Roy Choi’s “Ghetto Doughnuts”. We learned of this handy recipe from watching SELENA + CHEF. Who wouldn’t want doughnuts at home in minutes? These are so simple, quick and satisfying. While Roy normally fries these in Crisco, I did these in the Air Fryer with a brush of coconut oil and honestly, they’re still great and if anything healthier than deep frying. Try them out!
Ingredients:
1 tube of Pillsbury Country Biscuit Dough
1/2 cup granulated organic sugar
3 tbsps black sesame, toasted
1 tsp cinnamon
Coconut Oil
Instructions:
1. Preheat Air Fryer at 360°F for 3-4 minutes.Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Shrimp Shakshuka. “Shakshuka” is a Tunisian term for “mixture” and it is one of our favourite brunch items! Fancy, ethnic name aside this dish is incredibly delicious, comforting and real easy to make. Soft-poached eggs in crushed tomatoes, peppers and onions. Topped with some Goat Cheese. And some bread to sop it all up! While this Israeli favourite doesn’t contain shrimp normally, we’re doing it!
Ingredients:
1 28 oz can of crushed San Marzano Tomatoes
12 large shrimp
4-6 eggs
3 Roma Tomatoes, chopped
1 sweet orange pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/4 cup Goat Cheese, crumbled
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsps Cilantro, minced
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Paprika
2 Bay Leaves
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
Olive Oil
Brioche Bread or any bread of choice
Instructions:
1. In large cast iron skillet, sautée garlic and onions in olive oil on medium-high heat.
2. Add chopped tomatoes and peppers, cool for about 3 minutes medium-high heat or until vegetables start to wilt.
3. Add crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, cumin, bay leaves, cayenne pepper and paprika.
4. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Preheat oven at 375°F.
6. Remove skillet from heat and add cracked eggs, spacing apart evenly.
7. Add-in shrimp. Only add eggs and shrimp right before you are placing skillet in oven.
8. Bake for about 10 minutes or till egg whites are no longer transparent. Yolk should still be soft and runny.
9. Using oven mitts, remove skillet from oven. Sprinkle top with cilantro and goat cheese. Serve Shakshuka with bread and tossed salad.
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Lamingtons. We’ve always wanted to visit Australia and maybe one day post-Covid we finally will! This chocolate-dipped butter cake, sometimes filled with raspberries and raspberry jam is an Australian favourite. Australia Day is January 26, 2021! Happy Australia Day! 🇦🇺
Note these are extremely sweet and I have adapted the recipe to my tastes. You can increase the sugar in the cake and icing if you wish.
Cake:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup organic raw sugar
1/3 cup corn starch
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
2 tsps baking powder
2 tsps organic vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup raspberries
Dessicated coconut, unsweetened
Chocolate Icing:
3 1/4 cups icing sugar
200 grams dark chocolate
1/2 cup or more whole milk
1 tbsp butter
Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Classic Chili & Sweet Cheesy Cornbread. Chili is one of those dishes that is no fuss and easy to prepare. Most of all, it is tough to botch it! Everyone’s got their own way of going about it. We’re sharing our Classic Chili recipe. Nothing fancy here in terms of add-ins, but this is hearty, hits the spot and just perfect with our Sweet Cheesy Cornbread on the side.
Chili
1 lb Extra Lean Ground BeefSweet Cheesy Cornbread
1 1/4 cup All Purpose FlourInstructions:
1. In soup pot, sauteé onion, garlic and red chili.
2. Add in ground beef and cook till browned on medium heat.
3. Add in sugar, bay leaves, chili power, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika, stirring evenly.
4. Add tomatoes, beans, red peppers, tomato sauce and paste, stirring evenly.
5. Add in broth, stirring evenly. Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer covered, on low heat for about two hours, stirring occasionally. Finish with salt to taste.
6. With about an hour left, pre-heat oven at 350°F. Prepare Sweet Cheesy Cornbread.
7. In large mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder.
8. In separate bowl, whisk eggs, honey, milk and melted butter.
9. Fold wet mixture into dry mixture, careful not to over-mix.
10. Add in corn kernels, green onion and half of shredded cheese.
11. Transfer to greased baking pan. Top batter with rest of cheese.
12. Bake 30 minutes or till toothpick comes out clean.
13. Garnish Chili in a bowl with Sour Cream and shredded cheese and serve with Cornbread. Keep Cornbread in freezer once cooled and store in air-tight bag, thawing about an hour before serving.
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
“Unlimited” Salad and Breadsticks. We miss our cross-border trips and part of the joys of high school involved living right beside an Olive Garden. While the Italian-American family chain’s days in these parts of Canada were short-lived, we miss them greatly and we try to make time for a visit when we visit the U.S. We don’t even care about the Pasta, just give us Unlimited Salad and Breadsticks!
Olive Garden‘s House Dressing is available now in Canada at select grocers and you too can replicate that magic at home! We prefer bread from scratch but there’s nothing wrong with buying pre-made dough.
Garlic Breadsticks
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons yeast
2 tablespoons organic raw sugar
1/4 tablespoon sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
Garlic powder
Additional sea salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
Optional: 1/4 cup grated cheese (Mozzarella/Cheddar)
Instructions:
1. Mix flour, salt and butter in mixing bowl. Use two forks criss-crossing to cut butter in.
2. In bowl, mix 1/3 cup lukewarm water (not warm or hot) with yeast and sugar till dissolved and filmy. Let stand a few minutes.
3. Mix yeast water into flour bit by bit, using forks. Pour another 2/3 cup lukewarm water, forming dough.
4. Turn dough onto flat, floured surface. Sprinkle with flour till dough no longer is sticky, kneading 10 minutes. Dough should be punchy and elastic.
5. Grease large bowl and transfer dough into it. Cover with damp cloth and place in oven on top rack with a pot of hot water on the rack below. Shut oven. Replace hot water again in 30 minutes. This provides a perfect environment for your dough to rise. Be careful!
6. Dough will have doubled in size by one hour if proofed right. If not, your water might have been too hot when activating or something is up with your yeast. Transfer back to floured surface and knead 5 minutes, releasing air pockets.
7. Cut dough into 10 even portions. Roll into narrow logs. Place evenly-spaced onto wax paper-lined baking sheet. Proof again for 45 minutes to 1 hour covered, with pot of hot water underneath in oven. Dough will have doubled again in size. Remove from oven.
8. Preheat oven at 425°F.
9. Brush bread sticks with butter and dust with sea salt and garlic powder to taste. Add grated cheese too if desired.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or till golden brown. Rotate pan once, half-way through. Allow to cool 15 minutes in pan and transfer to cooling rack. You can freeze these if you can’t finish them right away.
“Unlimited” Salad
1 bag of Garden Salad MixInstructions:
1. Toss all ingredients in bowl, adding Parmesan, dressing and croutons into the mix only right before serving. Season with ground black pepper.
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Creamy Seafood Bake. We’re still of the firm belief that cheese and seafood go well together. Something hearty, flavourful at every bite and decadent for this cold winter weather.
Ingredients:
2 lbs Manila Clams, scrubbedInstructions:
1. Prepare pasta till al dente and strain. Set aside.Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Cherry Almond Cake. We love a good, simple cake. And Cherry-Almond is one of my favourite nostalgic flavour combinations. This one is timely and festive. Ensure you use organic and pure flavourings, as extracts labelled “imitiation” flavouring can ruin it all. Enjoy this crunchy, crumbly, buttery perfection which would fit right into your Holiday baking rotation!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Almond Flour, sifted
1/2 cup White Flour, sifted
1/2 cup organic raw sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup almond slivers, toasted
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp organic vanilla extract
1 tsp pure almond extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
12 Maraschino Cherries, pat dry
Canola oil
Additional flour
Instructions:
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
In celebration of Netflix‘s acclaimed Animated Feature OVER THE MOON, we got to partake in a special virtual Dumpling making class with Chef Ken Yau of k.dinners, who has worked at popular local hotspots Nota Bene and Scaramouche, in addition to three-Michelin star The Fat Duck in London. Local television personality Pay Chen hosted and among my classmates was the lovely Tanya Kim!
How fitting, since food is such an integral element in the culturally-rich, visual spectacle that is OVER THE MOON!
Official Synopsis:
Fueled with determination and a passion for science, a bright young girl builds a rocket ship to the moon to prove the existence of a legendary Moon Goddess. There she ends up on an unexpected quest, and discovers a whimsical land of fantastical creatures. Directed by animation legend Glen Keane, and produced by Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou, Over the Moon is an exhilarating musical adventure about moving forward, embracing the unexpected, and the power of imagination. The film stars Cathy Ang (Fei Fei), Phillipa Soo (Chang’e), Robert G. Chiu (Chin), Ken Jeong (Gobi), John Cho (Dad), Ruthie Ann Miles (Mom), Margaret Cho (Auntie Ling), Kimiko Glenn (Auntie Mei), Artt Butler (Uncle), and Sandra Oh (Mrs. Zhong).
A Clip from the Film:
A few tips from Chef Yau about Dumplings:
-All vegetables should be chopped well (maximum 1 cm in size)I asked Chef Yau if his recipe could be used in an Air Fryer, which we are obsessed with and he didn’t see why not, though he had never tried. So we did!
Sharing Chef Yau’s recipe below with his permission. I added double the soy sauce to the filling for just a bit more flavour.
2lbs ground pork (or ground chicken)
1 bunch green onion, minced
1 cup Nappa cabbage, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bulb ginger, minced
1.5 tbsps salt
2 tbsps vegetable oil
1 tbsps soy sauce
1 Egg
1 Pack of fresh dumpling wrappers (if frozen, thaw out in the fridge overnight or min 30-40 mins before)
Optional:
¼ – ⅓ cup Shaoxing Cooking Wine
Instructions:
1. In large mixing bowl, mixed chopped vegetables together with egg.
2. In separate bowl, pour wine into ground pork. Season with salt and soy sauce.
3. Mix pork into vegetables, stirring one direction only till combined.
4. Dab a bit of water (careful not to over-wet it) on edge of half of dumpling wrapper.
5. Scoop a spoon of filling onto center of wrapper. Fold edges firmly together. For added effect, you can pleat the edges into an “S”-shape repeatedly and pinch to seal. Repeat till you’ve reached desired amount of dumplings and store on a baking sheet.
6. You boiling pot of water, bringing dumplings to boil and reduce to medium/medium-low heat, covered for about 8 minutes, cooking in batches of 12 at a time.
7. Alternatively, for a crisp dumpling, you can air-fry at 380°F. Drizzle with a tiny bit of oil, pre-heating fryer for three minutes and then frying dumplings for about 6 minutes, tossing the dumplings once and placing back in fryer to finish for about 3-4 more minutes.
8. Plate the dumplings and serve with soy sauce, chili sauce or red/black vinegar.
Carousel Gallery:
See the Trailer:
Our glowing Review of OVER THE MOON here.
OVER THE MOON is streaming now on Netflix!
(Photo credit: Netflix/Mr. Will Wong)
Beef Stew and Cheddar Dumplings. Something hearty for you as the temperatures drop! Ensure that you are always cooking your beef at a low heat and a long simmer for that perfect fall-apart texture. This will last you days.
Stew:
2 lbs stewing beef
3 cups squash, chopped into chunks
1 large white potato, pellets and diced
1 cup small button mushrooms
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 large white onion, minced
1 zucchini, sliced
1/2 cup white wine
5 tbsps corn starch
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp Herbs de Provence
Olive oil
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Dumplings:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup grated cheddar
2/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup Crisco Golden
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp Herbs de Provence
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp truffle oil
Sour Cream (optional)
Instructions:
1. Season beef in salt and pepper and brown in Air Fryer in two batches at 400°F for 9 minutes each batch. Alternatively, you can sear the meat in batches in a large skillet on medium-high heat till browned.
2. Sautée garlic and onions in olive oil, using large pot.
3. Add in remaining vegetables, herbs, leaves and season with salt and pepper.
4. Add beef, wine and just enough water to reach surface of mixture. Bring to boil.
5. Reduce heat to low and simmer with lid on.
6. Simmer for 4 hours or more on low heat, stirring occasionally.
7. In a small bowl, make a slurry with corn starch and equal parts water. Stir till smooth and add into stew mixture, stirring quickly till thickened. Transfer to casserole dish.
8. Preheat oven to 350°F.
9. In a large mixing bowl mix dry ingredients for dumplings and herbs. Cut-in shortening with 2 knives till mixture resembles peas.
10. Mix-in milk and cheese till just combined.
11. Roll dough into balls, careful not to over-handle and place on-top of stew and drizzle dumplings with truffle oil and more herbs if you wish.
12. Bake 35-40 minutes or till dumplings are golden brown.
13. Allow to stand 15 minutes before serving. Serve with Sour Cream if you wish.
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Hong Kong Pork Chop Rice. This is a classic. Hong Kong Cuisine takes a lot of traditional Chinese influences and combines them with European ingredients and techniques. It smells like literal heaven when it is baking. It truly is a perfect, comforting dish for the Fall. Mom approves and she’s had many variations of this dish. I too have had many renditions of this, some amazing and some made clearly with a can of tomato soup as the sauce base. Nope. I’m happy with this super-tomatoey take which uses real cheddar versus processed cheese (I’ve really seen it all!). As a bit of a food snob, I totally get those who turn-up their nose at things like garlic powder and ketchup, but they are necessary notes in the dish and the end result wouldn’t be the same without it! I hope you love this little bit of my heritage.
Ingredients:
4 pork chops, deboned and halvedInstructions:
1. Prepare rice and allow to cool.Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
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