Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• if desired, 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix sugar, brown sugar, butter and egg in a large bowl by hand. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. The dough will be very stiff. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. The centers will be soft. Let cool for one minute then remove from cookie sheet and place on wire rack to finish cooling

(extracted from http://www.popularcookierecipes.com)

Hong Kong Egg Tarts

INGREDIENTS
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1 dash vanilla extract

2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups water
9 eggs, beaten
1 dash vanilla extract
1 cup canned evaporated milk

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork until it is in small crumbs. Stir in the egg and vanilla until the mixture forms a dough. The texture should be slightly moist. Add more butter if it is too dry, or more flour, if the dough seems greasy. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and press the balls into tart molds so that it covers the bottom, and goes up higher than the sides. Use 2 fingers to shape the edge into an A shape.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Combine the white sugar and water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Strain the eggs through a sieve, and whisk into the sugar mixture. Stir in the evaporated milk and vanilla. Strain the filling through a sieve, and fill the tart shells.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown, and the filling is puffed up a little bit.

(Extracted from http://allrecipes.com/ )

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredient:

1 litre full cream milk

2 1/2 tsp. cornflour1 tsp. gelatine

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup fresh cream

1 tsp. vanilla essence

1/2cup cold milk

Method:

Bring milk to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes on low, stirring occasionally.

Mix cornflour in 1/2 cup cold milk, keep aside. Add sugar to milk, stir. Add cornflour paste, stirring continuouslytill boil resumes.

Boil for a further 4-5 minutes, take off fire.

Sprinkle gelatine over 3 tbsp. water in a small pan.

Allow to soak for 5 minutes. Warm over gentle heat, till dissolved.

Do not bring it to a boil.

When boiled milk cools a little, add gelatine solution and mix well.

Cool to room temperature, freeze in covered tray, till set but not hard.

Break into pieces, beat with an egg beater till soft.

Add cream and essence, mix well.

The texture should be light and creamy.

Reset in the freezer till frozen.

(recipe from http://www.dessert-recipes.co.uk/ )

Basic Pancakes

The following will be the recipe to make basic pancake from http://southernfood.about.com/ . You may serve these pancakes with butter and syrup, or any kind of dressing you like.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred or sifted before measuring
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons melted butter

PREPARATION:
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine egg and milk; add to flour mixture, stirring only until smooth. Blend in melted butter. Cook on a hot, greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until brown on one side and around edge; turn and brown the other side. Recipe for pancakes serves 4.

Tiramisu

Everyones' favourite. Here's another one found at http://allrecipe.com

INGREDIENTS :
2 cups mascarpone cheese
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1 (10 inch) angel food cake
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder



DIRECTIONS :
1) In a large bowl, combine mascarpone cheese, cream, sugar, vanilla, coffee liqueur, and instant coffee. Whip until stiff.


2)Split sponge cake in half, creating a top and bottom layer. Spread cream mixture on bottom layer, and replace top half of cake. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Just before serving, dust top of cake with cocoa powder.

Blueberry Cheese Cake

Yummmm... my personal favourite.... The look of it makes me hungry. Check out how to make it from http://allrecipes.com :



INGREDIENTS
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 eggs
2 cups frozen blueberries, dry pack
1/3 cup blueberry jelly

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar and butter. Pat mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
2. Mash cream cheese until soft and creamy. Gradually beat in sour cream, 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla and flour. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Pour mixture into crumb-lined pan. Bake in a preheated 325 degree F (165 degrees C) oven for 1 hour or until firm to the touch.
4. Cool and then remove cake from pan by loosening edges with a knife. Place frozen blueberries on top of cake. Melt jelly and spoon over blueberries to glaze. Chill until ready to serve.

Glass Noodle Pad Thai

From green chicken curry, the same website also post another interesting dish, the glass noodle pad thai. Pad Thai is a fried noodle dish, although there are many dishes called Pad Thai, all are essentially the same: fried rice or glass noodles with chilli and other ingredients for flavouring. Here is how it's done:



Main Ingredients for 2 servings:


1 Small Pack of Glass Noodle
1 Egg
50 gsm. of Dry Shrimp
50 gms. of Tofu
2 Small Red Onion
50 gsm. Soya Bean Shoots (Beansprouts)
1/2 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
2 Tablespoon Chilli Sauce
1 Tablespoon Peanuts ( pound to fine pieces )
1 Teaspoon Dry Flaked Chilli
3 Tablespoons Oil


Serve With:

Fresh Soya Bean
Green Lettuce


Garnish With:

SugarPeanuts ( pounded to fine pieces )
Dried Chilli ( pounded to flakes )
Lemon or Lime Slice



Preparation Instructions:

1. Soak the glass noodles in water for 5 minutes to soften them.
2. Chop the tofu into small squares,
3. Slice the red onion into smaller pieces.
4. Clean the fresh soya shoots and chop off the roots.
5. Put the oil in a hot frying pan with the dry shrimp, and fry for 30 seconds
6. Move it to one side of the frying pan to make room to fry an egg.
7. Break the egg in hot oil and stir quickly for a few seconds to break it up.
8. Add the glass noodle and other cooking ingredients and stir-fry for 1 minute.

Tips:


Be careful when choosing your noodles, they must be soaked and fried, a good quality noodles survives this cooking process, poor quality noodles will break into unpleasant small pieces. This is a quick cook dish from central Thailand, you add the chilli when it is served, so your guest can choose to make the dish spicy or mild. For the pounded peanut, it's better to choose a dry unsalted peanut, roast them it in a dry frying pan and pound them in a Thai mortar until they form smaller pieces. Alternatively you can chop the nuts by hand. These can be prepared ahead of time and stored in a cool dry place for a long time.

Kang Khiew Wan Gai (Green Chicken Curry)

I stumble upon this website http://www.khiewchanta.com/ and found the recipe for the Thai's green curry chicken. Here is how this dish is being prepared:

Main ingredients for 2 servings:

100 gms. Green Curry Sauce

4 Corn Fed Chicken legs200 ml. Coconut milk

150 ml. Water

4 Red Thai Chillis

6 Cherry Tomatoes

1 Teaspoon Sugar

2 Teaspoons Salt

1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce

4 Basil Leaves

3 Kaffir Leaves (Asian Lime Leaves).

Serve With:
Hot Fragrant Rice or Rice Noodles

Preparation Instructions:

1. Clean the corn fed chicken legs, ensure all feathers are removed and trim.
2. Warm half of the coconut milk until it is just near boiling.
3. Add the curry sauce to the pan and stir until the coconut milk is well mixed with the curry.
4. Put the corn fed chicken legs in and stir it for 2 minutes
5. Turn the heat down to medium
6. Mix the remaining coconut milk with the water, and put add it to the pan slowly, stirring at same time.
7. Leave on a low boil for 20 minutes.
8. Then add the salt, sugar, red chilli and fish sauce in to taste. The taste should be a salt,sweet, curry
9. Cook for a further 2 minutes to cook in the seasoning, then switch off the heat.
10. Add the basil and kaffir leaves together with the cherry tomatoes.

Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)

This particular dish is from the northeastern part of Thailand. It's definitely a favourite among the Thai's and it should be easy to prepare. The below recipe is taken from "Crying Tiger: Thai Recipes from the Heart" by Supatra Johnson. Published by Jasmine Market. (All Rights Reserved) Copyright 2004.

Main ingredients for 4 servings:

1 pound green papaya
2 Thai chilies (add more pepper if you want it hotter!)
1 small clove of garlic
2 strings long bean (cut into 1 inch lengths)
1 tablespoon chopped roasted peanut
5 cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
1 tablespoon palm sugar (or brown sugar)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
1 teaspoon chopped dried shrimp




Preparation Instructions:


1. Cut papaya in half (lengthwise) and remove seeds. Peel the skin of the papaya and shred the flesh using a shredder or knife (the shreds should be thin and long). In a mortar and pestle, pound the chilies and garlic until they’re broken up. Add the long beans and roasted peanuts, pounding only enough to break them up a little bit.


2. Add the shredded papaya, tomato, sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, and dried shrimp, pounding until everything is thoroughly mixed together. This dish should taste sweet, sour, and a little bit salty, so you may need to add more sugar, lime juice, or fish sauce to get the taste you like.

Pineapple Fried Rice

The simple and delicious pineaple fried rice is another of the thai's signature dish. The below is the recipe extracted from http://www.easy-thaifood.com/

Main ingredients for 4 servings:

2 onions
300 g (13 fl oz) canned pineapple pieces
3 tomatoes
300 g (10 oz) rice
2 tb oil
2 tb fish sauce
1 tb ketchup
1 ts sugar

Preparation Instructions:

1. In a pot bring water to boil and add rice. Cook for ten minutes and pour off water. Let rice cool down.
2. Dice onions and tomotoes, drain pineapple pieces.
3. Heat oil in a wok or a pan and add onions. Stir-fry onions until golden.
4. Add tomotoes and pineapple. Continue to stir-fry.
5. Stir in rice and heat.
6. Season with fish sauce, ketchup and sugar.

Tom Yum Goong

Tom Yum Goong is a soup base serving with hot and sour taste. It is one of the famous dishes in Thailand. The below is a recipe from http://www.thaitable.com/
Main ingredients for 2 servings

4 cups water
1 cup shrimp
5 mushrooms
1-2 limes
1 lemon grass
3 kaffir lime leaves
2 tablespoon fish sauce
5 sprigs cilantro (Chinese parsley)
3 chili peppers
1 tablespoon nam prig pow (core mixture of shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, dry chili pepper, salt, and sugar. Frequently there is also tamarind paste and dried shrimp.) Optional



Preparation instructions:

Start boiling the water in a 2 quart pot. Peel and devein the shrimp and set them aside. Cut lemon grass into pieces, 5-6 inches long. Use the back of your knife to pound the lemon grass, just to bruise it to release the flavor. If you want, you can tie the lemon grass into a knot to make it easier to manage. Drop the lemon grass in water and let boil for 5 minutes. Put the fish sauce and 1 lime's juice into the bottom of the bowls you will serve the soup in. Crush chili pepper and add to the bowl. Remove the stems from the kaffir lime leaves and add the leafy part to the pot. Clean and halve the mushrooms and add them to the pot. Add the shrimp and turn off the heat. Shrimp gets too tough very quickly, and will cook even when it is just sitting in the warm broth. Scoop the shrimp and liquid into the serving bowls immediately. As soon as you add the liquid to the serving bowl, you will see that the broth becomes cloudy because of the lime juice. Add the nam prig pow. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve. Be very careful, the peppers can be hot. Take a small sip at a time. Add more fish sauce and/or lime juice if it tastes bland. It's right if it's good for your sinus.

Tips and substitutions:


Unfortunately, for the true taste, it is difficult to substitute anything for the kaffir lime leaves. The richness of the sour taste comes from the complement of the different citrus flavored ingredients. I serve this soup directly into individual bowls for each person. If you don't like it hot, cut down on the chili peppers or do not cut them up, but leave them whole for decoration.