![The Makings of a Perfect Brownie:
1) A perfect brownie should be crunchy on top that the surface cracks the minute you sink your teeth into it.
2) The texture should be chewy and moist and fudge-like that the act of chewing every morsel of it is equally pleasurable as that of having a foodgasm.
3) A perfect brownie should never contain any leavening agents such as bicarbonate of soda or baking powder (unless you want a cake-like brownie, then I believe one should just eat cake instead). Any brownie recipe that includes these sacrilegious additions is well, a sacrilege!
4) The proper mixing of all the brownie ingredients is also a factor. If you just mix all the ingredients together and dump everything into a baking pan, the brownie top won’t be as crunchy, unlike when you separate the egg whites from the yolks, beating the whites with sugar just until thick and frothy, much like a runny meringue before mixing with the rest of the ingredients is the secret to a crunchy top… I promise!
5) And lastly, of course a perfect brownie should taste like it is blessed by a Mayan god cacao connoisseur. It should be ooh-ing and screaming chocolate. So use the best quality chocolate bar or cocoa powder.
Crunchy Top Fudge Brownies
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup good quality cocoa powder (I use a German brand cocoa powder -Heintz, you can use a Dutch-processed cocoa powder… means it is alkalized)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs (medium), separated
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups dark chocolate chips
*2 cups whole walnuts (optional)
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350’F. Line a 9”x13” rectangle baking pan with baking parchment.
- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over low heat. When melted, remove from heat and add cocoa powder, mix until smooth.
- Add brown sugar, salt, vanilla, egg yolks and flour. Set Aside.
- Using a hand mixer/wire whisk/stand mixer, beat egg whites until frothy. Then slowly add the granulated sugar until meringue gets into a soft peak stage.
- Fold the meringue mixture into the chocolate mixture. Then mix in the dark chocolate chips and walnuts (optional).
- Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until when toothpick inserted in the center of the brownie comes out with moist crumbs (not wet brownie batter).
- Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then lift from the baking pan and cut into 24 square pieces. Cool cut brownies on wire racks.
- Store in an air tight container. Laid flat and layers separated by parchment paper.
Makes 2 dozens
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The Makings of a Perfect Brownie:
1) A perfect brownie should be crunchy on top that the surface cracks the minute you sink your teeth into it.
2) The texture should be chewy and moist and fudge-like that the act of chewing every morsel of it is equally pleasurable as that of having a foodgasm.
3) A perfect brownie should never contain any leavening agents such as bicarbonate of soda or baking powder (unless you want a cake-like brownie, then I believe one should just eat cake instead). Any brownie recipe that includes these sacrilegious additions is well, a sacrilege!
4) The proper mixing of all the brownie ingredients is also a factor. If you just mix all the ingredients together and dump everything into a baking pan, the brownie top won’t be as crunchy, unlike when you separate the egg whites from the yolks, beating the whites with sugar just until thick and frothy, much like a runny meringue before mixing with the rest of the ingredients is the secret to a crunchy top… I promise!
5) And lastly, of course a perfect brownie should taste like it is blessed by a Mayan god cacao connoisseur. It should be ooh-ing and screaming chocolate. So use the best quality chocolate bar or cocoa powder.
Crunchy Top Fudge Brownies
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup good quality cocoa powder (I use a German brand cocoa powder -Heintz, you can use a Dutch-processed cocoa powder… means it is alkalized)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs (medium), separated
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups dark chocolate chips
*2 cups whole walnuts (optional)
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350’F. Line a 9”x13” rectangle baking pan with baking parchment.
- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over low heat. When melted, remove from heat and add cocoa powder, mix until smooth.
- Add brown sugar, salt, vanilla, egg yolks and flour. Set Aside.
- Using a hand mixer/wire whisk/stand mixer, beat egg whites until frothy. Then slowly add the granulated sugar until meringue gets into a soft peak stage.
- Fold the meringue mixture into the chocolate mixture. Then mix in the dark chocolate chips and walnuts (optional).
- Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until when toothpick inserted in the center of the brownie comes out with moist crumbs (not wet brownie batter).
- Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then lift from the baking pan and cut into 24 square pieces. Cool cut brownies on wire racks.
- Store in an air tight container. Laid flat and layers separated by parchment paper.
Makes 2 dozens
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Shoestring Potato and Onion Pancakes (Latkes)
These latkes are very tasty and unlike the latkes traditionally served with applesauce, sour cream or even compound butters these crunchy and spikey babies are delicious all by themselves.
Ingredients:
2 large potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and julienned (cut thinly into shoestrings)
1 large white onion, very thinly sliced and separated
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 heaping Tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 cup cornflour (cornstarch)
fresh cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon fine salt (or less according to taste)
canola oil for pan-frying
Procedure:
- In a bowl mix all ingredients together except canola oil.
- Heat skillet and put just enough oil to cover the surface.
- Place a tablespoon amount mound of potato mixture onto the hot oil and pan-fry till potato pancakes are golden brown and crispy.
- Place cooked latkes on paper towels to absorb excess oil, then transfer to a wire rack so that bottom of pancakes doesn’t get soggy because air can circulate at the bottom making pancakes stay crispy on both sides.
Makes about 1 1/2 dozens latkes
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Quick Saffron and Seafood Rice with Chorizo
In a way, this is very similar to Paella, but I do not want to call this even a Quick Paella because I strayed away from the traditional and complete ingredients of the proud Spanish dish and well, I don’t want my dear friend Laura who is very Spanish and the one who sent me the packets of saffron powder I used in this dish to disown me… which I know won’t happen, because she loves me no matter what. But then she is Spanish and I don’t want to commit any sacrilege towards their national dish.
I made this just a couple of hours ago for Saturday night family dinner. And I cooked this as quickly as I can because after a day of cleaning house I just want a very speedy yet quite special dish to serve to my family.
I used basmati rice and omitted tomatoes or any tomato by-product, it’s the reason why I cannot, for the life of me call this Paella… anyways, this tastes delish and whole family was happy.
Ingredients:
3 cups basmati rice
6 cups hot chicken stock
pinch of saffron threads or pinch of saffron powder
(in my case, I used one small sachet of saffron powder equivalent to a pinch as well)
1/2 pound large shrimps, shelled and deveined
1/2 pound squid, cut into 1/2 inch rings
1/2 cup pitted green olives
1 foot long link of chorizo, medium dice
1 large white onion, small dice
6 cloves garlic, minced
juice of half a lemon (to marinate shrimps and squid rings)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (for frying chorizo as well as sauteing the onions and basmati rice)
2 tablespoons butter (for sauteing the garlic, shrimps and squid separately)
salt and pepper to taste
lemon wedges (to serve on the side)
1/2 cup parsley, coarsely chopped (to sprinkle on top)
Procedure:
- Marinate shrimps and squid in lemon juice, salt and fresh cracked black pepper for 5 minutes.
- Put the saffron threads or saffron powder in hot chicken stock, stir and set aside.
- Place a large skillet (preferably a skillet with a bit of height) over medium heat and add olive oil. Fry diced chorizo until a bit of the fat renders in the pan and mixes in with the olive oil tinting it with a gorgeous red-orange colour. Remove fried chorizo bits from the oil and set aside.
- Add onions into the tinted oil and saute until soft. Add basmati rice and saute for 5 minutes just barely toasting it. And then pour the saffron infused hot chicken stock.
- Wait about 2 minutes for the mixture to boil before reducing heat to low to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is done (either preferred al dente or just perfectly tender but not mushy and overcooked).
- While the rice gently cooks, place a skillet over high heat, add butter and garlic. Saute garlic until fragrant and soft (but not browned) and add the marinated shrimps and squid along with the green olives. Saute for 3 minutes or until shrimp curls up and turns orange (do not over cook shrimps and squid or both will be tough and chewy… which will just ruin the dish). Set the sauteed seafood aside (still in the skillet).
- When rice is almost done, add the fried chorizo nuggets and sauteed shrimps and squid rings along with the bit of pan juices rendered. Toss the mixture with two forks.
- Top with chopped parsley.
- Serve with lemon wedges on the side.
Makes 8 servings
Feliz Comiendo!
HOT MADRAS CHICKEN CURRY
The Madras curry originated from the South of India and got its name from the city of Madras, now known as Chennai.
This type of curry has its origins in Hindu and authentic recipes for this were usually vegetarian, but it also can be definitely made with any meat.
A prominent characteristic of this particular curry mix is it is hotter than most curry mixes and the orange-red colour of it. The addition of some tomato puree into this dish also imparted not only another depth of reddish glow but also some more savoury richness in taste.
One can definitely make this completely vegetarian by replacing meat with cauliflower and aubergines, or also chickpeas along with the potatoes and carrots.
Ingredients:
1 kilo chicken thighs (salt and pepper to season/marinade chicken)
1/4 cup canola oil (2 tablespoons for pan-searing the chicken, 2 tablespoons to saute aromatics)
1 head garlic, minced
2 large white onions, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, chopped fine
4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1 cup tomato puree
2 tablespoons hot Madras curry mix
2 large potatoes, large dice
2 carrots, large dice
- Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and pan-sear in canola oil until lightly golden and meat is caramelized. Place on a dish. And add the remaining canola oil in the pan.
- Saute ginger, onions and garlic then add the hot Madras curry powder mix.
- Put back the seared chicken thighs. Add the potatoes, carrots, tomato puree and chicken stock. Bring to a boil then lower heat to simmer the stew for 45 minutes or until root vegetables are tender and stew is thickened. Season with salt to taste.
- Serve with plain boiled rice, Indian chapatis or Naan.
Makes 6-7 servings
I have to start this dedication post with a bit of reminiscing on how I ended up blogging about food, doing my own food photography, creating my own recipes and writing about my sentiments as a foodie which I all share 2 or 3 times a week.
It’s mainly because my life revolves around food, I think and even dream of food, I always had a nagging urge to express my love affair with food without even a sense of reservation, was dying to finally test my then hypothetical food photography ability as well as test the very amateur writer within me.
And last but certainly not the least, I was eager to meet people who have the same passion as I do to do all these things I mentioned.
I am quite fortunate to meet people such as Betty a.k.a Delishy Town who shares the same amount of passion for food and cooking and for having a dream to someday publish a cookbook such as I dream of doing mine in the future.
And so with these commonalities we both ended up being so thankful to follow each other and be friends here.
It was just a couple of weeks ago and quite out of the blue that Betty suddenly messaged me and cheerfully said, “I want to make you a pretty apron! Please send me your shipping address. Is that Weird?” And all I can think about after I read her message was, what a sweet and generous person she is for wanting to send me a kitchen gift for just merely liking and supporting her absolutely vibrant and colourful food photographs and healthy but hearty and homey recipes.
These are the dainty kitchen goodies Betty sent to me.
A floral waist apron and a pair of side towels she sewed herself (a very talented and crafty woman she is!) along with a card that contains a lovely and sweet message.
Thank you very much Betty! I so love this apron and pretty red pair of side towels. I will definitely wear these to just for once and for a change look cute and pretty doing some cookin’ and bakin’!
Love,
P. S I also love how long the tie/belt is of this apron… long enough to wrap around my waist and make a bow in front… as if I am wearing a dainty and girly little skirt. <3
Please Check out Betty’s shop at ETSY here.
(Source: goddessofscrumptiousness)
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I find that there is always something comforting about sinking my teeth into a golden, crunchy and garlicky-buttery toasted bread and then immediately follow this act, without even a moment’s hesitation, slurping a spoonful of flavourful broth headily infused with the spiciness of ginger, mild and timid oniony nuance of shallots and pungent punch of garlic all melded with the light and clean taste of the sea provided by the juices of plump and meaty mussels which was finally rounded off with the earthy fruitiness of dry white wine… why, just imagining the act of eating such a meal itself is already a mouthful of heaven really.
The garlic bread that accompanied this dish is very simple to make. I used Ciabatta bread which I sliced in halves.
The secret to making the most flavourful and garlicky garlic bread is to start with a cold sauce pan and into it add softened butter along with finely minced garlic. Melt and saute the mixture over medium heat until the heady scent of garlic permeates the air and it gets soft but not browned.
Remove the sauteed mixture from heat and add chopped parsley.
Spoon and spread the garlicky melted butter on slices of ciabatta (or french bread/baguette) and toast in a 350’F preheated oven for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy.
For the Poached Mussels
Ingredients:
2 pounds of mussels
6 shallot bulbs, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
half a golf ball size of ginger, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
250ml dry white wine
250ml water
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped parsley
lemon wedges (to serve on the side)
Procedure:
Soak the mussels in cold and clean water. Sort, debeard and scrape off any barnacles left on the shells. Discard the mussels that haven’t closed.
Take a large pan with a lid. Into the pan over medium heat, add the butter and saute the aromatics (ginger, shallots and garlic) then add the dry white wine and water. Simmer broth for 5 minutes just to develop flavour.
Tumble the mussels into the broth and poached (over low heat… gentle bubbles… closed lid) for 5-6 minutes. Shake pan around as the mussels cook.
The mussels should have opened when you lift the lid. Discard any mussels that haven’t opened.
*Basic principle in dealing with mussels is, when raw and after soaking, discard opened ones. When cooked, discard unopened ones.
Before serving, sprinkle with chopped parsley and place lemon wedges all around the serving dish/bowl to squeeze over and add citrusy brightness in the broth.
Makes 4 servings
(Source: goddessofscrumptiousness)
Poached Mussels In Ginger, Shallots, Garlic and White Wine Broth
Rustic Style Roasted Potatoes with Roasted Garlic Chips and Sea Salt
I like the fact that I can always count on good old spuds to save dinner for me. I know that this is a side dish but most of the time a serving of roasted potatoes already is my entire meal on nights when I end up not having anything fancy to cook or I just feel lazy and just want a carb-cozy looking after.
This is a very simple, no-fuss roasted potato recipe anyone can obviously serve as a side dish or something you can tumble on a plate with maybe a drizzle of sour cream, pierce with your fork, munch on in front of the tv (I love that aside from the crisp garlic chips, the sea salt also adds crunch into every morsel of spud) and wash down with a glass of wine… just saying!
Ingredients:
2 large potatoes, scrubbed, unpeeled, and cut either into 1-inch triangles or medium diced, then par-boiled in lightly salted water
5 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Fresh or dried herbs like thyme and rosemary (optional)
cracked black pepper
coarse sea salt
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
sour cream (on the side and optional)
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 375’F. Line a baking sheet with either foil or parchment paper (for easy clean-up).
-In a mixing bowl, place par-boiled potatoes, thinly sliced garlic, extra virgin olive oil and season with cracked black pepper. Toss everything together until all the pieces of potatoes and slivers of garlic are coated with the olive oil.
-Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
-Roast for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden, and the slices of garlic turn into crunchy chips.
-While still fairly warm, sprinkle chopped parsley and season (to taste) with coarse sea salt.
Makes 3-4 servings
Braised Plantain Bananas in Vanilla and Muscovado Sugar Syrup topped with Rocky Road Ice Cream
I am just a very rotten insomniac, and by rotten I mean I occasionally indulge in the most sinful of habits at midnight, hmmm…
If I am not feasting on a buttered toast that is unashamedly dipped into a soft boiled egg flecked with sea salt, I am either caught red handed fishing green olives straight out of a jar or reheating a slice of chocolate and cinnamon bread pudding which I dribble with a freshly made vanilla glaze and chocolate syrup. And as if I cannot be more awake still at an ungodly hour I still end up eating the cinnamon roll-like indulgence with a huge cup of coffee… this happens 2-3 times a week.
Maybe my sinful midnight habit will haunt my daytime consciousness and challenge my resolve to bravely check my numbers on the scale the next day or by the end of the week, but then I also resolved to live a little and not deprive myself so much of the simplest yet most important part of human existence and that is living to eat and eating to live a “fuller” life. - jm (via phone)
I’ve always been in love with dinner or butter mints. It is that refreshing taste of peppermint and the spontaneous disintegration of it the moment I pop the candy in my mouth are the reasons why I am quite addicted with these.
I also have fond memories of dinner mints in my childhood. I remember one time I was babysitting my 2 year old cousin all alone (I was 11 years old that time) and I got hungry, well not that dinner mints can satisfy hunger, but I was looking for something to occupy my mouth as well as needed some energy booster to keep up with a bouncy toddler. So I happened upon a flat and round tin of dinner mints my aunt kept inside her China cabinet. I was only supposed to eat 3 small pieces but I got hooked with the melt-in-the-mouth sensation of those mints that I realized I ate more than half of the contents of the tin. Anyways, I was babysitting pro bono back then (yes, I was already a cousin-babysitter since I was 7 years old so I was actually already a professional by the age of 11, though it was always pro bono babysitting jobs for all my aunts and uncles) and so my aunt just ended up giving me the whole tin as my reward.
Last week, I was browsing through my disqus comments because I occasionally receive comments from other food bloggers from different platforms. And Blogspot’s Wilde In The Kitchen posted a lovely comment on my bread pudding post.
I am always very grateful whenever other food bloggers stop by to visit my blog, and so I also make an effort to visit their blogs whenever I can.
Vicki @ Wilde in the Kitchen makes wonderful candies, and if you visit her blog, she even has a Candy Collection link tab where I saw her fantastic Pillow Mints.
I adapted her recipe which she originally sourced from the book Sweet Confections. I think the recipe is simple, fool-proof and very kid-friendly that families can make this candy recipe over the weekends and just have fun rolling minty sugar dough and forming it into any tiny shapes.
I did a bit of adjustment with the original recipe, reducing the amount of butter in half because the weather where I am is too hot and humid and there is no way these mints will ever dry up the way I want them to be if I put the specified amount of butter required in the recipe. And I must say, these mints turned out equally great and melts in the mouth just the same, though you can always follow this recipe from Vicki’s blog.
Pretty In Pink Dinner Mints
Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1 teaspoon peppermint extract (I used peppermint oil)
1 drop of red food color (or whatever color you prefer to make two-toned marbled mints)
Procedure:
In a mixing bowl, mix together sifted confectioner’s sugar, heavy cream, butter and peppermint extract. Mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until it forms into a soft dough.
Divide the sugar dough into two, one half will be tinted with a drop of red food color to produce a pink colored dough and the other half will remain white.
Individually roll out the white and pink sugar doughs then place the pink rolled out dough over the white one. Fold into thirds like a book (left, middle and right), fold the right side over the middle then fold the left side over the right. Roll the now two-toned dough into a fat cylinder and cut into 3. Roll each third into 3/4-inch (diameter) ropes then cut into 1/2-inch pieces to which you either shape the pieces into pillows, squares or balls.
Place the shaped dinner mints on a baking tray and air dry overnight.
Store in tins or loose lid jars.
Tip: I placed the mints on a baking rack to dry so that the air can also circulate from under making the candy dry out evenly.
Makes about 3 1/2 dozens
(Source: goddessofscrumptiousness)