Delicious Homemade Chocolate Rice & Raisin Almond Cookies

"Super crispy and delicious cookies! Some homemade goodies which allow you to enjoy at ease."

As usual, some baking staples were left untouched on the kitchen shelves for quite a while. I was afraid they would end up in the trash bin as expiry dates were close. I just pulled these items out and made my cookies with instant ideas (chuckles).

These cookies turned out excellent and the first batch of my bake was simply wiped out the moment they were ready to be eaten. Even for me, a conscious diet watcher, I ate quite a bit of them, too. Why so? I was not afraid because... I baked them with shortening instead of butter! All-vegetable shortening contains 50% less saturated fat than butter. Further more, I had added less sugar than what commonly uses in many recipes. It's sweet enough to my liking.

Just that, if you love strong buttery flavor in your cookies, shortening may disappoint you, in that sense. You may still taste aroma in this cookie, but never the rich buttery flavor. Oh well, for the sake of 50% less saturated fat, why not? Believe me, this cookie of mine will not fail you (laugh). And not to worry if you wouldn't like any almond flavour, the ground almond is just to fine to be noticed (smile)!

Yields 70 - 80 medium-sized cookies
Ingredients
250 gram of self raising flour, sieved
250 gram of Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening
6 teaspoons of low fat milk
200 gram of brown sugar
125 gram of extra fine ground almond
60 grams of chocolate rice
80 grams of black raisins
2 eggs

Method
1) Preheat oven to 160°C, 20 minutes in advance.

2) Place shortening and low fat milk in a large mixing bowl. Add in sugar and cream the mixture at medium-high (No.3) speed, for 5 - 6 minutes or until smooth. Use plastic spatula to scrap off the mixture along the inner sides of the mixing bowl at times.

3) Break eggs and pour into the mixture. Beat at the lower speed for 2 minutes.

4) Gradually mix in sieved flour and continue beating for another 1 - 2 minutes.

5) By now, the mixture should be stiff with mild resistance. Mix in ground almond, then turn off the mixer and fold in raisins and chocolate rice.

6) Now, store the mixture in refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour time. The mixture will be chilled into soft dough.

7) Line baking tray with baking sheet and lightly grease with olive oil. Scope dough in an amount of 20 cents sized balls and place them 1 inch apart on the greased baking sheet. Use a fork to slightly flatten the balls to shape.

8) Place baking tray on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove cookies from oven to cool on wire rack for a bit. The hot soft cookies will turn crisped almost instantly once left to cool. Store cookies in an air-tight jar and serve with a cup of nice skinny latte anytime!

A badge-sized cookie counts about 50kcal.

Tips: Crisco shortening is available in major supermarkets (Find it at the baking needs cells).
* Not necessary to use chilled shortening. Cool temperature is fine.
* If you decide to use butter, add 250gram of semi-melted butter will do.
* Omit the raisins, if you don't like the stickiness of the baked raisin in your bites of the cookies.
* Don't omit the ground almond, it's the gist of it.

Simply Mini Cheesy Pork Cutlet

"Cheesy pork cutlet, Cheesy pork sandwich, or Cheesy fried pork chop, whatever you called it, this delicious savory 'cheesy in pork' dish would now be your child's all-time-favourite. So as to you, big guys!"

I was so excited to introduce to you my latest dish, the mini cheesy sandwiched pork cutlet!

I know, I know, this is not something new, nor this a new surprise to you, but I just wish to recommend you to make it (again) for you kids since it has now becoming my girl's new favourite dish, I really am certain that your kids will love it (or have it again) now!

Yes, I did not make the standard sized pork chop, and instead, the bite-sizes. I have several reason for this, as not only for the sake of the child, I wanted it to look cute, too. Most importantly, it was because I did it in a way that the pork chops were steamed beforehand. Just like my Japanese pork cutlet dish, it was easier to deep fry the crust to almost perfect golden by not worrying if the meat was cooked or not. Well, you may think this is an extra step which might not be necessary to you, do the 'raw' way may give you your better dish instead. It's your comfort choice though..

Anyway, since school is out, soon... Go ahead to fill up your picnic basket with these savory mini pork cutlet 'sandwiches'. No more ordinary bread sandwiches for picnic, this crispy sandwiched pork cutlet is aromatic, crispy, and its rich but not overwhelming cheesy content is more than savory to eat it on its own!

If you are keen to try my recipe, here you go.

Serves 3 - 4
Ingredients
8 thin slices of boneless pork chop, each about 1cm thick
2 tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of grounded white pepper
4 slices of Cheddar cheese, halved each slice

1 tablespoon of corn flour
1 egg, beaten
4 tablespoons of store-bought Japanese finely blended breadcrumb
Pinch of salt

1 cup of cooking oil (for frying)

Method:
1) Use the back of the knife or a meat pounder to lightly pound on the both sides of the pork chops. Brush honey on both sides of each pork chop. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Season for 15 minutes, if desired.

2) Place pork chops on a wire mesh steam rack with stands so that you can put the steam rack directly in the wok filled with 1/4 full of water to steam with placing the chops on a dish. Otherwise, use electrical steamer. Steam pork chops for 5 minutes. Remove pork chops from wok, let it cool.

3) Place a piece of steamed pork chop on a clean top surface. Roll and place half slice of cheese on the pork chop and fold the pork chop half. Then, take a toothpick and prick through the opening of the folded part so that it holds.

4) Mix pinch of salt to the cornstarch. Coat some salted cornstarch on both sides of the chops. Then, dip into beaten egg, followed by coating a thick layer of breadcrumbs on all sides. Repeat step for all the remaining chops. Place coated chops on a large dish to rest for 5 minutes before cooking.

5) Heat wok with oil over medium fire. Place pork chops in the oil and fry till golden browned. Or, use deep fryer to fry for about 1 minute. Remove from oil and drain on kitchen paper towel. Remove the toothpick pricked on each chop. Serve with mayonnaise, if desired.

Use those sliced Cheddar cheese, or get the grated ones. Both are fine to be sandwiched. If desired, mix more than one kind of cheese, how about an addition of Mozzarella?

1 piece of my mini cheesy pork cutlet counts about 180kcal.

Tips: If you are using raw pork chop without steaming it first, extend frying time to 3 - 5 minutes with low-medium heat.










PatriCa posted from iPhone

Thai-Style Steamed Sea Bass

"Refreshing seafood dish, healthy and appetizing!"

Got the idea of cooking this savory steamed fish in an appetizing and refreshing soup based from my creation of fruits salsa dish a couple of weeks ago.

My initial intention was just to use up the remaining ingredients from the Salsa making, did not expect to turn my steamed fish into such gourmet. The combination of toppings gives the dish a colorful tint as well as adding great refreshing flavor to it!

Remember to also drink the soup, too!

Serves 4
Ingredients (A):
1 medium to large sized Sea Bass
1 teaspoon of chicken powder

Ingredients (B):
2 small red onion, peeled and chopped
1 small bunch of parsley, briefly chopped
1 red chilli, deseed and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of lime juice, squeezed from 2 fresh limes

Condiments:
1 tablespoon of Thai fish sauce
3 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon of sugar
Pinch of salt

Garnish
Small bunch of parsley

Method
1) Scale fish and remove the gills and substances inside. Dredge whole fish with salt, and then, rinse to clean. Pat dry with kitchen towel. Season both sides on the fish as well as its inner cavity with chicken powder.

2) Place fish on a large serving dish. Add condiments, followed by topping of Ingredients (B). Then, bring it to steam on high heat for 20 minutes. Garnish and serve hot.

A serving counts about 80kcal.

Tips: Add 1 tablespoon of my Special Miso sauce, it adds extra fusion flavor to this fish dish.