Meatballs

This week on pandagrub we are making meatballs with another pandagrub viewer from New York City. The meatballs are made with the same recipe.

The panda in the picture above is named Blossom. Blossom has a identical twin sister named Plum who lives in New York City. Let's watch Blossom make her meatballs first. Blossom is soaking the sandwich bread in water. She is soaking the bread in water to make the meatballs soft.

 Here is Blossom sitting with some of the ingredients used to make the meatballs. Blossom is sitting next to minced garlic, raisins, and flat leaf parsley.

Here is Blossom with the meatball batter.

 Blossom is ready to put the meatballs in the oven. Make sure to roll the meatballs into balls a little bigger than a golf ball.

 After being baked at 325 degrees for 25 minutes, the meatballs are ready to be soaked in tomato sauce. Simmer the meatballs in tomato sauce for 30 minutes.

 Blossom has decided to make meatball sandwiches. Yum!

The panda in the picture above is Blossom's identical twin sister, Plum. Plum lives in New York City. In the picture above Plum is sitting with all the meatball ingredients.

 Here is a picture of Plum with the flat leaf parsley. The flat leaf parsley is also called Italian parsley.

Plum is so lucky she gets a whole plate of delicious meatballs to herself........ For the full meatball recipe click here.

Restaurant Review: Lunar

 This week on pandagrub we are doing our very first restaurant review! This restaurant review is going to be about Lunar, a Korean and Chinese restaurant. Lunar is in Irvine, California. The panda chosen for the restaurant review is Egg.

 The Lunar restaurant is a very clean, modern, and friendly place. (They didn't mind at all that Egg was sitting at the waiter's station.)

Here is Egg waiting to be served. Look at his hungry face............

 Look at Egg trying to catch a ride on the lazy susan. Hang on, Egg!

Here is a close up of the wall painting. The Lunar restaurant's walls are full of these beautiful paintings.

 Egg is now sitting on a silk chair that is fit for royalty. Yay, it's time to eat because the dishes are ready!

 The first dish is called yoo rin ki which is fried,crispy chicken with soy sauce and vegetables. The chicken was a little dry but still very crispy and good.

Egg is enjoying his feast. In front of Egg is sweet and sour pork. The plate is almost empty because everyone thought it was  delicious. The pork was very tender and crispy. We ordered this in both pork and beef.

The next dish is the gai lan, which is Chinese broccoli. This could have used a bit of oyster sauce and bit less corn starch.

Next is the dish that most Koreans in a Chinese restaurant wait for. This is the infamous ja jang mein which is noodles in black bean sauce. This version had a lot of seafood in it. Egg found the squid to be a little chewy.  Can you see the kim chee in the lower left hand corner?  That's how you know this is a Korean-Chinese restaurant!

This is a picture of part of my family and of course the newest member of this family - Egg! Egg said that he hopes to return to Lunar someday. For the full information about Lunar click here.

Egg is tired from a great meal and a full stomach ........ Time to go to bed.

Baked Brie In Puff Pastry

This week on pandagrub, we are making baked brie wrapped in puff pastry. The panda in the picture above is named Dumpling. The picture above shows the ingredients used to make the baked brie wrapped in puff pastry.

 First roll out the pastry dough. Make sure that the pastry dough is large enough to cover the brie.

 Then add your brie and spread the jam on top.

 Then flip over brie so that the jam is facing downward.

 Then flip over again. After cutting off excess dough brush lightly with egg wash.

Use excess dough as decorations by using mini cookie cutters to make stars, shapes, flowers or whatever you wish. 

 Make sure to brush the decorations with egg wash!

 After being baked for 375 degrees for about 30- 35 minutes or until golden brown, it's done! You can serve the baked brie in puff pastry with Asian pears, apples, or crackers. For the full puff pastry recipe click here.

Look at the gooey cheese.... Yum!

Pandagrub Christmas Edition

Welcome to Pandagrub Christmas Edition! I love pandas so much I decided to get a panda ornament!  Part of my family's  holiday tradition is to bake holiday cookies.

Hmmm I wonder what kind of cookies you can make with Andes mints?!? Why chocolate 

 mint candies cookies! 

 These cookies are full of chocolately deliciousness. Check out the melted candies on top. For the full recipe click here.

 The next cookies we are making are peppermint pinwheel cookies. For the red color and minty flavors you must use Pure Peppermint Extract and red food coloring.

These cookies are minty, delicious, and flavorful. For the peppermint pinwheel recipe click here.

Next is my favorite holiday treat, FUDGE! This fudge is my favorite  because it is very rich, creamy, and full of  chocolate flavor. The topping is made of crushed  candy cane and green sprinkles. For this holiday treat click here.

 Next is my brother's favorite cookie.... snickerdoodles. After being rolled in cinnamon sugar the cookie dough is ready to go in the oven. 

These snickerdoodles are crispy and soft at the same time. For this delicious cookie recipe click here.

 The panda in the picture above is named Shabster. Shabster is very excited for the Christmas cookies.

Shabster has been waiting for days to eat these holiday treats.

 After making all those cookies  BamBam is ready to decorate gingerbread house. There is nothing sadder than a naked gingerbread house.

Let's see if our friend Chloe can help BamBam decorate his naked gingerbread house.

Happy Holidays!

Pudding Done a Whole Different Way

This week on pandagrub we are making corn pudding. The panda in the picture above is named Brooklyn.  To make the corn pudding you need these ingredients: 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted,plus additional for greasing, 3 cups of corn kernels, 2 eggs, 1 cup of sour cream, 9 oz of monterey jack or pepper jack cheese, cut into cubes, half of a cup of cornmeal,1 (4 oz) can whole green chiles and cut into half inch pieces, half a cup of parmesan cheese, and a touch of salt. ( Instead of chiles you can also use 4 oz of scallions.) 

After gathering the ingredients we can now start to make the corn pudding. First, puree together 1 cup of corn kernels with melted butter and eggs. Then in a large bowl combine all remaining ingredients except the parmesan cheese. Add pureed corn and mix well.

 After buttering a casserole dish pour corn mixture into it. Then put it in the oven at 350 degrees.

 After being cooked for thirty minutes look how delicous the corn pudding looks! Too bad we don't have smellavision, because the corn pudding smells so good!  Brooklyn has no trouble just digging right in.

 Yum!