Red Bean Bun
Julie also made some Red Bean Bun which is great for snacking. I know it looks so much like hamburgers (a full meal even) but it is actually light despite…
Szechuan Pepper Chicken Cold Dish
We had Julie demonstrating in the South Arm Community Kitchen again. Julie, who works as a Chinese Language teacher, told us that her students always ask her when her dish will appear in chowtimes again. For us, we still have not quite gotten over it that there are people actually looking forward to our postings.
At this time, Julie showed us a Cold Chicken Dish. This Szechuan pepper Chicken Cold Dish is good especially as snacks with beer. This is also great for potluck. One thing for sure, the colors are just perfect for the coming Christmas season.
Ingredients
- Chicken drumsticks, deboned keeping the skin intact
- Szechuan Pepper Corn powder
- Salt to taste
- Chinese cooking wine
- Japanese cucumber, slice in coin shape
- Strawberry or Cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
- Kitchen string
- Toothpicks
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Pear Cobbler
At the Caring Place Community Kitchen, Minoo shared a Pear Cobbler recipe. She was away at Sunshine Coast for the weekend and she picked some pears from her girl friend’s neighbour’s pear tree. You may replace the pear with apple.
The Pear Cobbler is best served warm with ice-cream. I love the cinnamon in it.
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 stick butter (1/4 cup)
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup honey or Maple syrup
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Filing:
- 8 large pears, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup honey or Maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
- 1/4 teaspoon mace (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon grated orange or lemon rind
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Thousand Island Dressing
Since we have some time left, Karen decided to prepare her salad dressing for the community meal. She made Thousand Island Dressing. Karen added some brown sugar to balance the…
Cream Cheese Frosting
While Carrot Cake can be eaten just as it is, normally it is topped with cream cheese icing. So, Karen made a Cream Cheese Frosting for her Carrot Cake. She used a peach flavour cream cheese instead of the regular one. The flavoured cream cheese is sweeter — so, you can if you want to reduce the amount of icing sugar in the recipe.
You know the consistency of the Cream Cheese Frosting is right when a spoon is sticked into the cream cheese, it stands upright without toppling.
Ingredients
- 1 package (259g) of brick cream cheese, softened (Karen used those in tub)
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 4 cups icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Carrot Cake
Karen harvested some carrots from the farm the day before the community meal and she decided to make Carrot Cake for dessert for the Gilmore Park Church community meal the next day. Sometimes, it’s only the day before the meal that Karen will know what she’ll be preparing for the community meal as it all depend on what she’s getting from the donors.
The Carrot Cake is fragrant with spices and the cream cheese frosting adds creaminess and sweetness to it.
As we were washing and peeling the carrots, we found two unique ones which is worth to do a show and tell. These two are like two pairs of dancers legs.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups grated carrots
The above ingredients will yield 20 servings of carrot cake from a 13 x 9″ pan. When we made this for the community meal, we used the ingredients for 40 servings and made it 3 times. The ingredients to make 40 servings is simply double the above ingredients except for the salt which is increase to 3/4 teaspoon only.
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Green Onion Pancake
Betty made Green Onion Pancake in the Caring Place Community Kitchen. I’m afraid this is only blog with one photo as the rest of the photos did not turn out well. I’ll try my best to illustrate the process without pictures.
Nanzaro loves this Green Onion Pancake and he ate the two pancakes that I brought home from the community kitchen. I made a batch for him at home the following week. This is really simple to make. (more…)
Baked Spaghetti Squash
Ben was away on his vacation at New York City and of course he had his precious camera with him. I had to borrow a point and shoot digital camera from Polly for the community kitchen photo shoot. Every time I use a new camera, I have trouble adjusting with the focusing and maneuver with the settings. So, the photos might not be as nice as those taken with the Rebel XT. Please bear with me.
Minoo demonstrated this Baked Spaghetti Squash in the South Arm Kitchen and also the Caring Place. Since this is the season for squash, it is a great way to introduce the Spaghetti Squash to the community kitchen.
The spaghetti squash (known as Sharkfin Melon to Chinese) is an oblong seed-bearing variety of winter squash. When cooked, the flesh falls away from the fruit in ribbons or strands like spaghetti or shark’s fin and is slightly sweet, crunchy and watery.
The Baked Spaghetti Squash is a complete meal with protein, fiber and dairy. It is an excellent healthy meal.
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 1 lb hamburger, extra lean
- 1 small onion, grated or diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1 cup canned tomato sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon basil leaves, crumbled and finely chopped
If you love spaghetti squash, here is a link to a Ultimate Guide on Cooking Spaghetti Squash.
Toll House Milk Chocolate Frosting
The Toll House Milk Chocolate Frosting is ultra chocolaty, rich and sweet. This is great for occasional indulgence but not for the every day consumption. Ingredients 1 3/4 cups milk…
Toll House Chocolate Cup Cakes
Karen has to prepare 120 cup cakes for the Gilmore Park Church Community Meal. She used the Toll House recipe for the chocolate cup cakes which is rich and easy to prepare.
Unfortunately, I did not get a shot of the actual cup cakes. These are the mini cup cakes which Karen made for us to sample.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cups baking cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
The ingredients for the recipe above is for making 20 cup cakes which is perfectly fine for home baking. However, since Karen needed 120 cup cakes, we doubled the recipe above and made 3 batches of them. According to Karen, we should not multiply the recipe by too many times as it will change the chemistry of the recipe. This is especially true for baking.
Click on the link below for the instructions.