Some tantalizing pictures

Shrimp Fettucine with Lemon Sauce and Arugula


Taiwanese Night
Beef Noodle Soup

Dumplings



Indian Night
Dinner Plate


Table setting: Chicken Tikka Masala and Lentil Daal



This is a quick rekap of what we've done together as a cooking club - I hope to find the time later (probably summertime) to post the recipes and stories behind them if I can still remember.

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

My roommate found this recipe from her magazine, and it was sweet of her to think of my egg allergy and baked them one weekend in January. They are very addicting, mainly because I love the fibery bites of rolled oats mixed with chocolate chips. I should try this recipe with raisins instead of chocolate chips next time, but chocolate is irresistible.

Recipe (courtesy of magazine - not sure of the title)-makes 40 small cookies

2 c walnuts
3 tbsp canola oil (I used grapeseed oil - currently anti canola oil)
1 c light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 c rolled oats
1 1/2 c chocolate chips

1. Blend the walnuts in a food processor. When ground into fine meal, add oil and continue processing until mixture has tendency of peanut butter. Scrape down sides of processor periodically to ensure even processing. Transfer to bowl.
2. Whisk sugar and 1/2 c water in saucepan and bring mixture to boil. Pour brown sugar mixture into walnut butter, add vanilla and stir until no lumps remain.
3. Process 1 1/2 c instant oats to make oat flour (if oat flour is unavailable). Whisk oat flour with baking soda, salt, cinnamon. Stir oat flour mixture into walnut mixture and cool for 10 min. Fold in oats, then chocolate chips.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Shape cookie into 2 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Flatten cookies with bottom of drinking glass dipped in water. Bake 8-10 min or until cookies begin to brown and tops look dry.
Cool 3 min on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

I don't have wire racks and just leave them on the baking sheet. It seems to work fine. The only flaw that might be with the cookies is that they fall apart easily, but I prefer them to be undercooked and crumbly.

Vegetarian Spring Rolls

I had made this with a friend before, but tonight I just made them by myself. While it is a simple procedure, I still find it takes longer to do than desired, but that's how it is with any homecooking.

Basic recipe:
Red leaf lettuce
Dill
Mint leaves
Sliced green onion (1 inch pieces)
Persian cucumber, sliced
Cilantro
Other ingredients you can add: chives, sliced carrot, vermicelli
Roll them up in rice paper (dipped in warm water for 2-3 seconds) as you would a burrito.

Peanut dipping sauce:
1/2 c peanut butter
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce (I used Bragg's aminos which almost taste the same but have less sodium content)
1/4 c water
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp chili garlic sauce

Mix the ingredients and microwave for 30-40 seconds. I had microwaved the sauce for almost a minute and it looks a bit dried out. It was still good though, just looked darker.

Rolling evenly sized, symmetrical spring rolls is still in the works, as you can see. Whether they are lumpy or not, they still taste refreshing. The extra dill and cucumber made a nice garnish.