Peanut Cookies

Recipe: Peanut Cookies花生饼

Yields: 1½ to 2 small jars

Ingredients

300g raw blanched peanuts 180g margarine 130g icing sugar/powdered sugar (sifted) ¼ tsp. + 1/8 tsp. salt 5g milk powder *optional 200g all-purpose flour (sifted)

Egg Wash 1 egg yolk 1 TBSP water

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Place raw peanuts on a baking pan (do not layer) and bake at 300oF / 155oC preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Remove roasted peanuts from the oven. Allow peanuts to cool completely before proceed to the next step.	2. Measure 200g roasted peanuts in a ziploc bag and keep the remaining for decoration later.	3. Finely crush the 200g roasted peanuts in ziploc bag with a rolling pin or finely ground using a food processor.
4. Place margarine, sifted icing sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.	5. Beat margarine, icing sugar, and salt in step 4 until light and creamy, at highest speed, about 5 minutes.	6. Add milk powder and pulse until incorporated.
7. Add ground peanut and mix until incorporated.	8. Gradually stir in sifted all-purpose flour with a spatula until crumbs resembled.	9. Combine everything in the mixing bowl with hand, until you get a smooth and non-sticky dough.
10. Lightly grease baking pans with a bit of margarine. Whisk and combine egg yolk and 1 TBSP water in a small bowl for egg wash. Preheat oven to 325oF /165oC .	11. Scoop about 1½ tsp. dough for each cookie and arrange them in a baking pan.	12. Roll each part of the measured dough in step 11 into a ball and put them back on the pan. Space about 0.75 inches between each cookie.
13. Brush each ball with egg wash.	14. Press and top each cookie ball with a halved peanut. Bake cookies at 325oF / 165oC preheated oven, for about 20 minutes until golden brown.	15. Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in air tight container.

Note

Leave at least 0.75 inches space in between each cookie for them to rise as they bake.

Knotted Nori Crisps

Recipe: Knotted Nori Crisps酥脆海苔结

Yields: 330g

Ingredients

10 pcs nori sheets 20 pcs 8-inch x 8-inch spring roll wrappers 1 large egg enough oil for deep frying

Seasonings (*optional) ¼ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. pepper

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Whisk egg and seasonings until incorporated.	2. Brush egg wash all over on one side of a piece of spring roll wrapper.	3. Place a piece of nori sheet on top of the brushed wrapper in step 2. Press to adhere.
4. Brush egg wash all over on one side of a new piece of wrapper. Then, press to adhere to the nori sheet in step 3.	5. Store adhered nori sheets in a sealable plastic bag or in a container to avoid drying while working with the rest. Repeat steps 2 to 4 for the remaining wrappers and nori sheets.	6. Cut adhered nori sheets into approximately 4.5cm x 1cm strips with kitchen scissors.
7. Grab one strip and fold it in half cross-wise. Then, make a 0.5cm cut on center of the fold.	8. When open up the fold in step 7, you will get a 1cm hole.	9. Hold one side of the strip on one hand, then pass another end of the strip through the hole.
10. Pull out the strip end from the hole in step 9 from wrong side.	11. One knot is completed.	12. When you are done with the knots, heat up oil in a small pot.
13. When oil is hot enough, deep dry nori knots in batches over medium heat until golden brown.	14. Drain fried knotted nori on paper towels. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Note

If you do not wish to make knots, you can stop after step 6 and bring nori strips to deep fry right away. You can store nori knots in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and deep fry them the next day. Save some oil by using a small pot instead of a big deep fryer, if you do not have a lot to deep fry.

Apple-Peach Roasted Chicken

Recipe: Apple-Peach Roasted Chicken苹果桃烤鸡

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 cornish game hen / chicken, 500g ¼ lemon ½ cup apple juice Ingredients A 1 yellow onion (cut into chunks) 2 garlic heads 1 Gala / Honey Crisp apple (peeled or unpeeled; sliced) 1 can sliced peach in syrup (medium or large; drained) 1 to 2 TBSP olive oil pinch of salt pinch of ground black pepper pinch of dried oregano pinch of fresh thyme leaves

Ingredients B 3/4 tsp. salt ¼ tsp. to ½ tsp. ground black pepper ½ tsp. dried oregano 1 to 2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves Ingredients C 2 TBSP butter (thinly sliced) 1 small slice of lemon

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400oF. Chop off about 1/2-inch of the bottoms (root end) of garlic heads and discard. Break garlic heads into halves or quarters.	2. Lightly grease a 9"x9"x2" baking pan with olive oil. Mix all ingredients A in greased pan until incorporated.	3. Thinly slice butter and set aside.
4. Clean chicken. Pat dry chicken inside out with paper towel.	5. Put chicken onto the baking pan in step 2. Rub chicken all over with a bit of olive oil. Then, rub ingredients B one by one, from inside out, all over the chicken.	6. Arrange butter slices on top of the chicken. Squeeze lemon juice over chicken and ingredients in the pan. Then, place chicken in pan into preheated oven and roast/bake at 420oF for 35 minutes.
7. Add apple juice into the baking pan. Discard any excess oil from the pan before adding juice.	8. Turn chicken upside down with a tong. Then continue to roast chicken at 400oF for another 30 minutes, or until chicken is nicely browned and cooked. Thermometer should register at about 350oF. Turn off the heat when done.	9. Immediately, pour all gravy into a bowl. Then, return chicken into the pan and pop it back into the hot oven. Season gravy with salt to taste if necessary. Allow chicken to sit in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
10. Place chicken on a serving platter. Garnish with fresh fruits or/and vegetables. Carve chicken before serving or leave to carve while serving. Serve chicken warm with gravy.

Notes

If you have a bigger chicken, gradually reduce heat to 350oF or 300oF and continue to roast until chicken is cooked after the first hour of roasting. Roasting time varies depending on the size of chicken and oven temperature. To thicken gravy, gradually heat gravy in a pan over medium heat, stir in ½ TBSP to 1 TBSP flour, keep whisking until gravy comes to a boil and no visible powder.

Meatballs

Recipe: Meatballs肉丸

Yields:16 - 18 balls

Ingredients

250g ground pork / chicken / turkey 1 large egg ¼ cup to ½ cup breadcrumbs some tapioca / corn starch or all-purpose flour for dusting enough oil for deep frying

Seasonings ½ tsp. salt ½ tsp. sugar 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper 1/8 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes ¼ tsp. dried oregano 1/8 tsp. dried thyme 1/8 tsp. paprika

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Combine all seasoning ingredinets with ground meat in a mixing bowl. Mix until incorporate.	2. Break an egg into the mixture in step 1. Mix well.	3. Add breadcrumbs into meat mixture in step 2.
4. Use hands to mix breadcrumbs and meat mixture until well incorporated. Use this mixture immediately or cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 day.	5. Shape meat mixture into balls. About one TBSP size.	6. Roll each meatball on flour. Then, dust off any excess flour.
7. Arrange meatballs on a plate. Heat up oil in deep fryer. When oil is hot enough, deep fry meatballs until golden brown or cooked. Then, drain on paper towels.	8. Serve meatballs with any sauce you like or serve them with spaghetti.

Notes

It is not necessary to deep fry meatballs. You can bake them in pre-heated oven at 400oF for 20 minutes until cooked through or cook them in suace.