Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? Cuz it's cookies!

Sorry… I really just wanted to hide away into my own little world to have some Me time. But I'm back.

My guilty non-girly thing to watch on TV has aways been wrestling… WWE (or as I have known it / for you 90s kids… WWF) wrestling. My youngest cousin discovered WWE about 2, 3 years ago… and wished he grew up watching the Attitude Era (re-watching those matches for me is nostalgic while little funny), because the new stuff is kind tamed. And I digress… I was going through Amazon, and I found the WWE: Can You Take The Heat Cookbook and I added into the shopping cart after my little cousin was egging me to get it. Something happened and I never bought it. Then one day, my mother had to buy something off Amazon, so I helped her make the purchase. I totally forgot that I had the cookbook in the shopping cart, and all after I clicked the "purchase" button and checked my email… I then realized I had just bought the book. Face-palm moment, but so funny. The book is full of the Attitude Era puns and sass, and fairly easy to super easy recipes. Great book to get your little wrestler to help out on making dinner, lunch, and/or dessert.

After receiving the book, I gave it to my youngest cousin and told him "This summer, I want to teach you to cook using this… we have to at least try a few recipes." He approved, and we had to pick my favorite hunky wrestler with the sexy eyebrow and mutton-chops (so sad he shaved that all off)… oh yes… The Rock… with The Rock's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie. The recipe… I didn't change anything from it, other than that… I didn't add nuts. Instead of the recommended Hershey chocolate bar that the cookbook calls for, I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet baking bars… which I had my youngest cousin painstakingly shave one bar all by hand, by himself. He hated me for that, but enjoyed the end result. The cookies came out crispy, chocolatey, and delicious. Since I didn't change anything from the original recipe other than the chocolate used, I'm just going to post my scan of the original recipe here.

Please click for better viewing.

This is how our cookies turned out. Want some?

If you like the recipe, and is interested in the cookbook, please click here or the link that I put earlier in the post (which is the same link) to purchase the book. Haha! Total lazy post, I'll do one better next time. Enjoy everyone!

Thai Fishcakes Take 1

OMG… 2014… I only made one entry? I've been productive in the kitchen, but nothing is leaving experimental stage. Everything has been off, and it just left me in a slump. Only thing that is going on in my life that has gotten me interested and not in total slump is that my plumeria cuttings are actually growing, and that my Aloha Lily bulbs are growing too (they look like tiny pineapples before they fully mature and bloom)!

Anyhoo~ I was in Chinatown, rummaging through a little tiny bookstore… and found a book on how to cook Thai food. Which had me remember about a little Thai restaurant, that closed long time ago, that served these amazing fried fish cakes. My family had tried to recreate it but with no success. Back to the little bookstore, I flipped through the pages and saw a picture of the fried fish cakes… it looked exactly like the ones I had in the restaurant! I dislike frying food because of the oily feeling after frying and the popping oil burns, and the overall mess in the end. But I have to try this!

I credit the book 爱上cc老师的泰国菜 for it. But wait… why is the title of the entry "take 1"? Well.. because your's truly here did not have the time to better research what "red curry paste" that the chef meant in the cookbook. So I used Patak's (an Indian brand) red curry paste. It did not do much to the fish cake's end result in terms of flavor, just a slightest hint of basic curry flavor. Neither did it provide that distinct redness. Next time I redo this recipe, I will definitely try using red curry paste that is used in Thai dishes. Just to see if there is any differences. Also! Another little note… I hand diced the fish meat and squid/cuttlefish meat into a paste. Also… you have to literally splat the fish-squid paste mix till it is sticky and has a slight bounce to it. It is going to take a while, but it is worth it. So ladies, if you want a good shoulder exercise… and/or have some pent up anger... this is the dish. But if you have a food processor, go for it. My family says that the texture is better if made into a paste by hand. In terms of making them into patties... if you form them by hand then fry it, it will have a light airy chewy texture. If you form them using a spoon then fry it, you'd end up packing it, pushing out the air, thus turning the end product into a hard dense chewy product.

Back four are hand-formed, and the front six are spoon-formed

Ingredients:
300g (about 1.5 lb) red snapper fillet
150g (about 1/3 lb) fresh squid or cuttlefish
8 pieces Chinese long beans, chopped into thin rounds
6 pieces Kaffir lime leaves, really finely chopped
1 egg
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.5 tbsp red curry paste
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp cooking rice wine (I used Shao Hing cooking wine)
1/2 tsp white pepper powder
Oil for frying (use peanut oil or canola oil)

How-To:
- Chop and mince into a paste for both the fish fillet and squid/cuttlefish. Put into a big bowl for mixing.
- Into same bowl, add in the chopped long bean, egg, finely chopped lime leaves, fish sauce, corn starch, baking soda, curry paste, cooking rice wine, and white pepper powder.
- Mix everything until well incorporated.
- Now scoop up that blob with your hands, and just throw it down into the bowl like your angry at something! (Screaming "YAHHHHH!" helps, and having someone else take a little turn helps too.)
- Once the blob has a slight bounce to touch, it is ready to be made into a patty. First clean your hands, and wet them to make the patties. This will prevent the sticky mixture from turning your hands into club hands.
- Heat oil over medium-high heat. Once the frying oil is ready (test with a bamboo chopstick for rapid bubbles, sign that it is ready), drop a few patties into the oil. It will puff up a little as it fry. You can gently press the puff down to draw out the moisture. Fry until golden brown.
- Remember to place fried products onto a well-lined plate to draw out excess oil.
- Serve with a sweet vinegar sauce, or a sweet chili sauce.

I wish I tried the sauce recipe that accompanied the fishcakes in the book. May be next time. But I used a sweet chili sauce (Mae Ploy brand), it was just as good. Great for parties. Enjoy everyone!

Never knew the happiest place on Earth had this, eat your heart out Panda Express

Long time no see everyone! Sorry, I really let myself take sometime out for my microbiology class and recovery from it… which I must say "Yay!!!!! I passed it. Go me!"

During December… well, on New Years days (By the way... Happy 2014 everyone!)… I participated in a Secret Santa party with some friends… And in my Secret Santa Wishlist, I asked for a cookbook named, Chef Micky by Pam Brandon, that had a few choice Disneyland/DisneyWorld/Disney Epcot/Disney Resort recipes. When I oh-so carefully unwrapped my gift, I just jumped for joy when I saw the book. I just knew I had to try something from it. So, thank you Diana for this awesome gift! My only "complaint" is that I wish that the book had the recipe for the clam chowder and/or gumbo served at Disneyland's Royal Street Veranda. OMG I can so go from some right now. Drool~

Anyways, I combed through the book, and thought I try something fairly easy. Okay, I'm a total ABC, but I have never order orange chicken or beef dish in any Chinese restaurant or fast-food chain before. I've heard of the dish, I'm sure I've tried it before, but I've never ordered any on my own. So I thought, "Why the heck not! Wouldn't hurt right?" So I took a stab at the recipe for Orange Beef from the Papeete Bay Veranda at the Disney Polynesian Resort. So here, I will share this one recipe with the world, of course with some of my own additions and changes. In order not to give out the whole book and anger the author for all that she had gone through to compile and publish this fabulous piece of work, I shall refrain with just this one recipe, and if you enjoy the recipe and would like to explore what more the Magic Kingdom has to offer, please purchase the book. (The link is given above.)

I've never been to the Disney Polynesian Resort, so I've never had the dish. I followed the recipe as it is given. The orange sauce is orangey, kind of tangy with a very slight sweetness. Typical orange chicken dish flavor. The original recipe's sauce is very thin and watery. So I added a touch of cornstarch to thicken it. The beef… I wish I knew how to shop for a tender cut of flank steak or beef in general. I will list out the things I replaced or omitted in the ingredients' section. All in all, it is tasty.

I have no plating skills.

Ingredients:

Orange Sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil (I just used regular vegetable oil)

4 scallions, chopped (I just used one large stalk of scallion)

½ tsp crushed red peppers

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 cup orange juice (I just used the brand Simply Orange, but I think fresh squeeze would be better)

2 tbsp sugar (I used regular granulated)

½ cup water

½ tbsp cornstarch + a touch of water (optional step)

4 cups cooked rice, for serving (I thought it was funny how this was listed under the sauce's ingredient list, but I say this can be optional… I ate it as is, no rice. Am I weird?)

Beef:

1 lb flank steak

2 tbsp cornstarch (I just mainly used cornstarch as the dredge)

2 tbsp all-purpose flour (I didn't use this because I did not have any on hand)

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp olive oil (I just used vegetable oil)

2 tbsp butter (I had no butter at home, so I omitted this)

How-To:

Orange Sauce:

- Heat olive oil in medium skillet. Sauté scallion and crushed red pepper for 2 minutes.

- Stir together soy sauce, orange juice, sugar, and water, and slowly pour into skillet. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, 2 - 3 minutes. Set aside and keep warm while preparing beef. (For myself, because I like a little more sweetness, I sprinkled a little more sugar and added a splash more orange juice. I let the sauce reduce to about half or a little more, stirring frequently. Lower the heat to about medium-low to low heat, and little by little pour the optional cornstarch-water mixture to the desired thickening thickness.)

Beef:

- Slice flank steak into ½-inch strips. (For myself, I cubed the meat for easier eating. I also gently marinaded the meat simply with salt to taste for about 15 minutes or so.)

- Combine cornstarch and flour in a wide shallow bowl. Lightly beat egg in a separate wide shallow bowl.

- Dredge steak in cornstarch and flour, then in beaten eggs. Shake off excess. (For myself, after dredging the meat in the egg, I redredged the meat in the cornstarch. I think I read that doing that makes the final product crispier.)

- Heat oil and butter in large heavy skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, cook steak, then keep warn until ready to serve. (Remember to place freshly fried meat onto a paper towel lined plate to absorb the excess grease!)

- Serve with warmed sauce spooned over steak and rice. (For myself, I just tossed the beef in the sauce to coat every morsel of meaty goodness, and just serve on a plate family-style.)

Seems fairly easy right? I personally dislike frying. I've already got popped by burning oil multiple times while making this… and managed to get oil splatters all over the floor. It was a serious mess. But don't let my experience of frying deter you from trying this recipe. The sauce feels and tastes healthy because unlike most Chinese restaurants and Chinese fast-food chains, there is no MSG, extra salt, and extra oil in this dish, nor does the sauce have the weird gummy gooey texture that some places offer. Good luck everyone! I hope you'll enjoy this recipe!