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Speaking of food, I have been cooking whenever I get the chance. Here are some notes for future renditions of the recipes I've tried of late:
Taiwanese-Style Three Cup Chicken
Notes: This is one of my sister's favorite dishes. I had chicken thighs and a whole box of basil from Trader Joe's in the fridge and decided to make the dish. I don't remember this dish tasting like how I made it, but I felt the flavors of this recipe are pretty good. The sauce is sticky from the sugar, almost like a teriyaki sauce. I liked how tender the chicken was, which I think was because I simmered covered for so long (~25 minutes). It really makes the meat fall off the bone. Basil is also an interesting and tasty addition to the more traditional Chinese flavors. Changes: I cut the soy sauce to 1/4 cup, which was probably a good amount of soy sauce for the dish. I also cut the sesame oil to 3 tablespoons, which I think was the right thing to do. Next time I will only add 2 tablespoons of white sugar, as I felt the dish was a little too sugary/sticky for me. Next time I will also add a few chili peppers, which I left out this time b/c I didn't have any on hand. Rating: 4 out of 5; too sticky but flavor, texture good.
Banana Crumb Muffins
Notes: My parents were visiting me this weekend and I wanted to make them something yummy. I had some ripe bananas so decided to make this recipe. I actually made a healthier version of this recipe during Christmas time this past year, and my mom really liked it. I think this unhealthy version tastes even better :) Changes: I added semi-sweet chocolate chips (maybe like 1/3 cup) to the muffin batter on a whim; I shouldn't have b/c my mother doesn't like chocolate. But for someone who likes chocolate it's a nice addition. The only other thing I changed was the crumble topping. I made about 50% more b/c I was worried the muffins wouldn't be sweet enough, but in retrospect the muffins were already sweet enough esp since I added the chocolate chips. So next time I will not double the crumble topping unless maybe I don't add the chocolate. Also I really need a food processor or a butter cutter to cut butter appropriately. The crumble was more like a fine dusting on the muffin tops instead of a true crumble since I couldn't incorporate the butter correctly. Rating: 4 out of 5, too sweet but flavor, texture good.
Kung Pao Chicken
Notes: I made Kung Pao Chicken for a Chinese New Year dinner my friends and I had a few weeks ago. This pic above is of the spread we had - looks pretty good, right? I really liked the texture of the sauce of this dish; it was just thick enough so I think I got the amount of cornstarch right. My friends said they liked it, but I kind of thought the taste of sesame oil was overpowering. Changes: I tripled the amount of sauce for the dish, and used only 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed in 2 tablespoons of water for both marinade and sauce. I used about 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch/water mix for the marinade and maybe like 1 tablespoon for the sauce. I also added carrots as I had some on hand. I did not add chili paste as I did not have any, next time will add some chili for just a bit of heat. Next time I will only add 1/2 the amount of sesame oil, so like 3 tablespoons of sesame oil for triple the sauce. Rating: 3.5 out of 5, too much sesame oil. Will make again with less sesame oil. May need to add more soy sauce depending on how salty dish is at the end of cooking.
Chinese Restaurant Almond Cookies
Notes: I also made these cookies for Chinese New Year this year. These cookies really gave me a lot of grief; I really thought I had ruined them. My ingredients stayed so dry, I couldn't form any shape for cookies. I ended up adding milk until the flour turned into a dough. I really liked the taste of these cookies but obviously will need help with the baking technique. My dad says he prefers soft almond cookies, so I will need to make this recipe for him in the future. Changes: I increased the sugar by 1/4 cup and increased the almond extract by 3 fold. The biggest change was that I used butter instead of lard. I refuse to use lard or crisco though, as the whole point of me making my own food is to use natural, less processed ingredients. Again, I'm wondering if the ingredients would have come together more if I was able to cut in the butter appropriatly (with food processor or butter cutter). Instead I just poured in some milk, which I wouldn't do again as I feel like it made the cookie too soft and I feel like I could taste the milk in the final cookie. I also accidentally added a 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to the cookies too, maybe made it more cakey? Next time will cut butter correctly, not add baking powder, not add milk and see if the dough will from. Rating: 3.5 out of 5, texture not right but will try again because flavor was good and Dad likes almond cookies.
Mom's Chicken Cacciatore
Notes: I like dishes like Chicken Marsala and Chicken Cacciatore. I followed the directions for this recipe pretty closely; the only thing I changed was I subbed marsala wine for white wine b/c that's what I had. The flour coating on my chicken was way to thick; next time I will just lightly dust the chicken with flour. The dish tasted better the next day when the flavors could blend together more. Rating: 4 out of 5, good flavor and will make again. Possibly a good dish for entertaining but I don't think it is very pretty. Probably chicken marsala would be more palatable looking and flavor is similar.
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