Café Bizou [Pasadena]

Although I was only a quick hop away from Andi, I didn't want to bother/lure her away from premium grad school studying. Thankfully, I had a few hungry friends who wanted to take advantage of Pasadena Restaurant Week with me. We decided to go to Café Bizou, which has been around for awhile and probably written about a hundred times. But since we can rarely afford luxuries, let alone an ~expensive~ meal, on our pithy budgets, $25 for a 3-course meal was right up our alley.

First up, two types of bread. A nutty raisin bread which was not great, and a sort-of sourdough bread, which was bland. I suppose this is fine since it made it harder for me to be full before our meal.

We all got the lobster bisque to start. It was creamy and not too heavy. However, the lobster bits were really tiny--at least in my portion. Of course, I shouldn't compare it to the best lobster bisque I had ever had over at Craftsteak...but still. Couldn't you have spared a lobster bit bigger than half an inch in diameter?

For the main course, my friend Jessica and I ordered the same thing, steak au poivre, cooked medium rare as it should. The slices were thin enough and cooked just right, but I felt it was over-peppered towards the end. Perhaps I'm not used to this much pepper. It was served with a creamy brandy sauce, which tasted great with the mashed potatoes which were also creamy and fluffy. Usually I eat the veggies given, especially since these ones were dark and obvs good for you. But uh, who decided to cook spinach with NOTHING but pepper? Bland...and peppery. Broccoli was bland as well, but I suppose a dip in the brandy cream sauce would have done the trick.

Queenie ordered the lobster tagallini pasta. I don't think I've ever had black pasta before, so I decided to try one noodle. It does have it's own taste, although subtle. Interesting, and I can imagine, would pair well with the lobster vodka sauce.

Alicyn ordered the Alaskan halibut, served with mashed potatoes and a trio of veggies (carrots, snow peas, and green beans). Alicyn said that the green beans tasted the best. As for the tomato garlic sauce, it was light enough that the halibut really could stand on its own.

My favorite part of any meal: dessert! Everyone but me (because I'm a rebel) ordered the flourless chocolate cake. Alicyn, lover of all chocolate, really liked it and said that it melted in her mouth. I tried it, and I could tell it was flourless, but still tasty. Not my favorite though. The homemade whipped cream was great.

And my dessert, homemade tiramisu. The first bites were very rum-heavy, in a good way. After the initial bites, the rum gave way to the light flavors of coffee, chocolate, and mascarpone cheese. Really airy, and tasted great with the vanilla and raspberry sauces. Probably my favorite part of the meal.

Café Bizou
91 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 792-9923 | www.cafebizou.com/

Egg custard tarts

Into the oven they go!

Egg tarts is one of my favorite dessert/breakfast/pastry. It's almost a mixture of sweet and salty, using egg, sugar, and butter. I can't share the recipe with you as my aunt gave it to me (sorry!) but hopefully these photos will suffice. And, I even took an awkward photo with my new creations just for you!

Almost done baking!

Cooling down.

First delicious bite!

Custard-eyes

Green Tea cupcakes

Here's another cupcake post for you because I'm too intimidated to make a real cake and cupcakes are easy and fun to share! Sorry if I'm putting your S'mores cupcakes to shame, Andi but you know what? Yours are more in spirit to this blog though!
I found this recipe from my friend Angela's Tumblr, but I modified it a lot because I don't like following directions. If you're a fan of light and fluffy cupcakes, this is for you. It's not too sweet or heavy, which is a perfect guilt-free snack/treat...even if it's not "healthy."
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs; 2 egg yolks
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk (or soy milk, which is what I used)
2-5 tablespoons green tea matcha (basically green tea powder. I feel that even if you add the 5 tablespoons, it's still not overpowering.)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners...or if you're like me, forgo the cupcake liners because seriously, I don't need to impress anyone.
2. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
3. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each egg. Add egg yolk, one after a time as well.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Add to batter and mix to combine.
6. Whisk 2 tablespoons matcha into the milk until completely dissolved. Add to the batter and mix until combined. Taste and add more if you want a stronger green tea flavor.
7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way.
8. Bake for 22-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely before icing with green tea cream cheese frosting.

Green tea cream cheese frosting
I seriously eye-balled a lot of this so you should experiment with HOW MUCH frosting you want. You'll see in my photos that I don't have a lot because my dad isn't into sweets.
Ingredients:
8 oz Philly cream cheese, room temperature
half a stick of unsalted butter
1 cup confectionery/powdered sugar, sifted
2 tb matcha
2 tb milk, if you want a "runnier" frosting
Directions:
Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add sugar and matcha (and milk if needed), beat till you have a whipped-like consistency. Top it on your cupcakes when the cupcakes are finally cool.

Now photos!
Right out of the oven. Look at that awesome green color!

Adding the frosting:

First bite!

Fusilli Pasta, Veggies, and Prosciutto over an Onion and White Wine glaze & Roasted Potatoes with Mozzarella

The third and fourth dish of my Mother's Day dinner. The first recipe is adapted (heavily--the pasta) from Epicurious.

Fusilli pasta with broccoli, tomato, bell peppers, mozzarella, and prosciutto, drizzled in an onion and white wine glaze.

What you'll need...

• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling
• 1/2 pound spring onions or green onions (dark green parts discarded); white parts cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices, pale green parts cut into 1/2-inch-thick slice
• Coarse kosher salt
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
• 1 1/2 head broccoli, cut.
  
• 1 tomato (or more, depending on your taste) and half a red bell pepper, chopped
  
• fusilli pasta--enough for 4 people (2-3 handfuls)
  
• 1 cup finely grated Mozzarella cheese plus additional for sprinkling
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips

What you'll do...
1. Melt butter with 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onions. Sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Sauté onions until tender (do not brown). Add wine and increase heat to medium-high. Simmer until liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 3 minutes. Add broth and bring to simmer; set aside.
2. Cook broccoli in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender. Strain and put in onion glaze.
3. Return water in pot to boil (the pot used to cook the broccoli). Cook pasta until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.
4. While cooking the pasta, reheat the onion and white wine glaze. Add tomatoes and bell pepper. Stir until heated through.
5. Add pasta, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and parsley to skillet with vegetables. Toss, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if dry. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle prosciutto over; drizzle with olive oil. Serve, with more grated cheese to pass along!

Roasted potatoes with Mozzarella, oregano, and fresh basil.

What you'll need...

• 3-4 small red potatoes, sliced
• 1 cup mozzarella (grated)
• olive oil
  
• oregano, salt, and pepper to taste
• fresh chopped basil
  

What you'll do...
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Butter baking tray so potatoes don't stick.
2. Mix olive oil and oregano in bowl and mix in with sliced potatoes.
3. Place potatoes on baking tray. Sprinkle potatoes (both sides) with salt, pepper, oregano, and mozzarella.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
5. Garnish with fresh basil.

Chicken in White Wine Sauce

The second installment of Mother's Day dinner: Chicken with White Wine Sauce! I changed the ingredient list from this recipe over at Epicurious. Also, I added the white wine sauce at the same as I added the chicken broth, resulting in MORE sauce than I needed. SO, follow my directions below so that it's the perfect balance of white wine taste and broth!

Here's what you'll need...

• chicken thighs. I used three which was more than enough for 4 people.
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 10 garlic cloves, halved
• 2 handfuls of asparagus, chopped.
  
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
  

Here's what you'll do...
1. Wash and pat dry chicken. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Heat oil in heavy 12-inch skillet (medium-high heat) until oil shimmers. Sear chicken until golden brown (only on one side!), then remove from skillet.
3. Keep about 2 tb of fat from skillet and cook garlic and asparagus over medium heat. Stir frequently until veggies are just beginning to soften. Add wine and boil (uncovered) until the liquid is reduced by half. Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer.
4. Return chicken (raw side down) to skillet and simmer (partially covered) until chicken is cooked through. This will take about 25 minutes. Plate.

Classic Sole Meunière

Each day, I'll post one of the dishes I cooked for Mother's Day since putting all the recipes in one post may be too overwhelming.

This is the fish dish, the classic sole meunière. I slightly adapted it from Epicurious, changing the portion size and cutting out most of the butter.

What you'll need:
Fish:

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 sole fillets (which is enough for 4 people when used in a menu and not as a main course)
  
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil

Sauce:

• small slice of unsalted butter; enough to cover the sauce pan when melted.
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

What to do:
Fish:
1. Rinse and dry fish. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Then, dredge fish on both sides with flour. Remember to shake off excess.
2. Heat oil on medium-heat until the oil is hot. Add fish and cook until golden brown on bottom (about 2-3 minutes). Turn over fish and cook until the center is opaque.
3. Plate and drizzle with sauce.
Sauce:
1. Place skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter and cook until golden.
2. Remove from heat. Stir in parsley and lemon juice. Spoon sauce over fish.

Nutella cupcakes

Hey remember that time when this blog existed? I should stop being a lazy food blogger and post to the 2 readers who still visit! This was something I made with a few friends about three months ago.

One of my loves is Nutella. And I can eat it in anything. I found this cupcake recipe through my friend Angela, who also shares my love of Nutella.

So here we go, awkward photos (because phone-camera quality is awkward?) and a recipe to follow. Let me tell you now: this is not for the health conscious. However, if you don't care (like I don't care), you won't regret it. It's crispy on the top, super moist and chocolaty in the middle. HEAVEN.

Nutella Swirl Cupcakes (via this tumblr)

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
~9.8 tablespoons butter, softened (the recipe is in the metric system, so I'm converting these. So even the ingredients will be in awkward numbers. Hurrah!)
3/4 cup white sugar
3 medium eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup nutella

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 320°F.
2. Line 12 muffin tins with cupcake or muffin liners.

3. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Leave aside.
4. Cream together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl till texture is light.

5. Add in the eggs, one at a time.

6. Add in the vanilla extract.

7. Gradually add in the dry ingredients into the wet mix till well-mixed.

8. Fill up each liner with batter till about 3/4 full.
9. Top up each cupcake with approximately 1 tbsp of nutella.

10. Use a toothpick to swirl the nutella into the batter.

11. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. And voilà!

Photos courtesy of my friend Queenie and her Blackberry.