Meyer Lemon & Jasmine Iced Tea

I’m sure by now, all of you know I’m crazy about Meyer lemons.  In case if you’re new to my blog, please feel free to check out these recipes that feature Meyer Lemons: Meyer Lemon Cake, Meyer Lemon Sandwich Cookies, Meyer Lemon Curd with Vanilla Sugar, Meyer Lemon Macarons with Limoncello Buttercream, and this Easy Berries Sorbet with Meyer Lemon & Basil, just to name a few.  They are all very refreshing and scrumptious.



With the changing weather and flu/cold season approaching, I need to make sure I get my daily dose of vitamin C.  This Meyer Lemon & Jasmine Iced Tea is so easy to make and super refreshing for the warm afternoons.   The jasmine tea adds a hint of floral and sweet aroma to this drink, which compliment perfectly with the sweet and tart Meyer Lemons.  I sweeten this Meyer Lemon & Jasmine Iced Tea with organic blue agave.  I love how easy the agave blends in with the tea.  You can also use honey or a simple syrup if you like. 



If you’re serving this tea in gatherings or parties, feel free to double or triple the recipe and make it in a pitcher.  I’m sure you and your guests will love this recipe.  Meyer Lemons reminds me of sunshine and happiness.  What's not to love?    Plus, I'm getting the Vitamin C that I needed.  So, what's your favorite way to get your daily dose of Vitamin C?  From fruit, vegetable, vitamin pills or any other creative way? Any special recipes to share?  I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for stopping by today and wish you a wonderful rest of the week. 

Chicken Pot Stickers--雞肉鍋貼/餃子—With Video Tutorial

I’m sure many of you have ordered pot stickers when you dine out at Asian restaurants.  Pot Stickers, 餃子 in Chinese, are dumplings originated in China and widely spread to the rest of Asia.  Pot stickers usually consist of ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped into a piece of thinly rolled dough.  Boil or pan fry and serve with a soy-vinegar dipping sauce.  Don’t worry, I won’t make you roll your own dough from scratch today! hahaha….I love the pre-made pot sticker wraps because they are convenient and much thinner than rolling your own dough at home.




Ingredients for these pot sticker are very simple.  In this particular recipe, I used ground chicken with cabbage.  You can definitely use any kind of meat you like, ground pork, turkey, even minced shrimp or a mixture of any two.  Ground chicken and pork fillings are the more traditional ones.  I sautéed the shredded cabbage, let it cool and mixed into the chicken along with other marinates to create the filling.  When you’re ready to wrap the pot stickers, have the following items ready.  From the picture below, going clock-wise starting from the top left, the fillings, a pair of chopsticks (if you get good control of them) or use a spoon to scoop the fillings, a small bowl of water that works as “glue” for the wraps, a lightly floured mat/sheet pan for the wrapped pot stickers to land onto, a piece of napkin (yes, wrapping and filling can get messy sometimes, I rather be prepared) and last but not least, the pot sticker wraps.




Simple enough, right?    And oh, thanks to this fry-steam method, cooked pot stickers are golden brown and crispy on the outside, tender and juicy inside.  Don’t worry, we’ll get into all these juicy details with a video below.  Look at these pot stickers.  Aren’t they calling your name?  They are certainly calling mine….especially I know how scrumptious they are.  I’m so glad I still have another batch in the freezer waiting for me whenever I’m ready to cook them.  Oh yes, they freeze really well and I’ll tell you how to do that in the recipe below.  Best of all, you don’t (and should not) need to defrost them before cooking!




Ready to watch the video?  Click away, it’s a short video and so worth watching.  I’ll show you all the important steps in filling, wrapping, and cooking these pot stickers. 




See, no hoops to jump through, right?!  From now on, you don’t have to order the pot stickers from the restaurants.  These will definitely taste better than the restaurants’ or the store-bought ones!   At least, my hubby said so!  (he’s such a smart man…hahaha…)

Raspberry and Rose Madeleine

Spring is officially here.  I’m all ready with the warmer weather, more outdoor activities with the kids, and longer daylight in the late afternoon.  The longer daylight translates to wider time frame for my natural-light food photography session.  Those of you who adore natural light for photography should know what I’m referring to.    If not, never mind, let’s talk about these little tea cakes instead.



Besides the warmer temperature, this Raspberry and Rose Madeleine embraces me with the senses of Spring.  The rose and raspberry aromas and the delicate interior of these little tea cakes are perfect for any Spring time tea party, bridal or baby showers, and the likes.  I really enjoy these little tea cakes along with a cup of tea in the warm afternoon.  They are the perfect pick me up, in my opinion. 




If you’re not familiar with Madeleine, it is a traditional small sponge cake from Commercy and Liverdun, the northeastern region of France.  Madeleine got it’s shell-like shape from the baking pan with shell-shaped depressions.  This is the Madeleine Pan I used.  I love this non-stick Madeleine pan because it’s easy to clean up, and gives the Madeleine some golden brown and crispy edges.  Along with the soft and spongy interior, it’s the perfect little tea cake. 



Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you will enjoy today’s post and recipe.  Take care and I’ll see you next time.


 

“Marshmallow Madness!” Cookbook Giveaway Winner Announcement

 

 
Thank you everyone who entered the “Marshmallow Madness!” cookbook giveaway…..and the winner is……
 

 

Cindy B. Who said, “I like uTry.it's Facebook Page.”

Congratulations, Cindy!  Yay!  I’ll be emailing Cindy B. on how to claim her prize.  Thank you everyone for participating.  Special thank you to Quirk Books and Shauna for providing a copy of this book for the giveaway!


Reminder:  If you haven’t enter the $100 Amazon Gift Card giveaway yet, you have until March 30th to enter.  Click here and will take you to that post.  Good Luck!

Mocha Hazelnut Biscotti—With Step-by-Step Pictorial

If you’ve missed my post, along with a video tutorial, on how to peel hazelnuts, here’s the link to the post.  Trust me, you want to watch the video before you attempt to peel these nuts. 



I love chocolate and hazelnuts together.  It’s one of my favorite combination of flavors.  The idea of adding the espresso into these hazelnut biscotti and make them Mocha?  Priceless!  I was planning to dunk these biscotti in coffee anyway, so why not?    Just in case if I’m too lazy to do the dunking, the espresso is already in the cookies.  LOL….who am I kidding, I guess I’m never “too lazy” with my treats and desserts.   



These Mocha Hazelnut Biscotti are easy to make.  Here’s what you need to do….

1) Add the butter and sugar in your mixer
2) Beat them until light and fluffy
3) Add 2 eggs, one at a time
4) Add vanilla extract



5) Add chocolate liquor
6) Follow by espresso mixture
7) Beat until incorporated
8) In a separate bowl, add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt



9) Whisk until well combined
10) Add the dry ingredients into the wet
11) Roll out the dough and fold in hazelnuts
12) Form into 2 logs and brush egg white on top



13) Bake at 350 degree F for about 20 minutes until the tops are slightly cracked and glossy
14) Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the logs diagonally into 1/3-inch-thick slices
15) Arrange the slices on the baking sheets; bake for about 20 minutes, or until dry
16) Partially dip the biscotti in the melted chocolate; place them on the lined baking sheet and refrigerate until the chocolate is set



It seems like there are quite a few steps in the process but they are all easy steps.  These Mocha Hazelnut Biscotti are totally worth it.



I love the light, crumbly and crunchy texture of these biscotti.  They are packed with mocha flavor and nutty hazelnut aroma.  Since they are twice baked, feel free to dunk them into your favorite hot beverage, such as tea, coffee, mocha, etc.  The biscotti can stand the heat and moisture and won’t fall apart on you! 




Just a quick reminder of my current giveaways, simply click on the links below to enter:

Marshmallow Madness cookbook – deadline to enter 3/20/2012
$100 Amazon Gift Card – deadline to enter 3/30/2012