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Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

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It’s been a while since I baked and since I had a big basket full of blueberries, I decided to try this Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake recipe from Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet, and Savory by Lou Seibert Pappas with a few tweaks.

Streusel Topping
2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 c walnuts, chopped (I used ~1.5 c toasted pecans)

Using food processor or hands, mix all except nuts and process until forms coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts and set aside.

Cake
1/2 c canola oil
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking power
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsap salt
1 c buttermilk or low-fat plain yogurt (I used strawberry/banana yogurt)
2 c fresh or frozen berries (I used ~2.5 c blueberries)

Combine oil, sugars, eggs, and vanilla and mix until smooth. In separate bowl, combine flours, baking powder + soda, and salt. Stir to blend. Add to creamed mixture alternating with yogurt/buttermilk in 2 increments. Beat until smooth. Stir in berries.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter and flour a 9 inch springform pan. Turn mixture into prepared pan and sprinkle evenly with topping.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes (ended up baking ~60 minutes) until cake golden brown and cake inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes before removing pan sides and let cool completely.

I’d say it was a bit hit at work, gone within two hours. I really love streusel topping. I think it took longer to cook because of the extra berries, the center stayed very moist and sticky so it required a longer cooking time.

Shanghai House

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/s…e-san-francisco

Ron decided to try another SF hotspot according to 7×7: Shanghai House.

We tried their dumplings which surprisingly came out within 5 minutes of ordering. Ron says likely they were already steaming in the kitchen so not prepared fresh. The skin was a little thicker than I like but I guess it helps to seal the juices inside.

Green onion pancake.

Spareribs.

I was looking forward to their dao xiao mian (knife cut noodles) but wasn’t very happy after eating it. I’d rather go back to LA to Liang’s Kitchen.

So overall okay and filled our tummies but there are plenty of other places to eat in SF.

Shanghai House
3641 Balboa Street
(between 37th and 38th Ave)

Burma Superstar

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http://www.burmasuperstar.com/

Craving something different and I had always heard rave reviews about a place called Burma Superstar but the wait is always really long at the restaurant itself. My co-worker suggested to do take-out since it takes only 15-20 minutes so conveniently their menu is online and I was able to order and when Ron came to pick me up from work, we went straight to the restaurant to pick-up. I was surprised when it was ready so quickly, less than 15 minutes after I ordered.

We tried their famous tea leaf salad. Lots of ingredients with a bit tangy and bitter dressing. I liked the peanuts, sesame seeds, and fried garlic. I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I’d be but maybe it tastes better freshly prepared in the restaurant.

Next dish was nan pia dok: coconut curry flat noodles with chicken. It needed a bit more spice and had probably cooled down too much once we started eating so the sauce was thick and wouldn’t coat the noodles easily.

Lastly, we ordered their string beans and fiery tofu with chicken dishes. The string beans were good but a small portion. The “fiery” tofu wasn’t very fiery.

So perhaps it must be much better in the restaurant since I didn’t really enjoy the take-out. All this cost $42 which seems a bit expensive for the portion size. With so many more places to try, not sure when we’ll be back to try it again.

Burma Superstar
309 Clement Street
(between 4th and 5th Ave)

Good Eats in San Gabriel

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One of the things we’ve been looking forward to during this trip was for the good food. We started out the morning and one of Ron’s favorite places for Taiwanese breakfast called Yung Ho Restaurant but unfortunately were a bit disappointed because it wasn’t the same as when we’d been a few years ago.

We ordered the cold soy milk, this was still nice and fresh and creamy.

The egg crepe tasted fine except they used to serve sauce with it but no more. When Ron asked for sauce, they gave us soy paste. The egg may have been a tad overcooked.

We ordered the ba wan (a meat pie) where the outside is a glutinous chewy shell. It was weird because it was flat on a plate and the sauce was thick and looks unappetizing. Usually there’s more bamboo shoots and more meat inside. This is usually my favorite thing for Taiwanese breakfast so I was disappointed.

Lastly, stinky tofu. Nicely fried but the picked vegetables on the side were overly pickled, limp, and sour. Usually it’s more crisp and has a spicy kick. The sauce was strange too, Ron complained it seemed like it had fermented beans in it and no garlic like it’s supposed to.

We were glad to be going somewhere else for lunch. We will likely not go back to Yung Ho again.

We met up with our friend Tiff and her friend just a few blocks away at Liang’s Kitchen, tucked away in the corner of a plaza. This meal was so much better. We shared a plate of pickled cucumbers, I loved these.

Ron had the minced meat with preserved vegetables over rice.

The other girls ordered the beef stew over noodles. I almost wanted this too. I had a small taste and it was pretty yummy.

I ordered a dry noodle dish, with pork and preserved vegetables. Their noodles are the dao xiao mian (knife cute noodles) so have a great chewy texture and varied widths and lengths. The toppings were a bit oily but also very yummy. I know I’m going to crave these noodles…

Afterwards, we had dessert in the same plaza at Pa Pa Walk for their mango shaved ice. A good size for 3 to 4 people after eating a good sized meal. Mangoes were really sweet, ice a little coarse but the sweetened condensed milk helped with the consistency.

Our first visit to our friend Tiff since she moved to Lancaster.

After lunch, we debated on driving back to San Francisco but I wanted to stay to have dinner first. So we ended up doing some shopping then went to see Ice Age 3. I love Scrat, he’s hilarious. Thumbs up for the movie but thumbs down for the $11 ticket.

We met up with our friend Will for dinner. He recommended this place called Indian Restaurant for Taiwanese bar food. We showed up around 6:30pm and were able to get a table right away. It was good thing we came early because it had a long wait by the time we finished dinner. The restaurant itself is a bit weird considering the sign outside is a picture of an American Indian and inside is sort of like an Asian Hooters but the food made up for it.

I ordered a passion fruit juice, it was a bit sweet.

We ordered a few small dishes like these grilled duck tongues. A weird poultry part but good.

Delicious fatty pork… it’s hard to resist eating the fat along with the pork but at our age, we shouldn’t be eating all the fat so we ate the meat around it.

Stinky tofu, the picked vegetables and sauce so much better than this morning.

Grilled chicken wings, meat a bit bland, needed some sort of dipping sauce.

Three cup chicken, very good, loved the basil.

After dinner, one more stop, Yogurt Land for dessert. My first experience of make your own yogurt. They have like 10 flavors of frozen yogurt and you add your own toppings then you pay by ounce. Very refreshing and perfect way to end our LA trip.

I have to work in the morning but thank goodness for Ron to be able to drive all the way home.

All in San Gabriel, CA:

Yung Ho Restaurant
533 W Valley Blvd

Liang’s Kitchen
227 W Valley Blvd

Pa Pa Walk
227 W Valley Blvd Ste 148-B

Indian Restaurant
633 S San Gabriel Blvd Ste 105

Wedding in Southern California

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We had an early start, leaving San Francisco at 5:30am to head to West Covina for our friends’ wedding. Ron did all the driving so that I could sleep on the way. We made good time and arrived in Arcadia around 10:30am to get some lunch. We ended up eating a bit later after waiting for some friends to meet up with us at Din Tai Fung.

We had a quick lunch of their famous dumplings:

Minced meat noodles with edamame:

Chinese tamale:

We went to the original restaurant in Arcadia (they have a 2nd store very close by) but it’s still not the same as in Taiwan.

We headed to the wedding ceremony in West Covina and although lovely, it was very long. It was our first time to a Catholic wedding that was in Vietnamese (and English). The church was decorated beautifully with these huge flower arrangements.

The bride and her dad walking up the aisle.

The smiling newly married couple.

Joshua & Phil after the ceremony.

After the two hour ceremony, Ron and I went to check in to our hotel and we both had a nap before heading to the reception in Garden Grove.

The reception was held at a hotel but it was catered by a Chinese restaurant, a first for us, this is apparently common in the OC, the hotel doesn’t require you to use their in-house catering. The reception was exceptionally large, 500-550 people, and 8 courses + wedding cake.

We were at lucky table 28.

First course: roasted chicken and shrimp salad. We all loved this salad, very refreshing and a nice creamy dressing with a little spicy kick at the end.

Second course: Shark’s Fin Crabmeat Soup.

Third course: Candied Walnut Shrimps & Shrimp Balls.

Fourth course: Assorted Meat Stuffed Duck (we weren’t sure what the “assorted” meats were…)

Fifth course: Furiwa House Special Lobster.

Sixth course: Lotus Leaf Fried Rice.

Seventh course: Hot and Sour Fish Fillet.

The last course was a plate of seasonal fruits and then we had a strawberry filled wedding cake.

It was fun to catch up with our UOP classmates and a beautiful wedding. It was one of the most unique weddings I’ve been to. For one, the size. For another, the entertainment. They had a magic show in the middle of the reception where the magician pulled out white doves, bunnies, and chickens. Also, the emcee for the wedding spoke four languages: Vietnamese, English, Mandarin, & Cantonese. They had special guest singers and and instead of just playing plain music throughout the reception, they had music videos playing on the big screens. Overall, it was pretty cool. Oh, and we were lucky, Ron ended up winning the floral centerpiece… although we have no idea what to do with it.

This is Lynne and we will be going back to LA for her wedding in September.

Looking forward to tomorrow for the good eats.

Din Tai Fung
1108 South Baldwin Ave
Arcadia, CA