Sunday Bakeshop

I love everything I know about Sunday Bakeshop.  Baked goods and snacks - two of my favorite things.  AND in flavors I enjoy?  Yes!

"Sunday Bakeshop is an Asian American, French inspired bakery that celebrates the ingredients and sweets we grew up eating. Our philosophy is to create fun, flavorful and unique pastries that span many cultures and techniques, while using high quality, seasonal ingredients.

Sunday Bakeshop invites you to enjoy life’s sweetest moments; and treat yourself to something delicious.  Make life sweeter! "

What does Asian American inspiration look like in a French bakery?  Think: ube twice baked croissants, kimchi corn cheese danishes, red velvet White Rabbit cookies, black sesame crispy treats, raspberry rose mochi cakes, and more.  Oh yes.

I haven't actually gotten the chance to try their baked goods, as they aren't carried near me, but I did get to try some of their snacks, and I was quite pleased.

Chex Mix

I'm no stranger to Chex Mix.  As in, I consume far more of it than an average human, even one who thinks they eat a lot of Chex Mix.  That said, I rarely ever eat the commercial Chex brand Chex mix, as, well, it really isn't that good.  

I've been spoiled by a mother who makes custom Chex mix blends for every person at Christmas, with our own favorite brand items and our own favorite mix-ins (e.g. different brand pretzels for me vs my sister, mine has chow mein noodles, wontons, corn nuts, wasabi peas, plantain chips, and the like, my sister's has Goldfish crackers whereas those aren't allowed anywhere near mine, I have brazil nuts and macadamias, my sister has other mixed nuts, my dairy free cousin has vegan butter instead, etc).  Spoiled, yes.  My doesn't just make the standard Worchetershire savory blend (although that *is* her classic mix), she also makes other savory versions (spicy! Truffle! Cheesy!) and loves trying out new sweet and decadent versions.

I've also been spoiled by working in an office that had an in-house pastry department that made snacks for our microkitchens, and for several years, they made homemade Japanese style furikake Chex mix every day that I was absolutely addicted to.  Once those glory days passed, my Japanese Chex Mix hookup was easy to find, as another one of the pastry chefs from my office started his own brand, and he makes Japanese style Chex mix in a slew of flavors (not just a sweet furikake version, but also a white truffle one, a spicy one, etc.  Stay tuned for the review of Mackbox, coming soon!).  And of course, I've tried a few other commercial versions too, like LoloYum, that I wasn't really impressed by.

So it suffices to say, that at any given time, I have at least 8-10 different Chex mixes on hand in my house (most will be vacuum sealed, and frozen, for longer term storage). I definitely didn't need to try yet another Japanese style Chex mix.  But, when I saw it offered from Sunday Bakeshop, I couldn't help but try it.

Furikake Chex Mix. $9.

"A throwback to the classic Chex mix but amped up with soy, seaweed, and a little spice. This makes for the perfect savory and sweet snack with a small kick."

The Sunday Bakehouse version at first seems much like my mom's, or MackBox's classic version, with Chex, honeycomb cereal,  bugles, pretzel sticks, and of course, TONS of furikake.  

I was surprised when I took my first bite though that I was actually distinct from other versions I have tried.  First, it was considerably more, uh, green.  It just had a lot more seaweed coating than others.  This gave a stronger vegetal taste.  Second, it was not nearly as sweet.  My mom's version is essentially candied, and Mack's is pretty heavy in the sugar, and this, while certainly still sweet, was a touch more savory than others.  And finally, rather than just blonde (corn or rice) Chex, they also use darker wheat Chex, which again, just made it a bit more hearty and savory overall (the honeycomb and bugle pieces were of course still more sweet).

I appreciated the subtle but noticeable changes from other versions.  I think this bag was intended to be more than one serving, but, um, mine didn't go that way.  Clearly, I liked it.  ****.

Popcorn

Probably my absolute favorite snack, and quite frankly, a bit of an addiction for me, is popcorn.  Sweet, savory, cheesy, spicy, decadent, I eat it all.  Never microwave popcorn though.  And generally frozen (it is crispier!).  I can go on and on about my love of popcorn, but, you've probably heard it before.  I obviously had to try Sunday Bakeshop's popcorn.

They always carry one signature flavor, pandan coconut, but from time to time offer others too, such as a spicy gochujang one, and I think I saw black sesame once.

Pandan Coconut Caramel Corn. $8.

"Twist of the traditional Cracker Jack that many of us grew up eating and love. A sweet and salty caramel corn with hints of coconut and exotic notes of pandan flavor."

Well, clearly I love popcorn.  And, I really enjoy pandan.  So this was a no brainer.  I had high hopes, and they were entirely met, even exceeded.  The popcorn had a lovely green hue.

The kernels were all large, fluffy type, quite fresh tasting.  Well popped, no unpopped or quasi-popped pieces.  The pieces were well coated in sweet pandan flavored glaze, real legit pandan flavor that I quite enjoyed.  Certainly sweet, but not cloying at all.  I didn't taste much coconut, but that did not bother me.   Most pieces were entirely coated, but there were a few that were only 70% or so coated, which I actually liked, to lighten it up a bit.

Overall, very good, and very easy to devour.  I'd gladly get this again.  ****+.

Cookies

They also make red velvet White Rabbit cookies and a more pedestrian brown butter chocolate chip.

Ube Snickerdoodle. $3.50.

"A cakey cookie with chewy edges flavored with ube and coconut."

"A chewy, soft baked cookie with mashed ube and shredded coconut, finished with sugar."

Snickerdoodles are basically at the bottom of my list of cookie preferences.  I like cinnamon in general, but, I just don't really ever recall liking a snickerdoodle.  So although I adore ube, I was slightly deterred by the "snickerdoodle" name to this.  

When I looked at the ingredients though, there was no cinnamon.  I thought that was kinda a defining characteristic of a snickerdoodle, so I'm not quite sure why they call this one?  Anyway.  It was an ok cookie.  Somewhat soft, somewhat chewy edges as described.  Very mild ube flavor, stronger coconut flavor/texture from shredded coconut, pearl sugar on top.  Basically a sugar cookie, with some interesting texture from coconut, mild other flavor, and purple hue.  Definitely not as powerful as I was hoping the ube would be.  ***.

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Fishpeople Seafood

I ... don't really cook.

Sure, I exercise creativity in the kitchen, and have a lot of fun waffling all sorts of things, and I make some brilliantly composed salads if I do say so myself, but real, legit cooking ... gulp.  It just isn't something I need to do often, as I have the luxury of having my meals during the week provided at my office.  Before that, I was in grad school, had very little free time, and certainly no money to get decent ingredients, so let's just say I lived on a lot of bagel melts.

But Fishpeople changed that.

Garlic Parmesan Potato Wild Alaskan Cod Adventure.

You see this, I prepared.  Yes, me.  A real looking meal.

A lovely garlic parmesan potato crusted wild alaskan cod, which I paired with mashed sweet potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts.  I made a meal for for two, in under 40 minutes.  And we loved it.

It was my first time preparing raw seafood.  At age 37, and as someone who eats a lot of seafood.  Gulp.

I did it using a kit for the cod, made by Fishpeople.

Fishpeople makes a variety of seafood cooking kits, in addition to ready-made soups, chowders, and salmon jerky.  The impressive thing about Fishpeople is the commitment they put into not only sustainability, but also connections with their suppliers.  Every product comes with a code you can use to track your seafood to its origin.  They provide full transparency on nearly every ingredient that goes in, even naming their cream supplier (Andersen Dairy).  Of course it is non-GMO and rBST-free.

I was eager to try these products, as a shortcut to quality seafood at home.

Seafood Kits

"Sustainably-caught fish meets its match with the simple ingredients in our chef-crafted toppers. Restaurant-worthy seafood at home is within reach. You'll be hooked!"

The kits are minimal, providing only the raw seafood, and toppings.  You provide your own sides.  They have salmon, cod, and rockfish kits, ranging from simple meyer lemon and herb, to zesty chipotle & lime or cajun.  I went for the fanciest sounding version though: garlic parmesan potato.

Garlic Parmesan Potato Wild Alaskan Cod Kit.

"Our Kits take the guesswork out of cooking incredible seafood: Pure American-caught fish, Simple ingredients you can pronounce, Wildly delicious results every time. Take 2 sustainable & traceable Wild Alaskan Cod fillets, top & bake with Garlic Parmesan potatoes and garnish with Uncured Bacon for a wow-worthy fish dish at home. Be a kitchen hero in under 20 minutes! Serves 2."

The packaging showed me easily what was inside, the fish filets (2 portions), the topping I was to bake on it, and the additional topping to add once finished.

It looked simple enough?

Well Illustrated Packaging.

"Our cod's mild, flaky texture pairs perfectly with crisp toppings: diced potatoes, shredded parmesan, and crumbled uncured bacon. It's like the world's best hash browns on the world's best white fish... Eat it for breakfast, we won't tell."
The back of the package made it even more simple, the 4 simple steps down the right hand side, the a beautiful finished product on display.

Instruction Card.

Inside I found a step by step instruction card, fully illustrated, and really, dead simple.  I never had any doubt as to what I was doing, or what to do next.

I thawed my product the night before in the fridge, as instructed, although they provide quick thaw instructions as well.  I preheated my oven.

Raw Filets.

The packaging contains literally everything you need, the fish already comes in a tray that you put in the oven.  The first step is just removing the film that covers it, and draining off any liquid.  Oh, and spacing the filets out in the pan.

So far, easy!  The filets were each a generous portion.

Topped.

The next step is to open the little container of topping - a mix of cubed potatoes, crispy onions, parmesan cheese, and spices (garlic, celery powder, rosemary, thyme, chives), and fluff it.  Easy!

Then I was to spoon it on top, or use my hands, to top the fish.  Not quite so easy, as much of it fell off, but, I decided this must not  matter?

Ready to Bake.

Then, cover with foil, and bake.  And yes, they provide the foil, perfectly sized for the tray.

While the fish baked, I prepared my sides.  No attending to it was necessary.

Broiled and Complete!

The next step was to put it under the broiler for a minute or two to crisp up the top.  And then sprinkle with the provided bacon bits.

And ... that was that.  Very easy, 20 minutes later, and I was ... ready to "plate pretty", as instructed.  And then, dive in.

Garlic Parmesan Potato Wild Alaskan Cod + Roasted Brussels Sprouts + Mashed Sweet Potatoes.

At this point, I'll admit, I did overcook the cod.  The cooking time was specified clearly, but it seemed not done to me (like I really had any clue), so I actually let it cook longer, and got distracted while doing so, so the 1-2 additional minutes I planned turned into ... more like 4.  The fish didn't flake easily at this point, but I think this was my own fault.  I'm pretty sure the cod was in fact really good cod.

I adored the toppings.  I was shocked by how much I liked the toppings, actually.  It was just a little potato hash, not something that sounds that remarkable, but, it was.  Perfectly crispy, great flavors.  I completely understand their own description now "It's like the world's best hash browns on the world's best white fish... Eat it for breakfast, we won't tell!"  I didn't want the fish for breakfast, but I'd gladly take a huge serving of that hash.

I did find it a bit dry with just the fish and hash on top though.  My dining companion choose to put a little gravy on it (lol), but I opted for a lemon caper butter sauce I just happened to have on hand, and that was perfect.  I think any kind of cream sauce would work equally well, or perhaps just a simple drizzle of lemon.  It needed something, but perhaps that is only because I over cooked it?

Overall though, really quite tasty, and beyond easy to make.

Soups & Chowders

"Sustainably-caught seafood and farm-fresh veggies are the stars in our creamy bisques and hearty chowders. Delicious and ready to heat and eat! Grab a spoon and dive in!"

Fishpeople makes a large variety of seafood based soups, including two varieties of salmon chowder (wild salmon corn chowder or alder smoked wild salmon chowder), a crab bisque, a razor clam chowder (!), a mixed seafood bouillabaisse, and even an incredible sounding smoked oyster and bourbon chowder.

The novel thing about these products, besides that they are made with quality seafood is ... the packaging.  They come in bags.  Ok, pouches.  Ready to consume, once you heat them.  Which, you don't do in a microwave ...

Boiling My Soup ...

So ... the heating process.  You just submerge the entire bag in boiling water for 5 minutes.

I'll be honest, this felt ... wrong.  The last bag I boiled in a pot was Minute Rice, the style of rice I grew up with, and haven't ever, ever had again since.  Shutter.

That said, how do most prepared soups get heated up?  In the microwave.  How that seems better to me, I have no idea.  And if you really prefer, it is also an option to cut a slit in this package and pop it in the microwave too.

Anyway, the heating process is super simple, boil water, submerge bag, come back in 5 minutes, rip open the top.  Yes, the bag is weird.  But, it worked really well, the soup was evenly heated, so much better than what you get in a microwave.

Creamy Razor Clam and Bacon Chowder.

"Enjoy a fresh update on savory chowder.  The enduring appeal of Surf and Turf goes beyond steak and lobster. Here, it shows up as a hearty chowder that combines succulent West Coast razor clams, hand harvested by the Quinault Indian Nation on the beaches of Washington state, paired with scrumptious bacon nibbles, fresh cream and fragrant thyme."

I had all the Fishpeople varieties to try out, but, it was very easy to make a decision on which to go for.  Razor Clam Bacon Chowder!  I actually really like razor clams, duh bacon, and of course I like rich chowder.  Plus, the bag boasted that it was 3% bacon!

The razor clams are hand-harvested.  And the bacon comes from a family owned supplier, around since the 1930's (Hempler’s meats in Ferndale, WA). 

This was a classic chowder, cream based, with onions, potatoes, carrots, and celery.  The chunks of veggies were all an easy size to eat, small cubes, and were well cooked, not mushy.

The chowder base was super creamy, which I discovered is because it not only was made from heavy cream, but they also add neafchatel cheese!  It was the ideal thickness, and well seasoned with thyme, paprika, bay leaf, and cayenne.  There was a depth of flavor provided by the clam juice and anchovy as well, not fishy, but, it did make it more complex than just seasoned cream.

As for the star ingredients ... I only found a few tiny chunks of razor clam in my serving, so that was disappointing.  Same with the bacon.  I would have gladly taken more of those, and less carrots and potatoes.

Still, overall, I was impressed.  Complex flavor, very creamy, easy to make, and far better than any canned soup I've ever had.

Wild Crab Bisque.

"Experience a smooth and sophisticated crab and shrimp bisque.  This popular seafood soup serves up the Best of the West. Delectable crab and Pacific Pink shrimp, harvested from the depths of our local waters, are combined in a light cream sauce with sherry, sweet onions and hints of orange and cayenne."

I failed to get a photo of my next choice, the wild crab bisque, once I made it, whoops!

That may be because I quickly gave it away to my partner.

I didn't care for this at all.  The bisque was really, really fishy tasting.  It was creamy and the broth almost had a good flavor, but, it was just too fishy for me overall.  Fishy is not the flavor I want with crab.

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Waffle Iron Cooking: French Toast

As you may have guessed, I love to eat.  But it is no secret that I don't really "cook".  I was going through a phase where I didn't like going out to eat, which left me with a bit of a problem, as I'm also a total snob and don't generally like takeout.

But I also I hate wasting food.  Whenever I have any leftovers, I stash them in my freezer.  People laugh when they see the size of my freezer, and then their eyes bulge when they see that at all times, it is totally and completely full.  I don't usually have a plan for what I'll do with little bits of this or that.  I just can't ever throw food out.

Random Aside #1: Julie has too much ice cream (yes, this can happen)

A while ago, I won 32 pints of Three Twins Ice Cream.  Yes, this was totally awesome, but it did lead to a bit of a problem: what do you do with that much ice cream, when you live with someone who doesn't really eat ice cream, and you work somewhere with a froyo machine that you visit multiple times a day normally already?  How do you actually consume all that ice cream before it gets freezer burned?

Well, first I methodically made my way through every pint, getting one of each flavor available, learning my favorite flavors.  It was awesome, really.  You can read all about that soon.  But after a while, even I got sick of ice cream.  It can happen.

I started bringing ice cream to every party I was invited to.  Dinner party?  I'd quickly claim dessert, and bring ice cream to go with a fruit crisp.  Housewarming?  New homeowners would find a pint of ice cream hidden in their freezer the next morning.  Brunch?  Ice cream for affogatos is legit, right?  But after a few months of this, I could tell my ice cream welcome was wearing thin.  I had to get creative.

One day, it dawned on me that ice cream is just a frozen custard base.  If I melted the ice cream down, I'd be back to a custard base.  Suddenly, I had so many possibilities.

The next night, when I served pie for dessert, instead of offering ice cream to pair with it, I suggested a little vanilla bean crème anglaise to Ojan.  He never wants ice cream with his pie.  Little did Ojan know that this was my vanilla bean ice cream (which he usually rejects), warmed up.  He eagerly accepted.  Success!

A few days later, I was making a cup of coffee, and it turned out too bitter.  I generally drink my coffee black, but when the coffee isn't very good, I opt for a little creamer and sweetener.  But, since I don't really cook at home, I never have any milk or other creamer.  But I did have ice cream ... A tiny scoop of ice cream, stirred into coffee?  Perfect.  I quickly discovered that chocolate flavors work best here, turning my coffee into a quasi-mocha.

Speaking of the chocolate flavors, one day, I decided to reduce a pint of chocolate ice cream down on the stovetop, turning it into a rich chocolate pudding.  It was thick.  It was rich.  Amazing.  Another success.

My stories go on and on.  Many bread puddings were created (salted caramel flavor works great here!).  Some failed attempts at making flan.  If you ever find yourself in the situation of having an insane amount of ice cream, or if you lose power and your ice cream melts, or if you wind up with a pint of freezer burned ice cream, consider the possibilities.  Melted ice cream is NOT a loss!

Random Aside #2: Waffling

You've been reading about my waffling experiments on Wednesdays for weeks now, so, I won't rehash any of that here.  You know the drill: I have leftovers, I reheat them in the waffle iron, it is usually awesome.

This week however, I bring you something a bit different.  All of my previous waffling posts were about taking leftovers, and placing them basically unmodified into the waffle iron.  I didn't really create anything from scratch.

But this time, I did.  I made french toast, and cooked it in the waffle iron, rather than on a griddle.  But of course, you know me, there has to be a twist.  And the twist?  I used ice cream as the custard base, rather than making my own.  Because, who has eggs?

Random Aside #3: Dave's Killer Bread

Final aside, I promise.  I got sent some Dave's Killer Bread to review for my blog (coming soon).  So, not only did I have tons of ice cream, I also had tons of bread.

Connecting the Dots: French Toast

At all times, in the back of my head, is the thought "will it waffle?"  Also in the back of my head is the knowledge that I have a custard base that can be ready at a moment's notice.  Inspired by the success of the bread puddings made with my ice cream, I decided to tackle another format: french toast.  I knew that the ice cream base wasn't quite as eggy as you'd normally use for french toast, but honestly, I don't like it when I can taste the egg in french toast, so I wasn't too concerned.

Unsatisfied to simply griddle my french toast like a normal person, I busted out the waffle iron.

The Ingredients

Three Twins Madagascar Vanilla Ice Cream + Dave's Killer Bread Seeded Honey Wheat.

Per slice:

• 1 slice of bread (any kind. Fresh or frozen.)
• 1 small scoop of ice cream
• Cinnamon (pinch, to taste)
• Vanilla (few drops, to taste)
• Any other spices you want

Normally, I'd make french toast using a thick cut, more interesting bread like brioche, but what I had was a freezer full of an assortment Dave's Killer Bread.  I picked the Seeded Honey Wheat, as it was the sweetest of the bunch.

I opted for simple Madagascar Vanilla as my ice cream base, but you can obviously get creative here.

Not pictured were my additions: King Arthur Flour Vietnamese Cinnamon, Bourbon Vanilla, Bourbon Sugar.   Once I melted the ice ceam down, I added cinnamon and more vanilla extract to taste.  (Protip: additional benefit of using ice cream, rather than raw ingredients: you can taste your french toast liquid and not be worried about eating raw eggs!)

Process

1. Pull ingredients out of freezer/spice rack.
2. Heat up waffle iron (I used 400 degrees, the recommended temp for waffles, but more on that below).
3. Melt down ice cream however you want: leave it on the counter. Microwave it. Melt it on a stove top.  I usually just put it in a 300-ish degree toaster oven while I prep other ingredients.
4. Add cinnamon, vanilla, and any other seasonings to taste.
5. Dunk bread in melted ice cream mixture.  Let it soak in a few minutes.
6. Plop into waffle iron, cook for a few minutes.  It will probably take longer than a regular waffle.  Just watch it.

Results

Mixed Success.

On my first attempt, I set the waffle iron to 400 degrees, the temperature recommended for waffles.  After a few minutes, my waffle-french toast seemed hot, and was getting a bit crispy on the edges, but it was way too soggy on the inside.  I might have used too much ice cream base, but it was too late to fix that.  So I turned the heat up.  And sprinkled it with sugar, hoping that would caramelize and crust up a bit.

Instead ... it just started burning.  Whoops.  The places where the iron touched were definitely burnt, but I liked how the waffling created crispy bits and moist bits.  There is potential here.

The bread choice was ok, although fairly healthy tasting.  Yes, I realize I am saying that eating a scoop of ice cream and a bunch of syrup tasted "healthy", but the bread really was hearty and wheaty, so it didn't seem decadent at all.

It was still pretty tasty, and once drizzled with sufficient warm maple syrup, I didn't care too much, but next time I'd try starting with a higher temp, or reduce the amount of ice cream.

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