Caesar Salad with Parmesan Croutons

I try to make “healthy” things from time to time to keep the monster of gluttony inside me at bay. I usually make a salad as a starter for dinner, something simple like cherry tomatoes and arugula with balsamic and olive oil. But tonight I felt like splurging and making something I loved eating when I was young and still do: Caesar salad with crunchy croutons and bacon bits. It was the only salad I ate as a child. That creamy tangy dressing pretty much covered any vegetable taste (yay!) and there was bacon! I still remember my dad had this plastic container of bacon bits in the kitchen and we would sneak a handful like candy now and then.

Regardless of how delicious the salad is, it isn’t healthy to have Caesar dressing from a bottle and bacon when you are cooking at home and can make better choices. So I found a recipe online and tweaked it to make my own Caesar dressing. Much healthier and just as delicious! You can still have a whole bowl of this salad and not feel like you had a full meal. You can omit the Parmesan, but I think a little bit won’t hurt!

Recipe

Ingredients

Romaine lettuce, cut into 1-inch chunks

Croutons:

Bread, cut into small cubes (the recipe called for crusty bread, but I just used plain old white bread)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon Parmesan, shredded

Dressing:

Olive oil

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Splash of Worcestershire sauce

1 small can of anchovies, chopped

½ clove of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan, shaved

Method

1. For the croutons, heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the bread on low heat until golden and crispy. Add the Parmesan on top. When the cheese has melted, remove the bread and drain on kitchen towels.
2. For the dressing, blend the egg yolks, mustard, Worcestershire sauce. Then slowly drizzle in the oil, whisking constantly, until the sauce is of a mayonnaise consistency. Then mix in the anchovies, garlic and lemon. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Mix the dressing with the lettuce, and top with the croutons and more shaved Parmesan.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Everyone loved the cookies. I think my boyfriend must have eaten at least four in a row! We probably have to spend some extra time at the gym to make up for it.

Apart from sweets, I enjoy cooking savory things too. I used to cook for myself almost every weeknight when I was studying abroad, and now I usually cook on the weekends with my family as guinea pigs. One of the easiest sides to whip up and impress with flavor are roasted brussels sprouts. I absolutely hated them until I made this recipe for a special request. I had only eaten the boiled icky kind before so I was hesitant to try roasting them. But now I am a convert and I love them roasted like this. They are super easy to make! You just cut them up and put them in the oven. I add bacon to give it extra depth in flavor and I find that it helps caramelize the sprouts more to make them sweeter.

MmmMMMm crispy bacon and caramelized sprouts!

Recipe

Ingredients

• Brussel sprouts (one pack should be enough for 2 people as a side)
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• Olive oil
• Bacon, chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 195C/380F.
2. After rinsing the sprouts, remember to drain well or else they will be harder to crisp up in the oven.
3. Chop the hard stem off the bottom of the sprouts and then in half.
4. Put the sprouts on a baking tray in one layer and toss with oil, salt and pepper.
5. Put the bacon evenly throughout the layer of sprouts.
6. Bake for 30 minutes* or until the sprouts become crisp 

*Depending on your oven, you may have to check the sprouts at the 15-minute mark to make sure they don’t burn.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

It’s only fitting to start my new blog with one of the most loved (and easy) recipes of all time. I absolutely love chocolate chip cookies. But it’s even better with a sprinkle of sea salt! I find that the salt brings out the richness of the chocolate, and makes the cookie even more flavorful. This recipe uses dark or semi-sweet chocolate, but feel free to substitute for milk. There is also Greek yogurt in this recipe, which makes the cookie moist. Enjoy! These will surely impress anyone.

Brown butter – this creates an amazing hazelnut aroma which adds richness to the cookies. Make sure not to over brown it or it will taste bitter! Keep whisking!

Blend the sugars with the butter.

Add the dry ingredients bit by bit. Stop mixing once all the flour bits are gone.

Add the chocolate chips. I only had dark and semi-sweet at home, which were of different brands and sizes. But I guess the cookies turned out looking okay!

I made one batch of 16 without sprinkling sea salt on top, and one batch with. Both came out delicious.

Recipe – adapted from Serious Eats

Makes 32 medium cookies

Ingredients

•  2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon of sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
• ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¾ cup dark chocolate chips

Method

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan. Continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. 
3. Whisk butter and sugars until blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. Add the dry ingredients bit by bit and mix until combined and you don’t see anymore of the flour.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Chill your dough for 2 hours in the refrigerator. This makes it easier to form the dough into balls and keep a uniform shape when baking.
6. When the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350F/175C.
7. Use a tablespoon and measure out the dough to roll into balls. I used about 2 tablespoons per dough ball. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and sprinkle each dough ball with a little bit of sea salt.
8. Bake the cookies 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. Mine were done at 8 minutes. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook on the baking sheet when out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the sheets and sprinkle with a little sea salt. 
9. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Los Angeles - Umami Burger

Did not get out of bed until 2pm I believe. Thank goodness I had eaten a hot dog before going to bed or I would've woken up with the worst hangover. We decided to hit up Umami Burger for a late lunch. Umami has multiple locations all over LA and around the US. We arrived at the La Brea location around 3:30pm and waited almost an hour for a table. We were starving by the time we finally got seated. The interior did not look like your average burger joint. This was a high-end restaurant with sleek modern decor. Overall, delicious food. I think their signature burger was one of the best burgers I've ever eaten. I hear some locations are better than others though. Now if only Umami would come to Hong Kong...

Iced Green Tea: a bit on the sweeter side

Market Salad: fresh crisp greens, tangy vinaigrette dressing

Truffle Burger: delicious patty topped with house made truffle cheese and brushed with truffle glaze. I think what makes Umami's burgers stand out is their soft, toasted, slightly sweet buns. It really brings the whole burger together.

Umami Burger: Their signature burger: patty + parmesan crisp + tomato + onions + Umami ketchup = burger heaven. All the flavors and textures combined really well. This burger had a slight Asian taste to it. I think it was probably in the seasoning of the patty and the homemade ketchup. The patty was juicy and well seasoned, the onions were sweet, and the parmesan crisp added a nice savoury crunch. They make their own ketchup, which tasted fresh and "umami" (sorry I couldn't think of a better word!). You have got to try this!

Truffle cheese fries with Umami ketchup:  Fries were not too greasy, and the truffle cheese was fragrant. They skimped on the cheese though, as you can tell from the picture.

Verdict: Delicious burgers, long wait. Looking forward to my next visit though!

Update (July 14th 2014): This location actually closed down, but there are still 9 other locations in LA. 

Los Angeles - Apple Pan

LA is a gastronomical heaven, no doubt about that. Our first stop after landing was Apple Pan in West LA (10801 W Pico Blvd), one of Tiff's favorite burger joints. I could understand why. It was old school and authentic, with only bar seating and an open kitchen in the middle of the restaurant. Crispy fries came on a paper plate and our iced teas (unlimited refills!) came in styrofoam cups. Don't expect to get any fancy sauces for your fries, strictly ketchup! The menu hasn't changed since 1947. I ordered a Steakburger (pictured) and Tiff ordered a Hickoryburger. These burgers were amazing. The beef patty was juicy and had a distinct charred flavor, the onions and pickles added that sweetness and tanginess and the cheese was gooey, resulting in a messy, but happy, eating endeavour. Tiff's Hickoryburger was essentially the same as my Steakburger but with an excellent smoky BBQ sauce. We were already full after the burgers but she insisted that I try the Apple Pie. Out of this world! Perhaps one of the best apple pies I've ever had. The pie crust was buttery, flaky and slightly salty, and the chunky cinnamon-y apple filling was lovely. They gave us three scoops of vanilla ice cream to go with it! I loved how it was sweet and savoury, hot and cold all at the same time.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries with Crushed Macarons

It was my good friend's birthday celebration dinner and I didn't know what to get her, so I made her these beautiful cheesecake stuffed strawberries topped with crushed vanilla macarons. They are so simple to make yet they look like you spent a lot of time and effort on them. Much more impressive than chocolate-dipped strawberries!

Wash and clean your strawberries. Try to find strawberries that are similar in size, but not too small, or you won't be able to get much filling inside.

Core the strawberries with a corer/huller/paring knife. Be sure not to cut through to the bottom or the filling will leak.

For the filling, I used store-bought cheesecake (single serving). There was only blueberry left at the store, but I would recommend getting a plain one if available.

Mash up the cheesecake and whisk it a bit to give it the consistency of buttercream.

Put the creamed cheesecake in a ziplock bag and cut a hole in one corner for piping.

Pipe the filling into the cored strawberries.

Crush your macaron, but not too finely. Large chunks here and there make it more visually appealing.

Finish by topping the strawberries with the crushed macaroons. Serve within the hour or the macarons will start to get soggy.

Recipe

For 6-10 strawberries, depending on size

Ingredients

Strawberries
1 medium slice of cheesecake - preferably plain
1 large macaron

Method

1. Core the strawberries, taking care not to cut through to the bottom.
2. Mash up the cheesecake until it reaches a buttercream consistency.
3. Put the cheesecake into a ziploc bag and cut one corner. Pipe into the strawberries.
4. Top with crushed macarons.

Vancouver - Burgoo

Comfort food at its best! I am a huge fan of Burgoo. I've been to their Point Grey location four times and it gets better every time. Burgoo is like a high-end diner/bistro that serves classics like BLT and onion soup but with a contemporary flair. It is a relatively small restaurant but super cozy. The decor is mostly wood and there is a fireplace mounted on one wall. When you walk in, you are instantly greeted by the familiar scent of fondue. We were seated by the window (great for taking photos of food I recently learned) and I could feel the heater by my feet. It felt like I was in a log cabin somewhere in Switzerland where people come in to warm up with a decadent meal by the fireplace.  

Strawberry Lemonade: delicious chunks of sweet strawberries cut the sourness of the lemonade, making this a super refreshing drink (I get this every time I come! There's also an alcoholic version for those who want a little kick in their lemonade) 

Burgoo Biscuits: warm flaky scones with cheddar and parsley - great with butter

Decadent French Onion: roasted onions in rich beef broth with country-style croutons slow baked with gooey Gruyere, Emmenthal and Mozzarella - what sets this apart from other onion soups is that it comes with three different yummy cheeses and a lot of big crouton bits inside the soup, so it eats like a meal

Burgoo BLTCG: your classic BLT + Cheddar + Guacamole with house mayo served on toasted filone -  The guacamole adds a delightful creamy texture to the sandwich and the cheese ups the saltiness, which I love. The filone is toasted to perfection - definitely a must try!

I got their sandwich + salad combo with spinach salad: drizzled with thyme vinaigrette and topped with purple onions, apple slices, bacon bits and crumbled feta cheese - great textures, great salty flavors but I thought the vinaigrette tasted only like olive oil.

Other items I loved: Butternut Squash soup, Straight Up Tomato soup, Brie Fondue, Guacamole, Bruschetta

Note: Some of their menu items tend to change seasonally 

Verdict: Amazing comfort food, great atmosphere, but not recommended for those on a diet!