Easy Cinnamon Buns

I love cinnamon buns. Most people prefer Cinnabon over St-Cinnamon, but I have many fond memories eating at St-Cinnamon during my student days. The buttery sweet taste with a nice cold carton of milk...what could be better. It was one of my edible splurges as a poor student. I still crave them from time to time, but I don't work downtown anymore. I've looked up how to make my own, but cinnamon buns seemed like such a hassle. I was super excited when I found an easier way from Stephanie .










5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tbs brown sugar
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, defrosted

For the filling:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
light brown sugar
teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400. Cream the 5 tbs of butter with the 3 tbs of brown sugar. Put a small dollop into each muffin cup.
2. Unroll the puff pastry and give is a butter wash (or egg white for a healthier version). Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon...seriously, the more the better in my opinion.
3. Re-roll the puff pastry and cut into 12 pieces. Place pieces into the muffin trays, on top of the creamed butter.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until browned.
5. Take out of the oven and let it sit for no more than 5 min, otherwise the caramelized sugar with solidify into the bottom of the muffin cup.
6. Scoop out with a spoon. Enjoy.

These...were...so...good! I was in heaven. These were so easy to make, and i liked that they were lighter than the yeasty kind. I'd make this again...but not too often. As Rachelle put it "These are dangerously easy to make!" Indeed...

Gyoza (Pork and Napa Cabbage dumplings)

One of the dishes I miss most from my mum is her dumplings. She makes the best dumplings, and I'm not saying this just because she's my mom. All my friends, and my siblings' friends, who have had them love them as well. When my brother would have my mom's dumplings for lunch, his ex-coworkers at IBM used to bully him and eat his lunch. lol I haven't inherited the recipe...yet. But to be honest, I don't think there is a recipe. I think my mum just puts whatever she has on hand. Unfortunately, I am not much of a cook without a base recipe.


One package of Gyoza wraps (they are round, not square)
ground pork
Napa cabbage, blanched and chopped
1 green onion, chopped
ginger, minced
1 garlic bulb, minced
soy sauce
white pepper
corn starch
sesame oil
pinch of sugar
water for sealing

1. Mix all ingredient together. Don't be a wimp, use your hands and fingers.
2. Set up work station: bowl of filling, wraps, small bowl of water for sealing, plate for uncooked dumplings.
3. Place some filling into the wrapper, be careful to not over stuff. Don't be greedy. Wet the edge of half the wrapper and fold. Scrunch it to make a nice-ish design...can't explain it any clearer. lol
4. Once all dumplings are wrapped. Put about 2 tsp of oil in a skillet. Place the dumplings on the skillet. Don't overcrowd. Pour about 1/2 cup of water into the skillet. Cover and cook on high heat on the stove top. The water will evaporate and make the bottom crispy. Careful not to burn the bottom.
5. Serve hot with dipping sauce.

Making dumplings is actually not very hard, just time consuming. Kevin likes my dumplings. I think they are okay, they can't compare to my mum's. I can't seem to make a good mix for a dipping sauce. So far, the best thing for these dumplings are just plain soy sauce. My mum's dumplings also sometimes have chicken pieces, scallops, or shrimp in it. I haven't tried adding those yet. Chinese chives are a very popular option as well. My parents grow them in their backyard...maybe I should visit soon.

Miso Pork Chops

I've always had trouble with pork chops. They always end up chewy and dry. My best pork chop was the ones braised in mushroom sauce...and even those weren't that great. They still had a bit of a chewy dryness to them. And don't get me started at how they are when i bring them for lunch the next day.

I was browsing the oriental aisle at the local Loblaws and found that they started selling tubs of miso paste. I remember reading about miso being amazing on meats and fish. So I bought a tub of red miso (akamiso), which is best for red meat. Use the lighter colored miso for fish.

Apparently the combination of miso paste, sake, and mirin is magic. I wasn't going to believe it until I had it. I didn't have sake so I subtituted with white wine. I also ran out of mirin, so I used sugar mixed in a bit of water.

Approximately 1 1/2 pounds of your choice meat
1/3 cup miso
1/4 cup mirin or 4 tbs sugar
3 tablespoons sake or white wine

1. Mix miso, mirin, and sake in a bowl until well blended and smooth. Rub the marinade on your meat and refrigerate for at least 5 hours.
2. Scrape off marinade from meat and pat dry with paper towel. Do not rinse the meat.
3. Prepare the meat the way you want to; pan fried, oven baked, grilled...

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the texture of the meat. Even after nuking it for lunch, it was still amazingly tender. I really liked the taste as well...Kevin was not as enthusiastic about it though. If only Kevin liked it, i'd make it again. I just might anyway.