Where Have I Been?

Yes, I realize its been more than three weeks since I've last posted, but I have a good reason for this!
I've been away, traveling with my family for three weeks. On August 7th, we embarked on an epic  journey to England and France. 

We spent the first week trying to recover from the jet-lag (8 hour time difference), and driving around the south of England. We visited many places, some of which included: Oxford, Cambridge, Salisbury and Sussex. It was my first time in England, and I was amazed by the gorgeous rolling hills of the countryside. We sampled some bar food at pubs, and I must say it really wasn't that great. It was high priced for mediocre sandwiches. However, it was cool to experience a real English Pub.

The second week, we spent touring around London. We did an unbelievable amount of walking all over the city, and got used to riding trains and the tube. We pretty much saw all the main tourist attractions, as well as a few lesser known ones, such as the Winston Churchill War Rooms. Which were absolutely amazing!! We also went out for Indian food one night (London is known for really good and cheap Indian food), and it wasn't a disappointment.  They didn't have some of the dishes that I'm used to, (like butter chicken) but they had an amazing chicken tandoori that made up for it. We also went to a Pizza Express one night (a really popular pizza chain in London, they are EVERYWHERE), and pizza was decent, but we didn't order enough food so I was left still slightly hungry. They did however, have a really good salad. It was rocket salad, (a popular green in the UK, its kind of like arugula) with romano cheese, and a balsamic reduction. It was very tasty.

The third, and final week was spent in Paris. Which was arguably my favourite week, and the week which we ate the best food.  We found the most amazing bakery called Eric Kayser (website linked here: http://www.maison-kayser.com/en/), which we went to every morning to get croissant for breakfast and bread for the day.  The bread without argue is the best bread that I have every had in my whole life. It is slightly crispy on outside, and light and airy on the inside. It tastes both salty and sweet at the same time. Generally, just out-of-this-world. My family consumed a huge amount of bread. We were in Paris for five days, and in those five days we consumed close to 20 baguettes. A little bit of over-kill, but that's what my family does. Paris also has the most amazing cheeses, we ate so much brie, most likely an un-healthy amount, but it was so delicious we didn't really care.

On our last night in Paris we went out for dinner to this cute little cafe. It was amazing. I had very thinly sliced beef that was just lightly cooked, so it was still pink. It was served with amazingly seasoned home-fries, and a salad. It was so good, I'm normally not a fan of beef, but I loved this beef. My sister and I shared a creme brulee for dessert.

Another thing I must mention about Paris, are the crepes. Crepe stands are EVERYWHERE you go, and the crepes are amazing. We had crepes three different times, twice from crepe restaurants, and once from a stand. I must say, the ones from the restaurants were good, but were kind of sickeningly sweet once you got half way through your crepe, and they were expensive. (6 to 8 euros a crepe) But the crepes that we got from the stand were prefect, and were really reasonably priced. (2 - 4 euros a crepe) So, if you want crepes in Paris, hunt out a stand. It will be cheaper, faster, and much better.

Cheese Souffle? Yes Please!

Last night I was watching Master Chef. You know that show with Gordon Ramsey? It puts 'home-chef' head to head in different cooking challenges. Anyways, one of the challenges last night was to make the best cheese souffle. As I was watching, I couldn't help but think: "hey, I'm a home-chef." (Well an aspiring one at the very least.) And: "hey, why don't I try making souffle!" I must admit the souffles on TV looked so darn tasty, so that was part of the motivation.

After the episode was over, I went on YouTube to look up how exactly to make a cheese souffle. I must admit, I had NO idea how to make one, but I really wanted to learn how to. Then I watched enough videos to feel confident enough to try making a souffle. However it was already pretty late, so I just deiced to make them in the morning.

This morning I went back online to look up recipes. I went on many different websites, until I found a recipe that I liked. This is the one that I used: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Classic-Cheese-Souffle-242119

I only made two small changes, they were:
-I added in 1 TBS of fresh chives.
-Instead of Gruyere cheese, I used cheddar

Overall, I think that my souffles turned really well. Especially since it was my first time ever making souffle! They rose nicely, and they didn't fall in the process of cooking. Also to top everything off, they were super tasty, light, and fluffy!

 Here are some pictures of the process!

Tasty Summer Dinner? -- I Think So!

So after a more than month of official summer, its finally start to FEEL like summer here. For most of the month of July it was chilly, overcast, and rainy. Not what you'd call nice summer weather. However, the weather Gods have finally decided to be nice to us here the on West Coast! Lately the weather has been gorgeous, sunny, and warm. Let me tell you, I'm loving it! It's so nice to have actual summer weather. Weather that you can go out it and don't have to worry about bringing a sweater or a rain jacket. Its bliss!

So, to celebrate the nice weather I decided to make a delicious meal to celebrate!
On the menu was:
-Grilled pork chops with papaya, corn, and blueberry salsa
-Grilled asparagus
-Boiled potatoes with butter and chives



-Pork chops-

6 pork chops
3/4 cup BBQ sauce
1 papaya chopped
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 red onion sliced
2 ears of corn grilled, cut off the cob
1 red pepper, chopped
1 TBS fresh mint chopped
1 1/2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

 Preheat your BBQ, to about medium heat.

Place the pork chops on a cookie sheet. Brush both sides with BBQ sauce. Put cookie sheet directly on BBQ. Let cook for about 10 minutes. Then, place chops directly on grill, so that they get grill marks and finish cooking completely.

To make the salsa just mix together all of the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.


-Asparagus-


1 large bunch of asparagus
1 1/2 TBS olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Wash asparagus well, and take off woody bottom ends. Toss together with the oil, salt, and pepper.
Then place on grill, and and cook for about 10 minutes. Until they are slightly chard and soft all the way through.


-Potatoes-

20 mini golden potatoes, washed and cut in half
3 TBS melted butter
2 TBS fresh chives, chopped
1 TBS capers

Boil potatoes in salted water. Then toss with butter, chives, and capers.
Serve right away!


And there you have it! my tasty summer meal :)

Also since it looks so darn good, here is a picture!

Mago-Lime Ice Cream

So, the other night I made mango-lime ice cream. It didn't turn out exactly how I expected though.
It was a bit gloopy for my liking. The mixture itself was a bit thin, so it didn't set well. If I make this again, I think I'll add more fruit to offset this.

Also, it didn't have enough of a mango-y taste.
I used canned mango instead of fresh mango. Because of this it didn't have much of a mango taste.

However, it was tasty anyway -- just not what I expected.

Anyways, here is the recipe that I used. (adapted from my mom's recipe for home-made fruit ice cream)

1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

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Combine all ingredients in above list in a small sauce pan. Place on medium heat and stir. Keep on heat until mixture scalds. The mixture will be scalded just before it boils. Take off heat, set aside, and chill. (min chill for 40 minutes)

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2 cans of mango slices, drained and rinsed
Juice of one lime
Zest of 1/2 lime
1/4 cup sugar

Put the mango, lime juice and zest, and sugar into a food processor.
Blend until to incorporate everything. You want the mixture to be somewhere in-between smooth and chunky. Once you think the mixture is blended enough, set aside and chill. (min chill for 30 minutes)

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1 cup buttermilk

Combine both mixtures with the buttermilk. Stir so that everything is combined well.
Place in your ice cream maker, and make according to your machines' instructions.


~Makes 8 to 10 servings~