Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Chinese Noodles

MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK NOODLES

Believe it or not, these noodles came from a dollar instant bowl...I simply jazzed it up by adding some Japanese flakes which I got from Japan in April '10 on my way back here...The brand of these noodles is Nissin Chicken Teriyaki flavor and this is what I would normally eat on weekends when i'm too lazy to prepare for lunch...It's something very quick and easy to prepare and for some reason, it's very satisfying and comforting...

It was in the summer of '10 when I took these pictures...I was off from school the whole summer and I had just bought the camera...Still exploring the settings, so I tried Macro mode for these shots...I was really pleased with the outcome, my dollar noodles looked more than Ten dollars...What a difference garnishing makes, plus, it tastes as good as it looks...Could you imagine how fast I had to eat this right after the shooting? In just a minute or two...C'mon, I was hungry from taking photos and I had to eat it while it's still warm...I could've reheated it but I didn't, it's summer and who wants to eat hot meal on a hot summer day?

I'm glad I have these curved bowls which I got from Marshall's for four dollars each, not bad huh? And I got the mug with Chinese characters from Hong Kong in April '10, while the red sauce jar is from Crate and Barrel which I filled with soy sauce...The red tray? Guess my husband got it in Thailand or somewhere in Asia...We love Asian art and decor especially antiques, too bad, my husband had sold most of them when he moved back here from Asia...He had nowhere to store them...I even saw some of the pieces when we visited one of his friends...

Anyway, noodles and rice are my kind of food...I remember eating instant noodles for lunch almost everyday when I was in Asia and my boss told me that it's not good for the health...I know it's not but it's so addictive...I also remember stopping by any convenience store for cup noodles...Something very easy & fast to grab when you're on the go...In Asia, you can get more flavors and much better quality...It just tastes so different back home...


But these noodles come really close to the ones I used to eat in Asia...I love to doctor it up by adding some kecap manis, sesame and chili oil to make it more authentic...And I always make sure that I have them in my pantry all the time...


Sweets and Savory Savvy: Mariano's Buttered Chicken

Sweets and Savory Savvy: Mariano's Buttered Chicken

Sweets and Savory Savvy: Pumpkin Cheesecake

Sweets and Savory Savvy: Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cheesecake

AUTUMN STILL LINGERS

I made Blintzes on Friday at school for our vegetarian dish and I filled it with Cream Cheese-Pumpkin mixture...I made the Crepe batter 2 days ahead (Wednesday) then made the Crepe the next day (Thursday) with my assistant Will...We don't have a Crepe pan so we used 3 none stick pans and in 30 minutes, we made atleast 70 Crepes...I used the Williams-Sonoma recipe for the Crepe batter...I had some left over mixture and so I decided to make a Pumpkin Cheesecake...I really didn't follow any recipe for the Cheesecake...I just mixed cream cheese, eggs, sugar, Pumpkin puree (I used Libby's) some grated Nutmeg, some lemon juice and Vanilla together...No precise measurement, just eyeballed everything...Tasted it, filled the Crepes and baked them...

For the Cheesecake, we didn't have Graham crackers in the pantry...Then I saw these broken pieces of Spiced Apple Muffins in a container that were baked by the Culinary Students on Thursday night, so I thought, why not use them for the crust? I ground them up and added some melted butter so they will keep together in the bottom of the pan...I baked it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so...Not even on a bain-marie which most bakers would do...



I thought the Cheesecake turned out the way I liked...The top looks golden, just a slight crack to the side...My colleague Elvia asked if we could try it, but I never let her because I had planned to take it home and take pictures of it...It was close to sunset, so I hurriedly set the table in the sun room while still light out, gathered all my props-my Autumn napkins for the table cover, polished the silver (been in the box for years) and cut some flowers, Mums, perfect for my tiny vase...Well, it's winter and the sun is not as bright but no frets, anything 's possible now with editing...





The flash fired in this shot (below)...I didn't have a choice, it was getting dark...I tried with the room's light on, it didn't turn out well, a little yellowish...




Of course, I had to try it after the session and it tasted really good, although, the flavor of the crumbs dominated with all the spices mixed in...Once again, it felt like Autumn in the middle of Winter...I wish!