Spring is near….

….so it is time to clean up the garden and get ready for springtime gardening. As this being said, I am calling Elaine (I know you’re reading this post!) to report to duty. I will repay you with lots of goodies =]





I have been giving serious thoughts to redo the garden - I want to build big planter boxes so that I can grow my own veggie! The thought of having an organic, edible garden in the back thrills me – fresh carrots, snap peas, egg plants…….





Also, I have been thinking of building an additional shed to house my ever growing fabrics collection. The other has been turned into a sewing studio and sample room and just too cramp after I bought a cutting table and 2 additional fitting mannequins; only if I can contain myself not to buy anymore and I know it is just impossible!








春天好像快到了﹐我也要打理後院那些花花草草﹐實在荒廢了太久了。 這個春天想在花園的一角開拓出一個蔬菜園﹐因為擁有一個自家的有機蔬菜園是我一直夢寐著的事。真的該問問專家好好規劃一下才行。還有就是想再建一間小屋來存放不斷地增長的布料數量。現在的小屋已經被改造成我的工作室了。怎麼辦﹐我好像永遠缺地方來存放我的收藏品 O_o"




BTW, have a nice weekend everyone!

Non-stop celebrations - Lunar New Year! ~ 過不完的節日^^

Did I tell you this time of the year is my favorite time of the year?! You see, it is non-stop celebrations – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Lunar New Year (LNY) and Valentine’s Day (plus my Chinese birthday and birthday are only weeks away too)!!! Yup, it is fantastic =)

I was cleaning the house and the garden over the weekend for LNY, and found that all the citrus trees in my garden were bearing fruits – loads of. I have been thinking of baking some sweets to give to my relatives as gifts for the LNY holiday and was flipping thru books to look for recipe that is suitable. We bring sweets (candies, Chinese pastries, chocolate and etc) to family and friends’ home when paying them visits over LNY, symbolizing prosperity in the new year - a traditional of LNY. When I saw all those mandarins, a light bulb lighted up; I knew of just the perfect sweet I can bake up – mini citrus cakes!

To get in the spirit of the Lunar New Year, I decided to use what Chinese see as the symbol of prosperity – Kumquat (pronounced gam gwat) and mandarins fruits. Kumquat is widely popular during LNY and sold as a plant and used to decorate the house – think Poinsettias for Christmas and mandarins fruits are eaten as snacks – at least in my family~



I adopted the recipe from Hidemi Sugino’s The Dessert Book; the original recipe was for fava bean pound cakes, which sounds really interesting and soon to be tested. I would say these mini pound cakes are a variation to the financier cakes I made last year. Since I used 2 types of citrus in this recipe, I was worried that it would be overly tangy but the end result was some super moist cakes with ultra citrus fragrant that will delight anyone who eats them. BTW, they are best enjoyed with a cup of good black tea ;)

Citrus Mini Pound Cakes – 4in x 2in x 5¾in mini loaf pan
For the batter:
200g unsalted butter, thinly sliced
280g confectioners’ sugar
7 whole eggs, L size
200g almond flour
140g all-purpose flour
80g candied mandarins peel, process until purée-like in a food-processor
3g baking powder
Some candied kumquat halves
Some pistachio dice
Some Cointreau for brushing on cake

Prep:
- Butter the loaf pans generously with unsalted butter.
- Preheat the oven to 340°F/170°C.

Sift together, flour, almond flour and baking powder; set aside.

Using a stand mixer, combine butter, sugar and mix over medium speed for a few seconds or until incorporated; gradually add the eggs, flour mixture, mix for a few second after each addition.

Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and fold in the mandarins purée until incorporated. Pour batter into a piping bag. Snip off a corner of the bag and pipe batter into the prepared pans, lightly tap each pan to release the air bubbles, arrange 3 to 4 pieces of kumquat and sprinkle pistachio dice generously on top. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until golden; remove from oven. Remove the cakes from pans, brush a layer of Cointreau on top of cake while it is still warm then leave on wire rack to cool.




Candied Mandarins Peel
100g mandarins peel
½ tsp salt

Syrup:
100g granulated sugar
100g water

Make the syrup: bring sugar and water to a boil over medium heat; remove from heat and set aside.

Wash the peel well using a veggie brush then slice into thin threads. Put peel, salt, add water to just cover in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and drain; repeat this step 1 more time.

Return the drained peel to a small saucepan, add the syrup to just cover and boil over medium heat until translucent. Let cool and cover (with syrup) overnight.




一年中就屬十一﹑十二﹑一月這些時候最得我心了。無他﹐因像有過不完的節日是的(笑)。想說剛剛才過完西方的聖誕﹑新年﹑可過幾天又是農曆新年了﹐可樂了我~

自踏入冬天﹐我就很少打理后花園那些花花草草﹐不過因為新年的關係﹐在過去的這個週末就想清理一下好去舊迎新。走進花園映入眼前的是顏色鮮艷的各色柑橘類的果樹﹐原來它們都結滿了果實﹐有檸檬﹐柚子跟橘子等。媽媽說現在是柑橘的季節﹐所以都結果了。果實看起來實在是太飽滿了﹐打掃中途忍不住摘了個橘子來吃﹐味道還不賴不過偏酸﹐覺得比較適合用來製作果醬。剛好我在為該做什麼樣的拜年糕點拌手禮而頭痛﹐突然想到我該用這些橘子跟朋友由佛羅里達州帶回來的金桔作為食材。記得Hidemi Sugino’s The Dessert Book 中有多個柑橘甜點的做法﹐決定做什麼後馬上翻食譜去。

想想大可做我去年烤過的桔香小蛋糕﹐不過那實在需要烤多次才能達到我要的數量﹐決定做比較有份量的磅蛋糕。原食譜是用蠶豆茸(改天一定要試做)﹐我改以加入用糖漿煮過的橘子皮及金桔及刷一點橘味白蘭地酒好讓味道更突出﹐不過麵糊base做法還是源用Sugino大師的。味道做出來是我的那杯茶﹐是一種樸素而簡單的蛋糕﹐但是味道很紮實﹐可以享受到柑橘獨特的香味。最適合午後配杯紅茶享用喔~



柑橘風味磅蛋糕
磅蛋糕模具4in x 2in x 5¾in 6個

200g 無鹽奶油﹐室溫放軟﹑切片
280g 糖粉
7個 全蛋﹐L尺寸
200g 杏仁粉
140g 麵粉
80g 糖漬橘子皮粗泥
3g 發酵粉/ 泡打粉
適量 糖漬金桔
適量 開心果仁碎
適量 刷塗用橘味白蘭地酒

事前準備:
- 先把奶油從冰箱取出﹐使恢復為室溫。用手指戳一下奶油﹐變軟即可。
- 模具抹上厚厚的奶油﹐備用。
- 將一烤架移到烤箱中間﹐烤箱預熱至340F/170C。

要注意什麼呢?
- 麵糊攪拌至飽含空氣後立刻烘烤。
- 烤箱應不同制造商﹐溫度有異哦﹗記住烘烤時間只是參考而以﹗

混合篩過杏仁粉﹑麵粉﹑發酵粉﹐備用。用食物處理器將糖漬橘子皮磨打約一分鐘至粗泥狀後﹐移至碗中備用。

用電動攪拌器以中速把糖和奶油打至融合﹐分數次加入雞蛋﹐每加一次攪打數秒至融合。跟著小量地加入混合篩過後的粉類﹐每加一次都必須攪打均勻﹐至呈順滑麵糊狀。將麵糊倒進裝有橘子皮粗泥的碗中﹐用橡皮刀源邊往下刮翻拌勻。將麵糊倒入沒有擠嘴的擠花袋裡﹐剪去一角﹐將麵糊擠進烤模中至約8分滿﹐輕輕叩幾下釋放氣泡﹐放3 - 4塊糖漬金桔在上﹐最後撒些開心果仁碎。

放進預熱過的烤箱裡﹐烘烤約25分鐘至金黃色。用竹籤插入中央﹐慢慢拔出時不會沾黏﹐就烤好了。從烤箱取出﹐擺在網架上稍微放涼﹐翻轉倒扣﹐然後在蛋糕表面刷一點橘味白蘭地酒後整個放涼。

糖漬橘子皮
100g 橘子皮
½茶匙 鹽巴

糖漿:
100g 砂糖
100g 清水

製作糖漿: 將水和砂糖倒進小鍋裡﹐開中火煮沸後離火備用。

將橘子皮洗乾淨﹐抹乾﹐切成絲﹐備用。

將橘子皮﹑ ¼ 茶匙的鹽巴﹑適量的水(蓋過橘子皮即可)以中火煮沸﹐撈起橘子皮﹐倒掉熱水﹐擠掉水份﹐再重複一次這個去水份的做法。將橘子皮和糖漿混合倒進小鍋以中火煮沸後繼續煮至變透晶瑩為止。在常溫中放涼置一晚。將橘子皮跟小量的糖漿倒進密閉容器中冷藏存放。

I ♥ Napa Valley ~ 酒鄉之旅

I want to share with you the wonderful Napa Valley trips I took back during the week of New Year with some lovely people. It is truly a beautiful place to spend a relaxing weekend especially during early summer. I’ve been to the wine county several times but have never written about the places that I visited. Although it should be included on your Napa’s things-to-do, there is more to do than just wine tasting. Take a look at this site for the Musts when you’re there.

My original plan for the week was to head down to LA to hunt for fabrics for a project and to visit a friend who moved there recently but it got cancelled last minute. I didn’t want to spend my vacation sitting at home so I rallied up cousins and friends and headed to Napa.





First stop was Thomas Keller’s charming Bouchon Bakery in Yountville (outposts in Las Vegas & NYC too), which is right next door to his Bouchon Bistro. A trip to the bakery has been planted in my mind since I bought this beautiful book - Indulge by Claire Clark (Head Pastry Chef at Bouchon’s brother restaurant – The French Laundry), which I am still yet to try all those yummy recipes in the book!



There were 3 of us so together we ordered a couple pastries to share and my favorite was the butter croissant; it was just delish! My brother and cousin loved the chocolate croissant, the pear tartlette, and the lemon meringue tartlet =) If you don’t live locally or won’t be visiting anytime soon, you can have a taste of their yummy treat - Chocolate Bouchon Mix, which they sell exclusively at Williams-Sonoma’s.





Next stop was the Dean & Deluca gourmet market in St. Helena, which by the way is only 15 minutes drive from the bakery and right across the street from the V. Sattui Winery. After discovering this store from my trip to NYC last winter, I have fallen madly deeply in love with this place!! Everywhere the eye could see, there was food -- fresh seasonal produce, a cheese counter, fresh bread, a meat counter, a chocolate and confectionary case, olives, foie gras, black truffles, Mariages Frères tea, Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract, edible gold/silver, a wine store, and a lot of imported foods and spices; this was a gourmand's dream store! There also was a gadget wall, a bakeware shelf, a deli, a small café, and a wine store stretched out on the other side of the store that offers wine tasting and housed many large format bottles and unique or rare wines.



We spent an hour in the store, wandering around, adding goodies into my basket left and right and by the time I was at the cashier – it was overflowing! I know from now on this is a place I will return often to restock hard-to-find ingredients.



We stopped at Buster’s Southern Barbeque in Calistoga for our late lunch. I have been dreaming of their Tri-Tip sirloin steak since my brother brought some home on his last Napa trip - so tender and juicy – just to die for! We killed a whole sirloin steak within 20 minutes^^





We stopped by the downtown area near St. Helena because it was lined with beautiful stores and restaurants. However, we didn’t realize they were closing the door early for the holiday so I only get to do window shopping! I suppose I can stop by next time. We called a day at about 4pm because I have to make it home to join friends for the count down for New Year, which we did so over wine and this yummy treat that I whipped up =)



Fast forward a couple days - I was up in Napa again but this time with a group of friends. They wanted to visit wineries and to stock up wines for the upcoming Lunar New Year and of course, house parties. Since many are fans of the V. Sattui Winery, we stopped there first. While they were wine tasting, I was out snapping pictures and sneaking out to the Dean & Deluca store right across the street to buy the fruit purees that I forgot to pick up.









We enjoyed a light picnic of bread, artichoke cheese dip, chicken salad and sips of Gamay Rouge - 1 of the 3 winning rosé wine that is bursting with ripe strawberry flavors - at the winery. It was great time spent with lovely people. We then moved onto Robert Mondavi Winery.









Founded in 1966, the winery's beautiful architecture reflects the missions of early California history. Out in the back of the building, there is a sitting area over looking the vineyard and a beautiful, small but bountiful garden where organic veggies were grown. It sort of reminded me of Jamie Oliver’s garden. It was just a lovely sight! We went to another winery afterward, which I didn’t catch the name. It was closed for the holiday so I didn’t get to explore! Oh well, there is always next time =)







The sun was already setting when we left Napa to go back home, good time always fly without one ever know it ;)

Sablés au thé vert ~ 富傳奇色彩的抹茶餅乾

The shortbread cookie you see here is legendary and has a cult followings. It is so good that it won itself a Golden Scoop Award, not to mention that it is insanely popular among many food bloggers (you can find the list here) . It is not difficult to understand why after eating a few (Okay, I lied. It was more like a few dozens!). These cookies are the creation of Kelli, the owner of Amai Tea & Bake House in New York City. She has posted the recipe to her blog – Lovescool – some time back and I bet it was due to popular requests by fans^^

I didn’t learn of her shop and the cookies until I seen it here years after she posted the recipe. I immediately fell in love with the elegant packaging hoping that I can have a taste of them. You can imagine how happy I was when I found out that she has posted the recipe to her blog!

To my surprise (and everyone else), the recipe called for ingredients that I already have and the instruction was easy to follow. However, it does take time (patience too) to do the chill – cut – chill dough process though your work will be rewarded! Also, the quality of matcha plays a major role here as it is the main flavoring. I strongly advise that you use the best quality of matcha that you can find or afford. I used matcha from Uji, the area known to produce the finest matcha in Japan and the world. You certainly can taste the differences between so so and premium matcha. The color definitely shown too – better quality matcha equals more brilliant color.



These cookies are just as good as everyone promised and more! They are exceptionally delicate, crumbly and have a distinctive matcha aroma and the most brilliant shade of jade! The recipients of these cookies can’t agree more - I baked these cookies as holiday treats to friends along with the icebox cookies that everyone raved about^^

Btw, I must have baked hundred dozens because I was forever “tasting” the cookies so it seem like I don’t ever have enough to pack the boxes ;)

Sablés au thé vert – makes 2 dozens

I thought you should know:
- Make sure to press the cookie cutter hard into the dough to get a clean cut. Take care to keep the shape by shaking the cutter slightly before pushing out the dough.
- Matcha tends to fade when exposed to sunlight so store the cookies in container that blocks out sunlight to preserve the color.

Recipe

Happy baking!




你現在看到的抹茶餅乾可是大有來頭極富盛名的哦﹗美味到贏取獎項及擁有為數龐大的粉絲團﹐更是很多網友及food bloggers(點這裡)的最愛。我想那也是應該的因為它是位於紐約市的Amai Tea & Bake House 的鎮店之寶。當初在這裡看到這家店的產品介紹時就被它清雅的包裝所吸引﹐很想每一樣都咬上一口。而當我品嘗後就明白它的魅力所在了。不像我吃過的只有綠色卻無抹茶味的成品﹐Amai的抹茶餅乾極具抹茶的清香獨特風味﹐讓人吃到停不了口。可是它的價錢也不便宜﹐3個小餅乾盛惠$3.50﹐所以不能天天買。當我由他人口中知道Kelli﹐Amai的老闆娘將食譜上載到她的部落格時我可開心的咧。。呵呵呵呵。。。

跟著食譜不僅做出了那個讓我難忘的味道﹐還比我吃過的更酥脆﹗食譜也沒有想像中的困難讓我頗驚訝的。想說一定是加了什麼特別的材料才能做出那麼讓人難忘的味道﹐可是沒有﹗我想食材都是用頂級的﹐就算是簡單的材料也能做出那麼美味讓人魂牽夢寐的成品。因為這餅乾的特色是它的香氣﹐所以抹茶的品質是舉足輕重的。購買抹茶時不要吝惜錢﹐品質越高的抹茶越發凸顯香氣﹐顏色越是翠綠﹐成品就越出色。

美味的東西當然要和家人﹑朋友分享所以特地烤了上百的餅乾在過去的這個聖誕送人。我烤了很多次才籌夠數﹐因為每次餅乾一烤好都給我吃了一半﹗就是忍不住口﹐希望你會比我有自制力 ^__~

抹茶小知識:
抹茶具有極高的蛋白質、氨基酸、維生素、礦物質和葉綠素的含量很高。具有清熱解毒、生津止渴、抗疲勞、醒酒消醉、降血壓、防衰老、明目清肝的保健功能。雖然具有這麼多保健功能﹐據中醫師說抹茶屬寒涼物﹐體質屬涼性的人應少喝為妙。多喝會造成血氣不流暢﹐臉色蒼白。



抹茶餅乾 - 餅乾的數量就要看餅乾模了
食譜來自Lovescool

¾ 杯 糖粉或細砂糖
150g 無盬奶油 (室溫放軟, 切丁)
1 ¾ 杯 麵粉
3個 L尺寸蛋黃
1.5湯匙 抹茶 (我用的是宇治抹茶)
1杯 砂糖 (包裹麵團用)

要注意什麼呢?
- 用餅乾模具吸出麵糰時一定要大力的按下出﹐左右要幾下﹐這樣麵團才會輕易的脫出。
- 抹茶遇熱後顏色會變淡﹐所以記得將放涼後的餅乾存放在不透光的容器裡。

將抹茶和糖粉混合拌勻。將抹茶糖粉跟室溫放軟的奶油用電動攪拌器先以低速拌勻﹐改用中速打至蓬鬆且顏色變淡及一致。加入麵粉﹐攪打勻後加入蛋黃﹐拌成糰塊。

將麵糰放在撒上麵粉的工作台上﹐揉至軟滑成球狀。輕壓成扁圓片﹐蓋上保鮮膜﹐放進冰箱靜置30分鐘醒麵。

烤箱預熱至350°F/180°C。在餅乾烤盤上鋪上烤盤紙﹐備用。取出麵糰﹐放在撒上麵粉的工作台上﹐將麵糰桿成約厚3/8in的薄片後用餅乾模具吸出麵糰﹐然後放到盛著砂糖的碗中讓麵團完全包裹著砂糖。有間距地排放在鋪了烤盤紙的烤盤上﹐放入烤箱烤15分鐘或是烤到餅乾週邊變金黃色就可以了。烤好後記住要在鋼架放涼﹐否則口感沒那麼酥脆。