Blogger Day of Silence

I was going to post another go-to recipe that my family enjoys but while I was online I saw that there is an event going on called "Blogger Day of Silence."

It is organized by two bloggers, UtterlyEngaged and Ever Ours. Essentially, a campaign for everyone to do what they can, including simple things like sending thoughts of love and healing. You can also go here to donate.

And so, today we will snuggle down and read instead. It is one of our very favorite things to do together.

See you tomorrow, then. May you and yours have a lovely day.

veggies in the oven

Growing up and watching my mother and my grandma prepare food, nothing was ever prepared in the oven. Vegetables were steamed, sauted, stir-fried, deep-fried, braised, cooked in a broth, but never in the oven. The oven was used by my aunts for baking cookies, fruit cakes, pineapple tarts (that people die for) and the most delectable chicken pot-pies.

What I have now, this kitchen that I cook and bake in, is the second kitchen I can call my own. Prior to this house in the United States, R and I lived in a tiny apartment in Hong Kong. It was a tiny little place we rented near to the university where we studied and worked (and met). The so-called kitchen was a very small room plunked right in the middle of our teensy apartment. It was about 40-square foot, and now that I think about it, our bathroom was even bigger than the kitchen, which contained the sink, a small fridge, the cooking range (no oven), two small cabinets for storage, and a washing machine too. Usually I am the lone person in there, cooking up a sweat; it had an accordion folding door that afforded me all the privacy (and focus!) I needed while I struggled to balance colanders of washed vegetables on barely-existing counter-tops (usually I used the top of the closed washing machine as my counter-top when cooking), stirring the other simmering pot (there were only two burners), reaching for condiments and all that. It had a small square window that allowed me to look out over to what was happening in the pet store next door. Mostly I see (and hear) dogs yelping while being manicured and shampooed.

Which makes me very grateful for the oven I have right now. It is nothing fancy or top of the line. In fact, since it's the same thing the previous (and first) owners of this house had installed, it should be about 20 years right now. But it still works, thank goodness! I love how it helps me prepare delicious vegetables without too much time and effort involved. No splattering oil, no skillets to scrub. No need to stand and flip, or stir. And honestly, I don't think any vegetables that came out of the oven, nicely roasted and served onto a platter with steam still billowing all around, had been rejected by any of my children. Never ever. I love how roasting vegetables in the oven intensify its flavor and free up hands and space for other components of the meal.

And really, there is no recipe, and therefore no limits. And I am not the only one who loves preparing veggies in the oven. This week I got some really good-looking asparagus from Trader Joe's and while checking out, we got talking about how to prepare the asparagus (oven-roasted) and how we also roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts in the oven, and how people fight over their yummy goodness.

Of course, variety is key, so not every meal in our house ends up with an oven-roasted veggie. There are many ways to cook, but today I am here to sing the praises of oven-cooked vegetables. I think when my children grow up they are definitely going to remember how their vegetables came out from the oven, hot and alluring.

The greatest virtue of veggies in the oven is its simplicity. Wash the vegetables, cut into chunks if necessary, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and whatever seasoning you fancy. (Sometimes I roast garlic cloves with the vegetables, which becomes really sweet, and we then eat the garlic with the vegetables.) Pop into the oven and roast to how you like your vegetables. Usually we like to see a few brown spots on our sprouts and cauliflower. For the asparagus I made last night, it only took about 12 minutes in a 350F oven. After it came out, I shaved some pecorino cheese over it.

Oven-roasted asparagus

Sometimes I cut up a few strips of bacon and toss it with the vegetables, leaving the saltiness and smokiness of the bacon to flavor the vegetables, making them even more irresistible. I have also roasted Brussels with lemon zest and black pepper, and sometimes I toss the vegetables with some chopped roasted nuts. I've also experimented with green beans roasted with a bit of sesame oil, and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Thankfully, my children do not say "yuck" to vegetables, and we endeavor to eat them in various ways, but veggies in the oven? -- they rock.

Quest: the perfect brownies

Actually, I've never tasted brownies until after we moved to the United States. And then I learned new things, and new words: cabinet, not cupboard. Cookies, not biscuits. Biscuits, not scones. Band-aid, not plaster. And so on. And I was introduced to brownies, the food. Dessert, they call it. Yum. I liked it, very much.

When my firstborn was a little over a year old, we made a road trip to Santa Barbara to visit my professor from grad school. There, I tasted the perfect brownie, at a cafe that I can no longer recall the name of. It is odd, as we visited the cafe a couple times more during our trip (on top of that tacos place so loved by Julia Child), just to savor the brownie again. I know that after the trip I also talked about that brownie with a fellow mom online and she looked up a book she had containing recipes of famous dishes from Santa Barbara restaurants, but that brownie recipe was not in there. I even wrote the chef at the cafe, and she wrote me back a few months after, thanking me for my compliments but politely declining my request for their brownie recipe. She did promise that she would send me a copy of the recipe should they decide to go public with it.

So I am waiting. For those dreamy, perfect brownies. A thin crust, just enough for you to experience the crispiness from being perfectly baked. Then a chewy, delicious chocolate layer beneath, with just the right touch of sweetness, held in balance by a slight hint of bitter chocolate. Those brownies were enjoyed with a wonderful cup of coffee, sitting out on a sunny and crowded patio.

I cannot keep count how many brownie recipes I have made since, in those nine long years. Some were good, some mediocre, some failed. None were exactly like those Santa Barbara ones. Almost everyone, it seems, claims to have a perfect brownie recipe. I am just not finding it yet, but I am beginning to suspect that it is in my memory that its championship place had never been swayed. And that perhaps my tastebuds are just biased.

Recently, I made two different recipes of brownies. One was adapted from Carole Walter's "best brownies" recipe, which my family thoroughly enjoyed. In fact, R felt those were the best and that I should stop hunting for more brownie recipes. The other is a gluten-free, egg-free version that I tried for my friend K. It uses flaxseed meal to replace the eggs, and I am not particularly thrilled with the results. The brownies had a good flavor, but a bit on the dry side, and kind of crumbly. K reported that they paired perfectly with vanilla ice-cream. She thought too the flavor was good, but the texture was not the chewiness that she enjoys in brownies. I am posting the recipe below in case anyone wants to try, or improve upon it, or make it using another egg replacement. Please report back if you do!

(And also, I am trying to do better with my photos. It's a challenge, because I am rather impatient with the technical aspects of excellent photography, and also I feel the real test is in the eating, and I just want to get to the eating part quick quick quick! If you have useful tips for taking droolicious photos of food, I would love to hear!)

I like to cut them bite size so I can keep popping them into my mouth!

 Almost-perfect brownies
Adapted from Carole Walter's recipe

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 5 oz bitterwseet (or dark) chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Position rack in middle of oven and heat to 350F. Butter a 13" by 9" baking pan.
2. Melt butter over low heat in a medium saucepan. When butter is almost melted, add the chopped chocolate. Remove from heat after one minute and let stand until chocolate is completely melted, stir occasionally.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs lightly, then stir in sugar in a steady stream. Add the warm chocolate mixture, and stir lightly with whisk to blend. Mix in vanilla extract and salt.
4. Sift the flour over the chocolate mixture in three additions, folding the flour gently in each time with the whisk. Whisk till flour is just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the chocolate chips with a spatula.
5. Immediately transfer batter to the baking pan, spreading evenly and smoothly the top with the back of a large spoon. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out slightly moist, a few crumbs attached. DO NOT OVERBAKE.
6. Cool brownies in pan on a wire rack for at least 4 hours before cutting. (Get out of the house if you cannot resist temptation! -- I did.)
7. Store brownies in an air-tight container, up to 5 days. They can be frozen.

Gluten-free, egg-free brownie

Gluten-free Egg-free Fudgy Brownies
Recipe taken from Elizabeth Gordon's "Allergy-free Desserts"

• 3 tablespoons plus ½ cup freshly brewed espresso, cooled
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed meal
• 1¾ cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar (I did find this recipe a tad sweet, you may want to reduce the sugar a tiny bit)
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ½ cup canola oil (I used melted coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup gluten-, soy-, dairy-, egg-, and nut-free semisweet chocolate chips (I added a handful more, it didn't seem enough! :-) )

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan with oil.
2. In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons of the espresso and the flaxseed meal and allow to thicken for 3 to 5 minutes.
3. In another small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum. Pour in the cconut oil, vanilla, and the remaining ½ cup of espresso. Stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined and smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until the brownies are firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the brownies cool completely in the pan on a rack before cutting them into triangles.
5. Store the brownies, tightly wrapped and refrigerated, for up to 5 days.

The batter before being sent into the oven, yum!