Asian-Style Sweet & Sour Pork Sliders

Happy 2012 everyone! I made these sliders after catching a show of "Easy Chinese: San Francisco" with Ching-He Huang for a friend's NYE's potluck dinner. Ms. Huang made it look so easy and in fact, it was. I had tweaked the recipe a bit since I didn't have some of the ingredients handy, but still turned out fine.

INGREDIENTS

MEATBALLS:
1 pound lean ground pork
1 tablespoon grated garlic
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry
1 heaping teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 scallion, finely chopped
Pinch sea salt
Freshly ground white pepper
Peanut oil, for frying

SAUCE:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon peeled and grated ginger
1 cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons honey

SLIDERS:
16 slider buns or Hawaiian-style sweet rolls
Shredded romaine lettuce
Cucumber slices
Cherry tomatoes, halved

For the meatballs: In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the pork, garlic, soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch, sesame oil, garlic, egg, scallion, salt and pepper. Divide the mixture into 8 portions and form 8 meatballs; set aside.

Fill a wok or large pot halfway with peanut oil. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F over medium-high heat. (Be careful not to heat the oil high because apparently peanut oil splatters quite a bit - you've been warned =P) If frying in a wok, make sure that the wok is stable on a burner or wok ring.

Fry the meatballs until golden brown and cooked through (an instant-read thermometer should read 165 degrees F), 5 to 7 minutes. (I didn't have a thermometer, so I definitely made sure I cooked them thoroughly, flipping few mins on each side, before removing) Remove with a slotted spoon and let drain on paper towels.

For the sauce: Carefully transfer the oil to a heat-proof container and wipe out the wok. Heat the wok over high heat and add the peanut oil. Stir-fry the ginger for 30 seconds, and then stir in the hoisin sauce and honey. Bring to a simmer, and then cook for 1 to 2 minutes. If the sauce becomes too thick, stir in a little water to thin it out. Return the meatballs to the wok and toss them in the sauce to coat.

For the sliders: Layer the bottom of the buns with shredded lettuce and a couple cucumber slices. (I didn't shred the romaine lettuce that I bought but instead just tore them into small sizes and place on buns.) Cut the meatballs in half and place half the meatball, cut-side down, on the bottom bun. Add the top bun. Skewer half a cherry tomato with a sandwich pick and insert into the slider to hold it together. (Completely forgot about the sandwich skewers, but used colorful toothpicks to keep all layers in place) Repeat with the remaining sandwiches.

Hubby and friends ate up several of these before heading to NYE's potluck dinner. This was such an easy recipe to make and definitely something that can be whipped together if you ever need to bring a dish. Bon Appetit! =) Continue Reading...

Momofuku Milkbar's Compost Cookies Recipe

When you hear the word compost, you would never associate that with cookies. However, the genius people at Momofuku decided to combine all your fave snack ingredients into one cookie. Ever since I was introduced to these compost cookies from Momofuku's Milkbar, I was hooked. Momofuku also published its second book, Milkbar, that features all the popular baked good recipes you would find in the store. Since I was home in Philly for the holidays, my little sister wanted to make these, so I decided to put together a recipe tutorial along with photo snapshots of how to create these yummy goodness. It's recommended to use glucose since light corn syrup is a lot sweeter and less dense. Since we didn't have glucose handy, which you can find on Amazon, we went ahead and used light corn syrup.

Also my parents don't have a Kitchen Aid mixer and it would be silly for me to bring mine from MD, so we made do with a handheld one. Using a paddle with the Kitchen Aid mixer will give you better results when ingredients together. Without further ado, recipe & tutorial below.

Ingredients:
2 sticks of room temperature butter 1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar 2 tablespoons glucose or 1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 egg ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup flour ½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup mini chocolate chips ½ cup mini butterscotch chips
½ cup graham crust 1/3 cup rolled oats
2 ½ teaspoon coffee 2 cups potato chips
1 cup mini pretzels

Instructions:

Combine the butter (room temperature), sugars, and light syrup in a bowl and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes. If butter begins to separate or turn into soup, put into fridge for 5 minutes and try again.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Place 1/3 cup of oatmeal into a ziploc bag and break apart the oats with a rolling pin, then combine into the bowl along with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crust, and ground coffee. Incorporate the ingredients on low speed, about 30 seconds.

Add the chips and pretzels, mashed gently and combine on low speed. Be careful not to over-mix.

Using 2 ¾-ounce ice cream scoop or a 1/3-cup measure, portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature – they will not bake properly.

When you are ready to bake, pre-heat the oven at 375 degrees

Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or silpat-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be very faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center. Give them an extra minute or so if that’s not the case.

Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temperature, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Since we used light syrup instead of glucose, the cookies came out a little flatter, but they tastes just the same, which is an A in my book - yum! Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for reading! Continue Reading...

Easy Baked Brie Recipe & Potluck

Whenever I think of potluck with friends, it always brings such warm thoughts to mind. Especially when you have great company and food. When Linda decided to come over one friday night, we decided to throw some yummy appetizers together and enjoyed them over a nice glass of wine. She brought over her pumpkin whoopie pies and crackers and I threw together a 7-layer taco dip and this baked brie below.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Formaggio Betta Brie Package
1 sheet of Pepperidge Farm's pastry sheets
1 egg

Instruction:

Spray baking pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the brie in half and place one puff pastry sheet on pan. Lay bottom half of brie on puff pastry, add cranberry, honey and almond filling and add top of brie to sandwich. Then fold puff pastry over top of brie making sure all sides are pressed closed so no filling will ooze out. Brush egg over top of pastry and bake in oven for 20 mins, flip the brie, lower the oven temp to 325 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Now you are ready to serve crackers. This easy recipe is perfect for any potluck gathering.

I've always been meaning to add red wine to my diet for the antioxidants, but I can't really stand any type of alcohol taste. Until this wine came along. You can find this at a fine wine store and it's dark chocolate-flavored red wine and it's as yummy as it sounds.

Bon Appetit! Continue Reading...

Oven-Baked Panko Crust Chicken

Ingredients:

4-5 pieces of chicken
Mustard
Panko Crust
Salt & Pepper

Very simple and easy dish to make. Hope you enjoy!

Bon Appetit!
Melanie Continue Reading...