Cranberries Cookies

I have not been baking any cookies lately.  Thought of making something light to munch and bake something difference from its original recipes, which called for California Raisin, I changed it to dried cranberries instead.  I have bought the dried cranberries quite sometime and been sitting inside the fridge, so I better make used of it before it expired.

And here it is Cranberries Cookies

Ingredients
270g plain flour, sieved
160g butter
100g dried cranberries, chopped small (original recipes called for raisins)
120g icing sugar
1 tsp grated orange rind
1 small egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1)  Preheat oven to 170C.
2)  Sieve plain flour into a mixing bowl, rub butter into the flour till it resembles breadcrumbs.
3)  Add chopped cranberries, icing sugar and orange rind into the flour mixture and mix well.
4)  Add in the beaten egg and vanilla essence in and mix to firm dough.
5)  Drop mixture teaspoon by teaspoon of the dough into the lightly greased baking tray.
6)  Bake at a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Munching this mini cookies with a cup of coffee or tea is out of words........... though I think sticking the original recipe for raisins is much better.  The dried cranberries seems to be a little hard to chew on.

Stir Fry Beef Slices in Ginger & Scallion

I have bookmarked this recipe for quite awhile and only till today I have cooked it as I seldom cooked beef though I love to eat beef.  When you stir fry beef slices, it is advisable to get the rump part or the tenderloin slice. 

Ingredients
300g rump steak, thinly sliced
2 stalks scallion/spring onion, cut into 5cm length
50g ginger, thinly sliced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp cornflour
1/2 tbsp oil
Salt & white pepper
Splash of sesame oil

Method
1. Marinate beef slices with soy sauce, cornflour and oil for 15-30 minutes.
2.  Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok under high heat until smoking hot.
3.  Add sliced ginger and give it a quick stir for a minute.
4.  Add beef and scallions and quickly stir fry for a further 1-2 minutes until the beef turned brown and just
     cooked and scallions are slightly wilted.
5.  Season with salt and white pepper and add a splash of sesame oil. Mix well and serve immediately with
     steamed rice.

The scallion/spring onions supposed to be cut into 5cm length but my "kitchen helper" voluntarily helped out without consulting me has cut into small pieces!  :-(

The splash of sesame oil at the end completed cooking, brings out the aroma and taste to the beef.  In have dash in black pepper instead of white pepper.

Pickled Cucumber

Pickled cucumber is easy to make.  I can eat pickled cucumber taking it as a snack.  This is why when I have the time, I will make pickled cucumber.  Previous when we had our Korean Restaurant back in the early 90's, we used to make this pickled cucumber and pickled cabbage.  Hmmm......delicious!

Rinse clean the cucumbers.  I am using here is mini cucumbers.

Slice thin the cucumbers and marinate with some salt first.  Let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes.   After some 10 minutes rinse off the salt and pat dry it.

Pat dry with kitchen towel.

Put the cucumber in a glass container.  The ratio of sugar and white vinegar for marinating the pickled cucumber goes in this way; every one tablespoon of vinegar, add two tablespoon of sugar.

                                         1 tbsp White Vinegar + 2 tbsp Sugar

Homemade Soya Bean Milk

Soya Bean milk is a nutritious drink but buying for a glass outside cost about $1.00 plus.  So why buy that much of price when you can make a whole pot of it for a packet of organic soya bean that cost a little extra more!!  And the whole family members can enjoy this nutritious drink.

Ingredients serves for 2 glasses :
100g soybeans, rinsed and soaked overnight

25g sugar or to your taste of sweetness

800ml water

1 screwpine leave, washed and tied into a knot

1.  Discard the soaking water and blend soya beans in an electric food blender with a little water. 
2.  Mix with the rest of the water. 
3.  Strain mixture through the muslin cloth. 
4.  Boil the soyabean milk and the screwpine leaves for 10 to 15 min over low heat.  Once boil, add sugar.
5.  Serve warm or cold.

Organic Soya Beans.  The beans are slightly smaller than the normal soya beans.

Braise Duck Wing (Mel's Style)

I'm cooking this Braised Duck Wing without a proper recipe.  It is just according to my "tongue" taste and overall it is still delicious.

 
  If you like to try my this recipe, it is just all based on my assumption.  The ingredients goes like this ;

Braised Duck Wing adapted by Mel
8 pieces duck wing
4-5 slices ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 shallot, chopped finely
2 star anise
1 (about 2" long) cinnamon
1/2 cup of Shao Xing Wine
2-3 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1.  Bring a pot of water to boil and put in the duck wings to blanch for about 20 seconds.  Dish out and
     pick off any feathers sticking in the wings if there's any.  Usually there is.
2.  Put oil in a frying pan and put in the ginger slices.  Fry about 1 minute and put the chopped garlic,
     shallot, star anise and cinnamon in.  Fry for about 1 minute or till fragrant.
3.  Pour in all the duck wings and stir fry for about 2 minutes.
4.  Stir in the Shao Xing Wine, oyster sauce, soya sauce, dark soya sauce, pepper and water.  Once it is  
     boil, lower the heat to slow and let it simmer till the wings are tender.
5.  Serve hot with steamed rice.

My method of cooking this braise duck wings may not be in a proper way, but I think it is still taste to 80 points!  Care to join me for dinner for this dish?

Cherry Clafoutis

I have been craving to eat something sweet, something like dessert lately..........  and since I have just bought some cherries, why not make something out of it as a sweet dessert.  And here it is Cherry Clafoutis. 

This recipes adapted from Joyofbaking.

Well, what do you think of this?  Though it is yummy but I find it a little too sweet.  If I'm going to make this again for Blueberries Clafoutis, I think I will cut down the sugar content or should I go for different dessert for Blueberries Flaugnarde.

Dried Candy

Before I intend to make this Dried Candy, the weather/the sun has been scorching up to 36 degrees everyday!  So I thought, this is a good time of making this and might take a shorter days to complete drying the candy.  But instead, it end up more than 6 days of drying.  Right after I start putting out to dry, it has been raining everyday in the afternoon! This is why it took about 6 days of drying.

 Dried Candy adapted from Table for 2 ..... or more

25gm agar-agar strips
750ml water
200gm rock sugar
150gm sugar
food colouring to your desire

1. Put water and  the agar-agar strips into a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil and cover with lid. With low heat, boil until all agar-agar strips have dissolved.
3. Throw in the rock sugar and sugar, cook until all sugar dissolves. The texture should be thick.
    Put in your desire food colouring in.
4. Pour into the pan and once it has solidified, cut with a serrated knife.
5. Arrange cut pieces, serrated side down on a large tray lined with non stick baking paper.
6. Sun dry until a whitish crunchy crust appears. Turn jelly pieces every other day for proper exposure to
    the sun.

                          Before the drying time........ ready to go under the sun!

Apple Yeasted Sugar Tart

When I have completed baking this, I wasn't really satisfied with the outcome.  Why?  I made a blunder on it as I didn't whipped the cream till it rise to soft peaks!   But anyway, this apple tart is delicious indeed when eaten when it is still warm!

Recipe adapted from Technicolor  and Table for 2.... or more

Great source of recipes from both of them.

Apple Yeasted Sugar Tart
245g all purpose flour, sifted
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp instant yeast
1 egg (at room temperature)
120ml warm whole milk
28g softened unsalted butter
2-3 Granny's Smith apples
67g demerara sugar
some ground cinnamon
120ml whipping cream

1) Place flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a bowl; make a well in the centre.  Meanwhile whisk egg with
    warm milk and pour into the centre of the flour mixture.  Using a spoon first to mix all well combined.
2)  Mix in the butter and knead to a smooth, thick batter.
3)  Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a draught-free place for 30 minutes.
4)  Knock back dough, then press it into a 22cm buttered pie pan or loose-bottomed flan pan, cover with
     plastic and allow to recover for 30 minutes.
5)  Preheat oven to 200°C with fan assisted.
6)  Peel apples, cored them and cut into eighths. Press apple slices into the dough, and sprinkle with the
     demerara sugar and ground cinnamon on top.

7)  Put pie pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 180°C.
8)  Spoon cream over apples and bake for 20 minutes.
9)  Serve slice tart warm.

"Chai Choy" (Mixed Vegetables in fermented red beancurd)

Usually on the first day of Chinese New Year, we go for a day if not half a day for vegetarian food and dishes.  Cooking this "Chai Choy" is easy. 

This big pot of Chai Choy dish I have adapted from here and here with some slight adjustment myself.

500g Chinese cabbage
1 carrot, sliced thin
4 cubes fermented red beancurd (nam yu)
3-4 dried mushroom, soaked and sliced thin
10 florets cloud ear fungus
a handful of lily bulbs
small bundle of glass noodle (tung fun)
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
3-5 cups water

1.  Fry the red beancurd in oil till fragrant.
2.  Add in the cabbage and carrot and stir fry till its soft.
3.  Add in the sliced mushroom, cloud ear fungus and fry for about 1 minute and add in the water (about 1/2
     inch above the vegetables).
4.  Add in the sugar, oyster and soya sauce and bring to a boil.  Turn down the heat and let is slow simmer
     for about half an hour or till cabbage is limp.

Honey & Ginger Roast Chicken

If you want a fuss free of preparing what to cook for dinner, roast chicken is the easy way.  And, less plate and utensils to wash up after preparing the dish! 


Here it is Honey & Ginger Roast Chicken..........

Recipe adapted from here.

50gm fresh ginger, slice thinly
1 medium lemon (about 140g)
55g (1/4 cup firmly packed) brown sugar
1/3 cup (120g) honey
60ml water
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 fresh green chilli, chopped (optional)
3 or 4 (about 350g each) chicken drumsticks

1.  Cut ginger slices into thin strips.  Remove lemon rind thinly either using a zester or a peeler.  Cut rind
     into thin strips.
2.  Stir sugar, honey and water in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolved; bring to a
     boil.  Add ginger and simmer for 5 minutes till the ginger is tender.  Transfer to a larger bowl and stir
     in the garlic, lemon rind and chilli.
3.  Cut deep slashes through the thick part of the chicken flesh at 2cm intervals; put into the honey ginger
     mixture.  Cover the marinade/refrigerate 3 hours or overnight turning chicken occasionally.

4.  Preheat oven to 180C.  Place chicken in single layer and roast uncovered for about 40 minutes or till
      chicken is browned and cooked.
5.  Top chicken with green onions and served with steamed rice.

I have put in 2 medium size potatoes (cut into big chunks) and 3 tomatoes in to bake together with the chicken.  Sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper on top of it.

Delicious!!  Only bones left..............