Pumpkin Cookies

My brother made these batch of pumpkin cookies from a recipe he obtained from the Joy of 

Baking.com.

Ingredients

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt          

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/4 cups (260 grams) light brown sugar

1/2 cup (120 ml) canola oil or corn oil (or other flavorless oil)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (215 grams) canned pumpkin puree

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 ounces (115 grams) room temperature cream cheese, regular of low fat

2 tablespoons (25 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup (55 grams) confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Note: Instead of frosting the cookies, you could add to the batter either 1 cup of chopped nuts or 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Method

For Pumpkin Cookies:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Ina large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and salt.

In the bowl ofyour electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until light and smooth (about 2 minutes).  Beat in the oil, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Using 1/4 cup of batter (can use a small ice cream scoop or measuring cup) place small mounds of batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.

Bake for about 15 -18 minutesor until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cookie comes out clean.Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.  Place small dollops of the frosting on each cookie or put the frosting in a piping bag, fitted with a small plain tip, and pipe swirls of frosting on the top of each cookie. Store frosted cookies in the refrigerator.

Frosting: 
Beat the cream cheese and butter until soft and creamy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla until the frosting is soft and creamy.

Makes about 18 cookies.

Sources:
Klivans, Elinor.Big Fat Cookies. Chronicle Books. San Francisco: 2005.

Ojakangas, Beatrice.The Great Holiday Baking Book. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis: 1994.

Lemon and Garlic Drink

The combination of garlic and lemon can form a perfect combo for your health. As both garlic and lemon have anti-septic and anti-bacteria properties, their mixture can be use to strengthen respiratory system, prevent colds, flu and infections. Recent researches have established the beneficial properties of regularly consuming garlic and lemon for diabetics. Eating garlic and lemon also helps to lower cholesterol and high blood pressure.


Ingredients:

6 lemons
30 cloves garlic
1 litre water


Method:


Cut the lemons into slices. Peel the skin from the garlic. Place the lemon slices and garlic into a pot and pour in the water.

Place the pot onto a stove and simmer in low heat for 1 hour. Switch off the heat and allow to cool.

Pour the lemon slices, garlic and water into a blender and blend until smooth and thick.

Pour the blended mixture into a glass container and keep refrigerated.

Drink daily in the morning on an empty stomach by mixing 1 teaspoon of the mixture with a glass of lukewarm water.

Banana Yogurt Smoothie

This delicious smoothie is packed with protein, potassium, calcium, fiber, vitamin c and omega-3s.

Ingredients:

1 medium banana
4 tbsp Quaker oats
1 cup orange juice
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp flaxseeds
3-4 ice cubes

Method:

Place the flaxseeds in a blender and puree for 30 seconds until they are coarsely ground.

Cut the banana into small pieces and add into the blender with the oats, yogurt, orange juice and ice cubes and blend until smooth and thick. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

You can also use a pear in place of the banana. Just as delicious!

Olive and Mustard Egg Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

¼ cup light mayonnaise
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp paprika (optional)
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and mashed
2 tbsp sliced green olives (about 7-8 medium olives)
2 tbsp finely chopped celery
1 tbsp fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Whole grain bread
Butter spread
Salad leaves

Method:

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustard and paprika. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Season to taste. Chill for at least an hour before serving to help flavours combine.

Butter the sliced bread with butter spread and place 2 tablespoons of filling on bread. Top with salad leaves and sandwich with another slice of bread.

Stir-fried Fragrant Sauce Clams (Kam Heong La La)

Ingredients:

500g clams
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp dried Shrimps, soaked and chopped
2 stalks curry leaves
1 tbsp chopped lemon grass
5 chilli, finely sliced
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp preserved soya beans, minced

Seasoning:

1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
A little thick soy sauce
¼ tsp chicken stock granules
½ tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lime juice
¾ tbsp water

Method:

Soak clams in salted water for at least 30 minutes. Remove and blanch in boiling water for a minute or less, then drain well in a plastic container.

Heat oil and sesame oil in a wok. Saute dried shrimps until fragrant.

Add curry leaves, lemon grass, garlic and chillies. Stir in minced soya beans and curry powder to mix.

Stir in seasoning and clams. Fry until heated through and dish out.

Mid-Autumn Festival Moon Cakes

Mid-Autumn Festival is on 3rd October 2009, this coming Saturday. But moon cakes have already been available for sale since early July and this year, there are even more vendors selling the moon cakes. Besides the moon cakes from the famous brands like Tai Thong, Baker’s Cottage, Overseas and Tong Kee, this year, you can also find a selection of moon cakes from some of the bakery outlets like Bread Story and Breadtalk. And there are so many new and exotic flavours available like the Precious Black (dried longan with wolfberry lotus paste), Blueberry Blackcurrant Cheese, Jade Delights with Coconut Silk, Snow Skin Strawberry Apple, Snow Skin Coffee Chip Tiramisu and Snow Skin Chocolate Mint with Nut Pieces.

Pay a visit to Mid-Valley Megamall’s Mid-Autumn Festival Promotion and you will be able to see the variety of moon cakes created by the hotel chefs from Westin KL, Concorde, Shangri-la, Hilton, Renaissance and Nikko Hotel. And at the Jaya Jusco outlet there, you will also find the Doreamon moon cakes beside those from the tops brands and Baker’s Cottage has a chef making the Shanghai Mini Lotus moon cakes at their stall.

It is also interesting to see the various types of packaging for the moon cakes which include beautiful jewelry boxes, Japanese inspired bento boxes, Chess sets (the mini moon cakes are shaped like chess pieces); no wonder the moon cakes are getting so expensive!

At home, I have been eating moon cakes bought by my siblings for my parents. This year, they decided to bring the moon cakes over earlier as last year, everyone brought the moon cakes on the day of the festival and my mom ended up giving back the moon cakes to my sisters and brothers to take back. This year, eating the moon cakes earlier meant they are still fresh and we get to taste all the various flavours.

The moon cakes in my house came from Westin Hotel, Tong Kee, Baker’s Cottage and one box of homemade “Kam Tui” moon cakes given by my father’s friend. I had also bought a box of moon cakes from Fruit Story which has a stall at Mid-Valley’s Mid-Autumn Festival Promotion. Fruit Story moon cakes are less sweet and healthier as they use fruits for the filling instead of the salted egg yolk. The two flavours I bought were Mint Lotus with Strawberry and Dragon Fruit Lotus with Salted Mung Bean.

Enjoy your mooncakes with a pot of chinese tea and have a wonderful and Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Seafood and Turkey Bacon Paella

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 green capsicum, seeds removed, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
200g turkey bacon pieces
or rindless turkey bacon, cut into thin strips
1 large tomato, chopped or
200g canned chopped tomatoes
200g paella rice or arborio rice
½ tsp saffron threads, crushed
1.2 litres hot chicken or fish stock
400g mixed seafood (marinara mix)
lime wedges to serve (optional)

Method:

Heat oil in non-stick frying pan. Add onion, capsicum, garlic and turkey bacon and cook over low heat 5 minutes. Add tomato and cook 2 minutes.

Add rice and stir to coat in the oil. Add saffron threads and heat for a few seconds, then pour in hot stock. Bring to the boil, stir lightly and simmer 5 minutes.

Mix in seafood, return to a gentle simmer and cook 10 minutes or until rice in tender and liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Serve with lime wedges if you like.

Tom Yam Bouillabaisse

Ingredients:

½ kg Prawns (shells on, whiskers trimmed)
10 Mussels (shells on)
10 Large Squids (cut into large pieces)
1 can Pacific Clams (drained and keep the stock aside)
2 Large Onions (chopped)
100 g Baby Corns
2 Green Peppers (quartered)
8 abalone mushrooms (cut into 2)
3 tbsp Tom Yam Paste
2 Kaffir Lime Leaves
3 stalks Lemon Grass
½ cup Coconut Milk
6 tbsp Cooking Oil
2 Cups Water

Method:

Fry the chopped onions in hot oil till softened. Add the tom yam paste with the kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass. When fragrant, add the prawns, mussels, squids and toss to ensure an even distribution of spices.

Add 2 cups of water, stock from the can of pacific clams and coconut milk . When the broth begins to boil, add the baby corns, green peppers and abalone mushrooms and the drained pacific clams.

Switch off fire and leave the stew to complete cooking in its own heat. This also ensures the seafood is not over cooked.

Serve in large bowls with a basket of bread.

Stir-Fried Lo Shi Fun

Ingredients:

1 kg Lo Shi Fun
600 gm Bean Sprouts
300 gm Minced Pork (marinate with a bit of soy sauce, pepper and sugar)
50 gm Dried Shrimp (pre-soaked)
3 pcs Dried Chinese Mushroom (pre-soaked and sliced)
3 cloves Garlic (minced)
3 slices Ginger
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Cooking Oil
Salt and Sugar to taste
1 stalk Spring Onion (cut into slices)

Method:

1.Stir-fry the bean sprouts with the ginger slices until half-cooked. Dish up and keep aside.
2.Heat the cooking oil and fry the dried shrimp and minced garlic until fragrant before adding in the minced pork. Fry for 1 minute before adding in the sliced mushrooms
3.Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, sugar and a little water and let the ingredients simmer for 1 minute before adding in the lo shi fun.
4.Continue frying until all the ingredients are well-mixed before adding in the bean sprouts and continue frying for 1 minute.
5.Garnish with spring onion and serve immediately.

Vegetarian Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

Ingredients:

1/2 box spaghetti (or any other kind of pasta you prefer)
4-6 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes
1 large handful arugula or baby spinach
olive oil
red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

Method:

Start boiling water for the spaghetti.

Heat a generous pour of olive oil on low heat in a pan large enough to fit all the cooked spaghetti.

Chop the garlic and add to the olive oil. Cook over low heat until the garlic softens and turns a little translucent, then remove from heat.

Boil the spaghetti and drain.

Heat the garlic and oil up again slowly, then add the pasta to the saucepan. Lightly saute the spaghetti in the olive oil and garlic while adding the pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Once the spaghetti is fully coated with the garlic and oil mixture, remove from heat and toss with the arugula or baby spinach.

Cantonese-Style Pickled Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 chinese radish
1 carrot
3 cucumbers
1 large piece young ginger

Seasonings:

4 tbsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar

Preparation:

Peel carrot, rinse radish, cucumbers and young ginger, cut all vegetables into a diamond shape.

Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar to make sweet and sour pickling stock and pour into a container.

Cooking Instructions:

Marinate radish and carrot with 2 tbsp salt for 1 hour. Flatten; rinse with cold water and drain.

Marinate cucumber and ginger with 1 tbsp salt for 20 minutes, rinse and drain.

Put all ingredients in the sweet and sour pickling stock and seal. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Ready to serve.


About this dish:

When eating, use a clean, dry utensil to remove the pickled vegetables to prevent spoilage.

The pickling stock may be reused when the vegetables are eaten up. If there is not enough stock, simply add sugar and vinegar in the ratio of one to one to replenish it.

Happy Dumpling Festival

The Dumpling Festival (or Duan Wu Jie) is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (May 28 this year), honours scholar-poet Qu Yuan who took his life by jumping into a river. He did so because he was greatly saddened when the King refused to take his advice, leading to a war. Fearing that fish would eat Qu’s body, his friends and supporters made dumplings and threw them into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of the body.

There are so many types of dumplings available for sale in the market now and you can even buy the dumplings at any time of the year, but for me, eating the dumpling on the day of the Festival has a lot of significance. When we were young, my mom would make the dumplings a few days before the festival and for the next few days, we would be eating the dumplings for breakfast and supper. Nowadays, we would just buy the dumplings from the market and eat them on the day of the festival.

Talking about the different types of dumplings, my favourite is still the ba chang (with pork) but I prefer the green bean filling to the white bean filling as I find them more fragrant. It is quite difficult to find them as those dumplings available for sale in the market are normally with the white bean filling. There is also the Baba-Nyonya dumpling and the gan-suei (non-meat glutinous rice) dumpling (plain or with red bean filling). The normal price of the dumplings can be between RM2.60 to RM3.20 depending on the type and size but since the price of the ingredients and bamboo leaves had gone up, it might be more expensive . Anyone know where I can get nice and reasonably priced dumplings in PJ?

Happy Dumpling Festival!



You can check out the recipes for the different types of dumplings here.

Sliced Chicken With Pear

Ingredients:

200g Chicken breast
1 Pear (150g)
15g Ham
20g Mushroom
1 Egg White
100g Peas
5g Scallion
2½ tbsp starch
1 tbsp cooking wine

Seasoning B:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp starch water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Method:

Cut the chicken breast into pieces and marinate with the cooking wine. Coat the chicken pieces with starch and dip in egg white. Preheat the pan with oil, fry the chicken breast till golden, drain up.

Cut the pear, ham and mushroom into slices.

Mix seasoning B well to be the cooking sauce.

Fry scallion briefly and take it out, Fry pear, ham and mushroom for a while and then put in the chicken breast. Add the cooking sauce and mix all the ingredients together. Turn off heat and dish out.

Leftovers

When braising meat, chop any leftover bones, such as those from a chicken carcass, and add them to the bed of chopped vegetables. The bones and vegetables are discarded after cooking, but they add extra flavour to the braising liquid and to the meat.

Cooked or raw cucumber can easily be made into a quick cold and refreshing soup. Process or blend it with a clove of garlic, thick yoghurt, cream or crème fraiche and mint or tarragon. Serve sprinkled with a tablespoon of the chopped herb and black pepper. A handful of chopped prawns adds colour and flavour.

Most sauces freeze very well and frozen blocks of sauce or gravy can be reheated in a saucepan straight from the freezer. Frozen sauces are good timesavers so it is worth making twice as much as the recipe calls for and freezing half.

Leftover satay sauce should be used within a day or two. It makes an excellent topping for grilled chicken or a dressing for gado gado; the Indonesian cucumber, bean sprouts, green beans and beancurd salad. It can also be used in vegetarian dishes, for instance mixed with rice, peas and carrots or as a dip for crudités.

Won Ton Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 spring onion, green and white parts, finely chopped
5 water chestnuts, finely chopped
125 g prawns, shelled, deveined and minced
250 g finely minced pork
1 egg, lightly beaten
A pinch of black pepper
1tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp cornflour
30 won ton skins, each 5 cm square

Method:

Combine all of the ingredients except the won ton skins in a bowl.

Test the seasoning of the stuffing mixture by bringing a pan of water to the boil, dropping 1 teaspoon of the mixture into it and cooking it for just a minute. Taste the stuffing and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Take one won ton skin at a time and place 1 heaped teaspoon of the mixture in the centre of each. Then moisten the four edges of the won ton skin, gather up the corners and twist lightly to form a little pouch,

Place the won ton on a slightly oiled plate, twisted side up but not touching each other, and steam them in a wok for 10 minutes. Or deep-fry them for 15-20 minutes until crisp.

Making Batter

The batters that are used to make pancakes, waffles and such dishes are much the same. It is the exact proportions of all the ingredients that vary slightly.

Pancakes, waffles and baked batter puddings are all made with a basic pouring batter (see recipe below). To make crepes which are slightly lighter than pancakes, the batter is thinned with a few tablespoons of extra liquid.

Fritters and battered foods such as fish, shellfish and vegetables are made with coating batter. This used the same amount of flour, salt and egg as pouring batter, but only half of the liquid. Whisked eggs whites may be folded into a coating butter and sugar added for sweet fritters.

The type of liquid used in batters (whether milk, a mix of milk and water or beer) will influence the result. Water makes a light batter, milk helps to make it smoother and causes it to brown faster, while beer adds lightness and flavour.

Making Basic Batter

This basic batter will make 8-10 pancakes. Include 3 tablespoons of extra milk if making lighter crepes and half the liquid for making a thicker coating butter.

Sift 125g (1 cup) plain flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre, then break in 1 egg and beat with a balloon whisk or wooden spoon.

Beat in 300 ml milk, little by little, incorporating the surrounding floor gradually so the batter becomes very smooth.

The batter may be used at once, but it is much better if it is left in a cool place for about 30 minutes, allowing the starch grains to soften.

Cooking for Health

Poaching

Place the food in a container (such as a fish or egg poacher), add the poaching liquid, cover with foil or a close-fitting lid and cook in the oven or on the stove.

Poaching requires no extra fat. Eggs and fish such as salmons are popular foods for poaching.




Griddle

You sear food quickly in the hot pan on both sides to form a crust and seal in the juices. You can add fresh herbs, spices, lemon or lime juice and balsamic vinegar.


You hardly need to use any oil or fat. Foods that can be griddle include vegetables, fish, poultry and various kinds of meat.


Steaming

Put the food in a perforated pan or coriander and fit it over a pan of boiling water. Cover with a close fitting lid – the steam cooks the food. You can also use stacking can of stainless steel steamers or Chinese bamboo.


Steaming retains the nutrients in food. You can steam fish, poultry, puddings, sponges, custard and dumplings as well as vegetables.


En Papillote

Wrap foods loosely, but sealed, in greaseproof paper or foil, then bake or steam. Use moderate heat and a little liquid. No added oils or fats are used. This method keeps in the flavours, so you need just a few additions. Herbs, spices, vegetables and fruits all add flavour, also liquids such as stock, citrus juices, wine, Worcestershire and soya sauces and flavoured vinegars.

Seafood, poultry, vegetables and fruit can be cooked this way.

How to Serve Finger Food

Ease the mess for guests with these presentation tips for casual entertaining.

• Morsels should be small enough to be eaten in one mouthful.
• Check the temperature. Hot food doesn’t mean hot enough to burn your tongue.
•If you’re putting out communal food platters, such as antipasto or tapas, be sure to supply toothpicks or mini-forks. And provide an empty bowl for the used forks, olive stones or prawn tails.
•Don’t stack multilayered sandwiches in a continuous line, arrange them so that its easy to pick out an individual serve neatly.

Extend the Life of Your Knife

Use these tips from Bill Brown of cooksknivesshop.co.uk to keep your knives in tip-top condition.

- Invest in quality. A good set of knives can be costly, but if looked after they will last a lifetime.

- Store away from other metal objects on a magnetic rack or in a block, to avoid nicks and scratches.

- Hone a little and often with a steel to realign the blade. Hold the steel on a board, start with the blade vertical with the end furthest away and pull towards you. Steels come in two versions, for Asian-style knives and European-style knives.

- Sharpen old knives. Some cook shops offer this service or you can buy an electric sharpener.

- Clean by hand. Harsh chemicals and stacking in the dishwasher can damage the knife. Dry straight away to avoid a watermark.

Spices - How To Use Them

Star Anise
Has a flavour halfway between aniseed and liquorice. It is an ingredient of Chinese five-spice powder.

Coriander Seed
Has a warm, citrus-like flavour. Use it alone, or combined with other spices. It is always included in curry powder and garam masala.

Cardamom
Has tiny, highly aromatic black seeds inside the loose pod. Green cardamom is best, but brown or white are also good. It is used in India in curries and in the Middle East to perfume coffee.

Cumin
Is delicate and mild and goes especially well with coriander. It is best bought as seeds and then gently toasted before use, whole or ground.

Tumeric
Usually sold ground, it is perhaps the easiest spice to recognize because of its bright yellow hue. Often used for its colour as a cheap substitute for saffron. Its flavour is actually fairly unremarkable and slightly bitter.

Cinnamon
Is the inner bark of an evergreen tree, sold either in papery rolls that resemble quilts, or ground. Its fragrant sweetness can be used in both savoury and sweet dishes such as rice pilafs, hot cross buns and apple tarts.

Nutmeg
Is best bought whole and grated when required. It is good used in cheese and vegetable dishes, milky sauces, junkets and rice puddings.