Hot & Sour Soup

Whenever I return from a trip, all I want is a hot bowl of soup. As you may know from following my Instagram account, I love all types of soup. One that I started making more regularly recently is the Chinese Hot and Sour Soup. It’s so flavorful. There’s something about the sourness, saltiness, and the spice that just hits the spot. I love the crunchy textures of the bamboo and water chestnuts as well as the softness of the tofu and egg ribbons. So yummy. It tastes so much better when you make it at home yourself. Restaurants sometimes overdo it on the cornstarch, soy sauce, or spice. I don’t use cornstarch in my recipe at all because I generally prefer thin, brothier soups. You may add cornstarch if you like a thicker texture. If you’re a soup lover, try my recipe!

Hot and Sour Soup (serves 4-5)

Ingredients:

·       32 oz low sodium chicken broth

·      1 quart & 1 cup of water

·       15 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrate in bowl of hot water for 30 minutes, thinly sliced

·       1 small 8 oz can of bamboo shoots

·       6 oz tofu, cubed

·       3 eggs, lightly whisked

·       1 small can of water chestnuts, sliced (optional)

·       1 clove of garlic, mashed

·       1 nubbin of ginger

·       4½ tbsp soy sauce

·       6 tbsp vinegar

·       ½ - 1 tsp chili flakes

·       2 tsp sesame oil 

·       ½ tsp black pepper

·       ½-¾ tsp salt

·      ¾ cup of scallions diced

Directions: Bring the broth with water to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes with ginger and garlic. Add tofu, bamboo, rehydrated sliced shiitake mushrooms, and water chestnuts. If there is not enough broth, add more water. Cook for 15 minutes. Season the soup with soy sauce, vinegar, chili flakes, sesame oil, black pepper, and salt. Cook for another 15 minutes. Create egg ribbons by slowly pouring in the whisked eggs into the pot. Stir the eggs in the pot of soup with a fork or chopstick. Toss in half of the scallions and then continue to cook for a couple more minutes. Top with additional fresh scallions when serving.

Mushroom Marsala

Whenever I’ve had Chicken Marsala out at restaurants, it’s usually not that good. It’s always too creamy. They never use enough mushrooms and that is my favorite part of the dish! I decided to make the dish myself minus the chicken, so basically a Mushroom Marsala. I served mine over spaghetti but I think it would be really good over mashed potatoes too. Try the recipe and let me know what you think! If you want to make it vegan, skip the butter, use coconut milk instead of cream, and substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

Mushroom Marsala (serves 2-3)

 Ingredients

·       1 lb of cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced

·       3 cloves of garlic, minced

·       ½ sweet yellow onion diced

·       ⅓ cup of heavy cream (½ cup if you prefer it on the creamier side)

·       1 cup Marsala wine 

·       1¼ cup chicken broth

·       1 tsp salt

·       pepper to taste

·       1 tbsp freshly chopped rosemary

·       1 - 1½ tbsp flour

·       1 tbsp butter

·       1 tbsp olive oil

Directions: Heat olive oil. Sauté onions until brown. Add butter and then mushrooms and ½ tsp salt. Add garlic and rosemary. Let mushrooms cook for a few minutes. Add ½ cup Marsala wine and 1 cup chicken broth. Add 1 tbsp flour. Stir. Let sauce reduce. Pour in another ½ cup of Marsala wine and ¼ cup of chicken broth. Let sauce continue to reduce. It might seem too liquidy, but once you add pasta or let it cool, it will thicken. Then add ⅓ cup of heavy cream. Sprinkle in remaining ½ tsp salt. Cook for a few minutes longer. Taste the sauce. Adjust w additional salt if necessary. Toss in pasta. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Alternatively, you can eat with rice or serve over mashed potatoes.

Indonesian Mie Goreng Noodles

Mie Goreng is a popular Indonesian fried noodle dish made with mixed vegetables, topped with a fried egg, and served with lime and chili sauce. It is sometimes served with meat or shrimp. When I traveled to Bali years ago, I ordered this dish at almost every restaurant I visited. I love noodles and thought it’s about time I try making the dish for myself. I packed my recipe with lots of vegetables because I love vegetables and wanted the dish to be healthier and less carby. Feel free to cut down on the veggies and add protein.

MIE GORENG (serves 4)

Ingredients:

7 oz of dried egg noodles (I used lo mein noodles but you can also use noodles from instant ramen packets)

1½ cups of shredded cabbage

1½ cups of bean sprouts

2 cups of shredded bok choy

1½ cups of scallions, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 shallot, thinly sliced

7 oz of fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

½ tsp dark soy sauce (for color)

½ tsp sugar

1 tsp chili sauce

1 lime, cut into wedges

4 fried eggs

extra chili sauce for serving

Directions:

Cook egg noodles and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots. Lightly toast.

Add cabbage and shiitake mushrooms and let cook for a few minutes.

Throw in bok choy and scallions and cook lightly. If your veggies start to burn, add a tablespoon or two of water.

Lower heat. Add noodles. Pour oyster sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, and chili sauce over the noodles and toss thoroughly.

Add bean sprouts and toss some more. Cook briefly.

Turn off heat and set aside.

Fry eggs sunny side up.

Serve noodles with fried egg on top, chili sauce, and lime.

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom, & Gruyere Puff Pastry Bites

A couple years ago, I ordered a mushroom-stuffed puff pastry at a French restaurant as an appetizer and I remember loving it. But then again, I love anything with mushrooms. Since then, I had been wanting to experiment with puff pastry sheets. It’s not something I’ve ever used before. The result of my experimentation were these delicious little bites! These bites work well as an appetizer because they are easy to pick up and munch on as finger food. The puff pastry is soft and flakey. The mushroom mix is light and flavorful and the cheese is goey. If you are a mushroom lover like me, you need to try this recipe. It’s easy to make and it’s so good. Next time, I might try making a puff pastry turnover since that might be a litte heartier.

CARAMELIZED ONION, MUSHROOM, & GRUYERE PUFF PASTRY BITES (makes 18 small rounds)

Ingredients:

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp thyme

1 clove of garlic, diced

1 tbsp butter

¼ cup of white wine

1 tbsp olive oil

1 egg, whisked (for the egg wash)

2 puff pastry sheets

1 small sweet yellow onion, diced

8 oz cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

3.5 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

5-6 slices of gruyere cheese or shredded gruyere/swiss cheese blend

chopped parsley for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, cut puff pastry into little rounds using a cutter. I didn’t have one available so I just used a small sauce bowl that is 2¾ inches in diameter and cut around that. If you prefer, you can cut your puff pastry sheets into squares, which would be even quicker. Set aside.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil into a medium frying pan. Saute diced onions over medium heat until caramelized. Add 1 tbsp butter and let melt. Toss in garlic and mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook until the mushrooms have shrunken. Pour in wine and let reduce.

On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, arrange puff pastry rounds. Brush with egg wash. Add a spoonful of the sauteed mushroom and onions onto each round, leaving space around the edges. Bake for about 14 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees.

Pull out baking sheet tray from the oven. Add small slices of gruyere cheese on top of each round. Return to oven and bake for about 4-5 more minutes.

Garnish with chopped parsley. And that’s it! Easy peasy and delish!

Rotisserie Chicken Soup for the Soul

Chicken soup is always good for the soul but especially during a cold winter night. I might be part of the minority who loves soup all year round though. Recently, I made chicken soup using a rotisserie chicken. Store bought rotisserie chickens are amazing. They are inexpensive, delicious, and usually around $7.99 and can last several meals. The only downfall for me is that I don’t really love white meat and I don’t want to eat chicken for more than a couple meals in a row. So I decided to save the dark meat to eat on its own and use the rest of the chicken to flavor a pot of chicken soup. I’ve never tried making soup this way before but was recently inspired by another food blogger. Typically, I make soup from scratch with raw chicken but this method was a lot easier and was still flavorful. It tastes even better the next day and it’s still delicious as leftovers after being frozen.

Rotisserie Chicken Soup (serve about 6-8)

Ingredients:

1 whole Rotisserie Chicken (store bought)

4-5 celery stalks, trimmed and sliced

3 whole carrots, peeled and sliced

1 small sweet yellow onion, diced

1 medium sized white potato or 2 small ones, peeled and cubed

1-2 cobs of corn (shaved) or 1 can of roasted or regular whole kernal corn (fresh is better and sweeter though)

2 cloves of garlic, mashed

1 chunk of ginger, peeled

1 tbsp olive oil

1 bay leaf

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

2½ tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

dash of sugar (optional)

3½ quarts of water

Directions: First, I remove the dark meat from the rotisserie chicken. I love to eat dark meat with rice, soy sauce, chili, and cucumbers. I separate the dark meat from the bones, save the dark meat in Tupperware to be eaten later, and set the bones aside. Then I remove the white meat from the bones and break it up into shreds with my hands and set it aside, keeping all the bones. I usually use about 1½ cup to 2 cups of shredded white chicken meat in the soup and the rest I save to use in my salad.

In a 8-quart pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and lightly brown. Place all the bones from your rotisserie chicken (including some skin and wings, for more depth and flavor) into the pot and pour in 3 quarts of water. Make sure bones are mostly submerged. Toss in carrots along with bay leaf, ginger, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and a dash of sugar. I personally prefer to cut up 1 carrot into big chunks to use at the beginning and cut 2 carrots into thinner slices to be added in later. Because of the thickness of the carrot chunks, it can withstand being cooked longer while sweetening the soup early on. The thinner slices are added in later so it won’t be overcooked and mushy but will be better for the aesthetic and for eating, in my opinion. Simmer for 45 minutes on medium to medium low heat, covered with lid slightly ajar.

Remove ginger and discard. Add celery, potatoes and corn to the pot. At this time, you can also add in the thinner slices of carrots. Toss in shredded chicken. Pour in 2 cups of water. Simmer for 45 more minutes with lid slightly ajar.

Taste broth. Add more salt, if necessary, and cook for a few more minutes. Remove all of the bones with tongs and discard.

Enjoy!

Dutch Dutch Baby!

Have any of you had a dutch baby before? It’s SO good! It’s simple yet looks really impressive! I was inspired to make this dutch baby after learning how to make Yorkshire Puddings last year. The consistency and ingredients are pretty much the same. I’m more of a savory girl but this was a nice little weekend breakfast treat.

Mini Dutch Baby (Serves 2 using two small mini 6-inch cast iron skillets or one 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet or alternatively an oven safe pan)

Ingredients:

2 eggs

½ cup of milk

½ cup of flour

½ tsp of vanilla extract

A dash of salt

1 tbsp butter or 2 tsp bacon fat, similar to Yorkshire Pudding which is my preference

 toppings: maple syrup, honey, powdered sugar, jam, butter, mixed berries

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Meanwhile, mix eggs, milk, flour, vanilla extract, and salt.  A lot of recipes include sugar.  Because of all the sweet toppings that are served on top of Dutch babies, I chose to skip the sugar.  Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Heat bacon fat in skillet in oven for about 5 minutes.  If using butter, do the same except it should only take a minute or two.  Be careful not to burn the butter.  Once butter is melted, swirl it around to coat the pan.

Remove skillet from oven.  Pour in batter.  Return to oven and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve with various toppings including maple syrup, honey, powdered sugar, jam, butter, and mixed berries.

Russian Cabbage Soup

I love a good hearty soup. It is my absolute favorite thing to eat. It’s always so comforting and soothing. But I never thought a cabbage soup would be so delicious until I had Russian Cabbage soup for the first time when I lived in Hong Kong. It might sound strange to discover Russian Soup in Hong Kong (or maybe it doesn’t sound strange because Hong Kong is closer to Russia) but that is where I first tried it. From a can too. And made by Campbells. Ever since then, I’d look for the cabbage soup on menus in restaurants all over Los Angeles, but it’s not an easy soup to find.

Over the course of the pandemic, I’ve been trying new recipes with all the time we have in quartantine. After 8 years since I returned to the U.S. from Hong Kong, I finally made Russian Cabbage Soup for the first time! It was pretty good but not perfect. I might have to make tweaks next time. Or maybe I just need to make it again without all the pressure of making it perfect the first time. In the middle of cooking and tasting and eating, it’s sometimes hard to tell. Sometimes I need to have a little distance from my cooking to know if it’s good enough or not. Anyway, this is the perfect soup for winter especially now that it’s starting to get cold. Hope you like it!

Russian Cabbage Soup (serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

·       1-1½ stewed beef cubes or sirloin steak cut up into large chunks

·       1 head of cabbage, roughly chopped

·       1 sweet yellow onion, diced

·       2 carrots, diced

·       2 celery sticks, diced

·       2 cans of beef broth

·       1 large can of San Marzano tomatoes

·       1 can of tomato sauce

·       ¼ cup of vinegar

·       ¾ - 1 cup of water

·       ½ - 1 tsp salt

·       ¼ tsp black pepper

·       3½ tbsp sugar

·       parsley, chopped (optional for garnishing)

Directions:

In a large pot over medium high heat, sauté onions until brown.  Add carrots and celery.  Cook for a few minutes.

Lower heat to medium.  Add beef and cabbage.  Sprinkle in salt and pepper.  Pour in beef broth, tomatoes, and tomato sauce.  Cover pot with lid, leaving a little room for steam to be released.  Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Once the mixture starts to bubble up, lower heat to medium low.

Add vinegar and sugar.  Stir soup and cook for another 30 minutes.  Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

Mini Cuban-Inspired Cottage Pies for Thanksgiving

When I was road-tripping in Maine about 4 years ago, I stumbled upon a delicious pizzeria that had a shepherd’s pie pizza. It may sound strange but it was actually super delicious with the ground beef, potatoes, and corn toppings. I’ve actually never had a proper cottage (made with beef) or shepherd’s (made with lamb) pie before but ever since then, I’ve wanted to make mini versions of it because mini versions of everything are always so cute.

With the onset of the pandemic and being in lockdown, I finally felt motivated to make my first cottage pie. But when I started researching recipes, the ingredients and spices didn’t sound that exciting to me. Then I remembered the amazing papas rellenas (fried stuffed potatoes) I’ve had at Porto’s Bakery and thought maybe I can somehow combine the two, especially since I didn’t have a real point of reference for the cottage pies.

I made these mini cottage pies for the first time in June using phyllo dough to hold the filling. I thought they were pretty good but could use a few tweaks. I attempted the recipe again with my tweaks for Thanksgiving but I actually think that my first batch was better. So here is the recipe from my first attempt. You can tweak it to your preference. I thought the batch I made for Thanksgiving was too salty and spicy (I had added 1/2 tsp more than what is noted below). I think next time, I want to try adding 1/2 cup of sweet corn kernals. Someday, I will try making a full version of this without the phyllo dough because that was the most tedious part. Let me know what you think!

Mini Cuban-Inspired Cottage Pies (makes about 20)

Ingredients

 Filling

·         1 lb ground beef

·         1 sweet yellow onion, diced

·         1  carrot, diced

·         1 red bell pepper, diced

·         ½ cup of frozen peas

·         1 jalapeno, diced

·         1 cup of tomato sauce

·         4 cloves of garlic, diced

·         ½ cup of wine

·         ½ cup of coconut milk

·         1 tsp salt

·         1 tsp black pepper

·         2 tsp cumin

·         1 tsp oregano

·         ½ tsp chili powder

·         1 tbsp olive oil

·         chives, diced (optional for garnish)

 Mashed Potatoes

·         2 yukon potatoes

·         ½ cup of coconut milk

·         1 tbsp butter

·         1 tsp salt

 Cup

·         Phyllo dough sheets

o   cut roughly into 4x4 inch squares

o   layer about 6 squares together (does not need to be exactly on top of each other, you can fan it out)

o   brush with olive oil between each square sheet

Directions:

Over medium high heat, add olive oil and sauté onions until golden brown.  Add garlic, jalapeno, carrots, and peppers and cook for a couple minutes.

Lower heat to medium.  Add beef and all of the dry seasoning for the filling.  Break up the meat with your spatula.  Add ½ cup of wine and let reduce for about 10 minutes.

Lower heat.  Throw in frozen peas. Add tomato sauce and cook for 20 minutes.  Add ½ cup of coconut milk and cook for another 20 minutes and let sit.

Meanwhile, peel and cut potatoes into chunks and boil for about 20-25 minutes in salted water.  Mix ingredients for the mashed potatoes and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put together phyllo dough squares.

Brush muffin tin lightly with olive oil.  Push in phyllo dough squares.  Add beef filling and top with mashed potatoes.

Cook mini cottage pies for 10 minutes and then broil for 5 minutes.

Garnish with chopped chives and serve.