Berrylicious

One day, Astri bought home a pack of blueberries she intended to use for Cheese Blintzes’ sauce topping. There were more than needed (plus blueberries are really too expensive to throw away) so the natural choice was to use the leftover and make some blueberry muffins.

When I started adding generous dollops of sour cream into the batter, my faithful kitchen assistant a.k.a. sister-who-is-more-helpful-anyday-in-cleaning-up-any-food-than-any-dirty-dishes, began to worry that the end result will taste just a tad too similar to well, a tub of sour cream. Fortunately, the muffins turned out nothing like that at all and we were pleasantly surprised by how sweet, fragrant and moist they were. You probably guessed that the secret ingredient is the sour cream, which keeps the muffins moist and adds that extra unique rich flavor. Yum, I say.


Blueberry Muffins

If you ask me, once you try making this, you'd never bake blueberry muffins any other way. Click here for the recipe.

Tips:

When buying berries, look for those that are dark in color as berries do not ripen after picking. Store them uncovered in the refrigerator and eat them as soon as possible. If you’re lucky enough to find yourself with more berries than you know what to do with, remember that berries freeze very well. If you wash them before freezing, allow them to dry completely.

Arrange them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze them until they're good and firm. You can pack them into plastic bags or freezer containers without danger of smashing the berries. This method also ensures that the berries will not stick together, enabling you to use just a few from the container without having to defrost them all. To bake with frozen berries, there's no need to defrost them first.

This Is How I Roll

Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio) w/ Peanut Hoisin Dipping Sauce

Summer Rolls, Spring Rolls, Cold Rolls are the different names you'll find on restaurants menus for this delicious and healthy appetizer. At home, we call it Salmon Spring Roll. Simply because that's how it was introduced to us, and we prefer ours with salmon. hmmmm~

Occasionally, we like to have spring rolls party with friends. They’re tons of fun - you make these as you eat them, and eat them with your bare hands. No cheating. Though they can get a little messy if yours end up gigantic and not tightly rolled. But the idea is to get everyone involved.

You make your own rolls with whatever fillings available on the table (usually salmon, sliced lean pork, boiled rice vermicelli, shrimps, and lettuce). First, you soak the rice paper in hot water, be careful to be gentle as it becomes fairly delicate when softened. Then lay the paper on a plate, pile on your preferred fillings (I like something of everything), wrap them up like you would for burritos, dip into peanut sauce, and bite into the crunchiness of lettuce, softness of noodles, and sweet tanginess of the sauce. A perfect light summer meal! Ladies, I should tell you it's almost fat free ;)

Chicken Fly

Butterflied Roasted Chicken

If you read Astri's blog, you'd know that we had a lovely barbeque over the weekend, where we did bulk buying from Costco. I bought 2 whole chickens for only $5.38! It's been sometimes since I last cooked a whole chicken, reserved usually for special occasion, and the last time was probably Thanksgiving turkey. The initial plan was to make Hainan Chicken Rice, but K's not very fond of the dish and it'll be too much for just Astri and I. So I figure everyone must love roast chicken.

Butterflying chicken takes shorter time to cook and it's equally beautiful. Put the bird into a very hot oven, and you'll get one with cripsy skin yet not greasy. It sure beats deep fried chicken anyday. The secret is to brine the chicken in salt and sugar mixture for at least an hour. This will keep the meat tender and juicy. To accompany the dish is spaghetti in a simple marinara sauce with a LOT of garlic. Yum!