Apple Pie

by Ken Haedrich

2. Dense Apple Crumble Pie

1. Apple Pizza Pie

Hoisin Explosion Chicken

Starting this month, January 2016, I will be co-hosting together with Emily of Emily's Cooking Foray, for our new monthly baking/cooking event, "Cookbook Countdown". Both of us have way too many cookbooks that we've collected over the years and some of the books have not been used at all, not even once. So, both Emily and I thought that it would be good to start using those books. That's where "Cookbook Countdown" comes in. Everyone is welcome to join us! We will each select a cookbook to cook or bake from each month. Just select any cookbook from your cookbook collection and join us. You may cook any recipes and as many recipes as you want from your selected book of the month. This is a fabulous way of using your cookbooks at least once! For more information, please click here. Do join us! 

To kick-start my first "Cookbook Coutdown", my selected book for this month is 

"Stir-Frying To The Sky's Edge" by Grace Young.

Winner of 2011 James Beard Foundation Award for International Cooking.
Grace Young shares more than 100 classic stir-fry recipes of Sichuan, Hunan, Shanghai, Beijing, Fujian, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia as well as other countries around the world.

I've made Hoisin Explosion Chicken, one of the dozens that I have bookmarked to try!

A simple stir-fry chicken dish, which does not take long to prepare. The method of preparing the chicken is rather new to me. Sliced chicken breasts pieces are first marinated in egg white, cornstarch, rice wine and salt for 30 minutes, then they are boiled for a brief 1 minute in boiling water. Drain the chicken to remove excess water and the pieces are then stir-fry with the rest of the ingredients following the recipe instructions below. By pre-cooking the marinated chicken briefly in the boiling water, makes the chicken breast pieces tender and moist. This is a nice dish to prepare as part of a meal at dinner time, to eat with rice, along with perhaps a vegetable dish and soup. 

Hoisin Explosion Chicken
(adapted from "Stir-Frying To The Sky's Edge", Grace Young)
12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/4-inch-thick bite-sized slices
1 tablespoon egg white, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1-1/2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips (about 1-1/2 cups)
One 8-ounce can sliced bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained (omitted)

1. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, egg white, cornstarch, 1-1/2 teaspoons of the rice wine, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1-1/2 teaspoons of cold water. Stir until the cornstarch is totally dissolved and no clumps are visible. Put the chicken uncovered in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. In a small bowl combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and the remaining 1 tablespoon rice wine.
2. In a 2-quart saucepan bring 1 quart water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the boiling water. Reduce the heat to low. When the water is barely simmering, carefully add the chicken, gently stirring it so that the pieces do not clump together. Cook 1 minute or until the chicken just turns opaque but is not cooked through. Carefully drain the chicken in a colander, shaking the colander to remove excess water.
3. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, add the ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes, then, using a metal spatula, stir-fry 10 seconds or until the aromatics are fragrant. Add the bell peppers, sprinkle on the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and stir-fry 30 seconds or until the peppers are bright green. Add the chicken and the bamboo shoots. Swirl the hoisin sauce mixture into the wok, and stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through.

"I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray".

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Happy New Year everyone!! 

Wish you a healthy and blessed 2016!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cakes

It's rewind week at Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD). I've made Dorie's Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cake, recipe from her book, Baking From My Home To Yours. 

According to Dorie, "the crumb so soft, even and tightly knit - you could mistake it for a Sara Lee pound cake. But what you get here is a flavour Sara Lee can never deliver, one that depends on using the very best vanilla you can find. The first choice is a pair of moist, pliable vanilla beans". Well, I was smiling with glee, as from my recent holiday in Bali, I have bought some vanilla beans that are really fresh. These beans are soft, pliable, moist and oily, unlike the dried ones that I have been using all this while. I stored them in a jar of sugar, and within two days, the sugar was already damp and turning brown, with the oil from the vanilla beans. And the smell is just gorgeous. On top of that, I've also purchased a bottle of dark rum from the duty-free shop at the airport. Perfect!

This cake does indeed has a tightly knit soft crumb, similar to those frozen Sara Lee cakes (which I have not eaten in years!). Can you see the fine speckled black seeds of the vanilla. The cake smells really nice with the fragrance from both the vanilla and rum. Each bite is filled with the lovely light crunch of the seeds, and the fragrance of the vanilla really came through beautifully. Rum is used in the cake, as well as in the syrup that is brushed all over cake while still hot. With the amount of rum used, surprisingly it does not overpower the cake at all, but you would noticeably know there's rum. What I got, was a lovely vanilla cake with the fragrance and a light taste of the rum. 

The only changes I've made to the recipe which makes two cakes of 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch, is to reduce the amount of sugar. Originally, recipe calls for 2-1/3 cups of sugar for the batter, but I've used only 1 cup. For the syrup, I've used only 2 tablespoons of sugar instead of 1/4 cup. And the sweetness turns out just right for both the cake and the syrup. Recipes are not published at TWD, but if you would love to give this a try, you can get the recipe here. 

I'm linking this post with Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD), for rewind week.

and

Cook-Your-Books #29 at kitchen flavours