Ham, Egg, and Cheese "Bruschetta"

Happy July 1st! Soon, we will be celebrating the 4th of July, and then one day later, July 5th, which is my mum’s birthday. At the beginning of every month I think to myself, ‘I can’t believe it’s already (insert new month here).’ The days, the weeks, the months go by so quickly, it’s hard to keep up! Which is why I resort to lists.

Lists, which I’ve recently become very attached to, help me stay on top of things, keep plans organized, and beat my short term memory loss. Today, I had a rather long list as it was my day off from work. My list mostly consisted of Dartmouth College prematriculation forms, cleaning, exercising, and blogging. Also on the list was to make a list of things to do this summer. After making that second list however, I realized that most of the plans I had were to dine at particular restaurants. Of course, this is no surprise as I do love to explore culinary delights. You would think though, that I had more on my mind than just food. Nonetheless, here are some of the food destinations I plan to (and WILL) visit before I head off to college next fall:

Buddakan
Sweet Green
Lix
Lacriox
Philly’s Italian Market
Artisan Boulanger Patissier
Firinji

Ingredients

1 freshly baked baguette
2 eggs
4 ounces ham, chopped into small pieces
1 cup cheese of your choice, grated
Salt
Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat, and cook the eggs like you would an omelet. Tear into pieces.
3. In a bowl, combine the cooked eggs, ham, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
4. Cut the baguette diagonally into ½ inches slices. Put the baguette slices onto an oven tray and toast in the oven for about 5 minutes.
5. Take the tray out of the oven and spoon the egg/ham mixture on top of the baguette slices. Sprinkle cheese on top of the tomatoes. Put the tray back into the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Chocolate Éclairs

Sometimes I’m just buzzing with energy. Like right now. It’s hard to explain, but when this happens, I cannot really control myself. I get this feeling now and then. It’s not too common though. But it does happen. When it does, I speak fast, I walk fast, I type fast (and make lots of mistakes and have to press the back space constantly), I blab on about nothing, and say things that I wouldn’t normally say, although I wish I did. And what does that even mean anyway???! See…basically I get lost. So right now, I’m engaging in some blog therapy, with the hope that it will bring me back down to earth.

Recently, I took up a new job. Actually it is my first official job (I delivered newspapers in NZ!). I am now a barista/vendor at Art of Bread, a new bakery and cafe in Narberth owned by the one and only Georges Perrier. It’s a pretty cool place, with pretty cool people. Chef Perrier comes by now and then (meaning everyday, at least for now) and checks that everything is running smoothly. The first day I met him was pretty scary. As soon as Chef Perrier walked in, I was told to clean up any messes, put dirty stuff away, and be extremely kind and cheerful. I have to admit, he was VERY intimidating at first. Man, that guy has so much authority! However, after a meeting with him the other day, I realized that he is actually quite reasonable and nice. I’m looking forward to getting to know him better over the next few months. He’s definitely a great connection to have!

I’ve always wanted to work at a café, so it’s very exciting that I’m finally able to do so. It can get extremely busy at Art of Bread, but I manage to have fun at the same time. Art of Bread has GORGEOUS French pastries. Like I mean, they look unbelievable. Believe me. They have what you would expect at a typical French boulangerie and patisserie such as croissants, baguettes, tarts, and danishes. All the pastries are made fresh in the back and the cakes and tarts are delivered from Le Bec Fin every morning. Wow. Art of Bread should pay me for this great ad. Really.

So. Chocolate éclairs. By now, you probably could’ve guessed that working at Art of Bread prompted my making of these French desserts. My friend Jamie got a chocolate éclair from Art of Bread while I was working there the other day. She had made them with her mom before and I have a special thing for them so, well, we just had to make some of our own! In New Zealand I would always make small chocolate éclairs, or profiteroles, for dinner parties. It was kinda my thing to make. A recipe to my profiteroles can be found here.

Sorry that this post is so long and convoluted. It’s what happens when, well, this happens.

Ingredients

100g butter
1 cup water
1 cup plain flour
3 eggs
Heavy cream
Confectioners’ sugar
Semi-sweet chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 395 degrees F.
2. Combine butter and water in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and quickly add the flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
3. Add the eggs one at a time to the saucepan, beating well with an electric beater after each addition. The mixture should be glossy. Pipe 3 inch strips of the pastry onto a greased oven tray and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until puffy and golden.
4. Lower the temperature to 250 degrees F and continue baking for about 15 minutes until dry. Cool completely.
5. Using an electric beater, whip the heavy cream until it has soft peaks. Add confectioners’ sugar to desired sweetness.
6. When the éclairs are cooled, make a slit one side of each pastry and fill with the whipped cream.
7. Melt some chocolate on a double boiler and smear over the top.

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

Pretzels are uniquely American in the same way that fortune cookies and chop suey are American. The first soft pretzel I saw was on Ellis Island when I was on vacation in the US four years ago. Prior to that sighting, I had only seen small packaged hard pretzels in the specialty aisle in New Zealand supermarkets. To be honest, I don’t quite comprehend the appeal of pretzels. It is just over-salted bread. Although originated from Europe, pretzels have become an integral part of the typical American diet, along with donuts and burgers.

It doesn’t take much to dip pretzels in chocolate. I wish I could tell you that I had made the chocolate and the pretzels. Now THAT would be impressive. I just really wanted to share the pictures; thus, this post became necessary.

Ingredients

Semi-sweet chocolate
Hard pretzels
Toppings (such as chopped walnuts)

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Dip the pretzels in the chocolate and place on wax paper. Sprinkled on any desired toppings. Wait until the chocolate has hardened before carefully peeling each pretzel off and storing in a sealed container.

Mango Chicken

Now that I no longer have school, I have much more free time—much more free time to experiment in the kitchen that is. While I still had school, I often cooked dinner for my family, except when I had after school activities that ended after my parents got home from work. With school clubs off my schedule, now it is my “responsibility” to cook dinner every night. I enjoy it though, because not only is it a fantastic opportunity to sharpen up my cooking skills, but I also get to choose what to eat for dinner, which is always great.

Making dinner every single night comes with not only authority, but also duty. I cannot simply feed my family the same stuff every night; I need to mix it up a bit so that they don’t get bored of similar dishes every night (gosh I sound like a housewife). A typical Li family dinner consists of either rice or steamed bread, with three to four dishes that are shared. I usually try to have a protein dish, a leafy green dish, a non-leafy green vegetable dish, and a little something extra.


I remember a mango chicken entrée that I had at a Thai restaurant on my 18th birthday. It was the best dish on the table, which was probably why it came to me today as I was pondering about what to cook for my family tonight. This dish is so colorful, so tasty, and so healthy. Some people prefer it sweeter, while others prefer it tangier, so feel free to add more or less of the flavorings. Although it is not necessary, serving the mango chicken in the mango skins creates a stunning setting. This dish is a keeper. I really do hope you try it out.

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
1 stalk green onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 large boneless chicken breasts, sliced
1 mango, sliced
1 cup sliced bell pepper
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp paprika powder
1 handful cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. Heat the oil on a large skillet over high heat. Add garlic, ginger, and onion. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add chicken and bell peppers. Stir-fry until the chicken is fully cooked.
2. Add in the sliced mango.
3. Add in the remaining ingredients except the cilantro. Mix well.
4. Turn off the heat. Sprinkle the cilantro over the top. Enjoy!

Stir Fry Chicken Satay

Most restaurants come and go. Back in New Zealand, my family and I would explore the many different Chinese restaurants that were scattered around the city. Unlike here in America, where Chinatown encompasses most of the Chinese restaurants, in NZ, authentic Chinese restaurants were in the suburbs too. Most of the time we went to a restaurant however, it ended up being our last time going there. My mum, being the picky one that she is, would “cancel” out each restaurant that she doesn’t like, which was most of them.

There is one restaurant however, that we (including my mum) all loved. It was a modest restaurant located in the heart of Takapuna on Auckland’s north shore. We first heard about it from a friend and so decided to try it out. The restaurant, whose name I have shamefully forgotten, had lime green walls so refreshing you wanted to lick it. Like most Chinese restaurants in New Zealand, it provided complimentary savory soup before your meal and complimentary sweet bean soup after your meal. The restaurant quickly became a family favorite—a place we knew we could rely on when no one wanted to cook.


One of my favorite entrees from there was a dish of chicken straws coated in an aromatic batter and deep-fried. Okay so maybe it was not the healthiest dish, but it was always worth every single calorie. Another fav was their stir-fried satay chicken, which actually inspired this following dish.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1-inch ginger root, peeled and sliced
1 medium yellow skinned onion, sliced
4 chicken breasts tenders, sliced

Satay sauce
4 tbsp chunky peanut butter
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbsp vinegar

Directions

1. Mix the satay sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
2. Heat the oil on a large skillet over high heat. Add garlic, ginger, onion, and chicken. Stir-fry until the chicken is fully cooked.
3. Add in the satay sauce and mix well.
4. Enjoy with brown rice.

Pumpkin Gnocchi

An interesting realization hit me as I was enjoying my dinner one day not too long ago. My dinner, which consisted of plain white noodles with vegetables, began to look a lot like spaghetti. It suddenly occurred to me that while different cultures enjoy different cuisines, their foods are all basically the same thing.

Let’s look at noodles. Noodles, which are a staple in many countries, come in many different forms, sizes, and flavors, but essentially, they are all just various shapes of dough. You have your pasta from Italy, udon from Japan, soba from Korea, egg noodles from China, white rice noodles from Vietnam and so on. Really though, the only difference between them is the ratio of flour to water to egg.


Dumplings are another type of food that shows up in many country’s cuisines. Dumplings from China have a savory filling, while American dumplings are just boiled chunks of dough. Italian dumplings, or gnocchi, are made with a starchy vegetable (most commonly potatoes) base. Flour then is added until the mixture binds to form a soft dough. I used pumpkin as my base vegetable for this gnocchi. You can barely taste the pumpkin, although there is a slight aftertaste if you eat the gnocchi plain. The pumpkin gives this gnocchi a vibrant orange color. It also makes for an easier recipe as well, since canned puréed potato is not a common item found at your local supermarket.

Feel free to serve the gnocchi however you want. I simply heated up some marinara sauce and added some peas to it to create this dish. You can whip up a sophisticated brown butter and sage sauce, or simply serve them with some parmesan cheese grated over the top and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Both ways taste delicious.

Ingredients

2 cups pumpkin purée
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 - 2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch nutmeg (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the egg yolk and pumpkin purée in a large bowl.
2. Mix the salt, nutmeg and flour in a medium bowl.
3. Mix enough of the flour mixture into the pumpkin puree to form a soft dough that is not too sticky to work with.
4. Knead the dough for a minute and then roll it out into 4 long thin rolls about 1/2 inch thick.
5. Cut the rolls into 1/2 inch pieces and then roll the pieces in flour lightly shaking off any excess.
6. Roll the pieces over a gnocchi board or a fork to give them the ridges.
7. Cook the gnocchi in boiling water until it floats to the surface, about 2-3 minutes, remove and set aside to drain.
8. Serve as desired.

Schnecken

Having lived in Lower Merion for over two years, I really had no excuse to not know my Jewish food. I had heard of challah, matza, and brisket, but when my friend Jen mentioned schnecken, I was like, HUH?! Being the curious one with food that I am, I just had to try and make some of this mysterious schnecken, which were described to me as triangles of dough rolled up with a sweet filling.

Other cultures’ food has always fascinated me. To be welcoming to foreign foods opens up several hundred culinary territories for exploration. The Jewish community in LM is so strong and so vibrant. Since moving here, I’ve really learned much about Jewish holidays and food. For example, I know that the main Jewish holidays are Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, that it is customary for Jewish people eat challah every Friday, that many cannot eat meat and dairy together, and that Hanukkah, or rather, Chanukah, isn’t nearly as big of a holiday and everyone thinks it is.


There is something about a family recipe. Whether it was copied down hastily while watching Julia Child on TV, or created after countless experiments in the kitchen, a family recipe comes with love, and inspires trust. Just like how a meal cooked by you tastes better than a meal cooked by someone else (it’s true!), a family recipe is always better than any recipe from some other source.

This recipe for schnecken belongs to my friend Jen’s great-grandmother, Reba Salkoff. Although this schnecken is far from healthy, I really could not change the recipe. It worked so perfectly and meddling with an age-old family recipe like this one seemed like a sin to me. Don’t worry though, as long as you limit yourself to one or two of these delectable pastries, your heart will be just fine.

Granny Reba's Schnecken Recipe

Ingredients

Dough:
2 ½ cup flour
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
¾ cup sour cream
1 egg yolk; reserve white
Cinnamon
White sugar

Filling (use any):
Chocolate Chips
Walnuts
Apricot jam
Raspberry jam
Strawberry jam

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut butter into flour. Rub into flour with hands until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and sour cream.
3. Knead dough until it comes together. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
4. Divide dough into 6 portions. Roll in cinnamon and sugar and cut into triangle wedges. 5. Beat egg whites. Put desired filling onto wedge; roll wedges and brush with egg whites. Sprinkle sugar on top.
6. Bake for 20 minutes on greased baking trays or until golden.