First time making Hollandaise Sauce

Since in the house we have lots of eggs and bought canadian bacon, I decided to make my version of eggs benedict. It was my first time making hollandaise sauce. You hear all the stories about how people say this is a hard sauce to make because if the butter does not emulsify well with the eggs it will just separate and you get a layer of butter and a layer of eggs. Not very appealing. I found a simple recipe (recipe below) that did not sound hard. Big suggestion, prep all ingredients before starting to make becuase you need to whisk the sauce constantly. (This I learned from stopping to melt butter then go back to see eggs were partially cooked and scrambled). Finally, after cleaning up my first try, I made it again. It was very easy all you need is a strong arm to whisk the eggs til pale yellow and thick. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Then take the egg mix off of the stove and slowly drizzle in melted butter until all incorporated. I put it back on the saucepan with simmering water to bring the sauce back to a thick consitency. Keep warm until ready to use.

Since I had unused egg whites, I decided to make an egg white omelete (this is beeter for you anyways). I used regular wheat bread instead of english muffin. Then cooked the canadian bacon for a minute. Added some blanched spinach for vegetables. Assemble: the toasted bread, canadian bacon, blanched spinach, eggs, then the hollandaise sauce. I made 2 of them. The end result was a creamy sauce and nice contrast with the salty bacon and nice green spinach.

Hollandaise sauce:

Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
salt and fresh ground pepper
dash of hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:
1. Place egg yolks, lemon juice, and hot sauce in a metal bowl. Place bowl on top of a saucepan with simmering water. Do not let bowl touch the water. Whisk egg yolks until pale thick yellow in color. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Take egg mixture off of stove and drizzle in the melted butter while whisking to combine. making sure the sauce does not separate. Then return to the saucepan and whisk until thick again. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.

If you would like to have a catered party, event, or learn about my cooking lessons please contact me at fancindy888@gmail.com.

Everyday Good Eats Facebook fanpage

I have created a fanpage on facebook for my cooking classes and events company called Everyday Good Eats. (Website to come soon).

Learn about cooking classes, cooking techniques, see photos of past events and you can inquire about classes, catering, or events. Link below to join.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Everyday-good-eats/134194919934908?ref=ts

Teaching a cooking class event

My friend Mei and I love to cook and have been to many cooking classes. We both were like we can do the same type of teaching and make it affordable for people to attend with good quality ingredients. We both decided to start cooking classes where people can do gourmet food in the comfort of your home for less than 45 min and less money than what you pay in restaurants. The name of our classes is called Everyday Good Eats.

For our first cooking class, we taught salmon cakes, seared scallops, salmon in parchment, restaurant style rib-eye steak, and molten chocolate cake. The class cost $40 with dinner included.

Everyone gathered around the kitchen to see how to prepare each dish. The first dish made was the salmon cakes. This is a very easy dish you can use leftover cooked salmon. There are two ways you can bind the salmon cakes so they do not fall apart--use either mayo or eggs. In my recipe below I use mayo because it gives the salmon cakes an added texture and flavor. I also use mustard for flavoring. I coat the salmon cakes in panko bread crumbs so it can have a crunchy outer texture.


For our other appetizer we made seared scallops. You use the big sea scallops for this dish. Very simple with just a little butter. This way you get to taste the natural flavor of the scallops. This dish is served with frisee salad and a balsamic reduction.


Next we made molten chocolate cake (also called lava cakes). These are individual cakes that have the chocolate center slightly underbaked so the center oozes out the chocolate. This dessert is very easy to make, can be done 1 day ahead, and cooks in less than 10 minutes so you can bake while people are eating the main dish. Recipe below.


For main dishes we had salmon in parchment and restaurant style rib-eye steak. For the salmon in parchment, you can use any vegetable you like. In my recipe below I use onions and red bell peppers. This dish is fast and easy to make and you can prepare the dish a day ahead up to the step of preparing the packets and put in fridge. This is also a versitile dish because you can use halibut, cod, or any firm fish instead of salmon and if you do not like dill you can use rosemary or thyme herbs. For the rib-eye steaks, get good quality USDA Choice steaks. simply salt and pepper and cook. Then add butter during last minutes of cooking. Comes out very juicy and tender.

Salmon Cakes with yogurt caper sauce
(serves 4, 2 patties each)

1 lb. of cooked salmon, flaked

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

1 ½ cups panko breadcrumbs (Japanese breadcrumbs)

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons mustard

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoons hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat skillet with 1 tablespoon of oil on medium-high heat. Add onions, cook until soft about 3 minutes. Add the parsley and stir to combine. Let it cool.
2. Place the flaked salmon in a bowl. Add mayonnaise, ½ cup of the panko breadcrumbs, the onion parsley mix, mustard, lemon juice, and salt and pepper in the bowl. Gently fold mixture together. (add more salt and pepper to taste). Add the hot sauce at this point if using.
3. Gently form the salmon mixture into 8 cakes. Each cake should be about 2 inches wide and ¼ inch thick. Put the rest of the panko breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Press each side of the salmon cakes with the panko breadcrumbs. Put in refrigerator for 30 min to firm up. At this step you can take the cakes and put on lined baking pan, cover with saran wrap and freeze.
4. Heat remaining oil in skillet on medium high heat. Add 4 salmon cakes to the pan.Cook until the cakes are golden, about 3-4 minutes per side. Serve hot with the yogurt dill sauce (recipe below)

yogurt caper sauce

Approximately 1 cup

Ingredients:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 tablespoon capers, drained and chopped

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. In small bowl, mix yogurt, lemon juice, and capers. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve along side the salmon cakes. Put in fridge if not using right away. This can also be made a day ahead, just stir before serving.

Pan Seared Sea Scallops, with Vinaigrette Reduction

(Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

12 jumbo sea scallops.

2 tbsp of butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Towel pad try the scallops, melt the butter in the sauté pan in high, place in the scallops when the pan get hot, make sure that the pan is not crowed, drizzle a pinch of salt on top of the scallops (salt might not be needed if using salted butter, as sea scallop carries a hint of the sea). Cook about two minutes on one side, or when it becoming brown.
2. Flip the scallops over. Spoon in the melted butter on top of the scallops, seared for another two minutes. Side of the scallops should becoming golden brown, or crack in the middle. Do not overcook.
3. Serve immediately, over a bed of frisee or mixed spring salads with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, drizzle some vinaigrette reduction on top of the scallops.

Vinaigrette Reduction Sauce – poured in a cup of sweet vinegar from Modena in a saucepan, add in 1 tbsp sugar, when it become boil, reduce to simmer till liquid is reduce to half.

Salmon in Parchment
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

4-6oz. salmon filets with skin

1 lemon, sliced into 8 slices

¼ bunch dill, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, cut into ½ inch strips lengthwise

1 medium onion, cut into ½ inch strips lengthwise

1 tablespoon capers, coarsely chopped (optional)

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 sheets of parchment paper, cut a half size larger than the salmon filet

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Put red bell peppers and onions in a bowl and toss with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Place vegetables on parchment sheet.
3. Drizzle remaining olive oil on the salmon filets. Place salmon on top of the vegetable mixture.
4. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the chopped dill, add capers if using. Place 2 lemon slices on top.
5. Bring the 2 longer sides of parchment paper together and fold over the fish and cover completely. Take the shorter sides and fold each side to seal.
6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 for the remaining salmon fillets.
7. Place all 4 packages on the baking sheet. bake at 400 degrees F in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Open package and serve.

Rib-Eye Steak

(Makes 2 servings)

Great steak begins with a good cut of USDA Choice Grade steak; weather if that is a rib-eye or Sirloin, is bound to satisfy.

Ingredients:

2 Rib-eye or Sirloin steak, about a pound each, bone in.

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp of butter

Directions:

1. Towel pad try the steak, season steak with salt and pepper on both sides, (pepper can be add toward the end of the cooking to avoid burning), heat the sauté pan high with a small amount of oil, sear in the steak when the pan get hot.
2. Sear one side of the steak for about 5 minutes, or when it becomes brown, flip side, spoon in the butter and sear the other side for about the same time. Spoon in the melted butter on to the steak. (cooking time might be different depending on thickness and reference of the steak)
3. Serve immediately over a warm plate, side with slices of beef steak tomato with Peter Luger Steak Sauce.

Molten chocolate cake

(Makes 6 servings)

This is a very easy dessert where you can make it a day ahead and bake while you are eating dinner so it comes out hot and the chocolate center oozes out.

Ingredients:

6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

10 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 tablespoons of flour

6- 6 ounce ramekins

sprig of mint leaves or raspberries, for garnish

powdered sugar for dusting on top of cakes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter and flour 6 ramekins. Shake out excess flour.
2. In a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar until pale yellow and thick, about 8 minutes. Add the vanilla extract. Reduce speed and add the flour. Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Mix until just well incorporated.
4. Divide the mixture among the ramekins. (can be made 1 day ahead. Covered and refrigerated). Just bring to room temperature before baking.
5. Bake in the 400 degree F oven until just set around the edges and center still jiggles, about 8-10 minutes. Do not overcook or the lava center flow will not turn out. Run knife around cake to loosen and let it rest in ramekins for about 5 minutes.
6. Turn onto a plate and dust with sifted powdered sugar. Add a spring of mint leaves or raspberries on top. Serve immediately.

If you would like to inquire about our cooking classes, private lessons, or catering please contact me at fancindy888@gmail.com

Dinner with friends from out of town

A friend from Panama came to visit NY this past week. I decided to have a dinner at my place since our other friend had a baby and it is hard to go to a restaurant. We had 10 people total at dinner. I was thinking of what to make. Since I had a small whole chicken in my freezer, I decided to make Lemon herb roasted chicken (recipe below). I roasted carrots, potatoes and mushrooms around the chicken. I got another chicken since the other one was small. I also made mashed potatoes to go with it. For dessert, I made coconut tapioca pudding (first time making it, recipe below).

The chicken is very easy to make. All you need is a few ingredients and you have a nice meal that looks like you took hours to make. I had two chickens each a little over 3 lbs., which easily fed 10 of us with all the sides. Everyone enjoyed the chicken, potatoes, and coconut tapioca pudding. Below is the recipe for the lemon herb roasted chicken.

chicken with veggies before it is cooked (left); Roasted Lemon Herb chicken (right)

Lemon herb roasted chicken
(Adapted from 2 recipes on food network)
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1-4-5lb. whole chicken
5 sprigs of rosemary, chop 2 tablespoons
5 springs of thyme, chop 2 tablespons
1/2 bunch of parsley, chop 2 tablespoons
1 lemon cut into slices
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, more for drizzling on chicken
1 head of garlic, halved
kosher salt and black pepper
1 1/12 lbs. potatoes, cut into medium chunks
1 1/2 lbs. baby carrots
2 cans of chicken stock, Homemade is best

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In food processor take the chopped rosemary, thyme, and parsely and process until combined. drizzle olive oil until you form a paste. Using your fingertips carefully work your way under the skin of the chickens to separate the skin from the breast to develop a pocket. Generously sprinkle the inside of the chicken and the outside with salt and black pepper. Schmear the herb paste under the skin of both chickens. Save some of the paste to rub all around the chicken. Drizzle olive oil over the whole chicken.
3. Take the rest of the rosemary, thyme, and parsley and put it inside the cavity of the chicken. Take the garlic halves and lemon slices and also put into the cavity of the chicken. Tie the chicken legs together to hold the chicken in place.
4. Place the potatoes and the baby carrots on the baking pan. Season veggies with salt and pepper. Put chicken on top and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, get a nice golden brown skin. Baste the chicken with chicken broth.
5. Turn the heat to 375 degrees F. Continue to cook the chicken and basting with chicken broth every 20 minutes. Continue to roast chicken for 1 1/2 hours. (it takes about 17 minutes per lb for chicken to be done). Turn the pan halfway during baking. The chicken is done when an instant-read thermometer says 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh.
6. Remove the chicken to a platter and let stand for 10 minutes, so the juices settle back into the meat before carving. Serve with the roasted veggies.

Thai coconut pudding
serves 8-10

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pear sago/tapioca
1 cup diced taro
1 can of coconut milk
1 cups of water
1/2 cup of rock sugar (use granulated sugar if cannot find rock sugar)

Directions
1. Remove skin from taro and cut into small diced cubes
2. Add taro to a boiling pot of water and cook until tender (fresh taro takes about 20 minutes), drain.
3. In a separate pot, add tapioca to another boiling pot of water. Boil for 5-6 minutes, turn off the heat and cover for another 10-15 minutes. Begin checking tapioca after 10 minutes – the tapioca is done once it has turned translucent (no white center). Drain any excess water.
5. On low heat, add can of coconut milk and 1 cups of water to the tapioca. If you are using rock sugar, add it in during this step since it takes awhile to break down.
6. Add more sugar if not sweet enough. Add small amount at a time.
7. If you prefer a soupier consistency, add more coconut milk or water.

If you would like to have a catered party or event, you can contact me at at fancindy888@gmail.com

Pre-Summer BBQ Party

My friend decided to have a pre-summer BBQ at her place. She was telling me about the food she wanted to make. She had hot dogs, Kelbasa, pesto shrimp skewers, mushroom skewers, sausage and peppers, grilled pizza, and cranberry-white chocolate oatmeal cookies. For dinner we made hamburgers with cheese and roasted pepper mayo and for dessert we had dark and white chocolate and peanut butter drizzled bananna slices. All the food was delicious. I especially liked making the grilled pizzas with pita bread and tortillas. The torillas gave a nicer crispier crust. There were toppings---tomato sauce, fresh mozarella, cheddar cheese, basil, caramelized onions, tomatoes, feta cheese, artichokes, and olives. I think the grilled pizzas is going to become a staple food we do at BBQs. So easy to make and people can put what they like. I made a tortilla like calzone to hold my toppings of mozarella, tomatoes, olives, and basil.

It was a nice day--a little cold but glad no rain. There were about 12 people that came. A good way to bring people together to just hang out, eat great food, and enjoy the beginning of summer to come. Hopefully more BBQs and delicious food to come.

Dark and white chocolate and peanut butter drizzled sliced bananas

Homemade Pizza Party

This party all came about when a few friends were talking about anchovies and liking them on pizza. I was saying we should hang out and how I like making homemade pizza. So, we decided to make a homemade pizza party. We all brought toppings that we liked on our pizza. This is a great way to have a party and something very simple your friends can make. We had Anchovies (of course, this started the whole idea of the party), spinach, onions, sausage, shredded and fresh mozzarella, and portobello mushrooms. I made the sauce from scratch (recipe below, you can also buy store bought but when you see how easy it is to make you will never buy again!). I did not make the pizza dough since it takes a while to let it sit and proof up. I bought the dough (will try next time to make dough).
Took the dough and cut into 4 equal size portions. I taught them to stretch the dough with your hands by pulling and rotating the dough. You can make it as thick or thin of a crust you like. I like making thin crust. Another way to help stretch the dough is to use a rolling pin and roll out and rotate the dough after each rolling to even out the crust. (You do not want certain parts of the dough to be thicker than the rest because it will not cook properly). Then you put the tomato sauce, toppings, and cook in oven or about 10-15 min. until crust is golden brown and cheese has melted. Then cut the pizza and enjoy!

Pizza with chunky tomato sauce (top left); Pizza with toppings (top right);
first pizza made with veggies, anchovies, cheese, and spinach on one side and sausage, spinach, anchovies and cheese on other side (bottom left);
second pizza made where I got better at making the pizza dough round with added topping of portabelllo mushrooms ( bottom right).

Simple Homemade Pizza recipe:
(makes 4 personal size pizzas)
One store bought dough
Homemade tomato sauce, recipe below
any toppings you like (basil, sausage, spinach, anchovies, etc.)
Fresh and shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. divide the pizza dough into 4 equal pieces and roll it out to a thickness of your liking by taking the dough and stretching it between your hands pulling and rotating as you stretch to get an even crust. You can use a rolling pin if needed to roll the dough out.
3. Once pizza dough is shaped into desired thickness, take tomato sauce and spread it on the dough leaving a 1/4 inch border so the sauce does not leak.
4. Add the cheese, your toppings you like and put in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

Tomato sauce:
one 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 6oz can of tomato paste
1-2 tablespoons of dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1-2 tablespoons of fresh basil, chopped finely
salt to taste

1. On the stove top, put the tomato sauce, oregano, garlic, basil and salt in a saucepan on medium heat.
2. Let sauce simmer for 30 minutes to get maximum flavor, stirring occasionally.
3. add 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste to help thicken the sauce. Sauce will also thicken once cooled.
4. Add more salt to taste if necessary. If sauce is too chunky for your taste, strain sauce using a sieve.
5. cool completely and if not using immediately put in refrigerator.

Fry night

Some of you might think why fried food night? Isn't that unhealthy? but we were just trying it for one night, plus we had plenty of tea to help with the oily foods we were going to eat. The idea of fry night came about when a friend of mine wanted to make samosas that she learned from her cooking class. Since her kitchen was in a small NYC apartment with no windows, I offered up my apartment in Brooklyn with a windowed kitchen and big living space. Also, another friend was talking about frying up some other things, such as pickles, cake wrapped in wonton skins, and corn dogs. So we decided to pick some things we would like to have fried. We came up with the list below of things to fry.

Things we fried:
pickles
oreos
cake wontons
snicker wontons
bananna spring rolls
bananna fritters
samosas (vegeterian and meat)
vegetable tempura
cornflake crusted fried chicken
corn dogs

I made a simple fry batter (recipe below) that was very versatile (batter can be used for many different foods you want to fry) and a cornmeal batter (used for the corn dogs). My friend made the samosas while others made the other foods. I was frying most of the food. below is pictures of the food before and after fried.

The batter, cut up veggies, and hot dogs (top left); vegetable tempura before fried (center);
cake and snickers wonton (top right); cornflake rusted fried chicken (bottom left);
fried wontons, banana fritters and egg rolls, and fried oreos (center);
fried cake and snickers wontons, samosas (bottom right)

The pickles were a suprise hit. They were better than I thought. It was a good balance of soft batter, crunchy sour pickle taste. Some of you might have had fried oreos at a street fair before. After you use the batter recipe below you will never pay those high prices at those fairs again. It is so easy to make and they come out soft and cake like. Very tasty. The cake wontons were also another suprise hit. The cake tasted like soft pound cake and the outside wonton skin gave a contrasting crunch. The snickers on the otherhand melted in the wontons so not much taste, just sweet and crunchy.

Fry batter:
(adapted from the recipe Fried Chocolate Sandwich Cookie by Emeril Lagasse)

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
Vegetable oil for frying

Directions

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and the milk. Combine the milk mixture with the flour mixture, stirring just until well blended.

In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add enough oil to come 1/3 of the way up the sides of the pan, or about 1 1/2 inches deep. Heat oil to 360 degrees F. Take whatever ingredient you want to fry and dip in the batter. Carefully place in the hot oil. Fry until golden brown about 2 minutes. Place on a paper towel lined plate and serve immedietely.

If you are planning a party or need any catering, you can email me at fancindy888@yahoo.com. I can cater any type of party.