Cold Spicy Soba Noodles

A few weeks ago, the husband and I invited some of our neighbors over for some BBQ potluck. We bought some delicious pre-marinated ribs from Costco (the ribs were a big hit!!), made some vegetable skewers and provided a variety of drinks for our neighbors. Each neighbor brought different yummy dishes to share. One of my neighbor made some Sichuan "Liang Mian" (Cold Noodles) over and everyone agreed it was delicious. The noodles were simple and very refreshing, with a bit of kick from the chili. I've never had this before and even though I'm not a bit fan of Sichuan food (they tend to be too spicy for me), I liked this one and didn't feel the spiciness as much. I guess my neighbor had probably tone the spice level down a little.

After a weekend of eating out, I crave for a simple lunch. Working with the ingredients in my pantry, I decided to make my version of the Sichuan "Liang Mian". I have a few different types of noodles in my pantry, but decided to use Soba noodles instead. It turned out pretty yummy, and definitely refreshing. I will definitely make this again. Here's the recipe.

COLD SPICY SOBA NOODLES RECIPE
*Serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 2 Bundle Soba Noodles
• 1 Tbsp (Low Sodium) Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp (Lee Kum Kee) Chili Bean Sauce
• 1 Tbsp (Chin Kiang) Black Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
• 2 Tsp Sweet Soy Sauce (Kicap Manis)
• 1 Stalk Green Onion, Chopped
• 1 Handful Cilantro, Chopped
• 1/2  Tbsp Raw Skinless Peanuts
• 1/2 Tsp Toasted Sesame Seeds

Method

Cook the soba noodles per the instruction on the package. Once noodles are cooked, run cold water through the noodle to stop the cooking and to cool down the noodle. Drain and set cooled noodles aside. 

In a pan, dry roast (no oil needed) the peanuts over medium heat until golden brown. Stir peanuts occasionally so that they so not burn. Once peanuts are toasted, set aside, let cool and give them a rough chop. Mix all the liquid ingredients in a bowl to make the sauce and set aside. 

Divide the noodles into 2-3 bowls. Drizzle the sauce onto the noodles. Sprinkle each bowl with the green onion, cilantro, chopped peanuts and sesame seeds. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

June's notes:  Like me, you can definitely use any noodles of your choice. I think even linguini or ramen noodles will work fine! =) 

Simply June 

Citrus Salad

I pinned this refreshing citrus salad a while back but never gotten a chance to try it. The addition of lemongrass in the syrup was very intriguing that I just had to try when I have the chance! So, with some girl friends coming over for lunch, it was a great time to attempt this recipe and see how they like it. A nice cool refreshing salad would be a perfect dish for a hot summer day. The verdict........everyone asked for the recipe.. Score! Even my friend who I just found out do not like grapefruit enjoyed the dish and requested for the recipe. 

I made very little tweak to the recipe overall. The recipe was pretty simple, although segmenting the citruses was a little messy. If you do not know how to segment a citrus, check out this video. Click HERE for the original recipe. The colors of my citrus salad (I blame the ruby grapefruit which wasn't that ruby/pink looking) wasn't as gorgeous as the one posted by the originator of the recipe but rest assured, it's still yummy! =) Here's my tweaked version of the citrus salad. You can also serve this as a dessert....I would! 

CITRUS SALAD RECIPE

*Serves 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 Ruby Grapefruit, Segmented, Juice Reserved
• 1 Regular Grapefruit, Segmented, Juice Reserved
• 2 Naval Oranges, Segmented, Juice Reserved
• 1 Tangelo, Segmented, Juice Reserved
• 1/2 Cup Honey
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 Stalks Lemongrass, White part only, Cut into 1" pieces
• 1/2 Vanilla Bean, Split & Scraped
• Zest of 1/2 Lemon
• Zest of 1 Lime
• Mint Leaves for Garnish

Method

Mix the citrus segments in a bow to combine. Cover and chill. In a small saucepan, mix 1 Cup reserved citrus juice with honey, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla pod and seeds. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until honey and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let stand 30 minutes. Strain and set aside to let it chill. 

Divide citrus segments into 4 serving cups. Drizzle about 1-2 tbsp of the syrup and garnish with lime zest and mint leaves. Let the salad chill until ready to serve. Enjoy! 

June's Notes: I used about 1/4 tsp of vanilla bean powder since that was what I had. If you do not have vanilla pods, feel free to use about 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract in the mixture. There will be plenty of leftover syrup which you can use for cocktails, drinks or more citrus salad!

Simply June 

A Surprise Baby Shower

A couple months ago, a few friends and I got involved in planning a surprise baby shower for our S. T and I was in charge of the dessert station, games and some deco. Both of us were semi clueless but we were very excited to be involved in this surprise. After weeks of hard work, secret meetings, decoys, white lies, etc ( you name it) we successfully pulled off a surprise baby shower for S. Boy were we glad to be able to stop lying to our friend!! =). Our friends who graciously let us use their property (and who also co-hosted the baby shower) did a wonderful job with the table settings, food, drinks and decorations!

I'm very proud of this dessert table that we put together! I think the diaper cake makes a very nice center piece (though it's the only thing which was not edible!!)

The diaper cake center piece, made from diapers, faux gerbera daisies, ribbons and of course a handy dandy glue gun.

We spent a couple hours making party favors; Chocolate covered Pretzel sticks. The "chocolate" here is Wilton's Candy Melts. We filled each bag with 4 pretzel sticks, and tie a homemade thank you tag to it. Each guest takes one at the end of the party.

We also created a little baby prediction tree with prediction cards for each guest to fill and guess the baby's arrival date, time, length,weight, etc.

For desserts; 3 types so that everyone can hopefully find at least one that they like. A very rich Black Magic Chocolate Cake with cream cheese frosting which was a big hit with the guests. A tangy refreshing Lemon Bar and a light and yummy Eclair. We used the choux pastry recipe from my profiterole recipe, filled it with Jello Vanilla Pudding (from the box - mix per instructions) which is now my favorite go to for a pastry cream substitute, and a dark velvety chocolate glaze.

I did a mini (Black Magic) cake which unfortunately this is not my best work but was a great hit. The mini cake was fudge like, while the cupcakes was light. The texture is so different that it's hard to believe they are of the same recipe!

Now that we have some experience planning a baby shower, we're ready for more parties!

PS: We got most of our ideas from my Pinterest board!

Simply June 

Berry Pavlova

I've always heard about Pavlova and seen beautiful pictures of this dessert but have never gotten a chance to try it out. Pavlova is basically a meringue with a crisp crust on the outside and is pillowy soft inside. It's often topped with whipped cream and fruits.

According to wikipedia, Pavlova is named after Anna Pavlova, a Russian ballerina. Although the dessert has a Russian name, it is believed to have originated from New Zealand (or Australia) when the ballerina was there during or after one of her tours to those countries in the 1920s. The dessert is apparently a popular dish and is frequently served during celebratory and holiday meals in New Zealand and Australia.

With some egg whites sitting in my fridge, I was contemplating between making friand, french macaron  or pavlova. I decided to go with Pavlova coz it seemed to be the easiest to make and I have some fresh berries at home that I can incorporate to the dessert. Plus, I'm always curious about this dessert.

I googled for a recipe and went with one I found on Allrecipes.com making slight changes. As I fear that the dessert will be too sweet, I reduced the sugar a little. The outcome was perfect, not overly sweet and light. The meringue is indeed crisp on the outside and soft in the inside. The berries paired nicely and they added some freshness to the dessert.  This is a dessert you could definitely eat more without feeling too guilty! I brought the dessert over to my neighbor's for dinner and I think they loved it! =)  Berries are in season now and this make a perfect summery dessert!

Here's the recipe with my changes. Note to self, hull the strawberries next time =)!

BERRY PAVLOVA RECIPE
*Serves 8-10

Ingredients

• 4 oz Egg White (About 4 Large egg whites)
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Tsp Corn Flour
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream (Add 1/2 Cup - 1 Cup more if you want more cream)
• 1/2 Cup - 3/4 Cup Blueberries
• 8-10 Oz Strawberries, Halved

Method

Preheat oven to 300F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw a 9" circle on the parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually add in sugar, about 1 tbsp at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until egg white is thick and glossy. Gently fold in vanilla extract, lemon juice and corn flour. 

Spoon mixture inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper.Working from the center and spread mixture toward the outside edge, making a slight indentation in the middle and building the edge. Bake for 1 hour then cool on a wire rack. **See Note**

In a small bowl, beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form and set aside. Place the meringue on a flat serving plate. Fill the center of the meringue with whipped cream and then top it with the berries.

June's Notes: Sugar needs to be incorporated well into the meringue if not your meringue will "weep" when it bakes if the sugar is not entirely dissolved prior to baking. 

I made 2 smaller meringue instead of one big one. I placed both meringue on the same baking sheet, making them about 5 inches in diameter each with about 2-3 inches gap between the two. The pavlova will spread a little once it bakes. Since my meringue is slightly smaller, I baked it for about 50 minutes instead. 

A lot of the other recipes I saw asked for the meringue to cool down in the oven with the oven door ajar after it has baked. I read that by letting the meringue cool slowly in the oven as opposed to letting it cool at room temperature helps so that the meringue does not deflate too much.  As my meringue cooled down, the center deflated a little and created a little crater. I thought it was perfect as I could fill the "bowl" with whipped cream and fruits.  I don't know if the pavlova is supposed to deflate and crack at all once cooled or it should retain its shape right after baking.  Maybe next time, I'll cool it in the oven and compare the results.  If you're not a big fan of strawberries and/or blueberries, feel free to top it off with raspberries, kiwi, peaches, etc. 

 If you're a Pavlova connoisseur, tell me....what's a perfect Pavlova like??

Enjoy!

Simply June 

Dorayaki (Japanese Pancake with Red Bean Paste Filling)

One of my favorite Japanese desserts/cake is Dorayaki. It looks like 2 silver dollar pancakes filled with sweetened red bean paste in the middle. The pancake is slightly sweet and a little more dense than the regular western pancakes. This pancake is great for dessert or for breakfast and can be very portable! 

I made a healthier version of dorayaki a few years ago. Although it tasted pretty good, this recipe that I'm sharing with you today will taste more authentic! It takes quite a bit of patience to cook this pancake so that the color is nice and even. When making this, I also realized that the pan used is very important to achieve the perfect texture and color. I think it has something to do with the heat distribution of the pan. I made the dorayakis using a crepe pan from Crate and Barrel and they turned out perfect. The color was nice and even, and the pancakes developed bubbles as they cooked (see below) which  made them slightly lighter. Upon tasting the dorayaki I made, my neighbor asked me to show her how to make it. This time, we used 2 pans to cook the dorayaki in hopes that we can finish making this quicker. Little did we know a difference in the pan used will give us different results in the dorayaki. The ones I made using the crepe pan turned out perfect. The ones my neighbor made using a regular non-stick pan was a little dense, no bubbles developed when the pancakes were cooking and the color was not as even. We eventually used my crepe pan to finish the rest of the batter and it came out perfect! 

Anyway, I turned to my now favorite Japanese food blog for a dorayaki recipe and loved the end product. It was overall quite easy to make these yummy Japanese desserts. I made my dorayakis just a tad smaller so that I can make a little more dorayakis! =) Nami's blog is excellent with step by step instructions on making dorayaki. Here's the recipe extracted from Nami's blog. 

 DORAYAKI RECIPE

*Makes about 14 (2-1/2") dorayakis

Ingredients

• 4 Large Eggs
• 2/3 Cup Sugar (OK to reduce to 1/2 Cup)
• 2 Tbsp Honey
• 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1-2 Tbsp Water
• 1 Can/Package Sweetened Red Bean Paste (You will have some leftovers)

Method

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar and honey. Whisk well until mixture has a lot of bubbles and is fluffy. Sift flour and baking powder into the egg mixture and mix well. Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. 

Stir in 1/2 tbsp of water at a time to get the right consistency. The batter should be slightly thicker than regular pancake batter. If batter is too thin, dorayaki will be too flat and not fluffy. 

Heat a large non stick frying pan (in my case, crepe pan works perfectly!) over medium low to medium heat. Dip a piece of paper towel in oil and rub the bottom of the pan with oil. The pan should be slightly oiled but shouldn't be visible. Scoop the batter with a table spoon (for a smaller dorayaki) and drop the batter from about 1" above the pan to create a 2" diameter pancake (batter will continue to slightly spread). When you see the surface of batter starts to bubble, flip over and cook the other side just till it's slightly browned. Transfer to a plate and cover up with damp towel to prevent from drying. Repeat until all batter has been used up.

Before assembling, roughly pair 2 pancakes together to ensure they "match" properly. The nicer/more even surface will be the outer layer. Scoop a heaping teaspoon of red bean paste and place it in the center of the one the pancakes. Slightly spread the red bean paste to the side, but ensuring the center is slightly higher. Sandwich with another piece of pancake, gently pieces together. Wrap each assembled dorayaki with saran wrap until ready to serve.

Serve the dorayaki with some green tea or coffee. It's great for an afternoon pick me up!

June's Notes: I ended up adding 1 tbsp of water to the batter to slightly dilute it. Oiling the pan is very important. You need to ensure that no oil is visible as this is the trick to get a nice and even color on the pancake. I also noticed that the first batch after oiling the pan will usually turn out a little ugly; though still edible. The heat is also important, too high heat you'll get a burnt (and slightly under cooked) dorayaki. Too low, the dorayaki might not develop bubbles that it needs. It literally made about 3-4 bad pancakes to learn from my mistakes and yield perfect ones after. So, don't be discourage if you had some bad pancakes in the beginning! 

Amount of red bean paste to fill is up to your personal preference. Fill more (without it spilling out from the sides) if you like more, less if not..If you're not a fan of sweet red beans (though I think you're missing out!!), fill it with some peanut butter or perhaps nutella! 

Since these dorayaki does not have any preservatives, I wouldn't keep this for more than 3 days. The husband and I had no problems finishing the dorayakis in 2 days... They are so good and convenient to eat! 

Enjoy!

Simply June