Monsieur Hermé Viennese chocolate sablés

It's not as good as the photos of some of those who baked these delectable cookies :D , my cookies' shape's not uniform :P :D  but as Miss Greeenspan says , the cookies will taste fine no matter what the shape . So true . These were the easiest cookies to make , piping aside hee hee . Making it w/ good quality cocoa powder's the key . Before I borrowed this chocolate desserts by pierre hermé from the library , I stumbled upon køkken69 blog , where I'd first saw these scrumptiousness :D .



I couldn't resist piping my name hee hee



congee

I love dim sum , I could eat it for breakfast , lunch , tea time & dinner :D I couldn't get enough of it . Since I'm in Hong Kong , it's everywhere . It's cheap , so most people here eat it almost everyday . Few minutes walk from our flat , there's this dim sum shop called One Dim Sum  , so far ( uh imo :D )  one of the best dim sum shop . Now , making dim sum at home , is so time consuming that you  really don't have to make it ,because it's so cheap to buy , & most of the time you really couldn't replicate it at home what you've eaten at the resto . But there are times that you got all that ingredients or leftover that it's criminal :D throw it all away . One dish that I really enjoyed eating during yum cha , is congee & yes , it's easy to make it at home , heck this recipe , really is more of a Filipino congee , instead of a chinese one . I got this leftover steamed chicken from few days ago & no one wants to eat it anymore , and because it's been raining here for the past few days & a lil' cooler , so why not make congee to ward off the chill ? ( but actually at 10 am this morning it's freakin' 29° C , but haven't stopped me from cooking it heh! )

Arroz Caldo , Filipino Congee

1 cup rice ( I washed it once , drain )
6 to 8 cups water or broth ( begin w/ 6 & add more if the mixture becomes too sticky )
2 cloves garlic , minced
1/2 med onion ( forgot to add this :D ) chopped
1 cup shredded cooked chicken ( optional )
1 stalk scallions , chopped , for garnishing
2 eggs or some quail eggs , if available , boiled & cut
salt , sugar , pepper & some chicken powder to taste

1. Saute garlic until golden brown , then add rice , stir .
2. Add chicken , stir fry for a while then add water .
3. Keep stirring from time time so the mixture won't stick at the bottom of the pan .
4. Cook until rice is done , season to taste .

5. Garnish on top w/ scallions & eggs , serve hot .

Some dim sum pix

chocolate chips cookies

It's summer here in hk , but right now there's a typhoon , that's a good thing , it means rain . So ,when you go outside , you're not sweating buckets :P but it's only June , & I'm counting the days when it's winter again :D . Just a while ago , I baked cookies , er , again hee hee . I borrowed books from tha library , God Bless the library :) , I've been planning to try baking macaroons for a long long time , I got all ingredients but as always settled for an easy foolproof recipes , thus , these cookies & I guess Pierre Herme macaroons recipe would have to wait :P .... Recipe adapted from INDULGE by Claire Clark

muffins , anyone ?

Been planning to go out to check the bakery near our flat , but it's freakin' 33° C :P , so instead I baked muffins :D lame :P . Recipe adapted from Baking by Carole Clements .

Cheese Muffins

Ingredients :

55 g butter
200 g plain flour
2 tsps baking powder
2 tbsps sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
2 eggs
125 ml milk ( I used single cream )
1 tsp dried thyme ( I used Italian seasoning )
55 g mature cheddar , cut into 1 cm cube ( I used 95 g , grated or add more , if desired )
2 pcs chicken sausage , diced  , my own addition or add bacon

1. Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C . Grease muffin pan or use paper cases .
2. Melt butter & set aside .
3. In a mixing bowl , sift together the flour , baking powder , sugar , salt & paprika .
4. In another bowl , combine eggs, milk , melted butter & thyme then whisk to blend .
5. Add milk mixture to the dry ingredients & stir just until moistened ; do not overmix .
6. Place a heaped spoonful of butter into prepared pan . Drop a few pcs of cheese over each cup , then top again w/ spoonful of batter .
7. Bake until puffed & golden about 25 minutes . Let stand for 5 minutes before unmoulding onto a rack . Serve hot or at room temperature .

LI NA - French Open Champion

CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!  LI NA , YOU ROCK !!!!!!

cookie monster ....

So , besides baking brownies today  , ( overdone  , tsk tsk will post pix of that next time ^-^" ) I also baked some cookies . Recipe adapted from ina garten / food network  , but no pecans involved heh! &  raisins ? uhm lil' bit of it , so I called it ... trail mix ( mix of mm's , peanuts, raisins cashews & almonds )  , cranberries , white & milk chocolate chips , hazelnuts & oatmeal cookies whewww ! hahahaha ....Ina's recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of pecans & 1 1/2 cups of raisins , instead I use a cup each of trail mix , cranberries & white & milk choco bits ......

                                       some ingredients except the baking powder :D

                                           choco bits , cranberries , trail mix , some hazelnuts

dinner , another bananarama .....

                               angled loofah w/ vegetarian tofu slices & fried minced prawn & pork

                                                            stir fried gai lan

                                             china mangoes & how small it is .....

                                                   banana bread click  for recipe


hugeness :D



                                  I know I know , 'tis not the same as the pic of Emeril 's bread ^-^"