I don’t think I liked pumpkin as a child. Why? I don’t know. It’s pretty much a perfect flavor now. Not too sweet. This cake was all about the frosting. It’s a bit labor intensive. Making caramel can be tricky as it has a tendency to be temperamental. Also the frosting needs to be refrigerated over night so this is a cake you need to plan ahead for but when everything comes together it’s pretty great. I burnt my caramel just a tad but that’s okay. It tasted like Korean burnt sugar candy (ppoki) and that excited my mother.
Turkey
Cranberry Mandarin Ginger Sauce
Shrimp & Capers
Curry Roasted Vegetables with Pomegranates and Yogurt Sauce
Cumin Crushed Fingerling Potatoes
Wine Braised Lamb with Prunes
Chicken Skewers and Jalapeno Cilantro Sauce
Green Beans with Bacon
Fig & Almond Stuffing Casserole
Celery, Date, & Walnut Salad
Garlic Noodles
Whole Grain Mustard Mashed Potatoes
Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
Enough said.
I’ve been experimenting with new blueberry muffin recipes. I’m pretty happy with this batch except that I think they’re much better served warm and I’d add a little more sugar next time. Or maybe I don’t need to add more sugar. I bought this new toothpaste that is quite zingy and I think it’s killing off my taste buds. I can’t taste anything, which is pretty devastating. Must get new toothpaste, pronto.
But aren’t muffins adorable? I also made mini versions for Willa.
Ingredients:
3 cups of flour
1 cup granulated sugar (I think I’d up it to 1 1/2 next time)
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of sour cream (greek yogurt would also work)
1 tbsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups fresh blueberries, washed and dried
1 1/4 sticks of butter
2 large eggs
1. preheat oven to 375
2. sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
3. in a large bowl, beat together sugar and butter until fluffy
4. incorporate eggs and vanilla and beat for 2 more minutes
5. alternately fold in four and sour cream in 3 additions
6. gently fold in blueberries
7. scoop ice cream scoop amounts into lined tins (makes 24 cupcake sized muffins or 12 muffins)
8. bake for 18-20 minutes
Nancy and I went out for dinner in Chinatown last night. Again, I forgot to take photos, though I had purposefully brought my camera. But perhaps this signals how much I was enjoying dinner with Nancy.
Nancy is going to Thailand on Monday and has agreed to be a guest blogger on Sprout & Bean, sharing with us all the amazing food she will be eating and subsequently taunting us with.
Nancy commissioned some cookies from me to send as a get well present to Ali Liebegott. She asked for something with lemon and/or something with peanut butter. Because I lack the ability to be decisive, I made both.
I had a long Monday, a very long Monday. I came home and the apartment smelled like chicken, my fault. It’s odd logic, I know, but I decided that I would counteract the smell of chicken by baking some delicious cookies. Of course the idea of lighting a scented candle didn’t occur to me.
I had a random bag of craisins or dried cranberries. Not really sure what the difference is anyways, so I decided to make some oatmeal raisin cookies. I used this Martha Stewart recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/oatmeal-cranberry-cookies
As a good always does…. I didn’t bother reading the thing all the way through and was very disappointed when I realized I would have to wait 2 hours. But friends, it was worth it. It was sooo worth it. These are by far, the most delicious cookies I’ve ever made.
Some revisions:
1. Instead of plain oatmeal, I used pre-packaged Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal and cut back on sugar.
2. It calls for 3 tablespoons of milk. I used 2 tablespoons skim milk and 1 tablespoon buttermilk (again, attempting to get rid of buttermilk from another baking adventure)
My good friend was having a particularly difficult week so I decided to package some of the cookies for delivery. One friend lead to another! 
Also, I’m posting photos from my rendition of my sister’s Orange Chocolate Bundt Cake. Mine was not quite the success I had hoped for. The texture was a bit dry and hard. I am attributing it to the fact I halved the sour cream and used regular flour instead of cake flour, which I still argue doesn’t really make a huge difference. Sister disagrees.
preface: sorry about the quality of these photographs.
persian cucumber salad
oxtail with fried tripe
bacon wrapped matzo balls
whun with a discerning face
My cousin Min Hee has been visiting for a few weeks but all good things must come to an end and so we had a farewell dinner today at The Gorbals in downtown. The Gorbals is a new restaurant headed by Ilan Hall. You may know Ilan Hall as a former Top Chef winner. Yes, I am an unabashed reality show watcher. Does it make it better that I’ve limited my television intake to food-related reality shows? Probably not.
I kind of liked the spare decor, the unvarnished floors. The bar and the tables reminded me a bit of Wurstkuche, but with better lighting. And an open kitchen space is always nice. The restaurant front was lined with antique (genuine or faux antique?) stained glass windows, which I thought was quite pretty. Half way through the meal, a woman leaned against the window and I thought it made for a lovely image.
Okay, so the important part, the food: We ordered nearly everything on the menu…because well, that’s what we do. More importantly everything was very good. The food was decidedly heavy–pork belly, fried tripe, creamy melty sauces liberally doused here and there. But happily, we didn’t feel heavy after our meal. Whun claimed the braised pork belly as his favorite. Min Hee concurred. I had a difficult time picking between the pork belly or the cucumber salad or the Welsh rarebit with chicken egg. The oxtail tasted vaguely Korean to us and was sitting on top of a creamy oatmeal-y type thing that tasted quite excellent but we just couldn’t decide what it was. Polenta? Probably not. Oatmeal? That would be interesting. In any case we ate all of it. Our plates were embarrassingly clean. Also, we need to talk about the bacon wrapped matzo balls. I don’t claim to be an authority on matzo balls but those were the softest most pillowy matzo balls I have ever had. And wrapping it in bacon–there’s something very interestingly brash about that.
Overall a very enjoyable meal. I regret not ordering a beer with that meal. It seems like beer food. Next time I will order a beer.
The Gorbals
501 S Spring St,
Los Angeles, CA
http://www.thegorbalsla.com
prettier than it is tasty
So for part II of Min Hee’s farewell dinner we went to Dessert Haus in Koreatown. I’ve heard good things from another cousin about this place and so it is with unhappy regret that I am expressing my disappointment. The desserts we ordered tasted as if they had been sitting in the freezer and had only just been defrosted. Accordingly everything left us with a strange metallic aftertaste. Min Hee commented that one of the raspberries tasted like a red pepper, and indeed it did.
And perhaps it was my mood but I found the music a bit obnoxious–loud and rhythmic. I’m craving something cozy and cave-like. Oh, and the coffee was overpriced. $6 for an Americano? Ew.
Sorry Dessert Haus, I hate to be harsh.
Dessert Haus
3826 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90020
Today I had a catering order for 2 dozen blueberry muffins. The special ingredient in these is brown butter. I love brown butter. I love it so much.
I also love baking in my little kitchen in the early early morning. I woke up at 5 a.m. to make these and there was something enormously pleasing about watching the sun come up with the smell of buttery baked goods.
The muffin is a an excellent morning treat. I put relatively little sugar in them because it’s my belief that breakfast items should derive most of their sweetness from fruit. Also, they shouldn’t be fine crumbed like a cake or a cupcake. Muffins are distinctly heartier and should have a bit of bite rather than melting away in your mouth. Or at least that’s how I feel.
2 eggs tempura
2 eggs tempura, cracked
fruit cup
short stack
smoked salmon oatmeal galette
Break of Dawn
24351 Avenida de la Carlota
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
949.587.9418
http://breakofdawnrestaurant.com/
