Hokkaido Milk Bread

A couple weeks ago, I tried to make Sweet Red Bean Milk Bread.  It was a FAILED attempt.  Yes, I did make the bread and it was edible.  However, it was not fluffy and soft.  It was so dense that it was just nutritious.  I didn't knead enough and did not let it rise long enough.  Basically, I was hungry and impatient.  

Anyways, I did some more research, gathered more patience and compiled a recipe for Hokkaido Milk Bread (Japanese Milk Bread). 

I adapted my recipe from Ellie’s Blog Home Cooking in Montana and Mika’s The 350 Degree Oven.   Both were great resources.  Ellie’s Blog utilized a kitchen aid and Mika’s method was using a breadmaker.  In my recipe, I used the kitchen aid.  If you do not own one, then you will be doing quite a bit of kneading. 

So what makes milk bread so delicious?  And why should you spend time making it?  It is the softest and fluffiest bread, but at the same time has all these complex textures and the flavorful is so delicious.  YUMMO!  Frank and I consumed half the loaf like it was nothing.  This is my all time favorite bread.  It has similar texture to a brioche but with a lot less egg and butter. 

The secrets to achieving soft and fluffy bread are:

• utilizing a method known as tangzhong
• kneading it just right (15 minutes kneading)
• giving it time to rise (85-135 minutes)

I’ll warn you now that this will take quite a bit of time to make.  So you have to be very patient if you want that soft fluffy delicious bread. 

What is tangzhong?  Simple put, it is a water roux originated by the Japanese to create soft and fluffy bread without the need for artificial preservatives, allowing bread to stay fresh longer.  This method of bread making was introduced in the 1990s by Yvonne Chen, author of The 65° Bread Doctor.  Tangzhong is a mixture of flour and liquid (either water, milk or a mixture of both) heated until 65°C (149°F) to make a smooth paste with pudding like consistency. 

Hokkaido Milk Bread Recipe Print

(Makes 1 loaf) I used about a standard 1.5-quart bread pan.

Ingredients: 

2½ cups bread flour

4 tbsp sugar  

½ tsp salt

2 tsp active yeast (1/4 oz packet)

1 egg

½ cup milk, warm 

½ cup tangzhong, room temp

3 tbsp unsalted butter (cut into small pieces, room temperature)

1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp of milk (optional)

1 tbsp melted butter (optional)

Tangzhong (water roux): make ½ cup of tangzhong

1/6 cup of bread flour

¼ cup milk*

¼ cup water*

*Alternatively, you could just use ½ cup of water instead of the 50:50 liquid ratio that I used. 

Let’s make some bread!

1. First, make the tangzhong.  In a saucepan, whisk bread flour, milk and water well.   Heat over medium-low heat.  The mixture will thicken.  Stir consistently to prevent it from burning.  Swirly lines will appear and when you have a pudding like consistency (ideally the temperature here is 149°F), take it off the heat.  You can transfer it into a small bowl.  Set aside and cool to room temperature. 

2.  In your stand mixer bowl, combine bread flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.  Quickly mix using a dough hook, just to combine.  

3. Add warm milk, egg and tangzhong to the dry ingredients.

4. Knead on medium (6 on the stand mixer) for 5 minutes to let the gluten develop. 

5. Decrease to speed to 4 and add in the butter while mixer is still kneading.  Continue to knead for an additional 10 minutes. 

6. Once the dough is done kneading, form into a ball and place into a greased bowl.  Cover and let sit in a warm place for 40-60 minutes or until doubled in size.

7. Divide dough into four equal portions and form into the shape of a ball.  This will deflate the dough. Cover and let rest for another 15 minutes.

8. Prepare loaf pan by lightly greasing.  This will make it easier for your loaf to come out.  This is an optional step.  (I actually forgot to do this and got lucky because I was using a glass pan and my loaf came out smoothly.)   

9. Now it’s time to form the rolls!  Flour a nice clean working area. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an oval.  Then fold 1/3 from the top to the middle and 1/3 from the bottom to the middle.  Rotate 90 degrees; roll out with the rolling pin.  And roll dough like a jellyroll.  Place the roll with seam side down into loaf pan.  Repeat with the remaining dough. 

10. Let sit for another 30-60 minutes in a warm place, or until the dough doubles in size.  We want the dough to rise some more.  Be patient.  (I live in Chicago and it is not warm here in the winter, so I had to wait 60 minutes for mine to double in size.  If you live in warmer climates, it will double in size much faster.)

11. Preheat oven to 350°F.

12. Brush loaf with egg wash and bake for 30 minutes on center rack.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread browns before it is done, loosely cover it with foil. 

13. When done, place on a wire rack and brush the top with melted butter.  This will soften the crust and add some deliciousness.  After 5 minutes, remove from loaf pan and cool completely on a wire rack. 

Enjoy!!!  This is absolutely delicious!!!  It’s much easier to cut when it has cooled completely.  But after all that waiting, we couldn’t wait and dug in.  We ate half the loaf already.  We are such piggies. 

It was pretty rewarding making this once you have the end product.  There is just a lot of time that you have to wait while it doubles in size.  I reside in Chicago and making this in the winter, it’s cold out here.  Finding a warm place isn’t easy.  My microwave is where I put it, but it still takes a while.  Perhaps, in the summer, it will rise faster since it is so hot here.  But summer baking isn’t as fun because of the heat. 

Sick again!

I am sick again.  Boo!  Being sick really takes all the energy out of you.  This most likely happened Friday night when we were out.  It was doable cold but then rained.  The next day we were out and about again.  And perhaps that is when the virus fully developed because as monday came, so went my throat.  It's Thursday now and I am congested with a post nasal drip.  I went to the pharmacy today to fill some prescription for other things.  But I think this sickness is also allergy related.  Good thing I filled the Rx for my nasal spray.  I think it prevents my allergies and other stuff.

It also probably did not help going out last night.  I really wanted to see the ZooLights and it was 30 degrees no rain or snow, so I had to go.  Usually, these days 30s is considered warm.  The singles digits or the teens, we stay home.

I feel bad because Frank is sick too and he has to go to work.  Whereas, I can stay home.

Crockpot Cooking: Saucy Chicken

Late at night, I hide under the sheets and check out what people are posting on pinterest. From there, I get inspired to create a dish or try what pinners suggest. In particular, the Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken appealed to me. Today, I attempted to make some form of it. I really like using a Crockpot to make meals because its almost fool proof.

This recipe was inspired by Kelly Senyei from Just a Taste. The only thing about this recipe is the sodium content.  Even though it is not heavy, it is rich for my taste. But the sauce is definitely tasty, almost finger licking and could be a good rib marinade. I put a little more onion in mine so the garlic really didn't stand out. Also, she uses blackberry jam, I didn't have that so I made do with my cranberry jalapeno sauce left over from Thanksgiving. Lastly, I felt this was a saucy chicken so I named it so.

Saucy Chicken Crockpot Cooking
Yield: 4 servings     Prep time: 20 mins     Cook time: 4- 5 hours

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup cranberry jalapeno sauce (or some sort of fruit jam)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbsp potato starch
3 tbsp cold water
2 stalks green onions, finely sliced for garnish
Sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions:
1. Place the chicken breasts in the crockpot and make sure they are not overlapping.
2. In a bowl, combine soy sauce, honey, cranberry sauce, hoisin, olive oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes.  Whisk together and pour over the chicken.  Make sure the chicken is covered by the sauce.
3. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or until chicken is fully cooked.  You can also cook it on low for 4-5 hours.
4. When cooked, remove the chicken from the slow cooker with tongs and place it on a large bowl. Use two forks and shred the chicken.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the potato starch (cornstarch or flour work as well) with 3 tablespoons of cold water to make a slurry.
6. In a small sauce pan,  transfer the liquids from the slow cooker over medium-high heat and whisk in the slurry. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook until it reduces and thickens slightly. This take about 3 minutes.
7. Pour the sauce over the chicken and toss to combine. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

This dish goes great with brown rice and green veggies.  Noodles would also be delicious.  You can also reserve some of the sauce to make other dishes like noodles or tofu of some sort.  Enjoy!!!

Cranberry Oatmeal Flax Muffins

After Thanksgiving we bought some more cranberries because I wanted to make cranberry muffins. Some people actually use the left over cranberry sauce to make muffins. I did not do this because I made a Jalapeno Cranberry sauce and I read that if you put onions and jalapeno it doesn't work as well. Contrary to that, I still think it is possible. But Oatmeal and Jalapeno doesn't seem like it would marry well together.

Last night, I was combing the web for a good recipe. I did not find one that I liked, so I made my own. Along the way, I read a lot about the chemistry of food and interaction that occur during baking. Some questions I had in mind were about the use of baking powder, baking soda, and butter vs. oil. I will go into that later, perhaps.

The blog inspiration that I used to make my recipe can be found here and here.

You can also interchange the cranberry for something else like apples or blueberries. I like Pecans so I threw that in as well. I used oil for this recipe instead of butter to cut down on the saturated fat and cholesterol. If you like Chia Seeds you can also put some of those in there, maybe about a tbsp or so.

Cranberry Oatmeal Flax Muffins Recipe

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup regular oatmeal

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp flax seeds

1 cup chopped fresh cranberries

½ cup chopped pecans

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup yogurt

1 egg

Let's make muffins!

1. Grease muffin pan or use liners. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place oven rack in the center position.

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, flax seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk until well sifted and set aside. Make sure that you also break up the large brown sugar pieces.

Remove 1 tbsp and toss with fresh cranberries and pecans. Set aside. This prevents the cranberries from bleeding.

4. In another bowl, whisk oil, egg, and yogurt.

5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add wet mixture.

Stir until moistened. Do not overmix, just until the wet and dry combine and is moistened.

Gently fold in chopped cranberries and pecans.

6. Scoop into a well-greased muffin tin about 2/3 of the way full. This should make 12 muffins.

7. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes in their tins before removing to cool on a wire rack.

Here's how they turned out. Goes great with a latte and some fresh fruits.

And here you can see how moist it is.

I used the muffin method to make these muffins. Basically this is when you mix the wet and the dry ingredients separately and then add the wet to the dry. Stir with a spatula just until moistened and bake immediately.

Chicken Tikka Masala

The first time I had Indian food was in college. My friends introduced me to Natraj's Tandoori. I usually got a 2 item combo of Chicken Tikka Masala and Palak Paneer. Those are my absolute must when it comes to Indian cusine. Since then, other places worth noting are The India Restaurant in Artesia, CA and Indigo Indian Restaurant in Fiji. The Indian Restaurant in Artesia makes a delicious Chicken Tikka Masala. The Indigo Indian Restaurant in Fiji makes the most delicious Palak Paneer I have ever consumed. They also make a Crab Masala.

I was on pinterest and came across a Chicken Tikka Masala Crockpot Recipe. So, I thought that sounded easy enough. Boy, I was wrong! It was actually a lot of work. I found another recipe that is much easier, which I will try in the future. But I will post them both.

Here is the Long Crockpot Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe. I probably made this longer on myself because I made my own chili powder, garam masala and tikki paste. This recipe definitely used a lot of spices. As I was making this, I realized it utilizes a lot of cumin. Also, I felt like this was not a true crockpot recipe because you have to cook the chicken first to just brown it and the same goes for the onions. But if you like a lot of aromatics, then this is worth a try.

Now, I also found another recipe that is true to its crockpot name. It is pretty much throwing things in the crockpot and letting it simmer and marry all the delicious flavors. If you want to try making Chicken Tikka Masala, try this recipe from Table for Two. She makes making Chicken Tikka Masala more doable.

This is how I made garam masala and tikka paste. It is pretty much just blending a bunch of spices.

This is how my Chicken Tikka Masala turned out. I didn't have basmati rice so I used the white rice that I had in my pantry and just added tumeric and saffron cooked stove top. I also had some garlic naan from Trader Joe's to soak up the juices from the sauce. Overall, I was happy with how it turned out.

Chicken Tikka Masala Crockpot Cooking Recipe:

Test Kitchen Recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1.5″ cubes

1 onion, diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

2 inches fresh ginger, grated

1 (28 oz) can of tomato puree, alternatively, you can use 4 tomatoes and boil them and puree it, cuts down on sodium content

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp garam masala

1 tbsp cumin

1/2 tbsp paprika

2 tsp salt or to taste

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1-3 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it HOT!)

2 bay leaves

1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half

3 tbsp cornstarch or flour

Chopped cilantro for topping

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine onions, garlic, ginger, tomato puree, yogurt, olive oil, garam masala, cumin, paprika, salt, cinnamon, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine. Pour half of the mixture into the crockpot. Add chicken and pour remaining mixture over the chicken. Add bay leaves and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours. You can also cook it on high for 4 hours. When it is done, whisk together cream and cornstarch and pour into the crockpot. Let cook for another 20 minutes to thicken up. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with rice.

I will attempt to make this again someday and let you know how this recipe turns out. I read that some people like to cook the chicken first to add more flavor. But it defeats using the crockpot to its fullest capabilities.

एपीटिट बॉन

ēpīṭiṭa bŏna

Cheese Rolls

I made Cheese Rolls today. I was attempting to make the ones similar to the cheese rolls from Porto's or Goldilocks. Overall, they turned out pretty well. The only thing I would do differently in the future is drop the egg from my filling recipe. The egg made it taste more eggy than a savory cheese. I didn't use too much sugar, about 2 tbsp of powdered sugar. I used the left over pie crust that I made for Thanksgiving as my pastry dough. You can also buy the store bought puff pastry.

I borrowed the recipe from the blog of The Red Apron. She has great pictures and instruction as to the construction of the cheese roll. Alternatively, I also used Kraftibakes blog as a reference as well.

I am still working on a recipe, this is what I came up with and will try in the future.

Cheese Roll Recipe Test Kitchen Recipe

Homemade Puff pastry (usually left overs from when I make pie, or Flaky pie crust), alternatively you can buy store bought puff pastry

4 oz Cream Cheese at room temperature

2 tbsp of powdered sugar

1 egg, beaten (to brush)

granulated sugar (to sprinkle)

1. Thaw puff pastry in the refrigerator the night before. Once thawed, roll out puff pastry in 8 square. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon mat.

2. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar. Using a mixer, blend well until smooth and creamy.

3. Spoon cream cheese mixture on top of the puff pastry. Do not overfill or else the filling will explode out.

4. Brush top of pastry with beaten egg and sprinkle granulated sugar.

5. Bake at 400° F for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Let cool for 5 mins, you can dig in but you will burn your tongue because the cheese is so hot.

In the future I will make this again and let you know how the recipe turns out. For now, these are the cheese rolls I made earlier today. On some of them, I put some pear in.

Snowy days are here

I lay in bed for a couple of hours before I actually get up. I never had this luxury before. In the past I would get up at 5 am to get to work by 7 am. Nowadays, I don't work and have the luxury to sleep in. It has been cold these days and my bed is really warm. In fact, I am blogging from there right now. 

It is almost 11 and I really should get out of bed. I have been doing Tracy Anderson and my lower back is pretty sore. I did the insanity fit test and that also made me sore. 

I am going to try to make cheese rolls from Porto's today. Oh how I miss that deliciousness. I am going to be in SoCal in January so I made a list of must eats while I am there. Hopefully I don't blow up. Surprisingly, I've thinned out since being out there. I think it is all the sleep I get and the lack of working out. And all the walking I did in the summer and fall. We are working out now to lower our cholesterol. Dang genetics!

This is what the roads look like when it snows. Tonight it drops down to 0 degrees. ❄️⛄️❄️⛄️

Brrr...Its cold out here!

The 20s are really cold. I just went downstairs to check the mail and it was really cold. I found a way to stay warm. I wear my long ultra light down coat from uniqlo and it helps a lot. I could also wear my robe. This just happens to be lighter. This is my winter coat.

I am glad that I live on the third floor. First Floor felt cold as I was walking down to check the mail. It's already friday. I am behind on my blogging. The holidays really took up my time. It was just myself and Frank. We had roast chicken instead of a turkey. Made some mashed potatoes, jalapeno cranberry sauce, and green beans. A simple meal for two. We had left overs for days which was nice. When we went shopping on Black Friday, I brought a sandwich made from left overs, it was delicious.

Our Thanksgiving meal.

What I did with the left overs. Made a sandwich with chicken, apples and jalapeno cranberry sauce.

We are such fatties, we ate dessert first on Thanksgiving. I made the apple pie in the morning and Frank couldn't resist. Apple Pie is my favorite baked pie. I used a Flaky pie crust. I will blog about that in the future.

Wellness takes work

I spent the bulk of my day looking for doctors, dentists, and an optometrist! It is really tiring finding a good one. And one that takes your insurance. When I use to have Kaiser, I just picked from the pool I was given. I worked in a dental office, so the dentist was easy to find.

Finding a doctor is much more taxing. I would check to see if that doctor took our insurance. And ideally, I wanted someone close by. My husband and I have different doctor preference, so I had to find two. Fortunately after much searching and reading reviews, I found doctors for the both of us. Luckily, they are in the same group practice.

I am glad that I fulfilled that task. Appointments made and everything! I feel pretty accomplished. Now I am quite exhausted and will either write some reviews on yelp or watch something on netflix.

I am really grateful for yelp reviews! Much of my research on these medical providers really helped me to narrow down who I thought would best suit me. Thus, I try to give back and contribute to the community as well.

Random Laziness

I woke up early this morning to make Blueberry Scones. They turned out fine, except the sticking to the parchment part. I will have to figure that out later or use a new recipe. Oh well. I am feeling especially lazy today. I went down to the storage room to look for the ice scraper. That has been the most productive part of my day.

I should have went out when the sun was shining, now it is gloomy and cold. The laundry will make up for it. Out here, when it gets cold the ice frost on the windshield. Hence the Ice Scraper. So I looked online for the best DE-ICER. I found out you can frugally make one at home with a spray bottle filled with 3 parts vinegar and 1 part water. Some also add 1 part alcohol. I am going to whip this up and see how it works. If it is a fail, then I will buy one. I will let you know how that pans out.

I really want to do some yoga to stretch out my limbs. I am becoming stiff here. That's what the cold can do to you. Anyways, I thought blogging would get me out of my lazy runt.

NO to WEST ELM

I must have had an eventful weekend. I am absolutely exhausted. I really would like to go back to sleep. Here is a run down.....Saturday morning, 6 AM, woke up to bed concaving in. Damn....I gotta say, that was a RUDE awakening! It really is had to go back to sleep after something like that. I called up West Elm to see what they can do for me. I've honestly had this bed frame less than 14 months. That is pretty poor workmanship if you ask me.

So I googled it and found out that this is a common problem with beds from West Elm. The take away message: DO NOT BUY A BED FRAME FROM WEST ELM!!! They only gave me a delivery surcharge credit which does not really help me at all. But better than nothing. STILL, poor quality and does not stand behind back breaking products.

Now, I just want to share with ya'll how poorly my bed was made. Makes me so MAD because my bedroom now looks like a war zone. Not a great way to start of the week.

I am surprised at how the mattress is held up. The bed frame was really built. It needed a better framed foundation. I should have looked into more reviews before I made the purchase. TIP: websites without product reviews is a RED FLAG!!! The middle beam broke and totally fractured off.

And here is the other end that fractured off. Hmmm...looks suspicious!

They should make this middle beam longer, eh?

So since West Elm does not even replace this part even though they know they are making bad beds, they tell me that I need to buy a whole new set. HELLO?!?! Why would I waste more money on a bed that will collapse on me again. So since the bed is now useless without that beam, we decided to create our own beam to hold up our mattress. I read about people using books. So all I can tell you is, you are better off going to Ikea or elsewhere, at least their products will last you years and years.

Thanksgiving came early this year!

This past weekend we had some family come and visit. We took them out to explore Chicago. On our exploration we were greeted by the beautiful sight of fall colors. Here are some pictures of the city during autumn.

The famous Cloud Gate (Bean).

Pretty Trees.

Downtown lights.

When our visitors left so did these beautiful fall leaves. The First day of snow was Monday. Now most of the trees are bare. I'm glad they were able to enjoy the colors of autumn.

On one of the nights we celebrated Thanksgiving. Instead of turkey, we had an 8 pound chicken. Yeah, they come thick out here. Fixins' included Mac 'n' cheese, brussel sprouts, smushed potatoes, and calms. It was quite a feast and I didn't have to cook much this week because we had an ample amount of left overs.

Thanks Dennis, Bea, and Jennifer for coming out to visit us! It's great to see familiar faces!!!

Troubleshooting Macarons led to Matcha Macaron Success

Practice makes perfect. You probably heard that a lot growing up. I made 3 batches of macarons today. It definitely was not intentional. I wanted to make green tea macarons with a red bean filling. FAIL!!!

I also wanted to make an earl grey macaron. That was partly successful. But flawed in the filling. I am going to go over troubleshooting macarons....What I learned from these failures.

First thing, it is important to have a scale of some sort to weigh out your ingredients. However, I do not own such a tool. Mistake #1. Secondly, do not overbeat the egg whites, you will get hollow shells. Mistake #2. Lastly, it is important to open the oven 2 minutes after you put them in to let the moisture out. This way you get the foots. Mistake #3.

After 2 batches, I was on the web searching what I had done incorrectly and the above said is what I have pinpointed it down to. Now it is really important to quickly open and close the oven to get the little foots. Don't over beat the egg whites. You can get away without a scale however. My third attempt, still no scale, but continued on, you just have to use the right recipe.

Now the color looks great here. A nice green hue for the Green Tea Macaron. I used a recipe from this blog: food je t'aime

They came out all pretty when I piped them. But they never dried. It is very important for them to dry. I waited more than an hour. I think I over beat the egg whites and over mixed it.

So they came out flat and didn't have that eggshell texture. It was more like a whoppie. Booo! FAIL!!!! ;<{

Disappointed, I continued on to make the Earl Grey Macaron. I really like this recipe. You don't need a scale for it. It is almost a tried and true recipe! I got it from Yoo Eatz.

This is how the Earl Grey turned out. You can see the foot/frille. But some of them were still hollow. But it definitely had that eggshell exterior.

I was also baking them with a baking sheet under. Ditch that 'ish. You will not get them to cook evenly. And it will take longer.

I was lazy and used a whipping cream/red bean paste mixture for the filling. BIG MISTAKE!!! It will make your macarons soggy and say bye bye to your eggshell exterior. It is best to use a buttercream filling. This is how the green tea with red bean turned out. Pretty pathetic, but still tasted good. See they do look like whoppies.

The Earl Grey Red Bean turned out better, but the whipping cream filling really bleed through. The flavor of the earl grey really came through.

Because I was so disappointed, I really had to whip up another batch to redeem these failure and figure out what was going wrong. I made a Matcha Macaron using the same Earl Grey recipe just substituted the earl grey tea for matcha powder.

This time around, I did not over beat the egg whites and I did let the oven breathe. I got the frille and they were not hollow. I was really happy with how they turned out.

Here is a close up of the feet. The oven was set to 300F and I baked them for about 15 mins. Rotate as needed.

I made a Matcha Buttercream to compliment the Matcha Macaron. The recipe for the buttercream was adapted from the blog of Ironwhisk. I can best describe this macaron as tasting like Green Tea Ice Cream.

And now for a successful Matcha Macaron recipe without using a scale.

Matcha Macaron recipe (Makes about 18 (1 1/2 in diameter))

Ingredients:

2 egg whites, at room temperature

5 tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 cup 2 tbsp almond meal

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 tsp Matcha powder

pinch of salt

Let's make macarons!

1. In a bowl, sift almond meal and confectioner sugar. Add matcha powder. Add pinch of salt. Mix lightly and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites over low speed until they begin to froth. Add sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Continue beating until egg whites to medium-high speed until they are glossy and stiff peaks form. Do not over beat the eggs or else you will get hollow insides. You can also use a kitchen aid stand mixer alternatively if you want.

3. Add half of the dry mixture to the egg whites, and fold gently from the outside in using a rubber spatula, until all ingredients are well combined. Repeat with the other half of the dry mixture. Also, do not over mix!

4. Test the consistency of the batter by scooping up some of it with the spatula and letting it fall back into the bowl. If it falls heavily in chunks (or not at all), you will need to press some of the air out. With the rubber spatula, begin scraping from the outside in, and then press down on the center with the flat of the spatula (you can also press the batter against the side of the bowl). After repeating 5 times, test the batter consistency again. You want it to slowly dripping off the spatula back into the bowl and easily absorbing back into the batter at the bottom. If still too thick, press the air out a few more times being careful not to over mix.

5. Pour batter into a pastry or gallon-sized Ziplock bag (fit the pastry bag with a piping tip first). It helps if you put it in a cup. If using a Ziplock bag, snip 1/4" from one corner, twist up the loose end, and pipe onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet or silpat so that the macarons are about 1" to 1-1/2" in diameter and about an inch apart. They have templates online. When all the batter is piped out, firmly tap the baking sheet on the counter a few times, then let rest for about 30 minutes. It is important to let them completely dry! Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300ºF.

6. After the macarons have rested, bake in oven for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on the tops to ensure they don't brown. If you have two racks, put one on top and one on bottom. After 2 mins, quickly open and close the oven to let the moisture out. This will create the little foots on the macarons. Rotate as necessary. Remove from oven, lift parchment paper with macarons onto a wire rack and let cool completely before filling.

Matcha Buttercream recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp whipping cream

2 tbsp matcha powder

Time to make the filling!

1. Cream the butter until light and fluffy, about two minutes with a mixer. (A stand mixer is great to use here.)

2. Add confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, whipping cream and matcha powder and beat together for four minutes until desired consistency.

3. Transfer into piping bag for filling.

If you like Green Tea/Matcha, you will enjoy these. I am not a big fancy of things that are too sweet and that is why I add a pinch of salt to my dry ingredients. The salt helps to tame the sweetness. Enjoy!!!!

Egg Custard Tarts....a work in progress

Egg Custard Tarts are absolutely delicious. I still am on a quest to find the tin pans to cook them in. For time being I have been using my brioche tins, but they aren't cutting it. I mean, they work, but there is always room for improvement. I am still looking for the right recipe. I totally messed up on the crust. I think I needed more patiences and didn't have the right water dough to hold my butter dough.

I recently made a flaky pie dough, I might try using that...perhaps. Something to try in the future. I was quite happy with the filling. I might use more eggs next time though. Also, a work in progress. For now, I am sharing the filling recipe. This works well when you have the right amount to crust to filling ratio.

Egg custard filling recipe:

3 eggs

3 1/2 tbsp milk

1 cup 1 tsp water

2/5 cup of sugar

Steps:

1. Make simple syrup by combining sugar and water and heat until sugar is dissolved. Let cool and set aside.

2. Once simple syrup is cooled, combine with milk and whisk.

3. In a bowl, whisk eggs and add milk mixture. Whisk to combine.

4. Sieve mixture twice. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Making the filling is pretty easy. What makes a delicious egg custard tart is having the right balance of filling and crust. The crust balances out the filling and vice versa.

My first attempt. The crust was too thin and not flaky. The filling was good. Could be less sweet or more eggy.

I doubled up on the crust here. Now too much crust but came out better. Word to the wise, be patient when making the crust.

Pancit

Pancit or Miki is one of my favorite things to eat. I grew up having this during special occassions like Christmas or Birthdays. I have watched my Dad make it, but never really made it myself. Nowadays, I am trying to recreate the dish. Sadly, my Dad has passed on so I cannot pick his brain for the recipe. Fortunately, my aunts are still around so they sometimes make it for me. When I get the chance I am going to ask them to teach me how to make it.

I have made several attempts at Pancit and here is how I did it. This time around I used the Excellent brand of Pancit noodles. Alternatively, you can also use bihon instead. There is actually no meat in this version, usually there is some pork or shrimp. I didn't thaw any so I used tofu instead. I am actually not a big meat eater so this works for me.

I used about half a pound of Firm Tofu (half of the package) and cut them into cubes.

These are the vegetables that I used: snow peas, carrots, onions and mushrooms. I think I used about a pound or less (I actually don't remember, made this a while ago) of the snow peas with the ends cut of. Two carrots and 1/4 of an onion in julienne slices. Half a package of mushrooms sliced.

These are the ingredients.

Put some oil in a wok and saute garlic with the onions. Saute for 1-2 minute or until browned.

Then add remaining vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and soy sauce (maybe about 1-2 tbsp). Then let cook for 3-5 minutes. Add Tofu and mix. Let cook for 3-5 minutes, add a little water if it looks dry. Then transfer into a bowl.

Add 1 cup of chicken broth into wok and cook pancit noodles until noodles are tender or until broth is absorb. Transfer 2/3 of the cooked veggies back into the wok and mix. Transfer into a serving bowl and top with the remaining 1/3 of the cooked veggies and serve.

And there you have it, Pancit! I was quite happy with how this turned out. Previously, I used oyster sauce, I omitted that this time around and liked it much better. Next time, I am going to try a different kind of noodle.