Sugar Cookies for Your Sweet

Simple ways to turn your basic sugar cookie recipe into hearts for your Sweet. Another one for  Cuocicucidici  Hart-to-Hart Valentine's Day contest that proved to be so much fun for me as I love to create and invent things from my kitchen and not so much for competing. 

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To have fun making these cookies. You won't need much beyond good ingredients like dark chocolate or white. Use the things you already have in your kitchen like toothpicks, spatulas and cookie cutters. You will surprise yourself with unexpected results. So let loose the artist in you and start creating. I choose not to color the cookies other than chocolate but you can use color in any way you like.

For the cookie dough you will need 3 cups of flour, a pinch of salt, 1 1/2 stick of butter softened, 1 cup of sugar, 2 eggs, 2 tsp of vanilla and 2 tbsp of cocoa powder. For the icing you need 1 cup of confectioner's sugar, 2 tsp milk, 2 tsp light corn syrup, 1/4 tsp of almond extract and food coloring if you like. Here are some of the ones we had fun making at home.

Enjoy!

Bruschetta with Love - Mini Heirloom Tomatoes with Basil and Oregano

I love making Bruschetta for my loved ones and myself because we are all great tomato fans. Last Summer I planted some San Marzano tomatoes and harvested them in the Fall and still use them until now. For this dish I got some Mini Heirloom tomatoes. Did you notice the shape of the bruschetta? Well, I'm entering this in the Hart-to-Hart contest launched by the the beautiful blog Cuocicucidici for Valentine's Day. Here's how I made this simple but delicious bruschetta for you.

You will need some mini heirloom tomatoes, of course. Wash and slice each one in half and put them in a mixing bowl.

Throw in some chiffonade of basil and fresh leaves of oregano. Grate 1 clove of garlic. I use a microplane for finer result.

Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss lightly and let marinate for some minutes. Get the best olive oil that is produced locally with the harvest and bottling date if possible. I am so fortunate to have Bariani olive oil that is produced just a couple of miles away from where I live.

Slice a thick piece of Miche bread in the middle of the loaf to get the desired shape. Toast it on cast iron griddle to crisp.

Put the marinated tomatoes on top of the toast and cut it in three portions. Remove the middle and join the two ends together to form a heart.

Enjoy Amore!

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Watermelon Cake

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This is a no bake, sugarless, fresh cake for my sweet on a special lovely day. This is a Hart to Hart entry for the hearty fun contest from the lovely blog Cuocicucidici. Here's how it's made.

Start by carving an outline of your imagined design on top of the watermelon. Making everything as symmetrical as possible. With this project you will need different knives to cut out the pulp easily without over carving.

Always  carve one design completely before doing the next. Like the seven roses first and then figure out the arrangement of the next which are ten hearts.

Use all three colors of the fruit. The green skin serves to highlight the hearts looking three dimensional. If you carve beyond the white pith you get deeper red.

Finish with simpler or smaller patterns to keep the focus on the main theme which are the hearts.

When done, plan to the present it on a platter with other decorations like carved zucchini leaves, carrot and green daikon flowers if you wish.

Enjoy Amore!

Kumquat Candy for the Love of Panna Cotta

The kumquats are now in season, in time for the Chinese New Year. This fruit plays an important part in Chinese tradition, presented to usher the New Year. The kumquat has another name in Chinese that rhymes with gold and luck. The shape of the fruit is a symbol of unity and perfection and the leaves symbolizes wealth. Everyone who eats this fruit will be insured of good fortune, prosperity and happiness. Well, here is your chance to give it a try or at least taste it. I made candied kumquat for the panna cotta, not traditional but very delicious! Here is how to make the candy.

Pick the kumquat and wash them thoroughly then slice them thinly and removing the seeds that you find.

Don't fret if you miss some seeds for they are edible too. I arranged them to look nice before they are candied.

For 1 cup of sliced kumquat boil 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Boil the water and sugar 5 minutes  and add the kumquat and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the citrus and let the syrup thicken a little bit then return the sliced fruits into the pot to simmer for 2 minutes. Put in a jar or bowl and set aside to use for many recipes.

The candied kumquat can keep up to 2 weeks. Enjoy using it on toast or toppings for cakes. I am going to use it on my favorite Italian dessert. I love to make panna cotta because it is so good and easy to make. I will  garnish it with this beautiful candy. By the way, I am entering this dessert for the lovely blog Cuocicucidici's HART-to-HART-MY CONTEST. I hope they like it as much as I like to eat it. I made the panna cotta with 1 cup of whole milk and 1/2 cup of heavy cream boiled with 2 tbsp of agar agar flakes, 2 tbsp of sugar and some drops of vanilla extract. Put into a heart shaped pan and cooled.

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This delicious but pale panna cotta will turn to exquisite and bright gold with the candied kumquat.

Enjoy Amore!

Pad Thai - Bangkok Street Food Finds its Way to My Kitchen

Incredible and delicious food is relished and experienced far and wide throughout Thailand but the city streets of Bangkok stand out as a foodies' paradise. Locals and tourists go for the delicious and perfectly prepared food and enjoy one of the country's finest dining experience that  is very affordable street level cuisine. The more popular ones have tables and roll-up doors and open-air kitchens where you can watch your food prepared in minutes. I learnt some favorite dishes from my last visit there and my number one choice is Pad Thai. I have seen it prepared and served in a variety of ways and chose the ones I liked the best. Here is how it found its way to my kitchen.

The most popular pad thai is made with tamarind sauce. It is made with 1/2 cup each of tamarind pulp, palm sugar and fish sauce. Boil with 1 1/2 cups of water until reduced to thick soup and strain. You will only need about 4 tablespoons of the sauce for a pad thai for 4 and you can save the rest for another cooking. You can use thick soy sauce and white vinegar if you can't get tamarind. Here are the ingredients you need to cook in this sequence and order I have tried with good results.

Sautee finely diced garlic and red onions in some peanut oil until fragrant then add diced salted radish, all 3 tablespoon each. Stir for one minute more.

Throw in 8 shrimps and sautee for 2 minute then add grilled tofu about 1 cup. You can add more if you like.

Stir fry for 1 minutes more on high heat. Add more oil if needed.

At this point you can add the rice noodles that have been soaked for 20 minutes or so, about half a pound.  Add a cup of water to steam the noodles soft. Toss with two wooden spoons to mix well. Test the noodles for doneness. Then push the noodles to one side to make space for the eggs to fry.

Break the 2 eggs and fry them to make scrambled bits. Then toss with the noodles well.

Add 4 tablespoons of the tamarind sauce and toss. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.

Toss in cilantro, bean sprouts and garlic chives, at least a handfull of each.

Stir and toss a couple more times and turn off heat and mix half a cup of roughly chopped roasted peanuts for crunch. The pad thai is now ready to serve. Here are a couple of ways of  serving  it from one of the most popular street pad thai place in Bangkok.

Scramble 2 eggs and swirl in a hot wok then put a serving of pad thai in the middle and wrap it with the thin omelette.

 Hold down a plate to cover the omelette and flip the the wok to properly remove it without tearing.

Serve it any way you want and garnish it with any raw vegetable you prefer like green onions, lettuce or cucumber. Squeeze some lime juice or sprinkle toasted chili flakes for zest and spicy flavor. Enjoy!