Break Of Dawn

gracie pooh

nancy

eggs benedict with pesto

french toast

egg white omelette with mushrooms, ham, and tomatoes

butternut squash soup

There's something immensely comforting about seeing nancy and grace, and in particular, nancy and grace at the same time.  We've been friends since 2nd grade (approx.) and it's kind of strange and wonderful to see  all this change between the three of us in a way that we can't even sum up and probably aren't even interested in summing up.  We don't even bother with nostalgia because nostalgia implies that something was lost.  And nothing was lost. 

This morning I happened to be in Laguna Hills and we all met for breakfast at Break Of Dawn, a Vietnamese-American breakfast place.  They have traditional breakfast foods (the things we ordered) but they also had things like oxtail and shrimp rolls, all of which seemed very appetizing, just perhaps not at 8:30 in the morning.  I want to take Saeyoung here.

Also, Break of Dawn is an unfortunate name.  I don't like it.  Too....too much.

Break Of Dawn

24351 Avenida De La Carlota 

Laguna Hills, Ca 92653

(949) 587-9418

Flourless Chocolate Cake

maybe not the most appetizing photo but, in fact, very tasty

This cake is very rich and silken in texture, almost custardy, dense and moist.  It may not be for everyone because it's a tad jiggly but it's quite good with some vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:

10 oz semisweet chocolate chopped

7 oz of butter

1 cup sugar

5 eggs

1. preheat oven to 350

2. beat the eggs and the sugar and set aside

3. melt chocolate and butter in a double broiler 

4. whisk in chocolate mixture into the sugar/egg mixture

5. grease a nine inch spring-form cake pan and then coat with cocoa powder

6. pour batter into cake pan

7. place the cake pan in a roasting pan and fill the roasting pan about half way with water

8. cover tightly with foil and bake in oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes

9. it will be very jiggly out of the oven but will harden up once you let it cool

Lanny Pants

lan et marvin

a telling of the future

garlic toast/salad

tomato sauce for pasta

I'm glad Lan Pham moved to Los Angeles, very glad indeed.

Teuscher "Toy-sher"

My friend and I got into a heated debate about the pronunciation of Teuscher Chocolates while passing by the little store on Newbury Street. We stopped in for an Easter Chocolate sale! 

Here's what we found: 

I especially love those little animal-shaped chocolates. I tried a nougat egg which was quite tasty. It left sticky gunk all over my teeth, just the way nougat should be! 

The speciality is their champagne truffles. I plan on bringing home a box for my sister! 

Mmmm.... Chocolate! 

http://www.teuscher.com/

Mutated Junk Food

First of all, I'll never be able to keep up with my sister's post because I simply don't have a kitchen. 

At first I let this defeat me and stopped trying to contribute to this joint blog. Then it struck me: I just have to think outside the box! 

So -- I've been providing the college insider look. I know that grocery shopping blog was dismal. But look at these mutated junk foods I've been collecting! 

The threesome gummy bears! The cheezit discovery was especially exciting because I feel like it gives you an inside look into how they make them! I always wondered why the edges were perforated. Yeah seriously, I did wonder. No, that's not that lame. 

Just thought I'd share!

A Sort Of Pavlova

I'm feeling restless today and this often means I will spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  I really wanted to make a pavlova because I have these wonderful raspberries that would taste great with something light and airy, but pavlovas require cornstarch and I didn't feel like making a trip to the market.  I tried to make the pavlova sans cornstarch and it still worked out, only it didn't have that cracked, crispy shell that make pavlovas so wonderful.  Still, the exterior was nice and firm while the interior reminded me slightly of a very light marshmellow.  Topped with the tart raspberries, it made for a very satisfying dessert.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

1 cup extra fine sugar

3 tablespoons ice cold water

1 teaspoon vinegar

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon of cornstarch (for the crispy shell, if you want it)

1. preheat over to 300 degrees

2. beat egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form

3. add water and mix for a minute longer

4. combine sugar and cornstarch and add in small increments 

5. add vinegar and mix for another minute

6. form in a circle on a greased cooking sheet and create a cavity in the center for the fruit

7. place in oven until the peaks are dark brown and the pavlova begins to crack

8. top with fruit

*note to self--next time add lemon zest

Cantaloupe Jam

I've had a cantaloupe sitting in my fruit basket for over a week now and it just kept getting overlooked.  Today I noticed it was getting a little soft and perhaps on the verge of becoming overripe.  Because it would be silly to finish a whole cantaloupe by myself just because it isn't going to last very long, I thought turning it into a jam might be nice.  I've never seen a cantaloupe jam and have never made any sort of preserve out of a melon-type fruit, but I figured that the worst case scenario would be that I'd end up with a cantaloupe soup...which probably isn't the worst thing in the world.  

Luckily, the jam turned out delicious and the color was beautiful, almost like a pumpkin (oh! pumpkin jam!) and it tasted very honeyed.  In fact, I think I'll use in place of honey with Greek yogurt for breakfast tomorrow.   I'm curious as to why we don't see melon jams around.  I found that the cantaloupe gelled very well, without any pectin.  Maybe there's some sort of natural gelatin-type substance in melons, maybe the ripeness of the melon made the amount of natural sugars perfect for making jams.  

I feel good. I feel like I prevented a cantaloupe from going to waste.