December 4, 2020

Algerian Sablés

Posted by HI Cookery under 12 December | Tags: , , , |
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Algerian Sablés

December 4: National Cookie Day

We reunited with our friend Sido B. from university when we spent Highlander’s birthday in Paris, France, many years ago. Sido had just married Raida and they invited us to their little apartment for a simple dinner. They served coffee, tea, water and wine along with salad and a tray of Parisian pastries and Algerian appetizers (very fitting as they are French-Algerians). Seventeen years later, we reunited again when we visited them in Dubai, UAE. This time, they had twin teen girls and a bigger house…but still the same generous hospitality of feeding us!

The fancy jam sandwich cookies that they served were sablés, meaning “sand”, which we saw everywhere in Dubai and they said reminded them of the Sahara Desert (لصحراء الجزائرية‎) that dominates the landscape of the country of their birth (they both grew up in Paris and Nice).

These pretty cookies do have a sandy dough but come together and bake into a beautiful butter biscuit. The jam not only holds the pair of cookies together but complements the taste. A sprinkling of powdered sugar looks like snow and makes them festive for the holidays.

Make an impression on National Cookie Day and bake/serve/exchange Algerian sablés!

Recipe

(Adapted from Food.com)

 Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • ½ cup sugar, granulated white
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 2 ½ cups flour, all purpose
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • Apricot or strawberry jam (or other favorite preserve), warmed and stirred until smooth
  • Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together the butter with sugar. Add the vanilla. Beat in the egg. In another bowl, combine the flour with baking powder.

Gradually add the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Mix well until a sandy dough comes together. Form a ball and divide in half. Flatten the ball slightly and place between two sheets of wax paper.

Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Repeat for the other ball. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up the dough. Use a cookie cutter to cut out an even number of tops and bottoms.

For the tops, use a round cookie cutter to cut out the middles. Re-roll the middles and scraps and continue cutting out shapes. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let rest on the cookie sheet for about a minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Use a mesh sieve to sprinkle powdered sugar all over the tops of the cookies. Set aside.

Assemble the cookies by spreading jam on the bottom of a cookie and carefully pressing the top of the cookie onto the jam, aligning any grooves. Let set and do not stack the cookies.

Notes

  • Heat up the jam slightly or stir vigorously to make it spreadable on the cookie.

  • Search our blog for other cookie recipes to make for holiday exchanges and gifts.

 

 

November 28, 2020

Hawaiian Bread French Toast

Posted by HI Cookery under 11 November | Tags: , , , |
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Hawaiian Bread French Toast

November 28: National French Toast Day

Besides chocolate candy bars and huli huli chicken, sweet bread was one of Islander’s elementary school fundraising items in Hawaii. The round, Portuguese egg bread was  a morning staple for her ‘ohana. They would cut it in wedges and eat it plain—simply delicious.

So when Islander moved to the mainland, she noticed that the Portuguese sweet bread was rebranded into the more popular Hawaiian bread rolls. Some grocers still carry the round loaves and we have seen a few Protestant churches use them for communion.

Whether it is called Portuguese sweet or Hawaiian bread, it makes a delicious French toast because it is light and fluffy. Serve with coconut syrup and this basic breakfast becomes a tropical treat. Try Hawaiian bread for French toast on National French Toast Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from King’s Hawaiian)

Ingredients

  • 1 round loaf of King’s Hawaiian bread, sliced 1-inch thick
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Butter or oil for greasing the pan/skillet

Directions

In a bowl, beat the eggs with the milk. Stir in the vanilla and ground cinnamon.

Slice the bread an inch thick, halving the larger pieces. Dip (do not soak) the bread slices in the egg mixture. Brown each side on a greased skillet. Transfer to a plate. Serve warm with syrup.

Notes

 

 

November 24, 2020

Silken Tofu in Ginger Syrup

Posted by HI Cookery under 11 November | Tags: , , |
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Silken Tofu in Ginger Syrup

(Tau Hu Nuoc Duong)

November 24: Feast Day of the Vietnamese Martyrs

We have a few Vietnamese friends from church, some of whom are older and shared stories about their struggles when they came over as “boat people” to America. They had incredible tales, but they survived, worked hard to adapt to a new country and culture and flourished. And we admire that they never lost their faith through it all!

We cannot imagine what the faithful suffered more in their country of origin because they were Christians. Thousands were martyred between the mid-1700s until the mid-1800s. Read more about this sad history HERE and HERE.

There are several delicious Vietnamese recipes we could post for the Feast Day of the Vietnamese Martyrs, but we decided to keep it simple and solemn. This particular recipe for silken tofu in ginger syrup comes from one of our brides (we were her marriage sponsors at church) who brought it from her aunt’s café to a marriage preparation dinner session at our home. She said it can be served as a refreshing cool dessert or heartwarming soup. Either way, this is our sweet post to honor the Vietnamese martyrs on their feast day.

Recipe

(From Lina V.)

Ingredients

  • 1 package (12-14 ounces) silken tofu
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 – 1½ cups brown sugar
  • 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into 1 inch slivers

Directions

In a saucepan, place the water, brown sugar and ginger slivers. Bring to a boil, then let simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Remove from stovetop and let cool. Strain the liquid in a container, reserving the ginger slivers for optional garnish.

Drain the liquid from the tofu package. Slice the tofu into bite sized pieces. Place in serving bowls. Ladle some liquid over the tofu. Serve in dessert cups.

Notes

  • Silken tofu in ginger syrup, also known as dòuhuā, doufuhua or taho, is a popular street food in South Asia. Many people make the tofu fresh, but we are lazy and just buy it ready-made in packages.
  • We hope to add more Vietnamese recipes to our blog in the near future. So keep checking back under the Theme Menus tab.
 

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