Chili Casserole with Cornbread

Don't be fooled by the pictures, today's recipe is actually a simple one. It's just an integration of 2 of my old dishes: chili and cornbread which are also verrryy easy to make as long as you watch the fire (haha, Denise ;] ). Just pile up the chili onto your casserole dish and pour the cornbread batter around it. If you're really lazy or having problems with the chili, just spread the meat out and pour the batter over it. Either way, you'll impress a few people. This is why i love casseroles; the cheese'll cover whatever mess you made and no one could say no to a topping of perfectly golden baked mozzarella. Except my cheese just looks like spilled glue... thanks to the antique dorm oven of ours; you actually have to push down on the gas knob and light it up w/ a lighter...and better yet, there's REAL fire on the bottom. Mmmhmm, but ah well, that 100-year-old oven is what keeps this blog alive... so i shouldn't be complaining. Anyways, I got this casserole idea from bettycrocker.com, I love that site! If only I could be half as creative as them, sigh.

Chili Casserole with Cornbread
derived from bettycrocker.com
INGREDIENTS:

• Chili con carne (see recipe here)
• Cornbread batter (see recipe here, cut the recipe in half)
  
• 1 cup of cheese, shredded (i used mozzarella)
  
• 2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Spoon hot beef mixture onto the center of your casserole dish (drain excess soup) [picture 1].
2. Spoon cornbread batter around the outside edge of your ungreased casserole dish [picture 2].
3. Bake 18 minutes at 400°F.
   
4. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for another 4 - 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and cornbread is golden brown [picture 3].
5. Sprinkle with green onions just before serving.

Chili Casserole with Cornbread

Lemon Curd Mousse Cake

01/29/09 UPDATE: Found the Limes, Thanks!

If anyone knows where I can get limes in Poland, PLEASE TELL ME!! Ever since my first mousse cake success, I've been wanting to recreate this specific lime mousse cake that I used to have in Paraguay...but I CAN'T FIND ANY LIMES HERE! It was such a long time ago but I still remember that box of assorted sliced mousse cakes from the "里本郎" (that's how the grown-ups called it, they were made by a Japanese lady). That box came with 4 flavors: chocolate, coffee, fruit, and lime. Since i was a spoiled brat back then, I'd always get first pick and snatch away the lime. Not just because it was the best one, but because I was freakin' fascinated with the twirly lime decoration they put on top. It looked something like the one in my picture. Simple, i know. But hey, it amused the heck out of the 8 year-old me =) So yea, thanks the the limited picks of fruits here, I had to resort lemons. On my first try, I followed the recipe on epicurious exactly but the cake turned out waaaaaaay to sweet. Yesterday I tried again and reduced the sugar to almost half of its original amount and it came out just right. 天啊, 美國人真的都吃那麼甜嗎?? 難怪...都那麼............嗯.

Lemon Curd Mousse Cake
from epicurious.com with a few changes
I reduced the recipe by half and made one 5.5'' cake.
INGREDIENTS:

• CURD
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 teaspoons potato starch
  
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 4 large eggs
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

• CRUST
  
• 2 cups shortbread cookie crumbs (about 7 1/2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

• MOUSSE
  
• 5 tablespoons water
• 4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
  
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
  
  
• Lemon slices (garnish)

DIRECTIONS:
For CURD:

1. Mix sugar and potato startch in heavy large saucepan.
   
2. Gradually add lemon juice, whisking until all cornstarch dissolves [picture 1].
   
3. Whisk in eggs and yolks [picture 2].
   
4. Add butter and stir over medium heat until curd thickens and boils, about 12 minutes [picture 3, 4].
   
5. Transfer to medium bowl. Chill until cold, at least 6 hours.
   (Can be made 1 week ahead. Press plastic wrap onto surface of curd and keep chilled.)

For CRUST:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
   
2. Generously grease an 8-inch-diameter springform pan.
   
3. Blend cookie crumbs and butter in small bowl [picture 1].
   
4. Press onto bottom of pan [picture 2].
   
5. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes [picture 3]. Cool.

For MOUSSE:

1. Pour 5 tablespoons water into small saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 15 minutes [picture 1].
2. Meanwhile, place 1 3/4 cups lemon curd in large bowl. Stir 3/4 cup curd in another small saucepan over medium-low heat until very warm [picture 1]. (Remember to reserve the remaining curd to spread over cake)
3. Stir gelatin mixture over medium-low heat until dissolved and liquid is clear (do not boil).
4. Whisk warm gelatin mixture into 3/4 cup warm curd.
   
5. Gradually whisk gelatin-curd mixture into the 1 3/4 cups curd in the large bowl [picture 3].
   
6. In a seperate bowl, using electric mixer, beat egg whites in medium bowl until they are thick and glossy [picture 4].
   
7. Fold whites into curd mixture in 3 additions [picture 6].
   
8. Using same beaters, beat cream in another medium bowl until peaks form [picture 5]. Fold into egg white-curd mixture in 3 additions [picture 7].
   
9. Pour enough mousse over cooled crust to fill pan completely [picture 8].
   
10. Pour remaining mousse into small bowl and reserve.
    
11. Cover and chill mousse cake, reserved mousse, and remaining curd overnight (or until the mousse is set).
    
    
12. Using long thin knife, cut around cake to loosen. Remove pan sides.
    
13. Gently spread the remaining curd over cake.
    
14. Transfer reserved mousse to pastry bag fitted with small star tip. Pipe rosettes of mousse around top edge of cake.
    
15. Arrange lemon slices between rosettes. Cut cake into wedges.
    (Or you can just decorate with lemon twists, up to you)
    
16. Chill cake until ready to serve. (Can be made up to 8 hours ahead.).

Lemon Curd Mousse Cake

Chinese Dumplings

With the weather averaging between -10 and -20 degrees Celsius this week , I thought I'd blog about, what i believe, the best hibernation food there is on earth: Chinese Dumplings! The reason why I call them the best is cuz they can be pre-made and stored in the freezer for months. When you're too lazy to go out or cook, just boil a few and call it a meal! They're a healthier alternative to 泡麵/instant noodles. Yep, so after returning from my Christmas trip, i was so exhausted and missed my room so much that i stayed indoors for 3 days. And on those cold winter nights, these home-made Jiao-Zi became my sole source of comfort. If making dumpling wrappers weren't such a hassle, I'd be making these every week and stuffing my 5 x 12 x 14 inch freezer to the max (yes, i actually measured it). Anyways, the picture above shows the dumplings wrapped by JLo. Pretty nice, eh? Now scroll down below and take a look at the 2nd picture, they were wrapped by me.... hahahaha, that was before JLo taught me the method of the half-moon crimp. I still suck at it though, so JLo wrapped them all while i rolled out the wrappers. We had a nice dumping-wrapping bonding time... a recommended activity for bored and hungry couples =)

Chinese Dumplings
INGREDIENTS:

• DUMPLING FILLING:
  
• 500g ground pork
• 1/2 cup spring onions, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup of cabbage, chopped.
• 1/2 cup of shiitake mushrooms, soaked and chopped (optional)
  
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons vodka/rice wine
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• NOTE: you don't have to be exact when seasoning your pork, add as you see fit.
  
  
• DUMPLING WRAPPER
  
• 2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup boiling water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the chopped cabbage to drain out the water. Squeeze dry (important!).
2. Mix the ground pork, spring onions, cabbage, ground ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken bouillon, wine, sesame oil, salt, and pepper together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Mix the flour + salt and add in the boiling water. Mix and knead until it forms a smooth ball.
4. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
5. Roll the dough into a long rod and cut it into 35 pieces.
6. Roll out the dough into circles and stuff it with ground pork.
7. Moisten the edges and pinch to seal the dumpling.
   
8. Boil the dumplings in water until they float on top. Add in 1/2 cup of cold water and heat until it boils/floats again. (Add water 3 times).
9. Serve with soy sauce (you can also add chopped garlic / chili peppers / spring onions in soy sauce).
   
   
10. To store the dumplings, generously flour a plate and each dumpling. Leave them in the freezer until completely frozen. Once the dumplings are hard, you can transfer them into a plastic bag. Dumplings can be stored for a long time in the freezer, just boil it in its frozen state when you'd like to eat them.
    

Chinese Dumplings

Cinnamon Rolls

School was supposed to start yesterday but to our pleasant surprise, the Dean's office had some scheduling problems so our classes got cancelled! GOOD. I was so not ready for school to start, one last day of 混ing was all i needed before i reactivated my brain. But I guess my extra day didn't do much since my cellphone alarm didn't go off and I had only 10 minutes to get ready for class... yup, this 笨蛋 's cellphone was still in the UK time and she had 1 week to figure that out but didn't. Sighhhhh... I guess God noticed how unprepared i still was for school so He graciously cancelled my evening class and i got myself the rest of the day off, AMEN! So with my afternoon free, I thought I'd bake Irene, the birthday girl, something special. I remember her telling me yesterday that she loved the taste of cinnamon and missed the Cinnabons she used to have in Canada, so I went through my reciple folder and found the recipe I saved up for cinnamon rolls! It was pretty easy to make and most importantly, they came out prettttty! I just thought the sour-cream icing made it a bit too sweet but JLo said all cinnamon rolls are exceedingly sweet anyway. Hmmm, i just hope Irene agrees with him O_O. AHHH WELL, it's the heart that matters... so

<3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IRENE :D

Cinnamon Rolls
from allrecipes.com
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
  
  
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
  
  
• 1 (3 ounce / 85 gram) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (i used 3/4 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, margarine, salt, and eggs [picture 1].
2. Add flour and mix well [picture 2].
   
3. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour [picture 3].
   
4. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled in size [picture 4].
5. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
6. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
7. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture [picture 5].
8. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan [picture 6, 7].
9. Cover the baking pan and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes [picture 8].
   
10. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes [picture 10].
11. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt [picture 9]. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Cinnamon Rolls

Espresso Cupcakes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I'm back from my awesome trip to Turkey and London! Though it has been an exhausting 12-day trip, JLo and I have fell absolutely in love with Turkey and we're definitely going back again someday. I can't believe such a beautiful country is still under the tourist radar. If it wasn't for JLo, i would have never thought to go there. Our original plan was to visit Greece; Turkey would be a bonus. But after much research, we came to an unanimous decision that Turkey deserved our full attention... and we were right. Aiyaaaaa... I don't want to go into detail about the trip or else I'm gonna start feeling sorry for myself; sitting here in my room, keeping warm and having no interest in the -8 degrees Celsius Poznanian world outside. Sigh, I wanna go backkkkkkkkk!!! The only time i left this building was probably on new years eve, when i went grocery shopping for the new years eve dinner we were going to have at Jack's apartment. It was a last minute idea, really, so this wasn't going to be another 5 dish Christmas dinner. I made a Caesar salad, lasagna (updated later), and brought over some Chinese dumplings (updated later) JLo and I made the day before. No celebration is complete without a dessert so I wanted to make something simple yet pleasing to the eyes. And there's nothing prettier / easier to make than... CUPCAKES!! Yup, i made Espresso Cupcakes ( JLo only likes coffee desserts) with a mascarpone filling and chocolate ganache top. I wanted to make them with a chocolate icing swirl but I don't think JLo's health savvy friends would be too happy about that... 討厭, 下次吧... So anyways, here's the 1st of many cupcake recipes to come, enjoy!

Espresso Cupcakes
from betty crocker & cupcakeproject
makes 12 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:

• CUPCAKES:
  
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee powder (more if using regular coffee)
  
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• FILLING:
• 1/2 container (4 oz, 125 g) of mascarpone cheese
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso coffee powder (more if using regular coffee)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

• CHOCOLATE GANACHE
• 100 g (3.5 oz) of dark chocolate broken into small pieces
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
  
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
   
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
   
3. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and instant espresso into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.
   
4. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
   
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine.
   
6. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine.
   
7. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
8. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 1/2 full.
   
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
10. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes [picture 1].
    
    
11. In medium bowl, beat mascarpone cheese, milk, 2 teaspoons espresso powder and the powdered sugar on medium speed until smooth [picture 2].
    
12. Spoon mixture into decorating bag fitted with 1/4-inch writing tip.
13. To fill each cupcake, insert tip of bag into center of cooled cupcake; gently squeeze bag until cupcake expands slightly but does not burst (each cupcake should be filled with about 1 tablespoon filling) [picture 3].
    
    
14. Heat the cream in a double boiler until it just starts to boil [picture 4].
    
15. Pour in the chocolate and stir until all the chocolate is melted and integrated with the cream [picture 5, 6].
    
16. While it is still warm, spread a thin layer of it over the cupcakes. It will harden when it cools.
17. Decorate with white chocolate shavings.

Espresso Cupcakes