Respite, Reprieve, Recess

Free time is a novel concept for me. After having to high jump hurdles the last few weeks and constantly being assaulted by a never ending stream of work, this lull is so strange and almost unpleasant! I don’t know what to do with myself! TV? Read? Sleep? What DO people do in their free time anyway? As a workaholic, this is just so strange and I am antsy – that feeling of maybe having forgotten to do something keeps eating at me because it just doesn’t make sense that I suddenly have so much free time. So, what to do? Well, what I do best – bake.
Wednesday afternoon, the sun was streaming into my window, warming my desk right under the window sill. I’m sitting and staring blankly at the blue sky, wondering what to do… Then Kari calls and boom. I was motivated enough to work up a storm, anything to keep busy. So, on the menu: Smitten/One Million Dollar Fusion Peanut Butter Cookies and Alice Water’s Apple Tart (a repost). The peanut butter cookies are a hybrid of Smitten Kitchen’s Peanut Butter Cookies (our favorite go-to recipe for peanut butter cookies) and Pillsbury’s One Million Dollar Peanut Butter Cookie. Yes it really is worth a million dollars. We love the Smitten dough (divine and perfect all on its own), but for a twist and just to experiment, we also used the Million Dollar filling – a simple peanut butter and confectioner’s sugar mixture stuffed inside each cookie for a double dose of peanut butter taste. And they turned out beautifully! So wonderful, we made TWO batches in one night (Kari kept eating them!), even though that required picking up another jar of peanut butter and getting our hands dirty again.

The apple tart was wonderful as well – Aman’s been begging us for an apple pie for MONTHS, and we owe it to her. It was a great way to use up apples past their prime, which is (coincidentally) what we had. And it is an Alice Water’s recipe, so it HAS to be good. Also as a side note, I now work at Ici Ice Cream, owned and operated by Mary Canales, former pastry chef at Chez Panisse and Alice Waters‘ protégé. C’est magnifique, no? I am very excited, and I will be writing about my experience there very soon. But back to baking… So apple tart à la mode was wonderful – perfect for feeding hungry girls and a hungry someoneiknow, who made a trip up to Berkeley upon hearing how bored and restless I was. It was the cherry on top, or dollop of whipped cream on the side, or in my case, the freshly grated nutmeg on my masala chai latte. Thank you soo much! In retrospect, however, having free time is exhausting. The next morning, I kept dozing off in OChem, and I barely made it through the day, even with 2 tall lattes in my system. So the lesson here – unexpected and occasional breaks are wonderful, but I really can’t do it for long.

Smitten Million Dollar Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
This time, we skipped the chocolate and peanut butter chips, but instead rolled the balls of dough in cinnamon sugar. You are going to love these, I just know it.
Ingredients
For the dough:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the PB Filling:
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter (mine was slightly chilled)
1 tablespoon honey
For the Cinnamon Sugar:
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly.
Mix all the ingredients for the filling until all well incorporated. Set aside.
Stir together the cinnamon sugar. Set aside.
Grease hands with oil. Scoop tablespoonfuls into your pal and flatten. If done correctly, the dough should not be sticky. Ball a little (1/4 tsp maybe?) filling into your flattened dough and use the cookie dough to cover the filling, like you would if you were wrapping a dumpling. Round up the balls of dough and roll them into the cinnamon sugar until well coated. Place dough balls onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. It is not necessary to flatten these cookies, they flatted fine on their own I think. Though if you put too much filling, your cookies will look like they a malignant tumor. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not over bake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Alice Waters Apple Tart
Also found on Smitten Kitchen, only my favorite blog ever.
This is a very simple tart, and I eyeball everything, from the sugar to apples. Play around with it until you get what you like pretty much. Large raw sugar crystals would have also been a nice touch… and maybe a top… I’m thinking a crumbly streusel topping? But then it wouldn’t be a tart… Either way, this recipe is amazing!

Ingredients
For dough:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, just softened, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 tablespoons chilled water
For filling:
2 pounds apples (Golden Delicious or another tart, firm variety), peeled, cored (save peels and cores), and sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 tablespoons sugar
*I also added about 1.5 tbs cinnamon as well for an extra flavor
Directions
MIX flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl; add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Blend in a mixer until dough resembles coarse cornmeal. Add remaining butter; mix until biggest pieces look like large peas.
DRIBBLE in water, stir, then dribble in more, until dough just holds together. Toss with hands, letting it fall through fingers, until it’s ropy with some dry patches. If dry patches predominate, add another tablespoon water. Keep tossing until you can roll dough into a ball. Flatten into a 4-inch-thick disk; refrigerate. After at least 30 minutes, remove; let soften so it’s malleable but still cold. Smooth cracks at edges. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 14-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Dust excess flour from both sides with a dry pastry brush.
PLACE dough in a lightly greased 9-inch round tart pan, or simply on a parchment-lined baking sheet if you wish to go free-form, or galette-style with it. Heat oven to 400°F. (If you have a pizza stone, place it in the center of the rack.)
OVERLAP apples on dough in a ring 2 inches from edge if going galette-style, or up to the sides if using the tart pan. Continue inward until you reach the center. Fold any dough hanging over pan back onto itself; crimp edges at 1-inch intervals.
BRUSH melted butter over apples and onto dough edge. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over dough edge and the other 3 tablespoons over apples.
BAKE in center of oven until apples are soft, with browned edges, and crust has caramelized to a dark golden brown (about 45 minutes), making sure to rotate tart every 15 minutes.
REMOVE tart from oven, and slide off parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 15 minutes.
SERVE warm with vanilla bean ice cream. It won’t last long enough to fully cool, I promise.

Well that’s it for now. I’m retreating to the hills this weekend (Duncan Mills, near Russian River). So as always, happy cooking and until soon!

—Anh—

Road to Recovery

How does one recuperate from 3 long weeks of intense pressure, tangible stress and minimal sleep (<3hrs/night)? Did I mention my hair is thinning and my skin is acne-marked more than before? Short term, this is okay. But this lifestyle is certainly not sustainable. So post-midterms and papers, I promptly fell into bed, took a pill and slept straight for almost 11-hours, more in one night than I usually get in work week. Ah, life of an undergrad. So, it’s time to purge and I spent all of today up on my feet in the kitchen, completely disconnected from the world. Just me and my kitchen. I AM trying to recovery, and this is just how I do it. It is very therapeutic. And I am healing.

Firstly, I must explain that I cannot live without my students. I miss being able to reenact long stories in front of the class, and I miss the intimate setting of my classroom. We are tucked off to the side of the hallway, a small compact space not conducive to learning at all. It is interrupted all the time by passerbys who frequently sit in to hear these stories. Ask Linda, she’ll tell you. But I miss my students, so to treat them, I made Bake or Break’s Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies and Stupendous Treats’ Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes. These Oatmeal Cookies are a favorite around here, and especially perfect for retreatants with voracious appetites. And I have been in pursuit of a lighter-than-air cupcake, and I really think these Stupendous Treats Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes hit the spot. And the best part? Half a cup of strong black coffee. But wait, it doesn’t end here. In my absence, my family has been through a rather grueling week of depositions and nuisances, so I decided to make dinner at whim – Crispy Fish Tacos w/ Sweet Potato Chips and Mexican Red Rice. I was inspired after my visit to Sol Food, and something Latin flavored would break the hackneyed flavors of monotony.

Bake of Break’s Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
This is a re-post. I used walnuts this time and they tasted fine. Sometimes these will turn out a little ugly shaped, a bit lumpy and not particularly round. It’s a hit and miss with me, but the delicious taste is always dependable.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sweetened dried cranberries
1 & 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1 & 1/4 cups quick-cooking oats

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°.
Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugars and mix well. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add gradually to butter mixture. Mix until blended. Stir in cranberries, pecans, and oats.
Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto lined or lightly greased baking sheets. Place cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Then, transfer to wire racks to finish cooling. Melt white chocolate and transfer to a zip-top bag. Cut the corner of the bag and use to drizzle white chocolate onto cookies. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes
These are soo good! Not at all like those dense hard things I attempted in the past, but a yummy, fluffy, moist but not wet inside with crunchy/chewy top. I am soo glad to have found this recipe, thank you Whitney soo much for posting. These are now my go-to recipe for chocolate cupcakes. I did not try out her cream cheese frosting, or any frosting at all. I topped each off with a bit a white chocolate for visual effect, and they were ready for school.

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup strong black coffee
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add egg, sour cream, coffee, oil and vanilla; beat for 2 minutes. Pour into cupcake liners (about 2/3 full, these rise very nicely).
Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center cupcakes comes out clean.

Crispy Fish Tacos w/ Sweet Potato Chips and Mexican Red Rice

I’ve been told that I often veer on the side of over seasoning things, so this time I undershot, and unfortunately, the result was just bland! My fault entirely, so next time repost will be infinitely times better. A good first attempt though…

Fish Tacos:

Ingredients
Oil, for frying
2 cups panko bread crumbs*
3 eggs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds halibut, snapper, or other firm flesh white fish
8 corn tortillas
1/2 head napa cabbage, shredded
Pink Chili Mayo, recipe follows
Lime wedges, for garnish

To fry the fish: Fill a large heavy bottomed pot about 1/3 full of peanut oil. Heat to 375 degrees F. While the oil is heating, put the breadcrumbs into a shallow dish. Break the eggs into another shallow dish, season with salt and pepper, and beat them with 2 tablespoons of water. Cut the fish into 1-inch wide strips. Dip them into the egg, then coat them well with the breadcrumbs. Set aside and let them rest for 10 minutes. Cook the fish a few pieces at a time until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

To make the tacos: Heat a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat. Warm a corn tortilla in the pan until it softens, about 30 seconds. Place a fish strip on it, top with some of the shredded cabbage, and a big dollop of Pink Chili Mayo. Squeeze on some lime juice, roll up, and eat!

Pink Chili Mayo:
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Juice 1/2 lime
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the mayonnaise, sour cream, peppers, and lime juice in a blender and process to a puree. Refrigerate the mayo for 1/2 hour to let the flavors to blend; taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Mexican Red Rice
This is an Ingrid Hoffman recipe from Food Network’s Simply Delicioso. I personally find her irritating and the food she usually makes isn’t all that spectacular or impressive, but I’m very glad I found this recipe. It is very good.

Ingredients
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups long-grain white rice
1 teaspoon achiote powder
1 bay leaf
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onion is soft, about 2 minutes. Add the rice, achiote powder, and bay leaf. Cook and stir until the rice is opaque, about 2 minutes,

Add the tomatoes and broth, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the liquid evaporates to just below the level of the rice, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to the low, cover, and cook until the rice is tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork and serve.

Sweet Potato Chips

This is something I came up with on the spot. Nothing too fancy or inspired, but very good. Thinly sliced sweet potato, deep fried then sprinkled with Fuego Mix.

Fuego Mix:
1/4 cup paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons garlic granules
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons oregano

Thanks for reading! Sending my love,

—Anh—

The Anticipation

Absence Absinthe makes the heart tart grow fonder.

It has been a long time readers, and I owe you and myself several weeks of updates. So let me begin.

It’s ironic that it takes something repulsive like an o-chem midterm to really bring people together. Solidarity and shared pain really bond us as humans. The last few weeks have been tolerable only because of such people in my life – Kim, Kelly, Kari, Karen (K-coincidence?) and Vivian to name a few. My girls! Ice cream and jello shots to help us through. And we are so close to the end! Oh the anticipation! Five weeks and counting to the glory of summer days, sunshine pouring over our halter tops and bathing suits, and warm winds causing our flowy skirts to billow, bringing breeze between flip-flop clad feet. Those are the days I live for – my motivation for the next 5 weeks. God help me. But with five weeks, the anticipation of baking is already making my fingers tingle and I’m all ready for the kitchen. The last time I was even near the oven was as far back as Easter (late March), when I made a batch of cupcakes for my little cousin’s birthday, and now it is already mid April. The recipe is listed below. Much has happened since then, with plenty of food ops (as far as San Diego too) which will be written about and posted very soon. Anyway, as of this upcoming Thursday, I will break my dry-spell, and let the flood waters come rushing in. It has been far too long, and I need my kitchen time. Anticipation indeed.

To look forward, however, this weekend’s menu should be interesting. I AM breaking a 3 week abstinence from blogging and kitchen time, so I am rather desperate. I am currently thinking…

• another cupcake recipe, this time from The Cupcake Deck! by Elinor Klivans, author of the highly recommended Cupcakes!
• Bake or Break’s Oatmeal Cookies, for my students who I have abandoned and miss dearly
• and to satisfy my caffeine addiction, I would love to make some sort of a mocha/espresso cake/cupcake thing, so I have looked at several recipes A, B, and C to list a few. any recommendations any one?

I am also attending a wedding this weekend, so there will be a post about it, no doubt. And although midterms are over, I am still working on my presentation for Cal’s School of Public Health Poster Session in which I will be presenting my work on formaldehyde and FEMA trailers for Hurricane Katrina victims. That should prove to be interesting as I am the youngest participant, with absolutely no titles or degrees to my name, unlike the other students who all have a string of impressive MD’s and PhD’s or MPH’s following theirs. I am just Anh. Anh Duong. And I’m scared shiiiteless.

As you may know, I have moved beyond cookies and expanded into the realm of cakes and cupcakes. Diversification is a great thing. So, I tried out a Martha recipe, which is suppose to be fail-proof, but I didn’t end up with the perfect cupcake – and for that I was slightly disappointed. No, don’t get me wrong. These are fairly good. Perfect for sating a sweet-tooth hankering, and even more perfect for a bunch of wild 4th graders who always love sugar, no matter the form. But, it wasn’t THE cupcake. See the distinction? It wasn’t my PERFECT cupcake. So, I am still in search of that light airy cupcake in my dreams… somewhere, Plato is laughing at me right now, because such things only exist in The Forms. Woe be to Anh! But onward I search in the dark shadows of this world… With a little help from you all, I shall prevail, so please share your cupcake recipes!

Martha’s Simple Cupcakes Three Ways

Ingredients
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
Vanilla, raspberry, or chocolate buttercream

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla, and mix until combined. On low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, followed by milk; end with remaining flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated (do not overmix).

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 22 to 24 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost with your choice of buttercream.

I guess this post will just have to suffice until Thursday. Did I mention that my ochem exam is in 50 mintues? So instead of cramming in the last intermediate step to a Robinson Annulation or synthesis of some obscure polysaccharide, I decided to post an entry… consider it a way to calm down before 2 hours of high-strung tension. So, until soon and happy cooking!

—Anh—