Green Tea Cheesecake

I love cheesecake and also love green tea flavored stuff, so it's only right to combine the two.

» Ingredients

› For the crust, see crust recipe.

› For the filling:

• 2 8-oz packages (original) cream cheese, cut into 1-inch chucks, room temperature
• 1/2 cup fromage blanc
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoon Japanese green tea powder

» Instructions

1. First make the crust. Keep oven in 325 (F) degree; and the rack in lower-middle position.
2. In a small bowl, use a tablespoon of water to dissolve the green tea powder.
3. In a standing mixer (or a large bowl with an electric mixer), beat cream cheese, fromage blanc, and sugar in medium-low speed until smooth. Add one egg at a time, beat until incorporated after each addition. Beat the dissolved green tea powder until smooth.
4. Pour batter over prepared crust in pan. Place a roasting pan in the bottom rack to catch any drippings.
5. Bake cake until set but center moves very slightly when pan is gently shaken, about an hour. 
6. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let it cool down. Loose up the cake by running a knife between the cake and the pan sides. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours. (Can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
7. Let the cheesecake stand at room temperature about 30 minutes before serving.

» Serves 8-10

» Calories: ~3560

» Adapted from Epicurious

» Note: the original recipe called for 1/2 cup of fromage blanc, but fromage blanc comes in 1 cup package, since I don't know what to do with other half cup so I put the whole thing in. :P

Cheesecake Crust

» Ingredients

• 8 whole graham crackers (rectangular size) (4 oz/112g)
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (1 tablespoon for the pan)

» Instructions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 (F) degrees.

2. Break graham crackers into rough pieces and processed in a food processor to fine even crumbs. Mix in 5 tablespoons of melted butter until evenly moistened.
3. Line the bottom of a springform pan with parchment paper. Brush the parchment paper, the bottom, and the sides of the pan with remaining melted butter.
4. Empty the crumbs into the pan, use the back of a spoon, press hard and evenly into the pan bottom.
5. Bake until fragrant and beginning to brown around the edges, about 13-15 minutes.
6. Cool on a wire rack while making the filling.

» Calories: ~1000

» Notes

• Cut the parchment paper larger then the bottom of pan will make it easier to lift up the cake afterward.
• I use a 9-inch springform pan, but 6 or 8-inch should work fine too.

Roasted Pork (Cha Shu)

This is the Chinese style roasted pork, aka, cha shu.

I'm sure there are many recipes out there, but I like how simple this recipe is so I can make it whenever I want.

» Ingredients

• 1 lb of half-fat-half-lean pork, cut into 2-inch strips
• 10 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cooking wine (optional)
• 2 teaspoon dark soy sauce (optional)
• 2 tablespoons molasses (or honey)

» Instructions

 › a day before roasting:

1. In a large bowl where can comfortably hold the pork in one layer, mix sugar and soy sauce together. (Also add optional ingredients if using.) Stir until sugar dissolved. (This will take about 10 minutes.)
2. Add the pork to the marinate sauce, wrap bowl with plastic wrap and leave in refrigerator.
3. In the morning, flip the pork so that it can be marinated evenly.

 › day of roasting:

4. Half an hour before roasting, take the marinated pork out of the refrigerator. Flip the pork once more. Preheat oven to 425 (F) degree.
5. In a roasting pan, arrange pork in one layer, add some of the marinate sauce, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup. Roast for 15 minutes, then flip the pork and roast the other side for another 15 minutes.
6. Decrease the oven to 350 (F) degree. Brush molasses all over the entire pork, roast another 5 minutes.
7. Cut roasted pork in thin slices and serve.

» Notes

• The key is to have fatty meat. Lean meat will tend to be dry and rough. 
• This recipe intends to be simple. So for the marinate, sugar and soy sauce is all it takes. But I usually like to add a little wine to bring out the flavor; the dark soy sauce will make the roasted pork look darker (thus prettier). So just use them if you already had them on hand.
• The marinate time should be at least 3 hours per side. Or, you can double the amount of the marinate sauce so that the pork can be submerge into the marinate sauce completely, then you can cut the time to half. But it the longer the better.
• Molasses can be replaced by honey, but I do find molasses taste better. 

Blueberry Muffins

Whenever I see the abundance of available blueberries in the summer, I can't help but wanting to bake something blueberry.

» Ingredients

• 2 cups (10oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• ¾ cup sugar
• 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup (8oz) sour cream
• 1 ½ cups fresh blueberries, cleaned and dried

» Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 (F) degrees, rack in middle position. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cups, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add blueberries and lightly toss to combine.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until light-colored. Add the sugar and whisk vigorously until thick and creamy. Add the melted butter in 3 batches, each time whisk until combine. Lastly add the sour cream in 2 batches, whisk just to combine. (Be sure to whisk vigorously all the way in this step.)
4. Gently pour the creamy mixture into the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold together, until just combined. Do not overmix. (No more than 1 minute.)
5. Grease a large spoon (or ice cream scoop) with a little oil to prevent sticking, divide the batter into 12 cups evenly. (Distribute the blueberries evenly, and make some visible on top.)
6. Bake until the muffins are light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotate the pan after 15 minutes from front to back. Let it cool down on a rack before serving.

» Makes 12 muffins

» Calories: 2510 total; 209/muffin

» Adapted from The New Best Recipe

» Notes

• The original recipe calls for 1 ¼ cups of sour cream, I used 1 cup because sour cream came in 1 cup size and I didn't feel like buying another cup and waste the other ¾ of it. But if you have enough on hand, use 1 ¼ cups.
• The original recipe also calls for 1 cup of sugar, but I usually like it less sweet so I decreased the amount.

Cauliflower Soup

This is really an easy-to-make soup that requires no stock and minimal ingredients. It's creamy and has a lot of cauliflower flavors to it. I love it and make it often!!

» Ingredients

• 1.5 lb of cauliflower, separated into florets (discard tough core)
• 1 small white onion, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 3 cups of hot water
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• truffle oil and freshly grounded black pepper (optional)

» Instructions

1. In a heavy pan (that has a lid), melt butter over low heat.
2. Add onion and cook gently until softened, not brown, 15 minutes.
3. Add cauliflower, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Raise the heat to medium-low, cover tightly with a lid and cook for 20 minutes.
4. Add remaining water and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes more.
5. Purée soup with a handheld blender in the pot until smooth. (Alternatively, use a blender or food processor.)
6. Add few drop of truffle oil and freshly grounded black pepper if desired.

» Makes about 6 cups

» Adapted from: I first saw this soup on Simply recipe, then found another recipe over at Becks & Posh, and liked the latter one better. I think it's easy enough to add an onion and should be sweeter. (So if you don't have onion on hand, that's fine.)