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Sunday, February 27, 2011
| Quick Bread Mix |
Saturday, February 26, 2011
| Baking Powder Experiment |
J has a science project for his class. He chose to test out what baking powder does in a cookie recipe. (Yes, yes, yes, I had quite a bit of influence over his decision. ;)
After looking for a simple sugar cookie recipe with baking powder for awhile, I was surprised to find out that a lot of cookie recipes don't use any leavening agent. Who would have known that? I ended up choosing the Sugar Drop Cookie with Oil from Joy of Cooking
. For J's experiment, we made 4 batches, one without any baking powder, one with half the amount, one with the specified amount, and one with double the amount.
What's even more astonishing is that there wasn't any significant difference in the end results in either the size or the taste, other than that the batch with half the baking powder was a little softer. So puzzling. Can someone explain this to me? Maybe cookies are not the best thing to test out baking powder. Maybe I should have made some muffins or cakes?
Sugar Drop Cookies with Oil
adapted from Joy of Cooking
2 ½ all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar (plus more for rolling the cookies in)
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Combine the sugar and oil. Add 1 egg at a time, mix well each time. Add vanilla extract, mix well.
Add the flour mixture. Shape the dough into ½-inch balls. Roll in balls in additional sugar.
Drop the balls on a cookie sheet. Flatten a little bit.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
After looking for a simple sugar cookie recipe with baking powder for awhile, I was surprised to find out that a lot of cookie recipes don't use any leavening agent. Who would have known that? I ended up choosing the Sugar Drop Cookie with Oil from Joy of Cooking
. For J's experiment, we made 4 batches, one without any baking powder, one with half the amount, one with the specified amount, and one with double the amount.What's even more astonishing is that there wasn't any significant difference in the end results in either the size or the taste, other than that the batch with half the baking powder was a little softer. So puzzling. Can someone explain this to me? Maybe cookies are not the best thing to test out baking powder. Maybe I should have made some muffins or cakes?
adapted from Joy of Cooking
2 ½ all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar (plus more for rolling the cookies in)
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Combine the sugar and oil. Add 1 egg at a time, mix well each time. Add vanilla extract, mix well.
Add the flour mixture. Shape the dough into ½-inch balls. Roll in balls in additional sugar.
Drop the balls on a cookie sheet. Flatten a little bit.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
| Buried in Pork |
A week ago, hubby's friends came to visit for a little "ski trip" at Snoqualmie which is only 45 minutes away. After a few hours of skiing and a brief tubing session, we got back to the comfort of our home, simply relaxed and chatted. When they found out I had a blog, they asked if I cooked mostly Chinese food. While I denied it, I felt a little guilty that I've been posting mostly Chinese recipes. Maybe I HAVE been cooking more Chinese lately without even realizing it. =)
I seem to have a tendency of going to the extremes. To break the streak of Chinese cooking, I made a quintessential American dish - Pulled BBQ Pork, not on a grill, but in a slow cooker. It IS still winter after all. (We are even having a snow day today. *sigh*)
This is so easy that the most time consuming/labor intensive part of the recipe is shredding the roast. =) The 8-pound pork shoulder blade roast (Boston butt) yielded so much that it could feed an army. We'd probably still be eating this next month. (Yes, I did freeze most of it.) Next time, I'd try a smaller roast. Does anyone want some pulled pork?
Slow Cooked Pulled Pork
8 lb bone-in pork shoulder blade roast (about 7 lb 10 oz de-boned)
2 12-oz cans of light beer
4 small Spanish onions (about 14 oz), thinly sliced
BBQ sauce (about 2 ½ cups)
Lay half of the onion slices in a 7 qt slow cooker.
Remove the blade bone. Put the roast on top of the onions. Top with the rest of the onions. Pour the beer over the roast.
Cook on low for 10 hours, flip over half way through.
Take out the onions and the meat. Discard the cooking liquid. Shred the pork. Mix the onions and the pork with BBQ sauce. Put them back in the slow cooker, cook on low for 5 hours.
Mix with more BBQ sauce if desired. Serve in sandwich buns.
We are not an onion-loving household. The 14 oz of onions practically disappeared in the mounds of pork. Feel free to add more onions. I'd even consider topping the pork with caramelized onions.
For the BBQ sauce, you can use any brand you like. I made one based on Tomato Barbecue Sauce from The Gourmet Cookbook
. It yields about 2 ½ cups. If you’d like more sauce on your pulled pork, try doubling it.
Barbecue Sauce
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook
1 cup tomato puree
¾ cup cider vinegar
⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp apple juice
3 tbsp unsweetened pineapple juice
3 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cayenne
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Stir together all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 5 minutes.
I seem to have a tendency of going to the extremes. To break the streak of Chinese cooking, I made a quintessential American dish - Pulled BBQ Pork, not on a grill, but in a slow cooker. It IS still winter after all. (We are even having a snow day today. *sigh*)
This is so easy that the most time consuming/labor intensive part of the recipe is shredding the roast. =) The 8-pound pork shoulder blade roast (Boston butt) yielded so much that it could feed an army. We'd probably still be eating this next month. (Yes, I did freeze most of it.) Next time, I'd try a smaller roast. Does anyone want some pulled pork?
8 lb bone-in pork shoulder blade roast (about 7 lb 10 oz de-boned)
2 12-oz cans of light beer
4 small Spanish onions (about 14 oz), thinly sliced
BBQ sauce (about 2 ½ cups)
Lay half of the onion slices in a 7 qt slow cooker.
Remove the blade bone. Put the roast on top of the onions. Top with the rest of the onions. Pour the beer over the roast.
Cook on low for 10 hours, flip over half way through.
Take out the onions and the meat. Discard the cooking liquid. Shred the pork. Mix the onions and the pork with BBQ sauce. Put them back in the slow cooker, cook on low for 5 hours.
Mix with more BBQ sauce if desired. Serve in sandwich buns.
We are not an onion-loving household. The 14 oz of onions practically disappeared in the mounds of pork. Feel free to add more onions. I'd even consider topping the pork with caramelized onions.
For the BBQ sauce, you can use any brand you like. I made one based on Tomato Barbecue Sauce from The Gourmet Cookbook
. It yields about 2 ½ cups. If you’d like more sauce on your pulled pork, try doubling it.Barbecue Sauce
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook
1 cup tomato puree
¾ cup cider vinegar
⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp apple juice
3 tbsp unsweetened pineapple juice
3 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cayenne
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Stir together all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 5 minutes.
Friday, February 18, 2011
| Oh, Eggplants! |
Perseverance pays off!
I absolutely LOVE eggplants. It's one of my favorite vegetables. After years of tweaking the way I cook eggplants, I have finally figured out the recipe that hubby would happily eat without the "It's good, but I don't like eggplant." comment. (What a backhanded compliment! Isn't that just a nicer way of saying "not good enough to win me over"?) Even J loves it. I still need to work on D, but I'm confident that he too will come around in due time. =) Now I can buy a big bag of eggplants without any guilt thinking that I was being selfish making something that only I enjoy.
Eggplant in Garlic Sauce
3 long Chinese or Japanese eggplants (about 1.5 lb)
5 oz ground pork
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp chili bean sauce
vegetable or canola oil
⅓ cup chicken broth
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp corn starch
2 tsp soy sauce
4 tsp oyster sauce
Marinate:
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp corn starch
2 tsp soy sauce
1 ½ tsp water
white pepper
Marinate the pork in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Mix chicken broth, sugar, corn starch, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Set aside.
Cut the eggplants into 2 - 3 inch long sections. Quarter each section lengthwise. Microwave them in batches till tender. (About 5 minutes on high if they are not crowded.) Drain.
In a pan, heat 3 tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add only enough eggplant pieces that would fit in a single layer, cut side down. Pan fry for about 30 seconds till the sides are golden. Flip the pieces to fry the other cut sides. After 30 seconds, when the sides are golden, remove and drain. Repeat with more eggplant. Add more oil when necessary.
Leave about 1 tbsp of oil in the pan. Add garlic, when the aroma comes out, add the chili bean sauce, stir. Add pork, stir till no longer pink. Add the eggplant and the sauce. Mix and stir till thickens.
Serve with rice.
Traditionally, the eggplants are deep fried. Just like carrots, eggplants can absorb a lot of oil. Microwaving then pan-frying greatly reduced the amount of oil it takes, making it a much healthier alternative.
If you are a die hard eggplant lover like me, raise the eggplant to meat ratio, and adjust the sauce quantity accordingly. If you are a carnivore like hubby, resist the urge to add more meat. Trust me, 5 ounces are more than enough.
1 tbsp of chili bean sauce is still relatively mild. If you enjoy really spicy food, feel free to add more. I often reduce it to 1 tsp, so that my kids can partake in it.
I absolutely LOVE eggplants. It's one of my favorite vegetables. After years of tweaking the way I cook eggplants, I have finally figured out the recipe that hubby would happily eat without the "It's good, but I don't like eggplant." comment. (What a backhanded compliment! Isn't that just a nicer way of saying "not good enough to win me over"?) Even J loves it. I still need to work on D, but I'm confident that he too will come around in due time. =) Now I can buy a big bag of eggplants without any guilt thinking that I was being selfish making something that only I enjoy.
3 long Chinese or Japanese eggplants (about 1.5 lb)
5 oz ground pork
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp chili bean sauce
vegetable or canola oil
⅓ cup chicken broth
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp corn starch
2 tsp soy sauce
4 tsp oyster sauce
Marinate:
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp corn starch
2 tsp soy sauce
1 ½ tsp water
white pepper
Marinate the pork in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Mix chicken broth, sugar, corn starch, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Set aside.
Cut the eggplants into 2 - 3 inch long sections. Quarter each section lengthwise. Microwave them in batches till tender. (About 5 minutes on high if they are not crowded.) Drain.
Leave about 1 tbsp of oil in the pan. Add garlic, when the aroma comes out, add the chili bean sauce, stir. Add pork, stir till no longer pink. Add the eggplant and the sauce. Mix and stir till thickens.
Serve with rice.
Traditionally, the eggplants are deep fried. Just like carrots, eggplants can absorb a lot of oil. Microwaving then pan-frying greatly reduced the amount of oil it takes, making it a much healthier alternative.
If you are a die hard eggplant lover like me, raise the eggplant to meat ratio, and adjust the sauce quantity accordingly. If you are a carnivore like hubby, resist the urge to add more meat. Trust me, 5 ounces are more than enough.
1 tbsp of chili bean sauce is still relatively mild. If you enjoy really spicy food, feel free to add more. I often reduce it to 1 tsp, so that my kids can partake in it.
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