Monday, March 19, 2012

Almond Joy Bites

Had to use up the rest of the coconut flakes, so I made these babies before bedtime. It's a simple and easy dessert recipe that requires no baking at all. It's also gluten-free! ...but still heavy on the calories and sugar content, so watch out. This recipe makes for 2 dozen. You can always opt to make the bites smaller and drizzle the chocolate over them instead of dipping in chocolate.

Unlike most things I make for the first time, I have to say these came out pretty well. D had three right after one another before I could even have my first bite. He says they're better than the real thing. Hearing this makes my day.





Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups coconut flakes
1/4 cup raw honey
1 tbsp coconut oil or cream
1 tbsp coconut flour
24 almonds
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix flakes, honey, coconut oil/cream and flour into a medium bowl. You might have to use your hands for this. If the filling is not stiff, chill in the refrigerator. Otherwise, roll the filling between your palms into 1" balls and place onto Silpat liner or parchment paper. Press an almond into the center of each ball and chill in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.

While chilling, prepare your chocolate. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second intervals or place them into a small pot on low heat. Make sure to stir every 30-seconds, so the chocolate melts evenly and doesn't burn.

Once the bites are chilled, spoon the melted chocolate onto each. If you can find a way to dip the bites without falling apart, you can do that. Or, just drizzle chocolate over for calories. Let them chill in the fridge for another 20 minutes.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Mango Coconut Cookies

As promised, a coconut oil recipe. Thought I'd go with dessert first, since I like my meals that way. I took a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I substituted for mangoes and coconuts for choco chips.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2+ cup flour
1 cup diced mangoes (I used TJ's mango chunks, but you can use dried mangoes when out of season)
3/4 cup coconut flakes

Pre-heat oven to 350F, line cookie sheets with Silpat liners or parchment paper, or spray with cooking oil.

Cream together sugars and coconut oil in a large bowl. Mix in egg, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon. Add the baking soda, baking powder and flour--mix until combined. The dough should be thicker and drier than usual. Stir in the mangoes. You'll notice the water content from the mangoes will thin out the dough. If this makes the dough too wet, add in more flour, but be careful--adding too much flour can make your cookies too "cake-y". Fold in coconut flakes. Cover bowl with saran wrap and let sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour or in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

Scoop the chilled cookie dough into 1-inch balls on the cookie sheet with 2 inches between them. Sprinkle coconut flakes onto each cookie. Bake for 12-15 minutes. It's okay if the cookies are still soft in the middle as they will continue to firm while cooling. Let cool for 20 minutes. Enjoy them warm or seal them in an air-tight container.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Use Your Coconut

From Zico to O.N.E. to Vita Coco, coconut water brands have been popping up left and right. You'd think, being an islander-blooded health nut, I'd have a few cases of this sweet nutritious water stashed away at my place. But I don't. In fact, I've never even tried, or considered trying, coconut water sold by an American company. For me, coconut water is meant to be drunk from the coconut itself right after it's been picked off the tree. It also has to be a Philippine coconut. And not just any Philippine coconut. A coconut from my late grandfather's farm.

When I visit my mother's hometown in Zambales (a province in northwestern Philippines), every morning my grandpa would hack a few coconuts picked from his farm and drew its clear nectar into a big pitcher for the whole family to share over breakfast. Sometimes he'd open one especially for me, and stick a straw in it like they do in the movies. There is nothing like the taste of fresh buko (Tagalog for coconut) straight from the source.

All this to say... I'm picky about my coconuts.

In a series of weekly vlogs called "Thursday Latelies", Bex from BexADiary (she's cheery and totally fabulous) gushed about her new moisturizer: a jar of organic coconut oil. Didn't think much of it, other than remembering the huge jars of coconut oil my mother brought back whenever she visited the Philippines. I'm not even sure if we ever used them...

On a recent grocery run to Trader Joe's I spotted the miracle elixir on sale for $5.99. Organic and grown in the Philippines? Had to get it; couldn't leave the store without it. I'm not sure how much organic virgin coconut oil usually runs for, but I figured it's still cheaper than a bottle of my beloved Creme de Corps from Kiehl's. Plus, I could use it for more than just my skin. So I bought two--one for cooking, one for beauty.


I've had it for only a few days and I am completely obsessed. I use coconut oil as an overnight hair mask. I use it as makeup remover, and it's SO much better than what I was using before. I use it as moisturizer, face and body. I spread it over toast for breakfast. I'm planning to use it in several recipes. The list goes on.

The best part about it all is that coconut oil is super fatty, which means it tastes good, yet it does your body good. It's also vegan, which I'm not, but it's always good to consume ethically, right? Right. So grab yourself a jar of TJ's coconut oil and stay tuned for coconut oil recipes.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Yelp D'Elite

Not gonna lie, I was a little dismayed to find that my Yelp Elite status was discontinued at the beginning of this year. But I understood why. I hadn't been very active. Plus, I moved out of the area from where I received my "elite" standing.

So I updated my profile, slapped on a few local photos, complimented those who deserved the credit, contributed to a couple of talk forums, earned a new badge and wrote a few reviews. That's enough to get my highly coveted red-orange elite badge, right?

Wrong. Apparently it takes more than that--especially in the Bay Area, where social networking is second nature to its natives. Over here Yelp is a household name, whereas in Dallas most people looked at me crazy and wondered what the eff I was talking about when I b*tched about a certain sandwich shop along Greenville having a 4 star-rating on Yelp.

But after thinking about it some more, I realized there are a lot less '12 badges than ones from previous years. It is a good thing Yelp is showing more discernment over who gets to call themselves elite because I was starting to seriously question their judgment over certain Yelp elites of the past.

The foodie world need not be taking advice from tiny-waisted fourteen year-olds who describe food like this: "OMG IT WAS SOOOOO GOOD, IT HELLA HIT THE SPOT", or "OMG IT WAS JUST GROSS! AND THEY WERE SOOOO RUDE TO ME EVEN THOUGH I WAS THE *PERFECT* CUSTOMERRR..." Tell me something specific. What should I order? What makes it so good/bad? What exactly happened that you had to call your servers rude?

Even worse are those pseudo-foodie Yelpers who try too hard at sounding sophisticated and self-appoints themselves as connoisseurs of random dishes, like lox. Sorry, but unless you've actually caught your own salmon and cured it yourself to get the absolute perfect smoked salmon, then you can't call yourself an expert. Don't be a poser.

Not that I am a real foodie myself. I'll be the first to deny it. I just love eating, and I enjoy sharing my dining experiences with other people. (Doesn't everyone?) I'm usually very quiet and reserved, but I can talk for hours about a certain dish that I recently fell in love with. For some reason people listen and agree with me. Even more surprising, I can carry conversations about food that are completely philosophic or purely epicurean.

I still think it's wrong Yelp didn't grant me elite status. They obviously didn't read my reviews.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Friday Night Sushi - Akane

Whenever the hub and I do sushi, it's usually a spur-of-the-moment deal. Last Friday was no exception. After shopping at REI for running gear we sped to Los Altos only to wait over an hour to get a seat at the bar. Fifteen minutes before closing time we were lucky enough to land two seats in front of master chef, Shin. He took real good care of us, as you can tell in the following pictures.


Tenth Degree Jinju
We shared our sake with all the chefs and
Chef Shin shared with us his current favorite sake, on the house.



Amaebi


 Maguro


Aji


 Hamachi


 Tombo


Tai


Special Compliments of the Chef!
Grilled Tai (I think?)



Uni
I don't even like Uni all that much (I know, blasphemy, right?), and this was incredible.
My favorite dish of the night.


Another on-the-house dish was Mirugai (Geoduck), which we were unfortunately too hammered tipsy to capture on photo. 

This was by far the best time we've had at Akane. I'm absolutely certain we'll come back again on a Friday night when the fish is freshest.