New Blog!

Due to the fact that I have discovered an important meaning behind cooking, I believe that this blog's no longer fit what I visioned. I have more plans and other things to share instead of just about my cooking and recipes. There is a really thoughtful meaning behind my new blog - A Sweet Promise, so please check it out!

P.s. I apologize for abandoning this blog for almost a year...but many things in my life have kept me busy so it was hard for me to squeeze out the time for blogging. Although I left this blog behind, I did not leave cooking behind. I still practice cooking daily. The best part was that I got to try an ample of new recipes, and I have found what food really means to me! :DD

Korean Bulgogi Chicken 韓燒雞肉

This is the cooked version of the Chicken Bulgogi Marinade I posted. It is so easy to make that even an inexperience cook like me can do it, so everyone should be able to cook it without a doubt. It totally worth trying!

Korean Bulgogi Chicken 韓燒雞肉:
Cooking time~8 mins
Serve: 4-6 (if you cook all)
*for the marinade, see link: http://promisesimplecooking.blogspot.com/2012/12/korean-bulgogi-marinade.html

Methods:

1. Use medium high flame to heat up the pan with about 1 teaspoon of cooking oil (I used olive oil). Move your wrist in circular pattern so the oil make a coat on the pan to avoid sticking.
2. Add the chicken (and onions if you prefer) from the marinade and let it cook for 4 mins. Turn them around and cook the other side for about 4 mins or until they are cooked. 

*Because my family and I like the meat to be a little bit burnt like BBQ, I cooked it a bit longer so the meat turned out just like the picture above shows.

Promise's Note:

• This is a easy recipe and no matter how you want to cook it, it should still be very tasty. I have already tried two different cooking methods and they both turned out great. It's all up to you! ^__^
• If you think the chicken is a little bit try or you don't want to waste the marinade, you can cook it as a sauce.

Korean Bulgogi Marinade 韓國燒烤肉醃汁

Woohoo! Last day of 2012 and I am so excited for 2013 to come! New Year, fresh start. Just like this blog. I will keep posting more and more recipes. However, since I do not have much time left after finishing school work/activities, I will focus more on the quick and simple ones. Anyway, here is one. I got this fantastic recipe from my friend Nancy, who is definitely a pro in the kitchen. I tried once and my family loved it. Even my picky brother eats it too~ #hugesuccess  Because there are so many things going in to the marinade, the meat really absorbs a lot of flavors from them. You should definitely give it a try!

Korean Bulgogi Chicken Marinade

Korean Bulgogi Marinade:
Total time~15 mins
Prep time~15 mins
*Cooking time depends on how you want to cook it (pan fry, oven bake, BBQ grill, etc). I usually pan fry the meat and onions, then oven bake the marinade as a sauce. Or you can oven bake the meat and marinade. It doesn't matter how you make it, it will turn out great.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup apple juice (this is what makes it so good)
• 2 Tbsp mirin
• 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 3 Tbsp rice wine
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 small or 1 large korean pear (any asian pear would work)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 sliced onion
• choice of meat - short rib/ rib-eye steak, chicken, pork, beef

Promise's Note: ^_^

• Because white meat is healthier than red meat, we chose to use 1 pack of chicken breast from Trader Joe's. I also used chicken thigh before with the same amount of marinade and worked perfectly fine. Here's the link for the bugogi chicken dish I made: 
• For best flavors, marinade for at least 1 night so the meat can really absorb all the flavors. I usually let it marinade for 1-2 days.

Butter Cookies 香噴噴牛油曲奇餅 - Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas!! What did you make for your Christmas dinner? I made butter cookies, and they turned out great! I added a little "twist" to the butter cookies recipe I got. Surprisingly, the cookies turned out to become the perfect balance between crunchy and soft. They are a little bit crunchy outside just like the other butter cookies, but inside is relatively soft (外脆內軟)~ My mom likes these cookies more than those I made before (without the twist) because before they were just crunchy.

Butter cookies are great for snack or dessert or tea time! However, keep in mind that they are very buttery, so you probably don't want to finish all by yourself because you will get fat quickly.
Also, instead of using white sugar as the recipe says, I used brown sugar. The only difference came out is that brown sugar makes the butter cookies less sweet compare to white sugar, which is better because they are healthier. ^_^

Butter Cookies (牛油曲奇餅):
Total time~3 hours
Prep time~20 mins
Inactive time~2 hrs 30 mins
Cooking time~10 mins
Serves~50 cookies
Level - easy

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour    3 1/2 cups  (*plus more if the twist makes the dough too soggy, but this didn't happen to mine's)
• salt    3/4 teaspoon
• unsalted butter (softened)    3 1/2 sticks
• brown sugar    1 1/4 cups  (*I used brown because it is less sugary, but white sugar will be fine)
• large eggs    2
• vanilla extract    1 teaspoon
• ground cinnamon    1/4 teaspoon  (you can omit this if you don't have it)
• my twist: half-half    1 tablespoon

Methods:

1. Sift the flour into a bowl, then add salt (dry ingredients)
2. In another large mixing bowl, put in the softened butter and use a mixer
   (hand/stand) to mix on medium high until fluffy and light. Refer to image above.
3. Keep beating and add sugar and eggs. Eggs should be added one at a time. Then add vanilla extract and cinnamon. Reduce the speed to low, gradually add the flour+salt (don't put all at once!) into the batter/mixture. Mix until batter looks smooth. At this point, there should be a dough.
4. *Twist: once the dough has shown, add the half-half into the large mixing bowl and mix in low speed until they combine together. Make sure the dough is not too soggy. If it appears to be too soggy, don't panic xD, just add about 1/4 teaspoon flour at a time and see how it goes.
5. Once the dough return normal (not too soggy, but not too dry), take a piece of plastic wrap and place the dough on top of it. Put the dough into the fridge (not freezer) to chill for 2 hrs and 30 mins.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
7. Roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter to cut into pieces. *If you don't have a cookie cutter, roll the dough into strip and cut out into pieces (like cutting a cucumber ^_^)
8. Place them on a baking sheet and line up each one for about 1" apart
9. Bake for 8 minutes. Take cookies out and let them cool.
10. ENJOY! Serve yourself a cup of milk or hot chocolate or coffee or even milk tea along with the wonderful butter cookies~

法國可麗餅 Crepes - Happy Christmas Eve!

記得我等一個試做的甜品, 就是可麗餅(crepes)! 原因是因為我是一個廚房新手加高中學生, 所以想要做既簡單好吃又快速的甜品。結果是100%成功! ^0^今天在美國是12/24/2012 (美國先寫月份), 祝大家HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE!  吃完飯之後我還想吃甜品過口癮, 哈哈, 就選定它咯~

**emotion is from maggiemarket.com by 留馬仔,I do not own anything.

法國可麗餅 Sweet Crepes:
總時間Total time~1 小時 30 分鐘

準備時間 Prep ~10 分鐘
待用時間 Inactive ~1小時
烹調時間 Cooking time ~2分鐘/crepe
數量 ~15
Level 難度 - easy


材料:

• 麵粉（all purpose flour） 3/4 cup
• 雞蛋 2隻
• 牛奶 1杯
• 牛油（melted, 融化） 1湯匙
• 幼砂糖 2湯匙
• 雲呢拿香精 (vanilla extract) 1/2茶匙
• 鹽 1茶匙

做法:

1. 把麵粉和鹽在一個大的攪拌碗. 逐漸地加入牛奶拌勻
2. 加入雞蛋 (一次打一隻), 糖, 牛油和雲呢拿香精拌勻。
3. 把batter蓋上，放在冰箱中休息約1小時。
4. 預熱平底易潔鑊(或可麗餅機)，掃上少許油(輕輕地塗滿表面以防粘鑊)。倒進1/3 cup粉漿。用手腕力令鑊褂上一層均勻薄薄的麵糊.

5.煎至兩面微黃色。即成。按個人喜歡，多少隨意，鋪上水果, 醬，或雪糕(冰淇淋), 然後褶疊成三角形。再淋下醬，以雪糕或甜忌廉伴吃=AWESOME! <3

Tips:

• batter可以放在雪柜 (refrigerator)保存大约1星期。但如果把煎好的放進冰箱冰凍(冰櫃)可以保存2個月

參考資料/ 資料來源: (感謝食譜教導)

更多内容: http://www.christinesrecipes.com/2012/01/banana-chocolate-crepe.html#ixzz2G32J282A

Liberman, Dave. "Sweet Crepes." Recipe : Dave Lieberman : Recipes : Food Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2012.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/sweet-crepes-recipe/index.html