i am a food blog

I Am... Irish Beef Stew Recipe

March 13, 2014 • 17 comments • Posted in: beef, beer, guinness, st patrick's day, stew

It's Pi Day tomorrow and St. Patrick's day on Monday so I thought I'd do a little mashup homage for a little festivity. Generally I'm not one of those people who celebrates every occasion under the sun (mostly because I never have the foresight to remember the little things until it's a tad too late), but more and more, a trip to the grocery store puts holidays on my radar.

10 ingredients or less 30 minutes or less drinks recipes vietnamese food

I Am... Vietnamese Irish Coffee Recipe

March 10, 2014 • 16 comments • Posted in: coffee, vietnamese, whiskey

My favourite way to drink coffee is a bastardized version of Vietnamese coffee: espresso with just a touch bit of sweetened condensed milk stirred in. I do love traditional Vietnamese coffee too, with it's rich, deep flavour and loads of sweetened condensed milk, but in the morning, the speed of the nespresso machine wins over the slow drip, drip of metal filter every time.

10 ingredients or less 30 minutes or less baking recipes sweets

I Am... Quick & Easy Apple Tart Recipe

March 7, 2014 • 24 comments • Posted in: apple, puff pastry

When I think of classic diner desserts I think of chocolate cake, sundaes and apple pie and ice cream. I kind of don't get the whole warm apple pie and vanilla ice cream thing, but I do enjoy the combination of warm and cold. And yes, if I'm having apple pie, it has to be warm. Even so, if I had my choice, I'd choose an apple tart (warm or cold) over warm apple pie any day. I like a thin layer of fruit, brown sugar that caramelizes, a squeeze of lemon, a sprinkle of salt and puff pastry that gets all flaky and golden.

dinner meat recipes

I Am... Miso Coconut Chicken

March 5, 2014 • 63 comments • Posted in: chicken, chicken thighs, coconut, comfort food, Japanese, miso, stew

Everyone has their favorite pantry staples and one of mine is coconut milk. I'm not sure why, but a can of coconut milk makes me feel safe. So much so that I have back-up cans, just in case. You may get a strange look from the checkout person with your abundance of cans, but you'll be the one laughing when you're at home, looking into the pantry and spying your coconut treasure trove. Coconut milk is seriously versatile - sweet or savory, breakfast or dinner, it can handle it all. I especially love it in stews or braises.

10 ingredients or less 30 minutes or less breakfast chinese food french toast recipes

I Am... Crispy Salt and Pepper French Toast Recipe

March 3, 2014 • 34 comments • Posted in: eggs, sriracha

Is it just me, or is brunch the best meal ever? Savory, sweet, carb-full or carb-less, meat-filled or meat-less, brunch is the bomb. The only problem with brunch (not like it's a real problem) is that I can never decide between sweet or savory. Sometimes I wish brunch could be a real thing, with starters, mains and desserts. Now that would be Brunch. And for starters, I'd choose this Crispy Salt and Pepper French Toast.

dinner recipes sandwiches

I Am... Okonomiyaki Burger Recipe

February 27, 2014 • 23 comments • Posted in: beef, burger, Japanese, kewpie mayo

I tend to get into food ruts. I'll eat the same thing, over and over and over again. And the thing is, it doesn't bore me. In fact, the freedom to consume my favourite foods for days in a row is one of the more thrilling parts of being a "grown up." One of my (many) food obsessions in Tokyo, has definitely been takoyaki. Not even two weeks into our stay, me and Mike purposely went out to buy an electric takoyaki pan from that 12-story behemoth of a store that sells everything, Bic Camera. The pan was on sale for less than $10, so it was a no brainer. What Mike didn't expect was that I would suggest takoyaki again and again and again after bringing the pan home.

30 minutes or less basics dinner recipes sides

I Am... Miso Pasta Salad Recipe

February 25, 2014 • 16 comments • Posted in: chicken, cucumber, miso, pasta, red pepper, summer

Miso is one of those super versatile ingredients that I find myself using more and more. Miso is like Pink. Not pink the color, but Pink the artist. It seems like she's never in the spotlight, drama-wise, at least, but in the last ten years, she's had countless hit songs. I'm not a Pink fan, but somehow when I hear her songs, they kind of sound sort of familiar. Miso is just that like that — in the background, but always lurking, always familiar and always delicious.

recipes sandwiches

I Am... Katsu Sando – Tonkatsu Sandwich Recipe

February 21, 2014 • 35 comments • Posted in: bread, Japanese, kewpie mayo, panko, pork

Katsu sandos are the sandwich of my dreams. It seems that most of the world has a version of schnitzel: cutlet-style meat, breaded and fried. I love meat, I love bread, and I love anything deep-fried, so it's a no brainer that I love schnitzel-like foods. If we're talking breaded meat, tonkatsu, hands down, is one of my favourites. Tonkatsu, like many things Japanese, runs from low-end comfort food to high-end perfection. You can make it at home, get it at a fast food joint, or have white gloved waiters bring it to you at a Michelin starred Tonkatsu-only restaurant.

breakfast recipes

I Am... Earl Grey Tea Latte Pancake Recipe

February 19, 2014 • 38 comments • Posted in: earl grey, pancakes, tea, vanilla

Are you willing to line up for food? I'm not talking about a quick 20 minute line up that moves at a brisk pace, I'm talking about waiting in line for hours just to get a taste of something you've heard is good. I'm pretty much a sucker for hype and have totally waited in lineups not knowing what I was getting into. Even with my history of patient waiting, I've found that the line ups here in Tokyo put me to shame. There are literally queues for anything and everything that has a whiff of hype.

dinner recipes seafood

I Am... Calamari Carbonara Recipe

February 17, 2014 • 21 comments • Posted in: bacon, calamari, eggs

Clearly, I love eggs. In fact, eggs are one of the most tagged items on this blog. I love eggs almost as much as I love potatoes and noodles. And, depending on my mood, maybe even a little more so because they're kind of sort of good for you. Protein packed and in their own convenient little eco-friendly packaging (shell), eggs are nature's perfect food. I know science goes between saying that eggs are good/bad for you, but I figure, everything in moderation is always a good thing.

10 ingredients or less 30 minutes or less basics breakfast recipes

I Am... Slow Scrambled Eggs Recipe

February 13, 2014 • 34 comments • Posted in: eggs

You might think this is a strange recipe. After all, why on earth would anyone feel the need to share how they make scrambled eggs? Truth: these are nothing like "regular" scrambled eggs. These eggs are creamy, decadent and luscious. These, my friends, are slow scrambled.

recipes sides

I Am... Potato Domino Recipe

February 5, 2014 • 12 comments • Posted in: potatoes

You know those "All About Me" booklets they have you do in Kindergarten? You draw a picture of yourself, your family, your house, and a bunch of your favourite things. (Do they still do this?) My first couple of pages looked a little like this: Stick drawing of me, with super-long hair, another stick drawing of my parents and brother and a square with a triangle roof for my house. Then we would get into the favourites. My drawing of my favourite food was brown lumps and worm-like lines. Guesses?