Bourbon-Maple Glazed Pork Belly

Posted on February 24, 2018 by missamateurchef

The more you weigh the harder you are to kidnap. Stay safe… Eat pork belly!

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh pork belly
2½ cups chicken stock
½ onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
3-5 whole allspice cloves/ anises

Sauce:

¼ cup real maple syrup
100ml bourbon whiskey
4 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 180C.
Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large pot or Dutch oven. Sauté onion, garlic, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and spices until fragrant.
Add in stock and cook for 20-30 minutes.
Place pork belly in the Dutch oven, bake for 2½ hours, until tender.
Drain away sauce; chill the pork overnight to improve the texture of the meat.
When ready, tip the ketchup, soy sauce, maple syrup and bourbon into a small pan. Set over a high heat and bubble for 5 mins until thick and syrupy. Pour over the chunks of pork and toss to coat. Roast for 15-20 mins more until sticky.
Serve with risotto!

Merry Cherry Sponge Cake

Posted on February 21, 2018 by missamateurchef

Let us eat cake, it’s somebody’s birthday somewhere. Oh, in fact it’s everyone’s birthday today!

Ingredients (yield two 4-inch cakes):

150g butter, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
150g self raising flour
10-12 cherries, stoned and halved

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease two 4-inch cake tins with butter and flour.
Lay the cherries at the bottom of the cake tins.
In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until pale and creamy.
Fold in the flour until well incorporated. Transfer to the prepared cake tin.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.
Serve while still warm!

Ferrero Rocher Cookie

Posted on February 16, 2018 by missamateurchef

Happy year of the dog everybody!

Chinese New Year is the time when you visit your friends and relatives, very often those you only see during this time of the year, and got “interrogated” by them =.=. Gift plays an important role in Chinese culture, so you never go empty-handed! If you pay attention to TV commercials enough, you may notice that many of the most popular gift items among Hong Kongers are, interestingly, not Chinese produces. Kjeldsens Cookies, Almond Roca, Sugus, Ferrero Rocher… just to name a few. Ferrero Rocher is particularly popular in Hong Kong for its golden package, a color Chinese people love for it symbolizes wealth. I’m not a superstitious person, but I do like their creamy, nutella-like centres!

And…. Surprise, surprise! They are equally nice when made into cookies!!

Ingredients (yield 12 pieces):

6 Ferrero Rochers (freeze them before baking)
1 cup (packed) all-purpose flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¼ cup butter (1 stick), softened
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Place the Ferrero Rochers in the freezer until firm, about an hour. Remove from freezer and hit with a hammer in a zip-loc bag a few times until they’re broken into chunky pieces. Put back in the freezer until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the full egg, then the vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add flour mixture in three parts, stirring until just combined after each addition.
Stir in ½ the Ferrero Rocher pieces. Drop tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto prepared baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart. Place the remaining Ferrero Rocher into the tops of the cookies, pressing them into the dough slightly.
Bake for around 10 minutes until edges are nicely browned. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Mushroom Garlic Butter Chicken Bake

Posted on February 5, 2018 by missamateurchef

Winter is here! Dark days of winter make me want to pull on my heaviest sweater and stay in bed all day. That’s where these simple, casserole recipes come in handy. Baked to perfection in a single pan – a hearty casserole always satisfies your hunger and warms you from the inside out.

Ingredients:

4 bone-in chicken thighs
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
1 bowl sliced mushrooms

Creamy Parmesan Garlic Sauce:

¼ cup butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup bacon
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Season chicken with generous amount of salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sear chicken on both sides, for about 3-5 minutes each side, until golden all over. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Fry bacon in the remaining oil, add in mushroom and cook for a further 3-5 minutes, or until just beginning to soften. Transfer to the same plate as the chicken
To make the sauce, melt butter, add in garlic and cook until tender. Whisk in chicken broth, heavy cream, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, pepper and salt.
Put chicken and mushrooms back to the sauce, brush chicken with butter and sprinkle with extra salt and pepper, bake for 30-40 minutes.