Food – Page 14 – morestomach

gingerbread house

Published on December 20, 2015December 20, 2015 by Lan | MoreStomach6 Comments

you must know about
The Tiny House phenomena?
i talk often about one day
living in a hobbit house,
ideally with a vegetable garden right outside
and maybe mountains out back
until that can happen
i made a tiny house out of gingerbread
and gum.
because movita beaucoup is hosting
ginger 2015
and i wanted to drive my husband
and sister-wife-roomate crazy with my searches
for various gums.
afterall,
a Tiny House built together ….

for this year’s contestants, hit up movita beaucoup.
voting is now open and if you are impressed
that my Tiny House,
the abode of my dreams,
is on the cover of
Gingerbread Architect,
please do vote for me.
we’re in Group 6

Chocolate Espresso Dacquoise – lactose free

Published on December 16, 2015January 15, 2016 by Lan | MoreStomach4 Comments

did you watch the Great British Bake Off
earlier in the season?
are you watching the american dessert version now?
did you make your husband stream the recent british season?

i did/am doing all three.
then i re-watch an old season on netflix,
as well as a myriad of cooking/food shows
(as well THE BLACKLIST which befuddles me cus
i both hate it and love it)

this particular fancy concoction was
created on both the GBBO and America’s Test Kitchen.
obviously it had to be made.

nuria cried before and during the making
i cried before, but only because dw
gifted me a much desired gift,
this year has been so overfull with goodness
i can’t even begin to list them out.
instead, let’s have cake.

Chocolate Espresso Dacquoise – lactose free
adapted from America’s Test Kitchen

meringue
3/4 cup blanched sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
1 TBL cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

coco-cream
3/4 cup lactose free half/half
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 TBL water
1 1/2 TBL instant espresso powder
1 cup refined coconut oil, soft, but not liquid

ganache
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
3/4 cup lactose free half/half
2 tsp honey or maple syrup or agave nectar
12 whole hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
1 cup blanched sliced almonds, toasted

for meringue:
preheat oven to 250F. using pencil, draw 4 6″ circles on parchment paper. grease baking sheet and place parchment on it, ink side down.

in a food processor, whiz the almonds, hazelnuts, cornstarch and salt until finely ground. add 1/2 cup of sugar and pulse to combine. set aside.

in a stand mixer with whisk, whip the egg whites + cream of tarter until it’s foamy. increase speed and whip until soft, and while the mixer still running, add in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar until mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form.

carefully fold the nut mixture into egg whites in two batches.

with offset spatula, spread the meringue evenly onto the prepared circles on parchment, stay within the lines.

bake for 1 1/2 hours, turn off oven and cool for another 1 1/2 hours. do not open oven at any time. remove from oven and cool to room temp.

for coco-cream:
in a small sauce pan heat up half/half until barely simmering. in a bowl whisk the yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt until incorporated and smooth. remove half/half from heat, and while whisking constantly add a ladle-full of hot liquid into the yolk mixture to temper. keep whisking until liquid is incorporated. pour the tempered yolk-milk into the saucepan and return to heat, all the while whisking continuously, until mixture has thicked into pudding. transfer the pastry cream to bowl, cover and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

*when making the rest of the coco-cream, take the pastry cream out of the fridge and allow to get to room temp*

stir together the water + espresso powder, set aside.

in a stand mixer with paddle, beat the coconut oil until smooth, add the pastry cream in 2-3 batches. last add the espresso mixture and continue to beat until fully incorporated, scraping the bowl down often.

for ganache:
place chopped chocolate in heatproof bowl. warm up half/half and honey to simmer in small saucepan. Pour mixture over chocolate and allow to stand for 1 minute. stir mixture until smooth, set aside and it’ll cool slightly and thicken.

to assemble:

place 3 circles on wire rack. using an off set spatula spread ganache evenly over surface of each meringue (aim for a thin layer, you’re not using all of the ganache). refridgerate until ganache is firm, about 10-15 minutes. set aside remaining gananche.

with off set spatura, on the remaining circle spread about 1/2 cup of coco-cream. place on wire rack. invert 1 ganache coated meringue, placing it on top of the buttercream and press down. repeat with remaining meringues, spreading the meringues with 1/2 cup of coco-cream and topping another inverted ganache coated meringue. with remaining coco-cream spread all over the cake, sides and top. it doesn’t have to be pretty.. refrigerate until coco-cream is firm, about 2-3 hours.

when ready, warm up the leftover ganache over barely simmer water, stirring often until the mixture is fluid but not hot. with the coco-creamed cake on wire rack, pour ganache over the top and with off set spatula spread the ganache over the top of the cake, you’re aiming for an even, thin layer and letting the excess flow down the side. spread the ganache over sides in thin layer.

garnish the top layer with hazelnuts and for the sides, gently press the almonds onto the side. chill on wire rack, uncovered, for at least a few hours, or overnight. transfer to platter or stand.

slice and serve.
BAM!

previous year: gingerbread cake
2 years ago: peppermint chocolate ice cream

a beautiful love – vegan carrot cake

Published on November 18, 2015November 20, 2015 by Lan | MoreStomach17 Comments

for rc + dh.

with rc by her side (as well as a legion of ardent angel friends), dh is facing a battle with grace, humility and aplomb. to read more & help if you can, go here.

videos courtesy of mandy frye and john carnahan, and used with permission

doubled vegan carrot cake + cream cheese frosting
almond paste succulents and carrots, free-handed by my kitchen wench slash new living arrangement roommate nuria, but inspired by: cake central.

730 days later: anniversary

Published on September 28, 2015September 27, 2015 by Lan | MoreStomach13 Comments

photo courtesy of luke eshleman & used with permission

darling love,
let’s always eat cake!

730 days down, infinity to go.

6″ double chocolate cake
adapted from movita beaucoup

*note: i have a tendency to bake my cakes under, i like the fudge like consistency. however, for icing/frosting/decoration purposes baking the cake till done or just slightly over is best, as it will make the cake sturdier. for real, do as i say, not as i do.

Yields one 2 layer, 6″ cake

1 cup AP flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup strong black coffee, cool
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1 teaspoon chocolate extract

preheat oven to 350°F. grease + line two 6″ baking pans with parchment paper.

in a bowl add all the dry ingredients except the sugar, whisk to combine.

in a large mixing bowl, mix together the coffee, sugar, sunflower oil and chocolate extract until combined. add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

divvy up the batter evenly between the two baking pans.

bake for 18-22 minutes (aim for the full 22 minutes). cool for a few minutes, then remove from pans, remove parchment paper, and cool completely on a wire rack.

chocolate frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
healthy punch of salt
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature (i used Tofutti vegan cream cheese)

Sift together the powdered sugar, cocoa and salt and set aside.

in a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until soft and fluffy.

add in the dry ingredients in increments, beating on low, until smooth and no lumps remain

BAM!

one year ago: chocolate tahini cake with rosemary infused buttercream

bún riêu – vietnamese seafood noodle soup

Published on September 10, 2015February 14, 2016 by Lan | MoreStomach3 Comments

lately i’ve been thinking a lot about
vietnamese food
specifically the foods i ate growing up.
it’s that weird, icky, emo
feeling,
akin to nostalgia,
an emotion that is so foreign,
and unwelcome,
to me
that i would like to punch it in the face.

instead, i think i will attempt to feed it
because starving is just not our thing.

bún riêu – vietnamese seafood noodle soup
loosely adapted from wandering chopsticks

*note: i seem to recall seeing snails in this dish growing up. that’s an ingredient that i cannot locally source and if i’m to be honest, it’s something that i like to consume when prepared by professionals. i’m not there yet to make it myself. instead, i made do with local maryland crab and csa tomatoes – hooray for in-season AND local. alas, the fish cakes were purchased frozen and already prepared. this is when dw will turn a blind eye, conceding that some things just cannot be helped.

this makes a lot. like, an ass clown amount. we’ve have it for leftovers for a week, and we shared this with cousins who recently welcomed a baby boy, leaving them with portions too.

i won’t post the full recipe, because ~~it’s fucking long~~ WC does a great job of writing it all out. below are my short cuts and methods that worked for me.

i used two 32 oz boxes of organic seafood stock. i wasn’t about to make crab stock. i did use shrimp shells though.
i purchased backfin crab meat from whole foods, because lump meat would’ve been a waste of good meat and money.
i did not use canned tomatoes, instead, we’ve been drowning in csa tomatoes and so i diced up 15oz worth of tomatoes and rough chunked 4 big tomatoes.
spare ribs were also purchased at whole foods, and i think may have been dw’s favorite part of the dish.
i added two extra eggs to the rieu, because i like it extra eggy. i did not bother with keeping it whole, i just free formed balls with spoons and dropped into the broth.
if you can’t get your hands on banana blossom, shredded cabbage is fine.

last, this dish was just ok on the first day, in fact, i was a little disappointed. but the following days were so much better.

BAM!