These cheese stuffed portobello mushrooms are delicious, versatile, and ridiculously quick and easy to make. Choose a melty cheese and make it as casual (as I did using marble cheese) or as fancy as you’d like. In terms of the toppings, you can use leftovers, vegetables and/or protein. I had a tomato on hand and it added lovely acidity and freshness to the hearty mushroom and heavy cheese. Serve this as an appetizer, as a side, or as the main.
Chinese steamed buns are delicious plain and straight out of the steamer. But if you haven’t tried pan fried steamed buns, then you’re definitely missing out. Unlike steamed buns, pan fried buns have crispy, golden brown bottoms and are often served with a Chinese black vinegar dip. You start with fresh, raw homemade buns and you pan fry and steam cook them at the same time. (Next time, I will try doing this with frozen, raw buns and I will update this post at that time.)
In the photo below, I’ve shown most of the buns upside down, but when serving pan fried buns, you should plate them with the crispy bottom down.
I love Chinese steamed buns with savoury meat fillings. (See my pork and napa cabbage filling here.) Although these buns are time consuming to make from scratch, they’re easy to make and homemade buns don’t have MSG. If you take the time to make a large batch, you can freeze the extras and make your efforts last.
Chinese steamed buns are usually eaten for breakfast, brunch, or lunch, and they make the best snacks. Best served piping hot, they can be made with sweet or, my preference, savoury fillings. (See my chicken or pork and Chinese chive recipe here.) Although these buns are time consuming to make from scratch, they are quite easy to make and I’ve provided a shortcut option in the recipe below. Also, you can make a large batch at one time and freeze the extras. Although the store-bought frozen buns can go from the freezer to the table in under 20 minutes, they contain MSG, preservatives and too much sodium.
My favourite mango chicken dish is surprisingly simple and is served at the restaurant, Magic Wok in Markham, ON. They stir fry pieces of chicken with slices of fresh mango and ginger and serve it in a delicious basket made from deep fried shredded taro. I’m on the look out for the properly shaped Chinese wire basket/strainers so that I may recreate this restaurant style dish at home. In the meantime, I make a homestyle chicken and mango stir fry with bell peppers for added crunch and colour. Feel free to use whatever vegetables you happen to have on hand.
I’ve tried numerous recipes in search of my favourite banana bread. Recently, I found one that was exactly what I was looking for. This is Ed’s favourite recipe too. In the past, he has always dutifully taste-tested my banana bread with the disclaimer that he isn’t a big banana bread fan. But when I gave him the rest of this loaf to take home to his family, he ate it all before he arrived. 😉 This banana bread is moist, soft, and it holds together without being heavy or dense. It has great banana flavour and a handful of chocolate chips makes a wonderful variation. My preference is to use only enough chocolate to add a subtle sweetness and depth so as not to overpower the bananas. I know I’ve accomplished this when people have to ask if there’s chocolate in it.
If you prefer a softer, fluffier banana bread, this recipe by my little mochi is excellent too. I use it whenever I have sour cream or yogurt that needs to get used up.
Originating from Ukraine, borscht is a soup that is made with beets as the main ingredient. Surprisingly, you may find borscht or even Russian borscht (“loh sung tong” / “lor sung tong”) on the menus of some Hong Kong style diners. The borscht served in these Chinese restaurants is more like a hot and sour vegetable soup with tomatoes and/or tomato paste as the main ingredient(s). It’s delicious and my siblings and I love it. In fact, every time my brother sees me, he asks me when I’m going to make more of this soup for him. I made it for my housemate recently and she asked for the recipe. Every Chinese restaurant makes their borscht slightly differently, so feel free to add whatever vegetables you like. The following recipe was created to taste just like the soup that’s served at our favourite Hong Kong style diner in Markham, ON.
My month long detox diet challenge has come to an end. (See the Day 1 post here, the Day 7 post here, and the Day 15 post here.) I must admit that I cheated whenever I traveled. Over Victoria Day long weekend when I went to see my family in Toronto, I ate restaurant food that had sugar in the sauce, some tofu, and more homemade dumplings than I could count. Last week, when I went to Montreal, I ate a small slice of banana bread and onion rings with dipping sauces. As of midnight, June 1st, 2011, I will be free to consume gluten, dairy, refined sugar, soy products, caffeine, and alcohol once again.
When I first decided to do this, I thought that I would have the most difficulty giving up dairy. I also thought that I would crave bread. But to my surprise, I only had cravings for refined sugar (ie. dessert and baked goods). Luckily, the cravings subsided by week 3. Although this detox diet was slightly inconvenient in terms of meal preparation, and while it placed restrictions on my social life, it was easy to follow and, more importantly, it was effective at improving my general health. (See below for the health benefits that I saw.) I’m also happy that I used this opportunity to learn about new ingredients and try new recipes. Now that I’ve had a glimpse of the difficulties that people with food intolerance face daily, future guests of mine can expect delicious meals that will honour their dietary restrictions without compromising on flavour, texture, or creativity.
The main question now is whether or not I will turn the rules from the detox challenge into permanent changes to my lifestyle and diet. Here are my plans:
This gluten free (easily made dairy free) waffles recipe blew us away. I never thought I’d say this, but I prefer it over all of the gluten-filled waffle recipes that I’ve tried (and I’ve tried several). They are unbelievably light and airy on the inside (as long as you don’t overfill your waffle maker with batter) and delicately crispy on the outside. Furthermore, this is a very easy recipe; you don’t need a blender (I don’t recommend using an electric mixer either), and the batter doesn’t need to rest first. I recommend doubling the recipe and freezing the leftover cooked waffles. You can toast them until crispy straight from the freezer for a quick and delicious breakfast. Also, you could make these ahead of time if you’re entertaining a lot of people.
Homemade Waffle Mix and Gift Idea: Make a large batch of homemade waffle mix by whisking together all of the dry ingredients (use granulated sugar instead of liquid sweetener) and store it in an airtight container. Then every time you want to make a batch of waffles, simply measure out 2 cups + 2 tablespoons of your waffle mix and add the wet ingredients as per the recipe below. You could even turn this into a gift. Put your homemade waffle mix in a cellophane bag, tie it with a pretty ribbon and attach the recipe and instructions. Just make sure that the recipient owns a waffle maker if you’re not also gifting them with one.
Normally, I’m a regular consumer of cow’s milk and Chinese soy milk drinks. But challenging myself with a month long detox diet (see post here) led me to explore non-dairy (casein free) and non-soy milks. The options include coconut milk, almond milk, rice milk, and hemp milk. I also heard of a potato based milk alternative, DariFree by Vance’s Foods that comes in a powder. I don’t like the taste of fresh coconut juice and coconut milk is too rich (for my tastes) for drinking, so this post will focus on a comparison between almond, rice, and hemp milk. Also, see below for homemade rice milk instructions and a very simple and versatile almond milk recipe with flavour variations.
These carrot muffins are soft, moist, and not too sweet. The best part about these muffins is that no one will be able to tell that they were made with whole wheat flour. I made these for a friend’s birthday and added a cream cheese frosting. It was the perfect addition of sweetness. Everyone loved them and several people asked for the recipe.
For these muffins/cupcakes, I prefer to casually spread a light cream cheese frosting over the top (I used the cream cheese frosting recipe posted here). However, if you prefer a heavier cream cheese frosting that will be stiff enough to pipe after chilling in the refrigerator, use the recipe posted here. I regret not taking a photo of the frosted carrot muffins/cupcakes.
I have now been off gluten, dairy, refined sugar, soy, caffeine and alcohol for 14 days. (See the Day 1 post here and the Day 7 post here. See the last post here.) I will likely be off legumes for the remainder of the month too, because I am now sick of them. 😉 Although I still feel like I have a lot of options despite the restrictions, I’m starting to miss having the option of eating out. It is limiting my social activities, but I’ve been keeping busy with other things.
The food cravings this past week were once again directed towards sweets but were minimal and very easily managed. In fact, I made carrot muffins with cream cheese frosting for a friend’s birthday and resisted from eating any of them! The recipe can be found here and no one will be able to tell that they’re made with whole wheat flour. So far, I am still very happy that I took on this detox challenge. I hope to see more health benefits soon.
The Foods I’ve Been Eating and Their Recipes
Cooking with Alison 
