lethercook

[lethercook]

Copycat Ben's Cookies

Ingredients:

350g plain flour

50g flavouring powder (flour, powder chocolate, matcha)

325g demerara sugar

200g unsalted butter

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

~100g chocolate or other toppings

Method:

(Optional) Brown the butter in a pan, letting cool before using.

Whisk the butter and sugar, followed by the eggs and vanilla extract.

Sift in the flour, flavouring, baking powder, and salt in batches, mixing to form a dough.

Add in most of the chopped chocolate

Form ~15 dough balls, setting them on the baking sheet some distance apart and topping them with the remaining chocolate.

Bake at 190˚C for 12-15 mins.

Let cool and harden before removing from the sheet, as they come out very soft.

Inspiration:

[lethercook]

TODO Recipe Posts

Thai green curry (need pics!)

The gnocci I made the other day with sausage and cheesy sauce

Chicken and leek crumble (need pics also)

Chicken congee for ill days

Migas de harina

That chickpea oven ting

Generic fish in oven maybe

[lethercook]

Lamb leg made easy (and delicious)

After a botched attempt at a beef roast lunch using our new Ninja 999-in-1 air fryer, I wanted to make a nice lamb roast but saving it from the dry and tough outcome of my nightmares.

Slow cooking in broth (which yields the final gravy) seemed to do the trick!

For half a kilo:

In the pot, add around 200g of quartered shallots, along with 2tbsp of cornstarch, 400ml of stock, and 150ml of red wine

Move the shallots to the edges to place the seasoned (salt, pepper, thyme) and oiled lamb in the centre, as submerged as possible

Slow cook on "High" for 3h

Steam roast for a further 30mins

Take the lamb out and let it rest for 10mins, covered in cling film

Reduce the remaining gravy down to the desired consistency, adding some more veg at the end (asparagus, other greens) if you want them to cook in the gravy

Carve and serve! Mash potatoes or roast root veg go well here

With some inspiration from this recipe:

[lethercook]

Cottage pie, a British staple

Ingredients, for 3 portions:

500g beef mince

1 onion

2 carrots

200g green beans, or peas, or celery (greens)

several cloves of minced garlic

2tbsp plain flour

2tbps tomato puree

200ml red wine

400ml beef stock

2tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Tyme, salt, pepper

Olive oil

2-3 potatoes' worth of mash potatoes (potatoes, milk, butter, optional cheese, seasoning)

Method:

Brown the beef mince in a bit of oil, then remove from the pan

Sautée the diced onion, carrots, and greens until soft, for 15-20 mins

Add the garlic, flour, and tomato paste, cook off for a bit

Put the beef back, and add the wine, Worcestershire sauce, tyme, and some stock

Simmer uncovered for around 30 mins, topping it up with the remainder of the beef stock as it gets absorbed

The filling will be done when the gravy fully coats the ingredients and the spatula can leave a gap in the pan, then season to taste

Place in an oven-proof dish, cover with the mash, and bake for 20mins at 200C

Based on, of course, the BBC Good Foods version:

[lethercook]

Crème brûlée or crema catalana, to christen the cutest Le Creusset cocottes my dad got me.

From a 'Españoles Cocinando en UK' Facebook post.

Ingredients for 2:

2 egg yolks

50g of sugar (+ some more for sprinkling)

15g cornflour

250ml milk

cinnamon

lemon peel

Method:

Warm up the milk with the cinnamon and lemon peel, until its just boiling

In a bowl, mix the sugar, egg yolks, and cornflour

Pour a bit of the milk into the bowl, mixing constantly to temper the yolks

Keep adding until the mixture is up to temperature, then pour back into the pot with the remainder of the milk

Cook for 3-5 more minutes, or until the texture is close to what you want the end product to be like

Pour into individual containers, and refrigerate until cool

Sprinkle with sugar, and either blowtorch it, cook in the oven for 3 mins at 200C, or air fry on grill for 5 mins. Either way, we're looking for some good caramelisation on top.

[lethercook]

Palitos de la abuela, a life-long recreation journey

Ingredients (for 32 palitos):

1 egg

45g sugar

45g olive oil

60g anise liqueur

240g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

vegetable oil for frying

icing sugar for decorating

Method:

Mix the egg, olive oil, and liqueur in a bowl until homogeneous.

Add the sugar and baking powder, mixing well before sifting in the flour in batches to avoid lumps.

Knead the dough in the bowl, then on a floured surface until it comes together and doesn't stick anymore.

Cover in cling film and let rest for at least 15 mins.

Heat up a good couple of cm of vegetable oil in a frying pan at medium heat, and put some extra oil on a plate to wet your hands and shape the pieces.

Pinch pieces off the doughball and roll them to around palm-length, tapering the edges to be thinner than the middle (divided into quarters, then rolled and cut into 8ths).

With an oiled, sharp knife, cut a slice lengthwise (without cutting all the way through) in each piece. This helps the dough expand as it cooks.

Fry the pieces in the oil, making sure they float and turning them so they brown evenly. Cooking them slower will ensure the middle cooks before the crust burns too much. Do not overcrowd the pan as the pieces could stick or lower the oil temperature too much.

Remove from the oil and drain the excess in with kitchen roll.

Sprinkle icing sugar liberally on top.

I think I nailed the texture this time! By having a drier dough and cutting back on the baking powder, the palitos were on the crunchy side, more akin to my grandma's.

My mum tried some, and said they were lacking in flavour a bit. This could mean a number of things:

Needs more sugar: I sprinkled more icing sugar on top, which helped, but maybe the dough itself needs more

The anise liqueur I made at home isn't as strong as storebought, or my grandma also added anise powder or other similar anise flavour for it to be stronger overall

There was something more than anise liqueur in my grandma's for flavouring

My mum flew back with 15-20 of the palitos, so hopefully my dad has a better insight!

--- ATTEMPT 1 LOG BELOW ---

Ingredients (for ~20 palitos):

1 egg

25g sugar

25g olive oil

30g anise liqueur

3g baking powder

150g plain flour (+ some more, for kneading)

vegetable oil for frying

icing sugar for decorating

Method: same as above

Whenever any of us grandkids came over, my grandma always had these ready to go. She would make huge batches, and my dad remembers it from his childhood too.

She didn't follow any written recipe, as grandma's rarely do, but my dad managed to find the base sweet these 'Palitos' are sourced from: Huesos de San Expedito.

The recipe I tried to follow to get myself started was too big, so I halved everything except for the egg, which I had to compensate for by adding plenty of extra flour when kneading as the dough was far too wet. They were a hit with my friends and aren't super sugary, so maybe next time I'll be brave enough to make a full batch. They also keep pretty well in an airtight container.

Another fun tidbit is that I had to use a homemade anise liqueur (read: star anise infused vodka) as it's not a thing in the UK. In my haste, the spice didn't have much time to seep in, so the anise flavour was there but very subtle. I've started a new batch going in advance for the next attempt.

While this version was super tasty, I seem to remember my grandma's having more of a crunch, so to be closer to that I think I need to scale back the baking powder so they come out less cakey. I do like cakey myself, though, so maybe I need to keep both types in mind.

Shoutout to this recipe for including the word "palitos", enabling us to find it as a starting point for my grandma's most memorable treat.

[lethercook]

Nutella Roll Cake

Roll from:

Buttercream from:

Then tempered Cadbury Darkmilk chocolate covering it all.

I'll never top this tbh

[lethercook]

Tuna Mayo Don, with Friends

[lethercook]

Bangers and Mash, Colcannon Edition

"Colcannon" here just means we're dumping leftovers into the mashed potatoes, pretending it was a calculated move.

[lethercook]

Thousand Layer Mooncakes

[lethercook]

Dorayaki for the Doraemon nostalgia

[lethercook]

Kimbap solves a hot day's lunch

[lethercook]

Mushroom and Pepper Cream Pasta

[lethercook]

Hot and Sour Soup

[lethercook]

Torrijas like I once made with my grandma

Ingredients (for one bagguette's worth):

1 day-old bagguette

500ml milk

Peel of 1 lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

150g sugar, for the coating

1 tbsp cinnamon, for the coating

Olive oil

Method:

Warn up the milk in a pot with the lemon, vanilla, and cinnamon.

Once it starts boiling, remove from the heat and let it cool with the flavours.

Strain the milk into a tray, and let the slices of bread sit in it until fully soaked and softened, while still holding their shape.

Beat the eggs in a bowl, and add a couple of tablespoons of the milk into the mix.

Coat the bread pieces in the egg and then fry in some olive oil.

Once fried, let rest on some kitchen paper, then coat with the remaining sugar and cinnamon.

[lethercook]

Salmon and Veggies Teriyaki

[lethercook]

Chicken Pesto and Courgette "Pasta" without Pasta

Ingredients (for 2):

3 courgettes

2 chicken breasts

Pesto sauce

Cheese (mozzarela, goat's)

Salt, pepper, oil

Method:

With a vegetable peeler, shave ribbons of the zucchini until you reach the seeds.

Fry off the chicken cut into strips/chunks.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, add the pesto, some more olive oil and the courgette ribbons.

Reduce the heat, add the cheese, and stir until all is warm through.