Molecular cuisine

法國科學家Herve This及物理學家Nicholas Kurti於一九八○年所提出分子分解學（Molecular Gastronomy），及後由西班牙名廚Ferran Adria發揚光大，成為分子分解料理，其概念是用科學方式破解食物分子的物理及化學原理，找出最理想的烹調方法及溫度，把食物改變成意想不到的形態。例如把甘筍汁變成魚子的賣相，把龍蝦變成泡沫，但入口卻是原材料的味道。
炮製分子分解料理不可缺少的必須品，由左至右分別是內附針筒、量匙等工具的Eines、具定形作用的Calcic、防止食物變色的Citras，以及把流質食物變成糊狀的Algin。

Why Michelin?

米芝蓮(Michelin)是法國一間生產輪胎的公司，早年生產單車及汽車的輪胎，亦曾為一級方程式賽車專門製造輪胎。除了供應車胎外，亦以出版旅遊指南及有專業的餐廳評級而聞名。最早的《米芝蓮指南》於1900年在法國發行，是由米芝蓮輪胎公司印製給汽車駕駛做爲行路的指南，提供有關在法旅遊的資料，包括寄存及車輛維修、住宿、餐飲、以及郵遞、電報和電話服務等。

《米芝蓮指南》的誕生，本意是為廣告工具，把其輪胎事業與旅遊牽上關係。回顧1895年，米芝蓮以剛發明的充氣輪胎參加巴黎到波爾多間的汽車比賽，開始注意到長途駕車需要周全的旅遊指南。那個時代，觀光旅遊業尚未萌芽；但米芝蓮創辨人艾德華‧米芝蓮(douard Michelin)及安德烈‧米芝蓮(Andr Michelin)兄弟早已看準汽車旅遊的發展，如果能讓汽車旅遊發展蓬勃，同時亦可提高公司輪胎的銷售量。故而在1900年決定推出第一本方便旅客的旅遊指南―Guide Michelin，並免費派發
這本400頁的口袋尺寸手冊，封面為紅色(故又稱Red Guide)，印量共三萬五千本，主要介紹1,400處鐵路和公路旁的旅館、飯店、火車站、零配件維修供應商店、維修組裝拆卸圖示等豐富內容；還有路途資訊如加油站、修車站、郵局、電報站、電話站、藥房等，讓開車者在遇到困難時可以得到補給和救援。經過多年，《米芝蓮指南》(現在美食指南多指紅色版本，為餐飲酒店介紹；綠色版本為旅遊介紹)已列出歐洲超過4萬5千間餐廳，而『出產地』法國的指南推出至今已售出超過3千萬本。2005年該指南首次踏足北美洲，出紐約(2005)及三藩市版本(2006)；2007年11月亦踏入亞洲市場，出東京篇，而日本是第22個被《米芝蓮指南》評選的國家。今年12月5日亦會推出香港澳門版本。

為什麼它具有權威指標作用？
(1)自1920年起，它已不再接受任何廣告。其宗旨改為極力保持獨立性，以確保調查的中立和可信性。故指南被大衆譽爲「嚴肅和可靠」的刊物；紅皮書多年來亦被美食專家視為「美食聖經」，贏得口碑。
(2)米芝蓮的評鑒多是在不事先告知的情況下，派不同的人進行多次秘密測試。
(3)爲了避免評鑒員和餐廳有所不法的勾當，評鑒員每年都要輪調評鑒的區域，每位全職評審每年旅遊30,000公里。
(4)評鑒員都是受過嚴格訓練、經驗豐富的專家。現在米芝蓮內負責當美食偵探的團隊有80多人，他們都是有著15年以上餐飲業的工作經驗的專業人員，並且也有著五大洲不同的文化和生活背景。他們貫徹米芝蓮的評審標準，相當嚴謹，甚至近乎苛刻。

http://www.michelinguide.com/us/guide.html

'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' Trailer

Lately I've been watching so many movies... thanks to my hubby for a new TV and blue ray stuffs that keeps me busy. There'll be a new movie coming in fall, it's too cute not to be watched! and it's about food! haha!!

Okonomiyaki

Tonight I've finally made an Okonomiyaki!! This is one of my favourite Japanese dish that I always want to eat, however, not many restaurants are serving this dish for some reason. Okonomiyaki means 'cook as you like', it's definetly not a difficult dish to make, because there's ready mix powder available in the supermarket nowadays, so I only need to mix the powder with water and eggs to make the batter, then add cabbage, green onion, favourite seafood or meat, then pan fried and spread japanese mayonnaise and pancake sauce, and sprinkle dried bonito fish flakes when ready to serve.

Happy Valentine's dinner

This year, we celebrated Valentine day's with movie and dinner at home. We bought fresh oysters from Diana seafood market, and rack of lamb from Costco. Then we prepared dinner together and had a yummy and relaxing night!

I marinated the lamb with mix of french dijon mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, herbs, salt and pepper. It is the simpliest way to marinate the lamb, 15 mins, then bake at 375 F for 20 minutes, that's all!

Lobster in two sauces

Last weekend I was craving for lobster! So I bought 2 live lobsters from supermarket. I didn't have time to shop for a bigger lobster at other market, so I just bought the biggest one from there... only 1.5 lb! =( I've made butter & garlic sauce and onion & cheese sauce, they both turns out pretty good, but my hubby likes the stronger flavor of the cheese sauce.

1. Wash lobster and cut the lobster on diagonal, clean and remove the dark vein that runs the length of the tail, but you can keep the mushy green stuff, which is called the tomalley—the lobster’s liver and it tastes very good!
2. Butter & Garlic sauce: Sprinkle salt & black pepper on the lobster. In a sauce pan, saute butter and minced garlic until golden brown. Set aside and wait till it's cooled, then pour the sauce on lobster.
3. Onion & Cheese sauce: In a sauce pan, pan fried onion with butter until soft. Add splash of white wine (optional), then add salt, pepper and herbs (optional). Pour spoonful of milk and flour into the cooked onion to make a think sauce. Pour the sauce on lobster and put cheese on top.
4. Baked lobster at 380 degree F for 20-25 minutes.

Chinese Turnip Cake 蘿蔔糕

This is my second time to make the Chinese Turnip Cake, but because first time I made it was at least 7 years ago, so I don't have the recipe anymore. Glad that I found a good one on internet, and this is is much better and easier than last time! My hubby enjoyed it alot, so I've attached the recipe and link below. Don't forget to check out the pictures of my yummy 蘿蔔糕!!

蘿蔔糕 (阿蘇家姐提供)材料：大蘿蔔七斤、粘米粉一包(減一碗) 、澄麵一碗、香菇、臘腸八至十條、乾貝十至十二顆、蔥粒調味料︰蠔油三分之一瓶、鹽四茶匙、古月粉大量做法1. 把蘿蔔磨成絲 (Actually I hand cut it into thin stripe)，蘿蔔滲出的水留著備用2. 乾貝泡水後在表面加水蒸約二十分鐘，撕成絲，留下乾貝水備用3. 把蘿蔔絲下鍋煮，熄火後下鹽、蠔油及三湯匙乾貝水4. 炒香臘腸粒及香菇粒，再連同蔥粒一起加進蘿蔔絲裡拌勻，下古月粉調味5. 拌勻粘米粉和澄麵，隔著篩子慢慢加進蘿蔔絲裡拌勻6. 把所有材料倒進已掃油的糕盤裡，蒸約四十分鐘，最後加上芝麻、紅棗、蔥花點綴

http://soszewong.blogspot.com/2009/01/good02.html

芋頭糕 & 年糕

PES

I found couple of intersting videos produced by PES (http://www.eatpes.com/), they called those are 'Twisted films'. I'm so amazed by their creativity and efforts in making those clips, I've attached two of their famous clips 'Western Spaghetti ' and 'Pancakes for your face' which each has over 2 million hits on you tube!!!

Cupcake Falls in Love with Squash in 'Sweet Dreams'

I found this animation video about a cupcake goes on a journey away from its world of candies and sweets and accidentally ends up an unknown land of naked fruits and vegetables... yes, I know it sounds weird... but some people may find it's cute...

Oysterlicious!!!

Sometimes I'll have some oyster-lover friends come over to our house for a oyster dinner, we would buy dozens of oyster from the market or distributors, and then do the cleaning and shucking by ourselves. Although it takes lots of work and time, however it's much cheaper and more fun to do it this way! I want to recommend a market that offers good selection of fresh oyster with reasonable price: http://www.dianasseafood.com/
And I found a very good video for beginner to learn how to shuck an oyster:

White chocolate mousse ~~

I just got this picture back from my colleague, it's the birthday cake that I made for my colleague. My first White Chocolate Mousse Cake with oreo base and fresh strawberry decoration.

Pumpkin Day again...

The judging is today... however our first pumpkin has been shrinked at least 30%... and we don't want our team to look bad... we've carved another pumpkin today!! As this is the second time we do it, so we only spent half of the time compared to the last one... We like our pumpkin, but we cannnot admit that the other groups have so many good ideas and skills! So, we lose... but we learned how to carve a pumpkin!! haha...

Pumpkin day!

Today is my first time to carve a pumpkin!! It's actually our annual fall employee activity within our division. Our team was assigned a theme 'PROMOTER", therefore we've decided to put a cheerful big SMILE and with all the TD's accessories around it. So, let's see what the judge think on the coming Friday!

Cool stuffs ~~

Sushi maker; Pizza oven; Food package; Crumb-proof keyboard napkin; Playful toaster; Strawberry USB; Fish cake USB; Cookie USB

Dealzmodo: Ultimate Never Leave Home Food Kit!!!

Maybe we should consider this new emergency product...

There's nothing worse than having to leave the comfort of your closed blinds and glowing computer in order to get dressed and and go outside on a sunny day just to pick up something to eat. Consolidate your trips with this emergency food kit. Lasting up to 20 years, the bucket contains 275 meals worth of sustenance so you never have to leave the house. And since you save $10 by ordering online, you could potentially never need to leave your house again. So here's your menu for the next few months:

30 Servings - Potato Bakon ; 25 Servings - Corn Chowder; 25 Servings - Ala King; 25 Servings - Cacciatore; 25 Servings - Western Stew; 25 Servings - Country Noodle; 25 Servings - Rice Lentil; 45 Servings - Whey Milk; 25 Servings - Blueberry Pancakes; 25 Servings - Barley Vegetable

God's Pharmacy!

It's been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, created animals and fish... all before making a human. He made and provided what we'd need before we were born. The following are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We're such slow learners...God left us a great clue as to what foods help which part of our body!

God's Pharmacy! Amazing!

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye ... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and functioning of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23 % sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts .

Onions look like the body's cells. Research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous radicals from the body.

Happy Birthday to me!

Winnie-the-pooh ice-cream cake from Dairy Queen

Thank you for all your wishes, gifts, cards, hugs, kisses and more... !!!
Since this is my food blog, I just want to share some pictures of the food I ate on my birthday celebration.

A day before my birthday, we had lunch at Lemon grass in downtown: http://www.springrolls.ca
Dinner at The Bluestone Bistro: http://www.thebluestonebistro.com/

Favourite Pork Chop bun and Red Bean drink for lunch at Phoenix Restaurant; Dinner at Gal sushi; Dessert is Gelato bought from PIAZZA.

Famous food in Beijing tour

I read this from web, it's so funny! I'll go to Beijing to traval in November, probably I'll eat thoses food, but hopefully she won't be my tour guide... haha!

靚女導遊叫[狐狸精]
有一次當Sam參加北京旅行團，有個北京靚女當導遊，阿Sam心諗今次無死啦，靚女導遊仲講中文，阿Sam覺得好親切。靚女導遊開始自我介紹：「咁多位道友你地好，我叫狐狸精。」（咁多位團友你地好，我叫胡麗貞）女團友一聽到就牛咁眼望住自己老公/男友。第二日，導遊話：「好喇咁多位道友，今日我要帶你地去試下北京馳名既路邊狗屎，跟住帶你地上天堂」（好喇咁多位團友，今日我要帶你地去試下北京馳名既爐邊餃子，跟住帶你地上天壇）團中有個阿婆一聽到直情激動到連鞋都飛出黎。阿婆好激動話：「我Ｅ家俾錢黎旅行呀！食咩狗屎？上咩天堂呀？」食店入面：北京導遊同頭先個阿婆笑笑口講：「阿婆，你痴完未呀？」（阿婆，你吃完未呀？）阿婆心諗：（你又發咩神經呀？）好唔耐煩答：「未呀~」導遊話：「你快Ｄ死啦~你死坐走倍ａ上天堂啦!你仲唔痴快Ｄ？！」（你快Ｄ食啦~你遲左九倍ａ上天壇啦！你仲唔吃快Ｄ~）之後個阿婆冇再理過個導遊第三日，導遊話：「各位道友，今日我要帶你地去買Ｄ有特色既手信，望下你地右手邊Ｄ死八婆」（各位團友，今日我要帶你地去買Ｄ有特色既手信，望下你地右手邊Ｄ水蜜桃）有Ｄ飲緊水既團友聽到佢咁講野，即刻噴水滿頭問號：「咩死八婆話？！」跟住佢地就一致決定投訴，告個導遊既服務態度好有問題。

When is my next baking class??

I've been waiting for the newly renovated George Brown Chef school to finish for the whole summer... and I was planning to take my second baking course in the Fall term starting in September...
Unfortunately, I found the Cake course that I want to take has conflict with my HK trip!!!!! =(
Oh well... let's hope my next year's schedule can match the course... I really want to keep learning... and cook in the 'high-tech' kitchen... (SAD....)

Modern Moon Cake... want a piece???

Give thanks to my dear friend June to forward this advertisement to me!

My first Duck Breast

I almost forgot to post the picture of my first Duck Breast that I cooked last month! I always want to try to cook it at home because I love eating duck breast so much! Luckily, I found the boneless duck breast at the supermarket, although it is frozen one, I think it's a good chance for me to try by only paying $6!
I searched the recipe online and finally decided to use fresh apriocot to make the sauce instead of using the raseberries /orange which is more commonly used. We think it turns out pretty good, and because of the sweetness level of the apricot is not too high, therefore it won't overpower the dish. I think I'll cook till medium done and maybe try with other sauce. If you're interested to know how to prepare it, you can go to this web site: http://fotocuisine.com/2008/06/22/apricot-and-ginger-duck-breast-with-duck-fat-potato-crisps/

Pan seared duck breast with giner-apricot sauce & fresh potato chips

Read the Numbers on Your Fruit

Today, I've received a forwarded email from my friend about the lables on the fruit. I've done a search further on the web to verify and they're all referring to the same source as below:

'The sticker labels on fruit: The numbers tell you how the fruit was grown. Conventionally grown fruit has four digits; organically grown fruit has five and starts with a nine; genetically engineered has five numbers and starts with an eight.'

Bon Appétit !

To me, French Cuisine is very romantic, artistic, diverse and imaginative. I think most people would agree with me that eating at a French restaurant can be very expensive due to the high quality of food, good service and impressive atmosphere. Also, if you don't know French, it could seem intimidating. Therefore, I've searched a list of terms in French menu, I hope it could be helpful for you!

Le pain / bread
La Soupe / soup

La salade/ salad

La viande / meat

Le poulet / chicken

Le poisson / fish

L'hamburger / hamburger

Les légumes (m) / vegetables

Les frites (f) / Chips or French fried potatoes

Le riz / rice

Le café / coffee

Le thé / tea

Le lait / milk

L'eau (f) / water

Le vin / wine
Du vin rouge/ red wine
Du vin blanc/ white wine
Une biere/ a beer

Le fruit / fruit

Le jus de fruit / fruit juice

Also, recently I've been to a few French restaurants in Toronto which serves good food but at a reasonable price, maybe you can give them a try someday.

Mid-price cozy french restaurants:

Le Paradis

Provence

Marcels

'Fancy' restaurants$$... with good food and service:

Auberge du Pommier

THUET

Bioplastic: Enviormentally unfriendly??!

I've been trying to bring my own shopping bag when I do grocery and shopping. I think it's the best way to save some plastic bags. And I've read an article about food crisis... and it's related to the Bioplastic bag.

"About those bioplastic bags - you know, the ones you've been using to assuage your eco-conscious guilt - turns out not only are they not as green as you think, they could also be partially responsible for the global food crisis. A worldwide effort by bag-heavy industries to replace petroleum-based plastics with plant-based plastics could actually lead to more environmental problems, according to a study by the Guardian UK.
The bags, made from sugarcane, corn or wheat, can increase greenhouse gas emissions because they require higher temperatures to decompose. Even the biodegradable versions don't disintegrate as planned when thrown into the anaerobic environment of a landfill. The lack of oxygen causes the bags to release methane, which is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
They also tend to screw up recycling operations by contaminating the waste stream and making regular recycled plastics unsaleable. Recycling companies would need to invest in extremely expensive equipment to extract bioplastic packaging from regular waste.
Not to mention, bioplastics also compete for land with food and biofuel. The industry, which is growing by 20 to 30% a year, may take over several million more acres of farmland within the next half decade. With rising food prices set to push another 100 million people into poverty, maybe it's time everyone just ditched plastics all together." http://gizmodo.com/384417/bioplastics-environmentally-unfriendly-contributing-to-the-food-crisis

Food crisis solution: Go vegan

As we all worried about the oil crisis, I think food crisis is a bigger problem.

I've read an article about eating less meat and dairy products can help on food crisis, I want to share with you because I truly think it's workable and good for us: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/06/17/future_of_food/
It's time for us to stop, think and ACTION.

If you want to know more about food crisis, you can check out from these links:
Financial Post: http://www.financialpost.com/analysis/story.html?id=75d38e8e-7d7e-440e-a318-9b60687e11a1&k=55279
Time: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1684910,00.html

Irresistible Tiramisu

I've been working in a new department for 5 months already, and I'm very happy that I've made many new friends (co-workers). As all of us are in similar age, so we get along very well that we like to do lots of activities outside of work hours... like golfing, tennis, dinner, shopping etc..

Moreover, I can practice my baking skills by making birthday cake for my co-workers, and I really treasure this opportunity which it'll help to improve my skills! Last month, I've made a Banana Oreo Cheesecake for the birthday guy, and this month, I've made a Tiramisu for my trainer! I'm very happy that they enjoyed it alot! and I've promised my co-worker to post the recipe here, hope you'll enjoy making it and your friends will like it!

Ingredients:
3 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup (250ml) mascarpone cheese, 1 cup whipping cream, 1 cup of expresso or strong coffee mix with 1/4 cup of kahlua or coffee liquor, 36-40 lady fingers (approx. 3 pkg), good quality cocoa powder.

Tool: Big bowl, Whisk or electronic hand/stand mixer, Measuring cup, Deep dish or cake ring.

Steps:

1- In a big bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar until sugar has dissolved. Then add the mascarpone cheese and mix well. Set aside.
2 - Use another bowl, beat the whipping cream into stiff peaks. When done, gently fold into the cheese mixture from step 1.
3- Spread the layer of cheese mixtrue over the bottom of the dish.
4- Dip the ladyfingers into the coffee and coffee liquor (Don't over dip it, you only need to coat both side, don't oversoak it)
5- Arrange a layer of dipped ladyfingers close together in the dish (You may need to break them to fit the shape of your dish)
6- Cover with another layer of cheese mixture, then another layer of ladyfingers. Repeat the layers, finishingwith cheese mixture on top, smooth the top and chilled for at least 4 hours.
7 - Before serving, dust with cocoa powder generously.

Fun Baking with cousin

Today my lovely cousin had came over to our place to do some baking with me. As she doesn't have much baking tools, therefore we chose the very simple recipe to work on. We've made a Iced Cappuccino Cheesecake in a cup/ramekin, and Macaroons in 3 different flavours: Coconut, Chocolate and Lemon. We'll bake something BIG next time for sure... haha... can't wait!

Macaroon was invented in an Italian, it is a common treat during the Jewish holiday of Passover, because they are unleavened and can be made freshly without leavened flour. It often use egg white, sugar, chocolate and nut, and it is a close relative of the meringue.

Happy Birthday JOY!

Tonight I have invited my close friends to our house, I've cooked dinner for them to celebrate their birthdays! We had a great time eating, chatting and watching movie together. Wish you two a happy birthday and all the best in this year!

Shrimp Ring; Chilled Cucumber Soup; Arugula salad with pear, avocado and cherry tomato; Sirloin Steak with Mushroom Risotto and Asparagus; Roasted Peach with ice-cream.