Recovery Tomato Basil Soup

On Friday I got all four of my wisdom teeth removed. Actually the actual removal process was not bad, I was in and out within an hour. Although there's no actual pain due to the pain killers I'm taking, I can only eat soft foods. That means only soup or smoothies for me. My sister's been with me for a couple of days to take care of me and cook for me. One of my favorite things so far that she's made was Tomato Basil soup with noodles.

 First I blanched the tomatoes

After the skin broke, the tomatoes are put into a ice water bath to shock the tomatoes and make them easier to peel

Just a couple bowls of peeled and cut tomatoes

After all the tomatoes are peeled and cut, they're cooked down

Any large chunks are blended

Add basil

Finally, add heavy cream, noodles and Bon Appétit!

St. Louis Peruvian Food

This week was Restaurant Week for Downtown St. Louis so me and my sister went to try Mango. For Restaurant Week, multiple restaurants offer specials of a three course meal for $25. I've never eaten Peruvian food before so I was excited to try some dishes. I ordered Grilled Beef Hearts as my appetizer. 

The heart was grilled perfectly, they were very flavorful but the sides I believe were yuca fries and hominy which didn't have any seasoning. Eaten alone, the yuca and hominy tasted really bland but eaten together with the grilled heart, it all makes sense. 

My main course was a chicken curry type dish, It was my favorite of the meal. I'm not sure what the sauce was made up of but I could taste walnuts, olives, potatoes, and chicken. I had to restrain myself to not eat all of it. It would be good with rice, bread, basically anything. 

Dessert was a vanilla sponge cake with dulce de leche. I've never had dulce de leche before but this dish has made me convert. The light sponge cake combined with the creamy filled was perfect. 

Nian Gao

Nian Gao is a cake that's made from glutinous rice that's typically made for special occasions. I'm always asked to make some for the holidays so I made some for 4th of July!

Nian Gao

1 stick unsalted butter, melted (and cooled to room temperature)

1 1/4 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups milk, warmed to a little hotter than a fever
1 pound (16 ounces) glutinous rice flour (the green bag with the 3 elephants on it)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 (18.75 ounce) can red bean paste or sweetened red beans

1, Mix all ingredients except for red bean 2. Drop red bean paste into mixtures 3. Bake at 350F for 1 hour and 10 minutes