recipes

Homemade Chocolate Brownies

| San

brownie2 brownie1 brownie3brownie4

This recipe from Alice Medrich (via The Amateur Gourmet) makes brownies that are crusty on the surface and chewy inside.

// Shopping List :

  • 10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter,
  • 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) sugar
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (65 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, cold
  • 1/2 cup (65 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup (75 grams) walnut or pecan pieces (optional)
  • 8 x 8 inch  baking pan
  • Parchment paper

// Instructions : The Amateur Gourmet

6 “Instant” Sauce Recipes Always On My Mind

| San

DIY Instant Sauce Recipes // mono+co

Making an effort to memorize these 6 recipes:

  • Sweet And Sour // via
    2 tablespoons Tomato Ketchup
    1 teaspoon Plum Sauce
    1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce (Lea & Perrins preferred)
    1 teaspoon Oyster Sauce
    1 teaspoon Sugar
    4 tablespoons Water
    Great with : diced chicken meat, pan fried firm tofu, capsicum, lettuce, cashew nuts
  • ‘Jing Du’ 京都 // via
    1 1/2 tablespoons Tomato Ketchup
    1/2 tablespoon Plum Sauce
    1/2 tablespoon Chili Sauce
    1/4 teaspoon Oyster
    1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
    1 1/2 tablespoons Black Vinegar
    1 1/2 tablespoons Sugar
    2 tablespoons Water
    Great with : fried pork tenderloin, fried pork spare ribs
  • Honey // via
    1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
    1 clove Garlic, chopped
    1 teaspoon Sugar
    2 tablespoons Honey
    1 tablespoon Water
    1/2 tablespoon Tomato Ketchup
    Great with : fried/baked chicken wings
  • Dark Soy // via
    1 tablespoon Dark Soy Caramel Sauce
    2 tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
    3 tablespoons Sugar
    5 tablespoons of Water
    Great with : pork spare ribs, pork belly, chicken thigh
  • Teriyaki // via
    2 tablespoons Mirin
    1 tablespoon Sugar
    2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
    Great with : diced chicken breast meat, grilled chicken chop
  • Yakitori // via
    5 tablespoons soy sauce
    1 tablespoon mirin
    1 tablespoon sugar
    1/2 teaspoon corn starch blended with 1 teaspoon water
    Great with : grilled chicken meat, grilled chicken balls

Mini Chicken Burgers

| San

Mini Chicken Burgers // mono+co

I wanted to make mini chicken burgers.  Then I stumbled upon some recipes that states slider bun as THE bun to use.  I am probably the last person on earth to know what a slider is.  Are Sliders simply Mini Hamburgers?  Serious Eats says it is not:

“…a slider is something very specific. It is not just a mini hamburger. It’s a thin, thin slip of beef, cooked on a griddle with onions and pickles piled atop patty. The steam from the onions does as much cooking as the griddle. The buns are placed atop the onions, absorbing the pungent aroma and flavor.

A slider is at once a hamburger and, yet, something more. (Maybe because you eat a bunch of them at one sitting.)

A mini burger is just a reduction of the same old thing we already know, however much we may love it.”

OK, so I am definitely NOT making a slider here, because I am simply reducing the size of these chicken patties from Indochine Kitchen, and no onions were used.

I have made the burgers with store bought butter rolls, but I have pinned some slider bun recipes for future burger/slider attempt.  They look just as soft!

 

Mini Chicken Burger // mono+co

Mini Chicken Burger // mono+co

1.Mix all patty ingredients except breadcrumbs in a large bowl.
2.Add breadcrumbs and combine well.
3.With wet hands, shape patty mixture into the 12 balls, each about the size of a golf ball (about 35g).
4.Heat up 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium low heat.
5.Place the meat balls one at a time on the heated pan, each time flattening the ball into a round patty, about 1 cm thick, before putting in the next one.
6.When the pan is filled up with the flattened patties, turn the fire up to medium high to continue cooking, about 3-4 minutes each side.  Repeat till all patties are cooked.
7.Assemble burger with buns, lettuce leaves, tomato slices, and your favorite sauce!

Last Minute CNY Cookies Bake Off : Tea Cookies

| San

frozen dough tea cookies // mono+co

++Notes001 // Frozen dough can be kept up to a month.

TEA COOKIES
// Adapted from <<每天都是饼干日>>
// Yields 40 cookies

 

95g top flour, sifted
25g almond grounds
50g icing sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
20g egg
65g unsalted butter, softened
2g loose tea leaves or 1 tea bag
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

01. In a mixing bowl, whisk softened butter, then add icing sugar and salt, continue whisking.

02. Mix in the egg.  Whisk again.

03. Add tea leaves and vanilla extract.  Stir with a spoon to mix well all ingredients.

04. Finally, pour flour and almond grounds into the mixture, stir until a dough is formed.  Chill this in the fridge for 30mins if it is too soft to be kneaded/shaped.

05. After 30 minutes, take the dough out and roll it into a log. wrap in plastic or parchment paper and freeze it for 1-2 hours.

06. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 180C/350F.  Take out dough from the wrap and cut it into 0.6cm slices with a sharp knife.

07. Arrange cookie doughs on lined baking tray, with 2cm gap between each cookie.

08. Bake for 10 minutes.

09. Cool cookies on racks completely before storing in airtight containers.

Last Minute Chinese New Year Bake Off : Amaretti

| San

amaretti

Made with unused egg whites from Sugi Cookie and Almond Butter Cookie recipes.

AMARETTI
Adapted from <<每天都是饼干日>>
Yields 18 cookies

INGREDIENTS

  • 110g almond flour, sifted twice
  • 10g castor sugar
  • 60g icing sugar, sifted twice
  • 30g egg white
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 18 whole almonds, for garnishing

METHOD

01. In a clean, grease-free mixing bowl, whisk egg white till frothy.  Add castor sugar, and whisk fast to beat mixture till stiff peaks form.
02. Add vanilla extract, stir gently to combine.
03. Pour in sifted icing sugar and almond flour, fold in gently with a spatula.  Stop once flour and icing sugar are incorporated.
04. Chill dough till it becomes harder and easier to shape with hands.  Pinch and weigh 10g of the dough and roll it into a ball, place it on a lined baking tray, leaving about 2cm gap between the cookies.
05. Place an almond on top of each cookie and push it into the dough slightly.
06. Bake in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for 10 minutes.
07. Cool completely before storing in airtight containers.

Last Minute Chinese New Year Bake Off : Peanut Butter Cookies

| San

peanutbuttercookies

++Notes001 // Use unsalted or unsweetened peanut butter.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
// Adapted from <<每天都是饼干日>>
// Yields  24 cookies

INGREDIENTS

  • 90g top flour, sifted
  • 50g brown sugar
  • 20g honey
  • 1/4tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 egg
  • 60g unsalted butter, softened
  • 50g peanut butter, or better, make homemade ones
  • 50g roasted skinless peanuts, slightly grounded for garnishing

METHOD

01. In a mixing bowl, combine peanut butter and softened butter. Mix well with a hand whisk.
02. Add honey, brown sugar and salt, whisk to mix well.
03. Add egg to the mixture, in 2 portions, and whisk till ingredients are well incorporated.
04. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda and baking powder, and mix well.
05. Pour the flour into the butter mixture, and use a metal spoon to stir it into a dough.
06. Pour half of the grounded peanuts (25g) into the mixture and stir briefly to incorporate.
07. Weigh 10g of dough, and roll it into a ball.  Place it on a lined baking tray, and flatten it with palm.
08. Top each cookie with the remaining ground peanuts.
09. Bake in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for 8-10 minutes.
10. Cool completely before storing in airtight containers.

Last Minute Chinese New Year Bake Off : Rich Almond Butter Cookies

| San

rich almond butter cookies // mono+co

RICH ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES
Adapted from “Delicious Asian Sweet Treats”
Yields 35 cookies, depending on the size of cookie cutter

 

60g unsalted butter, melted
160g cake flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
70g icing sugar
1/4tsp salt
80g ground almonds
3 tbsp peanut oil
1 egg yolk
Glaze: egg yolk + white sesame seeds

METHOD
01. Sift cake flour, baking soda, icing sugar and salt into a mixing bowl.
02. Add ground almonds and mix well.
03. Add 3 tablespoons of peanut oil to melted butter, stir to mix well, and pour into flour mixture.
04. Stir gently with a metal spoon to combine.
05. Add in the yolk, and stir to form a dough.
06. With clean dry hands, pinch out a ball of dough about the size of a your palm.
07. If the dough feels to crumbly, add a few drops of peanut oil if necessary.
08. On a clean counter top, press the dough down with palm to flatten it to a thickness of about 5mm.
09. Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter.
10. The cookies will be too soft to be lifted by fingers.  Use a scraper to lift and transfer cut out cookies to a tray lined with baking paper.
11. Gather the left over dough, and pinch out enough dough from the mixing bowl to form another ball of palm size dough.  Repeat above 4 steps till all dough are used up.
12. Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
13. Brush surface of cookies with egg yolk and sprinkle some sesame seeds over them.
14. Bake for 10-12 minutes, till golden brown.