Carrot cake bites - foolproof recipe

I don't bake often, but this weekend was a busy weekend for MOH, my resident baker extraordinaire.. and I was craving carrot cake. MOH has been swamped with graduate recruitment (first years normally host), and I felt like changing up the weekend routine by baking up some muffins. What resulted weren't muffins, but let's just call them carrot cake bites. They're really tasty, not too sweet, and have a great softness to them.

I did a modification from a recipe I found on a gluten-free website, but added some raisins and walnuts instead of macadamia nuts since I didn't have any macadamias.

I was multitasking while making these carrot cake bites, so I stumbled with getting the exact measurements for some ingredients - the good news though, is this is a recipe that is foolproof for all us non-bakers out there! Instead of 1/2 teaspoon of xantham gum, I ended up using 3/4 (I'm eyeballing because I accidentally did 1 teaspoon, realized my mistake, then tried to scoop out some xantham gum). The resulting carrot cake bites ended up having this jiggly appearance like Flubber (old Disney movie) when they initially came out, but since cooling, they have stiffened up, yet retained their moist texture.

Ingredients - enough for 12 cupcake sized bites:

Dry ingredients

1 cup Bob's Red Mill all purpose gluten free flour (or any gluten free all purpose you have on hand)

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

3/8 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

Carrot filling

1 1/2 cups peeled and grated carrots

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup of raisins

Wet ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup almond milk

Protocol:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Add in dry ingredients (flour, gum, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar)

3. In a separate bowl, add in carrots, raisins, and walnuts - use some of the dry ingredients to coat with this mixture

4. Mix together oil, eggs, vinegar and milk - mix this wet mixture in with the dry ingredients 

5. Add in carrot, raisin, and walnut mixture (carrot filling) 

6. Grease or line cupcake tins - then carefully pour mixture into tins

7. Bake for 18 minutes, making sure to check if bites are fully cooked through (the 'ol toothpick trick - stick a toothpick into the bites and pull the toothpick out. If nothing is clinging onto the toothpick, it's cooked!)

8. Take out carrot cake bites and cool on a rack, or scarf down with milk

Happy eating all!

Restaurant week and oyster ramblings

Restaurant Week has started in Southern California, and MOH and I spent our Saturday evening trying out an oyster bar in Newport Beach. Restaurant Week is a great opportunity to try out new cuisines at an affordable price. If you're looking for new places to eat with friends or family, but haven't quite had the opportunity to venture out, Restaurant Week is the best time to try. Most restaurants feature set menus for lunch or dinner and offer wide varieties for anyone's unique dietary needs.

This weekend, we went to Fly N Fish Oyster Bar, this great restaurant located right off the Newport Beach. This place offers a beautiful sunset view in addition to a wide selection of seafood items, such as their infamous fish n' chips. For my meal, I ordered an oyster sampler and the lunch special with fish n' chips. While my food was pretty good (who can resist salty, perfectly seasoned "chips?"), I couldn't help but compare Fly N Fish to my experience at another oyster bar in Costa Mesa, which remains my favorite place to gulp on raw oysters.

Shuck Oyster Bar is this great little "hole in the wall" that specializes in seafood dishes. If you're not into seafood, they also make a mean grilled cheese and seafood medley stew that is so delicious, you won't be jealous of your friends slurping on delicious oysters.

I think oysters have a bad rap. Many people will cite the texture of the oysters as too booger-like to want to try, but I think oysters deserve second chances. If your only experience of eating oysters is through the can, you're missing out on how infinitely better raw, chilled oysters taste. It's like eating the ocean in your mouth, similar to taking a bite of uni (into sushi? If so, try uni at least once - it's truly briny in nature and salt laden, but so creamy and rich against the rice background) . Not a fan of oysters? If courageous enough, try one and believe me, you won't look back. Fresh oysters slip and slide so smoothly down your throat, you'll down 6 before you know it (trust me, I have experience). Each oyster has a distinctive taste, whether it's more firm or cushiony in texture, or more tame or briny in taste (depending on the source), every oyster has a different tale to tell. Try it! Don't try it for the aphrodisiac qualities (I'm skeptical about this and the literature out there on this claim is a bit scarce) - try it for the burst of flavor.

Assortment of oysters (photo courtesy of Guillaume)

Haven't had enough experience to know what oyster types you like? Or not even sure how many oyster types there are? Not to worry - oyster bar staff are normally extremely nice and knowledgeable. Similar to wine connoisseurs, the staff explain each type of oyster they have on hand, ranging from location of origin, to texture, to "brininess."

After our Saturday dinner, MOH and I spent Sunday running errands, heading to the beach, and lazing about with our babies. We have slowly transitioned giving Lily, our rabbit, full access to the entire apartment and she seems to be enjoying her new found freedom. She's pretty mobile, but most of the time she likes to stare, scowl, or give us the stink-eye when we eat dinner or watch T.V.

Lily's trademark no nonsense look

While our little venture during Restaurant Week didn't quite meet up to our expectations, the weekend is still young, and has provided a much needed break from the hectic work week.

Here's looking at a better week to come! Until next time, happy eating all!

Got a "go-to" place that you have in your hometown? If so, let me know - MOH and I are always into trying new things. Doesn't matter if it's not in California!

Sick Sundays... in other news - blood oranges are back!

This past week I got hit with some weird cold that just ate up my whole work week... and weekend. I'm sleeping 8+ hours (and still complaining about being tired), hack huge phlegm balls down the drain, and have been ejecting tidbits of soup all week long.

Soup has been an essential tool for a speedy recovery, with different variations circulating through our kitchen, as if like a strategy to make me not feel so grumpy about having soup day in and day out. MOH, ever the cheerleader, has been sucking it up and eating soup with me, but there's been a development in the current situation - he caved yesterday and gorged on fried honey-battered chicken wings and a plate of nachos, extra cheese please. We all have our vices though, right?

For the sick, our best healthy vices have to be oranges. These juicy, fleshy fruits are full of different nutrients that can aid towards a speedy recovery.  During this time of the year, two seasonal oranges can be found at your local grocery store or farmer's market - blood oranges and cara caras.

Imagine my excitement seeing both these oranges back at the Irvine farmer's market! My favorite oranges by far though, are blood oranges.

Blood oranges range from a blushful pink to deep red in color depending on the time of season, but taste like the love child of an orange and raspberry. Deep color, deep flavor. These oranges are not as sweet as the naval orange, but their flirtation with sour and tang leave you coming back for more. Blood oranges are also great for brain function. These oranges contain a rich antioxidant called anthocyanin, also found in blueberries, and have been shown to be important for enhancing memory and preventing cognitive decline.

These lovely oranges are in season for most of the wintry months until March, so there's still lots of time to check these oranges out and explore how to incorporate them into your recipes.

Just look for these oranges at your local produce store or farmer's market! Who knows, you may come across more seasonal treasures at your local market.

Photo courtesy of Jammmick 

Until next time, happy eating all!

Wintry treat for the soup lovers: simple sup mang cua (Vietnamese asparagus soup)

Soup is one of my favorite things to eat.

One of my favorite soups that MOH prepares is a simple napa cabbage soup with onions, tofu, grape tomatoes, cilantro, green onions and vermicelli. Whenever I eat this soup, I always think back on the time when I had food poisoning and MOH's soup was the only thing I could eat without vomiting.

If you like seafood type soups, you'll enjoy this Vietnamese asparagus soup, sup mang cua.

Sup mang cua was an essential "get better" soup during my childhood. Even this past holiday break, my mother prepared the soup as a way for my sister to combat a cold.  It's a light soup that contains crab, quail egg, asparagus, eggs, green onions, and cilantro. It has this great thickness, which lends to the cornstarch binding to the soup, and can be incredibly hearty with fresh stalks of asparagus, green onions, and crab loaded inside.

This soup is very simple to make and is so flexible with ingredient variation. I've seen this soup done with pork broth, chicken broth, crab stock, fish stock, so I think depending on what type of broth base you like, you can adjust accordingly. This is also a great soup to do once asparagus (white or green, depending on your preference) is in season!

Photo courtesy of Quadell

In addition, this soup is really light and serves for a great pick-me-up on a wintry day. One thing that is really unique about this soup are the quail eggs. Quail eggs are smaller than regular eggs, but packed with tons of flavor. They taste more rich and have this great creamy yolk - if you enjoy egg yolk as much as me, then you're in for a treat! 

Photo courtesy of Hisgett

 Ingredients for a standard pot of soup (6 quarts):

- 4 quarts of soup broth of your choice (chicken is preferable, though some people do pork broth for more flavor)

- 1 can of quail eggs (or fresh eggs, but you'll need to boil and painstakingly peel the shells!)

- Bundle of asparagus (white or green), sliced thinly or peeled in strips (can only peel if you first boil the asparagus separately)

- 2 cups fresh crab meat or canned (fresh tastes better, but canned can be done if on a tight budget or crunched for time!)

- 2 eggs, mixed like you're going to scramble them for breakfast

- 2 tbsp cornstarch for thickening agent

- 1 cup of chopped cilantro

- 1 cup of chopped green onions

- Salt, pepper, or fish sauce to season

Protocol: 

1. Put broth in pot and wait for boiling

2. Once broth is boiled, add in quail eggs

3. Add in asparagus (my mother likes to peel the asparagus into thin strips, but I'm super lazy so I just slice my asparagus) 

4. Add in crab meat, either fresh crab meat or crab meat from a can, your choice

5. While waiting for soup to boil, scramble 2 eggs and slowly add mixture into soup broth - this will create a stringy egg appearance in the soup, similar to an Egg Drop Soup

6. Season broth additionally with any salt and pepper, or fish sauce

7. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and slowly add into the soup - the soup should thicken. If you want the soup to be thicker, add more cornstarch, but remember to first dissolve it into water - no one wants to eat clumpy cornstarch in their soup!

8. When of right consistency, turn off the heat and garnish soup with cilantro and green onions - enjoy with extra pepper if desired!

This soup can be customized accordingly depending on your flavor preferences. My mom likes to sneak in shredded chicken sometimes instead of crab, and it tastes just as good. I think the two ingredients that are non-negotiable are the asparagus and quail eggs, but if you find a cool variation, please share!

Until next time, happy eating all!

Late night munchies and holiday gorging: sleep deprivation effects beyond the baggy eyes

Hello everyone,

Hope everyone's holidays went well and that things are winding down before we all hit the work grind.

I just came back from spending the Christmas break with my family and had the chance to spend New Year's with MOH. Though the time with my family was short, I had a great time catching up with everyone and eating great food.

The holidays, though fun-filled, also come at a cost. For me, it has been indulging on favorite childhood eats and tons of sweet treats.

Homemade brittle for the holidays!

Sure, I tried to combat all the eating with getting in some exercise, but you can only run so many miles before the endless nights of snacking finally catch up to you. During the holidays, my body just goes into overdrive with eating, snacking, munching, chewing, you name it - it also doesn't help my case much that I don't sleep too much while I'm on break (trying to make the most of my time with family you know!). I don't know why the holidays prompt so many of us to stuff ourselves, but after seeing a recent article in Nature Communications, I'm thinking my overindulgence for extra fatty foods may be linked to my lack of sleep.

If only we all looked this cute sleeping (courtesy of J. Pockele)

In the article, Greer and colleagues wanted to determine if sleep deprivation affects food intake. Using human imaging studies, they found that sleep deprived individuals had different brain regions being activated while subjects looked at different types of foods. The different brain regions activated or inactivated during this task have been well documented to be important for food decision choices and food regulation. *

Furthermore, they found that sleep deprived individuals consumed higher fat content foods and preferred higher fat foods than well-rested individuals. Though it's no surprise that higher fat foods tend to look and smell more appealing in general (who can argue with a burger as delicious looking as the one below?), being sleep deprived must make all us foodies lose total control over how much fatty food we should be consuming, like a kid running loose in a candy store.

MOH's infamous Slater's burger: The DOOT - a force to be reckoned with

In addition to increases in food intake, a more recent report shows that the sleep deprived also tend to spend more money on food (Chapman et al., 2013). Recalling back to my undergraduate years, I remember staying up late to study and making late night runs to the grocery store during midterms/finals week to stock up on my study essentials: ramen and Cheetos (I know they're unhealthy, but I still think they're delicious). I'm not sure if it's a compensatory mechanism, but there's just something about giving in to the "munchies" more when you're running on low energy, low sleep.

Cheetos in all their glory - my favorite: mix and match regular / flamin' hot Cheetos

Needless to say, I had a great holiday break. Yes, I was sleep deprived. Yes, I ate enough for three of me's to survive, and yes, I'm sporting a little more baggage than usual, but I had a great time doing so. Spending time with family is always a bonus, but having good company AND good food is a definite blessing.

And what better way to end the year than with a celebratory nature hike around one of Orange County's scenic trails?

We went to Aliso and Woods Canyon Park in Laguna Niguel - this trail is full of caves, rocky cliffs (scale at your own risk!), and beautiful little creeks. If you're into hiking and live around Orange County, definitely try this place.

For everyone who's reading, happy new year to all! May 2014 be a year full of new beginnings, rich memories, and delicious food.

Until next time, happy eating all!


*
Sleep deprived individuals showed increased activity in the amygdala while decreased activity was seen in the frontal lobe and insular cortex when viewing different food choices.

While it has been shown previously by many groups that sleep deprivation causes increase in food intake, this study points to the specific brain regions activated/deactivated following sleep deprivation, and shows that fat-rich foods in particular are preferably consumed by the sleep-deprived. The amygdala is known to contain different molecules (neuropeptides) that can modulate food intake, while the downregulated regions are more associated with regulation of appetite.

References:

1. Greer S.M. et al., 2013. The impact of sleep deprivation on food desire in the human brain. Nature Communications. 4:2259.

2. Chapman, C.D. et al., 2013. Acute sleep deprivation increases food purchasing in men. Obesity. 21(12)

Holiday happiness - infusing science into your holiday baked delights!

Happy holidays everyone -

The year is winding down slowly and there are many great things to look forward to:

1. More time to spend with loved ones. I'm taking a short vacation away from lab to hang out with my family up in Stockton and couldn't be more excited. I'm planning to stalk my mom around the kitchen and learn how to cook more Vietnamese style dishes (my goal: mam va rau - we'll see if it's possible).

2. More winter in southern California - or "fall" for those who actually experience snow and rain frequently during this time of the year. Some great things about December/January: piping hot tea, curling up under a throw, and doing night runs.

3. A new year happening - new resolutions, new beginnings, new goals. This summer, I made a goal for myself to get back into running. MOH decided to up the ante and make me create a concrete mile goal, so I decided to do 300 miles within 6 months. I'm two weeks away from finishing the year and less than 15 miles left, so I'm pretty excited. I think next year, I'm going to aim for 600 miles. Speaking of which, I need new shoes. I've been eying the Brooks Adrenaline GTS - I saw a review on them on Runner's World and drooled a little. I had the GTS11 and loved it for its lightness.

4. Indulgence at its best! This time of the year there are a ton of holiday parties, get-togethers, and that always means good food, good desserts.

And if you're particularly lucky, you have some friends who make great desserts that appeal to both your eyes AND mouth! Case in point - my friend Jaimie Ngo's wonderful gingerbread treats that would brighten up anyone's day. Jaimie loves to infuse playful designs into her baked creations at a bakery in San Diego where she comes up with the cutest designs for any season!

Photo courtesy of J. Ngo

Did I mention she can also make brains look tasty, too?

Photo courtesy of J Ngo

Gingerbread cookies are a common staple during the holidays. This year, brighten your treats by decorating them using a simple royal icing (basically powdered sugar and egg whites, or meringue powder and water). Make sure to decorate once your cookies are fully cooled, or be prepared for a hot mess of melting icing (unless you're trying to get that visual effect).

Not that great of a decorator or not that creative? No worries - inspiration and creativity can stem from anything! Whether it's modeled after a piece of art or a photograph, or a cool show you watch, or something you see in nature, creativity can stem from anything. First time decorator? Don't fret - Jaimie cannot stress the importance of taking your time - decorating is a form of art, and requires patience and time. If you're willing to put in the time to thoughtfully decorate your desserts, everything will fall into place. Having the right baking and decorating tools help, too.

Hope everyone's holidays goes great! May everyone enjoy great memories and happy eating!

Green goodness: herbs at their finest

I never understood how some people just don't like herbs or greens, for that matter. I know a handful of people who just can't eat pho with the cilantro/green onion garnish, or don't like the natural taste of a simple spinach salad, or even the taste of fresh mint and perilla in a spring roll. Maybe it's the taste, but I can't imagine a world where herbs didn't exist.

They're delicious AND healthy - who can refuse them? Sure, there's that slight bitterness to it, but isn't that what the good stuff's made of?

Herbs come in all varieties, shapes and sizes... and surprise, surprise, as anything green and pseudo-bitter, they come with a heaping amount of good health kicks. In relation to cognitive health, certain herbs have been found to promote recovery following memory loss. A recently paper in Plos One written by Zhang and colleagues used a memory-loss rat model* and treated these rats with a chemical cocktail of herbal medicine (extracts came from different herbs including an herb that's in the mint family). What they found was memory function was improved and several genes were activated that promoted brain recovery and function.

Yes, herbs are healthy and that's all great, but how do you reap the full benefits of something? Oftentimes, eating fruits and vegetables in their raw form offers you the most nutrients (cooking sometimes kills proteins and essential nutrients). For herbs, one of my favorite recipes is to do a variation on a thai salad, known as larb.

Larb plays on sour and salty and spotlights different herbs and greens at their finest - when they're prepared fresh, with no fuss. This is probably my go-to dish when I'm heading out to the potluck event or hosting a girls' night. It's simple to make and can be done within half an hour (including prep time!).

Ingredients:
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes (or one large tomato)
- 1 bundle of green onions, chopped
- 1 bundle of cilantro, chopped
- half a head of napa cabbage, shredded
- 1-2 bundles of mint leaves, chopped coarsely
- Three bundles of dried vermicelli
- 2 limes or 3 lemons (more sour, the better)
- 1/2 of dried red pepper (or fresh peppers) - used to add spiciness
- 1/3 cup Fish sauce, use more to taste
- optional: ground meat or mashed tofu for protein punch (I didn't add it into this particular batch, but I like to sometimes boil tofu and mash it up into tiny pieces and infuse into the dish, similar to adding gorgonzola onto spinach salad). Alternatively, you can do ground meat.

Protocol:
1. Toss vermicelli into boiling water for 1 minute - immediately remove and toss the noodles into cold water. Let the noodles sit in cold water until ready to use
2. Chop up greens and throw them into a large mixing bowl - the bigger the bowl, the more flexibility you have to mix ingredients together

3. Once all greens, tomatoes and garlic have been chopped, add in vermicelli. The noodles should be cold and expanded. Toss the noodles in and mix the ingredients all together.
4. Squeeze lime/lemon juice and start with 1/3 cup of fish sauce - mix everything together.
5. Depending on how sour/salty you want your larb to be, adjust the amount of lime juice or fish sauce
6. If in a spicy mood, garnish with red pepper flakes or fresh chilis!
7. Serve immediately, or keep chilled - larb stays good in the fridge for a few days, but you may need to adjust the flavor since lime juicy becomes less potent over time.

Hopefully you guys like this dish - it's a great light dish to have and packs a lot of flavor, making for a great dish to bring to holiday parties!

Until next time, happy eating all!




***Supplemental information regarding the cited paper:
Rats were treated with Ibotenic Acid (IBO), a drug that causes severe injury to site of injection and leads to neuronal loss. In this paper, they tested memory function using Morris Water Maze (a platform is submerged under water and rats have to learn where the platform is in order to avoid getting wet for a long period of time) and differential gene regulation was observed using DNA microarray.

References:

Zhang J et al., 2013. Ameliorative effects of a combination of Baicalin, Jasminoidin and Cholic Acid on Iobetenic Acid-induced dementia model in Rats. Plos One.