Roasted Tomato, Basil and Goat's Cheese Tart

I found this recipe in a magazine called Donna Hay Magazine: Special Made Simple (issue 40). It's an easy recipe and super delicious! For those of you who claim to not like goat cheese, you really should give it a chance. In this particular recipe, the taste of the cheese is more subtle because of all the other flavors; like the onions, the puff pastry, and basil. But if you really have a strong aversion to goat cheese, then I think you can also do a mostly ricotta filling. Tomorrow, I'm going to mix my left over ricotta with spinach and use the last of the puff pastry sheets. We'll see how that goes.


Ingredients:

• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 200g goat cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh ricotta
• 2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• sea salt
• black pepper
• 1 sheet store-bought puff pastry
• extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Directions from the Magazine:

• Preheat oven to 390 degrees
• Combine the onion, tomato, garlic and oil in a baking dish. Roast for 20-25 minutes.
• Combine the goat's cheese, ricotta, basil, lemon, salt, pepper and roasted garlic in a bowl.
  
• Cut pastry sheet in half and score the edges with a knife to make a border.
• Place on a baking tray, spread over the goat's chesse mixture and top with onion mixture. Drizzle with oil and bake for 15 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden.
• Serves 2
  

Let's go through it step-by-step.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (Yes, I know the directions say 390, but my oven doesn't have a 390 knob).
While the oven warmed up, I chopped the red onion and garlic then sliced the tomatoes. Afterwards, I put the onion, tomato, and garlic in a baking dish that I covered in olive oil, then popped it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

While the vegetables baked, I mixed the goat cheese, ricotta, basil, salt and pepper in a bowl. The goat cheese was difficult to mix at first, so I placed it on top of my stove top so the that the heat of the oven would soften up the cheese a bit.Afterwards, I cut a sheet of the puff pastry in half and scored the edges. Then, I spread the cheese mix onto the puff pastry. Eww, please don't judge me for wearing my ugly winter sweater. It's comfy and I was just chillin' at home. Hooray for pang bahay.
Then place the baked veggies on top of the cheese. Drizzle olive oil over the pastry.

Place back into the oven for about 15 minutes.
Done! Now you have a beautiful tart - flaky, light, buttery and bursting with flavor.



ENJOY!

Ultimate Comfort Food: Apple Donuts (and Pulled Pork)

After the emotional roller coaster of this year's elections, the historical moment of Obama's victory and the tragedy of the passing of Prop 8 (wow, really Californians?! but you can redeem yourselves by signing this petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/seg5130/petition.html), I felt the need to seek comfort in food. Typical.

So, I decided to take Tessa to the Curtis Orchard and Pumpkin Patch!!


Last year, Jen , Kevin, Glenn and I went there to pick apples and pumpkins and we had such a good time that I felt that I needed to revisit a happy place. See? Look how I excited I am.

Here's Kevin pulling Jen in a radioflyer wagon to the pumpkin patch.
Look at Glenn meandering through the pumpkin patch trying to look country, but failing because he's still wearing his beloved designer jeans. But aren't our mini pumpkins adorable?
When I say we went apple picking, I suppose I should clarify. Glenn picked the apples and I stood there cheering him on because I couldn't reach the good ones.
The apples were crisp and sweet.
So when I returned to Curtis Orchard with Tessa in tow, I felt an instant surge of happiness. Who wouldn't feel excitement entering the Flying "R" Corral?


Here's Tessa learning more about the process of making honey.But my stomach demanded that we go check out the goodies in the country store and cafe.
The whole place is Wizard of Oz themed, hence the name "Flying Monkey Cafe"
Look! The Ladies who wear purple and red hats!! Who are they? I forgot what their club is called.

Finally, I got my comfort food. Six freshly baked Apple Donuts and a BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich. The pork was so tender, I felt like the meat was practically melting when I chewed on it.

And the donuts, ohhh, the donuts. They were crispy on the outside, cakey but light on the inside, with an explosion of apples and cinnamon with every bite. Perfection. And when I dipped my donuts in my perfect cup of coffee, and took that first bite, Tessa said I looked ridiculously happy and satisfied.

EEEK! Guilt-free Brownies!!!!

Yesterday, I felt mopey because I would be spending my Halloween alone, studying at home. For those of you who don't know, Glenn is on a business trip in Australia, leaving me here, making me feel extremely jealous.
Anyways, to make myself feel better, I decided to bake something chocolatey and decadent. Something that the Barefoot Contessa would make. I would use my heavy duty Kitchen Aid mixer, maybe make some orange colored frosting.
However, when I went to Trader Joe's to buy my ingredients, I found the most amazing find ... EVER! Here it is - the No Pudge Fat Free Brownie Mix!!!!!!!!!!!


On the box, there are three important claims that I wanted, no NEEDED to examine for myself.

They claim that these brownies are:

1. Decadent (Yes, they are very decadent)
2. Fudgy (Indeed!)
3. Chewy (So, true! They are extremely chewy)

I'm totally in love with these brownies because all you have to do is add fat free vanilla yogurt - and voila! Amazing tasting brownies.

I do suggest that you use a hand-held mixer when making these brownies. The batter is very thick and difficult to mix because the yogurt doesn't break up the dry mix right away.



I already ate this much. And I don't even feel bad.

The Best of Champaign Part I

Last weekend, PSA hosted their annual Filipino American conference, FACT. Because of that a lot of UC Irvine Alums were in town, and of course, we had to show them the best of champaign.

I labeled this entry as "Part I" because, despite Champaign being a small town, it has a lot to offer in terms of eating adventures. No doubt, I will be writing more about food in Champaign.

After the conference, Anna took us to Papa Del's my second favorite deep dish place in the state of Illinois (second to the Lou Malnati's with their awesome butter crust). Anna is in love with Papa Del's. Prior to moving to Champaign, when she would travel here to visit August, she would always immediately request Papa Del's. And we couldn't argue with her.

We ordered a stuffed spinach pizza with pepperoni and mushroom. What I like about Papa Del's pizza is their pizza dough! They bake it so that the crust is crunchy but the middle part is nice and chewy. I love the contrast in the textures.

Here's Tessa expressing her joy on camera. Hooray for left overs!
For dessert, we all went to Jarlings, also referred to as Custard Cup. OK, I really cannot express my love for this place adequately with words. Just thinking about Jarlings puts the biggest smile on my face and literally warms my heart. If someone mentions it, I start to run through the menu in mind, and contemplate what flavors I should try. Oh, Jarlings, I love you so.

Here's August, Anna, and first-timer, Chris, staring in wonder at the menu.
Doesn't Kimmy (another first-timer) look so happy and content with her cup of chocolate frozen custard?
She should look happy because, in my personal opinion, they have the best chocolate frozen custard ever. My New York friends would say that Shake Shack has the best custard. But they are liars. Shake Shack is good, but their custard just doesn't have the same light, creamy, deliciousness of Jarling's frozen custard. Don't even bother with Culver's, unless your desperate.

I tried something new - a grasshopper which is mint flavored custard and oreos. DROOOOOL.Unfortunately, the day before Thanksgiving, Jarlings closes for the winter and doesn't open again until the Spring. So this sign is very appropriate. I most definitely will take a pint or two home.

In the morning, we went to breakfast at the Original Pancake House (I referred to this restaurant in my post on Le Peeps). My Californian friends, you are in luck, there are OPH's in southern Cali - I think in Anaheim and Aliso Viejo. Go there, immediately!

I know that I previously said that if one were to go to OPH, that you should order a sweet type of breakfast food. However, I saw that they had a Eggs Benedict type of food on their menu, and I am always a sucker for Eggs Benedict dishes. It's a part of my crazy mission to rate Hollandaise sauces across the country.
Whatever you decide to order, I promise, you'll love it.
I also have to mention that the service is great! My coffee cup never ran empty.
Maybe that's why I was so hyper at the end of my meal.

Baked Chicken and Pasta

I have a lot of catching up to do. Beware, this blog is about to bombarded with lots more food and pictures!

This particular post will focus on my awesome home cooking. woo!

Last week, I called Glenn and asked him what he wanted for dinner. As per usual, he replied, "Chicken!" Standard Glenn. Luckily, I had chicken (broiler-fryer) in the freezer. So I decided to bake the chicken and make the pasta I always make when I'm too lazy to try something new.

I found a simple recipe on cooks.com for Lemon and Garlic Baked Chicken and only had to make a few modifications. Here's the recipe, including my own changes to the recipe.

Ingredients

1 (2 - 2 1/2 lb.) broiler fryer, quartered
1 lg. clove garlic, crushed (I LOOOOOOVE garlic, so I put 5 cloves of MINCED garlic)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. rosemary leaves
Several twits freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/3 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. water

Directions

1. Rinse chicken; pat dry. Place chicken skin side down in a shallow baking dish.

2. Combine garlic, salt, rosemary, pepper and lemon rind. Sprinkle over chicken. Pour lemon juice and water over all. Bake, uncovered in preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

3. Turn chicken quarters. Baste with pan liquids. Continue baking about 25 to 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Makes 4 servings, approximately 196 calories per serving. (I skin my chicken for less calories.) I left the skin on because Glenn loves crispy chicken skin. How can I deny him such small pleasures?

Because the pieces of chicken were cut up as opposed to baking a whole chicken, it was easier to make sure that each piece was cooked just right. I took out the smaller pieces, such as the wings and drumsticks, before the larger pieces, preventing the meat from drying out or burning.

Earlier in the month, I baked an entire chicken and I found it to be not as tender or tasty. Also, I was completely grossed out by the process of stuffing the chicken. Ewwwwwwwww.

I think I will stick to using cut up broilerfryer chicken and this recipe.

On to the super easy pasta that I ripped off Giada's Everyday Italian

In the original recipe, from what I remember seeing on TV, Giada uses penne pasta. I never have penne pasta on hand, but almost always have whole wheat spaghetti. Plus, in my personal opinion, penne pasta should be baked.

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Spaghetti
Ricotti Cheese
Olive Oil
Cherry or Grape Tomatoes (I like to cut the tomatoes in half)
Spinach
LOTS of garlic (minced)
salt
pepper (for taste)

Directions

1. Boil Spaghetti
2. While Spaghetti is boiling, heat up olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Be generous with the olive oil as it will serve as the sauce for the pasta.
3. Add garlic. Once you can smell the garlic, add the spinach and tomatoes. Add some sea salt.
4. Lower the heat to medium-low flame. Add spaghetti and ricotta cheese. Mix well so that the mixture of the cheese and olive oil makes a sauce and coats all of the pasta.
5. Add pepper for taste.
6. If the pasta seems a little dry, simply add pasta water.

DONE! Easy, no?

Once again, I have no measurements for you folks because I'm too lazy to measure while I'm in the kitchen so it's all about eyeballing the ingredients.

Weekend Update: Seared Ahi Tuna, Poki, Grilled Cheese, and Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

This past week I spent most of my time in Champaign, cutting my cooking time at home short. However, I still made some pretty tasty dishes.

Seared Ahi Tuna & Salad and Salmon Poki

Grilled Goat Cheese Sandwiches

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Making the seared ahi tuna and poki:

I had to start at the very beginning because Glenn looks so cute picking out avocados. Typically, when we're at the grocery store, Glenn and I try to split up the list in each section and we split up. But I followed him in the produce section to take a picture of him picking out avocados. He's really good at picking out the ripe avocados. And usually, he happens to pick out the least bruised ones. How? I have no idea.

At home, I made the marinade for the tuna. Which included sesame seed oil, low-sodium soy sauce, salt, and pepper. I don't have any measurements available because I just throw the ingredients together and taste to see if somethings lacking or too overpowering.
Here are the tuna steaks from Costco. It's a ridiculously good deal.
So I pour the marinade all over the tuna steaks and place them in the fridge while I prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Next, I prepare the salad. I cut up cherry tomatoes in half, peel and slice a cucumber, and cube some avocado.

While Glenn rinses and dries the mixed greens in our awesome salad spinner (see below) I make the salad dressing.
For the salad dressing, i whisk together some sesame seed oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. I think next time I'll put some honey to temper the acidity. Although, Glenn says the more lemon the better.

After marinating the tuna steaks, I heat up my grill. While the grill is heating up, sprinkle some black sesame seeds on both sides of each steak. Place on the hot grill. I only cook the tuna for a couple of minutes on each side so that the middle is left raw. Not everyone likes raw foods, but trust me, the tuna turns dry and gross if overcooked. bleh.



However, mine turned out perfect and delicious!


Ok my fifteen minute writing time limit is up. I have to get back to studying. But I promise to finish this entry as soon as I study for a bit. It's called time management! woo woo!

Weekend Update continued:

I don't have time to put up the step by step pictures for making Poki or the soup, so I'll just post the recipes.

Salmon Poki:

• sashimi grade salmon
  
• minced green onion
  
• soy sauce
  
• sesame seed oil
  
• black sesame seeds

Cube the salmon. Place in a bowl. Pour in soy sauce and sesame seed oil. Mix. Add green onions and black sesame seeds. Mix. Done!

Some recipes called for red pepper flakes but I didn't feel like having any spice that night.

I actually just modified this recipe for Ahi Tuna Poki:

• 4 cups ahi (yellowfin tuna, sashimi grade) diced
• 1/2 cup onion, minced
• 1/4 cup green onion, minced
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• Hawaiian salt and pepper to taste

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup:

• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or additional chicken broth
• 3 cups cooked wild rice
• 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
• Nonfat Half & Half (my addition to the recipe)
  

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine the first nine ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
2. In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, melt butter. stir in flour until smooth. Gradually whisk in broth mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Whisk in soup and wine or broth. Add Half & Half Add rice and chicken; heat through.

** I added the Half & Half because I wanted a creamy soup and it just wasn't creamy enough.
The other recipes for "Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup" called for 1/2 a cup or more of butter. That's just way too much butter for me. So instead, I just added milk.

Turned out pretty good, except I put too much rice. Still tasty though.

Serves 12.

breakfast at le peep's

Because it had been such a long time since both Glenn and I were in Champaign, we decided to eat at one of our favorite breakfast places in town. There's actually only two good ones, The Original Pancake House and Le Peep Restaurant. OPH has better pancakes, of course, and any of their sweet breakfast foods are amazing! However, if your looking for tasty savory breakfast foods, such as omelets and skillets, you should go to Le Peeps. Unfortunately, their Eggs Benedict is tasty but nothing to be excited about (I'm always on the hunt for good Eggs Benedict. I probably should write about that in another post).

It gets pretty packed on weekends and on game days it seems as if everyone is wearing orange. As for ambiance ... well I guess, to be nice, it's quaint country.


Usually, I order the Eighteen Wheeler, combination of French Toast, Bacon, Eggs, and Peasant Potatoes (which I replace with a cup of fruit). However, I decided that I should try to be healthy and ordered the Spinnaker. It's a omelet made out of egg whites, mushrooms, lite cheddar cheese, spinach and green onions. For my sides, I ordered a whole wheat English muffin and a cup of fruit. The meal turned out really good!

Glenn ordered a skillet called The Nomad, which had chicken, broccoli, potatoes, basted eggs, and hollandaise sauce. Although their skillets have somewhat offensive names, such as, The Wanderer, The Hobo, and The Gypsy, they give you decent size portions and are tasty.


Here's Glenn trying to be sneaky and taking a bite of my omelet. But I caught him on camera.


Glenn has been known to steal other people's food. Just take a look at this picture from when we were at a Ramen House by Tokyo University. When Anna went to the bathroom, Glenn swooped in and started eating her left over Ramen. Sneaky Glenn.