Thursday 21 August 2014

Homemade Churros with Chocolate Sauce Recipe | Baked Churros Recipe

Care for a simple but oh so delicious snack munch on? Well, making churros is a really good choice as it is simple to make and can be done in a jiffy! Let's waste no time and get on to making the churros:)


Churros recipe
Yield: About 10 (4-inch) churros Prep Time: 20 min Cook Time: 10 min

Ingredients:
For the churros:
1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons plus 2 quarts vegetable oil, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the chocolate sauce:
3 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

Equipment:
Cloth pastry bag
Large star pastry tip (such as Wilton #2110)

Method
Make the churros:
1. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Set aside. Line a plate with paper towels.

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the water, 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, salt and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Bring the mixture to a boil then remove it from the heat. Stir in the flour, mixing until it forms a ball.

3. Heat 3 to 4 inches of vegetable oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot set over medium-high heat until it reaches 375ºF. (There should be a minimum of 3 inches above the oil to prevent it from bubbling over.)

4. Transfer the dough to a cloth pastry bag or heavy-duty plastic bag fitted with a large star tip.

5. Pipe the dough over the pot of oil to a length of about 4 inches, then using scissors or a sharp knife, cut it so it releases into the oil. (Stand back to avoid any splatters.) Pipe two to three churros into the oil at a time, frying them until they're golden brown and cooked through. Transfer the churros to the paper towel-lined plate to drain for 2 minutes, then roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Repeat the frying and coating process with the remaining dough.

6. Serve the churros with the warm chocolate sauce

Make the chocolate sauce:
1. Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl.

2. Warm the heavy cream in small saucepan. (Do not let it boil.) Pour the heavy cream over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for 1 minute then stir to combine.


The chocolate sauce will thicken as it cools, so it's best to make it right before you're ready to serve it with the churros.


If you want a healthier, less guilty churros, try the baked version!

Baked Churros Recipe
Yield: 10 churros

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar
cooking spray

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium saucepan combine the butter, salt and water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.

2. Remove from heat add the flour and stir with a spoon to combine. Mixture will thicken and start to resemble the texture of mashed potatoes.

3. Leave dough in the saucepan, but beat it on low with a hand mixer, adding one egg at a time, mixing well before adding another. After adding each egg, the mixture will become wet and glossy, but after mixing on high for a few seconds it will thicken again. (Alternately you can transfer the batter to your stand mixer bowl)

4. When all the eggs are are combined add the vanilla. The dough will be thick and starchy, (still with a similar texture to mashed potatoes.)

5. Spoon the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Lightly spray a cookie sheet and pipe 8-inch rows of the dough with at least 1 inch between each churro.

6. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown*, and when a toothpick comes out clean. If after 20 minutes, your churros are not golden brown, leave them in the oven until they are.

7. Spray churros lightly with cooking spray, and one at a time, transfer them to a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.Shake it around to make sure they are well-coated.


Get started and make these delicious, crispy snacks!

Saturday 16 August 2014

Types of Street food in Seoul | Eating Along The Streets of Korea

When in Seoul, you will see lots of street side stores selling fish cake, sausages, pancakes, tteokbokki, squid, fried food and many more delicious, aromatic finger food!

Here are some of the street food in Seoul that you need to try if you are here in Korea:)

Deep-fried street food
Gongdeok-dong Jeon Alley
Getting there: Gongdeok Station, Lines 5 & 6, Exit 5. Head straight on for about 150 meters, then head left into an alleyway of your choice.
Gwangjang Market

Part of a traditional market outside Gongdeok Station is lined with eateries selling jeon, metal plate-fried pancakes containing various ingredients such as green onions, kimchi, seafood, abalone and more. Jeon goes well with a bowl of makgeolli (rice beer).

Deep-fried prawns, chilies, mushrooms, and other morsels are also available. Perhaps because of its reputation, this alley is not cheap compared to other isolated street vendors.

If you don't feel like having fried fare, the adjacent alleyways specialize in jokbal (pig’s trotters)


Frying bindaetteok
Gwangjang Market / Ryu Seunghoo(Kwangjang Market)
Getting there: Jongno 5-ga Station, Line 1, Exit 7.

Bindaetteok, a fried mung bean pancake, is the best-known food here: on a cold day, it makes the ideal snack and is even better when drunk with makgeolli. Chungmu gimbap, a bite-size, thin version of the well-known snack, is also a specialty here.

Besides eating, search the second floor of the market for some great vintage clothing stores.

Pimatgol
Bukchang-dong
Getting there: Jonggak Station, Line 1, Exit 3.

In the old days, commoners used Pimatgol, or “horse-avoiding alley,” a narrow street running parallel with and a few meters to the north of Jongno( richer class in society). Despite recent redevelopment of the area, restaurant-lined alleyways remain between Jongno Tower and Insa-dong’s popular main street. Head into the narrow alleyway between A-Shin and Gallery Sin-Sang near the bottom of Insa-dong to find “Ssarypmoon,” a place specializing in traditional Korean alcohols and teas, where you may just catch the owner giving a performance on the daegeum, a large bamboo flute. Alternatively, enter from the alley just to the east of Jongno Tower, by Pizza Hut, and enjoy exploring.


Spicy fried octopus
Bukchang-dong
Getting there: City Hall Station, Lines 1 & 2, Exit 8. Cross over the main road toward the SK telecom shop and Outback Steakhouse. Head straight on, then take a right to enter the Bukchang-dong restaurant area.
Jayang-dong Lamb Kebab Street

This small neighborhood of eateries occupies a triangle of land that spread out southward from the back of the Plaza Hotel. The large variety of restaurants around the pedestrianized street to the west of the area makes it worth visiting for any undecided, hungry person. Tuna sashimi, barbecued meat, Chinese, gulgukbap (oyster stew with rice), octopus, and abalone restaurants are prevalent here.

Sinchang Sanghoe, a Chinese grocery store on a corner, is a great place to stock up on sauces, tinned lychee and rambutan, jasmine tea, woks and plenty more.


Lamb kebab with Tsingtao beer / Ryu Seunghoo
Jayang-dong Lamb Kebab Street
Getting there: Konkuk University Station, Lines 2 & 7, Exit 5. Turn right at the corner, pass the SK gas station, then take the next right.

Though lamb is generally a rarity in Korea, this long street in northeastern Seoul, near Konkuk University, is lined with Chinese-style lamb kebab restaurants. Grill the slender skewers of lamb meat over red-hot charcoal at your table, dip them in the addictive mixture of dry spices provided, then enjoy them with Tsingtao beer or erguotou liquor.


Pig trotters 
Jangchung-dong Jokbal Street
Gettingthere: Dongguk University Station, Line 3, Exit 3. Head straight down the road for half a minute.

Pig trotters cooked for a long time in a mixture of water, soy sauce, sugar, leeks, garlic, ginger and rice wine, these trotters are then thinly sliced and served in the form of a dish known asjokbal. Head to this street near Jangchung Gymnasium to find a collection of jokbal restaurants. Dipped in fermented shrimp sauce and wrapped in lettuce leaf with raw garlic andssamjang bean sauce, the jokbal delivers a pig-kick that seems to cry out for a soju chaser.

Tteokbokki
Sindang-dong
Getting there: Sindang Station, Lines 2 & 6, Exit 8. Turn left immediately and follow this road for a couple of hundred meters to reach a blue archway: the entrance to Tteokbokki Town. For Jungang Market and Seoul Art Space Sindang, come out of Exit 1, turn left at the top of the stairs and head along the sidewalk for 150 meter

The bland, chewy rice cakes served in a sweet-and-spicy red sauce at roadside stalls across Korea comes filled with ingredients such astteokbokki, mandu (dumplings), noodles, onion, green onion, odeng (fish cake) and more.

While you’re in the area, it’s worth checking out traditional Jungang Market, and Seoul Art Space Sindang, a collection of artists’ studios located directly beneath the market.

Seoul has many different variety of street food and cafes so do remember to check out these goodies on your trip to Korea!



Tuesday 12 August 2014

Kouign-Amann Recipe | A Flaky, Delicious Treat

Kouign amann are laminated pastries like croissants and puff pastry. Those dramatic flakey layers are the result of sealing a layer of butter into the pastry dough, and then folding, rolling, re-folding, and re-rolling until that one layer becomes hundreds of super thin layers of butter and pastry. This sounds complicated, but it's really just a matter of patience.

The key to success with kouign amann is not pushing anything too fast.

Keeping the butter chilled is crucial for creating all the lovely, flakey layers of pastry. If you skimp on chilling time, the butter will get too warm and start being absorbed by the dough; this will give you something tasty, no doubt, but not quite the flakey confection we're aiming for.

If you do not have the time to make the kouign amann in one day, the pastry dough can be mixed, left to rise, and then refrigerated for up to 24 hours before continuing with the recipe. The shaped kouign amann can also be covered, refrigerated overnight, and baked the next morning.

These gorgeous, lovely, buttery goodness not only works well as breakfast items but are also great for tea or snacks!

Ingredients

For the dough:
2 tablespoons (30 g) butter, melted, slightly cooled, plus more for bowl
1 tablespoon (10 g) active dry yeast
3 tablespoons (40 g) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 g) kosher salt
3 cups (400 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for surface

For the butter block:
12 oz. (340 g) chilled unsalted , cut into pieces
½ cup (100 g) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 g) kosher salt

For assembling:
All-purpose flour
¾ cup (150 g) sugar, divided
Nonstick vegetable oil spray


Method

For the dough:

1. Brush a large bowl with butter. Whisk yeast and ¼ cup very warm water (110°–115°) in another large bowl to dissolve. Let stand until yeast starts to foam, about 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, 3 cups flour, 2 Tbsp. butter, and ¾ cup cold water.
2. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding flour as needed, until dough is supple, soft, and slightly tacky, about 5 minutes.
3. Place dough in prepared bowl and turn to coat with butter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, place in a warm, draft-free spot, and let dough rise until doubled in size, 1–1½ hours. (This process of resting and rising is known as proofing.) Punch down dough and knead lightly a few times inside bowl. Cover again with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator until dough is again doubled in size, 45–60 minutes.
4. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 6x6” square. Wrap in plastic and chill in freezer until dough is very firm but not frozen, 30–35 minutes. (Heads up: You’ll want it to be about as firm as the chilled butter block.)

For the butter block:
1. Beat butter, sugar, and salt with an electric mixer on low speed just until homogeneous and waxy-looking, about 3 minutes. Scrape butter mixture onto a large sheet of parchment. Shape into a 12x6” rectangle ¼” thick.
2. Neatly wrap up butter, pressing out air. Roll packet gently with a rolling pin to push butter into corners and create an evenly thick rectangle. Chill in refrigerator until firm but pliable, 25–30 minutes.

For assembling:
1. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 19x7” rectangle (a bit wider and about 50 percent longer than the butter block).
2. Place butter block on upper two-thirds of dough, leaving a thin border along top and sides. Fold dough like a letter: Bring lower third of dough up and over lower half of butter. Then fold exposed upper half of butter and dough over lower half (butter should bend, not break). Press edges of dough to seal, enclosing butter.
3. Rotate dough package 90° counterclockwise so flap opening is on your right. Roll out dough, dusting with flour as needed, to a 24x8” rectangle about ⅜” thick.
Fold rectangle into thirds like a letter (same as before), bringing lower third up, then upper third down (this completes the first turn).
Dust dough lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and chill in freezer until firm but not frozen, about 30 minutes. Transfer to refrigerator; continue to chill until very firm, about 1 hour longer. (Freezing dough first cuts down on chilling time.)
4. Place dough on surface so flap opening is on your right. Roll out dough, dusting with flour as needed, to a 24x8” rectangle, about ⅜” thick. Fold into thirds (same way as before), rotate 90° counterclockwise so flap opening is on your right, and roll out again to a 24x8” rectangle.
5. Sprinkle surface of dough with 2 Tbsp. sugar; fold into thirds. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and chill in freezer until firm but not frozen, about 30 minutes. Transfer to refrigerator; continue to chill until very firm, about 1 hour longer.
6. Place dough on surface so flap opening is on your right. Roll out dough, dusting with flour as needed, to a rectangle slightly larger than 16x12”. Trim to 16x12”. Cut into 12 squares (you’ll want a 4x3 grid). Brush excess flour from dough and surface.
Lightly coat muffin cups with nonstick spray. Sprinkle squares with a total of ¼ cup sugar, dividing evenly, and press gently to adhere. Turn over and repeat with another ¼ cup sugar, pressing gently to adhere. Shake off excess. Lift corners of each square and press into the center. Place each in a muffin cup. Wrap pans with plastic and chill in refrigerator at least 8 hours and up to 12 hours (dough will be puffed with slightly separated layers).

Preheat oven to 375°F. Unwrap pans and sprinkle kouign-amann with remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar, dividing evenly. Bake until pastry is golden brown all over and sugar is deeply caramelized, 25–30 minutes (make sure to bake pastries while dough is still cold). Immediately remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack; let cool.

Wednesday 6 August 2014

10 Food for Better, Clearer Skin!

Want to have flawless, clear baby skin? Well, our diet plays an important role in influencing the condition of our skin. If we constantly consume fried or processed food, we cannot expect our skin to be free of pimples or glowing. Hence, to achieve beautiful, glowing skin, here are some food you can gain easy assess to and they taste great!

1. Flax Seeds
Flax seeds are rich in omega-3’s that play a critical role in controlling the appearance of age spots and fine lines. A study shows that consuming flax seeds every day helps relieve skin redness and irritation and helps make skin look fresh and soft. Add some flax seeds to your oatmeal, smoothies or your favorite muffin recipe.

2. Purple and Blue Fruits
Purple and blue fruits are among the best foods to eat for a great skin. Blueberries, blackberries and plums are all rich in antioxidants, which combat free radical damage that arises from a poor diet or chemicals in the environment. Purple and blue fruits can also help keep your skin looking younger longer.

3. Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower seeds are high in vitamin E, an important nutrient that helps protect your skin from the daily sun damage. Sunflower seeds make a perfect, portable snack to eat on the go. You can also use these wonderful seeds in your oatmeal, salads, cereal, or trail mix. Just make sure you don’t add too much salt to your salads, salt isn’t good for your skin.

4. Chocolate
The great news for all chocolate lovers, chocolate is good for your skin, despite all the myths that it causes acne. Chocolate actually increases flavonol intake that translates to gorgeous skin. Since chocolate has some calories, make sure you eat it in moderation.

5. Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes are high in vitamins A and C, which are both essential for glowing and healthy skin. Vitamin C increases collagen production that keeps your skin supple and smooth, and vitamin A is a potent antioxidant that fights free radical damage and prevents skin cancer.

6. Tomatoes
Many people say that eating tomatoes can cause acne. But tomatoes are an excellent source of antioxidants, namely lycopene, which helps improve skin health as well as protects pigmentation. Add tomatoes to your salads or put some on a sandwich. When you cook tomatoes, you increase their lycopene content, so feel free to eat pizza sauce and marinara too.

7. Yogurt
Yogurt contains protein that keeps your skin firm and that helps fight the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. Stay away from fruity versions since they are packed with sugar. Opt instead for plain yogurt and add some fresh fruits to it to make it more delicious.

8. Red Bell Pepper
Whether cooked or raw, red bell peppers can also give you great skin . One red bell pepper has over 100% of your everyday vitamin C needs. It’s high in vitamin B6, dietary fiber and carotenoids that help fight wrinkles and increase blood flow to your skin, helping you look more youthful. Eating red bell peppers can also help combat acne. It’s an easy and delicious snack that has only 30 calories. A bell pepper contains fiber that helps you to feel full longer so if you are on a diet and you want to have a perfect skin, add red bell peppers to your everyday diet.

9. Salmon
Salmon is packed with vitamin D that is responsible for keeping your brain, heart, bones and colon healthy. It helps reduce anxiety, depression, and prevent colon cancer, bone disease and heart disease. Salmon contains omega-3 fatty acids that help hydrate your skin from the inside out as well as help fight inflammation, acne and wrinkles. Plus, consuming salmon regularly keeps your scalp hydrated and promotes healthy, strong hair.

10. Spinach

Spinach is a nutrient-rich food you should definitely include into your eating plan. It’s an excellent source of Vitamin E, iron, chlorophyll, folate, magnesium, fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and plant protein, which are all great for your skin. Spinach is also packed with antioxidants that help prevent different types of skin problems. You can use spinach in your green smoothies or add it to your salads. Eating spinach regularly will help clean your skin from the inside out.

Eat your way to a healthier, more youthful self by choosing the right type of food!