrealfood.com/salted-caramel-tahini-cups/

Chocolate Maraschino Scoop Cake

This cake reminds me of Black Forest cake a little – well the ingredients are the same. Of course nothing comes close to the real Black Forest cake you eat in Germany or Austria – the American version doesn’t do it justice and is in fact quite a basic approximation of it. But this is just inspired by the taste combo. The recipe was in Bulgarian, and unfortunately I really flunked the cake decoration part – didn’t wait for my ganache to cool sufficiently so it just oozed and literally slid off the whipped heavy cream onto the plate :O I had to supplement with chocolate sauce, resort to partially freezing etc. etc. In the end I didn’t care – this was too delicious to worry about looks. Maybe a tad too sweet, but next time that will be adjusted. I also made the cake half the size of what the recipe called for, so who knows what else I goofed up!

So, if Google Translate doesn’t help much, the gist of it is this (plus there are tons of photos!): you bake a chocolate cake. At the end of the baking cycle, turn off the oven, and leave the door open so the cake cools inside. That way it stays tall. Then you scoop out the insides, mix the crumbs you just got out with softened butter, condensed milk, melted bittersweet chocolate and chopped maraschinos, and stuff this delightful mixture back in the cake. The rest is decoration – whip heavy cream until stiff, cover the cake with it and then pour some ganache on top (after it has cooled down totally!). Keep in the fridge overnight. In terms of adjustments, I would use unsweetened condensed milk, and maybe add alcohol to the cherries (as the original recipe suggests).

This scoop and fill thing for cakes is an epiphany for me! So many possibilities.

http://lussisworldofartcraft.blogspot.bg/2016/12/drunken-cherry-cake.html

Crepe Spinach Lasagna

So it turns out I prefer crepes to noodles when it comes to lasagna! This recipe helped me realize that. I didn’t actually follow the Giada recipe, but I just got inspired by the pic here (http://www.foodtv.com/5f1s2). Rolled my crepes with sauteed spinach, grated Parmesan and goat cheese. Topped with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and drizzles of pesto. Then broil. No noodle boiling, layering etc. This will be a repeat for sure.

Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cornmeal Scones

Cornmeal and chocolate are not a common combination, lord knows why… these cornmeal scones are proof that they should be! I found a recipe for blueberry cornmeal scones, but dog gone it – I had to insert chocolate chips instead. I also experimented with adding freeze-dried raspberries for color, but the joke was on me – the raspberries blackened in the high-temp oven!

This recipe also calls for a total of 4 tablespoons of sugar, but I think it needs more (unless you want them to be healthier). So I sprinkled some sugar on top. The nuts are added after the baking (otherwise they would probably burn like the raspberries).

So here it is, the recipe from the Noble Pig: http://noblepig.com/2010/02/cornmealblueberry-scones/

Thin Crust Cauliflower Pizza

I have made this pizza 3 times already, and I just can’t get it to be picture-perfect, so ok – this is as “pretty” as it gets 😦 Thankfully this doesn’t impact it in the flavor department. It is addictive! The idea for this pizza comes from a pizza chain in Dublin (http://www.milano.ie/) – the intriguing element of preparation here is that the base is not tomato sauce, bechamel or just pesto but a mix of cream cheese and dijon mustard! That paste is yummy by itself, especially if instead of dijon mustard you use dijon mustard aioli (the more garlic, the better!). So that’s your base, then after that comes a layer of shredded Fontina cheese, the cauliflower florets “glazed” with a little pesto, caramelized red onion slices with a little white balsamic vinegar to make them tangy, and fresh basil leaves after you get it out of the oven. Better than a meat-lovers pizza. I swear!

Chorizo, Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew over Quinoa/Buckwheat

This spinoff of the Spanish dish is made by sautee-ing chorizo, garlic, and chopped leeks in olive oil for about 10 minutes over medium heat, adding a tablespoon or two of tomato paste, a cup of cubed sweet potatoes and simmering in a splash of white wine for 15-20 minutes over low heat. Then, chickpeas (already boiled, or canned but well rinsed), smoked paprika and oregano are added and the pot is kept on the stove until the liquids evaporate. Meanwhile the quinoa and buckwheat mix is prepared with some chopped spinach and lots of grated Romano cheese (instead of salt). Healthy and hearty 🙂

Whiskey, Chocolate & Espresso Cake

Move over, rum cake, and meet your classier substitute!

The true test of an otherwise plain looking cake is how satisfying it is as an afternoon snack. Well, this passes the test with flying colors. The only critique I might note is that it can certainly take more than the mere drizzle of whiskey the recipe calls for. It can easily be drenched with up to two cups of whiskey without it being overwhelming. I used Crown Royal maple flavor and the maple actually brought out the whiskey-ness a tad.

Here is the recipe (oh and by the way if the batter didn’t contain raw eggs and flour, I would just eat it with a spoon!)

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017147-whiskey-soaked-dark-chocolate-bundt-cake

Yes, this is a vegetarian’s dream. Pistachio pesto is usually the most flavorful kind of pesto, and when you accent it with dill – it becomes quite memorable. You can easily say that this is what makes the dish. The beets are of course sweet, and the polenta is creamy, so every major flavor and texture is somehow represented here. The goat cheese is my addition, and it is absolutely necessary IMHO – otherwise the sourness would have been missing. As we know from the Romanians – polenta and sour cream is a match made in heaven, and the goat cheese is a fair substitute.

P.S. if it looks like this pesto needs more oil, I think so too – but for some reason pistachios soak up oil much more than the other nuts… go figure.

http://withfoodandlove.com/creamy-polenta-with-crispy-beets/

Shrimp Stuffed Peppers

So many Latin-American flavors here. And when you use small peppers, this becomes great party finger food. The accent in the dish comes from the smoked paprika; and of course lime and cilantro are a must in every dish from the region.

Recipe here:

http://pinaenlacocina.com/2016/10/03/shrimp-stuffed-chiles-chiles-rellenos-de-camaron/