Pan-Fried Beef Pastry (牛肉餡餅 - niu rou xian bing)

A coworker & I were talking about delicious Taiwanese food about a month ago.  We were looking at various pictures of Taiwanese food & came across one for 牛肉餡餅 & my mouth literally started to drool.  I was hooked & decided I had to make some to satisfy my craving so here's my take on it.  Yummers!

 

 

牛肉餡餅 - Pan-Fried Beef Pastry

1 lb ground beef

6 stalks green onion, finely chopped

1 egg

1/8 cup soy sauce

3 tb sesame oil

2 ts white pepper, ground

1 ts black pepper, ground

2 cups white flour + a little extra

1 cup hot water 

Makes 8 pastries.

- Mix all the ingredients (minus the flour & water) together in a bowl.  Cover & store in the fridge overnight.

- Mix the flour & hot water in a bowl until just combined.

- Sprinkle work surface with flour, pour the dough onto your work surface & knead a few times.

- Roll dough out into a snake & cut into 8 rounds.

- Take one round & roll it out into an 8" diameter circle such that the middle of the circle is slightly thicker than the edges. 

- Place 1/8 of the meat mixture in the middle of the rolled out dough.  

- Bring all the edges together & pinch shut.  Flip the pastry over such that the pinched side is down & lightly pat the pastry such that the top is flat.

- Place a pan over medium-low heat & liberally sprinkle oil into pan.

- When the oil is hot, place the pastry into the pan.  Fry each side for about 3-4 minutes.
- Eat immediately!  

Cream Cheese Almond Cookies

I have been on a fatty craze lately so this is my latest creation which definitely fulfilled my love for butter.  That being said, this is definitely not a
recipe for the faint of arteries.  Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Almond Cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, soften

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 tb vanilla extract

1 egg 

2 & 2 tb cups flour

1 ts baking powder

3/4 cup almond slices

 

Makes about 30 cookies. 

- Beat butter & cream cheese together until smooth & fluffy.

- Add sugar, vanilla extract & egg.  Mix until smooth.

- Carefully fold in flour & baking powder until just incorporated.

- Place dough in the refrigerator for about half an hour to allow the dough to set & firm up.

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Take dough out & roll dough into 1 tb balls.

- Lightly flatten each ball & place the flattened dough into the almond slices so that it is completely covered on one side.

- Place the dough down onto the cookie sheet with the almond side up.

- Bake for 14-18 minutes.

 

Raspberry Brie Pastries

I know, I know.  I have a lot of posts that involve berries but I cannot help it.  Berries are my favorite fruits.  One of my coworkers opened up his awesome boat to us for a team-building trip.  It just happened to be the perfect weather day as well.  This is how perfect it was...isn't the sky just absolutely gorgeous? 

The summer sky's blush reminds me of raspberries so I took inspiration from that & made raspberry brie pastries for our boat trip.  Yuuuuum!

Raspberry Brie Pastries

8 slices of brie

1 tube of croissant dough (mine came from Trader Joe's)

2 tb sugar

40 fresh raspberries

- Preheat oven according to the dough's instructions.

- Divide the dough into 8 triangles.

- Place a slice of brie on the widest section of each piece of dough.

- Place 5 raspberries on top of the brie.

- Sprinkle 1/4 tb of sugar on top of raspberries.

- Roll dough like a croissant & bake according to the dough's instructions.

Blueberry Cheesecake Tart

One of my most popular requests is my blueberry cheesecake tart so I decided to share the goodness with everyone here.  The blueberries can easily be replaced with any other fruit.  I made red, white & blue versions this time around in honor of Independence Day. 

Here's an individual strawberry cheesecake tart.

Blueberry Cheesecake Tart

1 cup flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold & cubed

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 & 1/2 ts vanilla extract

4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

1/3 cup sliced almonds

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Lightly coat a 9" tart pan with butter or oil.

- Combine the flour, powdered sugar & butter in a bowl.  Mash butter into the flour & sugar with your fingers until pea-sized chunks of butter, sugar & flour form.  Press the mixture onto the bottom & sides of the pan.

- Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, egg & vanilla extract until smooth.  Pour cheese mixture over the crust & spread evenly.

- Toss blueberries & remaining sugar (1/4 cup) in a bowl until blueberries are coated with the sugar.  Pour the blueberries over the cheese mixture.

- Sprinkle sliced almonds over blueberries.

- Bake for 30 minutes or until the filling is almost set.

Here's an individual raspberry cheesecake tart.

Taiwanese Stewed Pork Over Rice/Noodles (滷肉飯/麵 - Lu Rou Fan/Mien)

My blog has not been very omnivore-like lately so I have decided to remedy that with this D-E-LI-CIOUS post about one of the best dishes known to mankind.  Yes, it is that good!  This is a traditional Taiwanese meal with pork belly as the big star so readers beware - this is really fatty & not for the faint of arteries.  

滷肉飯/麵 - Taiwanese Stewed Pork Over Rice/Noodles

1/3 ground pork

1/3 pork belly, cubed

1 tb garlic, minced

3 stalks green onion, diced

4 eggs, boiled & shelled (optional)

1 cup small fried tofu, halved (optional)

4 tb soy sauce

1 tb rock sugar (can be substituted with regular sugar if rock sugar is not available)

1/2 tb ground pepper (I prefer white pepper)

1 tb rice wine

1/2 tb sesame oil

1/2 ts five-spice powder

1 cup broth of your choice

rice or noodles of your choice

Makes about four servings.

- Stir fry ground pork & pork belly until just barely done.

- Add fried tofu if you are including it.  Traditionally there is no tofu but I love it & tossed it in.

- Add garlic & green onion until fragrant.

- Add soy sauce, rock sugar, ground pepper, rice wine, sesame oil, & five-spice powder.  Mix until everything is evenly coated with the powder.

- Place mixture to a crockpot along with the broth & eggs & cook on low heat for a few hours.  You can also let it simmer on low heat on the stove for an hour or so if you do not have a crockpot.

- Drizzle mixture over rice or noodles & enjoy!

Look at those amazing bits of fatty pork belly!

I added some zucchini & napa cabbage as my attempt to even out the unhealthy factor of the fatty pork.

Vegan Raspberry or Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are super simple to make & turned out delicious!  I made a small batch with blueberries & another small batch with raspberries.  Both turned out equally yummy.  I hope you try them out!

Raspberry or Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/4 cup Earth Balance butter or any other vegan butter

1/2 cup crushed berries

1/3 cup white sugar

3/4 cup + 2 tb white flour

1 ts baking powder

1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Makes about two dozen cookies.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Melt butter in a large bowl.

- Mix berries & sugar into the melted butter until thoroughly combined.

- Mix remaining ingredients (minus the chocolate) until thoroughly combined.

- Fold chocolate chips into the dough.

- Scoop about 2 tb of dough per cookie onto cookie sheets & bake for 14 minutes.

Swiss Chard Frittata

The swiss chard at the farmers' market looked so bold & beautiful with its bright yellow, orange, pink, & red stems that I immediately snapped up a bunch with grand plans to make a frittata that same day.  Unfortunately (or shall I say fortunately?), the nice weather was beckoning me so I spent my day outdoors instead.  I live in the Pacific Northwest & the definition of nice weather is a day that is not sprinkling or more.  That means that if it is gloomy out but there are not droplets of water falling from the sky, you appreciate the day & spend your day outdoors.  And that was the kind of day it was & that is what I did.  

Back to the swiss chard.  I had forgotten about the chards until today when my stomach started rumbling during a conference call & frittatas require little guidance so I decided to make that for lunch & it definitely hit the spot!  Just in case my manager or coworkers read my blog, I'd like to clarify that yes I made this during the conference call but it requires so little effort because it is mostly an oven recipe...so do not worry!  I was still listening to the call & participating while the frittata was being made.  :)

Swiss Chard Frittata

1/2 large onion, sliced 

1 bundle of swiss chard, chopped into 1/2" slices

6 large eggs

2 tb milk

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

extra virgin olive oil

salt, to taste

black pepper, to taste

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Using an oven-safe pan, saute onion in olive oil on medium low heat until the onions barely begin to caramelize.

- Whisk eggs, milk, cheese, salt, & pepper in a bowl while onions are cooking.

- Add the swiss chard & saute until the chards are wilted.

- Pour the egg mixture into the pan & make sure the wet mixture is spread throughout the pan evenly.

- Cook until the edges of the frittata begin to set.

- Place the pan in the oven for 10 minutes or until the middle of the frittata is set.

 

Uh oh, someone *cough* Kitsune *cough* is eyeing my lunch!