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Hello readers! (if there are, in fact, any)

Sorry about not posting recently. Yes, I have been cooking. Unfortunately, blogspot is not letting my pictures upload for some bizarre reason. I'll keep trying, but if it persists in malfunctioning, I may have to switch to a new host. We'll give it a few more days, though.

Béchamel Sauce

Béchamel (ie. the basic white sauce) is one of the four mother sauces of French cuisine. It looks deceivingly easy to make, having only 3 ingredients, but making it smooth and without lumps is going to get you at least once. Tonight was my first time making it, and I had lumps.

If you do get lumps, there are two ways to fix it.

1) strain it through a sieve

2) add in other things to the sauce to distract the eater from the lumps

Traditionally, one uses flour and butter for this sauce. I used cornstarch and margarine instead, because that's what I have. Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour, so just double or halve the recipe accordingly.

What makes béchamel sauce indispensable to the aspiring chef is that it serves as a base for basically any cream sauce. You can add cheese, flavour it with herbs, or put in whatever creative combinations you can think of. I used thyme and basil for mine.

When working with fresh herbs, make sure to research their uses. For example, thyme takes time for the flavour to come out, so I put it in to the sauce early on. Basil, on the other hand, loses its flavour very quickly, so I put it in at the end.

I also added onions, mushrooms, and a bit of turkey (all sauteed first in margarine) at the end before pouring it on rice to make it more of a feel. You can also use it as a pasta sauce, or even pour it onto meat.

Basic Béchamel Sauce

• 1 tbsp margarine
• 3/4 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup milk

1. Melt the margarine in a non-stick pot. Do not let it burn! Use medium-low heat.
2. Add in the cornstarch and stir until mixed. It will form a clumpy paste--do not panic, this is supposed to happen. It's called roux. Cook it for 2 minutes.
3. Add a ladle-full of warm milk (different recipes vary here, some say to use cold milk, others say room temp., and others warm. I tried room temp. and it was lumpy, so try warm). The roux will absorb some of the milk and make seem to get clumpier. Clumpy is okay, lumps are bad. Keep stirring to mix the milk with the roux.
4. In fact, if you can get someone to help you, one person should stir and one should pour the milk. Just don't stop stirring. Add another ladle of milk and stir some more. Continue slowly adding milk until it's all smooth.
5. You're now going to simmer until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Make sure the heat is still on medium-low or the milk will burn (easy to check by tilting the pot, the burnt milk will be stuck to the bottom). I added the seasonings such as thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic powder here.
6. Add the other flavourings near the end, like cheese and basil. Add vegetables last. Heat through for a minute or two. Make sure to taste it before you serve!

Makes 1 cup of sauce.

Shepherd's Pie

I've been wanting to make this ever since I ate it on the plane coming back from the Dominican Republic. Smooth creamy mashed potatoes, savoury ground beef, mmh! Very hearty, very comforting. It's a bit of work, but don't worry, it ain't Julia Child.

There are two components to this dish: the mashed potato and the beef filling. Do all your chopping and prepping first, and you can cook them at the same time.

A quick word of advice: make sure the pan is 11 x 7 inches. Mine was 12 by 9 inches, and everything was spread out a little too much (aka the layers weren't as thick as I would have liked). It'll also affect your ability to spread the mashed potato and seal it off.

Shepherd's Pie:

Mashed Potato

• 1.5 lbs russet potato
• 1/4 cup milk
• 4 tbsp margarine
• 1 egg yolk (use the egg white to make meringue or something)
• 1 tsp parsley

Filling

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1.5 lbs ground beef
• 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp ketchup
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp italian seasoning, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp parsley
• 1/2 cup corn, 1/2 cup peas and carrots

1. Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Put in a stainless steel pot, cover with cold water, and boil on high heat. Once it boils, turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Saute the onions in oil in a pot for 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic.
4. Add the meat to the onions, add salt and pepper. Cook until the beef is cooked through.
5. Add cornstarch and mix in well. Add ketchup, broth, and herbs. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-12 minutes.
6. Remove potatoes from heat and drain. Mash.
7. Microwave milk and margarine together for 35 seconds on high and add to potatoes, along with salt and pepper. Continue mashing.
8. Add in the egg yolk and parsley. Continue mashing.
9. Pour the meat filling into your baking dish. Spread the mashed potato on top. Make sure that there are no gaps in the potato, especially around the edges. If you don't seal it off well, the filling will bubble up through the holes.
10. Put the dish on a baking pan to catch and drippage, and place in the oven.
11. Bake for 25 minutes.
12. Let cool for 10 minutes before eating.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Pseudo-Panini

Nothing fancy today: just a plain old turkey and cheese sandwich. But a word about bread. Several of my friends are in the habit of buying a loaf of bread and throwing almost half it out because they can't finish it before it goes bad/stale. What a waste! There are some things you can do instead to use up the entire loaf:

• freeze the bread--it doesn't have any liquid in it, so it won't get icy. Toast it and you won't notice a difference
• make bread crumbs or croutons--drizzle stale bread with oil, put on a baking sheet, and bake (or toast) until brown and crispy. For crumbs, crush the bread. For croutons, cut the bread into smaller squares before baking
• make french toast--stale bread absorbs liquids a little better, ie. the egg mixture

I went grocery shopping today (it finally stopped raining, thank God). I spent $44... which is a lot. But I got lots of good stuff that'll last me a while. Kraft sliced cheese (mozzarella and provolone) so I can stop using shredded cheese in my sandwiches. Chicken broth, only 69 cents a can (normally $1.10)! Fresh mint, basil, and thyme--my grocery store never has fresh herbs. Family pack of chicken and 1.5 lbs of ground beef, and I should be good on meat for a while.

Pseudo-Panini

• 2 slices of bread
• margarine
• 2 slices of sandwich meat (I used turkey)
• 1 slice of cheese (I used provolone)
• dijon mustard

1. Butter both pieces of bread. Heat up some margarine in the frying pan.
2. Put one slice of meat on each piece of bread. Spread some mustard on it.
3. Put the cheese between the two pieces of bread/meat. (Tada, sandwich!)
4. Put the sandwich in the frying pan. Put a pot on top of the sandwich to press it down. You may want to cover the bottom of the pot with plastic wrap, but be careful not to let it touch the frying pan.
5. Once one side is nicely browned, flip and continue cooking.

Makes 1 sandwich

French Toast

Good days start with good breakfasts. Eat something healthy and filling and you won't be as hungry throughout the day. Okay, so this isn't very healthy, but it's pretty delicious. And I don't eat it often.

French toast is a simple recipe. Dip bread in egg (most recipes call for milk, but I didn't have any. It came out fine). Panfry. Add toppings. Easy and quick, how all the guys like them.

For my toppings, I sprinkled brown sugar on both sides of the bread before cooking. This gave it a nicer brown colour, as well as some sweetness and caramelization. After cooking, I used some Betty Crocker butter cream frosting as a spread. The parsley helps to cut through the sweetness.

French Toast

• 1 slice of bread
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp margarine
• 2 tsp brown sugar

Toppings: I used cake frosting because I had that sitting in my fridge from ages ago. Other good choices are fruit, cream cheese, syrup, etc.

1. Set your frying pan to medium heat and melt the margarine in it. Swirl around to coat.
2. Beat the egg thoroughly in a bowl. Dip the bread in the egg, and make sure the bread is thoroughly soaked through.
3. Put one teaspoon of the brown sugar on one side of the bread and pat it in. Put the bread in the pan, brown sugar-covered side face down.
4. Put the rest of the sugar on the other side of the bread.
5. Cook until one side is nicely browned (but not burnt). Flip, continue cooking.
6. Once both sides are done, move to a plate and apply toppings.

Makes 1 serving

Chawanmushi

What's this? Two posts in one day? How bizarre.

Studies show that eating a small snack at 3:00 will keep your metabolism up, which allows your body to burn more fat. The trick is to eat a small, healthy snack.

For my snack today, I made Chawanmushi, aka Japanese steamed egg custard, with chicken as my filling. The neat (and handy) thing about Chawanmushi is that you can put pretty much anything you want inside it. I like chicken, but you can also put shrimp, vegetables, soybeans, mushrooms--no limits! Whatever you have in your fridge. Depending on what you put in, though, you may have to cook it first. Shrimps will steam with the egg, but chicken definitely has to be cooked first.



You'll notice that Chawanmushi uses many of the same ingredients as Oyako-don. In fact, a lot of these Japanese dishes are built around the same sauce: dashi, soy sauce, and cooking wine. Egg is also such a useful ingredient because of its amazing versatility--fried, steamed, boiled. Always have eggs in your fridge!

For serving container, make sure you have two small heat-proof cups. I have two Japanese tea cups that I got for less than $2 each. Make sure you can pick it up and put it down with one hand. You'll also need a large stainless steel pot with a steamer, as well as a chopstick.

Timing is very important in this recipe. If you cook the custard on too high heat or for too long, you will overcook the egg and it will take on a bizarre, unappetizing shape. It will taste okay, but the texture won't be as smooth and it will be ugly. This recipe makes enough for 2, so it's perfect for date night :)



Chawanmushi

• 1 large egg
• 170mL dashi stock
• 1/2 tsp cooking wine
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• parsley (optional)

Filling: Whatever you desire. I used a 1/4 chicken breast cut into small pieces and browned in oil on medium heat. Whatever you use, make sure to drain off the oil or margarine that you cook it in, otherwise it'll rise to the top of your Chawanmushi for a nice layer of grease.

1. Beat the egg in a bowl. Add in the stock, wine, soy sauce, and salt. Stir until thoroughly mixed.
2. Divide the chicken evenly between the two cups. Pour the egg mixture into the two cups, again dividing equally.
3. Put the steamer into the big stainless steel pot and add water so that the level doesn't quite reach the top of the steamer. Cover and turn the heat up to high.
4. When the water boils, take the cover off. Gently place both cups on the steamer. It will be very hot in the pot, so I wear rubber dishwashing gloves for this step. Once they're in the pot, cover again with a chopstick wedged in-between the lid and the pot. This is very important, because it prevents the temperature from getting to high. Cook for 1 minute.
5. After 1 minute (and do not go over 1 minute) turn the heat down to its lowest or 2nd lowest setting. Cook for 10 minutes.
6. After 10 minutes, poke a skewer into one of the cups. It should come out clean, and the liquid that wells up in the hole should be clear. If it isn't, let it cook for another minute and check again.
7. Once the chawanmushi is done cooking, take it out of the pot and let it cool. Garnish with parsley and enjoy!

Makes 2 servings

Oyako-don Improv

So, last night I was all ready to make some delicious Oyako-don for lunch. I had my new instant dashi that I had brought back from Vancouver, which I was very excited to try out.

But turns out that the onion I thought I still had was in fact imaginary. Now how do you make Oyako-don without onion?!

Improvise. What did I have in the fridge... carrots, bok choy, apples, cabbage... hmm, cabbage. Crunchy, a little bit sweet. It might work.

And work well it did.

Yum! The cabbage worked quite well--just remember to simmer it long enough that it becomes soft and absorbs the flavour of the sauce.

Here's the recipe:

• 1/2 chicken breast cut into small pieces
• 50 mL of stock (Chicken, Dashi, Beef--your choice)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp cooking wine
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 head of green cabbage ripped/torn into bite-size pieces
• 2 eggs
• parsley (optional)

1. Put the stock, soy sauce, cooking wine, and brown sugar together into a large pot and set on medium heat. Stir to dissolve, and then cover the pot.
2. Once the sauce starts simmering, add in the cabbage and cover again.
3. In the meantime, beat the two eggs lightly with chopsticks. You don't want them frothy, but just thoroughly mixed. Over-beating will ruin the texture of the egg after cooking.
4. When the cabbage softens, clear a space in the middle of the pot and add in the chicken. Cover again, but watch it carefully through the lid. Flip the pieces of chicken when they are mostly cooked through.
5. After the chicken is safe to eat, add in 2/3rds of the egg. Let it cook for 5 seconds, and then gently stir everything in the pot. Cover, and let cook for another 15 slow seconds.
6. Pour in the rest of the egg mixture and cover. Count to 5. Turn off the heat, and then let sit for 10 seconds.
7. Immediately pour onto hot rice. Garnish with parsley if you desire.

Makes 1 medium-large serving.