Lemon Snow Drop Cookies

It has been quite a while since I have posted something. No, I have not forgotten to cook or experiment. I have not forgotten to take pictures of my cooking either, just that most of those pictures are taken by phone and uploaded on facebook. Ha ha I have become so typical. But then there has been quite big , BIG changes. I, moa, who used to freak out at the idea of baking have become quite addicted to it. AND my latest obsession has been with cookies. So, today I am making my comeback with a cookie that melts in mouth, soft and crumbly at the same time and is just deliciously lemony. Here are my little lemony cookies smothered in icing sugar to give them the look of covered in snow.

Servings: Yields about 36 cookies

Ingredients:

    Plain flour - 1.5 cup
    Egg - 1
    Butter - 125gms
    Caster Sugar - 2/3 cup
    Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp freshly squeezed
    Zest of 1 large lemon
    Icing sugar - about 1/2 cup, for dusting

Methods:

  1. In a mixing bowl, mix in the sugar with the butter with a electric mixer.
  2. Softly mix in the egg followed by lemon juice and the lemon zest.
  3. Now slowly add the flour. It will form a soft sticky dough. Wrap it up in some cling wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. (You can even chill it overnight and just get it out when you want to bake it.)
  4. When the time is up, preheat the oven to 200C. Take the dough out of the fridge and softly knead it for a min. This is just to get the dough pliable. Take little portions( you can use a scoop or a spoon to make even sizes, I just eyeball it.) and roll it out into little balls. The recipe yields about 36 cookies. You can of course make them larger and that will yield fewer cookies.
  5. Once you have rolled out little balls out of all the dough, dunk them in the icing sugar to cover them fully. Do not dust off any extra sugar. Place them on baking tray lined with a baking paper and bake for about 12 min. The cookies will flatten and crack up a little but that will give them that covered in snow look, a bit like crinkle cookies( that recipe is for another day :P ).
 6. If you make larger cookies you might need to bake for couple more min, but make sure you watch them carefully not to over cook them. They will be soft and will look a little under done while they are warm. But trust me all will be okay when they are cooled down.
  7. Now go make yourself a cup of coffee or tea or even a glass of milk and devour the cookies. Yum yum yum.

Dried Fruit Peel and Pumpkin Cake

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

    Cooked mashed pumpkin - 1 cup
    Unsalted butter - 150 gms
    Soft brown sugar - 3/4 cup
    Honey - 2 tbsp
    Eggs - 2, lightly bitten
    Dried mixed fruit peel - 1 cup
    Self raising flour - 2 cups
    Nutmeg powder - 1 pinch
    Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Methods:

    1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a wide (I used 8x12 inch glass baking dish) baking dish with baking paper  and grease it lightly with vegetable oil spray.
    2. Steam the pumpkin or cook it covered in the microwave for 5-7 min. Mash it with a potato masher or fork to make a smooth puree. Do not add any liquid or blend it in the blender. That will make it too watery. Measure the mashed pumpkin to yield about 1 cup. Set aside.
    3. Beat the butter with the sugar until soft and creamy. Add the eggs and honey and beat well to combine. Take it of the electric mixer if using, and slowly and carefully fold in the pumpkin with a spatula.
   4. Once all the pumpkin has been incorporated, fold in the dried fruit peel.
   5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour together with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly mix in the dry flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture. Carefully fold and mix to make sure everything has been incorporated but do not beat it or over mix it. The pumpkin puree is heavy, so if you mix it too much it will create a dense heavy cake instead of the soft crumbly one. 
   6.Once the mixture is well combined, spoon it into the prepared (oiled and lined) baking dish. Smooth the top with a back of a spoon. Bake for 35- 40 min. Check after 30 min to see if its done by inserting a knife or skewer in the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean , its done.
   7. Let it cool for 10-15 min in the pan then take it out and let it cool completely before you ice it with the cream cheese icing.

Crispy Fried Ginger Chicken

I am not a big fan of ginger. Give me garlic and I will put it in nearly everything I cook. But ginger is a different matter. I guess my skepticism comes from the fact that I have not been able to use ginger in any recipes that drove me over the hills (in a good way!) or may be it is just the smell and the flavour that puts me off. But every time I pass along the veggie isle in the super market the old crinkly brown little guys taunt me as if to say "wont you give me a chance???" Hence the birth of this little concoction of mine. I decided to challenge myself and use only ginger as the main ingredient of this recipe. To my  astonishment this actually turned out to be really tasty. I for the first time enjoyed the sweet gingery fragrance whiffing out of the chicken at each bite and realised why these little roots are so famous among many cooks. Thus I could wait no longer but to share these recipe with my beloved readers. Let me how you like it.

Servings: 4

Ingredients: 

   Chicken drumsticks - 8 pcs (about 500 gms)
    Plain flour - 1 cup
    Bread crumbs - 1 cup
    Egg - 1
    Milk - 1/2 cup
    Chili flakes - 1/2 tsp
    Salt - 1 pinch
    Black pepper  - 1/2 tsp (coarsely ground)
    Oil for deep frying

    Brine:
    Ginger - 1 tbsp minced
    Black pepper - 1 tsp (coarsely ground)
    Chili flakes - 1 tbsp
    Salt - 1.5 tbsp
    Brown Sugar - 1 tbsp
    Cold water - 2-3 cups

Methods:

    1. Make the brine solution and set it aside for 1/2 an hour for the flavours to develop.
    2. Meanwhile wash and drain the drumsticks. Wipe them with a paper towel if  they are too moist. In a zip lock bag place the chicken and pour in the brine solution. Zip up the bag and place it in a bowl and refrigerate overnight.
    3. On the day of cooking take the chicken out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature (leave it on the kitchen counter for about 2 hours). You must let the chicken come to room temperature before you fry them otherwise they will overcook on the outside and remain raw inside.
    4. Now the crumbing part. Prepare an assemble line for yourself. I like having everything set out before I do any crumbing. So, in a bowl place the flour, in another bowl the bread crumbs. Stir in the chili flakes and black pepper in the bread crumbs. In a third bowl whisk in the egg with the milk and a pinch of salt and black pepper.
    5. Drain the chicken from the brine solution and give them a quick rinse in cold water to remove any brine from the surface. Don't worry, you are not loosing any flavour. Socking the chicken in brine overnight allowed it to absorb all the flavour it needed.
    6. Now toss the chicken drumsticks in the plain flour. Shake of excess and dip them in the egg wash and then toss them again in the bread crumbs. I like placing the bread crumbs in a big enough bowl so that I can just swirl the bowl around to coat the chicken pieces in the bread crumbs. Makes the job so much less messier when you dont have to use the egg dipped fingers back in the crumbs to crumb up your own finger tips.
    7. Once all the chicken pieces have been crumbed, heat up the oil in a deep non stick frying pan and cook the chicken on med heat, about 4-5 min on each side, until golden. To make sure it has cooked all the way through, stab one of the pieces on it's thickest part with a small knife and see if the juices run clear, it has been cooked through.Once the chicken have been cooked through remove from heat and let drain on a paper towel.
    8. Serve with any sauce that takes your fancy. Being a chili fan I love to dip it in hot chili sauce. Yuumm!!!

 

Spicy Crispy Fried Shrimp Salad

Servings: 4 - 5

Ingredients:

     Shrimp - Medium size, 500gm ( roughly 1 lb), shelled with tail on and deveined*
     Scallions -1 cup, chopped
     Onion - 1 lg, sliced (about .5 cm thick)
     Panko Bread crumbs - 1 cup
     Plain flour - 1/2 cup
     Oil - 1 tbsp
     Salt - 1/4 tsp
     Chili flakes - 1 tsp (or less upon your heat preference)

     Oil for deep frying

    Marinade:
    Garlic cloves - 6-7(or more if you are a garlic fanatic like me!)
    Birds eye chili - 4-5 (remove the seeds if you don't like the heat)
    Salt - to taste

Methods:

    1. In blender or mortar and pestle mash in the garlics and chili and salt to a smooth paste. Marinade the cleaned shrimps in the garlic mixture for at least half an hour.
    2. In a large bowl put the shrimps and slowly add the flour while tossing to coat evenly. If the flour coating  seems too dry then stop adding any more or just add a bit of water to make sure the shrimps are coated nicely in a creamy texture.
   3. Then add the panko crumbs to the shrimp, toss and shake off excess.
   4. Deep fry the shrimps over high heat in batches. It will take you about 2-3 min to cook each batch. Just wait to see if the shrimps have curled up and turn golden and crispy. You have to keep an eagle eye on  them otherwise they will burn really quickly as the heat is high. Drain the fried shrimps on a paper towel.
   5. Once all the shrimps have been fried up, heat a wok on high heat. Add the tbsp of oil and once hot add the chilli flakes. They will bubble up, add the sliced onions straight away.

    6. Saute until they soften a bit, then return the shrimps to the wok. Add the chopped scallions. Turn off the heat. Toss everything together, the residue heat will soften the scallions and add the sweet fragrance to the shrimps.
    7. Serve with any sides you like. They are absolutely yum just as they are.


Hints:
*Devein the shrimps by making a slit with a sharp knife along the back (or spine if only shrimps had one!) of the shrimps and remove the black sandy deposit that pretty much looks like a vein. Be careful not to break away the tails.

No I am not Dead!!

My dearest readers, how have you all been? I have been around the world, pregnant and finally settled down from the commotion of celebrating the 1st birthday of my son.

The last post that I posted here was twoooooo long years ago!! But I have realized that I have been busy enough and it was time to be into the kitchen and heat up the wok. So here I am, back again and promise to bring to you food with new flavours and texture (some baby food recipes definitely!). For now........... HELLO AGAIN... will see you here soon.