Gai Mei Bao

Ever since I've eaten one of these yummy rolls in San Francisco Chinatown, I've always wanted to learn how to make them. I also enjoyed eating them in Hong Kong (where they originate from). They are just so yummy :) Lucky for me, one of my friends came over and helped me make them. Her dad is from Hong Kong and they've been working on a recipe for awhile. They turned out SO yummy! We loved them at first bite :)

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 cups warm milk
2 T honey
2 T yeast

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 T salt
1 egg
5-6 cups flour

Filling:
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 T powdered milk, or sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup unsweetened coconut (really fine--I found it at Winco)

Topping:
1/4 cup butter, softened
scant 1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
pinch of salt

Egg Wash: 1 egg yolk, 1 T water, pinch sugar

Sesame Seeds (white)

Directions:

Dough--combine yeast, milk and honey to proof the yeast for about 5 minutes. In your bread machine (Kitchenaid, Bosch, etc...) combine the butter, sugar, egg, yeast mixture and flour. Knead for about 10 minutes. Keep adding flour until the dough is soft and still a little sticky (but not too much). Let rise in a warm place until TRIPLE in bulk. Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes before you form them into rolls.

Filling and Topping--Mix all the filling ingredients together. Chill until ready to use (this makes it easier to stuff into the rolls). Mix the topping together. It should be pasty (kind of like frosting). If it's too crumbly, add some more softened butter.

To Assemble: Separate the dough into about 25 balls. Flatten it out into a circle with one push of your palm. Take about a tablespoon full of filling and place it at the top of the dough. Roll it up and pinch the seam. Place it seam-side down on the greased cookie sheet. (I know this is kind of hard to understand....sorry, I don't really know how to explain rolling it up!) Continue until you've filled all the rolls.

Let rise for 90 minutes! The long rise time is really a key to this recipe. Brush the egg wash on top (you could use milk instead if you want) and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Use a piping bag to pipe on the topping in two lines (about an inch from each end of the bun making a perpendicular stripe).

Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

Devour at once...they are fabulous!

Sorry for the crazy recipe format. Ask me if you have any questions :)

New Cooking Blog

We've moved our blog over to:

http://coynecooking.wordpress.com/

I like the format better for my cooking blog. I especially love the search bar when I'm looking up a recipe, so I moved all the recipes over there. That's the one I'll be updating from now on :)

Happy Cooking/Baking/Experimenting :)



PSYCH! We tried it for a bit and are back to blogger...so keep enjoying the blog here...and we're not updating super frequently either...maybe one day... :)

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

These are absolutely amazing. I added recees in the middle and they seriously are to die for. So easy and so good!

"Heavy, yummy, and very peanut-buttery. You'll need lots of milk to eat these!! "

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup peanut butter 1 cup white sugar

1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2.	Combine ingredients and drop by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool. Recipe doesn't make very many, so you could double recipe as you desire.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Let me tell you. This is basically fudge. It is so good. If you like chocolate you will love this!

"A dense chocolate cake for those of us who can't tolerate wheat or gluten."

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup water 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup white sugar 18 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet

chocolate 1 cup unsalted butter 6 eggs

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease one 10 inch round cake pan and set aside.
2.	In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
3.	Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
4.	Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5.	Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready, put the cake pan in the larger pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
6.	Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

Chicken Gyros (with amazing soft wrap bread)

This is another fabulous recipe from "My Kitchen Cafe." The soft wrap bread and the tzatziki are really amazing. I highly recommend it. Jeremy gets so excited when he finds out I'm making it for dinner (whenever I do). It is a bit time intensive, so you need to plan a day ahead (to drain the yogurt for the sauce).

This looks like A LOT of work. It really isn't bad. You've got to try this if you like Greek food. I promise, you won't regret it and it can be assembled in little pieces throughout the day.
Ingredients:

Tzatziki sauce (needs to be started the night before):
16 oz plain yogurt (not fat free)
1 regular cucumber
2-3 cloves garlic through press
1 t. red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil

Chicken:
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
2 t. red wine vinegar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping T plain yogurt
1 T dried oregano
salt and pepper
1 1/4 pounds chicken breasts cubed

Soft Wrap Bread (Pita Bread): (takes about 2 1/2 hours)
3 to 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup potato flour or 1/2 cup potato flakes
1 1.4 t. salt
2 T vegetable oil
1 t. instant yeast

Assembly:
Tomatoes
Sauteed red onions
Lettuce (if you want)

Directions:

Tzatziki: Place a few pieces of paper towel (or cheesecloth) over a strainer with a bowl underneath. Pour the yogurt into the paper towels, cover and let sit in the fridge overnight. This takes most of the moisture out of the yogurt (alternatively you could use a greek yogurt and forgo this process). The next day, peel and seed the cucumber and then shred it with a cheese grater. Add the cucumber, garlic, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon to the yogurt in a bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the top and refrigerate to let the flavors meld. Serve with your chicken and pitas.

Chicken: Put everything into a ziplock bag and let marinate for 1 hour. Cook the chicken in the skillet or with a broiler. Once the chicken is cooked, let it rest for 5 minutes.

Pita Bread: Place 2 cups of the flour into a bowl and pour the boiling water over. Stir until smooth, cover the bowl and let sit for 30 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk together the potato flakes, 1 cup of the remaining flour, salt, oil and yeast. Add this to the cooled flour mixture and stir and then knead for several minutes to form a soft dough. Let the dough sit and rise for 1 hour. Divide the dough into 8 balls and let rest for 15-30 minutes. Roll each piece into a 7-8 inch circle and dry fry them (no oil) in a frying pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes per side. Serve immediately with your Greek Food--yum yum!

Assembly: Re-heat the pitas. Top with the tzatziki, chicken, diced tomatoes, sauteed onions and lettuce. Serve immediately.

This is such an amazingly yummy dinner. You have to try it at least once to really understand--yum, yum!

Chicken Tikka Masala

This is such a yummy dinner. It made enough for leftovers too--the best! If you like Indian food, then you will really love this recipe. It makes your house smell so good! I love this recipe and will be making it for a long time to come (plus this is SO much cheaper than going to an Indian restaurant--and it tastes the same!).

Ingredients:
1 cup plain yogurt
1 T lemon juice
2 t. ground cumin
1 t. ground cinnamon
2 t. paprika
2 t. black pepper
1 T fresh, minced ginger (I used ground)
1 t. salt
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 T butter
1 clover garlic
2 t. ground cumin
2 t. paprika
1/2 t. salt
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 cup cream (I used a combination of cream/milk)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

4 cups cooked white rice

This recipe also calls from 1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped which I left out. I also doubled the sauce (so 2 cans of tomato sauce and extra milk/cream) because we love the sauce part.

Directions:
Combine the first set of ingredients to marinate the chicken. I combined them all in a ziplock bag and set it in the fridge for an hour. Grill, cook in a frying pan, or bake the chicken. Discard the marinade. Use the second set of ingredients in a large skillet. Melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the garlic (and jalapeno if you choose) for one minute. Season with cumin, paprika and salt. Stir in the tomato sauce and cream. Simmer the sauce on low heat until it thickens (about 20 minutes). Shred the chicken and then add it to the sauce. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve over the hot rice.

We love this meal and I can't wait to make it again!

Original Recipe from: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2008/09/chicken-tikka-masala.html

American Sandwich Bread

Don't let the name of this bread fool you. This bread is like Great Harvest Bread. Literally...that good! Well, it would be even better if I could grind my own wheat, but it's still amazing and it's become a new favorite around our house. Thank you America's Test Kitchen Baking Book! You're amazing :)

This recipe only makes 1 loaf, so I usually double it and freeze the bread so we have enough to last us a week or two.

Ingredients:
1 cup warm milk
1/3 cup warm water
3 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 T honey
3 1/2 -4 cups bread flour (key here is bread flour)--I actually do half bread, half wheat.
1 envelope instant or rapid rise yeast
2 t. salt

Directions:
Whisk the milk, water, butter and honey together in a large liquid measuring cup. Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a mixer (kitchen aid is what I use). Pour the liquid mixture in a little bit at a time as you constantly mix the dough together. Let it mix for 8 minutes (using bread hook) adding more flour as needed until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixer. Let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until double in size. Roll into a 9 by 5 shape, roll up and put into a bread pan. Spray top with cooking spray and cover with saran wrap. Let rise for 45-90 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

There's nothing better than the smell and test of fresh bread! Yum, yum!