It’s Wednesday and you know what that means!! Another fabulous female foodie gets some LOVE and I get to try out a new recipe.  As you know by now, I love Woman Crush Wednesday!  It punctuates my week with joy to share with you how many gorgeous gourmet gals are making their mark in the culinary world.  It is a global phenomenon and yet most people when they hear the word chef instantly think MAN, unless you say female chef.  Yet, statistics show that the majority of home cooking is done by the women. So that is why I am humbly trying to do my part to shout out to anyone that reads this or sees my social media.  These lovely ladies are talented, inventive, hard working and nurturing our worlds’ food, and we are the beneficiaries!

Today’s honoree is the amazing Ching He Huang. She was born in Taiwan, and lived in South Africa before moving to London when she was 11 years old.  But Ching’s connection to her homeland was nurtured through the foods she ate and indeed cooked.  Her resume is so long I could go on all day, but suffice it to say, with numerous best selling and award winning cookbooks she is a force to be reckoned with.  She has made Chinese cooking accessible and taught us all about the benefits of Clean Eating.  And she is such a familiar face on television with her own cooking shows as well as appearances on various shows such as BBC’s Saturday Kitchen with James Martin.

Today I am very excited to make Ching’s Shredded Duck Lettuce Wraps. I’ve only posted one duck recipe on here before and when I was looking for something delicious and simple this one fit the bill!  I’ll be doing the tutorial on Snapchat (username blissbakery) if you’d like to watch, though it is only available to see for twenty four hours. Alrighty then let’s get to it!

Ingredients
(462g) 2 freedom food, skin on Duck legs
For the marinade
2 cloves minced Garlic
2 tablespoon grated Ginger
2 tablespoon, or dry sherry Shaohsing rice wine
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
2 tablespoon Runny honey
2 tablespoon Hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon Chilli sauce
1 tablespoon Dark soy sauce
1 pinch Sea salt
To serve
2 heads, leaves separated & washed Gem lettuce leaves

Spring onion, sliced, very thin long strips, soaked in ice water to curl up

Cucumber sliced in half moons
3 tablespoon Hoisin sauce, in a small bowl with serving spoon

Place the duck legs in a zip lock bag, add all the marinade ingredients. Marinade for at least one hour in the fridge.
Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Place duck legs (include the marinade) round side up on a roasting tray lined with kitchen paper. Roast for 40 minutes, then turn heat up to 220 degrees, cook the duck legs for a further 10 minutes to cook medium – well done.
Remove and rest the duck for 5 minutes. Once rested, shred the duck legs and place on a serving board.
Place the lettuce gem leaves, cucumber slices and spring onion curls in small serving dishes. Pour some Hoi sin sauce in dipping bowls with small serving spoons.
To serve, let your guests make each one themselves by placing some shredded duck onto a lettuce “wrap” garnishing with a slice of cucumber, spring onion curl, finally get them to spoon the Hoi sin sauce onto each “wrap” (seasoning to their taste!).

I love these and think they would be great for a party. Then again I would eat these for lunch every day of the week. I know people think duck can be fatty, but this doesn’t taste it at all. The spices and flavors come together so well. And it is really light eating it on the crisp Baby Gem lettuce leaves. Everyone, including myself, tends to go for chicken for a fast dinner main. But duck, especially done this way is actually quite simple and would a memorable dish on any table.

What is most memorable to me besides Ching’s incredible food, is her tireless philanthropic work. From causes dealing with children, cancer or even animals, she is doing whatever she can to bring awareness to make this world a better place. She is not only a wonderful chef but an amazing citizen of the world, a great inspiration for all of us

Thank you Ching for all you do! With love!
带着爱
Dàizhe ài

YDP

We all know A comes before B in the alphabet.  But there was a time where A actually came after B, and that was for one of my Foodie Fieldtrip Friday adventures.  When I lived in Dublin there were so many foodie places I wanted to try.  But I was literally always working and never had the chance.  So now when I go back I’m like a tourist and visit as many places as possible.  I may not share all of them on here, but some are a must tell!  This past Foodie Fieldtrip Friday is one of those experiences.

The Brown Hound Bakery (our obvious B on today’s adventure) is located in Drogheda, County Louth in Ireland.  It is about 45 minutes north of Dublin and so worth the drive.  Though there isn’t even a full website yet (here is the web place holder), they do have Facebook and Twitter.  But to be honest, you just have to go visit there in person.  Because let’s face it when you make some of the best desserts in all of the Emerald Isle you need to let the food do the talking.  They do sweet and savoury fare and darn good coffee.  A Turmeric Latte is even on offer, which was delish by the way! I only had a little taste but I’m thinking this might become my go to hot drink.

I was not on my own for this Foodie Fieldtrip Friday.  I finally met in person some of my Snapchat friends, sisters Caitriona Redmond and Olivia Kirwin. They live not too far away and though they had been to the Brown Hound Backery before, were game to go again.  It was the perfect venue for a meet, greet and swap tastes of the incredible food. Olivia ordered a carrot cake cupcake, which was lovely and quite moist. I ordered the signature Brown Hound Cupcake which was decadent and chocolate-y with a gorgeous meringue topping.  Caitriona ordered a savory veggie and feta hand pie that looked amazing, though I was in sweets heaven so passed on a nibble.  But I think anything we’d ordered would have been delicious as it is all handmade fresh in house with the best of ingredients!

The owners of Brown Hound Bakery are a husband and wife team Reuven Diaz and Jeni Glasgow.  They also own the Chinese restaurant Eastern Seaboard Bar and Grill next door.  Since Irish born Jeni spent time in New York, she definitely brought some of those sensibilities back with her.  The ambiance of the place, with the repurposed wood and vintage furnishings, felt like a cafe I was once in off  57th and Madison in Manhattan. She brought on board American baker Craig Thompson to help create the menu and train the staff on how to recreate these All American treats.

After our eat up and catch up session we flew over to a community allotment that Caitriona helped start several years ago. Yep, you guessed it, the A for today is the allotment!  And if you remember Caitriona, a foodie and cookery book writer, was one of my Woman Crush Wednesday recipients.  And I said back then she is a true renaissance lady!  She toured us around the communal gardens where I met the pigs they are rearing and tasted some of the gorgeous handpicked strawberries. We had the best time and I loved hearing all the stories about their younger years growing up in a family of four sisters.  I seriously want to seek adoption into their family!

My daughter and her husband used to be involved in a community allotment when they lived in Santa Barbara.  There really isn’t anything more satisfying than growing your own food.  Especially with young children, not just to feed their bellies, but also to feed their souls.  It is so relaxing to be amongst nature and tend to the gardens of fresh herbs, fruits and veg.  It is calming to hear the buzzing of the bees from their hives.  And of course if you are lucky enough to have animals as well,  you get a good laugh at a piggie stampede!  Though I put all of this on my snapchat story (my username is blissbakery) it has since expired.  But here is a link to Caitriona’s post about her allotment and in it there is a link to a youtube video. It really is inspiring to see someone growing their own food for their family’s table!

It was a wonderful way to spend time in my soul home Ireland. To share the day with lovely new friends, enjoy food at a fabulously tasty bakery and appreciate the good earth from which it came!  Thanks again Caitriona (aka @wholesomeie on snapchat) and Olivia (aka @gizmok3 on snapchat) for spending a Friday with me for a fun Foodie Fieldtrip I will never forget!

Growing LOVE,

YDP

P.S. I received the best keepsake of the day when Caitriona gave me a signed copy of her cookbook, as well as a couple of delicious freshly picked strawberries (I might have eaten a few more as well LOL). Thank you so very much!  And you know what?  L may not come before A and B in the alphabet but it does in life.  Because LOVE is truly what I feel for all of you who have taken the time to read this post!

Today is normally the beloved Woman Crush Wednesday series.  However I am currently traveling and don’t have access to a kitchen.  Besides, it is my son’s birthday and in honor of that I decided I would share a recipe that I think you will LOVE.   My son is quite the chef himself and a total BBQ master, however, baking not so much.  Yet, when he was a kid he loved to help!  He was a champion at licking the mixer beaters.  This recipe is so easy he might want to bust out his apron and brush up his pastry skills.

Though cake is the common birthday treat, today for my son’s birthday I am sharing a cookie recipe.  But not just any cookie recipe. These cookie are made with pistachios and saffron.   Saffron has long been considered the most exquisite and expensive ingredient in a chef’s pantry.  Each tiny thread is so delicate in flavor and strength. This ancient spice is also known as the stigma of the crocus sativas of the flower. The stigma (like a small thread) is plucked from the flower and dried to use not only in cooking, but also as a dye for fabrics and textiles and medicinal purposes.

On a recent trip to Istanbul Hubby and I went to the famous Spice Bazaar for a Foodie Fieldtrip Friday.   I purchased a tiny jar of Iranian Saffron (said to be the best in the world).  Though I have used saffron in my cooking many times, I have mostly used it in savory dishes.  But I wanted to see what it would be like in a little biscuit that might be able to travel to parts unknown. Here is a close up of one of the saffron threads next to a blueberry just for perspective.

I wanted to do a most special baking recipe because my son and I won’t talk on his birthday. He is in the military as I have shared on here before.  He is deployed at the moment and he won’t have access to a phone.  But I am thinking of him, as I did when my daughter’s birthday passed and I wrote about it on here. Though she lives in Washington State and we couldn’t be together either, at least we were able to Face Time.  I am grateful we live in the modern age so that we can connect even if we are apart geographically.

These little cookies are so delish.  They are ever so delicate and hopefully they will make their way to my son who is ever so special to me!

Scant 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
1 tablespoon hot water
4 ounces/ 114 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup/ 110 g caster sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup/ 155 g all-purpose flour
1/2 cup/ 55 g shelled unsalted pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped

Crumble saffron threads into a small bowl and pour hot water over them. Let stand for a few minutes.
Beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in sugar until it is fully incorporated and the mixture is fluffy.  Beat in egg yolk and salt, then saffron-water mixture, until evenly combined.  Add flour and beat on low speed until the flour is fully incorporated and a dough forms. Stir in pistachios by hand with a wooden spoon or a spatula.
Lay a 12-inch-long piece of waxed or parchment paper on a work surface. Spoon the dough onto the paper and shape into a log about 6 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide, rolling the paper around it to assist. Press each side against the work surface to square it off.  Twist the ends of the paper closed and place the log in the freezer until firm, about 1 hour. (To store the dough for up to 2 weeks, place the log in a freezer bag before freezing.)
Preheat oven to 180c/350ºF. Remove the dough from the freezer and let it sit at room temperature until it is sliceable but still firm, 15 minutes to half an hour. Using a thin-bladed, sharp knife, cut the dough in 1/4-inch slices. Roll the edges of each cookie in a bit of vanilla sugar before places on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake until firm to the touch and barely golden at the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely.

You can really see the bright orange saffron threads peeking through and it just screams JOY!  The yummy green pistachio nuts add that pop of color as well.  I sprinkled a little bit of vanilla sugar on top just to add a bit more sweetness and to make it look pretty and sparkly too.

As hard as it is for a mom to not be with her adult kids on their birthday, I think it is important to focus on the LOVE and happiness and times we have been able to celebrate birthdays together.  And I like to ponder how they have grown and matured into wonderful people.  Since I shared about my daughter in her birthday post, I’d just like to say how grateful I am for my son.  He such a good decent person.  He is creative, smart, hard working and industrious.  He reminds me so much of my dad, willing to do a job to help others, risking his own life in the process.  He has a great sense of humor, very high standards and morals.  He’s adventurous and loves to travel and explore, yet a total home body too!  He has a very tender side as well which was present even as a little boy.  He loves his wonderful wife and their sweet doggie Carl Winslow.  And he really is a superhero!  Even as a child he wanted to make the world a better place.  I admire that so much!

It is natural as a parent to want to protect your kids no matter their age.  But that isn’t always possible.  But both my kids know I would do anything in the world for them.  I was listening to an Adele song “Make You Feel My Love” and these lyrics hit home.

“I’d go hungry; I’d go black and blue,
I’d go crawling down the avenue.
No, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do
To make you feel my love.”

I LOVE you, I miss you and Happy Birthday Son! And I hope you like your  Precious Birthday Cookies because you are so precious to me!

Mom (YDP)