Anyway, 2 weeks ago I wanted to eat shortbread cookies, so I baked shortbread cookies.

A very long while back, I had hastily written on a piece of paper this random recipe for shortbread cookies that only had 4 ingredients but of course I totally missed out the temperature the cookies needed to bake at, or how long they needed to bake for. Classic Capricorn. Just kidding, I don’t follow horoscopes. So I googled and prayed and tried the recipe at a temperature and timing that I wasn’t sure was correct and luckily for me, the cookies came out okay. Actually, they turned out great!
I’ve made it twice since so that’s how I know I’ve got a keeper.

Shortbread Cookies
for the cookies
2 cups flour, sifted
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup icing sugar, sifted
½ tsp salt
for the jazz
milk chocolate chips
white chocolate chips
sprinkles

-With a mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy
-Slowly add in the icing sugar, beat until well mixed
-Add in the flour a cup at a time, beat until it just comes together
-Lay the dough on some clingwrap, wrap it into a ball and refrigerate for at least 2 hours*
-Preheat oven to 300°f/150°c
-Generously flour your surface and rolling pin and roll the dough to about ¼ inch thick and with your cookie cutter of choice, press down on the dough

-Repeat the last step until your dough is nearly gone (I did this about 5 times, got 74 cookies out of it!)

-Place cookies on a sheet pan that has been lined with baking paper, and bake for 20 mins (rotate pan halfway through the baking time)
-Let cool on pan for 10 mins before placing the cookies on a cooling rack
-Decorate with melted chocolate** and sprinkles!

-Or you could pour the chocolate into a small plastic bag, snip off the tip and go to town on those naked cookies.

To be more specific, Meatball Korma!

It was soooooooooo good. And I’m not just saying that because the woman gave birth to me.

I loved how the meatballs were tender and juicy, and the gravy? Just the right consistency. It was creamy but not to the point of overindulgence. My mom intended for us to eat it with pita bread (as pictured) but I ate it with her yellow rice. I wish I took a picture of that but man, I was busy stuffing my face eating demurely like a proper lady.

Recipe coming up in a later post, because I’m nothing if not mysterious. And by mysterious I mean my mom is at work and I don’t really know the recipe. Have a good day everyone!

*Also, thank you for the shout-out Foodpress and HELLOOOOO new readers!*
]]> http://rebelwithoutasauce.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/smells-like-curry-spirit/feed/ 0 rebelwithoutasauce http://rebelwithoutasauce.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/baked-extra-spicy-hot-wings/ http://rebelwithoutasauce.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/baked-extra-spicy-hot-wings/#comments Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:00:22 +0000 rebelwithoutasauce http://rebelwithoutasauce.wordpress.com/?p=1832 ]]> I’ve never had really good hot wings. All the hot wings I’ve had in restaurants are not spicy at all. As I’ve confessed before, I need like heat in my food. The ones that I’ve had tasted mostly of barbeque sauce which sucks cos I only like barbeque sauce with my McNuggets. So when my friend and I discovered this small stall at Kallang selling all sorts of hot sauces (and a lot of Latin American ingredients like this which I’ve been looking for everywhere, but that’s for another post!) we both decided almost immediately that we would make our own hot wings that were you know, actually hot.

And thus, these Baked Extra-Spicy Hot Wings were born.

These 2 bottles made up our hot sauce combo. We really lucked out in finding that hole-in-the-wall shop because it’s very hard to find hot sauce in Singapore. We don’t even have Sriracha in supermarkets and we’re an Asian country for goodness sake! Thailand is like, right there above us!

Oh and that’s my buddy Amalina, also known as the couscous hater.

Baked Extra-Spicy Hot Wings *inspired by here and here*
wings
1kg chicken wings (i think we had about 30 wings and drummetes)
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Vegetable Oil
Flour
sauce
½ cup butter
¼ cup Habanero hot sauce*
¼ cup Chipotle hot sauce*
1 heaping tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp honey

-preheat the oven to 400f/200c

-add salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder to taste to the chicken (we winged it hohoho) and mix well
-add just enough vegetable oil to coat the wings, mix well
-transfer the wings to a large plastic bag, add slightly more than enough flour
-”massage” the bag well, ensuring that there are no wet spots on the wings
-line a sheet pan with foil and place the wings on it
-bake for 30mins, flip the wings and finish baking for another 30mins

-once the wings are done, make the sauce by adding all the ingredients to a saucepan

-cook over medium heat until slightly bubbly

-place the cooked wings in a big bowl and pour the sauce over it

-cover the bowl with a plate and shake the bowl to ensure even coating of the sauce

Most importantly, try not to salivate as you try to plate it as prettily as possible. We served it with (*gasp* storebought) ranch dressing and celery sticks.

Guys. GUYS. Look at that.

 

These were beyond delicious. It burns, but only in the good way.

They were definitely spicy but very well seasoned as well, so it was not just heat. We were both surprised at how crispy and juicy the wings were because they sure didn’t look it when we first took them out of the oven. La-La-LAAAHVED it. Evidence pictured. Try these now!

Lemony Fish with Cherry Tomato Couscous *adapted slightly from Nigella Lawson’s Kitchen*
1 box of couscous
1 lemon
½ red onion, finely chopped
A handful of cherry tomatoes (my handful=10), quartered lengthwise
1 tbsp olive oil
1 catfish fillet, cut into 2
½ tsp paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tbsp vegetable oil

-Prepare the couscous according to the box
-Zest the lemon on a plate and add the paprika, salt and pepper. Swirl the contents around to make sure it’s thoroughly mixed
-Coat both sides of the fish fillets with this dry rub, set aside

-In another bowl, add the onions, tomatoes, olive oil and the juice of half a lemon, mix together well and set aside
-Heat a pan with the vegetable oil over medium heat

-Cook the fish for 2-3 minutes each side

-Once the couscous is done, fluff it up with a fork before adding the onion and tomato mixture
-Stir in the chopped cilantro, reserving some to sprinkle at the end

This could not be easier. You absolutely could not screw this up!

And trust me, you would not want to screw this up either, because then you wouldn’t be able to partake in the deliciousness that is this dish.

 

One of the reasons why I love using these frozen sutchi fillets, besides them being you know, cheap, is that they’re so easy to cook with and they will taste great any way you cook them.

Loved the couscous. Everything was right, from the crunch of the onions to the tartness of the tomatoes. I only used up (ahem, ate) half of the couscous so I kept the rest in the fridge and whaddya know!
As it turns out, cold couscous at 4am is the bees’ knees.

Nothing special really, they are just regular pancakes! Turns out food dye + any batter = fun. I wish I remember where I got this pancake recipe from, but I’ve been using it for years and years. In fact, this is my reference. A note on my fridge, cutting-edge stuff.

(Rainbow) Pancakes
*makes 8 medium sized pancakes*
1½ cup flour
4 tbsp sugar
1¾ tbsp baking powder (basically 2 scant tbsp)
1 tsp salt
1½ cup milk
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
food colouring

- whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl
- in a measuring jug, whisk all the wet ingredients together
- slowly add the wet into the dry, folding in with a spatula until well mixed
- divide batter into 4 portions, add food colouring to each portion
- in a pan, melt some butter and with a ¼ cup, scoop the batter into the pan
- when bubbles start to appear around the top of the pancake (about 3 minutes), flip to the other side and cook for another 2 minutes
- serve with butter and syrup (candles not necessary, but always encouraged)

Nothing like unnecessarily jazzing up old recipes, am I right?

This colourful stack of pancakes is dedicated to you reading this! Thank you for coming back/dropping by/chancing upon this blog, I appreciate every one of you. Especially you mom!

Now let them eat (pan)cake!

For Singaporean readers, I managed to get this at Shine Korea Supermarket at Marina Square for $2+

Korean Shrimp Stir-Fry *adapted from Nigella Kitchen*
150-175g shrimp (I used frozen)
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp Gochujang paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
few dashes sesame oil
1 head of broccoli
1 large carrot
1 red onion
1 large chilli

1) Cut the broccoli and carrot into roughly the same sized chunks
2) Slice the onion and chilli
3) Mix the sauce
4) Defrost (if you’re using frozen) and wash the shrimp

1) In a wok/pan with vegetable oil over medium-high heat, stir-fry the vegetables for about 3 minutes
2) Add the sliced onion and chilli and cook until the onions start to sweat
3) Add the shrimp and cook until they are pink, about 2 minutes
4) Add the sauce mix and stir well

5) Let the sauce bubble for about a minute then turn off the heat
6) Serve over white rice

No need to adjust your monitors, it is this red.

 

I loved this!

Besides being so easy to cook, it’s also very tasty. I know the colour might be a bit intimidating, especially since Gochujang is basically hot chilli paste but it was not spicy in the least, which might be my only gripe with it. I need that heat man! But nothing one or two (or four) chili padis won’t fix.

“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not
made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.” – Voltaire

Sorry for the lack of updates! I’ve been… elsewhere in my mind. I also think this probably will be the last Polaroid Monday, it’s been fun doing it for almost a year but I guess I’ve run out of “polaroid film”.
Have a great week ahead everyone!

1) A recipe I had previously read made it seem like this was the most temperamental frosting ever. Like if even a gram of egg white was off (Gram! I’m supposed to weigh my egg whites? Weigh them?!) then the frosting would probably be ruined and I would have failed as a human being.
2) I seriously read a user comment somewhere where she spent an hour trying to beat the frosting back into stiffness after adding the butter. AN HOUR. I’m using a hand mixer okay, I ain’t got an hour!
3) Way too many comments about this frosting ending up soupy for my liking
4) The last time I made a frosting with eggs in it, it tasted like EGGS.

But I really, really wanted to make a frosting with strawberries in them that didn’t use icing sugar so I decided to be fearless for once and try it.

And it turned out so freaking amazing. Exception to the rule, what what!

 

Let’s start with the cupcakes. No pictures because the ones at the main source would have pawned mine.

The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever. from Pioneer Woman
*adapted to make 30 cupcakes*
3 cups Flour
3 cups Sugar
½ tp Salt
6 tbsp (heaping) Cocoa
3 sticks Butter
1½ cup Boiling Water
¾ cup Buttermilk
3 whole Beaten Eggs
1½ tsp Baking Soda
1½ tsp Vanilla

-Preheat the oven to 350˚f/175˚c
-In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
-In a saucepan, melt butter.
-Add cocoa. Stir together.
-Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat.
-Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
-Mix the buttermilk , beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla.
-Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture.
-Divide batter into cupcake liners about 2/3 full
-Bake for 20-25 minutes.
-Let cool fully before frosting

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes, as seen here
1½ cup fresh strawberries (8 oz.), rinsed, hulled and coarsely chopped
4 large egg whites
1¼ cup sugar
1½ cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, at room temperature

-Puree the strawberries in your food processor until completely smooth.

-Add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer (or any heatproof bowl) and set it over a pan of simmering water. Heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved – you can test with your fingertips, if the mixture feels grainy, it’s not ready yet.

-Attach the bowl to your stand mixer (or transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer if you used a separate bowl) fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 10 minutes. (The bowl will be cool to the touch.)

-Reduce the mixer to medium-low speed and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time. Let each addition incorporate before adding the next. (The frosting may look soupy or curdled once you add the butter – just keep beating and it will come together.)

- Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add the strawberry puree to the bowl.

- Beat until combined (the mixture will probably look curdled again when you add the strawberries, keep beating!)

-Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes (I used a 1M tip), and garnish with extra strawberries, if desired.

These cupcakes were mostly for my mom’s colleagues so here they are…

… packed nicely in a wannabe cupcake carrier.

 

Of course I kept some for myself! Mostly for photography reasons, obviously. Yeah. For photos.

Look at those little strawberry bits in the frosting! Such details make me so happy.

 

I won’t go into details how this is the easiest and best chocolate cake/cupcake recipe…

…because I’ve already done so. I will say that it has the texture of a really great, moist pound cake.

 

Unlike that one time when I made cupcakes that looked pretty but tasted blah, this one delivered!

I loved how the strawberry taste was subtle yet “effective”. Everyone, please don’t be like me and almost miss out on a great frosting because of cowardice skepticism because well, at the very worst you get frosting soup and at the very best you get something like this. Fair game, no?

Soba Noodles adapted from Forever Summer, as seen here
salt
1 carrot
8 oz soba noodles (I used a 200g packet)
2 tsp rice vinegar
4 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp hot water
3 tsp honey
2 tsp sesame oil
5 spring onions (I usually add more because I love the crunch and taste of spring onions!)

-bring a large pan of water to a boil and add some salt

-cut the carrot into matchsticks and dump them into the boiling water
-5 mins later, dump in the soba noodles into the same boiling water
-cook for 7 mins (or according to package instructions) until they are tender, not mushy

-make the dressing by whisking all the wet ingredients, set aside

-chop up the spring onions, set aside
-once the noodles are done drain them in a colander and run cold tap water over them until cool

-pour them back into the pan and mix in the dressing and spring onions

-toss until well coated, let sit for *30 minutes before serving

* to be honest I usually barely make it to 10 lol *

Folks, please make this.

Right away if possible.

 

I remember in the segment Nigella said something about how much she liked slurping this.

Me too, Miss Lawson, me too! And you’d be surprised at how filling this is. The recipe is enough for 2 servings so I usually make a whole portion, eat half for lunch and refrigerate the other half. TBC.

To Be Consumed.

1) I dipped the tops of the cupcakes into the pot of icing, and used only half of the icing recipe but still I had a lot of it left so I would recommend making only a quarter of the icing recipe.
2) I filled the cupcake liners 3/4 full and got exactly 18 cupcakes. This gave me beautifully domed cupcakes but if you’d prefer a flat top cupcake then only fill the liner 1/2 full.
3) I stupidly added the nuts into the icing and when I dipped the cupcakes into the icing, the nuts didn’t “stick” to the cupcakes at all (DUH, NADIA!) so I would recommend sprinkling the nuts post dipping.
4) This one is from my aunt; Toast the nuts! Untoasted nuts can taste stale.