A Professional Amateur Cook's Records

So, unlike chocolate chip cookies, I like these to have a bit of a crunch to them... They honestly are some of my favourite snacks to keep ready in the house... Yields: 32 regular adult sized ones... I use tiny cutters, so really, the potential is limitless...  ╮ ( ╯▽╰ ) ╭ Ingredients 2 cups of All-Purpose Flour (sifted) + More for rolling the dough out. 1 cup of Sugar 1/2 tsp Baking Powder 1/4 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Powdered Cinnamon 1 large Egg 8 tbsp Unsalted Butter (room temperature) 1 tsp Vanilla Extract Instructions Making the dough: In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together. Set this aside. Grab another large bowl and whisk the butter and sugar until they are fluffy and aerated. Using an electric whisk or beater will definitely make your life easier. Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract into the buttery mixture. Now slowly combine these two mixtures. Go at a low speed on the electric beater to get a smother result. D

Does anyone else remember the signature dishes of Percy Jackson 's mother?? If you do, you would remember that they had one common characteristic. They were all blue . The first time I made these cookies, I was actually driven because I had just (re)read that part in the Lightening Thief and I was like, "I must have. I must make." (Yes, I regressed to caveman.) Hence- here's my blue chocolate chip cookies. You can make just chocolate chip cookies too, I guess. But do you have to? Yields: 35 large cookies. Ingredients 3 cups of All-Purpose Flour + extra for rolling the dough out 3/4 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Salt 220 g Unsalted Butter 1 cup Sugar 1 large Egg 2 tsp Vanilla Extract 1/4 tsp Blue Food Colouring Chocolate Chips- get as much as you prefer... Instructions Making the dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Take another large bowl and beat the butter and sugar together until they are ligh

Potatoes are already so versatile and pair well with almost every other vegetable, if not all. This recipe uses a rather traditional combination (in Indian cuisine) of saag (the spinach) and aloo (potato). Eat with roti or rice or on its own... It's all fair game. In fact, if I have leftovers, I even like to put it on my toast for breakfast the next day! WARNING: I like mine to be super spicy. You don't have to do that! Just use lesser chilli powder and cut out the regular chillis entirely! Also, I have all those spices, so I use them all. But, you can make this dish even without them, hence the separation of mandatory and optional spices. Whatever you do find, use it! Yields: Enough as a meal of its own for 2. It can be an accompaniment with rice or roti for 4. Ingredients 1 kg Potatoes (Baby or regular) 150-200 g Spinach 3-5 cloves of Garlic 2 Yellow Onions 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil 400-500 ml of water Limes Coriander Seasoning Compulsory: Salt  Peppe

As someone who often needs quick but nutritious meals and is used to rice way too much to switch, this recipe has been a lifesaver for the past couple of years... The recipe looks like you have a lot to do (I think) but honestly, the only time consuming thing is washing the rice... Most of the time, I don't use the vegetables because this truly is my meal-on-the-go... Yields: A hearty meal for 1. Ingredients 1/2 cup of rice* 250 g of Red Kidney beans** 1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock*** Any vegetables you like- prep them in small enough cubes so that they don't end up raw. Potatoes and onions are what I often reach for. Sour cream or Yogurt Seasoning Salt  Pepper Maggi Seasoning ( no fuss if you don't use this! ) Coriander Powder**** Cumin Powder or just the seeds**** Sesame seeds**** Any spice mix you like/prefer. Some ideas: Dal Makhni spice mix Rajma Masala spice mix Taco Seasoning Cajun Mix All Spice Mix Cloves/Star anise (if you like str

So, traditionally, these are Chinese pancakes that are made with a dough but once when I was scrolling through tens of savoury pancake recipes, I found this little gem. It makes use of a batter instead, making the recipe much easier and faster. Also, the crispiness is not to be underestimated, my friend... Yields: 5 pancakes (on a 24 cm frying pan. The yield increases or decreases according to the size of your pan and the thickness of the pancakes.) Ingredients 2 cups All-Purpose Flour (after sifting) 5-6 stalks of Scallions 420-440 ml Water Any Neutral Oil (to grease pan) Seasoning Salt (a pinch usually does it- start with 1/2 tsp and go from there.) Five Spice Powder (Optional, a light dusting- less than 1/4 tsp does it.) Instructions Making the batter: Much like cake batter, start with placing the flour and the seasoning in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Slowly whisk in the water to make a homogenous batter that is lump/clump-free.

So you should have realised by now that every time I list onions in my ingredient list, I always list exactly which colour/type. So have you asked or wondered why I do that? Well, I thought I should explain it a bit. Red Onions   Characteristics: Thinner layers that are less meaty. Although they are quite similar to the yellow ones, they do have their own moments and place in dishes. These are best to have fresh and really nice in salads or other raw dishes. The main reason is a bit vain- colour. With their purplish-red colour they really make a dish pop. Also, when cooked in a longer preparation, the colour washes out and they have a lesser impact than the yellow onions. Yellow Onions Characteristics: About fist-sized and have thick and tough outer skin as well as meaty layers. This is the onion that is the most versatile and the one that you'll see the most often in my kitchen (partially due to my general dislike for onions. I only use them if I have to and un

Simplest healthy salad. Great for a park-nic! Yields: 1 massive batch for 3-4 people to savour. Ingredients 1 can of Black Beans (400-500 g)* 1 can of Red Kidney Beans (250-300 g)* 1 can of Black Eyed Peas  (250-300)* 1 large Red Onion Seasoning Large bush of Coriander- finely chopped, stalks and all Lots of vinegar (easy 5-6 tbsp or even more!) Salt Pepper Instructions Rinse all of the beans clean in cold water and but them all in a large mixing bowl. Splash (generous amounts of) the vinegar all over the beans. Throw in the finely chopped coriander and season with salt and lots of pepper. Mix it all together. Et voilà! You have accomplished your task. Garnish/Serving Tips & Tricks While serving it, you can garnish with some goat cheese or crumbs of feta. *You don't have  to use canned beans. You can just soak washed, uncooked beans overnight (I keep them soaked for 10 hours minimum). Then rinse them and cook them in a pressure coo

So I have this friend. She really, really doesn't like cinnamon. And like a good friend, instead of accepting her as she is, I decided to tweak a vanilla muffin recipe into this one until she did. I find that cinnamon tends to dry out my muffins when I usually bake regular ones so be assured that this recipe is still nice and moist and most importantly- delicate. Yields: 10 large muffins Ingredients 1 cup of All-Purpose Flour 90 g Sugar* 1 tsp Baking Powder 1/4 tsp Salt 3/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon (You can be brave and add a whole tsp.. if you're into cinnamon and find it taxing to measure 3/4 tsp) 1/2 cup of Milk (room temperature) 1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence 1/4 cup of (softened) Unsalted Butter** 1 egg (room temperature) Instructions Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Take a large mixing bowl and sift the all-purpose flour in first. Add the sugar, baking powder, salt and the cinnamon. Mix. Create a crater in the centre of the dry ingredients for the ease of combin

Crispy, buttery concoctions that simply melt in your mouth.. And one of the easiest recipes! Good choice for someone that is just starting baking. So this is a recipe out of New Zealand that I found i because of my friend in a British cookbook... I often get lazy to be very frank, find icing to be an unnecessary step.. So just a little titbit, the icing is optional especially if you are like me and don't really a sweet-tooth... Yields: Give or take 24 cookies. Ingredients 175 g Unsalted Butter (melted) 1/2 cups of Sugar 3 tbsp of Cocoa Powder 1 1/4 cups of All-Purpose Flour 2 cups of Cornflakes 1/4 tsp Salt Icing Dark Chocolate* Walnut Halves or Pecans** Instructions Preheat the oven to 180°C. Take a large mixing bowl and place the sugar and cocoa powder in it. Whisk the butter in until they are a homogenous mixture. Slowly whisk the flour in ensuring that there are no lumps. Fold the cornflakes into this mixture   Either grease an oven tray or li

A Lebanese parsley salad that I basically turned into Lime Central with some parsley as a stop on the way. Yields: My perfect portion for a full dinner. Ingredients Large bushel of Curly-leaf parsley - roughly chopped. 3 Tomatoes- finely diced* 1 Red Onion- finely diced 1/2 cup Cucumber- finely diced 1/2 cup bulgur wheat (Extra/Virgin) Olive Oil Seasoning Salt  Pepper 2 limes** Instructions Thoroughly wash the bulgur wheat until the water runs clear (like you would with rice) Soak the wheat in warm water, cover it and set aside while prepping the vegetables. The soak takes about 30 minutes. After the soaking is done, Drain all the water away and use a cheese cloth or muslin to squeeze all the water from the wheat and ensure that it is as dry as humanly possible. In a large bowl, put in the now drained bulgur wheat and squeeze the juice of 1 lime. I like to let this sit for a minute to let the bulgur soak up a bit of the lime juice. Add the tomatoes, par

A different rendition of a favoured comfort food. Yields: A single person's comfy dinner. Ingredients 1 cup Macaroni* 1 1/2 cups milk (with extra to spare just in case) 3-4 cloves of garlic- minced 1/2 yellow onion- finely chopped Butter or oil 75-100 g Creme Fraiche 1/2 cup grated Cheddar  Seasoning Salt Pepper Chilli (flakes or a Jalapeño) 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder Oregano Instructions Get a large sauce pan (non-stick is always a good idea) and put some oil in along with the garlic and salt on medium high heat. Stir until the oil is starting to heat up and add the diced onions. Stir again. Add the pepper, (chopped) chilli and garlic powder, stir it in and cover with a lid to let the onions cook through. Turn the heat lower to a medium low so that the onions don't burn. When the onions are translucent, add the milk let the milk slowly come to a boil. Just as the milk comes to a boil, add the pasta and the oregano. The addition of the pasta causes