So now that I am home for the summer, it seems my blog will be put on hold for awhile, but if I do make anything while I am home... then a post will come!
Until then, I will leave you with this quote from Henry Miller:
"Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such"
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Chocolate Chip Cookies
So with exams in motion and English Literature in one week, I've been sadly neglecting this blog... but never fear! I have a batch of cookies to tell you about here.
Last weekend for a potluck dinner, I made some yummy chocolate chip cookies. Another interesting cooking experiment as we ran out of white sugar during the cooking process, but more about that later.
Here is the recipe I borrowed from Martha Stewart, as my recipe is all the way back home!
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar [I used caster]
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract [I added an extra 1/4 tsp vanilla since I love it so much]
2 large eggs
2 cups (about 12 oz) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips
This is the handy dandy measurement converter I use quite often as I bounce between US and UK recipes: http://allrecipes.com/howto/cup-to-gram-conversions/
Okay, time to begin! Preheated the oven to 350 (176 celsius) fahrenheit, then in a small bowl, I whisked together the flour and the baking soda and set aside.
Next, I added the salt, vanilla, and eggs, stirring even faster until the whole concoction until well mixed.
Last weekend for a potluck dinner, I made some yummy chocolate chip cookies. Another interesting cooking experiment as we ran out of white sugar during the cooking process, but more about that later.
Here is the recipe I borrowed from Martha Stewart, as my recipe is all the way back home!
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar [I used caster]
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract [I added an extra 1/4 tsp vanilla since I love it so much]
2 large eggs
2 cups (about 12 oz) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips
This is the handy dandy measurement converter I use quite often as I bounce between US and UK recipes: http://allrecipes.com/howto/cup-to-gram-conversions/
Okay, time to begin! Preheated the oven to 350 (176 celsius) fahrenheit, then in a small bowl, I whisked together the flour and the baking soda and set aside.
Right about here the real work started. In a separate bowl, I combined the butter with both sugars (had to use an extra 50g of light brown sugar as I was 50g short of the caster sugar, oops!) and with a wooden spoon (sadly we dont have the facility of an electric mixer...) I vigourously mixed away until light and fluffy.
Next, I added the salt, vanilla, and eggs, stirring even faster until the whole concoction until well mixed.
Once that was done (and I gave my hand a bit of a rest!), I added the flour mixture and mixed until just combined.
And at last, the best part!! Stirring in the chocolate chips :)
Once the cookie dough was made, I placed them in tiny balls of dough on baking sheets, and baked in batched until the cookies were golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Since I used a bit more brown sugar then the recipe called for, the cookies did end up a bit crisper than I would have wanted, but they still hit the spot and were gobbled up by everyone within minutes!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Chicken Korma & Potatoes with a Courgette and Shallot Mix
Title pretty much says it all... but I'm still going to give you a play-by-play.
Side Dish: Courgette and Shallot Mix
Well, thought we needed some vegetables to go with our Korma, potatoes, and rice, so I rummaged around and found shallots (two medium) in the cabinet to go with the courgettes (two large) that my flatmate had in the fridge. Then I started chopping away, cutting both the shallots and the courgettes lengthwise because, as my flatmate says, "for some reason circle vegetables just don't taste as good." And I would have to agree....
The Main Bulk: Chicken Korma with Potatoes and Rice
Potatoes boiling away, chicken browning in the pan, rice cooking and cooking...
Courgettes and shallots in one pan with olive oil (extra virgin) and salt and pepper, which I stirred quite often so as to keep rotating the courgettes for browning....
Simultaneously (and as you can probably guess, not too much stove space, so my flatmate and I had to do a bit of cooking acrobatics in order to have the timing of everything correct....), we added our Loyd Grossman Korma sauce to the browned chicken and let that cook until adding the boiled potatoes and simmering the combination until the chicken was cooked through.
The mixture cooking away (see the lovely browning on the courgettes!)....
And the chicken and potatoes soaking up all the delicious Korma sauce....
Until at last, complete.
Nom.
Side Dish: Courgette and Shallot Mix
Well, thought we needed some vegetables to go with our Korma, potatoes, and rice, so I rummaged around and found shallots (two medium) in the cabinet to go with the courgettes (two large) that my flatmate had in the fridge. Then I started chopping away, cutting both the shallots and the courgettes lengthwise because, as my flatmate says, "for some reason circle vegetables just don't taste as good." And I would have to agree....
The Main Bulk: Chicken Korma with Potatoes and Rice
Potatoes boiling away, chicken browning in the pan, rice cooking and cooking...
Courgettes and shallots in one pan with olive oil (extra virgin) and salt and pepper, which I stirred quite often so as to keep rotating the courgettes for browning....
Simultaneously (and as you can probably guess, not too much stove space, so my flatmate and I had to do a bit of cooking acrobatics in order to have the timing of everything correct....), we added our Loyd Grossman Korma sauce to the browned chicken and let that cook until adding the boiled potatoes and simmering the combination until the chicken was cooked through.
The mixture cooking away (see the lovely browning on the courgettes!)....
And the chicken and potatoes soaking up all the delicious Korma sauce....
Until at last, complete.
Nom.
Very delicious overall. The softness of the shallots with the ever so slight crunch of the courgettes complimented the curry quite well! A bit more salt here and there would have made it even better, but then again, I just love salt.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Experimenting with Stuffed Chicken
On the Menu tonight:
Baked chicken stuffed with mozzarella and pesto
Caramelised onions and chestnut mushrooms, drizzled with garlic fried in sun-dried tomato oil
Sauteed Spinach
Chive Rice
Tonight I got to have a lot of fun, as my flatmates and I combined forces for dinner, and I got to show them a few of my cooking tricks.
As with the previous post, I used the same method of browning the garlic in the sun-dried tomato olive oil then quickly frying the stuffed chicken (to be detailed below) in said oil before placing it in the baking tray and drizzling it with the browned garlic and oil and placing it in the oven! For the baking, 200 celsius (fan oven) for about 25 minutes....
For the sides, since I had to use up all of my mushrooms (200g), I thought it would be best to caramlise them with the two medium-sized onions I had lying around:
Heat up the olive oil (do the 'water test,' aka, if you drop a bit of water and it sizzles, it's ready!) then add your mushrooms and onions. Once they have cooked down a bit (softened but not browned), add your brown sugar (done mostly by eye and preference), then stir away until cooked down to just past the point pictured above.
For the sauteed spinach? Pretty simple. Olive oil + spinach --> cook down until the spinach had turned to a deep green.
Chive rice? Cook your rice as per usual then add dried chives and butter (we use an olive-oil based butter).
So with all the elements cooked (and if you like to have fun with presentation as I do), this was the final product:
Baked chicken stuffed with mozzarella and pesto
Caramelised onions and chestnut mushrooms, drizzled with garlic fried in sun-dried tomato oil
Sauteed Spinach
Chive Rice
Tonight I got to have a lot of fun, as my flatmates and I combined forces for dinner, and I got to show them a few of my cooking tricks.
As with the previous post, I used the same method of browning the garlic in the sun-dried tomato olive oil then quickly frying the stuffed chicken (to be detailed below) in said oil before placing it in the baking tray and drizzling it with the browned garlic and oil and placing it in the oven! For the baking, 200 celsius (fan oven) for about 25 minutes....
For the sides, since I had to use up all of my mushrooms (200g), I thought it would be best to caramlise them with the two medium-sized onions I had lying around:
For the sauteed spinach? Pretty simple. Olive oil + spinach --> cook down until the spinach had turned to a deep green.
Chive rice? Cook your rice as per usual then add dried chives and butter (we use an olive-oil based butter).
So with all the elements cooked (and if you like to have fun with presentation as I do), this was the final product:
Everything was delicious, but to add a bit more description than that, I'll focus mostly on the chicken and onions/mushrooms (the spinach and rice speak for themselves):
Chicken:
Nice and juicy, with the mozzarella and pesto combination oozing slightly from the deep pocket we created earlier. Could have used a bit more pesto, but then again, I'm a pesto fiend. This could be even more improved by taking slices of sun-dried tomato and baking the chicken with that as well. But then again, another variation, another time....
Onions/Mushrooms:
Perfect amount of caramlisation. When cooking and adding the brown sugar, all you have to do is sprinkle the sugar in a thin layer on the top of the mixture, mix, then do that about three times. Soft and luscious with a tint of sweetness.
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