Recipe: Strawberry Poke Cake with Lemon Whipped Topping

Jul6

Long name for a recipe huh? I didn’t want to call it a lemon frosting because I feel like frosting makes it sound so sweet when it was my goal to make a not so sweet topping. So here is what I came up with! It was my brother’s birthday and I wanted to make him a cake – it was a success! His brothers enjoyed the cake more than him but eh…as long as it was being eaten, it’s fine! Let me share some pictures and the recipe!

I was running out of icing to write the words so excuse the messy handwriting. Admire the fresh fruit. 🙂

My recipe makes a lot of whipped topping! So I think you could make a layered cake but it’s hard to do that with this cake…since there’s jello in it. I guess you could do it after the jello sets!

Strawberry Poke Cake with Lemon Whipped Topping

Cake:

1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix (I used this one)

1 cup boiling water

1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

Lemon Whipped Topping:

1 tub (12 oz) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed

3 lemons worth of squeezed juice

2/3 can of condensed milk (7 oz. can)

Decorations:

1 6 oz. container of blueberries

1 16 oz. container of strawberries

Prepare cake batter and bake as directed on package for 13×9-inch pan. Cool cake in pan 15 min. Pierce cake with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals.

Add boiling water to gelatin mix in small bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water; pour over cake. Refrigerate 3 hours.

Gently combine lemon whipped topping ingredients in a bowl and frost cake in the pan. Decorate cake with sliced strawberries and blueberries as desired. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

Notes:
– The frosting has the perfect amount of lemon juice, the condensed milk adds a sweet touch. I really like the frosting because it complements the cake, doesn’t overpower it.
– The fruits should definitely be used, makes a big difference in the taste of the cake! Delicious.
– Strawberry Poke Cake recipe courtesy of Kraft Recipes, frosting by me! 🙂

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Happy Friday the 13th!

Jun13

Wowowow it’s been busy!! Wednesday was a day off for me but I spent the morning running errands…then the afternoon being all pissy. Well for part of it anyway. 🙂 I also cooked some awesome spaghetti for the boys and they loved it. I saw the technique on a blog a few weeks ago and decided to make it…what a great idea! Here is a picture of the before and after!

I used the Redondo’s red hot dogs and skewered them with angel hair pasta. I cooked it for about 6-7 minutes (really fast since the angel hair is so thin!), drained em…emptied a can of chili (beanless of course!) and threw the pasta back in and mixed it up a bit. I also added some mozzarella cheese which went great with it. As we were eating, I thought it was a bit dry so I added a small bit of ketchup. Boy did that help! The boys LOVED it. There’s not a lot of dishes that tempt kids to clean their plates but this is definitely one of them! Have a great Friday the 13th everyone! I wish you all the luck. 🙂

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Recipe: Zucchini Squares

Jun7

Thanks renee for requesting this recipe! Even though I mentioned how much I loved these, I didn’t even ask for the recipe myself! So now we both have the recipe! Thanks to my co-worker Arleen for sharing it!

Zucchini Squares

3 c. unpeeled zucchini, sliced thin

salt

1/2 c oil

1/2 c. onion, diced

1 c. biscuit mix

4 eggs slightly beaten

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1 small love garlic, chopped

1/2 c.parmesan cheese

2c. parsley, chopped

Salt zucchini. Drain in colander 10-15 min. Mix all ingredients together. Place in greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 mins. or until lightly browned. Cut into squares.

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Recipe: Cantonese Tomato Soup

May2

Hi folks! Sorry for the lag in entries this week, it’s been pretty hectic! I thought things would slow down at work by now but it’s still busy. 🙁 There were a few requests for the tomato soup I shared in my other post so I decided to share out the recipe today. Not sure how authentic or common this dish is, it’s just something I grew up eating. Call me crazy but in this preparation, although it’s meatless – I feel like the soup has a real savory flavor to it…I just love it. I’ll share the same pictures to show you what it looks like.

Finished product on a bed of rice with a cameo from my teri tofu burger

Brown Sugar Blocks

Cantonese Tomato Soup

6 medium sized tomatoes, sliced (it can half moon slices, they will cook down – picture of them above was prepared for the soup)
1.5 brown sugar blocks
1 – 2 eggs, depending on your taste
3 – 4 cups of water, depending on your desired soup watery versus thick level

Pinch of salt
1.5 T of cooking oil

In a soup pot, heat up the oil over medium high heat. Throw in the brown sugar blocks and melt them down to an almost caramel sauce (this step can be dangerous as the sugar reacts with the oil – be careful!). Generally, the pan goes so nuts that I just let it pop for about 30 seconds before I just dump in all the tomatoes. Stir the mixture, cover and let it come to a boil. Add your desired amount of water, the water really depends on you. The tomatoes will definitely let out some liquid so I usually put in about 3 cups of water.

Let the mixture come to a boil and simmer it on medium for about 10-15 minutes (there’s really no overcooking this dish guys). Crack your eggs in right at the end and stir, make sure you break the yolk (we’re looking for the egg drop soup look). Right before you take it off the heat, taste the soup and add seasoning to your liking (i.e. more sugar if you like it sweeter). This sounds weird but I like to also add a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness but generally I keep this soup more sweet than salty. Serve it over rice and enjoy!

Notes:
– I definitely like to have it over rice but with side dishes like any traditional Chinese meal.
– If you’re not a big fan of the tomato peel, feel free to slash a shallow X on all the tomatoes and throw them into boiling water for a few seconds, drain and ice them to help speed up the peeling process before slicing and putting them into this dish. The tomatoes definitely cook down in the soup and the skin kind of curls up and stays in the soup. I don’t mind either eating them or just taking them out. That’s how it was growing up. 🙂

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Recipe: Teri Tofu Burgers

Apr27

About a year ago, we had a pot-luck at work and my coworker made some amazing burgers. She told us they were called teri tofu burgers and I was amazed that they were tofu – okay, I was wrong. It’s actually meat mixed with tofu – but I guess it is healthier since you’re using less meat! Back me up here. 🙂 Anyhow, I finally got to make it the other week and they came out great! I love these burgers because they are so flavorful and moist, you can’t tell there is tofu in here. I’ll include the recipe and some tips after the pictures.

Ahh…wish I had some to eat right now!

Didn’t have too much preparation pictures. The recipe called for firm tofu, I used soft tofu and it worked great for me.

Here is the mixture right before forming and cooking. I think if you use soft tofu like me, you have to chill it before forming the patties. I cooked the patties about 4 at a time so I was able to chill, form and cook in intervals.

The tomatoes are not part of this recipe. Hehe, I made a traditional tomato soup to go with my rice and burger patties.

You folks ever use these? I don’t even know the English name of it, it’s like brown sugar blocks my family has always used to make this tomato soup.

Finished product. Rice, Chinese tomato soup (if anyone wants the recipe, feel free to comment and I will post it!) and the awesome tofu teri burger.

Teri Tofu Burgers

1 lb hamburger
1 blk tofu, drained well (I used soft tofu – firm tofu might make it less soft, depends on your taste)

1/4 C onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 piece ginger grated (1-2 tsp.)
1/4 C shoyu
2 T sugar
1T sesame seed (optional) – I didn’t use this
Dash of sesame oil

Cooking Oil

Heat up your frying pan and add about 1 T of oil each time you fry up some patties. The patties get pretty good color to them because of the shoyu and ground beef – I fry them up on medium high heat for about 2 minutes each side. Serve them up over rice, onolicious!

Notes:
– If using soft tofu – you may want to chill the mixture before forming patties. The soft tofu and ground beef makes for a very soft mixture and it’s hard to form patties if they are not cold.
– I used a weight on the tofu to try to drain as much water as I could from the tofu for a few hours in the fridge.

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Garlic Noodles with Chicken Breast

Apr20

This is going to be another bean thread vermicelli recipe post! This time I wasn’t that great at taking pictures of the steps but took a final picture…lol. It’s okay, I’ll post the recipe below after the pictures anyway!

Yes, another bulb of garlic. You really shouldn’t be surprised by now.

This time, I actually poached the garlic with my chicken breast. Once the chicken breast was done, I mashed up the now soft garlic in a bowl and added some salt and sesame oil.

Okay this picture might not look it, but this chicken breast is TENDER and MOIST. I used a method I watched on a youtube video, I’ll share the link below. He boils the water, then switches off the heat and throws the breast in and covers it with the lid. You let it sit for about 20 minutes and voila, they are done. Some may be worried it won’t cook through, but mine always does. As long as you don’t have to keep reheating this dish, the chicken breast will be so tender.

I gotta rewind! I mixed the chicken breast in the garlic mash and then threw it into my stir fry to incorporate. Then I added the rehydrated noodles to coat and voila!

Yummy noodles. This dish is actually pretty healthy for you! I added some chili sauce to kick it up a notch, that is option of course.

Garlic Noodles with Chicken Breast

1 package of Bean Thread Vermicelli (here is the one I buy – click here), rehydrated according to package directions. After I rehydrate the noodles, I get a pair of kitchen scissors and roughly cut through the noodles. If you don’t do this, the noodles will be LONG
1 bulb of garlic, peeled
1 bunch of garlic chives, sliced into 1 inch strips
1 small head of cabbage, chopped
2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1 t salt
1 T sesame oil

2 T of corn/canola/vegetable oil
2-3 T of oyster sauce
Hot Sauce to taste (optional of course and added when you eat!)

Set up a big pot of water ready to boil; about 8 cups of water. Throw in the peeled garlic and turn the heat on high. When the water comes to a boil; throw the chicken breasts in whole, put on the lid and turn off the heat. Let the chicken breast poach in the liquid for at least 18-20 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken. Take the chicken breasts out to cool, shred by hand when chicken is cool enough to handle.

Remove the garlic from the water and mash it in a bowl with the salt and garlic. Once the mixture has been properly mixed, add the chicken breast strips and mix. Reserve at least 1/2 – 3/4 cup of the chicken broth for later.

Heat up oil in a wok/deep skillet. Add the cabbage and stir fry until a bit browned and a bit tender, about 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic chives and stir fry for another minute. Add the chicken mixture in and mix it all together. Add the noodles in and incorporate it all together. Add the oyster sauce and the reserved chicken broth if the noodles are too dry for your liking. Taste the noodles and add more oyster sauce to your liking. I find that this dish is mild in taste but in a good way. To me it’s not bland because of the flavors but it’s definitely not in your face (even if there is a bulb of garlic…hehe).

Chicken Breast Cooking Inspiration: runnyrunny999 – Cold Pasta with Sesame Dressing (skip to 2:20 if you only want to see chicken breast method)

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Recipe: Glass Noodles with Lup Cheong and Chives

Apr17

Recipe sort of. Sorry guys! I did such a good job of taking pictures of the ingredients but totally forgot to take pictures of the finished product. To me that’s not a full recipe but I’ll have to make do and let you use your imagination.

Buttload of garlic…

Buttload of garlic chives

Sliced lup cheong ready to be cooked…

Won bok!

Bean Thread Vermicelli – rehydrated in hot water and drained

Glass Noodles with Lup Cheong and Chives

1 package of Bean Thread Vermicelli (here is the one I buy – click here), rehydrated according to package directions. After I rehydrate the noodles, I get a pair of kitchen scissors and roughly cut through the noodles. If you don’t do this, the noodles will be LONG
1 bulb of garlic, minced
1 bunch of garlic chives, sliced into 1 inch strips
3-4 lup cheong, sliced diagonally (prettier this way)
1 won bok, cut up bite sized

2 T of corn/canola/vegetable oil
4-5 T of oyster sauce
Hot Sauce to taste (optional of course and added when you eat!)

Heat up a wok/big skillet on high with the oil. Add the garlic and stir fry until fragrant. Add the lup cheong and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic chives and continue to stir fry until the garlic chives start to wilt (about 1 minute or 2). Add the wonbok and continue to stirfry for about 1 minute. Lower the heat to medium and cook until the won bok is tender but still firm (sorry if that’s confusing – it’s really to your liking). Add the bean thread noodles and stir to combine, keep it on the heat until everything is heated through. Serve and eat! This keeps pretty well for leftovers too. Enjoy!

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Recipe: Green Chicken Curry

Apr6

This Thai green chicken curry is one of my favorites! I hadn’t made it in a while so I busted out my old recipe book to make it. Very easy to make and super yummy if you like coconut milk. I’ll share pics and recipes below!

Doesn’t look all that great but it is! I can smell the coconut milk and lime now…

You only need 1.5 cups of coconut milk but I just used the full two cans – I’m pretty gangsta. By the way, the Hawaiian Sun brand coconut milk is much thicker than the right can. I prefer the Hawaiian Sun brand.

Chopped Onions

Sliced Chicken Thighs. If I wasn’t in a time crunch, I would have trimmed the fat a bit more.

Green Curry Paste – definitely essential to make this green curry. Hehe…I found this at Foodland. I’ve found it at Safeway before too.

Fish Sauce. Also necessary, pungent but necessary.

Green beans washed and broken into pieces, ready to add.

Cilantro. I guess this can be optional but for me, this cilantro makes a huge difference for the dish. You just top off your curry right before eating…yum!

Lime juice and lime zest chilling, ready to flavor up the curry

Sizzling onions with the green curry paste…

Wooo, coconut milk added. I also put a small amount of water into each coconut can and woosh around the excess and added it back into this.

Chicken and beans added, ready to simmer

There you have it! A nice and hearty bowl of green chicken curry served on top of a bed of rice and topped with fresh cilantro leaves ready to be consumed. It’s so good. Give it a try!

Green Chicken Curry

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Total cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves 4

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, chopped
1-2 tablespoons Green Curry Paste
1.5 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup of water (take the water and swish out the remaining cream in the coconut milk cans)
1 lb 2 oz. chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
3/4 cup green beans, cut into short pieces
6 makrut (kaffir) lime leaves (these are hard to find for me so I don’t use them)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
2 teaspoons soft brown sugar
1 bunch of cilantro, cut the leaves for topping

1) Heat the oil in a wok or a heavy-based pan. Add onion and curry paste to the wok and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add coconut mik and water to the wok. Bring the mixture to the boil.

2) Add the chicken pieces, beans, and makrut lime leaves to the wok; stir to combine. Simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Add the fish sauce, lime juice and zest, and brown sugar to wok; stir to combine. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro leaves just before serving. Serve with steamed rice.

Note: Chicken thigh fillets are sweet in flavor and a very good texture for curries. You can use breast fillets instead, if you prefer. Do not overcook fillets or they will be tough.

Credit: A really old Thai cookbook that is no longer printed…lol. Sorry!

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Recipe: Jean-Georges’s Fried Rice

Apr2

I first saw this recipe a few years back when I saw it on Mark Bittman’s cooking podcasts. I was very interested in trying this fried rice recipe, it is a very simple recipe but looks absolutely delicious. I’ll share the link to his video at the end of this post but I do not suggest using the amount of shoyu and sesame oil. That’s too much!

My first time using leeks! Have you used one before? It looks a lot like the big Japanese negi onion but it’s definitely not the same. Also, you cannot use the green part at all – it is very tough!

Leeks sliced up and ready to sizzle…

Minced garlic and ginger. Lots of minced garlic and ginger.

Fry the ginger and garlic in oil until they are golden and crispy.

Oh yeah…almost there! Once they are golden brown, you drain them and let them sit out a bit while you cook the rest of the dish. Letting it rest a bit lets them get even crunchier!

I couldn’t waste the aromatic ginger/garlic oil so I used it to make the fried rice! Here are the leeks ready to be sautéed.

This recipe is SO easy to make. It’s very simple in how it’s made but oh so delicious. I topped mine off with a fried egg too. I’ll share the recipe and video below with a few tips.

Jean-Georges’s Fried Rice

1/2 cup peanut oil if you’re Mark Bittman, chicken fat if you’re Jean-Georges (Corn Oil if you’re Jenny)
2 tablespoons minced garlic (an entire bulb if you’re Jenny)
2 tablespoons minced ginger (a medium sized piece if you’re Jenny)
Salt (Jenny didn’t use this)
2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed and dried (I didn’t have two cups – I only used one stalk of leek)
4 cups cooked rice, preferably jasmine, at room temperature (see note below)
4 large eggs (or as many eggs as people)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
4 teaspoons soy sauce

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels and salt lightly. Alternately, you can pour the oil into a heat-proof bowl through a fine-mesh strainer, then return the flavorful oil to the pan, reserving the ginger and garlic bits.
Reduce heat under skillet to medium-low and add 2 tablespoons oil and leeks. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender but not browned. Season lightly with salt.
Raise heat to medium and add rice. Cook, stirring well, until heated through. Season to taste with salt.
In a nonstick skillet, fry eggs in remaining oil, sunny-side-up, until edges are set but yolk is still runny.
Divide rice among four dishes. Top each with an egg and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Sprinkle crisped garlic and ginger over everything and serve.
Note: Use leftover cooked rice if you have it. Here are some tips if you’re cooking the rice fresh, to make sure it isn’t too soggy: When the cook time is done, leave the rice undisturbed in the pot (uncovered) for 5 minutes. Spread the rice on a tray (or two) to dry out. While you prep the rest of the ingredients, put it by an open window or a fan, or pop the tray in the fridge or freezer if you have room. Jaden Hair at Steamy Kitchen also recommends starting with 1/4 to 1/3 less water when cooking the rice.

Recipe courtesy of Food 52.

The Minimalist : Jean-Georges’s Fried Rice – Mark Bittman

Jenny’s notes:
– You must use Jasmine Rice or long grain rice – the medium grain rice I had was too mushy! Also, the rice must be at least a day old! It’s gotta be cold and hard!
– I added a splash of shoyu and sesame oil before eating – it’s really up to the person eating! This dish is so delicious and easy, but it’s the garlic/ginger crunch that makes it pop.

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Recipe: Natto Pizza

Mar15

All the talk on Jalna’s blog about natto got me to bust out this recipe again. I wanted to show her another option for eating natto – not sure if it will work for her but anything’s worth a shot after her recent post about natto and its amazing health properties! Not much ingredients here, I’ll show you folks the pictures and credit the youtube video I learned it from!

Natto Pizza! You can use naan or pita bread. Spread on some mayonnaise and wasabi (optional). Mix up your natto as you normally would, since the natto usually comes with it’s own sauce and mustard – I used that and don’t add wasabi to the mayonnaise. Add the natto and sprinkle on whatever cheese you like!

I throw it in a toaster oven and let it toast for about 8-10 minutes. You are really just wanting it to warm through a bit and have the cheese melt…

Sprinkle nori right after the toaster oven and slice up your mini natto pizza and be ready to eat!

Yummy…give it a try! It doesn’t mask the natto in any way for those are looking to get away from the slimy-ness of the natto. I don’t think you can ever! Anyhow, I thought this was a creative way to eat natto – it’s good to play around with different recipes so you don’t get bored of the same preparation.

Recipe Credit: ezjapanesecooking on YouTube (awesome channel – I really miss his updates, he did some great and simple Japanese recipes)

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maybeitsjenny

Hawaii based food blog with foodie travels!

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