Chinese Walnut Cookies

What a blur December and January has been for me. With Christmas, New Years, new babies to the family, snow and my birthday this week, I feel like it's been one big extended party. Which is why I have not ventured into my kitchen lately and neglected my housewifely duties.

So to start things off for the new year of 2013 I thought I'd start easy. Especially with Chinese New Year coming up soon, a return to my Chinese roots is a must.

Chinese Walnut Cookies are one of my favourite biccies of all time. It is crunchy, not too sweet but hits all the right spots. Every time my B and I venture into London (which is very rarely actually) we bring home souvenirs from Chinatown of walnut cookies to share with our family.

I always thought that they would be very difficult to make, but my friend-turned-Aunty told me otherwise. She's been saying she'd teach me to make them but still have not got round to it after so many years. So I have taken upon myself to discover this "easy" recipe of making these delectable cookies.

Actually they could not be any easier to make, it needed very little ingredients, and I think all in all it took me under 30 minutes including baking time to make 20 golden walnut cookies.

To my surprise so-called "walnut cookies" do not contain walnuts. However I rectified this by decorating it with pieces of walnut. I think it must be one of those recipes that are called something but has nothing to do with the making, i.e. pineapple bun that does not contain pineapple. Either way, they are still as yummy as I remember them to be.

I would probably not be nibbling on these too often as they are made using lard, albeit not a large quantity, the damage will be detrimental to my pre-wedding weight loss programme. So these will only be the "very occasional" treats.

Chinese Walnut Cookies

• 150g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 80g soft brown sugar
• 70g lard
• walnut pieces (to decorate)
• 1 egg yolk (lightly beaten for egg wash)

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Cover a baking sheet with greaseproof baking paper. 

Sift together the plain flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle. 

Add the beaten egg, lard and soft brown sugar into the well of the flour. 

Knead to a smooth dough, making sure not to over knead.

Divide the mixture into equal 20 small balls or 10-15 large balls. 

Roll and press each piece of dough into a rough disc shape.

Add a piece of walnut on top of each dough disc and egg wash with the beaten yolk.

Bake for 15 minutes for the small cookies and 20 minutes for larger cookies until golden brown.

Remove and cool on a wire rack. The cookies will be soft when warm so allow it to be cooled to become more crispy. 

Enjoy.

Braised Ribs Stuffed Pumpkin

An icy start to December, the season for celebrations, joy and of course food! The outside weather registering -1C means it is time for making slow cooked meals that warm the belly.

Stuffed pumpkin served at the table

Before my mother went on her travels she gave me one of her home grown pumpkins, of which I left out in my cold conservatory and absolutely forgot about it. That was until I bravely ventured in there to dig out my trusty electric heater. The small orange pumpkin just sat there looking all neglected next to my other neglected house plants. So even though Autumn is truly over, I decided to cook my next meal with it.

My mummy's lovingly reared pumpkin

Pumpkin is such versatile ingredient to use, it can be roasted, mashed, steamed, cooked for savoury dishes or baked into sweet puddings. So what did I have in store for this lovingly reared pumpkin from my mum?

Usually I cut up the pumpkin or similar squashes into bite size pieces and stir fry them or bake them, but considering the cold weather, the thought of baking it whole to retain all the heat and flavours was more tempting. Many recipes were available online about cooking pumpkin soup and ladling it into a baked pumpkin shell to serve, so this gave me inspiration.

The Chinese love their pork ribs in cooking. The bones give out lots of flavour during cooking which is absorbed into the meat, and it also prevents the meat from drying out. I braise pork ribs a lot, I especially like to cook it in black bean sauce and aubergines. However recently my B's parents gave me a jar of specialised fermented soya bean paste that they brought over from Hong Kong specially. So what better opportunity than now to use it in this dish?

Fermented soya bean paste

Marinade ingredients

The flavours melded together very well, the sauce was absorbed into the pumpkin flesh whilst it baked. And cutting the pumpkin open allowing the ribs to fall out onto the plate was a treat to the eyes itself.  The ribs satisfied my two carnivorous dinner guests and I can show my mum that I made good use of her home grown produce!

Pumpkin cut up as the ribs fall out

Next time I make this dish, I will try stuffing it with other cuts of meat. I'm sure large chunks of braised pork belly would be very tummy warming too.

Braised Ribs Stuffed Pumpkin

• Small pumpkin
• 800g pork ribs (chopped into bite sized pieces with a meat cleaver)
• 3tbsp fermented soya bean paste/sauce (mashed up in a small bowl)
• 1 inch piece of ginger (cut into 2 pieces - 1/2 sliced and 1/2 minced)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 chilli (finely chopped)
• 1tbsp shaoxing wine
• 2tsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1tsp corn starch
• 1tbsp vegetable oil
• Hot water from the kettle
• salt to taste
• oil spray 

Wash the outside skin of the pumpkin and wipe dry with paper towel. Cut out a lid on the top of the pumpkin and set lid aside. Scoop out the insides (seeds and fibrous strands) of the pumpkin (the seeds can be toasted to make a healthy snack or thrown away). Leave the pumpkin and lid aside for later use. 

Prepared pumpkin

In a large bowl put in the chopped pieces of ribs. Add the marinating ingredients: fermented soya bean paste/sauce, minced ginger, minced garlic, chopped chillies, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and corn starch. Mix all the ingredients by hand or spoon. When incorporated leave to marinate for at least an hour. 

Marinating pork ribs

Meanwhile place the pumpkin in a high rimmed baking dish. If the pumpkin is uneven on the bottom, you can cut a bit off the bottom so that it sits flat and steady. Or if like me, prop up the pumpkin with a device, i.e. metal spoon. Spray the outside pumpkin skin with a few sprays of the oil. Set aside.

Propped up pumpkin

When the ribs have finished marinating, heat up a wok with 1tbsp of vegetable oil. As the wok heats up, add in the slices of ginger. Cook until it becomes fragrant. At this stage tip in the ribs and marinade into the wok and stir fry for a minute. Add in enough boiling water from the kettle until the water level meets the top of the meat. Leave to simmer for at least 1/2 hour, checking on it once in a while that it isn't burnt or run out of water. 

Stewing ribs

After 1/2 hour the sauce would have thickened slightly and reduced by half. At this point, taste and check for seasoning, adding salt and sugar as you like. Cook for another 5 minutes. 

Finished ribs in sauce

Preheat oven to 180C. 

When the ribs have finished cooking, turn off the heat to the wok. Carefully spoon the ribs and sauce into the pumpkin, making sure to fill it with the sauce so that it is absorbed by the pumpkin. You may have some ribs left over, set this aside to use later. 

Left over ribs set aside for later

Put the pumpkin lid on when it is fully filled. And put into the oven. Allow it to bake for about 35-45 minutes.

Spooned ribs into the pumpkin

Baking pumpkin in oven

When pumpkin has finished baking. Heat up the wok with the left over ribs and add a little water for sauce. When heated through, spoon the extra ribs and sauce around the outside of the pumpkin. 

Spooned ribs alongside the baked pumpkin

Serve at the table whole from the oven. Take the lid off to allow the steam to escape and cut into the pumpkin at the dining table for an impressive sight for your guests. 

Opened lid to let out the steam

Cut up pumpkin to serve

Crispy Lemongrass Chicken Wings with Sweet Lime Glaze

After a very busy day at work today I had a real craving for KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). The thought of tearing through a crispy coating of juicy succulent chicken was very tempting; but then my B reminded me of my mission to lose weight for the wedding and saving up to pay for it all. So no Family Bucket for us tonight.

But my craving for crispy chicken was still hankering me, so I needed to cave in without feeling too guilty after indulging myself. So I thought what a good time to experiment with a new recipe to curb my weakness of all things fried.

In my fridge were the usual Chinese must-have groceries: ginger, garlic, chilli, lemongrass, etc. So what better way to satisfy my need for crispy chicken than to use these ingredients.

I've made lemongrass chicken wings in the past but cooked in a sauce, so this time instead I will attempt a similar recipe but bake the chicken wings to make them crispy without deep frying that would make my house smell for a few days from the grease.

However just plain crispy chicken would be too dry so I needed to conjure up a sauce/glaze to accompany it. Lemongrass is complemented well with honey and lime so that would be the basis of my glaze.

The end result was even better than chicken from KFC, or at least that's what my B says, and considering he is the biggest KFC fan, that is saying something. Crispy chicken pieces covered in a sticky sweet and sour glaze definitely filled the void in my tummy. If only I had a bottle of Corona with a lime wedge, that would have been perfect.

I will definitely be making this recipe again in the future, a great dish for finger food at a party.

Crispy Lemongrass Chicken Wings with Sweet Lime Glaze

Chicken and marinade:

• 12 chicken wings (de-jointed into mid wing, drumlette and wing tip)
• 2 stalks of lemongrass (pounded and cut into shorter stalks)
• 1 inch piece of ginger (minced)
• 3 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 green chilli (finely chopped)
• 2 stalks spring onions (finely chopped)
• Zest of half lime (grated)
• Juice of half lime
• 1tbsp rice wine
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• sprinkling of ground black pepper

Crispy coating:

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Sweet Lime Glaze:

• juice of 1/2 lime
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 1-2 tbsp brown sugar (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp corn starch
• 2-3 tbsp of warm water (depending on desired consistency)

Place the chicken wing pieces into a large bowl. You can omit the wing tips if desired but I like eating the wing tips, they are extra crispy with baked).

De-jointed chicken pieces

In the large bowl of chicken wings add in all the marinade ingredients and mix to combine. Cling film over the bowl and leave in the refrigerator to chill for at 2-3 hours. (I only left it to marinade for an hour and it was still very flavourful).

Chicken in marinade

When the time is up, preheat the oven to 200C. Prepare a roasting tray with a wire grill to place the chicken on.

In a plastic bag, add in the plain flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and shake to mix it up. Place 5-6 pieces of chicken pieces at a time into the bag and shake to completely cover the chicken with the flour. 

Bag with flour coating

Using chopsticks or tongs to pick up the floured chicken pieces onto the grill tray. Repeat for all the pieces of chicken until all are coated. 

Flour coated chicken pieces

Spray the chicken pieces with oil sparingly. 

Oil spray on the chicken pieces

Place the chicken into the oven and bake for 25 minutes. After that time, turn the chicken pieces over, spray with more oil and bake for another 25 minutes. 

Chicken cooked half way through

Finished chicken pieces

During the baking time, you can make the glaze.

Tip all the left over marinade ingredients from the bowl of chicken into a small saucepan, add in all the other ingredients of the glaze into the saucepan. Heat it up on medium heat for about 4-5 minutes until the sauce bubbles up and becomes more syrupy. Taste the glaze and adjust accordingly.

Left over marinade ingredients

Marinade ingredients in a saucepan

Added glaze ingredients

Finished syrupy glaze

When the chicken pieces have finished baking. Using chopsticks or tongs to place the crispy chicken pieces onto a serving dish and pour the glaze all over the chicken. Eat while it's still hot. 

Dished up chicken wings

Chicken with glaze

Banana Bread

It is that time of year again, the end of November is time to start planning my christmas shopping list.  Many of my friends have pretty much finished their shopping spree so I feel very unprepared for this festive season. It only feels like yesterday that we were barbecuing in the garden in the Summer. This year has flown by, and I have just realised it is another 8 months till my wedding, argh.... Got to get my dress (or dresses) plus my bridesmaid dresses amongst other things. But today I must concentrate on my christmas list!

So to fuel my motivation of sorting out my present shopping plan I need a big mug of tea filled with caffeine and a sugar loaded cake.

Looking around my kitchen, I noticed two very sad and bruised bananas I had neglected for a good week or so. They were definitely way past their best but to avoid wastage I decided to make use of them in baking.

After scouring the internet for a simple yet appropriate banana recipe I settled for Banana Bread. I had all the ingredients in my larder and the preparation was so easy, even for me (a unsuccessful baker).

After waiting for the cake to cool, a couple of slices of this sweet cake and a large mug of strong English tea definitely did the job and I've nearly finished my plan on tackling christmas shopping. All I need to do now is to battle the crowds at the shopping centre tomorrow. I may even pick up a few festive food goodies at the German market, so looking forward to it. Plus I still have a few slices left over for tomorrow's breakfast, yum.

Banana Bread (makes 1 loaf)

• 2 ripe large bananas (mashed)
• 4 oz butter (melted)
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups plain flour
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 oz walnuts (chopped up into smaller pieces)

Preheat the oven to 180C.

In a large mixing bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate soda, salt and walnuts, and stir to combine.

In another bowl mix together the wet ingredients: bananas, butter, eggs and vanilla extract.

Fold the wet ingredients mixture into the dry ingredients until it is all combined.

Line the loaf pan with baking paper or a loaf liner.

Pour all the ingredients into the loaf tin and you can decorate the top with extra banana slices or walnuts. 

Bake in the oven for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.  When ready leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before cooling completely on a wire rack.

Once cooled slice to eat.