Ginger Snaps
Saturday, April 30, 2011
I chanced upon this recipe years ago and it's been my to-go place whenever I need a ginger snap fix. In the past (as in living in Singapore), I used to scratch my itch with Marks and Spencer's ginger snaps. In the Netherlands it was a totally different matter. There wasn't a Marks and Sparks there and even worse, not a sign of ginger biscuits, snaps or otherwise to be seen on the supermarket shelves. The horror!
So in keeping with the if you can't buy it, make it yourself mentality I've developed over the years from living overseas, I started sourcing for a suitable recipe.
Everything about it was perfect except for the spice factor. If it was there, I totally missed it. Being Peranakan, my taste buds have been conditioned from birth to expect fireworks in the form of spices and flavour in my daily food. And that goes double for cakes and desserts. Anyway, after a few trials and hundreds of biscuits later, I got the measurements correct and I've been using the recipe since. Flash forward and we currently reside in Singapore. I've on a few occasions, skipped over the ginger snaps from Marks and Sparks in favour of my home-baked ones. That's how much I love them.
In this instance, I baked two versions: sugar coated for me and plain for the Son. Flavour wise it's the same both ways. On the matter of texture, the sugar coated snaps are satisfyingly crunchy. The plain ones soft and chewy. I am partial to crunchy.
And just for my own amusement, I gathered some dough and made three of these:
I never got to frost the cuties though because, faster than you can say gingerbread man, a certain eleven year gobbled them up.
"Look mum! No head!"
Below is my spiced up version of the ginger snaps. I have highlighted the changes in red. For the original recipe, please click
here.
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground allspice
4-5 tablespoon ground ginger
1/3 cup white sugar for decoration
You Do:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, molasses, and egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice and ginger; stir into the molasses mixture. Roll dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll each ball in white sugar before placing 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until center is firm. Cool on wire racks.
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 6:33 pm
Dutchess' Chicken and Pasta Bake
Well praise be the kitchen gods! Finally, a food entry. And about time too. To end the drought, I thought I would offer up this little concoction of mine. It's the Son's current favourite and he deigns to consume even the odd couple of carrots and mushrooms. On the subject of Vegetables one must pry his mouth open to get them down and even then, it's not always a sure thing. I suspect in this dish, the carrots and mushrooms being drowned in cream and cheese, makes it somewhat palatable for him.
I personally can't handle more than a few mouthfuls of this, it's too rich for me but goes down quite the treat for the two men. And that is why, more often than not, I cook two sets of meals. Conflict in taste-buds and all that.
Some of the following ingredients will have no measurements for I measure them out by sight and the all important taste test. This may cause inconvenience to some of you so you can do what I do: When in doubt, start with half a teaspoon and work from there. Unless it's salt or pepper, then it's pinch, pinch, pinch all the way.
Dutchess' Chicken and Pasta Bake
You Need:
1 medium sized chicken breast diced into 1" cubes
300g of penne cooked to al dente
1 small carrot, skinned and thinly sliced
250g of white button mushroom, thinly sliced
1 tsp of chopped garlic
chicken stock; cube or powder
1 bay leaf
parsley, finely chopped (dried version is good too)
thyme, finely chopped "
salt and pepper
300ml thickened cream
olive oil for sauteing
mozzarella cheese, grated
red cheddar cheese, grated
You Do:
- Heat olive oil in frying pan over medium fire. Brown chicken cubes to seal in flavour. When chicken turns a light golden brown, add chopped garlic, sliced carrots and mushrooms.
- Stir fry until carrots and mushrooms start to soften. Add a bit of water to prevent things from drying out. Add chicken stock, bay leaf, parsley and thyme. Saute some more till cooked.
- Pour thickened cream and mix thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add cooked penne and give the whole lot a big stir. Turn off fire.
- Divide penne into three or four different oven-proof bowls. Set aside.
- Spread a layer of red cheddar and mozzarella cheeses over the penne. Amount depends on how much you love your cheese.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 30 minutes or until a deep golden brown.
Lekker!
Labels: one dish meals, pasta, she cooks
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 8:58 am
Belated Happy Dance
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
I am two months late with this Happy Dance. Truth is, I'd taken the photos the day after it was completed but never got round to uploading it. Anyway, here it is, from Nora Corbett's Pixie Couture, may I present you Poppy in all her sophisticated glory:
I enjoyed this so much because of all the different reds involved. Red, as you know, is my favourite colour. Then there was also the beading and metallic threads. Thanks to chicchicbaby for this birthday chart. Hope I've done it justice.
Note: For fellow stitchers who like to know these things, this piece was stitched on 32 count Lugana.Labels: my other passion, sew gorgeous
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 11:57 pm
