February 2012
2 posts
6 tags
Sweet and spicy steak, red wine mushrooms
Happy Valentine’s Day! Rather than try to fight the crowds at the restaurants tonight, V. and I decided to stay in and make dinner. I was inspired by an episode of America’s Worst Cooks where the contestants were trying to make steak. (Side note, that show frustrates me. Maybe I’m missing the premise of the show, but sometimes I think the chefs who are training the contestants...
January 2012
4 posts
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Mini-tiramisu with cranberry and orange
Found this recipe in a pile of magazine tear-outs my mom collected. It’s really easy to make; the only thing I found was that the proportion of jam to marscarpone filling was heavily favouring the filling, so I’d recommend increasing the amount of cranberry-orange jam by at least 50%, if not completely doubling it. The key to getting the layers of filling and jam is to crumble some...
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Chao nian gao - Fried rice cakes
Some food names get lost in translation…for instance one of the ingredients I used today in Chinese is called either “do fou pi” (roughly translated, tofu…skin?) or “fu zhu” (…no idea what that would translate to), but the English label is called “Dried bean curd sticks.” Anyway, the gist is, it’s made from soy beans, and are the yellow...
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Garlic green beans and mushrooms
Definitely not as good about keeping this updated as I used to be. I blame schoolwork and general busyness (I clearly didn’t get the memo that 4th year was supposed to be easy!) Anyway, a friend of mine came over for dinner today and we just chatted about our plans for post-graduation life, and some random topics. It’s still a little crazy to think we’re graduating in May....
December 2011
4 posts
4 tags
Cinnamon swirl bread
To celebrate the completion of (American) grad school applications (still have a few Canadian applications to send out; that’s my winter break project), I tried to make this cinnamon swirl bread. Didn’t quite get the “swirl” part down, but the bread was still tasty and cinnamon-y, so it wasn’t a complete failure ;)
The original recipe, from AllRecipes.com,...
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Soft chocolate cookies
This past semester there’s been far too much work/stress and far too little baking in my life ;) Now that I’m home, with younger siblings clamouring for baked goods, it’s the perfect excuse to try new recipes and get “caught up” on my baking.
This recipe I originally got from AllRecipes.com My only modification was to add ~1/4 cup of chopped hazelnuts. These...
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November 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Creamy smoked salmon pasta
I decided to give the salmon pasta recipe I found on Allrecipes another shot, but trying it with the cream sauce rather than just a simple wine sauce. I altered the proportions of ingredients, as the butter and cheese quantities seemed too much. In the end I think it was still a little on the creamy side for my liking, and I cant’ imagine what it would have been like with the full...
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Pulled pork sandwich
Last week my Frisbee team had a team potluck dinner (so much good food! Om nom…) Since I knew I was going to be in lab all day and not have much time to cook, I decided to try making pulled pork in the slow cooker. It was delicious! And super easy! I got the recipe from Simply Recipes, and just made some modifications so that I could make it in the slow cooker (the original calls for it to...
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Smoked salmon pasta
First legit-cooked meal in a long time. I need a break…I feel like for the last few weeks I’ve just been scrambling to stay on top of school work, lab work, club work, grad school apps, etc., which also means buying and eating meals on the go.
This was somewhat inspired by a recipe on AllRecipes.com except that one was a cream-based sauce, and what I made is more of a white-wine...
October 2011
10 posts
5 tags
Mushrooms and broccoli stem in white wine
Wasn’t quite full after the pork and apples, so I cooked up some rice, and decided to saute up some more vegetables. I hadn’t cleaned the skillet from the pork recipe previously, so there was likely some residual gravy left, which added to the flavour. The mixture of that, with the white wine and Italian seasoning created a nice blend of flavours.
Ingredients:
Canola oil
2 cloves...
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Pork with apples
Today was just a miserable day; all day, there was this mix of rain/snow/slush falling from the sky, and it was just cold and gross outside. Needing a break from studying for midterms, I decided to try this pork recipe from Simply Recipes. I modified it slightly, using boneless pork ribs instead of pork tenderloin since that’s what I had in the fridge (and I wasn’t about to go out to...
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Apple and butternut squash soup
I wish there was a better way to photograph/feature this delicious, slightly spicy soup, because unfortunately the only bowl I had available was one which was nearly the same color as the soup itself, which doesn’t make it look as appealing. Anyway, I found a box of cut up butternut squash at the grocery store, and since the weather had been pretty chilly, I decided to cook up a pot of...
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Easy Spicy Garlic Tofu
Over the weekend I was in Chinatown and while perusing the spice/sauce aisle, found a bottle of Spicy Garlic Sauce by Lee Kum Kee that looked interesting. Today I tried it with some tofu, and it was pretty good. Wouldn’t exactly say it was spicy (it was relatively mild in my opinion) but it was super easy to make and tasty. Kind of like some versions of mapo tofu, but not spicy.
...
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Pork chop with mushrooms in wine/whiskey sauce
To celebrate the end of a crazy week filled with papers and midterms, I decided to try out a pork chop recipe I’d been eyeing on Simply Recipes. Also, I was trying to make up for my semi-failed attempt to make pork chops earlier this week, but let’s not talk about that ;) The final result actually ended up being a combination of two recipes (one from Simply Recipes and one from All...
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Hoppin' John
Lately, I don’t know, I just haven’t been inspired to cook new things. Maybe I’m just lazy or busy/tired with school. The other night I finally decided to try out a recipe I’d bookmarked. I found this recipe for “Hoppin’ John” on Simply Recipes, and apparently it’s a traditional New Year’s Day dish in the American South. I’d never...
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Spicy Sweet Potato Fries
I really really like sweet potato fries. These ones came out a bit burnt…but the combination of spicy and sweet was really good =) Next time I’ll have to watch them more carefully and make sure they don’t burn…
Ingredients:
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into strips
Canola oil
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
Cayenne pepper
...
3 tags
September 2011
12 posts
6 tags
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Easy Pizza version 2
I found a different recipe for a pizza crust that’s quick and simple to make, and also doesn’t involve yeast. I think this one is a keeper; the crust came out much more solid and crisp than the recipe I used last week.
The basic recipe I got here, but I tweaked it and added some more seasonings to give the crust more flavour. I also baked the pizza on the middle rack of the oven,...
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Spicy, Citrusy Black Beans
While procrastinating on some homework, I was browsing Simply Recipes, and found this recipe. It looked pretty simple, and I figured, I like the beans that Chipotle serves on my burritos, so why not try making some black beans for myself.
I decided to halve the original recipe and only use 2 cups of dried black beans instead of 4; it was a good thing I did, because it just barely fit into my...
5 tags
Peach Galette
Note to self: When reading recipes, much like reading protocols in lab, read through fully before beginning and note any “incubation”/wait times.
Peaches were on sale at the grocery store, and I’d been eyeing this recipe for peach galette on Simply Recipes for quite a while, so I figured it was the perfect chance to try it out. I made sure to chop up the butter and freeze it...
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Pasta with Tuna and Capers in White Wine Sauce...
Quite the mouthful of a name there. I found this recipe on Simply Recipes and thought it sounded simple but interesting, so I set off to the grocery store to find the ingredients. That was a bit of an adventure. Finding the capers was a challenge since I didn’t really have any idea what they looked like (green round things that look kind of like olives maybe?) nor what section they should...
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Easy quiche
The nice thing about not having class until mid-afternoon, and not starting independent study/lab work yet is that I can actually make and enjoy a proper breakfast (as opposed to grabbing a bagel and an apple and running out the door) I found myself with a lot of eggs in my fridge (1 full box of my own, plus another box from the guys down the hall who for some reason had 3 boxes…), so I...
A Slice of Life, An Animated Love Story by Terry... →
Haha, really cute and funny love story about Mr. Peanut Butter on Toast ;)
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Easy pizza crust
(Got a little too hungry/excited and ate half the pizza before I remembered to take a picture ;)
I was really craving pizza, but I’m too cheap to order in, and too lazy to try and find yeast at the grocery store, so I was really happy when I found this recipe for pizza crust that didn’t involve yeast! I adapted a recipe for “Crazy Crust Pizza Dough” from AllRecipes, and...
PLAY WITH YOUR 3-D-PRINTED FOOD →
At Cornell, they’ve created a 3-D printer that builds food, layer by layer, using edible ink. Pretty cool!
Back in the US, with a fully equiped kitchen!
As some of you may know, I spent 14 weeks this summer living and working in Germany. I lived in an apartment in the student residences which was simply furnished; I had my own room, and shared a bathroom and kitchen with one roommate (who I rarely saw…). It was a pretty basic set-up, which was fine considering I was only there for about 3 months. However, given the central role that food...
May 2011
8 posts
College Cooking is on summer break
This will probably be the last post on College Cooking for the summer. This summer I’m living and working in Germany, so I will be keeping a separate travel blog documenting my adventures. If you’re interested in reading those, you can visit http://cdnabroad.tumblr.com/
There may be the occasional post here, depending on how much I end up cooking (my apartment here does have a...
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Crustless Cranberry "Pie" with Brown Sugar Topping
cipe
So apparently the first batch of the cranberry pie was really good, because my roommates and I polished it off within a couple of hours =P I made a second batch, this time adding a brown sugar topping, and I think it came out even better! The topping adds another layer of sweetness to the pie to balance out the tart cranberries.
Still have some cranberries in the freezer…and no more...
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Crustless Cranberry "Pie"
Continuing on the “fridge/freezer cleaning” business, I have a lot of cranberries in my freezer. I bought them a while ago when they were on sale at the local grocery store, intending to make scones and such, but never really got around to it.
I searched around on AllRecipes.com and found this recipe for a Crustless Cranberry Pie. Seemed interesting enough so I gave it a try. I...
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Apple Turnovers
It’s almost the end of the school year, which means the fridge/freezer need to get cleaned out, and food needs to get made and eaten. My roommates aren’t complaining because it usually means I’m baking a lot in an effort to use up the frozen fruit and pastry sheets I stocked up on during the school year but never got around to actually using =P
Last night I decided to use up...
April 2011
8 posts
4 tags
Slow Cooked Moroccan-Inspired Pork
The other night I decided to experiment with another spice from the Williams-Sonoma set V. gave me for my birthday. I went with Ras el Hanout, which is a blend of several different spices, typically used in North African food.
I tried Googling recipes that used the spice blend, and found some Moroccan-style dishes. I didn’t really have the complete ingredients for any one recipe, so I...
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Preserved egg and pork congee
Somehow the English translation of this Chinese breakfast item doesn’t sound quite as appetizing as the Mandarin name (皮蛋瘦肉粥/Pi Dan Shou Rou Zhou)… Back home this was one of my favourite things to eat on weekend mornings. It’s essentially a rice porridge (“congee”), with lean pork meat, usually some sort of vegetable, and these preserved eggs that look black and...
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Williams-Sonoma Take 1: Malt Vinegar Sea Salt +...
Finally got around to starting to sample the wondrous array of spices V. gave me for my birthday. I figured the malt vinegar sea salt was the least intimidating of them all, so I decided to try them out on fries (fish and chips anyone?)
Basically I just peeled and cut up a potato into thin-ish strips (I liked crispier fries, so I made them thinner; I’m sure wedges would work just fine...
Pasta sauce with white wine
Okay, so I might be going a little white wine-happy now that I’m finally able to procure the stuff while at school. I’d always read recipes that called for a dash of white wine to add to a sauce, and I was always curious what kind of flavour that would add.
A few nights ago I was craving pasta, so I thought, why not throw some white wine into the pasta sauce and try it out! The end...
Garlic Tilapia with White Wine Sauce
This week I’ve just been really craving fish, and I’ve liked the ease and taste of baking fish. All you have to do is prepare the fillet, wrap it in foil, pop it in the oven and go off and do other stuff while it steams and cooks. Then you open it up and you get tender moist deliciousness =)
Last week I turned 21, making it finally legal for me to procure alcohol anywhere in the...
Beef and Eggplant
There’s this food cart on the east side of campus that serves up fantastic Chinese food (King’s Wok; check it out! It looks kinda sketchy, but I’d say it has the best Chinese on campus, and it’s also the cheapest, so win-win. All the Asian engineering grad students go there, if that means anything)
One of the dishes that V. and I have really liked from there is the beef...
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Garlic Dill Salmon - Updated
To celebrate the (temporary) reprieve from midterms and papers, I went to the grocery store to stock up on food (the last 2 weeks I’ve been living off food trucks instead of cooking for myself, so my fridge has been depressingly barren)
For dinner, I decided to try the garlic salmon again, but making changes based on my last attempt.
This time I used a bit more salt/pepper, and chopped...