Yogurt pound cake

The other day, when I was suppose to catch up with my readings, I started up browsing Epicurious (such a procrastinator) and came across this recipe.  It was awesome because I happened to have alot of yogurt in the fridge, and Mr.C was craving cake that day (he has a sweet tooth!).  Who wants to study and write papers when you can play with your kitchenaid and make something yummy!  

This cake turned out pretty well despite the lack of butter in the ingredients' list because it was tenderized/moisturized by yogurt!  The original recipe is called "Yogurt Cake with Marmalade".  I skipped the marmalade because it's yucky, and I like my cake plain and simple. I added lemon juice and cut the sugar by 1/3 so that my diabetic Dad could enjoy this as well (probably also better for the rest of us).  Mr.C likes chocolate chips in his cookies/cakes, so I threw in some bittersweet chocolate chips (I decrease the sugar amount in the recipe when I add this).

I have a paper and presentation due tomorrow in class.  Today, I ended up making a meatloaf for dinner and 2 loaves of this cake (to share amongst ourselves and our parents).  Mr.C thinks I do cook/bake alot when I'm stressed and bombarded with alot of work.  Hmmm, interesting observations.

Yogurt pound cake (with a twist)

• 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsps baking powder
• sprinkles of salt
• 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt (I used fat free vanilla yogurt)
• 1 cup sugar (I used less)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp zested lemon peels
• few tbsps of lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cups of chocolate chips - optional (or chopped nuts/mashed banana!)

1. Place rack in centre of oven.  Preheat oven to 350F
2. Butter/grease a loaf pan lightly
3. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl
4. Mix all wet ingredients (except oil) until well blended.  Gradually mix in dry ingredients
5. Add chocolate chips (optional)
6. Fold in oil
7. Transfer batter into loaf pan.  Place pan onto baking sheet and transfer to oven to bake until cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, and tester inserted into centre comes out clean, for about 50 mins (top of cake will be a light golden brown).
8. Cool cake in pan on rack for 5 mins.  Cut around pan to loosen cake.  Get the cake out and cool it on rack completely. 

This is soooooo easy to make, and the cake is very moist.  No butter too, so try it!

Garfield would've been proud.

It looks like my guest blogger (see previous entry) is a little bit disappointed that there were zero buzzes to his post. Hopefully, he won't be discouraged by this and will make another guest appearance soon.

Anyways, I'd like to share with you an awesome lasagna recipe that I tried out last week. I had alot of cheeses in my fridge and I had a craving for cheese and pasta. I also wanted to make something worthwile so that hubs and I can have leftovers for lunches (which, I always try my best to do... it's healthier and waaaay cheaper than eating out!). So what did I make? LASAGNA. I've never really enjoyed making lasagna in the first place, because I hate that the top of my lasagnas always get crusty and somewhat burnt on the edges, and when I cut them up they turn into a soggy pile of mess and everything falls apart. For the life of me, I could never figure out why. But this recipe gave me the perfect lasagna. It's also great because it's so darn easy to make, and you can't possibly screw it up. They cut into perfect layered squares and oh, and I didn't get any burnt tops/edges! If you love lasagna or you want to make something to feed a small party of hungry people for dinner, this is awesome!

Sausage, Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna


Sauce:
8 oz light Italian sausage (I used Italian sweet basil sausages, because it was on sale.)
8 oz extra-lean ground beef
1 c chopped onions
2 t minced garlic
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried basil
1/4 t dried red pepper flakes (I didn't have any.)
1 jar (700 mL) pasta sauce (I just used whatever I had in the pantry.)
1 can (540mL) tomatoes with italian herbs, undrained, cut up (I used regular PC diced tomatos.)
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 t pepper (I never bother with measuring salt and pepper, or any seasonings.)

12 uncooked whole wheat lasagna noodles (I just used regular lasagna noodles.)
2 c light ricotta cheese (Couldn't find light, so I used the real ricotta cheese. That's ok, I've been working out alot these days!)
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/3 c grated parmesan cheese (Hubs dislikes parmesan cheese so I didn't use any.)
1 egg
1/3 c chopped FRESH basil (I used dried basil... sue me).
1/2 t salt (I used kosher salt)
2 c packed shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (I just add whatever amount I wanted... and I also added cheddar cheese because I happen to have some in the fridge).

Directions:
1. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

2. To make the sauce: remove casing from the sausage and break into small pieces in a large lot pan with a tiny bit of olive oil (I used extra virgin) . Add ground beef, onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in oregano, red pepper flakes and dried basil.

Cook 1 more minute. Add pasta sauce, tomatoes, vinegar and pepper. Bring to a boil, and then simmer until you're ready to use it (at least 20 minutes).

3. While the sauce is simmering, cook the lasagna noodles until they are just ready (about 8-9 minutes). Rinse noodles with cold water (or they'd stick into a huge slab!).

4. In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta, spinach, basil, parmesan, egg and salt.

5. To assemble the lasagna: start with 1 cup of the meat sauce on the bottom of the 9x13 pan. Top with 4 lasagna noodles. Spread 1/3 of the remaining sauce over the noodles. Top with 4 more noodles. Add 1/3 of the sauce again, then add ALL of the ricotta spinach mixture. Top with 4 more noodles. Add the rest of the sauce and spread evenly.

6. Top it all off with the shredded mozzarella. In my case, I added a load of mozza and cheddar cheese. omg, cheese!!!

7. *This is important*: Spray some oil on a piece of foil and cover your lasagna. Bake at 375F for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes before serving (or everything will become soggy).

8. Eat!



Mr.C and I really enjoyed this lasagna. We were also happy that we had awesome leftovers for lunches!

Curry in a hurry.

Hello kids! It's been awhile since I blogged. The Mr. and I have been working some late hours the last few weeks and after dinners and clean up and such, we just wanna sleep and pass out. I haven't been in the mood to blog and I never really have anything interesting to say. But, I do like reading food/recipe blogs and I enjoy sharing my tried recipes with friends. I figured, if I at least take pictures of food, it should make the blog a tad bit more interesting, right? I have no idea who reads my blog... but my blog has got to be the blah-est blog ever. I need some drama in my life. No wait, I see enough drama at work already. Scratch that.

Anyways, did I ever tell you I lub curry. Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Thai. Give me some good curry sauce and I can probably eat a pot of rice. Have I mentioned I'm a huge fan of rice? Meat and veggies aren't necessary. Give me some good sauce and rice and I'll clean them up for you! I've been really enjoying Thai curry lately (I love Thai food!), so I eventually picked up this simple Thai curry recipe. I lost the oiriginal recipe, which I've only used when I first tried it. So below is the recipe from recollection (after cooking this a few times, you don't really need the recipe anyways, and you can always change up the recipe to your liking, which I do!). But if you insist looking for an actual Thai curry recipe, do not panic - there are alot of good ones out there! Google is your friend, yo.

This recipe is awesome because it has very good curry flavor, and so easy to make - dinner in less than 30 mins!!!

Thai Red Curry in a Hurry (I made this name up, how original!)

Ingredients

• 4-5 boneless & skinless chicken breasts, sliced -or- a pound of peeled prawns (can be frozen)
• 1-2 cups of frozen peas / vegetables (depends on your liking)
  
• fish sauce
• thai red curry paste
• 1 can of coconut milk
• few cloves of chopped garlic
  
• half a chopped onion
  
• marinating: salt and pepper, sesame oil, rice wine, soy sauce, cornstarch
  

Directions

• Marinate chicken breasts or prawns with salt and pepper, few drops of sesame oil, a splash of chinese rice wine, splashes of soy sauce, and a few sprinkles of cornstarch. Let marinate overnight (or even 15-30 mins before you start to cook!)
• Drizzle oil in a heated pan/wok over medium high heat, cook garlic and onion until clear.
• Cook and stirfry chicken/prawns until browned, for 6-8 mins. Add frozen peas/vegetables (I also added fresh sliced mushrooms this time, because I happen to have them and I'm trying to clean up the fridge). Cook for another 3-5 mins.

• Stir in a can of coconut milk and turn down to medium heat. Stir. Cover and let simmer for a few minutes until coconut milk bubbles.

• Add a spoonful or two of the red thai curry paste. Stir and mix well. Cover and let simmer for another 3 mins or so. (Time depends on your stove... I have a gas range so it tends to cook fast for me). For the paste that I have, I find that a big spoonful and a half is enough. If unsure, you may want to add the paste abit at at time to get to the flavour you want.
  

• Add a splash or two of fish sauce. Stir and let the sauce become bubbly. Taste test at this point. It may need abit of salt or soy sauce (your preference).
  

• Serve over steamed rice!

Note:

• If you get the red thai curry paste from Save On, you're likely to use double the amount I used in this recipe, and some soy sauce at the end to "diu may". I find that brand of paste is not as flavorful.
• I purchased my jar of red thai curry paste at T&T. It's the best I've had so far. Very strong and bold flavor and with this brand, you don't need to add alot of paste to the coconut milk. It says it's made in Thailand, it has Thai characters on the label, so I assume it's the good stuff. And it is good!
• Aroy-D coconut milk: cheapest I found was at that loonie store on Alexandra/Hazelbridge (Adjacent to McD's on Alderbridge Way).... I've seen it for as low as $0.59 a can! Do not worry, they never expire (ok I lied, but they often expire after 10 years or something).
  

omg I suck at the photography. Sorry for the shaky hands :(

....and this is what happens after endless CNY lunches and dinners, and a heavy Shanghainese lunch at 2pm.



I screwed up my fried egg, and gave the good one to the hubs. I'm not sure why his bowl is overflowing!!!

My ultimate comfort food when I don't feel like cooking a real meal. Nissin original noodle + stir-fry garlic sausages (found it in the fridge), and baby bokchoys on sale. Oh, can't forget the chili garlic sauce!!

I think I'll eat a salad for lunch tomorrow at work. :\

Gung Hay Rat Choy!

It's Chinese New Year again and what does that mean?






TIME TO PIG OUT.

My mom's home-cooking is always the best.

Mom's home-made "Loh-Bak-Go", and my Uncle's home-made XO sauce. Zee bestest!



I actually prefer Chinese New Year over the Jan 1 New Year. I'm not sure if this is due to the fact that I was once raised in Hong Kong where Chinese New Year is a huge deal. I really enjoyed the specialty foods that I only get to eat during CNY; mom's loh-bak-go, neen-go, the decorative box that has 8 compartments filled with chocolates, candies and CNY dried fruits, and all the lai-see! I hope one day I get to experience CNY festivities in HK again.

I made the Coconut Pudding (椰汁糕) last weekend when we went to Grandma Chan's place for CNY dinner. I like this recipe because it's easy and feeds a big crowd. I also like how its light texture/flavors complement a heavy CNY dinner. The original recipe I got was in Chinese, so I'll be nice and translate for those of you who can't read Chinese!



椰汁糕 (Coconut Pudding)

材料 / Ingredients:

Gelatin 3 包 (3 tsp / 21 g) 3 packets of of Knox Gelatin
糖 1 杯 1 Cup sugar
奶 1 杯 1 Cup milk (I just use 1% and it's fine)
椰奶 1 罐 1 Can of Coconut Milk
蛋白 3 隻 3 Egg whites
水 1 杯 1 Cup of water

Directions:

1) 溶 3 包 gelatin 1) Melt gelatin with 1 cup of water, set aside

2) 把奶和糖以慢火煮溶﹐加入椰奶 2) Melt sugar in milk over low/medium heat, add coconut milk. Stir until blended. Turn off heat.

3) 把蛋白打起 3) With a handheld beater (I have my trusty Kitchenaid!), beat eggwhites until stiff. Note: Use the wire whip if you are using the Kitchenaid.

4) 把蛋白和 gelatin 加入﹐ 打勻﹐雪藏。 4) Fold eggwhites and gelatin mixture into milk mixture. Pour into container (I often use my 9"x13" pyrex glass). Refrigerate overnight.

You'll see 3 layers in the final product. I particularly like the top foamy layer as it gives the dessert a really light, fluffy texture. If you don't like it, just omit the eggwhite part of the recipe!