Flour Cafe and Bakery

I live around South Boston and I heard of this bakery cafe called “Flour.” Rumor has it that the lines are out the door almost everyday!!! So one day I found this little video on youtube about the owner of Flour.

After watching that, I wanted to try those sticky buns so bad. So I took a walk down Washington Street and there as expected on a Sunday morning, the line was out the door. However, I was glad that the line moved really fast that I didn’t get burned in the hot blistering sun.

Inside was a small cafe, full of life. There were no seats available =( The staff were super friendly and delivered excellent service.

Some of the bakery selection.

My Sticky Bun and Pain Aux Raisin.

A second later…..

The Most Scrumptious Blueberry Muffins You’ll Ever Eat!

This week there was a blueberry and raspberry sale at Shaw’, 2 for $5. I know what many of you are thinking right? (That's so EXPENSIVE!!) Well in Boston, that’s a GREAT deal.

So I took home two blueberry cartons and throughout the week I have been munching on them. It is the end of the week now and I did not finish even one carton. =( (I tried by best)

On YouTube there was this great step-by-step recipe for blueberry muffins with a crumble topping by expert village. I gave it a try and it was definitely the best recipe I have ever come across. It’s a keeper!

Im not sure why the center is green? =(

The Recipe:

Makes 8 muffins

Batter
1 & 1/2 cup of all purpose
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
2 tsp of baking powder
1/3 cup of oil
1/3 cup of milk
1 egg
1 cup of fresh blue berries

Crumble Topping
1/2 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of flour
2 oz of softened butter
1.5 tsp of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1) sift flour and sugar with a mixer for 30-40 secs
2) add salt and continue to mix for another 15 secs
3) add powder and mix altogether another for 1 min, scrapping the sides
4) set mixer to lowest setting and mix in the egg until incorporated
5) add milk and mix for another 1 min and batter should start to form
6) now dump in oil and mix until you get a good texture, scrapping the sides
7) fold in blueberries

1)Mix flour and sugar together with a fork
2)add butter and smash it in until crumbly

Pour one heaping spoonful of batter and pour on one spoonful of topping

bake at 15-20 mins at 400 degrees

The BEST Milk Tea EVER!

Here you go laalaa, I hope you enjoy this. You should make it for Bob, Pooh, and Sue too. LaaLaa, I made my sugar syrup by melting 1/2 tbsp of sugar with some water in the microwave. It should be syrupy like the ones we make for Nava. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of milk
• 1/4 cup of soy milk (I used vanilla flavored)
• one tea bag
• 1/2 tbsp of sugar syrup
• ground cinnamon

1. pour milk into a pot and turn heat to medium but do not let the milk boil
2. when there is steam, drop the tea bag in the pot for about 3 mins
3. when the milk turns slightly brownish, remove tea bag
4. stir in the sugar and two dashes of ground cinnamon and keep stirring until completely blended
5. Serve as is or over ice!

Porter Square

Porter Square, Boston.

Some people call this "Japan Town" in Boston. It has a few restaurants serving authentic Japanese food, especially RAMEN!! There was a Japanese market where I like to buy fresh fish and other goods but they went out of business. I was told that there is another market on Union Square so that will be saved for another day's trip.


Seaweed Ramen in a clear broth! so YUMMY!

Italian Chicken Casear Burgers

This afternoon, I made this sandwhich with the left over wheat english muffin I had and it was so juicy and delicious. I was surprised because chicken burgers tend to come out dry.

I took half a chicken breast, seasoned with salt and pepper, added some dried oregano, and italian bread crumbs to my food processor. I formed the mixture into two small patties and grilled them on my george forman grill. The patties had beautiful grill marks on them.

I then toasted my muffin halves, spread some casear dressing, and added tomatoes, lettuce, patties, and cheese!

Bento Box Lunch♥

A lunch bento with rice, fruits, steak cubes, sausage and lots of veggies!

My first attempt at making a apple bunny. Poorly done =(There was a big sale on strawberries and blueberries this week!

One of the rice balls are sad because it is not a perfect triangle.

I recently bought this little bunny that holds sauces. Isn't so cute?

Definately, One of the BEST cupcakes EVER!!!

Kara's Cupcakes located at the marina in San Francisco has one of the best cupcakes I have ever ate. The cake is scrumptious and so moist. The frosting is to die for also!! The butter cream is sweet and tangy. Just delicious!! A cupcake ranges from $3 - $4 and with a variety of flavors.

These goodies came home with me. Two chocolate fudge, one chocolate velvet, one carrot, and one vanilla strawberry.


The chocolate fudge cupcake with ganache frosting topped with chocolate sprinkles.


A sweet and spicy carrot cake that is moist and nutty. It is topped with a light and tangy cream cheese frosting and a fondant star.


Vanilla cupcake with a whipped strawberry filled center topped with a cream cheese frosting.

Teriyaki Tuna Steak

Teriyaki marinade is perfect for a tuna steak. The flavor is infused with garlic and cilantro and salted with a soy base. This recipe is good for one fillet because I usually cook for only two people. If you are using more fish then I served the steak with broccoli in a garlic soy sauce dressing and white rice.

For the tuna steak

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs of teriyaki marinade
• ½ tbs of soy sauce
• ½ tbs of sesame oil
• 1 tbs of olive oil
• ¼ tsp of garlic powder
• a pinch of red pepper flakes
• a pinch of black pepper
• 1 tbs of chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 piece of tuna fillet, 1 inch thick and about the size of your palm

1. Mix the oil marinade in a Ziploc bag
2. add the fillet and marinade for 30 mins
3. heat a pan on med-high heat and drizzle 1 tbs of olive oil onto the pan
4. when the oil is hot, add the fillet and cook on both sides just until it flakes

Ebisu: San Francisco

Taken from www.bunramp.com
Unlike many Japanese restaurants in San Francisco, the food here is authentic and reflects an accurate presentation of Japanese cuisine. I went to Japan town hoping for some good seafood but it was not as fresh as Ebisu especially the toro.

This restaurant by far has the best toro nigiri I have ever tried. It is buttery and melts in your mouth. The color is fresh and vibrant. With just a little bit of soy sauce and wasabi, you’ll be sending your taste buds to heaven.

I have ordered the number 4 bento lunchbox but I was too busy in deciding what to eat first that I totally forgot to get a snap shot. Anyway, it consists of a savory beef teriyaki fillet dressed with sautéed mushrooms, 3 vegetable potstickers which are so tender and juicy, 6 sushi samplers, a green salad, and a sampler of seaweed salad, spinach, and I couldn’t make out what the last green was.

Sunday Dim Sum

In Daly City, CA, a busy restaurant called "Koi Palace" serves the BEST shark fin dumpling soup within the bay area. Maybe in the country, but I have yet to try more. However, there is a 90% chance that this may be the best ever.

Every sunday, people from the bay area would grab a ticket and wait for anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half for these delectable dishes.

And the most anticipated dish....the SOUP!

It is a clear sharkfin soup with a light flavor in contrast to the shrimp dumpling. I usually poke my dumpling and eat the filling along with the broth.

Shark fin? in a Soup?

I am not chinese so when I heard this, I asked myself the same question. It is a chinese delicacy used for many, many years. It is thought to be good for your health and skin complexion. These guys are wallet killers. This is a picture of the ones being sold at Koi Palace at $550 per pound!!! There are other types sold at lower prices but are not of the same quality.

When I first heard about it, I asked my boyfriend, "Isn't it a bone, how would you eat it?" He just laughed at me. It is actually cartiledge and it gets boiled til soft.

Lobster Dumpling and Deep Fried Lobster Claw in a Garlic Salt Batter

Sweet and Spicy Beef with Basil

I had this for dinner yesterday. Its an easy, easy, dish that my mom makes. You can add as much dried peppers as you want because the sweet oyster sauce will balance it out. I only added 2 becuase my boyfriend was going to eat it with me. Otherwise, there would have been ten! hehe.

The measurements are not exact. It just an estimate because this is a real super easy recipe, you cant go wrong. Just dont add any salt to the beef as you are stir frying because the oyster sauce is already salty. You can basically use any kind of beef and meat will remain tender because you are cooking it just until you see a pink color. However, I've noticed that using the more pricier cuts makes the meat a lot more juicer.

• A handful of steak, cut thin and long.


• two handful of thai basil


• a couple of dried red peppers, broken


• one minced clove of garlic


• 1 tbsp of oyster sauce


• olive oil for stir frying
  
  
  

This the thai oyster sauce that my mom mostly use. I'm not too sure if there is a real difference between all the other brands.

1. Cut the basil leaves in half with your hands

2. Heat a pan with oil on high heat

3. Once hot, add the beef and let it cook until nicely brown on one side, DO NOT STIR

4. lower the heat and stir to cook the other sides of the meat

5. By this time the beef should already be pink

6. Add the garlic and the peppers

7. Once fragrant, add the oyster sauce and remove from heat

8. Add the basil and let the heat of the meat cook the basil until wilted

9. Serve hot with rice

Raisin Sweet rolls

This is your basic Sweet Bread dough recipe with raisins! As you can tell Raisins are my favorite when it comes to bread. You can also try red bean paste filling or sprinkle toasted almonds slices on top of a sticky honey glaze. I also tried added green tea powder and it gives the bread a nice green color. Again, this recipe was adjusted to fit my 1lb bread maker.

For 1lb bread machine

• 1 and 3/4 cup plus 5 tsp of bread flour
• 1/4 cup of soya flour
• 1 tsp of vital wheat gluten
• 3 tbsp of sugar
• 1/3 tsp of salt
• 110ml of milk (I use 2%)
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 1 large egg
• 1.5 tsp of yeast

1. If you have a dough setting option on your bread machine, then add your ingredients accordingly and have the machine mix the dough for you.
2. Once done, you dough should be elastic when stretching a pinch of dough. It should form a thin long membrane just before breaking.
3. Generously oil a metal bowl put the dough inside. Then flip the dough so that the oiled side of the dough would be facing up. This ensures that the whole dough is oiled so it can keep in the moisture.
4. Cover the dough with pastic warm and prove the dough for 60-90 minutes.
5. Punch the dough down to release the gas and divide according to the size of buns or rolls you want. For the 1lb, I usually make about 3 mini buns and 2 rolls.
6. Rest the dough for 5 minutes before shaping
7. After shaping, place the dough in a pan and allow second rising for 35 minutes or until double in size
8. Brush the tops with 1 egg and 1 tsp of water
9. Bake at 356 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden.
10. Just before I remove from the oven, I brushed on a glaze made out of 1 tsp of honey and 1 tsp of water.

Raisin Sally Lunn Bread

This recipe makes a 1lb loaf of bread in my mini breadmaker. The eggs adds a fluffy, yellow texture as compared to regular breads. I set my crust level to the lightest option.

• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of water
• 3.5 tbsp of softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 tsp of salt
• half of 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1.5 cup of flour
• 1 tsp yeast
• I like to use half a cup of raisins

1. Add the ingredients in the order that it tells you in your breadmaker manual.

Steam Banana Cupcake: A sinless sweet treat for your occassional cravings

When I buy bananas and I dont finish them in time, this is a good recipe for the ones turning brown. I like to wait a little more til they are almost black, that's when they are the sweetest. This recipe is HEALTY, HEALTHY! no butter or heavy cream needed to achieve these super moist centers so you dont have to feel guilty. You can steam them for a soft all-around texture or bake it for a crunchy fresh-out-of-the-oven topping.

• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 and 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 5 and 1/2 tbs of vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp of vanilla

1. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together
2. mix the egg and sugar with a hand mixer until ribbon like
3. stir in the vanilla to the bananas
4. add the banana mixture to the egg and sugar batter
5. fold in the flour and oil
6. steam for 15 mins of bake at 375 degrees for 20mins