Lately, I have been absolutely addicted to blondies. I considered myself to be a brownie fan more than a blondie fan since childhood, but after all of my experimentation with developing variations of blondie recipes, I fell utterly in love with blondies. Blondies have a distinctive brown sugar flavor which caramelizes beautifully when baked in the oven. When I made my chai tea blondies a couple weeks ago, I could not stop myself from eating them. The next thing I knew, I already ate five pieces. I had to pack the blondies away in the refrigerator to keep myself from reaching for yet another piece. The best part about the blondies was they stayed moist, soft, and delectable even after a few days in the refrigerator. I couldn’t seem to get the flavor of my chai tea blondies out of my mouth after I finished the last piece. A few weeks later, my cravings for blondies struck again. This time, I ended up making some blondies in its most basic form. My basic brown sugar blondies made for the perfect dessert to celebrate my nine year anniversary with Kevin. Nine years ago, Kevin and I met through our mutual friend, Xin. Since 2010, I’ve made a variety of desserts to celebrate the day Kevin and I started dating. As my love for baking and cooking grew, Kevin’s appetite for certain treats also grew. He has become an instant fan of blondies over the last month. It seems like he has also converted from a brownie fan to a blondie fan.
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Salt and Pepper Roast Chicken
I’ve made a lot of roast chicken over the last few years. My favorite though is a basic roast chicken made with just a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Last year, I started roasting my chickens in a cast iron pan over a bed of diagonally sliced baguette after I had the most amazing roast chicken served in a cast iron pan at a restaurant in Maine. This was two summers ago when I traveled to Maine to visit my close friend, Ada. It was my first time visiting Ada since she had moved to Maine and like the good host she was, she made reservations at all of these quaint places for both Colleen and I to see throughout our stay in Portland. Even before I landed in Maine, Ada had been raving about Fore Street Restaurant, a rustic restaurant located in Portland. She described the lines for the restaurant as impossibly long. We didn’t expect to be able to get a table at the restaurant, but luckily, when we spontaneously showed up one evening in July (just a couple minutes before the restaurant opened its doors for its evening shift), we were able to get a table right away. One of the dishes we ordered off the menu was half of a roasted chicken. The chicken was served over a bed of sliced baguette. The chicken was so succulent, moist, and seasoned to perfection. While the chicken was fantastic, the bread which sat at the bottom of the chicken was even better. Throughout the cooking process, the bread had absorbed all of the delicious juices released by the chicken. The cast iron pan also gave the bread a wonderful crust at the bottom. Ada and I could not stop eating the bread until both the chicken and bread were gone. The roasted chicken was definitely a very memorable dish. To this day, I can still remember how wonderful the chicken turned out. For my anniversary celebration with Kevin, I wanted to recreate a roasted chicken in its most basic form using the same technique I saw at Fore Street Restaurant.
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Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing
This week has been an incredibly busy week for me. Typically, I have evenings off to meal plan, complete assignments, and study for my classes, but this week, I was short on time. I officially started a third class this Wednesday as part of my baking certificate program. I was excited for this particular class because the course focused on food safety and sanitation. In between work and classes, I also had doctor and dentist appointments. While the upcoming week should be better, I still took some time out over the weekend to meal prep for the upcoming week. One of my favorite bulk meals to prep around this time of the year is pasta salads. With the longer days and weather become warmer in the next few weeks, I started craving lighter, healthier meals. My pasta salad with a homemade Italian dressing was the perfect dish to serve for a light lunch (and save for lunch throughout the week). Whenever I make pasta salads, I like to add a lot of colors and textures. I prefer to use crunchy vegetables to add another textural element to the salad. I started out by cooking an entire box of tricolor rotini pasta following the instructions on the pasta package. While the pasta was cooking, I diced up some carrots, red pepper, green pepper, celery, and cherry tomatoes. I also prepared a simple Italian dressing by combining some vegetable oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. Not only was this pasta salad extremely easy to put together, there was enough pasta salad left over for five additional servings after Kevin and I each had a serving. The best part of the pasta salad is how delicious the pasta salad tasted the longer it chilled in the refrigerator.
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Taiwanese Braised Pork Sauce
My Taiwanese braised pork sauce is an extension of my love for Taiwanese minced pork rice. Throughout college, my close friend, Xin, and I went to Momo Tea on South University at least once a week for minced pork rice. After a long week of classes, late nights studying at the libraries throughout central campus, and endless homework and papers, it is always a welcome change to bond over a bowl of warm, familiar, and comforting minced pork rice. The rice bowl at Momo Tea always came with jasmine rice, a heaping scoop of minced pork, and half of a soy sauce braised egg. We would always order some bubble tea to sip on while eating our rice bowl. When I graduated from college and moved away from Ann Arbor, I started recreating the flavors of my favorite Taiwanese minced pork rice bowl. My homemade Taiwanese braised pork sauce definitely hit the spot, but it also reminded me of how much I missed Ann Arbor. In the fall of 2017, Kevin and I traveled back to Ann Arbor to take engagement photos in preparation for our July wedding in 2018. As we were strolling through Ann Arbor, I walked down South University to see if Momo Tea was still there. Unfortunately, the shop has since closed down. I was so sad to not be able to have another bowl of minced pork rice at Momo Tea. Fortunately, my version of minced pork rice comes very close in flavors and aromas to the rice bowl I remember eating on campus. Today, I put a spin on my usual minced pork rice dish.
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Chicken Braised in Chardonnay
I made the most wonderful version of my chicken and mushroom stew using chardonnay instead of my usual go-to pinot noir over the weekend. My spring break from classes just ended and I knew I would be starting a third class this week. To get ahead, I meal prepped, and completed other class assignments ahead of time. When I know I have a busy week, I like to cook food in large batches. This way, I can meal prep for Kevin and I at the same time. Some of my favorite large batch go-to meals are baked pastas, stir-fried noodles, and braised stews. I love stews. Some of my favorite stews aside from my chicken and mushroom stew include my beef stew and Asian beef stew (a version of my beef stew with an Asian spin). When making a more western style stew, I tend to use red wine. This weekend, I decided to make a white wine version of my chicken stew mostly because I wanted to experiment with a new wine. I was especially craving a warm, comforting stew to offset the cold, harsh winter. We’re halfway through March, but it still feels like winter has not skipped a beat. The best part about winter is being able to stay inside and cook comfort food. I can spend hours upon hours in the kitchen prepping vegetables, preparing meats, and baking treats. Cooking and baking in the kitchen provides me with so much Zen. It became my way of destressing after a long week. The only downside to cooking and baking is having to wash all of the dishes at the end of a meal. For me, this is a small tradeoff for the joy I get when I create a home-cooked meal from scratch. When it comes to washing dishes, I can often delegate the task to my husband and/or the dishwasher.
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Pistachio Espresso Brownies
It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day. In honor of the holiday, I wanted to make foods featuring green ingredients. Whenever St. Patrick’s Day rolls around, I reminisce on my time living and working in Chicago. I did not grow up celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, but when I lived in Chicago, I started taking part in a lot of the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago is especially exciting. People travel from around the world to take part in the festivities throughout the city. Restaurants feature Irish inspired food and drinks. Parades occur throughout the city. Families gather around the river to watch it get dyed green. Throughout the years I lived in Chicago, I always made my way towards Millennium Park, the loop, and the Riverwalk to partake in the festivities. Strolling down the Riverwalk is always my favorite activity to do. The Riverwalk is beautiful, scenic, and makes for a great way to destress after a long day of teaching high schoolers. With St. Patrick’s Day landing on the weekend this year, I was excited to make brownies featuring crunchy pistachios, three types of chocolate, and instant espresso powder. I’ve loved brownies since I was a child. Most of the homemade brownies I remember eating growing up were made from boxed brownie mixes. I actually love how easy it is to whip up a batch of brownies using boxed brownie mixes. In fact, it was so easy, I almost never made brownies from scratch. Even when there are potlucks at work, I often whip up a batch of brownies using boxed brownie mixes. Today though, I had an urge to make pistachio espresso brownies.
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Tang Yuan
My mom makes the best tang yuan. Tang yuan is translated to soup circle. It is made with glutinous rice flour mixed with some water and rolled into balls. The soup base is made with just water and brown rock sugar or brown candy. A bowl of tang yuan is usually served at the end of a meal or during a special occasion. I’ve noticed my mom tends to make tang yuan for dessert during Chinese holidays. I had to travel to New York City over the weekend to attend my grandma’s funeral. Our immediate family also traveled from across the country to attend her funeral, pay their respects, and mourn her passing. It was comforting to see all of my family and relatives join together. I haven’t seen many of my relatives in a very long time, but was able to see them at my grandma’s funeral. The last couple of days had been tough for everyone especially my mom. The wake was held on Sunday, while the burial was held on Monday. My mom and her siblings hosted a lunch immediately after the burial for all of the guests who attended the burial. When we returned back to my mom’s home in Brooklyn, she made a batch of tang yuan for our family.
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Cheddar and Chive Biscuits
Carbs are my ultimate comfort food. I usually eat some form of carbs at least once a day. For breakfast, it’s usually a piece of toast with peanut butter or Nutella. If I want a more indulgent treat, I may opt for my chocolate and coffee scones bursting with intense chocolate and aromatic coffee. If I’m leaning more towards the savory side, I may bring along some maple bacon biscuits filled with nutty, sweet maple syrup and smoky, crunchy bacon. I knew how my cravings worked and I knew I would be running out the door this week with cravings for carbs. To prevent myself from spending money unnecessarily on breakfast in the morning, I prepared breakfast for Kevin and I throughout the week. This week, I prepared a batch of cheddar and chive biscuits for both of us to bring along with us for breakfast as we are heading out the door for work. When I think of the perfect breakfast treat, I think of biscuits and scones. Kevin’s cravings are more specific. If he had the option, he would have breakfast sausage and eggs over easy for breakfast every morning. Breakfast food is the only food he could eat the exact same of every day and not be bored. Occasionally though, he would opt for some carbs. I take advantage of these times to make my favorite carbs. I have a tendency to alternate between savory and sweet cravings throughout the week. Whether I pack along biscuits or scones depend on whether I am in a savory or sweet mood. This week has definitely been more of a sweet mood than savory mood, but today, I really wanted a savory biscuit. I tell people my cravings for sweets are usually a result of stress, but I secretly do love sweets. To prepare for this busy week, I prepared a batch of my cheddar and chive biscuits over the weekend.
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Chai Tea Blondies
I am super excited to share my recipe for chai tea blondies. I’ve been experimenting with the ratios for these blondies for the last week and finally came up with the perfect consistency. My chai tea blondies have the perfect balance of cakey and chewy. Last week, while working on refining my blondie recipe, I came up with a chai tea cake. It was fluffy, moist, and made for a perfect cake to serve alongside a cup of tea. You can read more about my chai tea cake here. While my chai tea cake was good, my chai tea blondies are next level good. These blondies have a wonderful sweetness, the perfect balance of cakey and chewy, and are just plain irresistible. It’s only Tuesday, but I’ve already had about eight pieces. I know it’s a lot, but I recently discovered I have a tendency to eat more sweets when I’m feeling stressed. I’ve heard people often say stressed spelled backwards is desserts, so why not treat yourself to desserts when you’re stressed? The saying never really affected me until recently. At least, if it did, I was not aware of it. Lately, I’ve been juggling time sensitive projects at work, assignments for two certificate programs, and studying for upcoming exams. During these times, I noticed I had a tendency to reach for a sweet treat. Just today, I had a strawberry smoothie for lunch and now I’m treating myself to a blondie for dessert as I’m typing. While stress does play a role in my cravings, I’ve been eating a lot of these blondies because they are just scrumptious.
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Grilled Chicken Summer Rolls
Grilled chicken, pork, beef, or shrimp over vermicelli and summer rolls are two dishes I order very often when I eat at a Vietnamese restaurant. I love the balance of flavors, textures, and color in both dishes. The base for the noodle bowl and summer rolls are fairly identical with the exception of the sauces served on the sides of both dishes. Both dishes have fresh, crunchy vegetables, grilled protein, and soft noodles. For summer rolls, the side of peanut sauce adds a nice creamy contrast to the rest of the dish and takes the summer rolls over the top. Kevin always orders a large bowl of pho, which is perfect to eat during colder months. It has been very cold in Ohio over the last week, but I’m excited for spring weather in the upcoming weeks. The days seem to be getting longer with more sunlight. Usually when I leave for work in the morning, the sky is still dark, but now, as we are approaching springtime, the days are getting longer. Springtime is a great time to test new recipes. I have been feeling more inspired lately to try different spins on classic dishes I love. Today’s dish combines my love of Vietnamese vermicelli bowls and summer rolls, two dishes I almost always order when I eat out at a Vietnamese restaurant. When I lived in Brooklyn, I always went to the local Vietnamese restaurant right by where we lived. The prices were cheap, food was delicious, and the atmosphere was very family oriented. Whenever I visit my family in New York throughout the year, I still stop by the Vietnamese restaurant for summer rolls and vermicelli bowls.
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