When I discovered how easy it is to make taro cake (link here), it only made sense to try turnip cake next. This is very similar to the dim sum they serve in the restaurants. Personally I like turnip cake much more than taro cake. I revised this recipe and improved it for Chinese New Year, February 2011. (The original photo that was posted is at the bottom of this post.) If you have leftover daikon radish, see here for a list of other recipes.
My mom really likes taro so I tried making taro cake from scratch. It is very easy to make.
If you try this recipe, I definitely suggest using the sour cream, bacon and green onion because those make a huge difference to the experience of this squash soup. Alternatively, for a vegan or vegetarian soup, add a few drops of good balsamic vinegar onto each bowl of soup instead of the bacon and toppings. This makes for a more elegant soup.
This is a neat twist on honey garlic wings. With the toasted sesame seeds as garnish, I feel like it’s a very classy way to serve chicken wings. Giada’s recipe was originally intended for chicken drummettes but I prefer using chicken wings. I’ve also used drumsticks before.
I caught a really bad flu in the winter of 2009. Maybe it was the 3 day fever, but I had a huge craving for preserved duck egg and macaroni and cheese. You might not be so impressed, but at the time I thought I had come up with an ingenious combination, haha
When working with preserved duck eggs, there’s no need to cook them and remember to wash them very well before serving.
I love love love pizza – from the greasy generic Pizza Pizza to pretentious gourmet pizzas. When I discovered how easy (and cheap) it is to make your own pizza dough from scratch, I went crazy with it, haha. I even bought this “band saw” pizza cutter from Fred and friends. I personally don’t like kneading dough so I prefer to use my food processor for pizza dough. Some of the variations that I’ve tried include (but aren’t limited to):
– smoked salmon, mascarpone cheese, avocados, lemon juice
– mixed greens, goats cheese, basil pesto, cherry tomatoes, marble cheese
– chicken breast, mozzarella cheese, garlic cream sauce, spinach
– chicken breast, mozzarella cheese, basil pesto, sundried tomatoes, goats cheese
– hot italian sausage, roasted red peppers, tomato sauce, red onions, mozzarella cheese
– hot italian sausage, pepperoni, tomato sauce, bacon strips, dried chilli flakes
– pepperoni, marble cheese, green peppers, tomato sauce, mushrooms, bacon strips
– steak, mozzarella cheese, cooked white onions
– pesto, mozzarella cheese, sundried tomatoes
I’ve made this Kitty Litter Cake twice now and it always gets the best reactions out of people. I’ve had people laugh, gag, and I even had someone think that it was actually kitty litter sitting on top of my table 🙂 The best part is that everyone’s always surprised at how Good it tastes. There are several variations on the internet but this is how I’ve done it.
These mummies are cocktail sausages wrapped in Pillsbury crescent dough. As you can imagine, they taste really good. My guests went through several trays of these 🙂
These witch cupcakes were really easy and fun to make. They were delicious too.
For thanksgiving 2008, Ed’s parents came to visit so I made them a thanksgiving lunch. Instead of roasting a turkey, I made turkey and stuffing pinwheels and served them with hot gravy. I served them as an entree but they would be great as an hors d’oeuvre at a party or for a pot luck. I’ve also made these with chicken instead and they were just as good.
My family and Ed’s family love this sweet potato pie. It’s quite a bit of work so I only make it once every 3 years (despite their constant requests for more). But every time I make it, I make a few 9″ pies and several individual sized pies (I love making miniature foods). Note that Tyler Florence suggests a crunchy cranberry topping to go with this, but I’ve never felt that my pies needed it.
Cooking with Alison 
