Monday, April 21, 2008

Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownie

花生醬巧克力焦烤蛋糕
Category: Dessert
Style: Western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Makes 1 8-inch square cake

Ingredients
Batter:
8 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pan
2 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
Filling:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Procedures
Preheat oven to 325F. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides. Set pan aside.
Make batter:
Put butter and chocolates in a heatproof medium bowl. Microwave on high until melted in 20 seconds intervals. Stir between each microwave sessions. Let cool slightly.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl, and set aside.
Whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture; stir until well incorporated.
Make filling:
Stir together butter, sugar, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.
Assemble
Pour half of batter into prepared pan, and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Place dollops of filling about 1 inch apart on top of batter. Drizzle remaining batter on top, and gently spread to fill pan. Place dollops of remaining filling on top.
With a butter knife, gently swirl filling into batter, running knife lengthwise and crosswise through layers. Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out brownies; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Roast Chicken with Garlic / Herbed Roast Potato

蒜香烤雞 配 香草烤馬鈴薯
Category: Meat, Entree, Main Dish
Style: Western
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Serves 4

Ingredients
4 bulbs garlic
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 chicken
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 cup chicken stock, hot
Roasted potatoes
1 kg new potatoes, cut into large pieces
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Gravy
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour

Procedures
Preheat oven to 425F
Separate cloves from garlic bulb, leaving peel intact.
Rub butter over outside of chicken and inside cavity; press combined salt and pepper onto skin and inside cavity. Place 1/3 of the garlic cloves inside the cavity, tie legs together with kitchen string.
Place chicken in a medium baking dish. Put remaining garlic around chicken. Pour stock carefully into dish. Roast chicken, uncovered, in hot oven, brushing occasionally with pan juices, about 80 minutes or until cooked through.
Meanwhile, mix potatoes, chopped parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a non-stick aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Roast, uncovered, in the oven for about the last 45 minutes of chicken cooking time.
When chicken is done, transfer to a platter. Brush chicken with melted butter and cover with foil to keep warm. Discard skins of roasted garlic in the baking tray.
In a small saucepan, add butter and flour, stir until incorporated and become a lump. Add pan juice a little bit at a time to dilute the lump. (Add more chicken stock if gravy is too thick.) Add roasted garlic into the gravy.
To serve, remove all garlic from the cavity of the chicken and discard. Using a kitchen shear, cut chicken into 4 pieces. Serve with gravy and potatoes.