Sweet & Sour Cauliflower

Sweet & Sour Cauliflower
600g cauliflower, chopped into florets

4 tbsp (60g) flour

6 tbsp (90ml) water

Sauce:

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp honey

2 tsp white vinegar

2 tbsp water

1 tsp cornstarch

1) Preheat oven to 220C / 430F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.

2) In a large bowl, combine together flour and water until a smooth batter forms. Add cauliflower florets and toss to coat evenly. Arrange the cauliflower onto the baking tray, making sure they don't touch each other. Bake for about 15 minutes or until cauliflower is softened and slightly browned.

3) While the cauliflower is baking, prepare the sauce: in a small saucepan, combine together soy sauce, ketchup, honey and white vinegar. 

4) In a small bowl, combine together water and cornstarch. Stir with a spoon until there are no lumps. Add this to the saucepan.

5) Turn on the heat and cook the sauce over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. You do not need to bring it to boil. Cook just for a few minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened (thick enough to cover the cauliflower). Remove from heat.

6) Once the cauliflower is cooked through, transfer it to a bowl and add the sauce. Toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Recipe by collecting memories 

Chinese Scallion Pancakes

Chinese Scallion Pancakes

250g (2 cups) flour
240ml (1 cup) boiling water
1/2 tsp salt
Up to 60ml (1/4 cup) sesame oil (I used sunflower)
A bunch of chopped scallions

1) In a large bowl, stir together flour and salt. Stir in the boiling water and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough forms comes together. Transfer to a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Wrap in a plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes (or overnight in the fridge).

2) Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a disk (20 cm / 8 inch in diameter) and brush the tops with oil. Sprinkle some scallions and roll the disk up. Twist the disk into a spiral and re-roll it into a disk (same size). Repeat the process with oil and scallions, roll it up, twist into a spiral again and re-roll into a slightly smaller disk (It depends how thick you want your pancakes). Repeat this process with the remaining 3 pieces of dough.

3) Heat some oil in a frying pan. Cook pancakes for around 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Cut into 6 wedges and serve immediately with soy sauce for dipping.

Recipe adapted from here (you can find step by step pictures here as well). 

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce 

200g (1 cup) white sugar
15ml (1 tbsp) light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
60ml (1/4 cup) water
120ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream
15g (1 tbsp butter)

1) In a medium saucepan, combine together sugar, corn syrup, salt and water. Bring to boil while stirring. When it starts bubbling, stop stirring and let it turn to a light/medium amber color. At this point it will NOT look like caramel. Especially if your saucepan has a black bottom, you won't be able to see the real color so turn off the heat when it looks just slightly golden, otherwise, it will be dark and bitter. The whole browning process should take no more than 10 minutes. 

2) When you reach the desired color, remove from heat and slowly start pouring in the heavy cream. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the butter. Let cool for a few minutes and pour in a jar. Keep in the fridge. It will be firmer if you keep it in the fridge. If you want it more runny, simply put the jar in a bowl filled with hot water and it will become more pourable. Alternatively, leave it at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.

Recipe source unknown. I've had this recipe for ages and have no idea where did it come from.

Oven Roasted Vegetables & Chickpeas

Garlicky Oven Roasted Vegetables & Chickpeas 

2 artichokes
170g (6 ounces) cooked chickpeas 
200g (7 ounces) cooked cauliflower, chopped into chunks
~50g arugula, washed and drained
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
White vinegar or lemon juice, to soak artichokes

Seasoning for the artichokes and onions:
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt

Seasoning for the chickpeas and cauliflower:
1 tsp dried garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp chili paprika
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

1) First, prepare the artichokes. Fill a medium pot with water and add a generous splash of vinegar (or lemon juice). Wash the artichokes, cut of the ends of the stems (the stem is edible so you should cut off just the end of it), remove hard leaves close to the stems and trim the tops of the leaves with your kitchen scissors. Cut about 2 cm / 1 inch from the top of the artichokes, Cut artichokes in half and place in the water with vinegar. Try to prepare them quickly because they tend to brown very fast. If they start browning  too fast, you can dip them in water/vinegar mixture for a second and continue preparing them.

2) Bring a medium pot to boil. Add some salt and a splash of vinegar to it. Once it boils, add artichokes and cook over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes. Remove from water and let cool a little. Once cool enough so you can touch them, cut the halves of the artichokes in half so you have 8 pieces in total. Set aside.

3) Preheat the oven to 225C / 435F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

4) In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, basil and salt. Dip each artichoke quarter into this mixture and try to coat all the sides. Place them on the baking tray and top with remaining minced garlic/basil/oregano mixture (it won't stick to the artichokes so you will have to arrange them on top of them). Dip the onions in this mixture and place on the baking tray.

5) Add chickpeas and cauliflower into a medium bowl and add a teaspoon of olive oil. Shake to coat them. Add garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, chili paprika and salt. Mix until coated evenly. Place chickpeas and cauliflower on the baking tray. Try to spread them in one layer so they roast evenly.

6) Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve with arugula leaves tossed with some lemon juice.  

Serves 2.

Recipe by collecting memories

Cranberry Muffins

Cranberry Muffins 

312g (2 1/2 cup) flour
2 tsp baking powder
226g (1 cup) white sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
76g (2/3 stick) butter, melted and cooled
230g (1 cup) sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g cranberries, frozen
1 tbsp flour
Sugar, to sprinkle (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 200C / 400F. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, combine together flour, baking powder and sugar. Set aside.

3) In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, melted butter, sour cream and vanilla extract. Mix the wet ingredients to the dry ones. Stir just until combined.

4) In a small bowl, mix together cranberries and 1 tablespoon of flour. Mix them into the batter. 

5) Divide the batter among muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with some granulated sugar. Bake for about 25 minutes or until nicely puffed and golden brown on top.

6) Cool before serving. I also made a simple icing sugar glaze: mix a cup of icing sugar with a few tablespoons of water and drizzle onto the cooled muffins.

Recipe by collecting memories