Sticky Chinese Chicken

Donna Hay bug has hit me hard! Her recipes are super simple to follow and always results in yummy food. The ingredients are fairly easy to get (even in India) and not much prep time is needed to make the dish. Thanx Zoe for getting me started on The Hay Way!

This is my second entry to the blog hop, Cook Like A Star, organised by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids. The featured chef for the month of March is Donna Hay.

                                                         

Sticky Chinese Chicken
Adapted from Donna Hay
Ingredients:
1 small piece ginger, peeled and sliced 
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 teaspoon five spice (Five spice is a spice blend traditionally used in Asian cooking. It contains star anise, fennel, cassia bark, pepper and cloves. I didn't have any five spice powder at home, so I made mine with roasted star anise, fennel, cinnamon, pepper and cloves)
3 star anise
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) soy sauce
1 cup (250ml) chicken stock
1/4 cup (60ml) oyster sauce (you can get it at any super market)
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces (I used boneless chicken, cut into cubes)
steamed rice, to serve

Method:
Preheat oven to 200ºC. Place the ginger, garlic, five spice, star anise, sugar, soy, stock and oyster sauce in a small bowl and whisk until well combined. Place the chicken in an ovenproof dish, pour over the ginger mixture, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 1 hour or until tender. Remove the cover, and further bake it for 10 minutes or so, until the chicken starts browning. If the chicken looks too soupy add some cornstarch to it ( I didn't do it, but is advised by my friend Joyce from Kitchen Flavors). Serve with the rice.

Please visit Zoe's to see spectacular star posts

Fresh Strawberry Cake With White Choc Chips And An Award

I m a sucker for fresh strawberries and now that the strawberry season is close to an end, I m baking like crazy to get the most out of this seasonal delight.

So when Zoe from bake for the happy kids announced this fortnight's recipe for bake along, I was ecstatic. The recipe for this fortnight is Fresh Strawberry With White Choc Chips from the Cake Keeper's Cakes by Lauren Chattman.

Bake Along is a blog hop organized by Zoe, Lena and Joyce.  Do visit their blogs for some awesome and amazing posts and recipes.




Fresh strawberries coupled with white choc chips, it sure does sound like paradise to me :). Fair warning though, it's a very addictive cake (you can't stop yourself from snacking on it...you know like "just one more bite and then I'll stop" and before you know it's all gone). It is also very easy to put together. The fresh strawberry flavour really came through. Although I must admit that when at first I went through the recipe, I was really shocked by the amount of sugar called for in this cake, taking into account that we are also using white choc chips in the recipe. So I decided to cut down the amount of sugar and, to tell you frankly, the cake tasted heavenly with just perfect sweetness contrasting the tartness of strawberries and lemon zest. You can use the specified amount of sugar in your cake if you prefer a more sweeter cake. Also, I used fresh yogurt instead of sour cream in my cake. I chose a cream cheese frosting which perfectly complemented this super moist cake.

Fresh Strawberry Cake With White Choc Chips
Adapted from the Cake Keeper's Cakes by Lauren Chattman 
Ingredients:
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup (120 ml) fresh yogurt or curd
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup (170 grams) all purpose flour, divided into 1 1/4+1/4 cup (140+30 grams)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (170 grams) caster sugar (In the original recipe it was 1 cup i.e., 225 grams)
250 grams strawberries, sliced
1 cup white chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat the oven to 177 degree Celsius.
Grease and dust an 8 inch round cake tin.
Combine the egg, egg yolk, yogurt, lemon zest and vanilla in a measuring jug and beat lightly.
Combine 1 1/4 cup (140 grams) flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium size bowl.
Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy, on a medium high speed, for around 3 minutes or so. With the mixer on low speed, pour the egg mixture into the bowl in a slow stream. Now add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time. After the last addition mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
Combine the strawberries and the remaining 1/4 cup (30 grams) of flour and toss to coat. Fold the flour covered strawberries and white chocolate chips into the batter using a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for around 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mind you the cake will be super moist and buttery because of all the fresh strawberries and white choc chips.
Let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
180 grams cream cheese, room temperature
200 ml low fat cream, cold from the fridge
4 tablespoons icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
Cream the cream cheese on medium low speed for about 2 minutes. Add the low fat cream, vanilla and icing sugar and whisk till it thickens to desired consistency.

How To Assemble:
Let the cake cool down completely. Slice it in two parts.
spoon half the cream cheese filling on one part of the cake and spread evenly, place another part on top of that. Spoon the remaining cream cheese filling on top and smooth it with an off set spatula or the back of a spoon.




And finally, one announcement :)
 I was awarded the Liebster Blog Award by Resh from Daily Cuppa. A million thanx to Resh and m really honored to be chosen for this awesome award.

                                                            

Apparently, "The origins of the Liebster Blog award are somewhat unclear but the general consensus is that it originated in Germany, Liebster meaning favorite or dearest, to showcase bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. Upon accepting the award the recipient must then pass it on to five more blogs of note."

Here are the rules:
a) Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
b) Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you.
c) Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.
d) Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed.
e) Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.

Now I m sharing this award with the following five amazing blogs
 1) Marcellina from http://marcellinaincucina.blogspot.in/
2) Melissa and Courtenay from www.bakingmakesthingsbetter.com
3)  Shirley from http://whataboutsecondbreakfast.blogspot.in/
4) Ramya from http://ramyasrecipe.blogspot.in/
5) Pranjali from http://www.foodydelight.com/

 It was really hard to choose just five :).

Do visit here for all the wonderful posts

Dutch Crunch Bread and Avocado, Crispy Bacon and Grilled Tomato Sandwich

Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

I must admit, I had never heard of a Dutch crunch or Tiger crunch or Giraffe crunch bread before, but hey I m all game for new challenges! Thanx Sara and Erica for this wonderful challenge and for introducing us to this gorgeous creation.
The instructions and recipe given by Sara and Erica were pretty simple and straight forward and of course I googled :). Dutch Crunch bread, I learned, is found commonly in corner stores and sandwich shops around Northern California. Until recently, Dutch Crunch was largely unknown outside of Bay Area, but the rest of the world is starting to catch on.

Until recently, Dutch crunch was largely unknown outside of the Bay Area and the Netherlands, but the rest of the world is starting to catch on.

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/13g2U)

Until recently, Dutch crunch was largely unknown outside of the Bay Area and the Netherlands, but the rest of the world is starting to catch on.

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/13g2U)

Until recently, Dutch crunch was largely unknown outside of the Bay Area and the Netherlands, but the rest of the world is starting to catch on.

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/13g2U)

So what is Dutch Crunch Bread or Tiger Bread or Tigerbrood? It's a dense, doughy bread with a moist crumb. But what sets it apart is the crackly top--with crunchy little bits growing from the paler crust underneath. 
The bread is coated with a wash of rice flour, butter, sugar, and yeast. In the oven, the top crust splits and browns, giving us that distinctive streaked or spotted crust. Needless to say, the crunch is the best part of the loaf. Sweet and crispy, worth picking off and eating by itself, its only fault is a tendency to scrape the top of your mouth when you're taking a huge bite. But it's worth it.

Learn more about the history of Dutch Crunch bread, particularly in the Bay Area, here, here, and here.

Brown Bread 
(I have used my simple Wheat Bread Loaf recipe, which I have been making from ages) 
Ingredients:
500 grams Strong Wheat Bread Flour or you can use all purpose flour
15 grams dry yeast
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon olive oil, you can use any vegetable oil or melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (240 ml) + 1/2 cup (120 ml) warm water, between lukewarm and hot to the touch

Method:
Mix the honey and yeast in the warm water, stir and add a pinch of flour. Cover and leave for 10 minutes. When the surface is full of froth, the yeast is ready to use.
Dissolve the salt in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add both the liquids to the flour and make a soft dough. If required add a little more of warm water.
Knead the dough for at least 6 minutes. Add the olive oil, mix well and cover with a wet cloth for 25 minutes or until the dough is double in size.
Knead again until the dough comes back to it's original size. Cover with wet cloth and keep aside for 20 minutes for proofing.
Knead again until the dough comes back to it's original size. Shape into bread loaves. Place into two greased loaf tins (I made 1 loaf and 6 mini rolls).
Apply the Dutch Crunch Topping (recipe given below) and coat the loaf completely with it. Leave for 15 minutes or until double in size again.
Bake in preheated oven at 250 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 200 degree Celsius and bake for a further 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Remove from the pan after 5-8 minutes and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Dutch Crunch Topping
Adapted from  Baking JDs  
Ingredients:
1 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup (120 ml) warm water (105-115º F) (41-46°C)
1 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
pinch of salt
3/4 cups (120 gm) rice flour (white or brown; NOT sweet or glutinous rice flour)

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a whisk; beat hard to combine. The consistency should be like stiff royal icing – spreadable, but not too runny. If you pull some up with your whisk, as shown below, it should drip off slowly. Add more water or rice flour as necessary. Let stand 15 minutes.
Coat the top of each loaf or roll with a thick layer of topping. You should err on the side of applying too much topping – a thin layer will not crack properly.
Let stand, uncovered, for any additional time your recipe recommends. When baking, place pans on a rack in the center of the oven and bake your bread as you ordinarily would. The Dutch Crunch topping should crack and turn a nice golden-brown color.

Avocado, Crispy Bacon and Grilled Tomato Sandwich
Ingredients:
1 small ripe avocado
4 bacon rashers
1small tomato, cut into rounds
1 tablespoon lime juice
salt and pepper
pinch of chilli flakes

Method:
Heat grill to a high (or you can use your frying pa). Grill bacon rashers and tomato slices for 10 minutes. Turn bacon halfway through, until crisp.
Meanwhile, take the flesh of  avocado, and mash with a fork. Stir in lime juice, chilli flakes, salt and pepper.
Toast 2 chunky slices of Dutch Crunch Bread and spoon on the mashed avocado. Top with the tomatoes and bacon, then serve.

Strawberry Tart

When strawberries are in season, you will definitely want to make a Strawberry Tart. It is gorgeous. I m using Pate brisee as the base pastry here. It has a buttery flavour and crisp texture, perfectly complementing the flavour and texture of strawberries. I have filled the pastry case with Pastry cream and topped with poached strawberries. You can serve it as is but I love it with a dollop of softly whipped cream on top.

Pate Brisee

Ingredients:
250 grams all purpose flour
150 grams butter, cut into small pieces and slightly softened
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon caster sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon cold milk

Method:
Heap the flour on a work surface and make a well. Put in the butter, salt, sugar and egg. Using your fingertips, mix and cream these ingredients together. Little by little, draw in the flour, working the dough delicately until it has a grainy texture. Add the milk and incorporate gently with your fingertips until the dough begins to hold together. Using the palm of your hand, work the dough by pushing it away from you 4-5 times until it is smooth. Roll it into a ball.
Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin  with flour. Using light strokes and applying even pressure, roll out the pastry, giving it a quarter turn and flipping it over from time to time. This will prevent it from sticking and helps to keep it aerated. Continue until the pastry is the size and shape required. Make sure to roll out 5-7 cm larger then the size of the tart tin.
Transfer the pastry to your lightly greased flan or tart tin. Lightly press the pastry into the edges of the tin and into the flutes. Trim off the excess pastry with a knife. Rest the pastry case in the fridge for 20 minutes or so.
Prick all over the pastry base with a fork, to release the trapped air.
Line the flan or tart case with a parchment paper and fill with a layer of baking beans to weight the pastry down and prevent it from rising unevenly. Bake blind in the oven at 180 degree Celsius for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and paper, then return the pastry case to the oven for 15 minutes until completely cooked. Cool on a wire rack. Your pastry case is now ready for use. Either use it at once or leave until cold, then wrap in cling film and freeze for up to 2 weeks. Take out of the freezer about 20 minutes before filling.

The above ingredients make around 450 grams of pastry dough .For an 8 inch tart or flan case you will need around 220-240 grams of pastry dough. You can freeze the remaining dough, tightly wrapped in a cling foil or in an air tight container for upto 2 weeks.


Pastry Cream:
Ingredients:
25 grams caster sugar
1 egg yolks
10 grams all purpose flour
10 grams cornflour
150 ml milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Method:
In a medium size heatproof bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolk. In another bowl, sift the flour and cornflour together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.
Meanwhile in a small saucepan, bring the milk just to a boil over medium heat. Pour the milk slowly into the egg mixture, whisking continuously to prevent curdling. If the mixture curdles, then strain it. Then place the egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over a medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. when it boils, continue to whisk constantly for a minute or so until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla extract. Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with a plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Let the cream cool in refrigerator for a few hours before using.

Poached Strawberry Filling:
Ingredients:
250 grams Strawberries, sliced
60 grams butter
60 grams caster sugar

Method:
Melt the butter in a deep frying pan and tip in the sugar. Add the strawberries and toss lightly over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until hot and barely half-cooked, then drain, reserve the juices. Return the juices to the pan and reduce until syrupy.


How to Assemble:

Put the pastry case on a serving platter. Spread the pastry cream on to the bottom of the case. Place the poached strawberries on top and moisten with a little of the reduced syrup. Put softly whipped cream on top and serve right away.

Submitting this post to Fabulicious Food for their Simple and in Season event.

Molten Marshmallow Cupcake

If you’ve yet to try molten chocolate cake, you are missing out on a fabulous experience. This is a rich and delicious form of chocolate cake which is fairly quick and easy to make and to top it all, it has an awesome presentation. Serve warm from the oven, when the marshmallow is still warm and gooey, so it flows out of these mini cakes when your guests cut into them.
                                                      
                                                     Look at all the gooey deliciousness

My daughter LOVES Domino's Choco lava Cakes and now these molten marshmallow cupcakes are her current favourite. 

                                                                    Hot from the oven

Molten Marshmallow Cupcakes
Adapted from the October,2004 issue of Sunset Magazine
Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup dark or semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup (55 grams) butter, cut into cubes
1/3 cup (75 grams) caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup (110 grams) all purpose flour
6 large marshmallows
Icing sugar for dusting


Method:
Preheat oven to 177 degree Celsius.
Line 6 muffin tins.
In a saucepan over very low heat, stir chocolate chips and butter until melted and smooth (you can microwave also). Remove from heat and whisk in caster sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Stir in flour.
Fill six muffin tins about halfway. Press a marshmallow into the center of the batter in each tin. Spoon remaining batter equally over marshmallows, completely covering.
Bake in the center of a oven until tops are puffed up and crackly, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes. Sprinkle tops with icing  sugar, if desired. Serve warm.

I m sending this post to Creampuffs in Venice for her weekly event Magazine Mondays.

                                                       

I m also submitting this post to The AlphaBakes Challenge. Their alphabet for this month is "M". Do visit Caroline's blog on the 1st of April to drool and read about the other fabulous entries.