Tiny Urban Kitchen Test

Monday, January 1, 2007

About me

Who is Tiny Urban Kitchen?

My name's Jen. Tiny Urban Kitchen was born out of my tiny urban condo situated between my alma mater and the other school in Cambridge. My tiny urban condo comes with a tiny urban kitchen, hence the name of this blog. It was bit tight at times, but over all, it worked for me, and I spent lots of time there exploring new recipes and cooking methods.

I have since moved out of that condo into a medium urban townhouse in Cambridge. My kitchen has a bit more space now, though my spirit of exploration and creativity has not diminished one bit.

I am an experimenter by nature. I worked as a research chemist for years synthesizing new molecules in the lab. Similarly, at home, I love experimenting in the kitchen and coming up with fun, new creative ways to cook.

I also love eating, and am very willing to travel for good food! That's why this blog also includes my takes on my various eating adventures, whether in Boston or around the world. I love sharing about my food adventures, and I also love hearing what you have to say. So, please leave a comment, say hello, and feel free to give me your thoughts and suggestions too.If this is your first time here, welcome!

If you're interested in cooking, definitely check out the Recipes link, which is a compilation of all the recipes on the site to date. If you like Asian food, visit the Chinese Recipes Gallery, which gives you a quick, photolicious way of browsing through the Chinese recipes on the site. For dining out, check out all my Boston write-ups, posts from other US cities, or food from my worldwide travels.

Interested in the sous vide technique? Here's a primer on sous vide, including links to several recipes I’ve made from famous chefs like Thomas Keller and David Chang.

How did Tiny Urban Kitchen get Started?
Check out my entry for round 1 of Project Food Blog which describes not only how this blog began, but really the core of what motivates me and what defines Tiny Urban Kitchen.

Dining Out
Since I live in Cambridge, many of the restaurants on this site are in the Cambridge/Boston area. You can check out the “Restaurant Index” if you want to search by neighborhoods. For a fun photo gallery of all the Michelin Starred restaurants I visited, check out the Michelin Stars Gallery. I do travel extensively, and thus you’ll find all sorts of food from places such as New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tokyo, China, Taiwan and Europe.

What has surprised you most about food blogging?
I think everyone says the same thing, and I have to agree. The community is AWESOME. Most people start food blogging to share recipes with friends and family, or to keep a record of all the restaurants they've visited - at least that's why I started my blog. You never really realize how food blogging can connect you to so many like-minded people around the world. I've had the great privilege to "meet" people from Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, and, of course, all over the US. Things like the Foodbuzz Festival are great ways to connect with other food lovers. I never would have thought that starting a food blog would open the door to so many other friendships, opportunities, and experiences.
What has been the most amazing food opportunity that you've had as a result of food blogging?
No question it would be my trips to Napa Valley (both in 2010 and in 2011) to Napa Valley to blog about the S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition. In 2010, Foodbuzz and S. Pellegrino had hosted a contest to send one person there. I was thrilled and beyond belief that I had actually won the contest. The trip really opened my eyes to what the food industry is like. The food industry, especially the restaurant industry, is grueling, and it takes a ton of hard work and perseverance to make it. I was so privileged to be able to see this up close. It really gave me a new perspective and added respect for those who choose to follow this career path. Of course, Napa Valley is also beautiful, and I had a fabulous time there just checking out the vineyards and trying some amazing restaurants!

What camera do you use? What's your process in photography?
I switch between my Sony DSC RX1, (which is more pocket-sized so I carry it around with me everywhere I go) and my Canon 5D MKIII depending on the situation. The SLR is really big and heavy, so I use it more during vacations and food events that are clearly "camera-friendly." I would say 80% of the pictures on my blog are taken with the pocket sized cameras. I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 to catalog and work up my images, which are all shot in raw format. I then export them to Flickr, which hosts all my images.

I got both of these above cameras in 2012, so any photos before 2012 were taken with either a Panasonic Lumix GF1, Canon 5D, or Canon 5D MkII, all of which are excellent cameras.

Which posts did you have the most fun making?
Man, that’s a tough question! Before Project Food Blog I would have said my first 24, 24, 24 post titled "Kyaraben on Steroids." I spent the day making sushi and other foods in the shapes of my favorite Japanese anime characters. It was a ton of work and took all day, but to this day I still love looking at the pictures of the cute Hello Kitty, Domokuns, Totoros, and Keroppis that I made for this post. However, I had a lot of fun creating posts for the numerous rounds in Project Food Blog. My favorites would have to be a toss up between the final post in the last round (“Final Reflections”) where I made a moving stop-animation video of Boston constructed out of vegetables (and sang a song!) and the hand-pulled noodle instructional video that I made for Round 7. In general, I love playing with my food and photographing them in different angles, and therefore some posts whose photography I really enjoyed creating are the ones about dragon fruit, meyer lemons, ratatouille, and inside out apples.

What are you favorite restaurants in Boston?
My favorite neighborhood restaurant is Ten Tables, which is probably the place we visit most frequently. David Punch is a natural in the kitchen and consistently executes well thought-out, flavorful dishes reflecting the most seasonal ingredients. The menu changes constantly, so it's always fun to return.

Bergamot is also one of our favorites that we visit on a regular basis. The staff there is incredible and they really take good care of you. Of course, Chef Pooler makes fantastic food, and Paul makes great drinks at the bar.

Before we moved, we used to love going to Garden at the Cellar. The truffle fries alone are the best I've ever had, and the rest of the menu is excellent and priced very very reasonably. Since then, the original chef Will Gilson has moved on, and we have moved away from the neighborhood as well.

Hungry Mother (French/Southern American cuisine) is excellent, though really hard to get into because it’s so popular! For fancy dining, Craigie on Main, formerly Craigie Street Bistrot, is fantastic - some of the best food I've had in Boston. O Ya (Japanese inspired cuisine) is also an amazing dining experience - hands down one of the best restaurants in Boston. Similarly, Menton by Barbara Lynch also executes incredibly good food.

For outdoor dining during the summer, some of our favorite places in Harvard Square include Upstairs on the Square, Monday Club, Rialto, and The Red House. Muqueca (Brazilian coastal food) is one of my favorite little ethnic family restaurants, while Mamma Maria or Prezza just might be my favorite North End restaurants (of course you can't forget Mike's Pastry or Modern!). Though it’s not Italian, Neptune Oyster in the North End is one of my favorite seafood places - a perfect taste of New England.

Outside of the North End, we love Gran Gusto and Basta Pasta, both the original Cambridge location and the new Quincy location.

As for Asian food, because I'm Taiwanese, that cuisine tends to be my favorite, which is why I love going to Taiwan Cafe, Gourmet Dumpling House, and Shangri-La. I also love the hot pots at Little Q (more recently moved to Arlington). I think Oishii takes the cake for best traditional sushi while O Ya kicks butt when it comes to nontraditional Japanese inspired food. Fugakyu has one of the best sushi lunch specials around and Cafe Sushi is our favorite place for Sunday evening sushi dinner specials ($1/piece nigiri!).

Hi Rise Bakery is one of my favorite bakeries (love love love their vanilla loaf) and also one of my favorite sandwich shops. My favorite ice cream is from Toscanini's (though his brother’s place Rancatore’s is awesome as well) and my favorite pizza is from Emma's. My favorite burgers are from Bartley's, while Bryan also really like the burger at Craigie on Main, Radius, and Smith &amp;amp; Wollensky.

What have been some of your favorite dining experience ever? In the world? One of my all time favorite dining experiences in the world was at Kyubey in Tokyo. It's this sushi place right down the street from Tsukiji Fish Market. We got the omakase and essentially had our personal sushi chef for most of the meal, creating interesting bites for us. Similarly, our sushi experience at two star Michelin Sushi Kanesaka and three star Sushi Mizutani (Jiro's disciple) were out of this world.

As a seafood lover, my favorite restaurant in terms of food is probably Le Bernardin in New York City. One of my favorite dining experiences was at Daniel, where the service, food, everything was so impeccable, it really made for an unforgettable experience. I also love dumplings, and therefore Din Tai Fung in Taiwan (and China!) is also one of my favorite dining places in the world.

Final Thoughts?

I love interacting with my readers through comments the blog. I like to think of the blog as a forum for communication about food. Although I offer lots of information on the blog, I have also learned a lot of things from my readers. The communication totally goes both ways, and I love it that way! So please, feel free to leave comments and say hello. I definitely read every single one. :)

Thanks for visiting!

Warmly,

You can contact me at jen{at}tinyurbankitchen{dot}com
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About me

My name's Jen. I live in a tiny urban condo between my alma mater and the other school in Cambridge.

My tiny urban condo comes with a tiny urban kitchen, hence the name of this blog. It's a bit tight at times, but over all, it works for me, and I spend lots of time there exploring new recipes and cooking methods.

I am an experimenter by nature. I worked as a research chemist for years synthesizing new molecules in the lab. Similarly, at home, I love experimenting in the kitchen and coming up with fun, new creative ways to cook.

I also love eating, and am very willing to travel for good food! That's why this blog also includes my takes on my various eating adventures, whether in Boston or around the world.

I love sharing about my food adventures, and I also love hearing what you have to say. So, please leave a comment, say hello, and feel free to give me your thoughts and suggestions too.

Thanks for visiting!

Warmly,

Saturday, September 1, 2001

Hi Rise Vanilla Loaf

Hi Rise Vanilla Loaf

adapted from Hi Rise Bread Company, Cambridge MA via Amanda Hesser

For the loaf:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups vanilla sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 T vanilla extract
8 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

For the syrup:
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 vanilla beans, split and scraped

Thickly butter two loaf pans and preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit (Note - I halved the recipe because I did not have enough sugar!)

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy (see photo in collage below). Scrape the first vanilla bean and get all the seeds into the bowl, along with the vanilla extract (photo 2).Add the eggs one by one and beat to combine. Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and fold in, mixing minimally with a rubber spatula, until just combined.

Divide the batter between the loaf pans. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn the pans and bake another 25-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out almost clean.

While the loaves bake, make syrup. In a small saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water over medium heat. Note: it takes a while to dissolve the sugar since the ratio makes a pretty concentrated sugar solution. Just be patient and keep watching the solution - don't make burnt sugar here! Add the vanilla beans and seeds and stir a little to loosen the seeds. Remove pan from heat.

When the loaves are done, cool them for 10 minutes in the pan on a rack, and then turn them out onto the rack.

Brush the loaves generously on all sides with the syrup. Repeat the brushing with syrup a few more times as the loaves cool. Note: I did not have a brush, but I was able to successfully spoon small amounts of vanilla syrup over the bread.

Hi Rise Vanilla Loaf

Celeriac Apple Potato Soup

Ingredients
1 celeriac root (peeled and chopped)
2 medium sized Idaho potatoes (peeled and chopped)
1 large apple (peeled and chopped)
1/2 onion, diced (leftover from my chicken pho the other day)
1 Qt chicken broth
1 T butter
1 T oil
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Blending
Saute onions in butter and oil under medium heat for a few minutes until browned and translucent. Add the celeriac and potatoes. Saute for about 8-10 minutes until they are cooked. Add broth and apples. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender or, if using a blender, blend in batches in the blender. Garnish with toppings of your choice and serve!

Garnishes
You can cook some bacon, pancetta, or proscuitto in a pan and crumble a small amount on top of the soup. Another variation by Gordon Ramsey adds a splash of lemon for tartness and crumbled stilton. You can also consider chopped chives, croutons, or blue cheese. There's really a lot of room for creativity here. You can easily make this soup vegan by omitting the butter and the bacon. You can also thicken it up by adding a bit of heavy cream to the soup.

Experiment, and enjoy!

Celeriac Apple Potato Soup

Oven to Pan Seared Prime Ribeye Steaks

Ingredients
2-rib-eye steaks (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches thick)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 T vegetable oil

Step 1: Preheat oven to 275 degrees and adjust oven rack to middle position. Dry the steaks with a paper towel and cut the 16-oz steaks in half to make 2 8-oz steaks (still same thickness!). Generously sprinkle the steaks on both sides with sea salt and pepper. (Ideally the steaks would be at or close to room temperature)

Step 2: If the steaks are not even thicknesses, try to press down on the thicker steaks to bring all the steaks to a uniform thickness, if possible.

Step 3: Put the steaks on a wired rack set in a rimmed baking sheet. Since I did not have a wired rack, I just cleaned one of my oven racks, placed the steaks directly on top, and put a rimmed cookie sheet right below the rack with the steaks to collect any drippings.

Step 4: Bake the steaks at 275 degrees until they reach an internal temperature of 90-95 degrees (rare or medium rare) or 100-105 degrees (medium). It took my steaks about 14 minutes to reach 90 degrees (it started at around 50 degrees).

This slow baking at a low temperature allows enzymes in the meat (cathepsins) to break down connective fibers, making the meat super tender. It's sort of like dry aging at turbo speeds in the oven. This enzyme only works at temperatures below 140 degrees, which is why hot broiling the steaks for a short amount of time does not cause this tenderizing effect. In our case, we have slowly baked and "aged" the steak in the oven under low heat for 15 minutes (or longer, if you like medium steaks!)

You can use an instant read thermometer. I used this cool thermometer which beeps at you when your desired temperature is reached. You stick the probe in the meat and then the unit sits outside. I picked up this Taylor one at Target for only $20 (the one at Williams-Sonoma was $50!). It worked like a charm.

When you take the steaks out, they will look a little scary, but don't worry! We will sear them and then they will be beautiful!

Step 5: Heat your cast-iron grill pan (or aluminum grill pan) to high heat with vegetable oil until the oil is smoking. Quickly put the steaks onto the grill. Cook for 1.5 - 2 minutes on one side (lifting the steak halfway to re-distribute the fat), and then flip and cook another 2 - 2.5 min on the other side. Warning, this is where there will be smoke. Open windows and vent as necessary!

Step 6: Let steaks rest on rack while you do the next step.

Step 7: Pick up two steaks, put them side by side with tongs, and sear all sides of the steak to lock in the juices!

Step 8: Let the steaks rest for 10 minutes loosely tented with foil (important! don't eat them right away!)

Step 9: Serve!

Oven to Pan Seared Prime Ribeye Steaks

Chinese Sticky Rice (Nuo Mi Fan)

The Rice
1 1/2 cup water
1 T soy sauce
1 T vegetable oil

In a rice cooker, combine the pre-soaked rice (drained), 1 1/2 cup water (or just fill it up to the level written on your rice cooker for 2 cups), 1 T soy sauce, and 1 T vegetable oil. Cook rice according to the rice cooker's instructions.

The "Goodies"

1/2 lb (225g) lean pork thinly sliced (e.g, pork loin)
3 T fried shallots
2T dried shrimp

Flavoring Agents
1/2 T cooking rice wine
2 T soy sauce
1/2 t salt
1 t sugar
1 T sesame oil

Soak the black mushrooms in hot water for about 10-15 minutes, until soft. Slice into thin strips. Heat 2 T oil in a wok. Add mushrooms, dried shrimp, and deep-fried shallots. Stir fry until fragrant (1-2 minutes). Add the pork and cook until the pork becomes opaque.

Add the "flavoring agents" (rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and sesame oil) and stir to mix well. Set aside until the rice is done in the rice cooker. Once the rice is done, combine everything together and garnish with cilantro (optional).

Enjoy!

Note: Some people are really turned off by dried shrimp. If you are one of those people, here is a modified recipe that works pretty well.
adapted from Homestyle Cooking of Taiwan by the members of NATWA

2 cups rice
5 dried mushrooms
10 slices of ginger
1/4 to 1/2 lb of pork
1 1/4 cup hot water
2 T soy sauce

Crush the ginger slices in a plastic bag with a rolling pin (or heavy rock!) to release the ginger "juices." Heat 2 T sesame oil in a wok and brown the crushed ginger in the oil. Once browned, remove the ginger slices. Now saute the pork and mushrooms in the ginger flavored oil. Add soy sauce.

At this point, you can either add the cooked rice made from the above rice cooker method or add the soaked (but not yet cooked) rice to the wok.

If you add the cooked rice, then just combine with the "sauce" and serve.

If you add the soaked rice to the wok, proceed by adding 1/2 cup hot water. Cover wok and cook at high heat for 2 minutes. Stir again and add the remaining 3/4 cup of hot water. Continue stirring until rice is cooked. Cover wok and cook at low heat for an additional 10 minutes. Serve.

Chinese Sticky Rice (Nuo Mi Fan)

Bawan Recipe

Bawan Recipe
This recipe is adapted from Homestyle Cooking of Taiwan by members of NATWA

Makes 22 pieces
Preparation Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:
Outer Covering
8 T long grain rice flour (see picture at right - the red bag!)
12 T sweet potato flour
5 2/3 cups water
1 lb sweet potato flour

Filling
2 T vegetable oil
2 bunches of scallions, chopped

11 dried black mushrooms
1 lb pork tenderloin, sliced (or ground pork)
1 can (8 oz) bamboo shoots (sliced)
1 lb shrimp (about 22)
3 T soy sauce
1 T sugar
1 T salt
1 tsp pepper

Sauce (sweet rice paste)
1 cup long grain rice flour
3 cups waster
1/2 cup sugar

Garnishes
Cilantro, chopped
Soy sauce
optional: sweet chili sauce

Precooking preparations:
1. If you purchased fresh shrimp, devein the shrimp, remove heads and tails. I bought one pound of raw frozen shrimp, so I just defrosted it and removed the tails.

2. Soak dried mushrooms in hot water until soft (about 10 minutes), and cut each one in half

Making the Covering
1. In a large pot, combine the long grain rice flour, 12 T of sweet potato flour, and water.
2. Cook at high heat, stirring CONTINUALLY!
3. After it has come to a boil, remove from heat and let cool.
4. Add 1 lb of sweet potato flour and mix thoroughly. Set aside.

Making the filling
1. Heat wok at high heat and add the vegetable oil.
2. Stir fry the scallions and the mushrooms briefly for about a minute.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir fry until the meat appears done (shrimp turns pink, pork is opaque)
4. Add flavoring agents (soy sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper). Mix thoroughly

Making the Bawan
You have 22 pieces of shrimp, 22 mushroom halves. This is no accident. You will fill each dough piece with one piece of shrimp, one mushroom, and a little bit of bamboo and pork. Warning, this stuff is really sticky! It sort of has the consistency of gooey paste. I find it's a bit easier to work with if you hold the bawan on top of a cabbage leaf (see pictures above). It's easier to handle the gooey paste if you wet your fingers constantly. I ended up putting a plate full of water nearby just so I could constantly wet my fingers.

1. Put a circular dollop of dough onto a leaf. Using wet fingers, push in the middle a bit for the filling.
2. Add the filling (1 shrimp, 1/2 mushroom, etc)
3. Put another smaller dollop of dough on top
4. Using wet fingers, try to pinch the edges together to form a ball
5. Set aside

Cooking the Bawans
Steam bawans in a 2-tiered steamer. Ideally, you would have a multi-layer Chinese bamboo steamer. However, if you don't, a normal steamer works fine too. I just lined the steamer with cabbage leaves and placed the bawans on top.
Steam for about 10 minutes.

Making the Sweet Rice Paste Sauce

1. combine long grain rice flour, water, and sugar in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil (remember to stir!) and then remove from heat.

Garnishing the Bawans
For each bawan, add a bit of soy sauce (about 1 tsp), cover with some sweet white paste sauce, and garnish with cilantro. If you have access to sweet chile sauce, you can use that as well.

Enjoy!