Blue Cheese Pecan Shortbread

For Father’s Day this year, I decided to test a savory shortbread idea for my dad. I like testing my shortbread flavor ideas on him, since he’s such a willing guinea pig. I had some leftover pecans from making bourbon balls and decided to add blue cheese to add some real flavor. So here goes with my Blue Cheese Pecan Shortbread.

Kentucky Bourbon Balls

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Kings County Distillery wrote a post on their Facebook page asking if anyone would make them Kentucky Bourbon Balls. I had never made these before but I’ve been having lots of fun lately experimenting with using spirits in my baking. So I figured what the heck, I’ll give it a try. I offered to make the bourbon balls if they agreed to give me some their whiskey. And they took me up on my offer!

Time To Get Slurpy!

Last night I was lucky enough to attend Luckyrice’s Ramen Slurpfest dinner. Ramen is one of my favorite foods of all time, so a night filled with uniquely-crafted dishes from leading ramen specialists was something I couldn’t pass up. My fellow ramen-obsessed fans gathered for a four-course tasting menu. So let’s get slurping!

Matcha Pot De Creme with Black Sesame Glass

When my friend Hazel aka “Tasty Pursuits” asked me to be one of the food bloggers at her C-CAP Sweet Sensations Dessert Event, I was so excited. Then I freaked out a little. All my friends know how much I LOVE to cook, but I’ve never actually cooked for an event before. I really wanted to do something special, something I hadn’t done before and it had to be for 80 people. I racked my brain for 3 weeks coming up with ideas. A chance dinner at Reynard’s with my sister came my inspiration. We ordered the Black Tea Pot De Crème for dessert and absolutely loved it. It was light and creamy and delicious.

I had to put my own twist on the pot of course. There are tons of recipes for Chocolate Pot De Crème, but I wanted a flavor that was more unique to me. If you follow my blog, you know one of my favorite combinations of flavors is Matcha and Black Sesame. And voila, an idea is born!

C-CAP Sweet Sensations Dessert Event!

On Sunday, April 21^st, I was honored to join some chefs and fellow food blogger bakers at C-CAP Sweet Sensations Dessert Event! The goal of the day was to raise funds and awareness to support scholarships and programs for at-risk students in Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP). 100% of the proceeds will go to C-CAP, www.ccapinc.org.

Event Alert – C-CAP Sweet Sensations Tasting Benefit April 21, 2013!

Come join me at C-CAP Sweet Sensations Tasting Benefit on Sunday, April 21, 2013!

Buy your tix today! http://sweetsensations.bpt.me/

Shortbread With An Asian Twist

Time for another shortbread post! Shortbread is my all-time favorite type of cookie. It’s buttery, light and slightly sweet. But what I love most about shortbread is that you can experiment with so many variations, from savory to sweet to somewhere in the middle. For my latest experiment, I was making something special for my parents highlighting some of my favorite Asian flavors: matcha (green tea) powder and black sesame seeds. So here’s my shortbread with an Asian twist: Macha Sesame Shortbread Flowers!

Cotswold Potatoes Gratin

Potatoes gratin is one of those dishes that is always a showstopper. I’ve made it dozens of times and every time, my guests are always impressed. They seem to think its complicated, but it’s crazy how simple this dish is. There are literally 5 ingredients that make up this dish. If you’re afraid of cooking, this is a great recipe to test out. This year for Christmas dinner, I wanted to give my recipe a new twist. If you follow my blog, you know that I love English Cotswold cheese. I thought the sharp taste of this cheese would make a great gratin.

Asian Steak Roulade

My sister and I have been trying to help out our mom for holiday gatherings by splitting up the cooking duties. So for Christmas Eve this year, I was assigned meat and dessert. This year’s dinner was a smaller gathering, so didn’t want to make anything too big. I wanted something that would be a little different but also pair well with the Korean dishes my mom was making. I’m a big fan of turkey and chicken roulades, so thought a flank steak roulade might be nice for Christmas Eve. So here’s my kicked-up Asian twist on a steak roulade.

Shrimp Buns…Made with a little secret!

Steamed stuffed Chinese buns are one of the best comfort foods around. I’ve had them filled with pork, beef, fish, seafood, you name it. It’s a lovely little fluffy pocket of goodness. I’ve never attempted to make this at home because I heard making the buns can be time-consuming and difficult. You can buy frozen buns in Chinatown of course, but I never seem to get around to that. I started reading online about a cheat method for making the buns. Every site said the same thing, that their mothers told them to do this, but they never listened and now they realize of course that mom was right!