The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

 Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

Ingredients

9 oz brown sugar

8 oz sugar

8 oz butter (RT)

2 eggs (RT)

1 1/4 tsp vanilla

8 oz oats

7.5 oz AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

6 oz pecans, chopped

4 oz raisins

Directions

Cream sugars with the butter.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Add oatmeal. Sift dry ingredients and add.  Add pecans and raisins.  Chill 12-24 hours.  roll into a log.  Slice and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes,  

Lemon Ricotta Cake

Lemon Ricotta Cake 

Ingredients

• 120 gr (1/2 cup) Unsalted Butter very soft
• 100 gr (1/2 cup) Caster Sugar or Fine White Granulated Sugar
• 1 Lemon, zested and juiced (30 ml / 2 tablespoons of juice) I added 2 1/2 TB zest
• 250 gr (8.75 oz or 1 cup) Ricotta Cheese at room temperature
• 3 Eggs at room temperature
• 1 teasp. Vanilla Extract
• 200 gr (1 1/3 cup) Plain / All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 teasp. Baking Powder
• 1/2 teasp. Baking Soda
• 1 pinch Salt

Instructions

• Preheat your oven on 180'C / 350'F. Line the bottom of a 24cm / 9" Springform Pan with baking paper and lightly grease the edges.
• In a large bowl (or the bowl of your mixer), cream together the Butter, Sugar and Lemon Zest for 3 to 5 minutes on medium-high speed (see note 1).
• Mix in the Ricotta Cheese then the Eggs, one at the time. Add the Lemon Juice and Vanilla Extract and mix to combine (see note 2). 
• Sift in the Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt. Slowly mix and stop as soon as combined to avoid overworking the batter.
• Transfer into the prepared Springform Pan. Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread and smooth out the batter if needed.
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool down completely before removing from the pan (see note 3).
• Optional: to finish the cake, dust it with a little bit of Icing Sugar and the Zest of a Lemon

Notes

Instructions Notes:

1. You should get a very light, pale and fluffy texture that will create an airy crumb for the cake. You can cream and mix the ingredients by hands with a whisk if preferred but I highly recommend using a hand or stand mixer for better results. If the butter is not at room temperature or soft enough, it will be hard to cream it and you will get small chunks of un-mixed butter in the batter.
2. Don't worry if the batter seem to split / curdle when you add the lemon juice, it' a normal reaction. The batter will come back together when you add the dry ingredients.
3. The cake will be very soft when it comes out of the oven and might break if you try to move it out of the pan straight away. Make sure it is cool before removing it from the pan.

 

Orange Cardamom Loaves

  Orange-Cardamom Loaves

 Makes 2 (8½x4½-inch) loaves

Ingredients

• 3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2½ cups (500 grams) granulated sugar
• 1½ teaspoons (4.5 grams) kosher salt
• 1½ teaspoons (7.5 grams) baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom I added more--1/2 tsp
• 1½ cups (360 grams) whole milk
• 1 cup (224 grams) vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs (150 grams)
• 2 tablespoons (4 grams) orange zest
• 1½ teaspoons (6 grams) vanilla extract
• Orange Glaze (recipe follows)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray 2 (8½x 4½-inch) loaf pans with baking spray with flour.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cardamom; make a well in center of mixture. Add milk, oil, eggs, zest, and vanilla, whisking until smooth. Divide batter between prepared pans.
3. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks. Drizzle with Orange Glaze.

Orange Glaze

 

Makes about 1⅓ cups

Ingredients

• 2 cups (240 grams) confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• ⅓ cup (80 grams) fresh orange juice

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and orange zest and juice until smooth. Use immediately.

Spicy Garlic Shiitake Noodles

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 200 g/7 oz instant ramen noodles
• 150 g/5.5 oz shiitakes, torn into bite-size pieces
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tsp crushed red chili flakes
• 1 tsp crushed Sichuan peppercorns
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 30 g/2 tbsp unsalted butter
• black pepper
• 2 eggs, soft-boiled
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds, for serving
• 5 scallions, finely chopped + more for serving

spicy soy sauce

• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp mirin, or 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp or 1 tbsp sambal, more if you like it super hot
• 1 tsp brown sugar

Instructions

1. Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl.
2. Add water to a small sauce pan, once boiling, add eggs, boil for 6 minutes. Run under cool water, set aside.Cook the noodles according to package directions until just al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water, and run the noodles under cool water to stop the cooking.
3. In the meantime prepare the shiitakes. In a large skillet, heat the oil over high. Add shiitakes, cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat, add garlic, ginger, chili flakes and Sichuan pepper. Cook for 2 minutes. Add butter, stir until it melts. Stir in scallions and season with black pepper.
4. Add the sauce, bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in noodles and 1/4 cup cooking water. Simmer, tossing occasionally, until sauce begins to cling to noodles, about 30 seconds.
5. Divide noodles among plates, top with a soft-boiled egg, sesame seeds and chopped scallions. Add more sambal if you can handle the heat, enjoy!