Lotus Wontons

Before we talk food...

Congratulations to Brandon and Peter for graduating from college! I am very proud of both of you! It's been a joy watching you grow over the years. You're like little brother's to me- even though you try to act big and bad. No matter the age... a good person is a good person and you fellows are the real deal. Mad love.

To celebrate, Peter's family graciously had us over for a delicious dinner. Thanks again Kang fam!! Mama Kang makes some mean bulgogi, it was the highlight of the night! I'm going to have to stalk that woman in the kitchen.

I brought some sriracha chicken, rhubarb crumb cake (post to follow), and pork wontons.

My intent was to fold the wonton wrappers, but we were short on time and I wanted to use more meat. Plus, the juice from the meat was making the wont's unwrap (see above).

On a whim, I stuffed my mini cupcake tins with wontons and spooned in some stir fried ground pork. The pork mixture was not spicy at all- there would be enough heat with the sriracha wings! Instead, a made a more sweet flavor with honey and sesame. The result?

A yummy.

Pretty.
Appetizer!

The part is, you can take this basic wonton method, and put any filling you like! I'm sure others have done this before, but I was pretty stoked with the results.

Lotus Wontons

about 24 Wonton wrappers
half a package of ground pork
vegetable oil cooking spray
1 egg
1-2 teaspoon soy sauce
dash of sesame oil
peanut oil (to coat the pan)
3 spring onions, chopped
ground pepper
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
sesame seeds
some honey to drizzle

Preheat oven to 400.

In a bowl, combine pork, a drizzle of honey, egg, and spring onions. Set aside.

In a medium skillet, warm enough peanut oil to just coat the bottom of the pan. Add chopped garlic and cook until lightly browned on a medium-low heat. Add the pork mixture. Season with soy sauce (go easy, this is your salt), a splash of sesame oil, and some pepper for taste. Once all pink is gone, set to side.

Spray mini cupcake tins with olive oil cooking spray and gently stuff with wontons. Spoon in meat mixture- leaving behind as much liquid as possible. If there's too much juice, it will sofetn the wonton.

Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and drizzle with honey. Spray again lightly with veggie oil-- this will help the wonton to CRISP!

Bake in oven for about 8-10 minutes.

Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Tell me what you know about dreaming.

I don't know the appropriate topics to address in this blog. Last year, I wrote an entry which commenced with how I was having a "bad" day. An individual gave feedback that no one wants to hear about my bad day- there's enough negativity in the world and my small world is a joke in comparison.

Point taken. Going forward, I took on a policy of not getting too "personal." There are a million ideas I would like to share- but I don't want to overstep my boundaries.

The point of a food blog is just that: food! Focus on the subject at hand! As you can see... I cannot help but slip tidbits about life because food is part of life. It's often a means of celebration, relaxation, and sheer curiosity. The two topics are bound to intertwine!

With that being said, I've come to realize that policy is a little silly, especially with my personality. I'm very expressive- even when I don't mean to be. People always know when I'm annoyed or irritated- my face is an open book. I can't hide my feelings worth crap. But hey-- what's the point of this life if you're NOT expressing yourself in the short time you're here?

Just a thought being tossed into infinity.

Food for thought? Bud dum dum ding! So. Let's get personal. Wink wink.

I made this Chocolate Dipping Sauce from White On Rice the other day. If you're expecting a hard coat of chocolate, guess again. It's a silky smooth ganache that goes with everything. It's the naughty version of the Boozey Strawberries. I used it with Madeleines (leave out the lemon zest if you don't like chocolate with citrus)- but would love to use it as cake frosting!

If you want to kick things up, add a splash of booze. The recommended liqueur is Tuaca- an Italian vanilla citrus brandy that I'm dying to try. For a virgin sauce, use a touch of 1 t vanilla extract and 1 1/2 T filtered OJ. I used Kahlua- you can never go wrong with Kahlua!

Best served slightly warm. and can be stored at room temperature for about a week.

Chocolate Dipping Sauce
from White On Rice

1 Egg Yolk
2 T (30g) Granulated Sugar
1/2 c (120ml) Heavy Cream
.25 lb (125g) Dark Chocolate (chopped in fine pieces)
pinch of sea salt
1 oz (30ml) Tuaca

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolk and sugar until it is a pale yellow and slightly fluffy.

In a saucepan, combine heavy cream and chocolate pieces. Heat over medium heat until chocolate is fully melted and temperature is about 160°F. Remove from heat.

Pour chocolate into egg mixture and stir until fully incorporated. Continue stirring for a minute or two to make sure sugar is fully dissolved. Add pinch of salt and Tuaca and stir until incorporated. Sauce keeps at room temp for about a week, and longer when refrigerated.

Berry Poptarts

Have you noticed an influx in berry recipes? It's not going to get any better as the summer keeps coming in! Summer time is meant for feisty, fresh fruit!

There were some strawberries and raspberries left over and this came to mind: poptarts! My favorite kind of pop tart is the unfrosted strawberry kind- very thrilling I know. I don't like my breakfast being super sweet. It's breakfast- the first thing you're introducing to your system.

These poptarts can be made with any filling, get creative! I got the crust from a previous version that's to die for: pumpkin spice poptarts. They will be a fall highlight, guarantee.

I was impatient this round and made my dough way too thick. They were massive! I didn't like them so big honestly but the dough is delicious, buttery, and flaky- totally perfect. You can do anything you want with the dough so have fun with it. I'm making mine into hearts next time : )

These don't have any glaze on them nor a ton of sugar in the filling. They were very sweet in their natural state of being. If you feel the need for glaze, just stir together some confectioners sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. I simply dusted with cinnamon.

Berry Poptarts
adapted from Joy the Baker

Filling

8 ounces of berries
Drizzle of honey

Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 large egg (for brushing the dough)
Cinnamon to garnish

For the Crust... In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and break it up in the flour mixture using your fingers, a pastry cutter or a food processor. Work it in until only pea sized lumps remain in your mixture, kinda like making pie crust. The mixture should hold together when squeezed into a ball.

In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk. Add the mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and stir to make sure that moisture is introduced to all of the flour mixture. Lightly dust a clean counter with flour and knead the dough on the floured counter for a few turns until it really starts to come together. Divide the dough in two, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Again, like pie crust- it's not fun to work with melty butter dough.

While the dough is chilling, make the filling. Bring berries to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat; add a teaspoon of water if it sticks to the pan. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and drizzle on a little honey- depending on how sweet you like it. Cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

On a well floured work surface, press dough into a 3×5-inch rectangle, about 1/8-inch thickness. The dough should be slightly larger than 9×12-inches. If you wanna cheat, use a 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper for the first round, then roll up the scraps and make the rest. Trim dough with a pizza cutter, creating a rectangle that is 9-inches tall and 12-inches long. Using the pizza cutter, cut each side into thirds, creating 9 squares. Place dough squares in the fridge while you roll out the second piece of dough in the same way.

Brush one set of 9 squares with beaten egg. This will act as the glue for the top layer of dough. Spoon about one tablespoon of berry filling into the center of each brushed dough square. Top with a piece of dough and use a floured fork to crimp the sides closed. Use the tines of the fork to create vent holes in each tart.

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Let tarts rest in the fridge for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.

Remove tarts from the fridge and place in the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Cool on wire rack.

Dust with cinnamon!

Boozey Strawberries

Craving something simple and elegant? Make these Boozey Strawberries!

The flavor is fresh and fruity, with just a splash of port wine. Port wine is actually called "porto" and originates from Portugal (woot woot). It is a dessert wine, meaning the flavor is more on the sweet side. I am far more of a wine person than beer, so this addition to the recipe is particularly awesome (take a glass of port wine, add a little sprite and you have a delightful spritzer).

Think of this as a very simple sangria, with mush less alcohol content.

What I love most is that the strawberries are baked. This smoothly draws out the juices from the strawberries and makes them warm and tender.

They go great with just about everything. And I do mean- everything.

Top it off on a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
Use it to add some lovin to some muffins.
Trade in your boring morning jam on that slice of toast.
Hell, eat it straight out of the bowl : )


Boozey Strawberries
by 101 cookbooks

16 ounces fresh strawberries
sprinkle of sea salt
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons port wine
splash of red vinegar

Preheat oven to 350.

Chop the strawberries into halves- quarters for really big strawberries. Dump into a bowl and mix with maple syrup and olive oil. Sprinkle some sea salt on top.

Line a deep baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread out an even layer of strawberries. COAT THAT PAN OR THIS WILL HAPPEN ON THE EDGES.

Bake for 40 minutes.

While it's still warm, mix in the port wine and red vinegar. Serve it up!

Millet Muffins

The Air Force Classic bike race was this past weekend. It was held in Crystal City, VA and closed a good chunk of road. They gave participants 3.5 hours to bike their hearts out around the course. One lap was about 8 or 9 miles. If you did 6 laps, you got a silver metal. For the gold, you had to do 8 laps. Pretty vicious.

I've never been to one of these events and honestly- it was pretty cool. Hardcore riders are fashion savvy and their outfits match their bikes. It kind of reminded me of silly bboys who make sure their laces match their hats. Everyone was throwing water bottles as they went, I almost got hit! I learned all about the power of the peloton!

The boyfriend is a little monster and went into this without training. He did his 6 laps in under 3.5 hours and called it a day (you rock navi bun bun). I sat on the sidelines, sipping water, and chilling with his fam. Hard work, no?

To help recover those worked muscles, I came home and whipped up some Millet Muffins. Pair whole wheat with millet grain and you have a good punch of protein... exactly what an athlete needs after burning a sh*t ton of calories.

The ingredients in these muffins are simple and natural. No sugar- just honey! The consistency is dense- not heavy- and resemble corn bread in texture. These are fantastic because they're not super sweet and have a slight hint of lemon. Plus- they're easy to make and on the healthy end of the spectrum.

Top these awesome muffins with peanut butter if you want to amp the protein count. Drizzle honey for sweetness. If you really want to make them fancy though- make this simple boozey strawberry topping. It's baked in the oven and the strawberry juices sing when paired with port wine. It's like making a mini sangria topping. Recipe to follow!

And remember to share! I passed on some to a neighbor who was nice and mowed my lawn the other day. Muffins for allllllllll! Hip hip- hooray!

Millet Muffins
by 101 cookbooks

2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup raw millet
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins or butter them.

Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.

Combine together. Mix until just incorporated. Heap into muffin tins to the rim. Bake for 15 minutes, just till tops crack. Let them sit for 5 minutes in the tin then allow them to cool on a baking rack.

The Summer of Food Trucks: Truckeroo in DC!

What is a food truck? It's exactly what it sounds like- a meal on wheels. They park in popular areas of DC and people come flocking. Pretty slick guys. And tasty!

Most of these elusive food trucks have twitter accounts that announce their location throughout the day. There are also websites that do all the stalking for you.

Or. You can simply check out Truckeroo.

Truckeroo is a festival for food trucks! From June to October, 20-25 food trucks will be in one location from 11am- 9pm! Peep the Truckeroo website for a list of all the vendors. My girlfriend Marie dropped this bit of information on me and we went to check it out!

Some helpful information....

1irst: take the metro. Metered parking is confusing and the signs (as usual) contradict one another. It's located on the corner of half street and M street SE. The closest metro stop is the Navy Yard Metro Station.

2econd: don't forget your ID! This is for people 21 and up only because of the booze.

3hird: admission is FREE, all you pay for is what you eat and drink.

4ourth: bring the homies. There was a ton of people there in the evening. I was in line for an hour for one item. Your best bet is to split up as a team! Person 1 goes to Truck A, Person 2 goes to Truck B, etc etc and then you all share. This way, everyone can have a taste of everything there is to offer.

The atmosphere was very laid back. Seating is provided, which was a nice touch. There was a live band and all walks of life. Some even brought their dogs... which I promptly followed in hopes of an opportunity to pet them.

Since we got there a lil late, we went with the fastest moving line: Wonky. Mega hot dogs, served with fries on top, in a huge roll for $6.00. It was really tasty- but way too big for one 5'3 female. The roll was super thick- I think to avoid drippage. They had ketchup, mustard, and sriracha on hand. They also sold grill cheese sandwichs and an assortment of whoopie pies.

Marie went to a vendor I've already had: Big Cheese. She was impressed. It may be a lil more $ then you'd expect to pay for a grilled cheese samich- but they're delicious! Fancy cheese with caramelized onions... yes please.

Our friend who was raised on Ethiopian food was disappointed with the Ethiopian truck, Fojol brothers. He said the meat was way too spicy to be authentic. The only thing they had right was the sour dough bread.

All in all, it was a super fun time. If you're looking for a group adventure- be sure to check it out!

Carrot Cake Date & Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

First things first.

A tremendous congratulations to my beautiful sister and her doting husband in the birth of their perfect baby boy. I love you and cannot wait to meet the newest member of the fam! It's surreal. There were baby showers and doctor appointments, but it still has not sunk in. The joy in my heart cannot be expressed. All I can say is I love you Susana, Joe, and Landon.

Okay, quickly let's change subjects because I'm getting misty eyed.

Bunny rabbits. They are onto something....

That orange vegetable that's good for your eye balls.

Carrots make beautiful cakes. When you grate them, the flakes are moist, super light, and soft... almost like coconut flakes but not dried and sweetened. Yes, it takes forever to grate the carrots but the result is a fluffy dream. Spice it how you like- nice and mellow or singing with cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins. The skies the limit! It has all the spice you'll find in a spice cake.

Now the batter itself is not overly sweet so the cream cheese frosting is a must! I cannot imagine carrot cake with any other kind of frosting! Chocolate? Negative. Vanilla- eh maybe. If you know a cool frosting for carrot cake- please share!

This is the second carrot cake recipe that I have made; the first was by Alton Brown. I must admit, I prefer Alton's. No- that's not a bias... though I do love his recipes something fierce.

The key differences can be found in the ingredients. I like that his version uses yogurt instead of pure oil (other recipes use crushed pineapple bits) and the addition of brown sugar. The flavors are similar, but his was definitely more moist.

However... use Smitten's cream cheese! The maple syrup addition is heavenly. Slip some in when you make your frosting.

Also. Now this is sheer opinion so don't get buck.

Carrot cakes are best served as cakes. Cupcakes and these little square guys are cute and all but it's not the same as a slice of carrot cake. In larger form, the cake can hold onto more of its natural moisture. These square guys were soft but they lacked the fall apart deliciousness of a big slab of cake. So if you make carrot cake- make a single layered cake.

Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
by SmittenKitchen

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots
1 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line 24 cupcake molds with papers, or butter and flour them.

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, walnuts and raisins, if using them.

Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each or into desired cake pans.

For cupcakes, bake 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack.

To make a carrot layer cake: Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans instead of cupcake molds. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Butter and flour paper; tap out excess flour. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, and bake the layers for about 40 minutes each, or until a tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes. Turn out onto racks. Peel off waxed paper; cool cakes completely.

Let cool completely before icing them.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. Chill the frosting for 10 to 20 minutes, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly.

To assemble a carrot layer cake, frost the top of one cake, place the other cake on top. Frost the sides and top, swirling decoratively. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to set up frosting.