Black & White Cookie Project Part I

I’m working on perfecting the famous Black and White cookie. The first recipe I'm trying out is for the NYC version. This is not the upstate new York version. The upstate New York version is called the half moon (sometimes also called black and white) and I will blog about it at a later time. They are two distinctly different versions and each have their own dedicated fans. I’ve had both versions and since I am not from New York, I cannot say I have any loyalty to either version. I like them both.

I'm starting off with a recipe from Glaser’s Bake Shop. The recipe was published in the May 13, 1998 issue of the New York Times. Glaser's is a small family-own bakery and the recipe has been passed down for generations. I followed Glaser's recipe for the cookie base but I adapted the icing from Gourmet because my coworker wanted me to troubleshoot the Gourmet magazine recipe she has been using. She wanted me to help her “fix” the weird flavor. She said the lemon flavor was off and the icing tasted chalky. I found many of the icing recipes on the internet very similar to each other. They consisted of powdered sugar, water and light corn syrup. Variations included lemon juice and/or vanilla. Some recipes used cocoa powder and others used baking chocolate.

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Glutinious Rice Balls in Caramelized Syrup and Coconut Water (Tang Yuan or Bua Loy or Khao Mauk Ma)

My mom was never much of a cook but she knew her way around Asian desserts. One of my favorite desserts was something she called Khao Mauk Ma (the Lue name). I’m making the version that I grew up eating. The Thai Bua Loy dessert is very similar but the balls are usually smaller in size and served with gingered coconut milk syrup. The Chinese version, called Tang Yuan can be plain or stuffed with ground black sesame seeds or chopped peanuts and served with a sugar syrup

My mom always made larger sized balls of unstuffed dough It wasn’t until I was older that I discovered that Bua Loy is usually made in smaller pea-size balls. My mom is a fan of shortcuts and likes to make super-sized versions to cut down on prep time. My mom never had the patience to spend hours doing intricate work. To her, time meant money and she liked to work quickly and efficiently.

I think my mom’s version is a cross between the Chinese and the Thai versions. She like the fragrant caramelized sugar syrup featured in many Thai desserts and she also liked the coconut aroma but didn’t like the heaviness that the coconut milk added to the dessert. She wanted something lighter so she started using the water from fresh young coconuts to give the dessert the coconut-y flavor. She also scooped out the soft flesh of the young coconuts and floated them with the rice balls.

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Apple Butter

I can’t remember the last time I made apple butter but it came to mind when we had an abundance of apples at work. We just had our annual team building event and my boss bought tons of apples for one of the challenges. We tried our best to eat the apples but there were still several left at the end of the week. Everyone preferred the Fuji over the Red Delicious so I took a sack of Red Delicious home with me.

Red Delicious apples are not ideal for apple sauce or butter. (But in my opinion, they are not ideal for eating either.) I had a few Fuji apples in my fridge so I added them to the batch to add more flavor.

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Pho Fusion Restaurant in San Diego

I flew back to San Diego a few weeks ago to see a friend's new baby girl. I co-hosted the baby shower back in February.

We all met up for lunch at Pho Fusion. The restaurant was very busy so my friend ended up going back to the kitchen to help cook. (It's her family's restaurant so she ends up helping out a lot.) I love the food at Pho Fusion. The restaurant started off as a hip boba cafe. (If I recall correctly, Fusion opened its doors around 2002. Prior to opening Fusion, the yummy food was served at the original Linda Vista Food To Go.) The menu was recently expanded to include pho. I didn't order the pho. My favorite items are the barbecued chicken and the barbecued chicken sandwiches (banh mi).

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Khao Piak Sien (Laotian Fresh Rice Noodle Soup)

It's been awhile but I hope this recipe was worth the wait.

I was craving some good Laotian Khao Piak Sien and then I remembered the stewing hens in my freezer. My dad sent me home with a few stewing hens and cocks during one of my visits home. I also asked my mom to pick up some homemade pho meatballs, som moo and isaan sausage from her lady. My grandpa packed a cardboard box for me. It was inspected by TSA. I wonder what they were thinking when they searched the box.

This is one of those dishes that really benefits from a tougher old chicken although, my mom has made it with regular old whole fryers because my sister didn’t want to eat her pets.

Khao Piak Sien is a great dish to serve a crowd. We took turns cooking the meals during our snowboard/ski trip back in February. My friend was in charge of dinner day 2 and was undecided between Khao Piak Sien or Pho. She decided on the Khao Piak Sien. Everyone was glad to have a steaming bowl of Khao Piak Sien after a day on the slopes.

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Vietnamese Avocado Shake (Sinh To Bo)

This shake sounds very strange to those who have never had it. Most people who see this on a Vietnamese menu will usually order the strawberry version. I can’t even remember the first time I tried this. I believe it was at Phuoc Loc Tho (or Asian Garden Mall) in Westminster, California.

I get excited every time I see Sinh To Bo on the menu. However, I am disappointed most of the time when I order it. Most restaurants skimp on the avocado and all you get is milky crushed ice.

Here’s a list of some of the varieties:
Sinh To means fruit shake in Vietnamese.
Sinh To Bo = avocado shake.
Sinh To Dam = aloe vera shake.
Sinh To Chuoi = banana shake.
Sinh To Cam = orange shake.
Sinh To Dau = strawberry shake.

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Black Bean Soup

The weather in Denver has been a bit strange lately. It snowed last Wednesday and the temps are still pretty chilly. I had a ham bone tucked away in the back of my freezer so I decided to make a bean soup. I checked pantry to see what types of dried beans I had on hand. I went with black beans but this can really be made with your choice of beans or even split peas or lentils.

To soak or not to soak? The soaking of dried beans is a controversial subject. Some people do it and some people do not. The other question is: To salt or not to salt? I salt at the end because my mom said so. I personally like the quick hot soak method. I sort and rinse the beans, boil for few minutes, turn off the heat, let them sit about an hour and then another rinse.

Some people simply toss the beans in with the soup stock. I would recommend at least rinsing and scrubbing the beans first. Who knows what sort of grime is stuck on the exterior?

Another method I’ve read about is the oven method. It involves preheating the oven to a pretty low temp, bringing the beans to a boil on the stovetop and then 90 minutes in the oven.

Black Bean Soup

1 pound dried black beans
1 teaspoon oil
½ onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup sofrito
¼ cup recaito
water
1 ham bone or 2 ham hocks or 1 smoked turkey drumstick, remove meat from the bone and set aside
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon Mexican oregano
salt
pepper
cilantro, chopped


1. Sort through beans and discard any debris or stones. Thoroughly wash beans with cold water. Transfer to a medium pot and cover 2 inches with water. Bring beans to a boil, boil 2-3 minutes and turn off heat. Allow to sit, covered for 1 hour.
2. Heat a medium dutch oven; add oil when hot. When oil is heated - add garlic and onions. Saute about a minute. Add sofrito and recaito. Saute another minute.
3. Drain and rinse soaked beans.
4. Add water, ham bone, beans and bay leaf to dutch oven. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a medium boil. Cook until beans are soft.
5. Remove ham bone. Add ham and season with salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Serve with cilantro.

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Thai-Style Roast Chicken (Gai Yang)

I eat a lot of chicken. I went through a long semi-vegetarian phase and just started eating red meat not too long ago. I still have an aversion to red meat that tastes like meat. Because I eat a lot of chicken, I am always looking for new ways to prepare it. I usually like my chicken marinated with lemongrass but the bf hates lemongrass. I still wanted an Asian marinade so I decided on Thai gai yang.

Authentic Thai gai yang is usually made with a whole bird that has been spatchcocked or flattened and cooked over a charcoal grill. I looked in the freezer and found a tray of chicken leg quarters. I marinated the leg quarters in a Thai-style marinade and then I roasted them in the oven.

Thai Style Roast Chicken

3 pounds chicken leg quarters or whole chicken
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons coriander root, minced
2 tablespoon fish sauce
½ cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon ground tumeric
2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon maggi sauce
MSG
black pepper

1. Marinate chicken in marinade at least 6 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange chicken in a single layer on baking sheet. Cook until chicken is golden.

We visited the Paint Mines Interpretive Park last weekend. It is located east of Colorado Springs. It was beautiful out.

These structures are called hoodoos and are the inspiration for Big Thunder Mountain ride at Disney.

Who can resist taking pictures of wild flowers?

A close up of one of the clay-like rocks.

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Cucumber Kimchi (Oi Sobagi)

I've been tinkering with a couple different pickling and fermenting recipes lately. One of my coworkers loves pickles so he has been testing out a few batches of my refrigerator pickles and pickling brines. He said the last batch was perfect. (I'm hoping to have a recipe perfected by summer. My spice drawer is currently filled with juniper berries and mustard seeds.) We even tested a few different types of cucumbers. As a joke, I pickled a few whole English hothouse cucumbers and mixed in a few Kirby cucumbers. Since Kirby cucumbers are still a little difficult to find, we've been mostly using English cucumbers.

I had a few English hothouse cucumbers in the fridge so I decided to try a cucumber kimchi. Cucumber kimchi is one of my favorite types of kimchi. I cannot decide whether I like cucumber or cabbage kimchi more.

Cucumber Kimchi

2 English hot house cucumbers
5 cups water
½ cup pickling salt

Stuffing:
½ cup shallot greens or garlic chives (I used shallot greens.)
¼ cup green onions
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1 carrot, shredded
2 tablespoons water
½ cup to 1 cup Korean red chili powder (I used the medium-fine ground)

1. Prep cucumber by cutting into 2 inch pieces and then cutting the pieces into quarters, without cutting them all the way through.
2. Heat water in a large stockpot. Add the salt and stir to dissolve. (You want the water to be pretty hot without boiling.) Add the prepped cucumbers and soak about an hour.
3. Combine the ingredients for the stuffing and set aside.
4. Rinse cucumbers with ice cold water and soak about 15 minutes. Drain.
5. Stuff the cucumbers with the chili mixture, rubbing the stuffing around the entire cucumber piece.
6. Transfer to a storage container, leave cucumber on the counter overnight and then refrigerate.

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Saffron Israeli Couscous Salad

Edit 9/3/18 -- I'm rereading my recipe to make for a potluck and I believe I omitted the sun-dried tomatoes from the recipe I posted.  I actually found my recipe posted on another blog. The person made the recipe as written without the sun-dried tomatoes. 

It's now 2018 and Udi's has since been sold and is now primarily a gluten free line of breads and granola. The catering company and bakery still operates under a newname Etai's. I remember when I was processing AP for the Foundation and the vendor we had in the system for lunch catering was "Udi the Sandwich Man." Udi's was not focused on gluten free products. They had a line of gluten free sandwich breads and pizza crusts but that was about it. Udi's offered a wide selection of sandwiches, sides, and salads. I always looked forward to their tray of assorted mini sandwiches. The bite-size vegetarian sandwich with sprouts and avocado was a favorite of mine.

The inspiration for this salad comes from Udi’s Foods, a local bakery/caterer. Udi’s bakes some of the most wonderful breads in Denver. My favorite is their cranberry walnut. They also make delicious sides to go with their sandwiches and salads. Their sides include: Saffron Israeli Couscous salad, Cranberry Quinoa, Taboulleh, Crab Artichoke Pasta and other various pasta and potato salads. My favorite side is the Saffron Israeli Couscous.

Although it is my favorite, I can’t seem to remember the last time I actually had this salad. I haven’t attended any meetings where they served Udi’s and the Udi’s Bread Café in Stapleton doesn’t include the salad on their menu.

I had some Israeli couscous in the pantry and I wanted to try making the salad but I couldn’t recall the ingredients. I decided to just toss a few things together and it ended up tasting pretty darn good.

Israeli couscous is a toasted pasta that is pretty pale in color. I infused the water with saffron threads. The saffron turns the couscous a beautiful yellow color.

Saffron Israeli Couscous Salad:
1 ¼ cup water
pinch of saffron threads
1-8.8 ounce bag Israeli couscous
2 tablespoons light tasting olive oil
¼ cup onions, diced
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup yellow bell pepper (or any color)
4 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped


1. Boil water in a medium saucepan. Add saffron and the couscous. Return to a boil, lower heat and cover. Stir occasionally. Cook about 8 minutes. Turn off heat and allow couscous to absorb the water before fluffing.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat light olive oil. Add onions and mushrooms and sauté until tender.
3. Fluff couscous and transfer to a larger bowl. Add sautéed onions and mushrooms and the rest of the ingredients. Toss everything together and refrigerate several hours before serving.

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