C is for Cookie or B is for Bicky...

This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe from one of the best pastry chefs, Jacques Torres. I have tried and tested several chocolate chip cookie recipes and this one, so far, is the best, for I prefer my cookie  soft and slightly chewy. Here in Australia, most of the cookies sold in the shops are not the American type. They're crunchy and the biscuit type, hence, they call it "bicky".

The recipe and video can be found in this link  . I used less chocolate chips and I didn't use an ice cream scoop which explains the edges, not smooth.

NOTES and TIPS on making cookies:

• The presence of bread flour in cookie recipes is responsible for its chewy texture.
• Should you desire for a soft cookie, bake just until the side or edge of the cookie is brown. If the recipe says 10 mins. baking time, reduce the time to 8-9 mins.  If a biscuit type of cookie is preferred, bake it a little longer, a minute or two.
• Carry Over cooking. Once the cookies are pulled out from the oven, leave the cookies in the tray for they are still "baking/cooking" in the process.  Don't worry if the center is a bit soft for the heat will continue to "bake" the cookie until the temperature goes down. 
• For convenience, cookie dough can be rolled into tiny logs and kept in the freezer (mostly what we do in catering functions). Slightly thaw in the fridge, enough for you to slice them to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness, and bake. For uniform size and the home made cookie look, use an ice cream scoop. 

• Chilled dough are better to work with. You won't have a very flat cookie if cookie dough is chilled. It takes a while for a cold cookie dough to expand in size or sideways inside the oven compared to a soft cookie dough.
• Baking times vary depending on the size of your cookies.
• Lining your cookie sheet with baking paper is the convenient way of baking cookies as you don't need to wash your flat sheets after. In the absence of paper, a slightly greased and floured tray is another option. We dust the greased tray with flour to control the spread of our cookies. 
• If your cookie tray is thin, you can double your tray so it won't burn quickly.

Cookies are easy to make and you can get your kids involved. It is always part of my afternoon tea when friends drop by to visit.

Sinful Sunday

Last Sunday, I attended a three-hour chocolate workshop with my partner in crime, Fred at  Sydney Chocolate School in Mosman. It was my first time to go in that area and wow! what a lovely place. The workshop was held in a quaint cottage situated in a Heritage Park overlooking the sea. They also offer morning and afternoon tea .

We basically learned how to temper chocolates and made simple bars. I love chocolates! I need to bring the girls here soon for morning tea. Here's some sneak peek shots.

Quick Chow

I always have "emergency food " in the cupboard. My antidote to laziness. Left over dinner, automatically, becomes my lunch to work the next day. If there isn't any, either I buy or I refer to my emergency food buddies.

I discovered this few weeks ago while doing my regular grocery shopping. I tried it and it really tasted like puttanesca. There were generous amount of capers and olives. The rice was al dente, which I liked. Looking forward to different variants soon. Mexican would be nice. What do you think?

Yema Balls

For my daughter's Harmony Day celebration in school, they were asked to bring something from their country for morning tea. As week nights are busy, I thought of preparing an easy Filipino sweet, yema balls. It's a rich,custard tasting ball , either rolled in sugar or dipped in caramel. It is made from condensed milk and yolks. It is traditionally flavored with dayap or lime. I used lemon instead.

I hope you'll enjoy this simple piece of heaven.

Yema Balls

Ingredients:
1 can condensed milk
7 egg yolks
Lemon rind
2 T butter

Procedure:
1. Using non stick pan, mix all ingredients together with a wooden spoon.
2. Cook on low heat by continuously mixing until thick.
   (  An indication that it is done is when it starts to come together into a solid mass and doesn't stick to the sides of pan.)
3. Cool. Form into balls and roll into sugar. Makes approx.24 pcs.

4. Wrap in cellophane or put in cupcake paper.

Jamie's Italian Kitchen

We decided to have something fancy for lunch to celebrate my sister's birthday last month. We went to Jamie Oliver's restaurant at Pitt Street. We came around 12:30 PM to make sure we'll get seated quickly for we heard there's always a long queue.

We were greeted with a friendly staff and were impressed with the place, for it has a good ambiance. The food was almost impeccable, as well as the service, not to mention the good Italian looking wait staff ha.ha.. It is slightly pricey but you will definitely get what you paid for. A must try is their Porcetta, which they claim was cooked for 15 hours, the crackling skin and flavourful, tender meat was to die for and the truffle laced chips with grated parmesan was good.

I tried Risotto Milanese. The creamy saffron & parmesan risotto was cooked just right, al dente, and the roasted bone marrow was a winner. For AUD12.50 per serving, I wished they served two pieces of the courgette(zucchini) fritto ha.ha. I only had one.

For dessert, we had peach almond tart and Tiramisu. The tart was nice, the mint garnish brings a different twist. I find the Tiramisu ok. I wish the sponge was slightly thicker. It was so thin and with the sponge dunked in coffee, it's almost grainy and feels disintegrated when eaten. I could hardly feel the filling in between as the sponge's texture gets in the way. Oh well, generally, it was still good.

I would love to come back and try the other menu entrees and pasta. As usual, we went home with happy bellies.

Our average bill per head: AUD35

Chips with truffle Oil & Parmesan (middle); Shake Me salad for kids

(L-R) Risotto Milanese ,Courgette Fritto, Buffalo Ricotta Ravioli

Green Tea Chiffon Cake with Azuki Bean

This is a very light cake and not so fattening. The union of green tea flavour and sweetened azuki is delicious. Azuki is a reddish brown type of bean. Canned sweetened azuki can be bought in Japanese stores. Otherwise, you can boil some red beans and cook it in sugar syrup. 

For beginners, you might find it a bit complicated because the mixing method is different. Don't worry. Take it as a challenge. Chiffon cake is the first type of cake I learned to bake. As they say, practice makes perfect.

Green Tea Chiffon Cake with Azuki Bean
Ingredients:
A.
250 g cake flour
200 g white sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 Tbsp green tea powder *

(*can be omitted and replaced with vanilla essence, which makes it a basic vanilla chiffon cake)

B.
125 ml oil
7 egg yolks
190 ml water

C.
8 eggwhites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
125 g sugar

D.
1 can sweetened azuki
600 ml thickened cream or all purpose cream
3-4 Tbsp icing sugar
1-2 tsp green tea powder
chocolate bar, for garnish

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F or 170 deg C.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl  (A); Use a whisk until green tea powder is incorporated well.
3. Make a well and add all ingredients in set B.
4. Using a wire whisk, blend until lump free.
5. On a separate mixing bowl, add egg whites and cream of tartar.

6. Beat at medium high speed and gradually add sugar. Beat until it forms into stiff peaks. (It will look shiny at this stage. It is perfectly fine to stop once in a while and check whether it forms into peaks. Lift the beater and check if peaks are forming. Another test, tilt your bowl, the egg whites shouldn't slide. Careful not to over beat because it will liquefy again.) 

Beating egg whites.

7. Gently fold batter into the egg whites. For first timers, you may want to follow these steps: 

• Get 1/3 of the beaten egg whites and slightly mix into the batter. (This is being done to prevent all the batter from settling down at the bottom of the egg whites. Remember, the batter is heavier than the egg whites.)
• Now pour the batter into the egg whites and gently cut and fold. You can use a rubber spatula or scraper. Mix until blended together. Do not over mix for it may deflate the bubbles in your egg whites. 

8. Pour in ungreased pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until done. (I normally put baking paper at the bottom for convenience. Never put paper on the sides of the baking pan, otherwise, your cake will have a funny shape. It will form a waistline on the sides or the cake will look like a tree trunk.)

9. Invert the pan immediately in a cooling rack after taking the cake out of the oven. Cool completely before removing from the pan. A metal spatula can be glided lightly to loosen the sides of the cake. It is best to chill the cake before finishing with cream.

10. To finish cake:

      A. Prepare the green tea cream

• Set aside 1/4 c of cream and dissolve the green tea powder.
• Pour the green tea cream into the rest of the cream in a bowl and whip until stiff peaks (Do not over beat, you might end up having butter).
• Add icing sugar and mix.

      B. Assembly

• Slice the cake in half to create two layers.
• Get small amount of whipped green tea cream and mix the azuki.
• Spread it into the cake evenly. Put the other half cake on top.
• Cover the entire cake with whipped green tea cream by using a metal spatula.
• Finish with grated chocolate bar and dust with green tea powder.

Notes on beating egg whites:

• It is best to use a stainless or glass bowl, which is clean and oil streak free. Never use a plastic bowl for egg whites don't beat well or an aluminum bowl, your egg whites will turn grey in color.
• Egg whites don't whip best if cold. Make sure it is in room temperature and there are no traces of yolks in your egg whites.
• Cream of tartar is egg white stabilizer. In its absence, few drops of lemon juice will do.

Happy Baking!