Taiwan: Part 6

Taiwan is full of little bakeries. They line the streets of Taipei. And luckily, there were some great ones right near our home in Taiwan. Here are some of the great baked goods we found and got to enjoy! We went to visit this bakery near the end of our trip in Taiwan.

We found another snack stand and was delighted to see our favorite treats. I brought a big bag home for everyone to share. I definitely miss seeing this on every street corner.

On our second to last night in Taiwan, my aunt made a super gourmet meal and taught me how to make each dish. I'll make sure to walk you all through these dishes. But for right now, here's a quick snapshot of her culinary genius. She made a wonderful grilled fish, green vegetables with dried fish, fried Taiwanese pork chops, and a beef kimchi stew. For dessert, we enjoyed a Taiwanese mango beer.

Taiwan: Part 5

A close friend of the family's took us out the next day to an upscale restaurant in Taiwan, the Ahmi Cafe. What a treat it was. A beautiful fusion of Asian and European cuisine. Looking at these pictures is making me hungry again! We started the meal with a delicious light spring salad and miso soup, then enjoyed a delicious grilled steak or seafood platter. Fresh fruit and a lovely cup of tea ended this delightful meal.

 

Afterwards, my mom and I ventured off to do a little shopping. We found a super cute kitty sitting on the check out counter of a jewelry store. She was just too cute to not post on this blog.

Later, we headed out to eat, again! This time we got beef noodle soup, philly cheese steak and fries (so funny!), and almond shaved ice and almond tofu dessert to top the evening. The beef noodle soup was completely different than the other we had, but just as delicious. You can get two types, super spicy or not spicy. I didn't have any philly cheese steak, but I did have some almondy desserts! :)

 

The almond shaved ice was just heavenly. I added red bean as my topping. It is a must try!

Taiwan: Part 4

We started another day in Taiwan with a visit to the Chiang Kai Shek memorial. No food, but still very worth sharing!

Afterwards, we headed over to a restaurant that serves modernized Taiwanese classics and I have to say, I was very impressed. It really does a great job elevating those traditional Taiwanese dishes, while still keeping those classic flavors. We got so many dishes: noodles with meat sauce, rice with meat sauce, fried tofu with chives, grilled milk fish, and fried baby oysters. Simply a wonderful meal.

Later that night, we enjoyed a homemade meal of hot pot, which is one of my favorite things of all time. Hot pot is exactly that; it's a hot pot with a delicious broth where we throw vegetables, meats, and all sorts of treats. Everyone picks from the hot pot so make sure you claim a good spot close to the pot, otherwise, you'll be out of luck! And make sure you prepare a great bowl of sauce. Use lots of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, chives, and hot pot sauce, and you're set!

Crockpot Beef Bourguignon

Hi, this is Tyler, this is my first guest post!  I've selected Beef Bourguignon, a very tasty dish.  This is the third time I've made it.  This dish originates in Burgundy and brings a deep richness of flavor via red wine.  I first had this dish after a long day of skiing in New Mexico and decided I had to make it myself.  My spin on it is intensely flavorful and relatively simple.

What You'll Need:
2 lbs cubed beef (very easy to find)
1 large yellow onion
1 package baby portobello mushrooms
1/2 bottle inexpensive Pinot Noir or Burgundy
2 shots brandy (optional)
1 small 6 oz can tomato paste (perfect size)
12 oz beef stock or top off crockpot
Salt
Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Garlic Powder
Celery Seed
Thyme
Oregano (I use a lot of seasoning in things)

Directions:
1. Place all the beef in a large frying pan.  Brown the meat on high heat, turning the chunks to brown each side.  Some pink on the inside is ok, it's going to be cooked for a long time in the crockpot.   

2. Dump all the meat into a pasta strainer.  This will drain off most of the drippings and make your final result healthier and less greasy. 

3. Dice the yellow onion and quarter the mushrooms.  Place these in the crockpot with the drained beef.  

4. Turn your crockpot on high as you prepare the liquid portion of the stew.  Pour in the red wine, the stock, the and scrape the tomato paste in.  Optionally add a small amount of brandy for intense flavor.  Stir it all together. 
5. Add all the seasonings.  For me I can never add too much dried oregano but be sure to get your salt level right and be sparing with the cayenne.  Taste the liquid and adjust accordingly, don't be alarmed by the "booziness," the alcohol will cook off. 

 

6. Top off your crockpot and set it to low.  Let it cook overnight or while you're at work, I usually put it in before bed.
7. When you come back to you have a huge batch of stew!  Like any stew it keeps well in the fridge, I get at least 4 servings out of this, if not more. Such a good value. 

Tom Kha Gai

I was strolling through the supermarket the other day and somehow I ended up in the international aisle. It must have been fate, since I had never really cooked outside of my comfort zone a.k.a mac and cheese, spaghetti and sauce, the occasional ramen noodle package, and of course, my favorite breakfast foods, eggs and bacon. It was daunting at first, but when I saw the cans of coconut milk on the bottom row hidden all the way in the corner, I instantly remembered some of my favorite savory Thai dishes, like panang curry and thai red curry chicken and my ultimate go to, tom kha soup. It was too late to go out for Thai, so adventurous me decided Ty and I were going to have tom kha soup for dinner that night.

Once I got home, I ventured far from my familiar and comfortable culinary world. I was definitely nervous. Some experiments in my kitchen have ended up in late night runs to the nearby Wendy's. But once that gas stove was lit and I started adding those fantastical ingredients of lime and lemongrass and ginger and chili, beautiful and intoxicating flavors filled the room. And let me tell you, each spoonful was even better than the last. Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

What you'll need:

1 can (14 fl. oz.) of Thai Kitchen Lite Coconut Milk, shake well before using

1 cup  of low sodium chicken broth

1 or 2 stocks of lemongrass, peel the layers away and slice very thin

Several slices of fresh ginger or ginger powder, use sparingly – pro chefs use galangal root instead, which is in the same family as ginger (I used ginger and it turned out great)

1 diced hot red pepper or a thai chili or even red chili powder - whatever your tastebuds prefer/can handle

1 or 2 tbsp of fish sauce - if you don’t have it, that’s ok! I didn’t and it still tasted great.

1 or 2 limes

1 or two chicken breasts or 1 pound of chicken thighs, which are cheaper, still considerably lean, and moister

1 tbsp of cornstarch

1 tsp of water

A package of white mushrooms

Dash of salt and pepper

A handful of cilantro

Directions:

1)      Add coconut milk, chicken broth, lemongrass, ginger, peppers, fish sauce and the freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime into a pot. Bring to a simmer.

2)      While heating the broth, prepare chicken into bite size pieces, approximately 1 inch .

3)      Once that’s complete, mix the corn starch with water. Coat the chicken sections with the corn starch mix to make the chicken extra tender and yummy.

4)      Add the chicken into the pot. Stir regularly.

5)      After a few minutes or so when the chicken begins turning white, add the mushrooms.

6)      Once chicken is cooked thoroughly, which should only take another few minutes, add a dash of salt and pepper. Taste to see if more lime juice or additional seasoning is needed.

7)      Remove from heat. Serve with cilantro on top. And if you dare, add some more chili for that extra kick.