Tag Archives: foodie

No Knead Crusty Raisin and Walnut Bread

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Ingredients:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
  • 1g instant yeast
  • 3/4 cup raisin
  • ½ cup of walnut
  • 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
  • 350ml warm water (about 35°C)

Directions:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir in the warm water and honey. This should result in a sticky dough, if it is not sticky to the touch, add a few spoonful of water. Gently shape the dough into a ball as best you can. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rest at room temperature and allow to rise for 12-18 hours. The dough will be doubled in size and covered in air bubbles.

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using lightly floured hands, shape into a ball as best you can. Transfer dough to a large piece of parchment paper.

3. Using a very sharp knife, gently score an X into the top. Leave dough alone for 30 minutes.

4. During this 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 246°C. Place the dutch oven (with the lid) inside for 30 minutes so that it’s extremely hot before the dough is placed inside. After 30 minutes, remove the dutch oven from the oven and carefully place the dough inside by lifting it up with the parchment paper and tucking it all– the parchment paper included– inside the pot. Cover with the lid.

5. Bake for 25 minutes with the lid on. Carefully remove the lid and continue baking for 10 more minutes until the bread is golden brown. Remove pot from the oven, carefully remove the bread from the pot, and allow to cool for 30 minutes before serving.

 

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Lemon Butter Sauteed Clams

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Woohooo It’s starting to feel a lot like spring!

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m so ready for the change in season! Awaken your taste buds with this lemony dish after winter’s heavy meals.

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Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ lb littleneck clams, scrubbed and cleaned
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, mined
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • Juice from 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Directions:

  1. Heat up a skillet on medium heat.
  2. Add the butter and saute the garlic until slightly browned.
  3. Add the clams into the skillet, and quickly toss around.
  4. Add the wine and cayenne pepper. Cover the skillet and let cook for 1 minute, or until the clams are all open.
  5. Add the lemon juice and parsley, stir to combine well. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Bourbon-Maple Glazed Pork Belly

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

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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:

  1. Preheat your oven to 180C.
  2. 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.
  3. Add in stock and cook for 20-30 minutes.
  4. Place pork belly in the Dutch oven, bake for 2½ hours, until tender.
  5. Drain away sauce; chill the pork overnight to improve the texture of the meat.
  6. 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.
  7. Serve with risotto!

 

Ferrero Rocher Cookie

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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:

  1. 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.
  2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.

Peanut Butter and Jam Rolls

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Peanut butter has always been one of my favourite food. That’s been the case ever since I was a little girl. I may have developed a more refined palate over the years ( at least I hope I have… ). Still nothing- not the finest caviar, the most aromatic truffles or the flakiest croissants, can beat the pure joy of eating peanut butter straight from the jar. Haha, yes, still doing that, feel no shame for that!

Hope u like this bread roll idea as much as I do! There is just something about those two flavors that brings back childhood memories ♥

Ingredients (yields 6 rolls):

Dough

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 cup sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 pkg. active dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/8 cup butter
  • 1 egg

Filling

  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup jam

Honey for glazing

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, combine 1 cups flour, 1/8 cup sugar and pinch of salt, set aside.
  2. In a sauce pan, melt butter and milk until warm. Let cool to about 40 degrees C.
  3. Once yeast has proofed, add in milk/ butter mixture along with an egg to the flour mix.
  4. Stir to combine the remaining flour gradually, until dough starts to pull away from bowl.
  5. Dump out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, add in additional flour as needed, about 5 minutes.
  6. Cover the dough and let rise in warm place until doubled.
  7. Once doubled in size dump the dough out onto lightly floured surface and roll out into a 12″x15″ rectangle.
  8. Spread peanut butter over the dough (leaving 1” at the edges), then dollop jam over top, spread unevenly.
  9. From long side, roll the dough up, cut off edges and then cut into 6 equal rolls using dental floss.
  10. Place rolls cut side up in a greased muffin pan and cover again and let rise until doubled.
  11. Once risen preheat oven to 180 degrees C, bake for about 20minutes.
  12. Apply honey evenly using a brush, then bake for 10 minutes more.
  13. Serve warm!

 

 

Fluffiest Overnight French Toast

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As the year ends, it’s the perfect time to reflect on what you have accomplished and look ahead to your new goals.

Cooking, hoarding recipes, photographing food and, of course, eating, have been my lifelong passions. Two years ago, I started the page << Miss Amateur Chef >>, this has changed my life and taken my obsession with food to a whole new level. The kitchen has always been my place of solace; working in the kitchen, testing recipes bring not only joy but beautiful memories. This little project of mine allowed me to properly document my favorite recipes- which I believe can now live on forever =)

Let’s start the new year with a scrumptious breakfast! This French toast is a real crowd pleaser, it comes out best when you work with thick slices of loaf bread and allow them to soak in the mixture overnight. “Preparation is the key to success”- this applies to cooking and everything else in life. May all our preparation in 2017 make us FIERCE and UNSTOPPABLE in 2018!!!

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Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Beat together egg, milk, salt, cinnamon and vanilla.
  2. Soak slices of bread in mixture overnight, until saturated.
  3. Heat a lightly oiled skillet over medium-high heat, cook bread slices on both sides until golden.
  4. Serve hot with maple syrup and berries.

 

Braised Short Rib with Sautéed Vegetables

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So this is Christmas…

We all have a holiday tradition or recipe that we hold so dear and near to our hearts, don’t we? One that we keep making the same way for years and never get bored with. Boeuf bourguignon is one of such dishes for me. Hearty and so packed full of flavour. It is a must in our house in the winter months.

This Christmas I am trying to make an elevated version of beef stew based on Gordon Ramsay’s recipe with a few modifications: cutting down the amount of red wine and adding in extra tomatoes cause I like a little more acidity in the sauce. The vegetables are sautéed instead of adding to the stew at the very beginning so to avoid a soggy texture.

p.s. This is my first time working with pearl onions and they are truly god-sent!

 

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Ingredients:

  • Olive oil, for frying
  • 3 thick-cut meaty beef short ribs
  • Minced garlic
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 250ml bottle red wine
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • 100g pancetta lardons
  • 6-8 small chestnut mushrooms, trimmed and halved
  • 6-8 pearl onions
  • Carrots (optional)
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tomatoes cut in wedges

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.

  2. Season the short ribs thoroughly, then panfry in the dutch oven for 10–15 minutes to brown well on all sides.

  3. Add the minced garlic, pushing it to the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato purée and heat for a minute or two to cook it out. Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the bits at the bottom. Put in tomato wedges.
  4. Bring everything to the boil and cook for 10–15 minutes until the liquid is reduced by half, then add stock to nearly cover the ribs. Bring to the boil again, basting the ribs with the juices.
  5. Put the dutch oven in the preheated oven for 3–4 hours, until the meat is tender and falling away from the bone.
  6. About 10 minutes before the short ribs are ready to come out, peel the pearl onions and boil them for 5 minutes.
  7. At the same time, panfry the pancetta for 2–3 minutes until crisp and golden. Add the mushrooms and carrots, cook for 4–5 minutes until tender. Drain off any excess fat.
  8. When the short ribs are ready, remove from the oven and transfer to a serving dish.  Spoon off any excess fat from the beef cooking liquid.

  9. Serve the short ribs topped with the hot pancetta and mushrooms and the sauce poured around.

 

Gingerbread men

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Soft in the centers, crisp on the edges, perfectly spiced =) No holiday cookie platter would be complete without our beloved gingerbread men!

Ingredients (yield 12 pcs):

  • 1.5 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

  1. Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Set aside.
  2. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add golden syrup, egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.
  3. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
  5. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired.

 

Crab Cake Benedict with Sriracha Hollandaise Sauce

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Trying out something a little outside the box with this Crab Cake Benedict served with a Sriracha Hollandaise sauce. A tribute to Sarabeth’s- one of my favourite breakfast places in New York.

Revisit my authentic homemade crab cakes recipe at:

https://missamateurchef.com/2015/07/11/authentic-homemade-crab-cakes/

Sriracha Hollandaise Sauce

Ingredients:

  •  4   tbsp butter, melted
  •  4   Egg yolks
  •  1   tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  •  1-3   tsp Sriracha
  •  Sea Salt
  •  Freshly ground black pepper
  •  1-2   tbsp water, room temp

Directions:

  1. Vigorously whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless steel bowl until the mixture is thickened and doubled in volume.
  2. Place the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl.
  3. Continue to whisk rapidly. Be careful not to let the eggs get too hot or they will scramble. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume.
  4. Remove from heat, whisk in salt paper and sriracha, taste and add more sriracha if desired for more heat.
  5. Cover and place in a warm spot until ready to use for the eggs benedict. If the sauce gets too thick, whisk in a few drops of warm water before serving.

 

 

Ochazuke with Seared Oysters 

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Summer is almost at an end. Almost, but not quite yet. With the daytime temperature still reaching over 30 degrees, I have been craving for a dish that is light yet comforting…

That’s when Ochazuke (お茶漬け) comes in handy: a simple rice dish which combines green tea (ocha), steamed rice, and an assortment of savory ingredients (zuke means “submerged”). In Japanese homes, ochazuke is often regarded as a comfort food. It is typically enjoyed as a filler snack, any time of the day, but it is especially loved as a midnight snack (or as a hangover remedy)!

Try this really simple recipe and enjoy a hearty snack like your favorite manga character!

(You can use cold rice and cold dashi or tea in summer time to enjoy a more refreshing version of Ochazuke.)

Ingredients:

Ochazuke:

  • 1 cup cooked, steamed Japanese rice
  • 1/2 to 2/3 cup hot brewed Japanese tea (I swear by the Gyokuro stems teabag from Nakamura Tokichi Honten!) , just enough to cover the rice
  • 1/2 tbsp of soya sauce (optional)
  • Pinch of white sesame seeds (toasted)
  • Pinch of shredded seaweed

Seared Oysters:

  • 3-4 oysters
  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce

Directions:

  1. Set frying pan to medium-high heat.
  2. Pat oysters dry. Add to the pan and cook for a 1-2 minutes on each side until nicely brown.
  3. Remove oysters and reduce the heat to medium. Mix mirin, brown sugar and soy sauce, add to the pan.
  4. If sauce is nicely reduced and thickened, turn off heat. If not, continue to cook over medium heat until desired consistency is reached.
  5. Add in oysters and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until they are well-coated with the sauce.
  6. Pour the tea until it covers half of the rice and top with oysters. Add soy sauce if you like.
  7. Sprinkle sesame seeds and shredded seaweed on top for extra flavor.