Dark Velvet Ribs with Bacardi

There is no such a thing as too much chocolate! I love chocolate and I like them dark. Lately I have been feeding my noir chocolate obsession through almost everything: mainly mixing dark chocolate in my cooking. I find the whole process of cooking with chocolate is so therapeutic and relaxing especially knowing that I am going to eat them afterward!



Dark chocolate is special because they contain a large amount of antioxidant ( some source says its 8x higher than the amount in strawberries) and it balances the hormones in our body. No wonder it work like magic for us ladies, especially during the “ Pre Monstrous Syndrome “ period, hahaha. Well, while others might disagree with me, let’s just say chocolate melts most people’s heart ( think of how many men woo with chocolate: and it works! ).

Today I am going to attempt to melt your heart too with something devilishly good. But this is not for the faint of heart. Because it requires someone to embrace the feminine touch of the food but eat like a man. You can’t be shy eating these babies either. To be exact it’s like smothering melted chocolate rum sauce all over your finger and licking it while eating your ribs! Yes... you heard me, and even better I made them hot hot spicy and tangy!



“The Super stars”
1 ½ lbs of pork ribs
1 ½ blocks of dark unsweetened chocolate
4 tbsp of brown sugar
½ tsp of salt
Dash of dried chilli powder ( use based on your discretion)
2 tbsp of lime juice
1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tbsp of minced garlic
½ tbsp of dried mustard
½ cup of hickory smoked bbq sauce
Small amount of water
2 tbsp of Bacardi rum




The execution:
•In a pan, toss in all the ingredients ( except the rum and the water) for the sauce and bring them to simmer
•Add a small amount of water if the sauce is getting to thick, you want a consistency of a normal bbq sauce.
•Once the sauce reaches the right consistency, remove it from heat and taste.
•Adjust to your liking to add more chilli powder, or lime, etc
•Pre heat an oven at 360F
•Rub the sauce all over the ribs leaving a quarter of the amount for glazing later on.
•Put in the oven with aluminum cover for an hour at 360F.
•After an hour, take out the ribs from the oven and uncover it.
•Bring the rest of the sauce to simmer and mix in the rum
•Glaze the sauce all over the ribs, and put it back in the oven on broil for app 10 minutes with no cover.
•Take it out from the oven and let the ribs stand for 5-10 minutes to reabsorb all the juice
•Serve with fries, and steamed vegetables and lime wedges ( I put extra thai chilli bird on mine)
•Get your finger dirty and dig in!


Does it look messy enough for you? Try eating them!

I almost forgot how it feels to eat like a child! Mr Knife and Miss Fork will have to stay in the drawer for a while!!! We are bringing the fingers and tongue back for real exercise!!!



Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly*A food to your soul.

Bobob's Delight

Hello Saturday lover,

Whether you like it or not...fall is right at your door! This means a scrumptious affair with the Apple family.I'm not talking about the Granny Smith or the Golden delicious but their equally exciting cousin: the Pears!

They come in many different varieties but when its fresh they surely are juicy and meaty! I happened to have a bucket of ripe pears and wedges of the "President" brie sitting on my fridge. They would make a good marriage with balsamic and honey reduction. Later on I added some cinnamon honey candied almond to give a little crunchy texture to our soft and warm friend. My husband named the sweet treat Bobob delight since its reminding him of the sweetness of Turkish delight and his wife kindness for making him one!
Remember adjust, reinvent, and be creative... there is no better thrill than a new culinary invention!









* The Superstars

* Couple of pears
* Brie
* Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
* Brown Sugar
* Cinnamon
* Balsamic Vinegar
* 1 tbsp of butter/ margarine
* Honey
* Dash of salt



* The execution:

* Wash 3-4 Bartlett or Anjou pears, cut them in half and scoop up their core using
mellon baler or small spoon if you don't have one.

* Depending on the type of pear you can keep the skin or skin out.

* Preheat the oven at 400 F

* Put the pear on a pyrex dish, sprinkle with lemon juice, and
2-3 spoon of brown sugar.

* Slice brie thinly and layer them over the pear core

* Roast them with the core facing up so the brie will be melting, in the oven for
approximately 15-20 minutes

* I like to sprinkle some brown sugar and use a blowtorch to give crusty texture
once the pear is out of the oven. But its good as it is without any fancy maneuver
so dont worry!

* While you are waiting for the pear, you can toss some almonds ( a handful or two)
to the oven using a baking sheet

* Make sure you spread the almonds on the flat surface so they will be toasted
evenly.

* While you wait for the almonds and pear to cook, pre heat a pan and melt 1 tbsp
of butter or margarine.

* Add 3 tbsp brown sugar and 2 tbsp of honey and dash of ground cinnamon.

* Simmer until the sugar is all combined and caramelized.

* The almond should take less than 20 minutes so check on min 15th.

* Take it out of the oven and sprinkle with salt lightly

* Drizzle half of the hot caramel sugar on top of almonds to make candied almonds,
let it cool in the fridge for a while to harden the sugars

* Put the half of other caramel back into the heat, pour in 5-6 tbsp of balsamic
vinegar and let it reduced.

* Use the balsamic vinegar reduction for the sauce.



Voila! enjoy your Little Warm Pear Affair!


Love,
Bobob


Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly*A food to your soul.

Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly*A food to your soul.

Mini French Toast with Cottage Cheese and Peach

Foodiest!

So for the past three weeks I have been working at this Gourmet Sandwich Shoppe down at Korean Town called Sky Blue Sky ( 605 Bloor St. West Toronto). I just want to pass around good words of this place! The sandwiches are amazing to the max!The owner ( which is my boss, Chad) is an awesome cook. He makes the best cream cheese and cranberry bread, and other soft hearty breads such as lemon zest,and pepper jack! Ah... Its really tempting to eat those bread everyday. Few days ago I brought home some day old Pepper jack bread crumbs. A breakfast full of bread could be heavy on carbohydrate. I have been munching more protein lately, to keep up with my physical transformation goal. So, I thought a French toast with more flavor than just bread will be an awesome recipe to share with you this time.

So basically instead of using slab of breads, I cut out the pieces and marinate them with eggs ( mostly egg white) and cottage cheese, a little salt, pepper and paprika. Once the bread is soaked in egg, it is cooked just like how you make regular French toast. Once done, I drizzle the mini french bread with honey and some fresh peach. It was phenomenal!
Here is the recipe for the detail hows:
Yield: 2 servings of breakfast
* 2 egg whole eggs and 4 egg whites
* 3/4 cup of cut day old breads
* 4 tbsp of 1% cottage cheese
* salt, honey, pepper, paprika to taste
* fresh diced peach or nectarines
* spray of spam vegetable oil/ olive oil

1.First whip the egg white and yolks, add the seasoning and cottage cheese to the mixture.
2. Add in the cut day old breads and let them soak to absorb the moist.
3. Heat the pans with a spray of oil/ olive oil, fry the mixture like you would fry an omelete.
4.Once done drizzle with honey and diced peach or nectarines.

You can always experiment to add/ leave the ingredients to your liking. I find the nectarines/ peach compliments the taste of the the cheese and honey.
I love how this recipe can be assemble in less than 5 minutes, and it tasted mighty delicious!
Hope you will try it sometime!



Passion + Patience

*Gastrobutterfly*

A food to your soul.

Very Cranberry Curry Chicken Stew

Hello foodies!

How was your thanksgiving?I hope you did not stuff your stomach too full to get tired reading more thanksgiving related recipe!This year is a little special because I dont have an oven anymore ( boo) this is what happen if you are living on a budget rent!But I thank God for a warm shelter!
So no oven = no turkey. We let the turkey take a day off this year- and put the lobster to work!Although days after... I completely missed having the turkey.Your earlier thought might be right about no thankgiving complete without turkey. Anyhow, since the oven is not available, the closest I can get to roasted turkey is a chicken stew!But boy was it really good! This cranberry curry chicken I made days after thanksgiving paid off the lack of cooking facility even more, I was pleasantly suprised how good it turned out.
Maybe you should try it too if you miss thanksgiving on a random day, have no oven or even for a change!

Here is the whats and the hows:


1/2 cup of Dried Cranberry
1 medium spanish onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
1 green chillies seeded, chopped
2tbsp curry powder
enough salt
1tsp of brown sugar
4cm cinnamon stick
lime juice to taste
500 gram chicken tigh ( 4-5 pieces)
1/4 cup of water



*Sautee the onion and garlic, chillies and cinnamon stick with the oil
*add in the cranberry, add curry powder
*add in the chicken to brown
*add in tomatoes and brown sugar
*let it simmered,add little water and sea salt to taste
*cover it to simmer for 45 minutes or untill the meat has cooked perfectly ( 74C)
*add lime at the end to freshen up the warm lovely aroma!


I think to me, the cranberry curry chicken is a very
heart warming dish for the coming cold days!I hope everyone is getting ready for winter! That includes saving some space in your stomach for more spicy and comfort foods which will be featured in the next blogs!






Passion + Patience

*Gastrobutterfly*

A food to your soul.