Take Two! More Fortunate Fortune Cookies

Undaunted by our previous failure this evening (given the fact that we ended up with some delicious new cookies in the process), we decided to start from scratch and try again. With a little research sur la internet, we decided to return to the original plan but add much, much less flour. And by the last batch of cookies, we'd finally figured this thing out. :) Now I'm going to tell you how to make these so you don't have to do all the trial and error that we did.

More Fortunate Fortune Cookies (still with ginger)

3 egg whites

3/4 cups organic powdered sugar

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1/2 tsp pure vanilla

1/2 tsp chopped ginger

10 tbsp whole wheat flour, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix all ingredients together until very smooth. Spoon 1 heaping teaspoon onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet and spread out into a very thin circle using a flat knife. You're only going to want to put 2-4 (maximum of 4!) cookies on a sheet at a time. I'll explain this later - just trust me. Bake these in the oven for about 6 minutes, or until the edges have turned just turned brown. 

Now you have to move fast, which is why I said 2-4. We did four cookies at a time, but there were two of us each with our own jobs, and it was harrowing even then.

Put on a pair of *thin* cotton gloves. Remove the tray quickly (but carefully) and immediately: 

1) flip each cookie over

2) place a fortune on top of them

3) fold them in half over the fortune and then fold them back together, pinching the top to hold it in shape

4) finally, place each cookie inside a muffin tin space to cool. 

They will need to cool for 1-2 hours. They harden as they cool, however ours still retain a certain chewy moistness - delicious and pleasing, but still not exactly the consistency you'd expect from a fortune cookie.

And now we know how to make them for next time. This round, we wrote silly fortunes, but the next round is Valentine's Day.  Any suggestions for Valentine's themed fortunes?

Failed Fortune Flats, or Ginger Dollars

My roommate and I are planning a Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year menu so I thought we could make some Valentine's Day-themed fortune cookies. I altered Brooke McLay's yummy Vanilla-Ginger Fortune Cookie Recipe slightly, to bring a slightly healthier version with a little different flavor.

The only problem?  There was no flour in Brooke's recipe and the "batter" was really just yellowish water. Not very bake-able at all. So we added some flour, like you do. We just added a bit too much.

Our cookies came out as small, sand-dollar sized, slightly spongy cookies, with a gentle ginger flavor and a texture not entirely unlike a thin madeleine. Well. They were VERY tasty, but they certainly didn't fold into fortune cookies! So my roommate Janet says to me 'hey, I think we've just invented a new cookie!' - and so we had. Like the old saying goes, one woman's failure is... that same woman's fortune.

Failed Fortune Cookies, or Ginger Dollars

3 egg whites

3/4 cups organic powdered sugar

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1/2 tsp pure vanilla

1/2 tsp chopped ginger
1/4-1/2 cup whole wheat flour (Start with 1/4 and then add by the tbsp until you have a thick-ish consistency.)

Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Mix all ingredients together until very smooth. Spoon 2 teaspoons onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper and spread with a flat knife until you've created very thin circles of batter. Bake in oven about 5 minutes, or just until the edges turn brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a drying rack to cool. They'll be edible in minutes.

Janet shaped the one in the middle to look like a heart and it came out really well, so these are eminently shapeable cookies. Next time, I will try them with a mold and see how they take. I think these would be delicious with some ginger or vanilla ice cream, or topped with a small sliver of caramelized ginger. But Janet and I found them utterly delectable all on their own.

Yum!

Easy Cashew Chicken

Hello! And welcome to another episode of: What's in my Kitchen?

Cashews, in the pantry, leftover from my trail mix. Chicken, in the freezer, leftover from making chicken satay the other day (which was delish, by the by). Edamame, in the fridge, because it's an awesome snack food. Ginger and garlic, also leftover from chicken satay making.

So. What to do... Cashews. Chicken. Aha!

Cashew Chicken de ma cuisine
(Makes 4 servings)

2 tsp dark sesame oil (I always have this in my kitchen. It's a great base oil for stir-fry)
1/4 medium white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.6 lb boneless, skinless chicken, cut into cubes
1 cup raw cashews
~1.5 inches fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock (can use vegetable stock if you want)
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup edamame (I buy the already shelled ones from Trader Joe's. They're yummy, but have a short shelf life.)

Put 1 tsp of dark sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet. Set the stove to medium low.  Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally. Do not allow the onion to brown - just cook until soft and translucent - should take 6-8 minutes. Remove the onions into a bowl and set them to the side.

Add the second tsp of dark sesame oil and tilt it around the pan, then add the minced garlic and cook that for about 4 minutes until the garlic has softened somewhat. Don't let the garlic brown either. No browning - this is not one of my crispy dishes!

Turn up the stove to medium heat and add the chicken breast, cashews, and ginger to the skillet. Cook all together, stirring frequently to avoid browning and burning, until the outside of the chicken is all cooked.

Now, stir in the chicken broth, soy sauce, and maple syrup. [Note: the chicken broth totally softens up the chicken. You have no danger of tough chicken with that in the mix.] Next, add the onions back into the skillet and cook for another five minutes. Keep stirring, mixing up all those yummy things and making sure all the chicken gets nice and juicy.

Finally, you add in the edamame and cook it with all the rest for another 4-8 minutes. I did 4.5 minutes, but I figure different stoves cook differently, etc. The main thing is you'll want to check and make sure all the chicken is cooked through.

I served this over leftover brown rice (from chicken satay night) and then sprinkled it with a few roasted sesame seeds. It had a nice combination of sweet and savory, soft and crunchy - yum. :) And best of all, it only took about 20 minutes (not including the time it took to defrost my frozen chicken breasts). I bet it would be really good served over cooked green beans or asparagus, too.

Australia Day

Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. This holiday, celebrated annually on January 26th, commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, the hoisting of the British flag there, and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia (thanks wikipedia).


I do not know much about Australia besides the following facts: it has some of the deadliest creatures on earth, it's the home of the best shiraz in the world (thanks to all that great volcanic soil), they have kangaroos, and my longtime net pal Yuhan lives there.


So, in honor of this national holiday, I asked Yuhan (who happens to be a kitchen guru in his own right) to jot down one of his favorite recipes for me to share with you all today. Here it is: 


[translations available in brackets]

Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

500g Cream Cheese

300 ml Cream

3 Eggs

250g Plain Biscuits

125g Butter, melted

Sponge Finger Biscuits

1 Punnet Strawberries [approximately 1 pint]

Dash of Sherry (or other fortified wine)

1/4 cup water

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

90g Icing Sugar

4 Tsp Sugar

Optional:

Ginger Snap Biscuits

Pecans

Lots of other berries

First make a Strawberry Syrup:

Halve/Quarter some of the larger strawberries (you will use them for presentation later). Place them in a saucepan. Add Sugar, Water and Sherry. Boil for a few minutes, leave it to cool.

Crumb Biscuits for the cheesecake base (digestive biscuits are great for this).

OPTION: crush some ginger snaps and pecans and add them to the mix.

Mix the biscuit crumbs with melted mutter. Press the mixture into the base of a medium spring base tin - put it into the fridge to harden.

Whisk cream cheese, cream, lemon juice, eggs and icing sugar until smooth.

Take the strawberries out of the syrup and place them on the cake base. 

OPTION: add extra berries at this stage - blueberries work well here.

Pour half of the cheese mixture into the pan.

Dip sponge finger biscuits into the syrup and place them on top of the cake mix (they should rest on top of the cooked strawberries). 

Mix the remaining syrup with the cheese mixture for colour and pour over the sponge biscuits.

Bake the cake @ 210 degrees Celsius [410 F] for 10 minutes, and then @160 degrees Celsius [320 F] for 45 minutes.

Note: The sponge finger biscuits are not essential, but give the cake another layer of texture and support the cake structure itself. It is possible to use other biscuits (like ginger snaps), but sponge fingers will hold their shape better due to their thickness. If using a different biscuit (or not using the sponge layer at all) the cake may still be custard-like in the centre after baking. In this case, place it in the fridge to set before serving.

Serving suggestions: dust with icing sugar and garnish cake slices with fresh mint.