Baking: Week 2 - Miniature - Irish Creme Liquor Balls

Mmm, balls.

Week: 2
Theme: Miniatures
Dish: Irish Creme Liquor Balls

Hi again! I have to admit, I feel like we cheated this week. After last week, we had a ton of brownies left over and because we don't have friends (FOREVER ALONE TOGETHER) we weren't able to finish them all. So I decided to repurpose the brownies into Chef John's Rum Ball recipe!

We looked at our sizable college stash of booze, but we realized that we didn't have enough rum to do this recipe, so we opened up our new bottle of Bailey's Irish Creme (Costco sized!) and went to work.

I may or may not have added more alcohol than what was needed. :)

We didn't follow the recipe very exactly, but it was a fun template to follow. I added about 6 brownies into the mix and mixed in a couple of swigs of Baileys till it looked like paste. Then, I used a tablespoon measuring spoon and scooped out the contents, using a chopstick to help maneuver it out. It smelled nice and alcoholic! I ended up scooping them beforehand and placing it in the freezer, but I wonder if I could just place the whole thing in...

 I didn't have good dark chocolate like he had suggested so I went back to the Costco sized bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. I swear I'll start buying the good stuff once I finish this bag! I feel like learning how to melt the chocolate via the steaming method was my real learning point of this week. I've never been able to successfully do it -- well, I've done it twice -- so having it work is quite nice.

My kitchen seems inadequately equipped because I couldn't find a heat-resistant (i.e. not plastic) bowl that would fit over a pot without it touching the bottom so I had to fashion one out of a deep metal bowl and a stock pot. Thank god that it was just wide enough to fit.

Here are the rolled balls. I took them out a little early and rolled them and it looked like I smeared poop all over my hands.

Our chocolate didn't melt as nicely as Chef John's. It was thicker and didn't coat the balls as nice, but it was still really tasty and I had a hard time forcing myself not to stick my face into the concoction. Because the consistency of my chocolate was thicker, our balls didn't come out nice a smooth. But, it's okay, I want to say that it has character.

In the end, the ball was actually more mushy than I would have expected. I may have been heavy handed with the alcohol. But they were still quite tasty! You feel the kick after you finish it and after a few, it's gets nice. :)

Cooking: Week 2 - Chinese - Chinese Steamed Trout

Week: 2
Theme: Chinese
Dish: Chinese Steamed Trout

Hi everyone! This week's theme is Chinese. I'm Chinese so this theme has a special place in my heart. I had a lot of ideas on what I should make, wontons, congee, spare ribs, but I decided to go with something that I always crave when I go back to my mom's house: steamed fish. I think steaming gets a lot of flack in the US because people think it doesn't add any flavor, but Chinese people take steaming to a whole new level.

Anyways, I used Steamy Kitchen's Chinese Steamed Fish recipe. I didn't follow it exactly, but Chinese food is usually made without exact measurements. I also used a steamer that Ofer's sister had given us (thank you Aya!) but we hadn't had a chance to use it. It's perfect because I don't have any pots big enough to steam my fish in.

I also took out the cooking wine part because the steamer wouldn't be able to hold that liquid. I think it turned out fine without it and my mom doesn't use it either.

They smelled heavenly already at this point!

The prep was relatively easy. We bought our trout at Costco and it came in a pack of 4. They had already been cleaned, gutted, and descaled. Luckily, our steamer was able to fit two fish perfectly.

Steaming in action!

At this point, we were super excited.

Fish after the steam bath.

We had to move the fish into a baking dish because we didn't steam it in a pan. I think because of the shape of the baking dish, the soy sauce didn't nicely penetrate the fish as well. Also, I didn't double the sauce recipe, which I should have done since I was making two fish.

Saucy fishes!

Microwaving the sauce was pretty quick and easy. It smelled oh so good!

After the hot oil bath!

In the original recipe, she said that you should able to hear the sizzle on the fish after dumping the oil on it, but I didn't get that. Not sure why. It did sizzle like crazy in the wok though. Maybe I need a different oil (I used canola) or heat it up a bit more.

Sorry for the blurry pic, but you can see how flaky the fish is!

I couldn't resist showing you guys how flaky the fish was. It wasn't dry at all.

We ate it with rice! Naturally.

Verdict: It was really tasty! Pretty close to what my mom does with her fish. We made two fish for two people but one was enough to fill us up. My mom usually cooks one fish for a family of 6, but we have some other dishes along side it. I think one fish is good for just a meal with two if you don't plan on having other meat dishes. I wish we had made a vegetable dish, but I didn't feel like making more food that wouldn't be eaten.

The trout is more firm than some of the other fishes that my mom makes. But I found the meat to still be sweet and flavorful. It's not too "fishy". I really liked this recipe and even though it was my first time make it, it came out really well. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to try it.