XXL chocolate chip cookies

When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, it's like "a thousand readers have a thousand Hamlet", some like it crunchy, some soft, or rich, or thin, or thick, or nutty...

Mine is thick or you call it fat, soft inside and crunchy outside. I used a popular recipe online, and made some adjustment. It turned out to be a big difference, and I am announcing that it is a happy accident. Baking is like chemistry! You think the little changes you make don't matter, but they can make surprising effects. Lucky for me, this little change I made did me good, and it makes the cookies so thick, moist and soft. The richness of each bite is just beyond my description. I didn't realize it was so different because I didn't eat too many cookies in my life, until my husband tried and took them to work to share with people. They just love them!! They even request more over and over again. Someone even wanted to pay $12 for a dozen!

Ok, what's the secret? What makes them so different? It's Splenda!! I haves the portion of white sugar and substitute with Splenda, just the small powder packages, not the crystal kind for baking. The reason might be that unlike crystallized sugar, the powder Splenda doesn't melt at high heat and so the cookies don't spread out as much as normal, so they turn out super fat!!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter ( 2 sticks) softened

1/2 cup white sugar

12 packets of Splenda

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp hot water

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Steps:                                                                            

1. Preheat oven @ 350F

2. Blend butter, white sugar, Splenda, brown sugar

3. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in water, then add to batter. Add salt, flour, chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto pans

4. Bake 10 minutes 

Farmers' market in the summer

I simply love summer. A variety of colors, a variety of fruits and vegetables and flowers. It is the season to go outdoors to have a feast for the eyes, and of course stomach too. I am amazed by such red, green, yellow vibrancy in this vibrant season. 

I like going to farmers' market to feed my eyes and my camera, to talk to local farmers, listening to their passion about growing organic food and gardening. Also only from here, can you get some idea what food comes out in what season, while in grocery stores, you find them on selves all the year round. 

 

Another reason is that farmers' market also reminds me of similar markets in my hometown when I grew up. We had such markets scattered in the neighborhood, each one within walking distance from home.  For a long time, farmers' markets were the one and only one source of buying groceries, while western style supermarkets are a more recent thing, with less than 15 years of history in China.

People tended to stop by the markets to get their dinner ingredients on their way of biking home from work. Also often, my dad was cooking, when he realized something was out. Asked to get it immediately, I ran downstairs into the street and came back with it in my hand within 15 minutes.

People chatted with the sellers, bargained the price, discussed how to cook what they just bought. Almost always, you ran into your neighbors in the market and stopped to catch up for quite a while before heading back your own way.

Oh, those were the good old days...

 

 

The curtain of the food photo contest fell......

Since starting this blog was inspired by attending the food photography contest, I think I should complete the story. Check out this link Winner of the food photography contest Yes, I won the first prize!!! hooray~~~ This is really out of my expectation. I found out this contest on July 28th, only two days before it closed. I hurried to buy ingredients and dishware and finally sent out my photos on the deadline day. Only a couple of days later, I got emails saying both my photos were selected into the final. At that point, I was already extremely surprised. Then, I had the feeling that I might win something, but didn't expect to win the biggest prize. I was totally overwhelmed when I went to Leite's Culinaria website on the night of the 30th, and saw my curry coconut noodle soup photo popped up on the home page.

I want to say congratulations to all fellow winners too. You all did a great job as well!!

I wanna share some my technical summary to the curry coconut noodle soup shot, maybe you'll be interested.

1. I love back lighting. The white background makes the food more appetizing. Back light also makes photographs clean and simple, washing off unnecessary extras.

2. I love color. I always try to make photos colorful.Contrasting colors can make  balanced visual sensation if used properly. In this photo, the main color is of course yellow, but it's boring if it's just yellow. So, I used cilantro and lime to chill out a little green, red pepper powder to spice up some red heat, and the blue dishware to create some calm feeling.

3. Repetitive composition. Used by many professional food photographers, repetitive composition creates unity and harmony, and fills up the whole photograph. Having something blurry on the back also emphasizes the clear subject in the front.

4. Match dishware with the food subject. I was thinking how to make this food photograph stand out before shooting. This noodle is different from other pasta dish because it's an Asian food. How can I emphasize this distinction? By using Asian looking dishware!! I bought the bowls and plates especially for this dish, and I already had the china spoon and chopsticks. They matched so well. Even the crosses on the spoon match those on the bowl, though I got them from totally different places.

5. I used natural light. Very diffused and easy to work with. 

If you have more questions, feel free to leave me comments and I will try my best to answer.

Corn and jalapeno

This is a super simple and appetizing summer side dish. When I was growing up, my family always ate this in the summer along with congee.  

Ingredients:

2 corns

4 jalapeno pepper

cooking oil 1tbsp

salt to taste

Steps:

1. Chop jalapeno peppers and peel corn from the ears

2. Heat a pan and add the oil

3. when it starts smoke, add corn and pepper to stir fry for about 15 mins until the surface is a little burnt.

4. Add salt to taste. Turn off the heat and serve.

It is also good when served cold.

Simple Korean home meal-Shots for a korean restaurant

This weekend, I carried my portfolio and business card to go over local restaurants, talking to managers or owners about shooting them free photos which they can use for promotional purpose while I practice photography skills. This Korean restaurant was the last stop which i almost hesitated to go in the first place. It's a small take-out place which has only one room with kitchen and front desk all together, but that's OK. I am here to shoot some Korean food, who cares about how nice or not nice the restaurant itself is. The owner lady was very very nice. After hearing my purpose, she said:"Come back at 6!"

They didn't have much business that evening, so I just shot three Korean home-cooked dishes they would have for dinner.

This following food is Korean BBQ baby back ribs, which they don't put on the menu but just for themselves. The bright color and thick sauce is mouthwatering.  I tried one later, juicy and tangy.

Stir-fry rice with sausage, eggs, and carrots in it. 

Side dish is kimchi cucumber

Coconut curry beef stew

After dinner, I got on my bike to have a “digestion” ride.    The temperature after sunset dropped to 63, and it’s still  August! Although I put on a long-sleeve jacket, it’s still a little chilly outdoors, but once I started riding, it felt simply pleasant. The breeze blew against my cheeks, my legs, and through my loosely tied hair to make it messier. I feel such freedom on bicycle wheels as if they could take me to anywhere. Behind our neighborhood is a hill, on top of which perches an elementary school. I rode up the winding hill to the school, and rode 8-shapes on its empty and big parking lot. Beside is a playground built at the edge of the hill, with slides, swings and a climber installed. I climbed to the top of the climber, overlooking our neighborhood from a different angle. The shopping center and fast food restaurants were lighted to make this place a bit lively, and a sea of woods dimmed at dusk in the distance. At my back, rosy evening glows were so dramatically beautiful, but giving away to the descending night mist.

I felt so calm and satisfied at this moment at this place. It's like a spiritual domain to get away from the daily routine, no worry about future, no worry about anyone, just enjoying the beautiful scene and thinking of nothing. This is real quality time!

I wanna share this coconut curry beef stew today. Coming from a city known for its spicy food, I am no exception! I just LOVE everything spicy. I always almost wanna attend one of those hot wing eating contests. Spiciness is no problem, but I am afraid I can't finish the quantity within time limit. After referring to some recipes from Thai and Indian cuisine, I fused them into this one dish. It is so good with steamed rice.

Ingredients:

2 lb beef stew

5 tbsp hot curry powder

½ can coconut milk

1 tbsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

2 medium carrots

2 medium potatoes

1 medium onion

A handful of fresh basil

Steps:

1. Cut beef stew into cubes. Chop onion into small pieces (to thicken the sauce). Peel carrots and potatos and cut into cubes.

2. Remove the blood in the beef by boiling it in water for 2 minutes. Drain the beef.

3. Heat 3 tbsp of cooking oil on medium high, brown the onion and then add beef to stir fry for 2 minutes.

4. Add curry powder, cumin powder, salt, coconut milk and one cup of water. When boiling, cover the lid and turn down to low heat to stew for 2 hour. When liquid is drying out, add more water. Or transfer the food into a slow cooker and set on high for 4 hours.

5. 3o minutes before done, add carrots and potatos.

6. Add basil before turning off the stove.

Fall is around the corner-cinnamon apple sauce

 

It was raining all day last Sunday, chilly and damp outside. Hearing the patter of raindrops falling on my window pane, I told myself the summer was over. The most beautiful and tolerable season in this little town. Waiting for me is the lasting forever, cold-to-the-bone winter. Maybe before that, a short chilly fall. Monday was still drizzling a bit. I was driving past the community college when lots of red big dots in the grass beside the road caught my attention. What's that? so weird! Mushrooms are the first thing that came to my mind, especially after the long rain, but big bright-red mushroom? Then I saw more red dots hanging on the trees above, and realized they were APPLES!! I collected a bag of fresh, organic, sweet apples right from the apple trees, and made this delicious cinnamon apple sauce.

Ingredients:

4 med. apples
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. sugar (white)
1tsp of ground cinnamon

Steps:

1. Peel, core, and cut the apples into quarters. 

2. Put cut-up apples, sugar, cinnamon, and water into a 2-quart saucepan. Cover and cook at medium heat (simmering) for 30 minutes or until mushy .

3. Transfer the mixture into a food processor to puree. Let it cool and it's ready to serve!

Authentic Kung pao chicken

When you go to a Chinese take-out place, you can't miss Kung pao chicken. It's almost a representative of Chinese food in American people's mind. Of course, the American version! As a Chinese, I simply can't appreciate how this dish is like in American Chinese restaurants. Well, I am not arguing that it shouldn't be changed in other countries to cater to the local taste. On the contrary, it makes perfect sense to do so, but it just doesn't fit my memory. My hometown is Chengdu, the capital city of the southwest Sichuan (Szechuan) Province of China, also the paradise of hot and spicy food.Yah!! Maybe you have heard of Sichuan pepper, Sichuan sauce, or sichuan style this or that. That's right, I am from there; so is Kung Pao chicken. The name came from a government official with the rank of Kung Pao, who invented this chicken dish during his term of office in Sichuan，in Qing Dynasty.

Ingredients: chicken thigh or tenderloin, roasted or fried peanuts, cooking wine, oil, salt, sugar, vinegar, dry red chili pepper, green onion, ginger, garlic, starch or cornstarch (this is the secret to make thick sauce), Sichuan pepper, sesame oil

Steps:

1. Dice a packet of chicken into small cubes.

2. Put the diced chicken into a bowl and add one teaspoon of salt, two tablespoon of soy sauce and some starch or cornstarch to marinate for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cut the red pepper into 2cm long. Peel off 3 cloves of garlic and slice them. Slice about 5 pieces of the ginger. Wash and chop two green onions into 1cm long pieces.

4. Take a small container, add 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar, 2 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 2 tablespoon of cooking wine, and 1 tablespoon of starch, mix well.

5. Add some cooking oil into the wok, heat it with high fire. Add dry red pepper and prickly ashes, until you see the red pepper turns darker( in order not to burn the pepper, you should not make the oil too hot), then immediately add chicken and stir fry it , then add sliced ginger, garlic and chopped green onion. Keep stir frying until you see the meat becomes white.

6. Mix the mixed ingredients again(coz starch precipitates) , and pour them into the wok and keep stir frying till all chicken is covered with the sauce. Turn down the stove to medium after it starts to boil. Since starch is added, the sauce will become thick soon.

7. Turn off the heat when the sauce is thick enough, and add peanuts, mix them with the chicken thoroughly.

Note: all the amounts of the ingredients I mentioned above are estimates. Chinese cuisine doesn't measure by measuring tools, but mostly by personal preference and experience,so if you don’t like the flavor, you can adjust the ingredients amount as you like.