Well, tonight was a slight failure. I still don’t have an electric mixer so tonight’s frosting proved incredibly difficult. I’ve made frosting before without a mixer and it turned out fine but cream cheese is a difficult one! 
I’m a bit disappointed but the “frosting” ended up being a really good glaze, especially with sprinkles on top.
I actually prefer less frosting on my cupcakes… most of the time I scrape it off! And in keeping with my “health” kick… I used extra light cream cheese. I thought it would be easier to whisk but I think it might have affected the thickness. Oh well, light cream cheese glaze it is! Thick enough to hold as a glaze, perfect amount of sweetness to go with the yummy moist cupcake. Mmmmm.
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: baking, chocolate, cooking, cupcakes, food, recipe, recipes, sweets
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I’ve been featured as a spotlight foodie on Foodbuzz! Thanks for visiting new readers, hope you like the blog. Feel free to explore and comment, let me know what you think!
Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: random
Tags: random
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I love Martha Stewart. I wake up early on Sundays to sit on the couch for Marthathon. That’s the entire weeks worth of Martha. It’s awesome. Vini usually sleeps in and wakes up just in time as the last episode finishes, funny how he times it just right.
Anyway, Martha did her Fennel, Orange and Parsley salad from her Everyday FOOD. It just looked so refreshing even through the TV that I had to make it. Of course, I slightly altered it. I thought the olives would take away from the salad so I kept those out. I also added a ton more fresh herbs and the result was so delicious. This goes really well with my heath kick – currently on day 2.
Here’s my version of Martha’s fennel, orange and parsley salad. Hope you like it!
Ingredients:
1 fennel bulb, washed and trimmed
2 oranges
1/4 cup of chopped parsley (bit of the stems are good too!)
1/4 cup of chopped mint leaves
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro leaves
2 stocks of green onion, chopped
small itty bitty drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
pinch of sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
Step 1: Slice and chop!
First we slice the oranges. Cut off the top and bottoms of the orange and slice off the peel with a knife. Now carefully cut out each segment into a salad bowl. Save the remainder of the orange to squeeze the juice out after. Now, trim the frilly bits off the fennel, you only need the bulb. Cut into quarters and cut out the core – it’s very bitter. Cut into thin slices into the salad bowl. Squeeze the orange juices of the two oranges over the fennel to keep it from browning. Chop up the parsley, mint, cilantro and green onion and add to the salad bowl.
Step 2: Dress!
Sprinkle with a couple pinches of sea salt and black pepper. Drizzle with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. Toss and serve!
That’s it, pretty simple and incredibly delicous. Try it out, even if you’re not a big fan of fennel, the orange and sea salt really compliment the licoricey taste.
Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes, salads
Tags: cooking, fennel, food, fruit, orange, recipe, recipes, salad, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian
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It’s been getting a bit chillier lately so I figured it was time for another soup recipe. I love the vibrant color of this pea and spinach soup! I think I even have a cardigan in that exact color. This week officially starts my get-fit-eat-healthy diet. Okay so it’s not really a diet and I’m sure it’s not going to last long, but it’s Fall and I have nothing better to do. And I figure it gives me an opportunity to work on some healthier recipes! First step, a very flavorful pea and spinach soup!
This recipe yields about 4 servings.
Ingredients:
4 cups of vegetable stock
3 cups of frozen peas (you can use fresh if they’re in season)
1 bunch of spinach, washed and drained
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons of butter or margarine or extra virgin olive oil
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, whole
1 teaspoon of chopped tarragon leaves or dried
2 sprigs of fresh tarragon
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
juice of half a lemon (optional)
Step 1: Simmer away!
In a medium pot melt the butter over medium heat. Toss in the chopped garlic and onions and season with fresh ground pepper and a pinch of sea salt. Also throw in the teaspoon of tarragon leaves and thyme leaves. Let that cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Now pour in the 4 cups of vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Using kitchen twine, tie together a few sprigs of fresh thyme and a couple sprigs of tarragon. Toss that into the stock and let that simmer.
Step 2: Peas & spinach!
Once the stock is boiling, pour in the 3 cups of frozen or fresh peas. Cook peas for about 2 – 3 minutes. Now take out the bundle of herbs and add in the spinach. Let the spinach wilt, which is about another 2 -3 minutes and then remove it from the heat.
Step 3: Blend!
Now this part is dangerous if you don’t have a hand held blender. If you have a hand held blender, carefully blend up that entire mixture in your pot. If you’re using a regular blender, split up the soup into 3 or 4 portions to blend. You want to make sure you’re only blending a little at a time and have a small opening for the hot air to escape. You can cover the opening with a towel very loosely so you don’t end up with pea and spinach all over your walls! Add in a tablespoon of water each time you blend to get to the consistency you like. I didn’t add any at all and it was the perfect thickness for me. Once all blended, pour all of it back into that pot and let that simmer on low until you need to serve, stir occasionally.
You can serve this with some yummy crusty bread or a dollop of sour cream or a drizzle of good olive oil. I garnished with mint leaves and the pungent herb went really well with the earthy aromas of the soup. Enjoy!
Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes, soups
Tags: cooking, food, peas, recipe, recipes, soup, spinach, vegetables, vegetarian
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Earlier this week, someone asked me for a vegetarian chili recipe. I realized I didn’t have my own written down anywhere. I’ve made it before, maybe not exactly the same each time but pretty close. I like my chili a bit more on the watery side but you can just alter the recipe depending on what you like. This recipe is jam packed with flavor, you can add some meat to it if you like, ground beef or turkey or even steak chunks. Or for extra crunch and flavor, you could use bacon!
I love chili because you can dress it up however you want. You can make it really spicy or you can make it mild. You can use just about any beans you like and you can add in vegetables like zucchini or carrots if you want it more on the hearty vegetables side. The best thing about chili is that you can top it off with your favorite topping. I love a sprinkle of cheddar cheese and big dollop of sour cream and a little green onion.
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: cheese, chili, cooking, food, recipe, recipes, vegetables, vegetarian
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I love cornbread. My favorite ever has got to be Kenny Roger’s Roasters cornbread muffins. I don’t even know if that fast-ish food chain store even exists anymore, it sure doesn’t exist in Australia. I can’t even find cornmeal easily here! But I did find a box of Jiffy corn meal at David Jones food hall market. So tonight I made my cornbread with a twist – jalapeños – to go with my vegetarian chili. This recipe makes a spongey cornbread, perfect to go with chili or gumbo to soak up the nice sauces.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup of cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup of shortening
1/4 cup of chopped jalapeños (the picked kind from a jar)
1 egg
1/2 cup soften butter
1/3 cup honey
preheat oven to 400°F or 205°C
Step 1: Mix!
In a mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Once thoroughly mixed, add in the egg, milk, and shortening. Mix that all together until all ingredients are mixed through but don’t over mix! You could even use your hands to make sure you’re not over working it. Once the wet ingredients are mixed in, fold in the chopped jalapeños.
Step 2: Bake!
Pour the mixture in a buttered 8×8 baking dish. Bake on the top rake of the oven for 25-30 minutes at 400°F or 205°C. You will know when it’s ready when you put a toothpick through the middle of the dish and it comes out clean. I like my cornbread a bit toasty on top and spongey in the middle so I like to turn on the broiler for an extra minute to toast up the top. Once ready, take it out of the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Step 3: Honey butter!
My favorite part about eating cornbread is the honey butter. Simply whip together softened room temperature butter with good honey and you’re ready to go. You can whip your butter and put it in the fridge to solidify again for later use.
Another ingredient you can add to the cornbread is 1/4 cup of frozen corn. I only wanted the jalapeños chunks in it this time but next time, I might try both! You can serve with regular butter and a sqeeze of honey instead of whipped honey butter as well. Enjoy!
Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: baking, cooking, corn, cornbread, food, recipe, recipes, vegetarian
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Wow, I never thought I would even try to make french onion soup. It always seemed like a big challenge but this was incredibly easy to do! I think I was more intimidated by the beef stock and finding something to make it just as rich. It really all came down to using some really really really good vegetable stock.
Most important part is to get the right onions! You want yellow onions, the kind that’s a complete bitch to chop cause you tear up before you even peel the skin off! Stay away from the sweet white ones and fragrant Spanish red ones. The yellow ones that are incredibly spicy and pungent raw are the ones that will cook down to a nice sweet soup base.
It also depends on the type of cheese and how much of it you put on top. It depends on how traditional you want to be, a nicely aged cheddar works well, so would the traditonal emmental, but mozerella gets nice and melty and gooey as well and tastes wonderful!
This recipe serves 4.
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm, recipes, soups
Tags: cheese, cooking, food, french, recipe, recipes, soup, vegetarian, winter food
{7 comments}
So instead of buying some very drooled after Bose headphones that I’ve been eying for months, we somehow walk away from the mall with my first global knife and a new stainless steel saucepan. We spent a little more than what we would have for headphones but boy was it worth it! I’m still a bit scared of using the knife because it’s SO SHARP!!! I’m taking baby steps, we only bought the 14cm vegetable knife. Thanks Vini for my lovely cooking tools! Yay for gifts!
Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: Other, random
Tags: cooking, gifts, global knives, tools
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I was absolutely fascinated by these series of articles. The New York Times gave 2 of their food writers a challenge: cook a dinner for 6 for only $50 (typical pantry spices, oil and butter were exempt). The two writers, Kim Severson and Julia Moskin both wrote about their food adventure in making this challenge. The judge was a NY Times reviewer Frank Bruni. One cooked Mexican, one cooked a fusion of French Italian. It was like Top Chef at NY Times! I wish they’d do more of them, perhaps start a series? Here are the articles linked below, definitely worth a read!
Kim Severson’s Mexican Fiesta
Julia Moskin’s Return Attack
Frank Bruni’s Review
It makes me wonder, what would I make for a dinner part of 6 for only $50?! I think it’s a challenge I’m going to take, look forward to a post soon about a $50 dinner party!
Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: random
Tags: challenge, cook off, new york times
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