Baking Project #11: Chocolate Coated Candies Blondies

Thanks to Gordon Ramsay, I was introduced to Blondies. And this recipe is by far the most delicious. It's chewy and only sweet as far as sweet goes. I made this right after making a roasted chicken and what do you know, I was finished in half an hour, and I was eating a few pieces twenty minutes later.

And if there's a good thing about being alone for a week is that I get to have all the blondies for dessert. A real treat, right? 

  

RECIPE                                                                                                                                                     

Chocolate Coated Candies Blondies

Ingredients

     1 cup all purpose flour

     1/2 tsp baking powder

     1/8 tsp  baking soda

     1/2 tsp salt

     1/3 cup butter, melted

     1 cup packed brown sugar

     1 egg, beaten

     1 tsp vanilla extract

     1 cup chocolate coated candies 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F (180 deg C). Grease and flour an 8in by 8in baking pan and line with parchment paper. 
2. In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together melted butter and brown sugar. Add in egg and vanilla and mix. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Fold the candies.
4. Press the batter into the pan and scatter a few candies on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Recipe adapted from: A Pumpkin and A Princess

Cooking Project #2: Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

For a week I was alone in the house (well technically, there were two of us but we rarely see each other as she worked during the night) and so I had a lot of time in my hands. I cooked, baked and baked some more. And all of these lasted us for a week. I had to eat a lot of leftover food for dinner.

First on the list: bacon wrapped pork tenderloin. This one is so easy to make. You only need to season and sear the pork, wrap it with the bacon strips, cover with maple syrup and roast. See, easy right?

Since the pork tenderloin didn't have any fat, the key here is to eat it with the bacon. I had it for lunch and I almost ate everything. It's really that good. Season the pork well and you'll go for seconds and thirds. I ate it with fried rice and I sat on my chair for almost an hour, alone but enjoying.

RECIPE                                                                                                                                                    

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

oil

salt and pepper

1 lb pork tenderloin

6 pieces bacon strip

1/3 cup maple syrup

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
2. Season the pork tenderloin with salt and pepper.
3. Heat oil in a skillet. Sear the pork tenderloin until all sides are brown.
4. Lay all the bacon strips on a chopping board,one side overlapping the other. Make sure that the width of the bacon will cover all the pork. 
5. Transfer the pork on top of the bacon, using a spoon, knife or fork roll up the bacon to cover the pork. If the bacon won't stay in place, use a toothpick to hold them together. Transfer back to the skillet and cover with maple syrup. Transfer to a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes, basting twice with the pan juices before the 30 minutes end. Baste again before serving.

Baking Project #10: Banana-Walnut Muffins

My mother loves carrot cakes, and my aunt too. During our get together, I am always assigned to bring a carrot cake which resulted to a pack of leftover walnuts in our cupboard. Each day, I see the walnuts and I tell myself not to worry as one day I may have to make a carrot cake again.

And that time had come, but not in a form of a carrot cake but muffins. One weekend I was ready to bake. I checked our refrigerator and found out that we had no milk but we had 5 pieces of bananas. So I said, OK, I'll just make muffins. And so I made twelve, twelve very delicious banana muffins with nuts. 

I was supposed to bring 4 pieces of these to work and give them to John Lee, but I kept on forgetting. In the end, I just ate them after three days for breakfast. And you know what, they're still moist and soft. Try them too, you can be done in less than hour. I promise! And you can have them for breakfast too. Just like I did.

RECIPE                                                                                                                                                    

Banana-Walnut Muffins

Ingredients

5 pcs very ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 175 deg Celsius.
2. In the bowl of your mixer, combine the melted butter and mashed bananas. Mix in the sugar, vanilla and egg. Add the baking soda and salt and mix until combined. Add the flour and mix just until combined. Fold in the walnuts. The less you stir the batter at this point, the fluffier the muffins would be once baked.
3. Prepare 12 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Pour the batter into each of the tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the tins and allow to cool in a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: A Sweet Pea Chef

Cooking Project #1: Roasted Chicken

I have only eaten homemade roasted chicken twice. The first time I was in Taguig, living with my relatives and I was tasked to tend to the chicken while it was roasting. I don't remember now how it tasted or if I ever needed to return it for further roasting. My second time was very memorable. Julius and I were married a few days ago and it was the first time that we celebrated the New Year as husband and wife. Even though we had to leave the house at 10 in the evening and go to Taguig where my brother and mother were staying, we still decided to cook to welcome the new year. Julius was so excited. He called my mother-in-law for the recipe and diligently did everything from cleaning the chicken to cutting the vegetables. I watched as he did everything, equally excited as I wait for him to finally put the chicken in the oven.

For my third, I wanted to make it myself. I found a recipe that was not just easy to make but the ingredients were also easy to find. Just one trip to the grocery store and I was ready. And let me tell you, of all the roasted chicken I tasted (including those in restaurants) this by far is the most delicious. I even regretted that I only roasted for three people as I wanted to eat more after I finished the 2nd leg but I had to stop myself as the plate was almost empty.

RECIPE                                                                                                                                                    

One Pan Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

1 lb chicken parts 

1 tbsp butter, softened

half piece of lemon

1 tsp dried thyme

salt

pepper

vegetables (whatever you want)

Direction

1. Preheat oven at 425 deg F.
2. Clean the chicken and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper.
3. In a clean bowl, mix butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and thyme until well blended. Smear on the chicken.
4. Place the chicken on a roasting pan (uncovered) and put in the oven for 50-60 minutes. Halfway through remove the pan from the oven and scatter the vegetables around. Replace into the oven and continue roasting. Pierce the chicken to check if it's done.