Chip Challenge #2 - Chicken Cordon Bleu

Me: What are cooking this week?

Y: Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Me:...That's not a vietnamese dish...

Y: Vietnamese dishes are so complicated to make!

Me: But that's the whole purpose of Chip Challenges...for you to prepare vietnamese dishes because I don't know how to make them...That's why it's called a Challenge!

Y:.......I'm making Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Me: -_-

So there you go. No more vietnamese dishes for the Chip Challenges. That's fine with me because Y's Chicken Cordon Bleu was a-ma-zing! I saw this recipe on Allrecipes and wanted to make it for quite some time, but I always seemed to be missing one or two ingredients for the dish. To be honest, I don't know if I could've made it as tasty as Y did. He did such a great job! :) I'm drooling just looking at pictures! haha

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Adapted from Allrecipes

Serves 3

Ingredients

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

3 slices Swiss cheese (Y used mozzarella cheese because we didn't have any Swiss)

3 slices ham

1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons dried basil

Directions

1. Pound chicken breasts until they are 1/2 inch thick. Place a cheese and ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. Mix the flour and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces.

2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Add the wine and bouillon. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

3. Remove the toothpicks, and transfer the breasts to a warm platter. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Cook, stirring until thickened, add basil and pour over the chicken.

The chicken was served with jasmine steamed rice and asparagus sauteed in butter. Yum!

Simply delicious! The chicken was moist and juicy and the wine sauce was to die for! Next time, we'll definitely use Swiss cheese and coat the chicken with bread crumbs instead of flour for some extra crispy-ness! The basil was a nice twist and added extra flavor to the sauce. I really enjoyed this. I love Chip Challenges! :)

Chip Challenge #1: Bo Luc Lac (Shaken Beef)

I am proud to present to you the first of the Chip Challenges! As you know, I generally take on the role of Head Chef at home and my boyfriend, the sous-chef. Well, ladies and gentlemen, as of now, once a week, the roles are reversed! My boyfriend aka Chip (short for Chipmunk, my nickname for him hehe) will be cooking a delicious vietnamese dish every week.

This week, Chef Chip is making Bo Luc Lac (Translation: Shaken Beef). Isn't this the cutest name? It actually describes the "shaking" of the beef back and forth in the wok when making this dish.

Bo luc lac (Shaken Beef)

Serves 4

Adapted from Ravenous Couple's blog

Ingredients

Beef Marinade

3/4 lbs beef sirloin (or any cut you like) cut into 1″ cubes

1 tablespoon minced garlic

3/4 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

Vinaigrette

1/2 cup rice vinegar

3 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 bunch of watercress, long stems trimmed

1 tomato, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons cooking oil for frying

Directions

1. Combine the garlic, oyster sauce, sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil with the beef. Let marinate for at least half an hour, but preferably 1-2 hours.

2. Prepare vinaigrette by mixing rice vinegar with salt and sugar.

3. Pour about 3-4 tablespoons of the vinaigrette on the thinly sliced red onions and set aside covered in fridge for about 10 minutes. Prepare bed of watercress and tomatoes in a serving platter and set aside.

4. Heat the cooking oil in a large wok or pan over high heat. When it begins to smoke, add an even layer of beef and allow to sear for about 30 seconds, before “shaking” to sear the opposite sides for another 30 seconds to brown all the sides. Do this in batches to cook all the beef if necessary.

5. Transfer the beef to the bed of watercress and tomatoes. Drizzle another 3 tablespoons of vinaigrette over the beef and greens and top with pickled red onions.

Y was seriously craving bo luc lac this week. He ate it recently at a restaurant and was continuously thinking about it so he decided to make his own. I thought it came out pretty good, although he says it didn't taste quite like the one at the restaurant. He's still on the lookout for the perfect bo luc lac recipe!

I'm ashamed to say that I've been neglecting my Sunday Brunch series (same old lame excuse - too lazy/busy to cook in the morning!) so the Chip Challenges will replace it until I find more time in my schedule (or when I feel less lazy hehe). I find it so overwhelming to cook 7 days a week and I welcome the Chip Challenges with open arms. I hope you enjoyed this recipe!

Italian Sausage Lasagna

My mom makes the best lasagna, hands down. But like every good vietnamese cook, she doesn't have a set recipe. In her kitchen, there are no measurements; there is just a bit of guesswork and a whole lot of instinct. Moms in general seem to have that...flair, you know when they just seem to throw random ingredients together and end up with an awesome dish? Mmm yea, I'm not at that level yet. I need a recipe! I've tried replicating her lasagna several times (after noting down her intructions which goes something like this: "Well, you add a bit of this and then put just enough of that and if it seems like you don't have enough, just add more!" haha). Sometimes, the lasagna comes out great and tastes almost just like hers, other times, it's a complete flop.

I wanted to be more consistent and for that, I needed a recipe. I had come across the "World's best Lasagna" on Allrecipes.ca a few times in the past. It was one of the best rated recipes on the site and well, when a recipe claims that it's the best in the world, you can't help being a bit curious. (Although I already know that the world's best lasagna is my mom's hehe).

I have made that recipe twice. The first time I did not make any changes, apart from using 1 teaspoon of salt instead of the 1 tablespoon that the recipe called for (who in the world put one TABLESPOON of salt in a dish?!) It still came out super salty!!! I swear to God, my boyfriend and I each drank at least 2L of water after eating that lasagna haha. The second time, I completely omitted the salt, added more spices to the meat sauce and added a layer to the lasagna. It came out much better! The italian sausages and fennel seeds really added flavor to the dish and made it more special. Next time, I'll probably add some mushrooms or zucchinis; it was a bit too meaty for my taste.

It's a good recipe, although it's not really the world's best lasagna. That's why I changed the recipe's name to Italian Sausage Lasagna (yeah, plain and boring). With a few tweaks, I'm sure I can make it taste exactly like my mom's and then it can live up to its title. :) I'll definitely post the recipe when I uncover my mom's secret. So until then, here's the next best thing!

Italian sausage lasagna

Makes 12 servings

Adapted from Allrecipes.ca

Ingredients

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed

3/4 pound lean ground beef

1 cup minced onion

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

1/2 cup water

2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed

1 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

12 lasagna noodles

1 package (16 ounces) small curds cottage cheese

1 egg

1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water and tomato sauce. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning and parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese with egg.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one third of the cottage cheese mixture. Top with a fourth of the grated mozzarella. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat the layers (noodle-cottage cheese-mozzarella-meat sauce-parmesan cheese) 2 more times, add the remaining 3 noodles and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Just look at all that gooey cheese! I used whole wheat lasagna noodles because let's face it, when you eat something this fattening and cholesterol laden, you need something "healthy" in it so you don't feel guilty about pigging out. :)

Decadent molten chocolate lava cake

There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark

chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles

- Anonymous

Oh Anonymous, how well you understand me. If only you disclosed your name, I would go searching for you because you are obviously my chocolate soul mate. :)

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a chocoholic. I love chocolate in all its forms, colors and sizes - dark, white, fudge, ice cream, cake, you name it. So when I saw a recipe for this luscious lava cake, I couldn't resist. The best part is it was so incredibly easy and quick to make! It came out perfect - a rich chocolate cake oozing with warm, gooey chocolate. The trick is not to overcook the cake; if you do, you won't get the fudgy center.

Chocolate makes me happy and it doesn't get more chocolate-y than this. While eating this, I was whisked away to Chocolateland for 5 mins of pure bliss. Ahh...Already looking forward to the next time I'll be able to enjoy these again...

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

Adapted from Evernew Recipes

Makes 6 small cakes

Ingredients

4 large eggs

2 egg yolks

3/4 cup unsalted butter

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 pinch salt

2 tablespoons cocoa powder and extra for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450F.

2. Grease your ramekins or muffin tin with butter. (Grease well because these cakes like to stick!) Then dust the ramekins with cocoa powder.

3. Melt butter and chocolate in microwave or over double boiler. Add cocoa powder and salt to mixture and set aside.

4. In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Pour in chocolate mixture and mix until well blended. Stir in flour.

5. Pour evenly into 6 ramekins. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Do not overcook!

6. Run a knife around the outside of the ramekin, invert onto a dessert plate and dust with icing sugar.

Serve warm with strawberries or raspberries and there you have it, a luscious and decadent chocolate dessert, perfect for Valentine's Day (or any day of the year really). Enjoy all the chocolateness it has to offer!

Sister sleepover = junk food galore + cupcake madness!

Gah! I haven't been able to blog as much because my 1-month vacation/interview period was officially over Sunday. And now, I'm back in the classroom. To develop my critical thinking, communication skills and learn about...epidemiology *dies* God, I hate statistics. Anyhoo, I've been grumpy as hell every morning for the last few days because I have to take the bus again. Every morning it's late. And every morning, there's always a million people in the bus. And when it's time to go back home, it's the same friggin' thing again. The bus is late and people are shoving their arms/legs/backpacks/purses/babies into your face. And then they fall on you because they think they can defy kinetic principles and not hold on to the pole. Unless you're Houdini and can levitate, put down your Iphone and hold on to the goddamn pole! Arg, I HATE buses! *ok, rant over*

On happier note, my sister came for a sleepover last weekend. :) While I love having her over, feeding her is a pain in the butt. First off, she is allergic to milk and milk products. So anything with cream, cheese, chocolate and the likes is a no-no. And to make matters worse, she is without doubt the pickier eater in the world! I can count the things she likes on my fingers. So imagine my despair at the prospect of cooking for her for two whole days. I don't want to bring her to the restaurant because I'm stubborn and refuse to give in to her fussiness. :)

Well, like any teenager, she loves junk food and fried food. So I thought of making chicken burgers with homemade fries. And to complete the already high-fat/calorie supper, we both decided to make valentine's day themed cupcakes! Who can say no to cupcakes?! (Actually, my thighs screamed "NOOO!", but my tummy won the battle...like always).

For me and the boyfriend who's getting fatter every day: Chicken burger with mayo, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce with a side of baked sweet potatoes fries.

For my sister: Same minus the cheese and tomatoes with a side of homemade fries. (Not pictured because she didn't want to stop eating for me to take a picture).

The burger came out great! The chicken was moist and tender. It was so easy to make, it's an embarrassment. Here's what you need to do: Pound a chicken breast until it is about 1/2" thick. Dip it in a beaten egg and then coat it with breadcrumbs. Warm oil over medium-high heat and fry the chicken until it's golden. Make sure it's cooked by cutting into chicken. Ta-da, done! You can season your breadcrumbs however you like, with parmesan, dried herbs, garlic or onion powder. I used Pastello italian seasoned breadcrumbs and added dried oregano, basil and garlic powder.

The sweet potato fries, however, were a complete flop. They were soggy and limp. And looked oh-so-sad. I didn't even have the heart to take a picture of them. My sister's fries were really crispy though. I think I'll fry the sweet potatoes next time.

This is actually the first time that I take the time to decorate cupcakes. This must be blasphemy for all the cupcakes fanatics out there lol. I usually just put frosting on the cupcakes and well, eat it. It's simple and the quickest way to my stomach. But after today, I think I'll always decorate them from now on. It's so much fun and cute to look at. And it's fun to eat them too! The cupcake and frosting tasted great together.

Dark chocolate cupcakes

Recipe from allrecipes.ca

Makes 18 cupcakes

Ingredients
2 cups boiling water
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/4 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Grease 3 - 9 inch round cake pans. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

White frosting

From allrecipes.ca

For 18 cupcakes

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons warm water
1 (16 ounce) package confectioners' sugar

Directions
In a large bowl, combine shortening, salt, vanilla, water and confectioners' sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.

No milk products in the frosting! There was some butter in the cupcakes, but it seems my sister is only allergic to uncooked butter...weird. I love love love the piggy cupcake that my sister made! It's so cute and it matches my blog hehe.

I had so much fun cooking with my sister. The funny thing is, if you take a look at us individually, we're pretty normal and we're even sometimes labeled as "serious" girls, but when we're together, we become out-of-control cray-zee! We laugh, we dance and we sing like nobody's business. And that's why I love my sister to pieces. <3

Shrimp stuffed tofu with black bean sauce

I know I'm 4 days late, but...

Happy Chinese New Year!

And to celebrate the new year, I wanted to make a chinese dish. Well...not really. hehe. I've been seriously craving chinese food these past few days, especially shrimp stuffed tofu. What you need to know is, I always order the same three dishes when I go to chinese restaurants: wonton soup, cantonese chow mein and shrimp stuffed tofu with black bean sauce. I seldom deviate from these dishes. It may seem dull and monotonous on my part, but I can't help it. I always tell myself that I need to try new stuff, but when I'm staring at the menu and see the words "chow mein", all my brain (and tummy) is thinking is: "I must have that NOW!" lol. However, I've never been entirely satisfied with the shrimp stuffed tofu (and I've tried it at many restaurants). The shrimp filling doesn't taste much like shrimps. It seems as if the shrimp paste is made of 10% shrimps and 90% of a cheaper filler ingredient...like flour or something. Like they say, if you want a thing done well, do it yourself. So that's what I did! It came out great! It's awesome that the shrimp filling actually taste like shrimps! Now that I won't order this dish at the restaurant anymore, maybe it's time to choose a new favorite dish? ;)

In other news, I've been incredibly busy these past few days (which explains the lack of blog updates). Last Thursday, I had my third and last residency interview. Actually, it was during Chinese New Year! All three of my interviews went surprisingly well. I was calm, composed and charming. haha. I feel so relieved that they're finished though. Now I can relax, take it easy and continue cooking! :)

Shrimp stuffed tofu with black bean sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

6 blocks of fried firm tofu (each block roughly 2″x 2″x 1.5″)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Shrimp filling:

12 medium sized raw shrimps (shells and tails removed and deveined), minced

1/4 cup chicken breast, minced

1 scallion, chopped, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon cornstarch or tapioca starch

1 teaspoon sugar

Black bean sauce:

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon fermented black bean paste (I used Lee Kum Kee black bean and garlic sauce)

Directions

Tip: If you decide to fry the tofu yourself, you will want to remove some of the water from the tofu before frying to avoid the oil from spattering. Lay out a thick layer of newspaper. Over the newspapers, place a layer of paper towels. Line the tofu pieces on the paper towel and finally, lay a paper towel on top of the tofu. Wait 15 minutes for the newspaper to absorb the water. Then the tofu is ready to be deep fried in vegetable oil.

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together shrimp, chicken, 1/2 of the scallion, soy sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil, salt, and sugar. Set aside.

2. Cut tofu blocks diagonally to form triangles. Scoop some tofu out of the center with a spoon to form a pocket. Reserve scooped out tofu for future use.

3. Pack shrimp mixture into tofu.

4. Heat oil in a large pan. Place each piece shrimp side down and over medium heat, cook until shrimp mixture is golden. Turn tofu onto one of its triangular sides. Add water, fermented bean paste, sugar and soy sauce in pan. Bring sauce to a boil, then turn down heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer for 4 minutes.

5. Turn tofu pieces over on other side and simmer for another 4 minutes or until cooked through. (Take a peek at the color of the shrimp through the sides.) Transfer tofu pieces onto a plate, leaving the sauce in the pan.

6. In a small bowl, dilute the cornstarch in 1/3 cup of cold water. Add cornstarch mixture to sauce to thicken it. Stir until you have a thick gravy-like consistency. Add remaining scallion. Pour sauce over tofu pieces. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Bon appetit!

Curry it up!

I wanted to do something simple and quick for dinner last night. And I needed to finish off the chicken that's been sitting in my freezer for a few weeks now. (I buy 1-2 chickens when they go on sale, cut them in pieces and put them in the freezer. I'm a student on a budget, so don't judge). I was looking for a recipe on allrecipes and decided to try this one out because of all the rave reviews. It turned out pretty good. I didn't care much for the curry aftertaste (I usually LOVE curry) . It may very well be because I was using the (cheap) curry powder that came with my spice rack. Mental note: Use good quality curry next time.

Honey Mustard Chicken

Adapted from allrecipes.ca

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup prepared mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Combine the melted butter, honey, mustard, salt and curry powder and dip the chicken pieces in the mixture. Place chicken pieces in a shallow baking pan, skin side up. Pour the rest of the mixture on the chicken.

3. Cover baking pan with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30mins, basting every 15 minutes with pan drippings. Remove foil and bake the chicken uncovered for another 40mins or until the chicken is nicely browned and tender and the juices run clear.

I served it with jasmine steamed rice and steamed broccoli and cauliflower. Pour the sauce over the rice, it's delectable. Enjoy!

Tortellini alla crema rosa

I went to Costco last week and while I was going through the rows looking for food samplers (yes, I love Costco for their food samplers, I can't say no to free food haha), something caught my eye: a 2kg package of Villa Ravioli 3-cheese tortellini...for only 7$! I couldn't pass on a deal like that! And what goes better with tortellini than sauce rosee? Yummm!

Tortellini alla crema rosa

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
1 lbs dry cheese tortellini
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/3 cup mushrooms, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups canned tomato sauce

2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream 35 %
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add tortellini and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

2. In large saucepan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Add Italian seasonings and cook until onions are tender. Stir in mushrooms. Cook until liquid evaporates.
3. Add wine, boil for 30 seconds and stir in tomato sauce. When sauce is hot, stir in cream and parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over tortellini and toss. Serve with additional Canadian Parmesan cheese for sprinkling, if desired.

My boyfriend insisted that I post a picture of his manly dish on my blog. So there you go, a macho man's tortellini complete with 2 fat and juicy sausages. lol. (I ended up eating up pne of his sausage because it was too spicy. He's allergic to spicy food...or so he says haha).

On the pictures, I used vietnamese basil as garnish because I didn't have the italian kind on hand ;)

Thanks for reading!

Three abandoned apples...

My boyfriend's mother gave us 3 apples a month ago (yes, ONE month ago!) and they've been sitting in my fridge since then. I have no idea what to do with them since I'm allergic to apples (unless they're cooked) and my boyfriend NEVER eats any fruits (unless they're in desserts). And since they still looked good, I decided to take these 3 lonely and abandoned apples and make something really delicious out of them so they could serve their lives' purpose. I couldn't make my faithful apple pie or apple crumble because I don't have enough apples on hand (and didn't want to go to the store to buy more). So I did the next best thing...Apple pie MUFFINS!

They came out really moist and tasted just right, not bland and not too sweet. Within a few minutes of being out of the oven, 3 were already gone...in our stomachs! Yummmmy!

Apple pie muffins

Adapted from allrecipes.ca

Makes 15 muffins (or 12 ginormous muffins like mine)

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 1/2 cups diced apples

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with paper muffin cups.

2. In a large bowl, stir together 2 1/4 cups flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a separate smaller bowl, mix together the egg, buttermilk, 1/2 cup melted butter, vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar until sugar has dissolved. Pour into the flour mixture and sprinkle the diced apple into the bowl as well. Stir just until everything is blended. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin, filling the cups to the top.

3. In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour and cinnamon. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of melted butter while tossing with a fork until well blended. Sprinkle this over the tops of the muffins.

4. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed.

The colors are a bit off in the first 2 pictures because of the flash.

Until next time recipe!

Mushroom risotto

My first attempt at risotto for dinner yesterday! It came out so creamy and delicious. It was well worth the effort of standing and stirring for 40 mins (well, 10 mins for me, my fabulous boyfriend did the rest)! I only had risotto once in a restaurant (mushrooms and truffles) and this was better!

Gourmet Mushroom Risotto

Adapted from allrecipes.ca

Serves 4 (if served as main dish)

Ingredients

6 cups chicken broth

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 shallots, diced

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons finely chopped chives (I used dried chives because my supermarket didn't have fresh)

3 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a saucepan, warm the broth over low heat.

2. Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms and their liquid, and set aside.

3. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet, and stir in the shallots. Cook 1 minute. Over medium heat, add rice, stirring to coat with oil. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 35 to 40 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, and stir in mushrooms with their liquid, butter, chives, and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy! :)