With the summer-like weather upon us, its time to hit the decks/patio/pool and lounge around with refreshing cocktails (yes, put the beer down and make something fun and exciting). I whipped up this cocktail recipe for a feature in Women’s Living Magazine last summer. It was a tremendous hit, everyone loved it and I hope you do too! Cheers everyone!

Ingredients

1 cup of diced pineapples 1 cup of pineapple juice 3 tablespoons of mint leaves 2 ounces of lime juice and wedges 4 ounces of gin 4 ounces of elderflower liqueur ginger ale In a pitcher, combine pineapples, pineapple juice, mint leaves, lime juice, wedges, gin, elderflower liqueur and ginger ale with ice and stir.  Pour into glasses that have been rimmed with a mixture of salt and ground chili pepper and serve.

 Served with herb-anchovy butter and poached quail eggs.

I am absolutely obsessed with chicken liver, pates and mousses in particular. So much creamy richness, yet slightly funky in taste, I love it! Oh and don’t get me started on the pate in the Vietnamese banh mi.

Chicken livers are also nutrient dense- high in protein and a rich store of folate. Livers are also loaded with iron to give you energy and a treasure trove of certain B vitamins, most notably B12. This nutritional profile makes them a good choice for anyone prone to anaemia. Chicken livers are also one of the top sources of vitamin A, which helps eye health. (Food Standards Authority advises pregnant women not to eat liver because too much vitamin A can harm the baby.)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 cups chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped tart apple
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 pound chicken livers, cleaned
salt and pepper
1/4 cup brandy
1 cup heavy cream

In a large pan over low heat, melt the butter and cook onion, apple, garlic and thyme, covered, until apples soften. Remove lid and increase heat to medium add the livers and cook until firm and still pink inside, 3-4 mins; season with salt and pepper. Add brandy and cook until reduced by half, 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Puree in a food processor; then chill, covered. Meanwhile whip the heavy cream to medium peaks. Fold into cooled, pureed liver mixture. Serve chilled with toasted baguette slices.

Optional: if you want the mousse to be very smooth, pass the puree through a sieve before chilling it and folding in the whipped heavy cream.

Pulled pork- comfort food and so easy!

Pulled Pork- so many ways to make this wonderful, comforting dish. You can roast, crock pot and in my case use the pressure cooker. Crock pot is a such a great option for those who work all day and want a delicious meal ready for them by the time they get home. For me, I’ really bad at time management so I use the pressure cooker to get tender, moist results in half the time.

Pulled Pork

1 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 cloves of garlic, roughly minced
1 small yellow onion, quartered
1.5 cups chicken broth
One 2 1/2-pound boneless pork shoulder, excess fat trimmed

Combine all the spices. Rub the spice mixture onto the pork on all sides. Marinate the pork for 3 hours or overnight.

Let the pork rest out of the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Heat the pressure cooker with canola oil on high, sear the pork, 2 minutes on each side. Remove, add a tad more oil and saute garlic and onions, scraping any brown bits on bottom of pot, for 2-3 mins. Return the pork, add chicken broth until it reaches half way of pork. Seal the lid and cook on low heat for 1-1.5 hours. Shred pork and toss in bbq sauce (recipe below). Serve on bread, tortilla or in this case indian pancake (recipe will follow soon) with slaw or pickled red onions or salsa verde.

Barbecue Sauce

1.5 cup of the pulled pork liquid
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon unagi sauce aka eel sauce (hoisin sauce optional)
1 tablespoon sriracha sauce (depends on your spice tolerance)
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in small sauce pan and let it simmer on medium/low heat for 10 minutes or until thick sauce-like consistency.

Crock pot: rub pork in spice mixture, place in crock pot with chicken broth, garlic and onions. Cook on high until the pork is fork-tender, 4 to 5 hours, or on low, 8 to 10 hours. Transfer the pork to a carving board. Let the pork stand, about 5 minutes.)

iphone captured and edited. I love my phone.

:/ that’s a long name for a dish, I should shorten it… eventually.

Hello rosieeats fans, followers and curious visitors! Finally, another update! Life has been busy indeed and I am loving every single moment of it. For example, I was selected to fly to LA to be a part of a nation-wide cooking competition for a week (which I got eliminated and will not be on tv, sad). Nonetheless, it was truly an incredible experience that I will never take for granted. (Sorry for lying to all my friends about why I was going there, I know you guys all hate at me) I stayed another week in LA with my best friend and had the time of my life. Now, that I’m back in this wintry-cold weather, I am extremely motivated and excited to continue cooking (and now baking) and share my love of good eats to the world. I met a lot of amazing, passionate foodies (real foodies) and this dish was inspired by an amazing cook who cooked alongside me when we prepared our signature dishes.

I usual post more simple recipes because I want it to be accessible to everyone, everywhere. This recipe is a little more adventurous and requires some asian (filipino) specialties, like ube powder and extract. I purchased mine from a local filipino market, but both can be obtained from amazon.com. Just try it, you’ll love it!

What is Ube you ask? [ooh-beh] is a purple yam, filipinos are obsessed (and so am I) with using ube in a variety of their desserts. Not only does it provided a beautiful, vibrant purple hue to food, it has a subtle sweet vanilla-like taste, its very unique.

Fig and Soy Sauce Korean Fried Chicken

1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup mirin or other sweet rice cooking wine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
6 dried mission figs, roughly chopped (3 tablespoons of fig preserves if you don’t have dried figs) 

2 tablespoons of potato starch (corn starch could be used)
salt
chicken wings

Wash and pat wings dry. Sprinkle with salt and potato starch until evenly coated on wings. Heat a deep pan with 2” of canola oil. Heat to 320F.  Fry the wings for approximately 10 mins, working in batches.

Meanwhile combine all the ingredients for the sauce and heat in a pan until syrup-like in consistency. Set aside.

Once all the wings have been fried, heat the oil to 375F and fry again for another 2-3 mins. Remove, draining as much oil as possible and toss in the sauce. Top with toasted sesame seeds, chopped figs, scallions… whatever your heart desires, options are endless. Serve with ube waffles (recipe below) and syrup. I also serve this dish with pickled condiments, like red onion, peppers, cucumbers, kim chi or radishes. 

Ube Waffles

1½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup powdered ube
2 teaspoons of ube extract (very intensifies the ube flavor)
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups milk
½ cup melted butter
2 eggs

Preheat waffle maker. Mix ingredients until smooth. Bake waffles. Easy as that.

Asian fusion at its best. And it’s healthy! I’m keeping new years in mind and all of the resolutions to lose weight (because I need to too).

Thai Curry Turkey Burger

1 pound ground turkey
1 shallot, minced (or small onion)
1/4 cup of plain breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon curry paste or curry powder
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and form into 4-5 patties. Coat a pan with olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat. Place the burgers in the pan. Cook the burgers for 7 minutes on each side. Top with tzatziki sauce. Serve on a bun, lettuce (lettuce wraps) or in this case, whole wheat pita. I went an extra mile and added a grilled mushroom cap and snow pea sprouts.

Tzatziki Sauce

1 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1/2 cup finely chopped english (seedless) cucumber
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint and dill
salt and pepper
splash of olive oil and lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. That’s it