Trader Joe’s Frozen Low-Fat French Toast

I went grocery shopping Sunday morning and then decided that I should stay in and make my own brunch/lunch/breafast.  I had a slice of frozen low-fat french tast from Trader Joe’s left in my freezer, and I had just bought some Valencia oranges earlier — they are at the end of their season, accordingly to my CA food wheel, which tells me what produce are in season and helps me buy locally.

I have been really into supreming the oranges.  To supreme (i.e., segment) an orange means to segment an orange such that all skins, membranes and seeds are removed so that all you get is the meat or flesh of the orange.  Click here to see how you supreme an orange.

supreme orange

After I supreme the oranges I warmed up the one slice of low-fat frozen french toast (made with whole wheat bread!) in the toaster and added some honey (because I did not have any syrup).  Yum!

trader joe's low-fat french toast with supreme oranges and honey

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Failed Chinese pan-fried beef bun/beef pancake (牛肉餡餅)

I made 牛肉餡餅for the second time today, but I messed up somehow. But I suppose I should be equally honest of my success and failure…so I decided to blog about it anyway.

牛肉餡餅, which I’ve translated into Chinese pan-fried beef bun/beef pancake…is basically a round, flattened calzone with beef filling….it kind of looks like a pancake…I guess. If anyone knows the actual name of these in English please do let me know, or if you think you’ve got a better translated name for it.

Many of you know that I am a huge fan of Eupho Cafe, and that is where I got the recipe from. I also got a nice pictorial guide from Meli’s blog.  Both contain tons of wonderful recipes…and come with my highest recommendation.

You can find the recipe at both blogs, but here is what I used or I guess the recipe substantially reproduced in English:

For the dough:

bread flour 150 g
cake flour 150 g
dry yeast 1 tsp
water 170 g (equivalent of 170 cc)

For the beef filling:

ground beef 360 g
green scallions 50 g
salt 4 g
soy sauce 5 g
sugar 3 g
pepper 2 g
1 egg white

1. Mix together all the ingredients for the beef filling. Set aside.
2. Mix the dry yeast with water.
3. Mix the rest of the ingredients for the dough. Add the yeast with water, mix. Knead until the surface of the dough is shiny.  Then return dough to the bowl and cover with wet towel for 15-20 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into 12 balls (the original recipe is for 16).
5. lightly flour your work surface. roll the dough balls into flat, round sheets, making sure the edges are thicker than the center
6. Portion the beef filling into equal amounts (12).
7. Fill the beef filling. Then fold in the dough and flatten it lightly with your palm.
8. to cook: pan-fried them over medium fire on both sides until sides are golden brown.

The original recipe can be found here.

I think the reason for my failure this time is 1) I was not careful with the measurement of the flour; 2) I got lazy/impatient about rolling out the dough and so they were quite uneven (as you can see from the photo with the view of them cut-open. Patience truly is a virtue.

I also think, and I need to keep playing with this, that based on my personal taste preferences I need to use more soy sauce and perhaps more salt for the meat filling. Some finely grated ginger may also help brighten the flavor. Things to remind myself of the next time I make this (whenever that may be).

So here it is, my not so pretty 牛肉餡餅:

pan-fried beef bun 牛肉餡餅

cut open 牛肉餡餅

I still ate two though. Super stuffed and feeling fat =P

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Trader Joe’s Microwavable Green Beans

I haven’t had much of a chance to cook lately, which is something that is making me quite unsatisfied — hopefully some of that will be remedied this weekend. All the cooking I have done lately are quick-fixes, made with the help of my beloved Trader Joe’s…

In the produce section of Trader Joe’s you can find these bags of green beans that have been trimmed and washed (if you believe that,..but it’s trader joe’s and I am a fan, so I will lend them my trusting heart). They can also be microwaved right in the bag.  To cook them in the microwave (in the bag), cut a corner of the bag to vent, then microwave the green beans (in the bag, again!) for 3-5 minutes on high. I have a tiny microwave so I did it for 5, but I imagine a more powerful microwave (above 700W) can do it in less time.

I usually microwave the green beans, then carefully pour the now-hot green beans out of the bag into a container, then I drizzle them with EVOO (for those who have not learned Rachel Ray speak, extra-virgin olive oil), coarse salt, and black pepper. Then I lid the container and shake vigorously…and viola!

microwaved green beans with EVOO

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