Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Flourless Peanut chocolate chip cookies

Taken from http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/06/06/flourless-peanut-butter-brownie-cookies/

This recipe is da bomb. The best cookie recipe I've tried and I especially like it because it's not overly sweet, has no flour nor butter (which I hope makes it less caloric), yet still tastes amazingly moist. Most importantly, no chilling required! What's not to love? 

Only mistake with my picture was that I forgot that these cookies do not spread so I had to press remove them from oven ans press them down with the back of fork. The chocolate chips were melting by then and u can see the messy end result. Don't be a ditz like me and do it before they go in.

I practically followed the recipe to a T (so I won't be reposting the ingredients or method).

Only alterations made were: 
1) I used ½ cup of choc chips instead of 3/4 cup peanut butter chips as recommended since a) i felt that there's enough butter going in and 2) i dont have them. But it turned put better this way. I fully intended to squidge the remaining 1/4 cup on top of the soft cookies when they first come out from the oven for that professional look but trust me, ½ cup of chips is a lot, so much so that there was hardly enough batter to hold them together!

2) I used a slightly heaped Chinese soup spoon (equivalent to 1 tbsp + 1 tsp or 4 tsp volume) worth of batter to equate to 1.5 tbsp. I got 15 cookies.

3) I baked at 175 deg C for 10 minutes.


Alternative recipes
1) half and half: http://thebigmansworld.com/2015/08/14/3-ingredient-flourless-peanut-butter-nutella-cookies/
2) 4 ingredients http://www.recipe4living.com/recipes/four_ingredient_nutella_peanut_butter_cookies.htm
3) Swirled with peanut butter chips http://freshaprilflours.com/2015/06/24/nutella-swirled-peanut-butter-chip-cookies/

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Espresso chocolate chip muffins

Original recipe from http://prettysimplesweet.com/chocolate-espresso-muffins/

I've adapted a few techniques after trying out this recipe. For some reason, my butter seized up after adding it to the other wet ingredients. I was petrified I would have scrambled eggs but luckily my espresso seemed to 'melt' everything and it didn't taste any worse for it. Also, adding thr brown sugar to the dry didn't seem like a good idea because brown sugar is lumpy. So I'm going to add the sugar to the wet and beat it in instead. Lastly, timing was different to my oven, even though this time. My fan was on so it should have taken less time than what eventuated. So I've tweaked the temperature and timing.

Bought new muffin cases and hooray, they fit the tin perfectly! 

Ingredients (makes 10)
1 ½ cup flour (210g)
½ cup cocoa powder (50g)
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup sugar (100g)
½ cup light brown sugar (100g)
1 large egg at room temp, beaten
¾ cup milk (180ml)
¼ cup espresso (60ml) (note: milk and coffee should make 1 cup volume, so u can use instant coffee too with the appropriate amount of water), slightly cooled
½ cup melted butter (113g), slightly cooled
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup chopped nuts of choice (I omitted)

Original recipe has an additional nut, chip and sugar topping which i forgot.

Method
1) Preheat oven to 190 deg C. Prepare the muffin tin eg butter or line with muffin papers.
2) Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt together, You might need to sift at least twice to ensure the cocoa powder is well mixed.
3) In another bowl, whisk the egg, sugars, vanilla until well combined. Drizzle in the butter and incorporate.
4) Add the wet to the dry and mix till just mixed. Lumpy is ok. I prefer to silft in the dry and use a whisk to rotate everything in. 
5) Fold in the chips and nuts.
6) Distribute 2 heaped tbsp to each muffin case. This should bring it to about ⅔ full. Fill empty muffin slots with water for even cooking.
7) Top off with a few chocolate chips on each for a 'professional' look.
8) Bake at 190 deg C for 15 minutes. My oven has hot spots so here, I rotated the tins. Turn down to 180 deg C for another 10 to 15 minutes. Watch carefully because it's dark so u can't tell if it's burnt. A skewer should come out clean.
9) Store in air tight box for up to 2 days outside the fridge.


Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Slow cooker Dakdoritang

Recipe from http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/dakbokkeumtang

I prefer to call this dakdoritang altho it's more commonly known now as dakbokkeumtang apparently. The recipe is so simple and added to the slow cooker is a real hoot to cook. The slow cooker, as u know, is my best friend because it allows me to do other things like housework or watch tv or shower while it toils, then hey presto! Dinner is served. I particularly like Korean stews in slow cookers because unlike most Chinese and Western recipes, there's no need to saute things, which I hate because it means lots of cleanup thereafter. Anyway, I digress. Here's the recipe, or rather my interpretation.

Ingredients
1 kg chicken (i used drumsticks)
4 tbsp gochugaru
4 tbsp gochujang
4 tbsp garlic, minced
½ medium onion, chopped
4 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2.5 cups water
3 to 4 potatoes, peeled and chunked (depending on how much u like potatoes, I really do!)
Spring onion to garnish (i omitted this because i don't like it)
2 green chillis, chopped (my chilli plant is sleeping because it's winter, too bad!)
1 tbsp sesame oil
Sprinkle of sesame seeds

Method
1) Place onions and chicken in slow cooker. In a bowl, mix all the sauces, gochugaru, sugar, with the garlic. Add a bit of water to make an emulsion.
2) Coat the chicken with the emulsion, then turn on the slow cooker and add the water. Bring to a boil and skim the scum and fat. Let it cook for 20 to 30 minutes.
3) Add the potatoes and cook for another 20 minutes or till softened.
4) Before serving, pour on the sesame oil, scatter sesame seeds, green chilli and spring onions. Serve hot with rice.

Buchujeon (Garlic chives pancake)