Monkey Bread!

I am in such a baking frenzy that I made fresh bread from scratch two weeks in a row! Last week, I made red bean buns (in honour of Father's Day), which turned out pretty but a little dry. That recipe was a no-egg recipe, so the bread was crumbly and pasty white in colour.

This weekend, I made MONKEY BREAD! What's monkey bread? I'm not quite sure where the name comes from but it is essentially all the goodness of a cinnamon bun in little bite-size pieces! Who doesn't love cinnamon buns?



Little mounds of cinnamon buns all baked tightly in a pan, and so fun to pull apart and eat! It's also commonly referred to as cinnamon pull-apart bread. Are you ready for this delicious treat that is so versatile you can have it for breakfast or dessert?

*Note: No monkeys were harmed in the making of this bread.*

I'm sure you could totally make this if you've got strong arms and a kneading technique to boot, but without either of them, I chose to engage my handy bread machine for this important task!

Before I move on to the recipe, I must give a shoutout to whoever tossed that bread machine by the road one fine day, where I happened to chance upon it and bring it home! It still works perfectly fine and I've had it for over a year now! But I only ever had the chance to use it just recently. It is just so amusing to watch and makes breadmaking a breeze!

Alright, here comes the recipe!

Ingredients for the dough:

• 2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour


• 1/4 cup sugar


• 2 and 1/4 teaspoon yeast


• 1/4 cup melted butter


• 1/3 cup warm milk


• 1/4 cup warm water


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 eggs

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1/4 cup butter


• 1/4 cup sugar


• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

Place all dough ingredients in a bread machine pan and switch on the dough setting. This was 20 minutes of kneading and 1 hour 10 minutes of rising for my bread machine.

Here's some pictures of the process! What else would I do while waiting for the dough to mix and knead and rise? :D



















In the meantime while the dough is rising, melt the 1/4 cup butter in a small pot until brown. Be careful as it may splatter.



Then, in a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar and stir to mix well. Be sure to use a dry bowl; my bowl had a few droplets of water and I ended up with little clumps of cinnamon.



After the dough is done rising, remove from the pan. This might also be a good time to line your baking pans with parchment paper.



On a surface covered with flour, knead the dough with your hands for a couple of minutes until it comes together nicely.



Divide your dough into small, two-inch mounds and shape into little balls. I did this by dividing half the dough into quarters, and then more quarters.



If you are adventurous (unlike me), you can go ahead and dip your dough balls into the melted butter. Otherwise, place them in straight rows in your parchment-lined pan. Don't worry if they are touching each other -- you want them to be right next to each other. This is just to see how many you can fit in your pan.



After deciding how many dough balls to put in your pan, place a few of the dough balls on your kneading surface and drizzle the melted butter over them, tossing them around but maintaining their round shape. You can also dip them into the melted butter in the pot.



Here comes the fun part! You now put your butter-coated dough balls into the cinnamon/sugar mixture and make sure it is well coated with the sweet goodness! I think putting the mixture and the dough balls into a large plastic bag and shaking them also works; I may try that next time. I found this step to be the most time consuming and nerve-wrecking (was I gonna have enough cinnamon/sugar for the rest of the balls?!?!).



After you are done with these two steps of coating, place the dough balls back to the pan.



Now, let them rise for about 15 minutes until they are nice and puffy. After they are done rising, put the pans into the oven at 350°F for about 30 minutes.



This is the hard part -- letting them stay in the oven for 30 minutes! After 10 minutes, I was already dying to open the oven door. This was just before lunch, mind you. It took every ounce of my being to resist the temptation to open the oven! I actually took them out after 25 minutes because they looked ready, but the bottom was still a little soft, so I put them back for another 10 minutes and they came out a little too brown on top.



I just have to show you what they look like inside! They are easy to pull apart into bite-sized pieces and every bite is full of cinnamon sugar! The eggs in the dough really give it a nice golden shine and soft texture like those you see in the bakeries. If one could taste heaven, this must be what heaven tastes like!



And there you have it, cinnamon pull-apart MONKEY bread! Golden brown on top, fluffy and soft on the inside, this is a delicious treat for either breakfast or dessert! Be sure to consume it within 48 hours, as the taste of the bread will change after that. Easy to make for a party or potluck, this sweet bread is sure to astound your friends and family!



Quote of the day (by me):

The world is at your fingertips if you have a bread machine and some parchment paper.

♥ Nikki

Yam, Zucchini and Chickpea Salad

After many meals of homemade Chinese food this week, I was determined to make something Western style for a change. I had zucchini, yams and tomatoes in the kitchen, so I went on Google and typed in "yam, zucchini." Don't ask why I didn't type in tomatoes.

There were quite a few results for "Yam Zucchini and Chickpea Salad." That was interesting! I clicked into it and after skimming over a few pages, I thought, "Hey, I can actually make this!"

The only thing I didn't have on hand was lemon, so I called J.S. (who was on the way home) to get me a lemon. He came home with a huge lemon from Safeway which was an atrocious 99 cents! He told me, "The display sign said 69 cents!" Oh well, to make things even worse,  when I cut the lemon in half, I was dismayed to see that the skin was about 1 cm thick!

Note to self: Stock up with lemons next time.

Moving on, time to show you how I made the salad!



Ingredients you will need:

• 2 zucchini


• 2 yams


• 1 can of chickpeas


• 1/2 onion


• 4 cloves garlic


• Juice from 1/2 a lemon


• 1 teaspoon sesame oil


• Salt and pepper to taste


• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.


2. Dice the yams and zucchini into half-inch cubes.


3. Line baking pans with parchment paper and distribute the yam cubes in an even layer in two pans. Spray some cooking oil and season generously with salt and pepper.


4. Bake the yam cubes for about 30 minutes until they are just starting to brown.


5. In the same pans, without taking out the yams, throw in the zucchini cubes into the pans and stir them around to mix well.


6. Return the pans to the oven to bake for another 15 minutes, turning up the temperature to 450°F.


7. While the yams and zucchini are baking, drain and rinse the chickpeas.


8. Chop garlic finely and dice the onion into small pieces.


9. Saute the garlic and onion until golden brown in some olive oil, and throw in the chickpeas and stir them around for about five minutes.


10. To make the dressing, in a small bowl, mix two tablespoons of olive oil, one teaspoon of sesame oil and the juice of half a lemon. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


11. Combine the baked zucchini and yam cubes, the warm chickpeas, and the dressing in a large bowl and toss lightly.

Here are some pictures of the process... Not that many because I didn't expect this to be a big cooking project. 

And that is done! It tasted delicious and light! Even J.S., who was skeptical about it at first, enjoyed it! It also makes a good side dish for rice or porridge. Some like it for lunch the next day, but I found that the zucchini got soggy and didn't taste as fresh as the day I made it.



The final product!

And the tomatoes? I thought of adding them to the salad but I didn't want to overdo it and ruin everything. Maybe I will try to make some couscous/tomato salad next! It will be nice and cool for summer picnics on a hot day!

♥ Nikki

Dae Bak Bon Ga on West 4th Ave

For a nice relaxing Saturday lunch, Dianne and I decided to go for Korean food because 1) it is always good and 2) she hasn't had any since she came back from her trip. We decided on Dae Bak Bon Ga as it was in the neighbourhood and convenient for both of us that day.



We went in around noon to an empty restaurant. It was much larger than I expected. Even though it was a weekend, I suppose the rain kept people indoors, or all of them are having Western-style eggs/bacon brunch (we saw a popular brunch place with a huge lineup nearby).



We were shown to a table in the middle of the restaurant, and I sat facing the entrance, which had an interesting shelf display of assorted bottles. You can see that almost every table has some sort of exhaust pipe/fan above it; this is for when you're having their table BBQ. I tried it once at the Robson location and it was a pretty interesting experience and quite worth it!



After looking at the menu and lunch specials, we decided to share a box and a lunch combo. As we were probably the first customers, they took a little while to start up in the kitchen. But since we were the only ones in the entire restaurant, it was nice and quiet for us to have a chat while waiting.



For the lunch combo, it was a huge portion of rice with spicy pork, as well as side dishes of salad and braised potatoes.



The spicy pork was spicy to a level I could handle, and it was very tasty with large pieces of green onions, slices of onions and carrot strips! The rice was fresh and perfectly cooked. The braised potato was sweet and tender, unlike some other ones I've tried elsewhere. This place is really good for their side dishes! And the salad? It's just so unique; no other places serve anything like this. It's like a coleslaw with shredded cabbage, and the dressing is this unique blend of mayonnaise, kiwi and black sesame seeds. It's sweet and tangy, goes great with a savoury dish such as the spicy pork.



The only thing that could be improved was the amount of oil they put in. I think this was just a little too greasy for my liking; my lips were coated with oil after every bite. I'm not exaggerating -- just look at the little puddles of oil left behind on the plate when we had finished the rice (which also soaked up a little of the excess oil).

Next up was our box combo! I was particularly excited because I had seen pictures and there was such so much more variety than usual box combos I've had.



I shall proceed to describe every item in this box (except maybe the orange slices!), so hold your horses!



This steaming hot bowl of noodles is so good! The noodles resembled and may even actually be angel hair pasta, but coated with sesame oil and soy sauce instead.

The toppings include green onions, fresh mushrooms, carrot strips, onion slices and sesame seeds. Everything went well together, and instead of the usual glass noodles, the pasta made it all the more richer and decadent.

Again, I think they overdid the sesame oil on the whole dish as it was too greasy for me. Other than that, this was perfect noodles with a kick of fresh black pepper.



This is simple rice topped with sesame seed for the main entree. Don't underestimate this rice! It is so perfect that each grain is chewy and not dry like rice that has been sitting for too long. Great rice, as simple as it sounds, is not available everywhere! Some places cook the worst rice -- too moist like cotton wood, too dry like wood shavings, clumpy and bland. Korean rice -- WIN!



For the entree, we chose chicken cutlet! Sitting primly on top of the same coleslaw salad as mentioned previously, the chicken cutlet was fresh and crispy! The meat was not too dry and the outside crust has such a nice crunch yet does not overpower the taste of the meat. The special dressing drizzled on top also gives it a nice punch to the cutlet. It was amazing with rice!



Lastly, there were two deep-fried gyozas and two deep-fried shrimps. It was not tempura shrimps but a nice bread-crumb coating which was also perfectly fried. The gyoza would have tasted better if it was pan-fried, I think. There was also a dipping sauce for the gyozas.



This sums up just about all the items of the box. It also came with the same braised potatoes and orange slices as the lunch combo. One odd thing: Dianne noticed there was no kimchi served with either lunch combo. Don't you agree that's a little peculiar given this is such a good Korean food restaurant? Must. Have. Kimchi!



There was so much food in these two items that both of us were stuffed and could not finish the food! So we got it to go and I took it home for dinner the next day. Yum!



This is a nice place to go to whether you are in a small or large group. It would be fun to have a table BBQ with a group of friends or even just ordering a few dishes to share! I'm not sure how much busier it will be in the evenings, but they do have pretty good deals for lunch, so I wouldn't mind going there for lunch again! It's the place to go if you're looking for quality Korean food; much better than all those food-court places.

Dae Bak Bon Ga is located at 1947 W 4th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. (there is also a branch at 1323 Robson St., Vancouver, B.C.).

♥ Nikki

Sushi Showdown @ Alma St & 4th Ave

I used to live on Alma Street and 4th Avenue, and during that couple of months, I would walk by Ikebana Sushi every day. I have visited it a few times and always got the sushi special combo. I've never taken pictures of the exterior but it's a small corner restaurant and it does not look very impressive on first sight.

Just round the corner along 4th Avenue, there was an empty store which was leased during the time I was living in the area. Months of renovations went by and soon, posters appeared on the windows stating that a new sushi restaurant was opening.

Finally, around May, Irori Sushi opened its doors. It was glamourously decorated with modern, dark-coloured furniture, a floor-to-ceiling bamboo display and beautifully crafted light fixtures.





There were not many customers as it was still early. We were ushered to a table by the window. This is the leather-covered menu.



When I opened it, I was quite taken aback by the prices. Definitely not what I would expect in a small sushi restaurant in this neighbourhood. I was not pleased and want to leave right away, but J.S. convinced me to stay and try something. We settled on a sushi combo with California roll and assorted nigiri to share.

The miso soup that came with it was too regular, I even suspected they used a microwave to reheat it, since I heard some microwave noises.



When asked what we would like to drink, I asked for water and J.S. asked for tea. This is what we got each. Great service indeed (no sarcasm here!).



Here's our full table before our food even got here. She even got us plates for sharing the combo. I'm quite amused.



The food took longer to get here than I expected, and when it came, I was appalled.



This was it! Four pieces of nigiri and eight pieces of California roll. I had expected portion sizes to be bigger but I guess this place is not where one should expect quantity. Quantity aside, we ventured to taste how much quality there was.



The nigiri were not impressive; the tuna was tasteless and the salmon was nothing like what I usually have. I've had rich, creamy fatty salmon that melts in my mouth; this salmon appeared to be smoked but had neither flavour nor texture. However, the shrimp was juicy.



The California rolls were not much better, the imitation crab meat was salty and the seaweed was tough. I could not wait to get out of here.

This terrible combo cost us $8.95 plus taxes and tips!

With our bellies half full, we set off next door to Ikebana Sushi for more sushi!

We got the Special Combo A to share and we got the nice waitress. She served us hot tea and the food came in a long while (because many people were getting takeout).



Look at this! Six pieces of fresh tuna roll, eight pieces of California roll and eight pieces of yam tempura roll! I'm quite sure this is enough food to feed a small army.

One thing I like about Ikebana's sushi is that they are very generous with the fillings. The filling takes up 3/4 of the sushi and rice makes up the other 1/4.

The tuna was definitely a lot fresher and didn't disintegrate once it entered my mouth. The yam tempura was fresh from the fryer and still slightly warm, which was an interesting mix of hot and cold flavours.

There is also a generous portion of pickled ginger and wasabi if you are a fan of them! Last time, I got this combo and had half of it to go. They even gave me a small container of the ginger and wasabi to go! That's excellent service, but it really depends on the waitress on shift that day.

To top all of this off, guess how much was this platter of sushi? $5.95 + taxes. If you get it to go, you won't even have to pay tips! That's slightly over $6 for a takeout that can easily feed me for two meals!

If you are ever in the Kitsilano area, try these two sushi restaurants for yourself!

Irori Sushi is located at 3692 W 4th Ave., Vancouver, B.C.
Ikebana Sushi is located at 2090 Alma St. Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki

Eat! Vancouver @ BC Place

This year, we visited the Eat! Vancouver, the annual food and cooking festival that takes place over a weekend. Last year, we went to the festival and got tons of freebies and samples!

We decided to go again this year, but they didn't give as many freebies as before! But we still got to sample lots of yummy and interesting food, many of which are so-called "health foods." We ate so many samples over the afternoon and evening we didn't really have to eat lunch or dinner, but we did get some food with paid tickets just to try it out!

I won't bore you with words, but I will leave you with pictures of all the different stalls and booths we visited!

[slideshow]

We also saw celebrity chefs Rob Feenie and David Rocco perform some cooking demonstrations, and even our favourite radio station JRFM 93.7, which gave us a Cobs Bread gift card! We will finally get to try some Cobs Bread -- there is one right across from our place!



Also got a little stuffed panda from a tourism booth.. The lip balm from the radio station makes a nice baseball bat for the little panda!

♥ Nikki