http://bakeitoff.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/macarons-tips-tricks-and-how-to.html

http://bakeitoff.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/macarons-tips-tricks-and-how-to.html

Sour Dough Starter

braised chicken with chestnuts chinese

braised chicken with chestnuts chinese


Chinese New Year is coming up soon – February 10, 2013, and it’s the Year of the Black Snake! I’ve been thinking of what dishes I’m going to make for my family, and this Braised Chicken with Chestnuts is a dish that’s been on my mind recently.
For 8 years, we had a woman from Shanghai live with our family to help care for my aging in-laws. After both my mother-in-law and father-in-law passed away, she moved out and returned to her home country. We were so fortunate to find someone as capable as she was – not only was she an excellent caregiver, but she was a great cook and I learned a few dishes from her while she lived with us.
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This Chinese Chicken with Chestnut dish is traditionally Shanghainese and I remember Wendy making this for our family. Although dried chestnuts used to be commonly used in this dish, frozen fresh chestnuts and jarred chestnuts are more readily available these days, so that’s what I use.

Cooked Chestnuts I purchased from the frozen section of an Asian grocery store

Today, Food Network and a group of bloggers is featuring Chicken for this week’s Comfort Food Feast event. Please stop by and see what everyone made:

Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Chinese Braised Chicken With Chestnuts
The Cultural Dish: Chicken Marsala
Thursday Night Dinner: Girls’ Night Chicken and Artichoke Pasta
Feed Me Phoebe: Honey Mustard Chicken Wings
Devour: Fried Chicken, 5 Ways
Made By Michelle: Chicken and Kale Casserole
Virtually Homemade: Tortilla Chip Chicken Tenders With Creamy BBQ Sauce
Cooking With Elise: Chicken Pastry
FN Dish: The New Face of Comforting Chicken Dishes

5 from 1 reviews

Chinese Braised Chicken with Chestnuts

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Traditionally, the chicken pieces are cut into bite size pieces; however, if you prefer to leave them whole, extend the cooking time.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2½ pounds chicken parts (I used chicken thighs on the bone)
• 4 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce, divided
• 1½ tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 scallions, cut into 2 inch lengths
• 5 slices ginger, the size of quarters, peeled
• 1 cup fresh chestnuts (or defrosted frozen ones)
• 8 shitake mushrooms, rehydrated in water (reserve soaking liquid), stems removed, halved
• ¼ cup dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 star anise
• 1 cup shitake mushroom soaking liquid

Directions

1. Chop chicken parts into small pieces if you like (1½" pieces). Marinate chicken with 2 tablespoons soy sauce and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a large pan and add scallions and ginger; saute a few minutes until fragrant. Place chicken pieces in pan in a single layer. Brown on one side, then turn over all the pieces and brown the other side. Add remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, sherry, honey, star anise, rehydrated shitake mushrooms, and shitake mushroom soaking liquid. Mix sauce and chicken well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, covered. Add chestnuts and toss gently. Cover and simmer another 15-20 minutes, until chicken is tender.

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 1 lb. salted butter room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tbs vanilla OR - I used Princess Cake Emulsion..
• 4 cups AP flour

For the Filling:

• 1 bag (14 oz.) caramel candies (about 50 individual caramels), unwrapped
• ⅓ cup milk or cream
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• *1 T. coarse sea salt (optional)

Try Premium Almond Paste in This Recipe.

 

Instructions

To make the crust:

1. Preheat oven to 325°
2. In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars. Using mixer on medium speed, beat together until creamy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Sift the flour into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until a smooth soft dough forms.
3. Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Press one-third of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust. Wrap remaining dough in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator.
4. Bake crust until firm and the edges are a pale golden brown approx 20 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool about 15 minutes.
5. While the bottom crust is baking and the remaining dough is chilling, make the caramel filling. Place the unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the cream. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave on high for 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth.
6. Once the caramel is melted add in your ½ tsp vanilla and stir until combined.
7. Pour the caramel filling over the crust. If you are going to salt the caramel sprinkle it on caramel layer now.
8. Remove the remaining chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it evenly over the caramel.
9. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden, about 25 - 30 minutes.
10. Let cool before cutting into squares.

http://cookiesandcups.com/dont-hate-me-because-im-butter-ful/

Related : http://cookiesandcups.com/salted-nutella-butter-bars/

Savoury Glutinous Rice (Chu Bee P'ng)

http://www.kuali.com/recipes/Savoury-Glutinous-Rice-Chu-Bee-Png/

Ingredients

• 600g glutinous rice
• 100g (10) shallots, peeled & sliced thinly
• 1/2 cup oil
• 150g dried prawns, washed & soaked
• 120g dried oysters, washed & soaked (optional)
• 120g (15 nos) dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
• 1-1 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons pepper, or to taste

Garnishing:

• Toasted/fried peanuts
• Spring onions, chopped

Method

1. Wash the glutinous rice in several changes of water until water runs clear. Soak for at least six hours or overnight.
2. Heat the oil in a wok and fry the shallot over medium-low heat, turning occasionally to prevent burning, until crispy and golden brown. Dish out shallot crisps to drain on paper towels. Set aside to cool.
3. Remove all but 4-5 tablespoons of the shallot oil in the wok. Over medium heat, stir-fry the dried prawns and mushroom slices until aromatic.
4. Add in the drained glutinous rice, soy sauce and pepper. Fry for 1-2 minutes, stirring continuously. Season to taste with salt.
5. Add the water and cook for about 5 minutes or until the grains are almost translucent (3/4 cooked).
6. Transfer into an electric rice cooker to finish the cooking (no need to add any more water), or you can steam the rice. Alternatively, transfer into a microwavable dish and complete cooking in the microwave oven.
7. Serve rice topped with shallot crisps, peanuts and spring onion.

Jaime Oliver epic hot chocolate mix

Jaime Oliver epic hot chocolate mix

2 tablespoons Horlicks

2 tablespoons cornflour

3 tablespoons icing sugar

4 tablespoons quality organic cocoa

100 g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), finely grated

1 pinch ground cinnamon

1 pinch sea salt

Add all the chocolate mix ingredients to a large jar and give it a good shake to combine. You need around 10 heaped tablespoons of the chocolate mix for this amount of milk. Simply spoon the chocolate mix into the hot milk, give it a good whisk and leave to bubble away for a few minutes before serving. You're looking for that gorgeous, thick, almost claggy, knockout texture.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chocolate-recipes/epic-hot-chocolate/ 

 

White chocolate, cranberry and macadamia jumbo cookies

Recipe tested on : 26 Oct 2014

• 250g butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups raw caster sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup white choc bits
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts 

1. Step 1
   Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
2. Step 2
   Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
3. Step 3
   Sift flour over butter mixture. Add choc bits, cranberries and macadamias. Stir to combine. Using 1/2 cup mixture per ball, roll into 10 balls. Place 2 balls, 5cm apart, on each prepared tray. Using the palm of your hand, flatten each ball. Shape each into a 1cm-thick round.
4. Step 4
   Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, swapping trays halfway through cooking, or until golden. Cool on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining mixture to make 10 cookies.