Guest appearance 3 by Penguinni - some hawker fare

Dear has been quite enthusiastic about dishing up hawker food. i think this is due to almost his fav zi char at the hawker at where i previously stayed (circuit road). it is quite a famous hawker centre - mainly for its lor mee, zhu za tang (pig's organs soup), vegetarian food and dessert....


getting hungry as i picture those food....


below are some hawker food prepared by Dear for dinner, but i did the fried rice. to me, fried rice/noodles/anything are the easiest foods to prepare! 

Cranberry & Oat Loaf

finally - cranberries and oat! Not cookies though. it was a bread loaf. this shall be Dear's snack and my breakfast for the coming week. further, this is really a guilt-free food after all the "intoxication" from Chinese New Year goodies. :)

it is "no sugar added" - honeylicious!

a very simple recipe and here goes:

Cranberry & Oat Loaf

Ingredients:

312.5g all purpose flour

1tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

a dash of nutmeg (which i omitted)

90 g rolled oats, plus some to sprinkle

80-90 g craisins (dried cranberries)

75 g canola oil

2 eggs

255 g honey

125 g skimmed milk

method:

1. preheat oven to 176degC

2. stir the flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, salt and oat together. set aside

3. mix well the milk, oil, honey and eggs.

4. add in the dry ingredients from 2 and mix well

5. stir in the craisins

6. bake in preheat oven for about 1 hr or until a (long) toothpick when inserted comes out clean.

toast and serve with butter for breakfast, brunch or as a snack!

Chinese New Year Cornflake Cookies

i am a BIG fan of cornflake cookies and one of the best i had was bought from a noodle stall in an old wet market in Macpherson. the wet market is already demolished. i wonder how many of my peers visit wet market these days but typically they have a hawker section and the market section. hawker section sells cooked food and many elders would hang around in the early morning, chatting over a cup of Kopi. sometimes, during lunar new year, domestic bakers will distribute their goodies with the stalls for sale.

last year, i tried three cornflake cookies recipes and finally found the one i like - it is crunchy and "su" at the same time. "su" is a chinese word and i am not sure how to describe it here. it feels like the cookie breaks apart easily.. i love this recipe and here are the cookies again for the lunar new year..

Cornflake Cookies


Ingredient A
200 g --------------------- plan flour
1 tsp ---------------------- milk powder
1 tsp ---------------------- baking powder
150 g --------------------- cornflakes (i crushed it)


Ingredient B
200 g --------------------- butter
150 g --------------------- sugar
2 egg yolks


small paper cups


Method
1. mix ingredient A
2. cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy
3. add in the egg yolks and mix well
4. add in ingredient B unit well mixed


5. spoon batter into paper cups and bake for 20-25 min or until golden brown
6, bake in pre-heated oven @ 150degC

Guest Appearance 3 by Penguinni - Fettucine Pesto

another awesome dish by Dear... so i learnt that fettucine is egg pasta... 


FYI, the pesto is home-made and self-made, comprising basil, almond nut (cheaper alternative to pine nuts) and olive oil.

Honey Nutty Cupcakes

for a Xbox lunch party... 


my second try on this recipe.. simple and quick; great when you are time constrained...

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

for subway cookies lovers, this gotta be THE recipe for you.. these cookies are soft and chewy and slightly bigger than subway's. personally, i prefer crispy cookies so i baked two batches of it - one batch soft & chewy and the other crispy and crunchy.

New York times Chocolate Chip Cookies (from the NYT of course!)


Ingredients:


2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content  (see note below)
*Sea salt - i used the normal cooking salt. my recommendation is either use real sea salt or nothing at all


Method:

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours. - i froze my cookie dough for 24 hours instead; after mixing, i divided my cookie dough into balls (the way i would bake them), placed them on a greaseproof baking sheet and let them harden (uncovered) in the freezer before transferring them into a zip-lock bag for further storage. 

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Arrange the cookie dough balls on the baking mat, space them about 4 cm from each other. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 20-25 minutes (30 min for a crispier cookie). Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough.