In the Kitchen Archives - Page 2 of 5

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

By Christina Lee| December 25th, 2019|Holiday Fun, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, In the Kitchen|

If there’s anything that can steal the spotlight from Santa and his reindeers, it’s the Christmas tree that lights up the living room, warms up the house and acts as the backdrop to any and all family photos — including this one. Standing tall and decorated, there isn’t anything that’s going to push this Douglas Fir aside, except maybe a tree that can look just as tall and decorated but also fills the belly.

This year, there’s going to be a new tree in town. It’s made of cocoa and it’s about to be glazed and dressed in confetti and sprinkles. It’s got its own set of elves working on holiday time and a table full of decorating pros. Accompanying it will be an army of butter cookie bliss frosted in red and green fitted outfits.

It’s even got it’s own north star that rivals that of the Douglas Fir’s. But we can’t skip to dessert without whetting our appetite with some hors d’oeuvre. I’m afraid that this tree is going to have to stay in its own swim lane and wait for the dessert calling in a few hours.

I dug up an old recipe that I made years ago and I thought this would be the perfect time and place to assemble it in none other than a Christmas tree mold. It takes a little bit of prep you can do the night before, but it’s essentially mixing cream cheese, smoked salmon, garlic, capers and lemon together to create the base. After letting the flavors marinade for a few hours and even a day, then you can mold it into a Christmas tree and dress it up with cilantro, toasted pecans and your favorite chip. It’s plentiful and rich with flavor, and it makes a good centerpiece on the table.

Now here’s a bit of trivia: At the end of the day, which tree came down the fastest? The salmon tree, the chocolate tree or the Douglas Fir?

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Christina Lee| November 28th, 2019|Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen|

It’s no doubt that we spend a significant amount of time slaving away in the kitchen to prepare a fanciful Thanksgiving meal. Many of us spend ample time coming up with new ideas (or stealing them off of Pinterest), shopping for ingredients, doing the all-intensive prep work and then cooking the night away. Part of the reason we put so much effort and love into our ingredients is because we are proud, humble and grateful for being able to spend it with friends, family and loved ones. Throughout the year, it may be difficult to carve out time to spend with family. It’s easy to check up on them using email or social media, and give yourself a nod that they are doing well. That’s the easy way out and I am guilty of it. While Thanksgiving shouldn’t be an excuse, it is a way for us to come together as a family, focus on each other and sit around the dinner table to enjoy turkey and good company. For that, I am thankful for having my family near and in good health.

As head of the household and big brother to his family, my Dad takes on the big turkey which means the oven is occupied for most of the day so I have to do most of my cooking at home before going to my parents’ house. Along with others, I am a side dish kind of gal and traditionally, I make the candied pecan yams and the brussel sprouts while others bring potato salad, green beans, sticky rice and dumplings (we’re Chinese, so Asian fusion). And of course, my two cousins make the BEST desserts: pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple pie. You, of course, need a bite of each to really put yourself in a food coma.

Aside from the feast, my sister and I like to come up with something fun and creative. This year, we decided to add in some acorn accents to accompany the baked turkey and the chocolate turkeys. We made one kind of candied acorn with Nilla Wafers and the other was acorns made of donut holes and pretzels. I’m not sure if more of the contents went into our bellies than on the table, but we did manage to get a good handful on each plate. Both were colorful, festive and fun, and brightened up the dinner table — although the red table cloth already did a good job of that!

As our guest arrived, the table got full. Standing around the table with our hands held, we bowed our heads, said a prayer and gave thanks for each other and this feast. From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!!

OK, now dig in!

A Christmas Cookie Classic

By Christina Lee| December 23rd, 2018|Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen, Learning from the best|

One of the many Christmas traditions I look forward to is making these jam thumbprint cookies. Inspired by Barefoot Contessa, these rich, buttery cookies have become a Christmas cookie classic in the Lee household and it’s almost expected that I make batches of these cookies for close friends and family. The toasted coconut, the sweet smell of jam and the buttery goodness fill the entire kitchen and it almost feels as if you’ve inhaled 3000 calories when you haven’t even taken a bite or licked the spoon. But who’s counting calories? Seriously. It’s the holidays and you’ve earned every bite to the very last crumb.

This year, I seem to have lost count on how many batches of cookies I made. When I’m in the kitchen, it’s serious business. I’ve got the assembly down to a T: there’s the mixing of the dry and wet ingredients, the resting window, the balling of the dough, the dipping of the dough into the egg wash, the slathering of the coconut, the insertion of the thumb and the best part, the spooning of the flavored jams. It’s at least a four to six hour kitchen marathon and I don’t actually stop until I’ve filled the cookie boxes or tins. If you look at the size of the boxes, you can tell I went large, so I must have made at least a gazillion cookies. But in the end, it’s worth it because these jam thumbprints are in high demand.

Well, I’m ready to pack these up while I munch on the “broken” cookies. Merry Christmas!!

It’s Turkey Time!

By Christina Lee| November 22nd, 2018|Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen, Oh My Crafts!|

Happy Thanksgiving!! It’s turkey time over at the Lee household and we’re not holding back. This year, we’ve got multiple chefs in the kitchen and we were able to whip up three turkeys. That’s correct, I said three turkeys! And since everyone’s been on a diet all year round, it’s now time to unbuckle those belt buckles and dig in.

For starters, we began with a vegetable turkey platter. You can’t just fill up on cheese and crackers. Well, yes you technically can, but you’ve got to get your veggies in and what better way than to dive right into this vegetable turkey platter. It’s festive, fun and has every color of the rainbow. Left untouched, it will only remain a centerpiece… which for the most part, it did throughout the evening.

If the vegetable turkey itself wasn’t enough to take center stage on the dining table, then we also built this gingerbread turkey. I know, I know, cookie decorating fun doesn’t begin until Christmas, but we just can’t wait! You can pick up a gingerbread turkey-in-a-box at your local Trader Joe’s. It comes with all the gingerbread turkey parts and icing, sprinkles and candy — everything you need to make this little guy stand on his own two feet. Now, it’s not easy, so you might want to consider enlisting the help of your nieces and nephews. Learn from the pros. That’s typically how it’s done.

For the grand finale, feast your eyes on this guy. He steals the show not just because he’s the main course, but my dad made him. Years ago, my dad retired from making the Thanksgiving turkey and since then, things just weren’t the same…. or to be brutally honest, didn’t taste as good. It just may not have been made with the right amount of love. But of course, there is much to be thankful for and I’m just lucky to be surrounded by my friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Gobble, gobble.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

By Christina Lee| December 25th, 2017|Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen|

Some people need a little motivation getting into the Christmas spirit while others just fall naturally into the holiday spirit. For those who need that extra little push after the Christmas shopping and gift wrapping buzz, consider these fun, easy-to-make recipes to impress your guests and dress up your table escape. The first idea came from those hard-to-resist Tasty videos you see on your Facebook feed. Because I just keep watching them and saving them, they show me more and more. And this video of the making the Christmas Tree Pull Apart Bread was one that I couldn’t resist bookmarking. It’s a short one minute clip that guides you through making this beautiful display in just about 30 minutes. Plus, after watching this video, you’ll find most ingredients are easy to grab at the grocery store: Pillsbury ready-made dough, pesto sauce, tomato sauce, Mozzarella, pecans and a pinch of seasoning.

On top of making a number of side dishes, this was one I could easily do right before all the guests came. It’s as easy as pulling out all the store bought ingredients and just begin working down the line. Grab a slice of ready made dough, slather the inside with red or green sauce, put a slice of Mozzarella in the center and wrap it up. Shape the balls of dough into a tree and decorate the outside as you’d like. I chose to sprinkle both pesto and marinara sauce across and dress it up with pecans. No, I did not use the sprinkles and icing, but I did top it off with a snowflake cookie.

While your guests are arriving and your prime rib is waiting for its debut on the Christmas table, it’s always good to have an activity — especially one that brings out your ‘inner kid’. Decorating Christmas cookies is a fun activity for all ages. It just takes your favorite sugar cookie recipe, holiday cookie cutters and a bit of prep work in advance, meaning you’ll need to bake and cool a few tray of these before the sprinkles and icing hit the table. When they do, the cookies will go fast!

Enjoy your holiday. From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Scrumptious Thanksgiving Sides

By Christina Lee| November 25th, 2017|Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen|

We all know that setting the table for a Thanksgiving feast wouldn’t be complete without the side dishes that accompany the turkey. And every year, I take pride in knowing that I get to prepare a few of the sides. My specialty happen to be the healthy, yet not so healthy duo of yams and brussels sprouts. Since they’ve become such a hit at family gatherings, they’ve become the undisputed side dish duo that I prepare annually. Knowing that everyone likes a helping or two during dinner and another bite post Thanksgiving dinner, I’ve made double the servings for each.

We all know that yams alone are not always as fun to eat and since it’s Thanksgiving, I’m going to dress them up and slather them in butter. I mean, come on, Thanksgiving only comes around once a year.

At the store, I start by picking out a handful of these orange-skinned sweet potatoes. Then I give them a good scrub and bake them in the oven for 45 minutes or until it’s soft in the center and the sweetness comes oozing out of the skin. Separately, I bake the pecans for 10-15 minutes until they become brown and crispy. It’s fine to sample a few until you are happy with the crunch. As the pecans bake, I remove the skin from the yams and transfer them to another bowl. I mash them until they are silky smooth and I am pleased with the texture. In the microwave, I melt a cup of butter and set a portion aside for the pecans and a portion for the yams in order to give it that creamy, buttery taste. In a separate bowl, I stir in a scoop of brown sugar with the remaining cup of butter and blend in the baked pecans. I drizzle the pecan and brown sugar butter mix on top of the yams and bake them together for another 15 minutes. And then, they are done! Be prepared for your kitchen to smell nice and sweet. And, don’t pick off the pecans!

One side dish done and one more to go! This time, I’m making my classic brussels sprouts with pancetta and caramelized onions. This is a dish that I love and it never fails, except if your are vegan or vegetarian, but still even they ended up trying a bite during Thanksgiving dinner. This is a very simple recipe with powerful flavors and textures. I start by slicing the brussels sprouts into halves and throw it into the frying pan with extra virgin olive oil and fresh garlic. I do the same with the onions. Both take a fair amount of time to cook over the stove.

Once the brussels sprouts are cooked halfway through I slide in the pancetta and let the fat seep in. Then I throw in a splash of white wine and bring the flavors together. When the onions are caramelized, they join the mix. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper, then top it off with slivered almonds. And just like that, you have your second side dish.

Together, the yams and brussels sprouts join the other sides as the turkey sits front and center. I was lucky to sneak in a photo just before the forks and knives came flying in.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Summer Vegetable Medley

By Christina Lee| September 4th, 2017|In the Kitchen|

With record-breaking temperatures in the Bay Area, it’s about time I enjoy my first BBQ of the summer. I’m quite certain that when my uncle hosts a family BBQ, hamburgers, hot dogs, drum sticks and ribs are top of mind for him and most of the men in the family. At least that’s one thing I will be able to check off of my shopping list. But I’m not one to forget about those scrumptious sides and inspiring ways for everyone to get a dose of their daily greens. In the spirit of summer, I say we go beyond green and throw in a splash of red, orange, yellow and even purple!

Needless to say, the vegetable aisle at Trader Joe’s is quite colorful. I found myself rifling through bags of rainbow colored carrots; luscious green asparagus; hearty yellow squash; zesty zucchini; and red, yellow and blue potatoes. Of course, fresh rosemary and thyme were still within an arm’s reach, so I included that in my cart as well. The best part was laying out the garden fresh vegetables on my counter top and admiring the smell and taste of summer within my own home.

I sliced the carrots, diced the potatoes and piled one vegetable on top of another making sure each color is vibrant and visible at every angle. Then I drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil and topped it with a sprig of rosemary and thyme. With a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and a handful of garlic cloves, it was ready to go into the 400 degree oven. Within minutes, the flavors began to pop and really come together. I guess that’s why they call it “the sweet taste of summer”!

Waking Up to Banana Chips In the Morning

By Christina Lee| August 3rd, 2017|In the Kitchen|

It’s not until I spend quite a bit of money at the grocery store buying healthy snacks do I remember I have a dehydrator tucked behind the storage cabinet. Well, today was my lucky day. Just as I caught myself picking up a bag of banana chips, I stopped myself at midpoint from dropping it into the shopping cart. Instead I decided to walk down the produce aisle and pick up a bunch of ripe bananas. By the time I headed out the door, not only was I secretly smiling on the inside partly because I made the right decision to purchase a healthy snack, but also because I was excited to whip out the dehydrator. It was that simple and all I had to do was slice the bananas in halves, cut them into thirds, place them on the dehydrator and wait. That’s it. No added sugar or preservatives.

And 14 hours later, you have chewy golden brown banana chips. This is the moment I pop some of these into my mouth and then bag the rest for later. If you’re not a fan of chewy banana chips, then you have one more step, which is to place them into the oven for five to ten minutes so you can get that crunch.

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