The Chewy

For nearly a decade, I have been in search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. This hasn’t been a Field of Dreams type of effort but more of a karaoke kind of effort: I try it because it sounds fun, get disappointed at the lackluster results, and then try it again when I’ve forget about the disappointment. But this might have changed since I’ve tried Alton Brown’s “The Chewy” recipe. The recipe might not be perfect but it’s closer than any other recipe I’ve tried.

To confess my weakness, I have made this recipe twice in the past week because I lack will power. But my failed weight loss is your gain in that I may have stumbled upon a possible improvement to Alton’s near-perfect recipe. Though his recipe calls for bread flour, on my second batch I inadvertently used cake flour. Since I’m no food expert, I have no idea if there are any actual differences between the two flours. However, by using cake flour instead of bread flour, the cookies seem to be chewier and less cakey, which puts the chocolate more on the center stage.


Ingredients

* 2 sticks unsalted butter
* 2 1/4 cups bread flour (or cake flour)
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon fresh baking soda
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 egg yolk
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used Guittard extra dark)

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough for an hour. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Using a tablespoon-sized measuring spoon, scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container or do like me and eat 6 right away.

Desir Bakery

I did some weekend grocery shopping at 99 Ranch Market at I-10 and Blalock. On the way out, I noticed the Desir Bakery next to the checkout lines was not overflowing with people as it usually is, so I decided to stop in to pick up a small pastry to satisfy my sweet tooth. It was my first time in the bakery so I really didn’t know what to expect. I really enjoy going outside of my epicurean comfort zone and just following the crowds of people who know what they're doing...at least they seem like they do. For all I know, it was everyone's first visit.

The bakery itself was tiny. Everyone had to leave our shopping carts full of purchased groceries parked just on the other side of the rope dividers. Filling the wooden shelves were freshly baked goods, both savory and sweet. The comforting aroma wrapped me in a warm blanket of happy and induced an unnatural appetite considering I just had a big lunch an hour earlier. So instead of getting just a small sweet pastry, I picked all of the following.


These savory loaves were their green-onion rolls and golden garlic bread. Yes, the golden garlic bread was actually that disturbingly yellow. The bread itself was light and airy. Both items were a bit lacking in green onion and garlic flavors but that’s my personal preference. I like enough onions and garlic to cause my breath to be as offensive as my former neighbors.


The first of the sweets was coconut bread. Sweet coconut and raisin paste filled the inner cavities of this loaf the size of my face. The bread looked to be haphazardly folded over the filling but there must be some method to the madness since coconut was evenly distributed throughout this huge pastry.


Next was their “sponge cupcake.” This was simply awesome. Sure, the A-word is used too often these days but one bite into this soft, fluffy sweetness and you’ll use the A-word too. The cupcake is like angel food cake but more heavenly. The next time I pick this up, I’ll try it in strawberry shortcake or something similar.


Then I had their red bean mochi. Common in Asian cooking is the use of beans in desserts. This might seem odd to some but I assure you it’s delicious. This “cookie” was a sweet red bean filling wrapped in soft, flaky dough, covered with toasted sesame seeds.


Finally, I happily forced down the pineapple cake. This mini cake, the size of four dice, had a nutty crust enveloping its pineapple gel of a filling. My only problem with this item was that I only bought one.

So the next time you’re picking up some fresh fish from 99 Ranch Market’s superb seafood department, don’t forget to stop into the bakery on your way out.

Honey Vanilla Pound Cake

The one problem I ever had with pound cake is its name. I used to think it was because the cake weighed a pound. Then I learned that the name came from how it is traditionally made from a pound each of eggs, butter, flour and sugar. So “four-pound cake” would be a more suitable name because of the total weight of the ingredients and because that’s how much weight I gain eating it. Nevertheless, as a food blogger, I have pushed past the pain and pounds to give you the following. I hope this recipe and my increased risk of a stroke brings a smile to your day.



1/2 pound(2 sticks) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 extra large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease the bottom of an 8½ x 4½ x 2½ inch loaf pan.

3. Line the bottom with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

4. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, until light.

5. Meanwhile, put the eggs, honey, vanilla and lemon zest in a glass measuring cup but do not combine.

6. With the mixer on medium low speed, add the egg mixture, one egg at a time, scraping down the bowl and allowing each egg to become incorporated before adding the next egg.

7. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.

8. With the mixer on low speed, add it slowly to the batter until just combined.

9. Finish mixing the batter with a rubber spatula and pour it into the prepared pan. Smooth the top.

10. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

11. Cool for 15 minutes, turn out onto a baking rack, and cool completely.

Source: Back to Basics by Ina Garten

Vietnamese Banana Tapioca Pudding

One of the many quirks I have is that I prefer eating raw bananas while they're still greenish and unripe. By the time bananas turn yellow, they're too sweet for my preference. Luckily for me, I learned how to convert overly sweet bananas into a simple traditional Vietnamese dessert that exudes awesomeness.

"Chè chuối" (pronounced "chair chewy") is made with bananas and small tapioca balls. "Chè" refers to the traditional Vietnamese sweet dessert that is similar to soup or pudding. "Chuối" means banana. The fact you're still reading means you're awesome.

To make this delectable dessert, you will need the following:

3 cups water
1/3 cups small tapioca pearls
1 to 1-1/4 lbs of ripe bananas (about 4 regular bananas)
2/3 cups canned coconut milk
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 to 3 tsp sugar (see Step 5 below)
1/4 cups finely chopped peanuts (optional)

1. In a medium pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the tapioca and stir immediately so the balls don't stick to each other. Reduce heat to a slow boil and leave for 12 to 14 minutes until the tapioca is half cooked (mostly clear with a small white dot in the center). Stir occasionally to prevent the tapioca from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Be careful not to overcook; we want the tapioca chewy, not mushy.
2. Meanwhile, cut the bananas in half lengthwise and then again into 1-inch chunks. Set aside.
3. When the tapioca is ready as mentioned above (it will become thick and viscous), add the coconut milk and salt and stir until blended. Here's a little trick to make this dessert richer and creamier. Though the can tells us to shake well before using, I like to stick it to the man and not shake. Instead, I open the can and scoop out just the coconut cream that rises to the top. Of course whether you shake it like a Polaroid picture or not, the dessert will still taste great.
4. When the tapioca mixture reaches a boil again, add the banana pieces and stir until evenly distributed. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes or until the bananas are tender, giving the flavors a chance to meld together. Remove from heat.
5. Because the sweetness of this dessert depends largely on the ripeness of the bananas you use, it’s best to add sugar to taste. So before dumping in more sugar, first taste the soup. If you want it sweeter, add 1 tsp of sugar, stir until blended, and taste again. Repeat until desired.
6. Serve with the chopped peanuts as a topping.

Serves 6-8 or 1 monster sweet tooth. Refrigerate unused portion and reheat before serving leftovers.

Gelato Insanity

So during our week in Italy, we have completely indulged our sweet teeth and overdid it with the gelato, the Italian version of ice cream. The scary thing is that the images below only account for about half of the amount of gelato we actually consumed.


Cherry


Honey, chocolate Nutella, and hazelnut with chocolate swirls


Sweet cream


Chocolate and vanilla, AKA, ebony and ivory.


Crema di Santa Fina (saffron and pine-nut cream) from the best gelateria in the world.


Valrhona dark chocolate


Dark chocolate and sweet cream

Trashy gelato

Celebrating the Year of the Ox

To usher in the new lunar year, the year of the Ox, my wife and I had friends over for a celebration. Since most of our friends had never before experienced a Vietnamese new year celebration, it was incumbent upon me to show them a good time. We cooked up a storm, bought a whole-roasted suckling pig, and played some traditional games (bau cua) and some non-traditional games (Rock Band 2) into the wee hours of the night.

In other words, we all partied like Ox stars.


For appetizers, we fried up some banh phong tom (shrimp chips) and home-made banh tet. The shrimp chips we merely bought from the market. However, don't be fooled, the shrimp chips you see in the red bowl does not come in that form. When bought, these chips are packed in a rectangular box in the form of dense, semi-translucent wafers, reminiscent crackers. If you ate these uncooked wafer, you would just get a mouthful of yucky...trust me, I know. The magic happens when the wafers are placed into a deep-fryer. This is when the tiny, dense wafers undergo what I refer to as Hulkification, in which they explode to 10x their original size, resulting in what you see in the red bowl above. And these chips are just as fun to eat as they are to cook. Merely pressing a cooked chip against your tongue will create a suction-cup effect adhering the chip to your taste buds. Like a Disney movie, it's fun for all ages.

My wife made the delicious banh tet, which is a type of rice cake with pork and bean filling. She tells me that making these savory cakes is similar to making huge burritos. She started off with large sheets of banana leaves. Then she added a layer of uncooked glutinous rice mixed with coconut milk and some salt. Next, she added a layer of yellow mung beans. Lastly, she added the strips of raw pork seasoned with garlic, onions, salt and pepper. Once all the ingredients are in place, she tightly rolled this heap of rawness in the banana leaf, ensuring no openings. She then wrapped foil around the cake, turning the big green roll into a big silvery roll. The rolled cake is tightly bound as if she tied a roast. Then she boiled the cakes for 7 hours. During this time, the bound rice is cooked and tries to expand but ends up becoming a sturdy outer shell to the juicy pork inside. Once cooked, the cakes left to cool before serving. Though it's traditionally served by cutting into slices and dipping in fish sauce with chili peppers, we love these "Vietnamese New Year Coins," as a friend refers to them, pan fried to make them warm and crispy. And who can say "no" to some warm and crispy?


The fried rice you see here was one of my contributions to the buffet spread. Like I've mentioned in my earlier posts, I'm a fan of balance and simplicity when it comes to food and this philosophy is evident in my cooking. To make this simple yet yummy fried rice, you'll need the following:

4 cups of uncooked Jasmine rice
1 16-oz. package of Chinese sausage, sliced thinly and uniformly
1 16-oz. bag of frozen mixed vegetables
5 eggs scrambled and broken into small pieces
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper
cilantro, chopped for garnishing

The night before, cook the rice as directed on the package. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Before frying, separate the cold rice by crumbling with your hands. Set aside.

IMPORTANT: Before even turning on the stove, make sure you have all the ingredients prepared and nearby for quick, easy access.

Heat a large wok over medium-high heat until hot. Add the oil, which should begin to smoke almost instantly. Immediately add the Chinese sausage and toss with a spatula for 2 to 3 minutes, until deep red and crispy. Add the garlic and toss until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Leaving it too long will burn the garlic. Add the rice and toss. Now this is where strong forearms are handy. Unfortunately I'm a wuss and tire easily. The title Iron Chef is earned for good reason. But I digress. Constantly toss the rice in a folding motion, as if making souffle. Continue until the rice turns slightly yellow.

Side note - There seems to be some confusion about what makes fried rice yellow. Some will say that it's from the soy sauce added while cooking. Even though soy sauce effectively makes the rice darker in color, traditional fried rice does not incorporate any soy sauce, only salt. The source of the yellow color should come from adding raw eggs to the rice while cooking. Scrambling the eggs in the rice is what makes it yellow and at the same time results in small pieces of cooked eggs. However, this process tends to be time-consuming since it takes a little while for the eggs to become fully cooked. So for efficiency's sake, I scrambled the eggs separate to save my wrist from the throbbing pain associated with constantly tossing the rice until the eggs cooked. This is evident from my pale fried rice that's only lacking in yellow and taste.

As soon as the rice is evenly coated with oil and is a desired color, add the eggs and frozen vegetables and toss until evenly distributed. Then season with salt and pepper to taste and continue tossing until the vegetables are cooked. Serve immediately with some chopped cilantro.


My wife made these eggrolls from scratch. The only problem with these rolls of happiness was that she didn't make enough. There weren't any left over, which made me wish I had spent more time sneaking in eggrolls before the guests arrived than frying the rice. I'd normally share the recipe but this one's an ancient Vietnamese secret. All I can tell you is that the filling is a pork and shrimp combination mixed with a child's laughter and enclosed in the warmth of a mother's hug.


As mentioned before, we ordered a whole-roasted suckling pig. What made this pig different from the traditional Chinese-style roasted pig was that it was prepared in a Philippino style of pig roasting. The skin was crispy, like that of a Chinese pig, but that's where the similarities ended. Unlike a Chinese pig, where the meat is firm, this piggy's meat was fall-off-the-bone tender. So instead of chopping up chunks of meat like I would with a Chinese pig, I resorted to pulling the meat by hand, which was amazingly easy. The entire pig was seasoned through with a spice mixture that was new to me, though still based in salt and pepper. The entire pig was seasoned extremely well with no pieces of bland pork to be found. The skin, when eaten with the meat, added a nice crisp crunch that made everyone smile. As triumphant an effort all my guests made, we still ended up with 4 large containers of pork. Though my wife wish she had sent more pork home with our guests, I'm happy that she didn't. I'm still joyfully eating pork to this day and have not yet once thought, "Hmmm...is that too much pork?"


For dessert, my wife make this amazing cake from scratch. Yes, the cake layers and frosting were all from scratch. The only was it would have been more from scratch was if she were to grow the fruit, almonds and grains herself, which I think she's already doing for next year. Though there are strawberries on top, it's actually a raspberry-almond cake. The layers of white cake were separated by layers of almond cream cheese frosting and raspberry preserves. All four layers were enclosed in more almond cream cheese frosting topped with raspberry preserves, strawberries and sliced almonds. Yes, it was as delicious as it sounds. I'm not sure what angels eat in heaven but I think it looks and tastes something like this.

It was an amazingly successful party thanks to all our out-of-town guests who helped in the preparations. It was a great deal of fun thanks to everyone's adventurous willingness to experience a new type of celebration. I can't wait until the next year!

Surf and Chippy Cream

To be truer to my blog's purpose, I'm posting larger pictures from now on.

Tonight, my amazing wife made a wonderful dinner: sea bass with baby spinach and mushrooms. And she did all that in the time it took me to jog 2 miles; whether she's really fast or I'm really slow, I'll let you decide.

The sea bass was baked in a foil pouch on top a bed of baby spinach. To the fish, she added olive oil, soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, herbs, lime juice and fleur de sel with dried garlic and basil. This bag o' happiness was baked at 400ºF for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, she sautéed mushrooms in a buttery red and rice wine sauce. The result: a drooling husband.

Happiness does fit on a plate.

Then for dessert, she made some Nestlē chocolate chip cookies baked to perfection. But it didn't stop there. To the two warm, fresh-baked, ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookies, we added a plenitudinous dollop of Jet-puffed marshmallow cream. The ooey-gooey factor increased exponentially. I dub this the Chippy Cream Delight®. Thank goodness for the 2-mile jog. Now I only need to jog another 4 to burn it off.

As you can see, I put the top cookie on upside-down. This was the outcome of two factors: (1) my excitement about the Chippy Cream, and (2) my wife yelling, "Hurry up and take the picture! I want my cookie!!!"

CRAVE the Good Life

Dolce Vita

As part of our endless quest for good food, my wife and I tried a new pizzeria for lunch today (new to us). Hearing it's Houston's best pizza, we had high hopes. Long story short, Dolce Vita's pizza delivered (no pun intended).

To accomplish a casual dining atmosphere, it's set inside a quaint historic house, where the first floor serves as the bar and the second floor as the dining room. The windows are the original antique glass, providing a slightly distorted view of the neighboring shopping center. White kitchen towels are used as napkins. The floors and stairs creak. The result is a step back in time to turn-of-the-century Houston.

Though we only had a few dishes, we didn't regret what we ordered (except the dessert). Dolce Vita's food is as simple and aromatic as what we enjoyed in Italy. Their focus on fresh ingredients avoids a dependence on spices. Each of our dishes were a balanced combination of a few natural flavors, which doesn't confuse the palette.

The restaurant's dining room. Warm and homey like grandma's house.

Pickled anchovies with marinated bell peppers, capers and Italian parsley. Unlike the anchovies on pizza, these pickled ones are slightly tart and salty and has a great meaty texture to balance out the soft, sweet peppers. The capers are overpowering, so avoid getting too many mixed in with each bite.

Eggplant and fresh basil in agro docle, a sour ("agro") and sweet ("dolce") sauce. Though I wasn't craving eggplant at the time (my wife's order), I could appreciate the preparation. Served chilled, the purple plant had been cooked just right. The agro dolce was also a nice balance, neither too sweet nor too sour, that complimented the eggplant instead of masking its flavor.

Taleggio pizza with arugula and pear in truffle oil - sounds weird, tastes great! No tomato sauce here, exactly how I like it. The thin crispy crust reminded me of Naples. This was our first time eating warm Taleggio. We're big fans of the cheese, but until now have only had it cold or room temperature. Though we refer to it as a "stinky cheese," its flavor is much milder than its smell. Serving it warm brings out more of its flavor, which seemingly reduces its saltiness. The mildly bitter arugula coupled with gently sweet pear on top of mildly salty Taleggio cheese worked wonderfully.

Pistachio, dark chocolate and mexican vanilla bean gelato. Despite sounding and looking good, the gelato wasn't great. The waffle cone was stale. The gelato was full of ice crystals, taking away from the creaminess we've come to love. However, the gelato had the expected density and rich flavors. Nevertheless, next time we'll try one of their other desserts.

CRAVE Cupcakes

Since my wife and I have an unhealthy need to end a meal with sweets that meet our satisfaction, the disappointing gelato lead us to try a new bakery in Houston that only makes cupcakes. We've been burned before by not-so-great cupcake-only places, so we approached this one cautiously.

To our surprise, the cupcakes are very moist and delicious. So moist in fact that, when peeling the paper off the cupcakes, a thick layer of cake sticks to the wrapper. This resulted in me spending several minutes scraping the residue off with my teeth. Also, another pleasant surprise was a crunchy ring around the edge of the cupcake just under the frosting where batter had overflowed and hardened on the pan. The additional texture increased the cupcake's Mm-Mmm Factor ®.

Our only quibbles are that (1) the frosting is too sweet and (2) there's too much frosting. We know we're in a small minority that enjoy mildly sweet desserts; but with such great cake, the frosting dulls the palette and takes away from the meticulous baking. After our first bites, we simply scrapped off the "excess" frosting.

Again, these are mere trifles in comparison to the deliciousness that is CRAVE.

Nutella

Dark chocolate