Pancakes for a Cause!

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            Do you count your blessings? 
I have so many things to be thankful for that there are not enough fingers or toes amongst the number of people that surround me have to count. There are many ways to give back to the community and it's not just by giving money but also your time and abilities. 
        Pancake Day 2015 was put on by my favorite charity and non-profit organization, Feeding Hong Kong, 樂餉社 at the University of Hong Kong's Haking Wong Podium.  Once again, they are the bridge between the food and beverage industry with the hungry people of this city that we call "The Pearl of the East". There are hungry people who cannot afford a meal and Feeding Hong Kong is a food bank that redistributes surplus food to those in need. 
          This day was equipped with many activities including a pancake relay that had participants toss and run with pancakes for charity. I was there with my pancakes with ingredients donated by Pizza Express and we were on a roll to sell pancakes by donation. I even had a handsome boy sous-chef giving me help with the distribution. 
           Thanks to the generous donations, we were able to serve up many fruit toppings with a spread of sauces made from strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, mixed berries, as well as lemon and sugar with a dollop of Crème fraîche. The donation box slowly but surely filled up during the event and as we were wrapping up, a continuous line formed with hungry bystanders. 

           I am very honored to be a part of this event again this second year in the running, and it felt great being able to use my skills to help out a charity that really provides a service for a need in Hong Kong. Check out the Hong Kong Cable TV coverage of this event here: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=929294630435754&fref=nf

Feeding Hong Kong One Step at a Time

             As a way to spread healthy eating and cooking, we need to start young and I believe that many families in such a fast paced city do not focus enough on the importance of doing it at home.  There are more ways to contribute for a cause than just buying a ticket to an Equestrian Event at the Longines Masters Grand Slam that occurred at the Asia World Expo this past February. 
               I had the opportunity to work with Feeding Hong Kong 樂餉社,  to host a healthy cooking demo for young kids who attended the Grand Slam with their parents.  Feeding Hong Kong is the food bank in Hong Kong that redistributes surplus food to people in need. There are so many times that I have taken my food for granted and do not think twice how many people are starving in this city and in other places around the world. Working with a charity like this one, helps the first world connect with the third as they work to raise awareness about poverty and food insecurity in Hong Kong as well as promote healthy eating and nutrition education to the most vulnerable groups in the city. 
        We created vegetable summer rolls together with a asian peanut dipping sauce. 
The ingredients were colorful and easy to identify. The kids were very excited to play with their own share. 

        I always love to have each and every participant have a chance to make their own so they were encouraged to come up closer to me to have a better chance to interact with me and each other. 
        With the help of our amazing volunteers, we were able to make sure everyone had their share of creating a fun, colorful and delicious summer roll for themselves. 
     My favorite part was watching these kids eat their summer rolls. I had so much fun teaching them! I hopefully gave them motivation to initiate helping in the kitchen more often in their homes. Through this experience, we successfully provided a fun-filled nutritional education afternoon to 12 individuals of the future generation. Changes happen one step at a time!

This Season Of Love, California Nostalgia Resonates at Café Sausalito

              The renaissance of retro Sham Shui Po 深水埗 has brought the Bay Area's nautical scene to 201 Tai Nan Street 大南街, where a quaint little café now resides. Café Sausalito is a new neighbourhood gem that serves up one of the best cup of joes in the area. I have been given the honor to leave a small footprint by helping create some of their weekend specials and homemade baked goods currently offered to the lovely citizens of Hong Kong. Although Coffee is the star of this joint, it is not the only thing that makes this place a special one.
               I had a blast these past few weeks while celebrating Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year in the span of two consecutive weekends. The café took this opportunity to put up fitting decorations in order to honour these major festivities with open arms. 
        For those days surrounding Valentine's Day, I put forth a lovely dark chocolate-rose tofu tart to pair with our special heart warming mocha that unlocked every mans heart. 
        Who really hates chocolate is really a hater, but those who are lovers won't mind a free chocolate strawberry tuxedo with a purchase of two coffees on Valentine's Day really enjoyed this delectable gift! 
     My girlfriends and I really had a great time creating these while on a girls night at the café bonding in-house with our very own resident barista baller, the sultry Michael Tam. He really did have quite a lot to complain about being the only man in the midst of 4 women dipping strawberries in chocolate. 
                    We also took the opportunity to invite local artists and musicians to showcase their skills at the café and welcomed everyone to come out for a coffee with a slice of cake. These artists included Alison a wonderful sketcher and Henna Tattoo artist to set up a little booth out front for anyone who wants give an as-you-wish sum in exchange for some artwork. 
            For another romantic afternoon, the pleasure was all ours when Anthony, a resident saxophonist from the Langham Hotel, stopped by for a couple of sets. He was definitely serenading all the patrons inside with well known cover tunes that span from the Western world all the way to songs from our closely related Chinese roots.  
           On Chinese New Year's Day, Tai Nan Street became the prime locations for a block party where we had The Anello, a Hong Kong based collaboration, stirring up the scene with familiar covers and also amazing originals. You can see them creating an amazing buzz throughout the café and its surroundings with such an awesome performance. 

       We can hardly wait until The Anello can come visit us again with more live performances!!! This was a perfect day to spend a holiday on the block with good live music, great coffee, good food and good company!!! The rain didn't stop us! 
   





       
             A hearty brunch was also served alongside this enjoyable event, which made a positive attribution to the whole experience. Can you really resist a toasted bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon, pickled cucumbers on top of French style scrambled eggs? I can answer that question for you! 
      Should you also compliment that with a warm homemade apple crumble tart? Oh, I think so! :) ...If apples and cinnamon are not a combination for you, may I suggest a homemade chocolate-hazelnut (Nutella) tofu tart or even a classic lemon tart for kicks. 

            I had the honour to develop and create a membership card board for Café Sausalito, which Michael delightfully accepted as my contribution. It is now conveniently displayed at the café for a place to put our important members' record of their coffee spending. 
       As a token of my appreciation, I made everyone drink steamed milk! 
I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day and a Happy Chinese New Year! 恭喜發財! Got Milk?!?!

Feb 17th, 2015: Pancake Day at HKU With Feeding Hong Kong 樂餉社‬

airbitz.co

As a part of the charitable events by Feeding Hong Kong (樂餉社‬ ), and being a part of "Chefs in the Community"(社區廚師計劃), I am very honored to be invited a second time to be a part of the annual Pancake Day event held in the Hong Kong University Campus (香港大學) at the Haking Wong Podium (黃克競平台). 

feedinghk.org

I will be there starting at 12pm (noon) making and selling pancakes and supporting the pancake races! Please come to support a good and charitable cause and eat pancakes! 

Cooking Demo: Longines Hong Kong Masters February 15th, 2015

Join me at The Longines Hong Kong Master Grand Slam this coming Sunday at Asia World Expo Venue 8!!!
I will be there along with Feeding Hong Kong presenting a cooking demo at 11:00am and 1:00pm!

Come learn how to make Vegetable Summer Rolls with a Peanut Dipping Sauce! 

www.tartineandapronstrings.com

See you there!

A Hong Kong Boozy Brunch, Spanish Style at Boqueria

                     It's not everyday that I get to spend a Sunday with a worthy bunch of humans eating and drinking our lives away to unlimited Spanish food and booze. There are countless restaurants and bars in Central Hong Kong for brunch, which has become a weekend trend and we secretly wish we could indulge in it everyday. Brunch is slowly seeping into the cracks of westernized civilizations like Hong Kong from our favorite dreamland over in the other side of the world. 

            La Boqueria Market being no doubt one the most famous farmers market in the middle of Barcelona in Spain continues to drive traffic from all around the world.  The city comes to shop, dine and socialize at this central meeting place, which sets another example of how food brings people together.  

              On the other hand, Boqueria in Hong Kong, sets itself aside as a Spanish restaurant serving specialty tapas provides a wonderful accommodation for us to enjoy a lazy afternoon with a brunch buffet and an optional free-flow drink pairing. Located in the Hotel Lan Kwai Fong (LKF), Boqueria is also in the center of where everything happens. Lan Kwai Fong is an area where people from all walks of life accumulate once the sun sets and throughout the weekends. It's basically heaven for the young and the young at heart. For a restaurant to be able to survive here really does take some skill and strength, since we all know the rent is quite the heavy load in this city. 

          Once you exited the elevator inside the hotel that led to the restaurant, you would quickly notice the exquisite legs of Iberico ham hanging by its hooves all lined up for the dramatic accent. At the end of the train of ham, a prolific Paella peaked out from behind and beckoned you to taste its pleasures. The pan was comparable to the diameter of my bathtub and conveniently rested next to the self-serve sangria station. The sangria station was really a one stop shop for patrons to make their own elixir with the bottomless wine, fruits, sodas and juices presented to you. Thankful for the food and drinks in our first world, I quickly sat down and grabbed a plate. 

          Our wait staff was quite attentive with asking for our drink orders and before I knew it, I was bombarded by 5 different glasses all lined up on my place mat. 5 shades of yellow?! :0, Oh, what? OK don't mind me :) Since it was free-flow, there was no one there to stop me from the gluttony I was about to embark on for my day of rest and recuperation. So I ordered my Bloody Mary, Cava, OJ, and made a red Sangria on my own, also some water just in case I was dehydrated. 

            The buffet bar was stocked with a selection cured meats, salads, gazpacho, fruits and mini churros. There were also oysters on the half shell, clams and fried bacon with Brussel sprouts included in the brunch menu, made to order. The buffet bar and menu was not the only place for food, there were also these tables on wheels that served as a platform cutting board where the staff wheeled around the restaurant like dim sum carts. A little bit like a child on Christmas Day, I was quite excited to see the whole roasted pork, roast lamb, and salmon with potatoes on these movable carts.  
              The pork was seasoned well that fell of the bone and covered with crispy skin that may make a grown man tear. The roasted lamb was quite tender and flavorful, which complimented my sangria and the salmon was juicy, not dry and paired well with some Cava. 

            Without notice, a general staff comes by the table and nonchalantly offers a bib to one of my friends, who we were bidding farewell to. With a wicked smile, he revealed his Porron and showed us how it was done. The Porron was a drinking vessel native to Spain and allowed everyone in the party to share a drink from a communal spout, which would never touch your lips. After all, sharing was caring and let's hope that the fountain of life would continue to bring joy and laughter through food and wine.
          After many good laughs with our bulging bellies and multiple rounds of glasses refilled, good times always comes to an end with the bill :0 It was not a fortune neither a bargain, but it did leave happy campers with gratified hearts, which was well worth it. Will come again to get porroned! 

Recipe: Vegetarian Cauliflower Pizza! Easy, Healthy and Gluten Free!

             How many pizza's slices can you eat? I know I'll be tempted to go for seconds and thirds for a pizza that just came out of the oven, but how many calories would you regret racking up by the end of the night!                              Don't like veggies? You won't even think there are any vegetables in this crust! Even if you don't have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, this pizza would be a great alternative to increase your vegetable and dietary fiber intake without losing all the flavors and mouthfeel of a real pizza!!! I know it's hard to believe but this is my 'raison d'etre' as a culinary dietitian. I live to research, test and produce a highly nutritional dish that will tantalize everyone's tastebuds and yet makes them feel extra good about eating it. 

simplyscratch.com

      Cauliflower is a natural cruciferous vegetable that is highly versatile, highly nutritious and related to disease prevention. They are not only high in vitamins, minerals and fiber, but in recent scientific studies, cruciferous vegetables have been linked to cancer prevention where animal laboratory results show anti-inflammatory effects, protection against DNA damage, and have antiviral and antibacterial affects. How exciting! There's now more reason to add these amazing vegetables to your diet and help you live a more fulfilling and healthy life! There are many versions of this cauliflower recipe and many links on the web are really good, I've just compiled a few recipes I've found and modified it to my own liking, I hope you'll try this at home. 

         

Recipe: Cauliflower Crust Pizza with Barbecue Sauce and Tomatoes and Onions 

Ingredients: (Makes Two 9x9 inch round pizza)

Crust:          2             heads of cauliflower 

                    4             eggs 

                    1 cup      mozzarella cheese, shredded 

                    1/2 tsp    salt 

                    1/4 tsp    black pepper cracked

                    1 tsp       oregano, dried

                    1 Tbsp    garlic, minced

Toppings:    4 Tbsp    Barbecue sauce (any)

                    2             roma tomato cut into wedges

                    1/2          red onion sliced thin

                    1 cup      mozzarella pizza cheese, shredded

                    1 cup      chicken breast, diced (optional for carnivores)

Method: 

1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celcius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit

2) Cut cauliflower into chunks and pulse in a food processor or a blender. Be careful not to puree it too finely, a texture like rice is what you want. (as shown). Take riced cauliflower out and drain and squeeze out any excess liquids and place in a large mixing bowl. This process can be done before hand and can keep a stash of riced cauliflower in your freezer so you can make pizza on demand! 

3) In the bowl, add in cheese, salt, pepper, eggs, oregano, and garlic and mix thoroughly to combine. 

4) On a parchment lined flat baking tray (can be square or round) spoon cauliflower mixture onto tray and spread evenly to about 1cm thick and place in the over for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. 

5) After taking the crust out of the oven, you can low spoon on the barbecue sauce then layer on the tomatoes and onions. If you would like to add meat, some diced chicken breast would be a great addition. At the end sprinkle on the cheese and return to the oven for about 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and some browning occurs. 

There is nothing better than a slice of homemade pizza, fresh out of the oven! Enjoy! :)