Moving

Hello Readers!

I’ve decided to move my blog. My new name is Fooding 411 and you can now find me at http://www.fooding411.com/. I’ve moved all the content that has been written on this blog to the new blog and there’s a link at the bottom of those posts linking it to the original post on this blog. I’ll start blogging on the new blog and it will be written in the same fashion. Please change your bookmark for me and notify those you’ve told about me of the update. If you do have opinions on how I can improve the new blog please let me know. Hope you enjoy reading the new blog.

Cheers,

Liz

Vietnamese Cold Beef Salad

Living at home, I often ate variations of this simply prepared yet flavorful dish. It was quite a hit during the sweltering summer months as it was light and made with a abundance of fresh ingredients. My mom would often make a huge batch at the beginning of the week so that there would be less cooking to do later in the week but it also worked well for the dish as this is one that tastes better with a little aging. Even a trip to the local Vietnamese restaurant that served up 7 courses of beef called for some variation of the cold beef salad.

It is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes and definitely my most favorite course of the 7 courses of beef. Since this dish is very simple to prepare, I’d advise to not skimp on the freshness of your ingredients. The only thing that is cooked is the beef so the vibrancy of the raw veggies can really put on a show for the senses.

You can enjoy this dish as is or to make it a more heartier meal say for dinner enjoy it with a steaming bowl of rice. Save some to marinate a few days in the fridge and you’ll notice that the intensity of the flavor has increased dramatically yet the veggies still remain beautifully colorful. I know its still winter yet I miss the flavors of my mom’s kitchen and I found some very pretty ingredients at Trader Joe’s so I couldn’t wait till summer to prepare this dish that is so dear to my childhood.

Notice that I didn’t add fish sauce to the recipe for you seafood allergic Vietnamese food loving folks. You can add a couple dashes of fish sauce if you want. I choose not to since I’d take this meal with me to work and the fish sauce smell can be a little tough to get rid of.

Ingredients
¼ cup light soy sauce
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup water
2 tbs sugar
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tsp red chili sauce/paste/oil
1 ½ tsp minced ginger
½ pound flank steak
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup fresh mint leaves
½ red onion, sliced finely
½ seeded English cucumber, halved and sliced finely
2 cups julienned carrots
½ cup dry roasted peanuts

*Optional* cooked rice, prepared as you like

Directions
Combine light soy sauce, lime juice, water, sugar, garlic, and chili sauce/paste/oil and ginger in medium bowl. Whisk or stir to blend. Pour approximately 5 tablespoons into a resealable plastic bag or large container. Cover and refrigerate the remaining dressing. Add steak to bag/container, seal, and turn to coat. Chill 30 minutes or overnight (for a more stronger flavor) to marinate.

Heat broiler to 400 degrees F. Broil steak 8 to 10 minutes, turning once, or until medium-rare. Let rest 5 minutes and slice thinly at an angle, across the grain.

Place basil, cilantro, mint, onion, cucumbers, and carrots in large bowl and toss. Top with sliced steak, drizzle with reserved dressing, and sprinkle with peanuts.

Can be eaten with a bowl of cooked rice or alone for a healthy low carb alternative. Let the ingredients mingle overnight for a more intense flavor. If you choose to do this then keep the basil, mint and cilantro out of the dish till you are ready to eat to keep them from getting droopy in the dish.

Red Velvet Cupcake

Quite a bit has happened since the new year. I tasted a lovely Red Velvet cupcake from Sprinkles courtesy of Greg and Nhu-Chi who introduced the Newport Beach outlet of the chain to me(review coming up next). Oh and I’m currently technically unemployed….the story is terribly complicated and you really don’t need to know all the gory details via this avenue. So the Sprinkles experience left me very inspired since it was oh so yummy and cute and a tad on the pricey side. I wanted to have tasty cupcakes I could eat most days and not feel guilty about shelling out $3.25 for it. The current employment status has left me with quite some time to ponder about my career path, ability to start to make some changes to head towards something new and of course plenty of time to test out recipes and batches of what I hope to be something I’d feel guiltless (at least money wise) when eating.

So after scouring the inner depths of the Internet for recipes I came across a recipe adapted from Paula Dean which I then also changed to suit my own tastes. I added some more cocoa and vanilla, cut back on the red dye and played around with the oil to butter ratio. For the frosting I cut back on the sugar since I like a more blander sweet.

Cupcake ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 cup of melted butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
* I play around with melted butter and oil measurements when I’m low on one or the other ingredient
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 teaspoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.
2.) In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the melted butter, oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
3.)Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled.
Bake in oven for about 25-30 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese(cold)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 to 2 cups (or add more if you want it sweeter) powdered sugar, sifted

Food Processor Method
Combine cream cheese, butter, vanilla and sugar in a food processor and pulse just until smooth and creamy. If the frosting is too stiff, pulse for a few seconds longer. Do not overprocess. If desired, stir in additional flavoring to taste.

Electric Mixer Method
In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until blended. Add sugar one-third at a time and beat just until smooth and the desired consistency. If frosting is too stiff, beat for few seconds longer. Do not overbeat. If desired, stir in additional flavoring to taste.

By no means is this cupcake *The Cupcake*. I’m satisfied with it however and will continue to tweak. It is quite moist but I’d like to play around some more with the density and the cocoa flavor.

Thanksgiving in San Jose: Shuei -do Manju Shop

Japantown in San Jose has always played a rather prominent role in my childhood. My parents own a laundromat which is practically around the corner from this community. Often times after school or on the weekends, my siblings and I would wander around Japantown and browse the gift shops, buy bento box lunches or treats at one of the several shops. One shop that I always fondly visited was Shuei-do Manju shop. Shuei-do was honored with having the priviledge of serving their manju to the Emperor of Japan on his last visit to the U.S. It is a quaint little shop with a lot of charm. They sell manju all year round and shaved ice during the warm summer months. The little old ladies are extremely helpful and can help arrange a box according to your taste or for that someone special if you are giving it as a gift. There is also complementary gift wrapping so don’t be shy to ask for it if you intend to give one of their lovely box of sweets as a gift.

Most of the manjus go for $1.10 /piece with a few going for more. I had been craving manju from this bakery for quite some time but my family doesn’t quite appreciate these subtle delicacies so I waited till my last day in town to bring back a box of 10 pieces to share with my guy. The ladies were helpful as usual with arranging a box they thought I would like and wrapped it with care. I was off on my way and in a few short hours I was in San Diego. I showed the box to Ernie but at first sight I don’t think he really thought he would enjoy it. However, like many things that I’ve introduced him to it only took the first taste to totally convert him. Instantly he became a lover and I had someone to share my love of manju with. Our favorite were the the pink mochi with smooth lima bean filling and the green one also filled with smooth lima bean and rolled in a thin layer of ground peanuts.

What isn’t to love about fresh manju? The mochi is so iresistably soft and tender. The bean filling is at just the right level of sweetness. There’s no preservatives! So you are just eatting honest to goodness manju meant to be eatten fresh and not left on the store shelves.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Average meal price: most pieces are $1.10 each

Food: manju and shaved ice(seasonal)

Ambiance: clean and minimal

Service: very friendly and helpful

Kid-friendliness: I see many children wandering in and asking for their favorite manjus

Cleanliness: very clean

Overall: nothing like a perfectly made manju to bring you back to childhood

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

217 Jackson St., San Jose, CA 95112 * 408-294-4148 * Tues: 11am-5pm, Weds-Sat: 9am- 5pm, Sun:10am-4pm

A New Layout?

Either WordPress came out with some new layouts or I haven’t perused that section in a long time. Anyways, I’ve always liked 3 column food blogs like
Kirk’s mmm-yoso food blog but I’ve never found one that wordpress provided which I liked until know. Let’s give it a try and any commentary on how I can improve this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for stopping by!

Thanksgiving in San Jose: Hoffman’s Bakery

So my sister and I arrived home fairly early and decided to drive out to Santa Cruz to pick up my brother since it was only a 40 min drive South West on the 17. I also wanted to check out this bakery that my family has been raving about out there. So we drive out there and hit the usual commuter traffic since a fair amount of people do live off the 17 and drive to work in Silicon Valley. It turned out to be a longish drive and I was not a happy camper to arrive at my brother’s place which he shared with 2 spoiled brats. My brother is a pretty clean dude considering he is a second year and an only boy in my family. Oh geez but the one of the guys left this gargantuan 50 gallon sized hamper of dirty laundry behind for the holiday weekend and I really need not say more since I’m sure you all can imagine. I’m so glad I’m a girl and left dorm living behind 3 years ago.

I was oh so glad to be leaving his dorm to head to Downtown Santa Cruz. I had never walked around downtown even though I had attended numerous summer programs at UC Santa Cruz but I was instantly jealous. This was a pretty chic downtown area which serviced quite a few socio-economic classes other than the ultra wealthy like Del Mar and La Jolla seems to cater to. It was also quite accessible and parking was not outrageous like Downtown San Diego. I spotted a night market… Santa Cruz residents are truly spoiled. I would love it if there were an easily accessible regular night time farmers market where I live. Well we finally arrived at Hoffman’s and start to salivate as I usually do when I see lovely baked goods. We discovered that this is actually a German bakery and has been around for many years. There was that distinct bakery – yeasty smell that lingered in the air… quite common with well established bakeries. Quite a few patrons were dining in the general dining area that night and perusing the show case to see what sweet delectable they would delight in at the end of their meals. The woman that helped us was quite friendly and helpful with suggestions. We ended up walking out with a Princess torte, some German spice breads, a few single slices of their other signature tortes and a chocolate meringue. I only took a picture of the Princess Torte because it survived the devastation otherwise known as my baby sis the next morning.

I convinced my parents to save the cake for Thanksgiving dinner which was only the next day and we did. We had dinner at Little Fat Sheep in Fremont since the kitchen is still going through a major overhaul. Dinner was so good that my parents asked for to-go cups to take the soup home. However, the cake was the true star of the show that night. Everybody, the people siting around us and the waiters couldn’t help but keep on admiring how beautiful the cake looked. If only they knew that this cake tasted as great as it looks. I have never been a fan of marzipan, suppose its because I’ve only tasted store bought marzipan and the one that covers the princess torte is made in-house. The marzipan was soft and lightly flavored, the genoise was airy and fragrant with vanilla. Mmm… there was just a right amount of cream and raspberry jam filling.

If I ever end up having my wedding in the Bay Area I will probably order my cake from here. It was decently priced at $18 for a 6inch, tasted great and looked gorgeous.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Average meal price: depends what you get but there are treats in all price ranges

Food: German inspired sweet treats, overall European inspired sit down menu

Ambiance: warm, inviting, casual with a hit of upscale

Service: super friendly and helpful

Kid-friendliness: I didn’t notice any kids but it’d sure be a kid’s dream to pig face the baked goods case.

Cleanliness: immaculate

Overall: The price, taste and looks…. it’s all good!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

1102 Pacific Ave. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 *Phone (831) 420-0135 * Weekdays: 8am- 9pm Weekends: 8am-2pm, 5pm-10pm * http://www.hoffmansbakery.net/index.html

Thanksgiving in San Jose: Pho 909

There are a minuscule number of Vietnamese restaurants in San Diego compared to San Jose/the Bay Area. I just wanted to point out a peculiar thing… many Vietnamese restaurants up there like to incorporate numbers into their name such as the place I visited, Pho 909.

Anyways, I’m such Vietnamese food nut. Growing up at home I ate A LOT of home cooked Vietnamese food so I was sorely disappointed by the what was available in San Diego when I came down for school. There are two particular dishes that I really love and brings back found memories of childhood on lazy weekended when my mom would prepare feasts to eat the day away. One of these is the beloved bahn xeo .

My mom does some homecare of elderly folks as a side job and one of her clients raved about this pho house that nobody goes to for the pho but for the bahn xeo and it turned out she instantly loved it too. You’ll find that since there are so many Vietnamese restaurants in the Bay Area that several places tend to develop a specialty and often patrons will only come for that even though there may be several other items on the menu.

On my last trip back to visit the family for Thanksgiving, my parents took me and and one of my sisters for lunch to try the yummy bahn xeo. They made it so perfectly! The crepe wasn’t too oily and was very crispy and the meat wasn’t cooked into the crepe so it wasn’t dried out. There was a pretty fair proportion of meat to bean sprouts. The mung beans still looked like mung beans and not some ground up paste. All the accompanying herbs and veggies were quite fresh and the dipping sauce tasted just right – not too fishy, salty, garlicky etc. A filling meal for $6.90!

I can see why one would come to this place for the bahn xeo alone. Making bahn xeo is such a labor of love because of the way the mung beans are traditionally prepared and also because of the dipping sauce. The beans should be soaked overnight and steamed so that they’ll be soft but still keep their original shape. Many restaurants will take a short cut on this as it is very time consuming considering the end product and just soak for a little while followed by boiling it down till it is a paste. I suppose that is why I really appreciate and fall into a childlike giddiness when I eat a scrumptious one.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Average meal price: ~$10

Food: it’s all about the bahn xeo but its a pho house?

Ambiance: the usual seedy Vietnamese restaurant

Service: quick to take an order and send it but slow to bus the tables

Kid-friendliness: what Vietnamese restaurants doesn’t have screaming babies running around with their heads chopped off?

Cleanliness: check out the service commentary above

Overall: great bahn xeo if you are willing to overlook the lag on busing

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

72 South Park Victoria, Milpitas CA. * 408-946-1937

Rocky’s- Simply the best burger ever…

(Sorry… I got so excited I had to take a bite before I remembered to take a picture)

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks. I recently became obsessed with wanting to learn Mandarin. Mind you my parents can speak a whopping 9 languages between them but the only languages they can communicate on a fluent level together are English and Fukkien(a dying dialect of Chinese). My father speaks Mandarin among the languages he has a crazy command over. Sometimes I wish he would have spoken it to me when I was growing up even given the language situation at home. Now that I’m all grown up and have been working in the biotech industry for close to 3 years I realize that it is a necessity to learn this language. I run into quite a few superior colleagues who are from Mainland China or simply prefer to speak Mandarin because that was the first language they learned. I want to be able to connect with people outside of work talk so I find that this is quite a necessary skill I must learn if I’m to accomplish this goal. I would also like to empress my dad with my Mandarin skills one day too but this isn’t so important. So I’ve been busting my butt with a Rossetta Stone program but I don’t feel that I’ve gotten as much out of it as I’ve wanted to and have thus signed myself up for a traditionally taught First Year Mandarin course at Mesa College. So for those of you wondering why I’ve been so lagging on updating … I guess the above is a measly excuse for the back up of posts.

Now on to Rocky’s. I would assume most San Diegan have heard about this hole in the wall, no frills joint in the grapevine either from friends, coworkers or family. For those of you who haven’t tried out this place you must go. I promise you that this is the most juiciest and tastiest burger you will probably ever try. I’ve had plenty of burgers… in fact Ernie and I have been on a mission to find the best burger. Every time we try a new place we keep on coming back because there simply is no better burger out there. The burgers really are a cover for this tiny bar to sell the beer but I think we wouldn’t even come if was just for the beer because it isn’t something to write home about. The burgers on the other hand are heavenly and normally I don’t like to get my hands super messy when eating but this is one of the few exceptions that I wouldn’t mind that oil, juices, mustard and ketchup are running down my hand and threatening to stain the sleeves of my long tee shirt. I swear its like crack cocaine… not that I’ve ever done that – I’m only basing it off of the numerous biology and psychology classes I’ve taken that discusses the effects. The first burger blows your mind away and every subsequent burger is also good but can never quite measure up to the first experience. Then the 2nd to the last time I went I heard a man order his cheeseburger with grilled onion. I had never thought you could make that order because their limited food menu of 5 items makes no mention of grilled onions. A few days ago I went back and I was determined to order mine with the grilled onions. Oh my goodness… I actually think this last burger surpassed the experience of the first burger. Grilled onions make everything taste better… well almost everything. All the juices were dripping down my hands and I took off my jewelry in preparation but I really didn’t mind because it was so sinfully good. There wasn’t to much filler like I find at other joints trying to hide their not so tasty burger, the patty was so plump and juicy cooked to perfection and the buns where soft and somewhat pillowy. I ate my burger in silence… one of the few dining experiences that I’m content to not converse with Ernie.

I do have a few gripes with this place though. If only the fries were better! The fries are mediocre and I suppose the burger more than makes up for it but if the fries were better than it would elevate the experience to another level. Also the size of the place is a concern. It’s normally just Ernie and I gorging on burgers but if we show up with friends than it can be somewhat of an issue to find a table to park at. One time there was a party of 30 celebrating a birthday there. I thought that was super inconsiderate. This place isn’t designed to hold that type of a celebration. I think a number of 6 in the party is more considerate for other patrons and also saves you the headache of trying to save tables.

Nonetheless, the gripes fade away once I sink my teeth into this oh so tasty burger and I think you will agree once you’ve tried one too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Average meal price: ~$15(burger with shared basket of fries and drink + nice tip so they don’t gyp you on fries the next time you come)

Food: Beer on tap and simply the best burgers ever

Ambiance: somewhat divey bar

Service: not overly friendly but they are pretty nice if you come often enough

Kid-friendliness: better leave the kiddies at home

Cleanliness: it’s a bar! but I suppose it’s pretty clean for a bar

Overall: why wouldn’t you want to experience the best burgers ever?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

3786 Ingram St., San Diego, Ca ~ 858-273-9150 ~ opened from 11am-midnight every day but the kitchen closes at 11

Milton’s Corned Beef Hash

Milton’s is a quintessential NY Jewish deli transplanted in San Diego and has been warmly accepted by the people as it is bustling on just about any day. Not coincidentally, Milton’s is also the name of the nationally recognized brand of baked good, all of which they also carry in the front of the restaurant.  The front counter also carries various meats, cheeses and freshly baked goods so you can take a little bit of Milton’s home as well. After Leon and Michelle introduced us to Milton’s Delicatessen a few months ago, we have become steady patrons because of this lovely dish.

I love having this dish on a lazy weekend morning because that is exactly what you are going to be after you eat this… lazy! The corned beef is perfectly seasoned and there is a even proportion of veggies to meat in the dish. I live for the home style potatoes too… the crisped sides of the potatoes are a perfect compliment to the steaming soft mounds of white potatoes inside and taste just delish with some ketchup and a few squirts of hot sauce. You also get 2 eggs prepared the way you want, and a choice of a bialy/toast/or bagel. I always get the bialey…. a hole-less bagel (why would you get a bagel if you can get this?).  All this for $10.95 and I usually end up not being able to finish the dish so I try to share or just save it for the next morning and make it a yummy left over breakfast.

A definite recommended place to hit up for some feel good food.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Average meal price: ~$15

Food: Jewish deli delights

Ambiance: reminiscent of a NY deli

Service: very friendly and quick

Kid-friendliness: very family friendly

Cleanliness: quite clean

Overall: the next best thing to having some NY deli style food short of actually going to NY

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Milton’s Delicatessen Restaurant * 2660 Via De La Valle, Del Mar, CA 92014 * (858)792- 2225 * http://www.miltonsdeli.com/index.php

Mon- Thr:  7a-8:30p * Fri:7a-9:30p  * Sat: 8a-9:30p * Sun: 8a-8p

White Chocolate Cake with Fresh Strawberry Butter Cream

I have always been somewhat deathly afraid to try my hand at making a layered cake. I have made most other types of desserts since my interest in cooking and baking began however there always seemed to be an aura of mystery about the layered cake. I did once attempt to make a layer cake with raspberries and some type of vanilla cream when I was about 9 for my dad’s birthday. That turned out disastrous. I was too anxious and took the cake out of the pan before it had cooled so it didn’t come out as perfectly as it probably could have… it was broken and cracked all over. I didn’t shave off the top so it had those cake tops . I tried frosting and placing the raspberries in the middle even after this so the heat caused the cream to melt and the berries to ooze its juices. My father is a simple man and me just even attempting to make a cake for him was a great present already. He ate my cake and said it tasted great. Even though he complimented it I was still embarrassed at how it looked. So it took me more than a decade to once again try my hand at making a layered cake.

Ever since I tried one of Elizabethan Desserts wonderful cakes… I became inspired that great cakes didn’t have to look like the ones at Extraordinary cakes. I scoured epicurious.com for various recipes that I could use and adapt to the flavors I really liked in the cake that I had tried. These original recipes can be found at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108258 and http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/5378. Below is the recipe I adapted from the two pages I found.

Cake
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whole milk

Buttercream
1 lb fresh strawberries ( about 1 cup chopped for butter cream and the rest sliced for layers and decoration)
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Rum Syrup
1/2 cup rum
1/4 cup sugar

Cream Cheese Frosting
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Stir white chocolate in top of double boiler set over barely simmering water until melted and smooth. Leave white chocolate in pot; turn off heat. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk in 3 additions, blending well after each addition. Add warm white chocolate and beat just until blended.

Divide batter equally between pans, smoothing tops with spatula. Bake cakes until tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 20 minutes (cakes will fall). Run small sharp knife around cake pan sides. Turn cakes right side up onto racks and cool completely.

For buttercream:
Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in chopped strawberries and vanilla, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in powdered sugar. Cover and refrigerate until thick enough to spread.

For cream cheese frosting:
Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar. Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to spread, about 15 minutes.

For assembly:
Boil 1/2 cup rum and sugar in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar and until alcohol is gone. Cool syrup. Slice the remaining strawberries to place in the layers and on top.

With a serrated knife, shave the top of both cakes off so there is a flat surface to frost and decorate. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on 9-inch cardboard cake round or plate and brush with 2 tablespoons rum syrup. Spread 6 tablespoons fresh strawberry buttercream over cake. Cover buttercream with single layer of sliced strawberries. Spread 3 tablespoons buttercream over strawberries. Top with second cake layer. Spread cream cheese frosting over top and sides of cake. Cover top with remaining sliced strawberries. Chill cake 1 hour. (Cover with cake dome and keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature for about 45 mins before serving.)