Mirch Palak Ki Subzi (Chile-Spiked Bell Peppers)

Despite the "chile-spiked" in the title, these didn't turn out all that hot using a single pepper; even the Kidlet was ok with them. We ended up being a bit short on pepper because one of them had gone bad, so I increased the spinach quantity to compensate, but I do think I'd prefer it with the higher pepper:spinach ratio called for in the original recipe, which is what I've written up here.

I also made it with frozen spinach, which was fine, although I think it might come out better with fresh (or perhaps with kale?).

Mirch Palak Ki Subzi

660 Curries p.544

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 large red bell peppers (1lb total), stemmed, cored, and cut into 1" pieces
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1-2 fresh green Thai chiles, stemmed and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chickpea flour
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• ¾ tsp coarse salt
• ½ lb fresh spinach, rinsed

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the cumin and cook until they sizzle and turn reddish-brown and fragrant, 10-15s.
3. Add the bell peppers, garlic, and chiles and stir-fry until the peppers blister, ~5 minutes.
4. Add the chickenpea flour and turmeric and stir until the flour is lightly browned, ~1 minute.
5. Deglaze with 2 C water and the salt.
6. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Add the spinach. Return heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered, until spinach is wilted and sauce thickens, ~5 minutes.

Mung Chana nu Dal (Mung Bean and Yellow Split Pea Dal)

This dal was a big hit with everyone. The sweetness from the jaggery comes through really well. And the tomatoes and mustard seeds complement it very nicely.

Mug Chana nu Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. skinned split green lentils (mung beans/moong dal)
• 1/4 c. yellow split peas (chana dal)
• 3 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. ghee¹
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2-1 tsp. ground cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. ground asafetida
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 425mL diced tomatoes
• 1/4 c. chopped jaggery
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 15 fresh or frozen curry leaves

Directions

1. Rinse the legumes well and drain.
2. Add the water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat.
3. Skim off and discard any foam from the surface of the water, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, for ~40 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, melt the ghee over medium-high heat.
5. Add the mustard seeds to the hot ghee, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
6. Remove from heat and add the cumin seeds, salt, cayenne, asafetida, and turmeric. Stir to combine the spices with the hot ghee.
7. Add the tomatoes, jaggery, cilantro, and curry leaves and return to medium-high heat.
8. Simmer the tomato mixture, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Set aside until legumes are cooked.
9. Once the legumes are done, stir in the sauce and cook over medium heat for nother 5 minutes.
10. Serve with rice and/or flatbreads.

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¹ You can swap out the ghee for oil or vegetable ghee to make this dish vegan. ^Back

Badam Murghi (Almond Chicken)

This marinade works best with regular, relatively thin, yogurt. I only had Greek yogurt on hand, so I ended up having to add a little cream to thin it out. It was still delicious.

Badam Murghi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. plain yogurt¹
• 1/4 c. slivered almonds
• 6 slices fresh ginger (~4cm by 2cm by 3mm)
• 6-8 cloves garlic
• 2-7 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or finger chilies
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom seeds from green pods, ground
• 1/2 tsp. whole cloves, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 (1.3-1.6kg) chicken, skinned and jointed
• 1/4 c. canola (or other neutral) oil, divided
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 4 dried bay leaves
• 1/2 c. water
• 140g baby spinach

Directions

1. Combine yogurt, almonds, ginger, garlic, and chilies in a blender and purée.
2. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the cilantro, coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves, and salt.
3. Add the chicken pieces to the marinade and mix to coat.
4. Cover and chill for 1-24 hours.
5. Heat 2 Tbsp. of oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add the onion and bay leaves and cook for 3-4 minutes.
7. Remove the onion mixture from the pan and set aside.
8. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil to the pan.
9. Remove the chicken from the marinade and add it to the pan, meat side down. Reserve the remaining marinade.
10. Sear the meat for 3 minutes on each side.
11. Add the marinade to the pan along with the water and the onion mixture and deglaze the pan.
12. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and braise, basting occasionally, until chicken is cooked through (25-40 minutes depending on the size of your chicken).
13. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter.
14. Increase heat to medium-high and boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for ~5 minutes.
15. Stir in the spinach and cook until just wilted (1-2 minutes).
16. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.

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¹ If you use Greek yogurt, you may need to add up to 1/4 c. of milk or cream to thin it out enough to blend. Cream will help stabilize the marinde so that it doesn't curdle when it's cooked. ^Back

Honey-Butter Cornbread (Sourdough)

I really like this cornbread. It's amazing when it's fresh out of the oven. And I appreciate that it's actually got a decent amount of cornmeal in it. And not too much sugar. A bit -- I do like my cornbread to be a little sweet -- but it's not excessive. I don't like when it crosses the line into cake territory. So this is just perfect.

My main gripe with the recipe is that it's given by volume. Which is a huge pain to work with. Especially when you're using starter that's not at 100% hydration. Super annoying! I've done my best to convert the critical measurements to grams for easier measuring.

I think my only other complain is just that it makes too much. I love a good cornbread, but it's not really TF's thing. And the Kidlet can only eat so much. This recipe makes a HUGE amount! I think next time I'd try halving it and baking it in a 9" square pan or something. Other than that though, great success!

Honey-Butter Cornbread

Adapted from Northwest Sourdough

Ingredients

Starter

• 100g (100% hydration) starter¹
• 125g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 242mL water

Batter

• 1 c. buttermilk²
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 c. honey
• 375g cornmeal
• 260g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions

Starter

1. Combine the 100% hydration starter with the flour and water.
2. Mix well, cover, and let stand at room temperature for 4-8 hours.

Batter

1. Grease a Bundt pan.
2. Add the buttermilk, butter, eggs, and honey to the starter and mix to combine.
3. In a separte bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, salt and sift in the baking powder and baking soda.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and set aside for 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
7. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes³ then reduce temperature to 160°C (375°F) and continue baking for another 30-40 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes.
9. Turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

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¹ I used recently fed very active starter for this. That said, I think you'd probably also be fine using discard. You're adding more flour and water to adjust the hydration anyway, so that'll refresh it a bit. Maybe not enough to do a proper sourdough where the starter is the only rising agent, but the starter isn't being used for leavning in this recipe (aside from the acid in it reacting with the baking soda, but the buttermilk is also acidic and the yeast isn't really needed to leaven it at all). So, given that, I think discard would probably be fine, I just haven't tested it that way yet. ^Back
2 I didn't have any buttermilk, so I just soured some whole milk with a bit of vinegar: 1 Tbsp. vinegar + enough milk to make a total volume of 1 c. Let stand for a few minutes while you get everything else ready. ^Back
3 The original recipe called for baking at 400°F for the full 50 minutes, but my cornbread was already looking really dark after 30 minutes, so I turned it down to 325°F for the remaining time and that seemed to work well. I think that I'd be inclined to turn the temperature down a bit earlier next time though, but this may mean it needs slightly longer in the oven overall. Use your judgement. ^Back

I was reasonably happy with this bread. The flavour was good, but the dough was a little too dry. The hydration is relatively low because the olives add quite a bit of moisture. The recipe author warns against amending the dough before the olives go in because it will become dramatically looser once they do. While this is true, I still found the dough very tight. I don't know if this was down to the flour being very dry (after a long, dry winter) or my olives not being as wet as expect or the author preferring drier dough or what. In any case, I've adjusted the recipe here to begin with a slightly higher hydration starter. If you live in a very humid climate or find your dough has a tendency to come out on the looser side, you may want to omit a few Tbsp. of the water.

Rosemary-Olive Sourdough

Slightly adapted from Sourdough.com

Ingredients

Preferment

• 2g (100% hydration) fed/active/ripe starter¹
• 579mL water
• 304g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour

Dough

• 515g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour
• 15g coarse sea salt
• 129g pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• 2g dried rosemary (or 3g fresh)

Directions

Preferment

1. Combine the starter with the water and mix well, being sure to break up the starter as much as possible.
2. Add the flour and mix well to thoroughly wet the flour.
3. Cover and set aside at room temperature for ~24 hours. You may need more or less time depending on the temperature of your room.

Dough

1. Add the salt to the flour and mix to combine.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the preferment.
3. Gradually incorporate the flour, working from the centre outward.
4. Once the flour is mostly incorporated, cover and set aside for 10-20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prep the olives and the rosemary.
6. Add the olives and rosemary to the dough and finish mixing it.
7. Turn the dough out and knead for 5-10 minutes.
8. After a few minutes of kneading, adjust the hydration as necessary, adding more flour or water as needed. Don't add too much of either at once!
9. Let the dough rest, covered, for another 10-20 minutes, then knead for another few minutes.
10. Cover and set aside at room temperature for an hour or so, then stretch and fold the dough.
11. Repeat the stretching and folding at one-hour intervals until the dough seems light and lively.
12. Divide the dough into two equal portions and round each one. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes.
13. Shape each portion into a loaf and place, seam side up, into a floured banneton.
14. Cover and place in the fridge for 8-12 hours.
15. Preheat the oven to 230°C (450°F), grease a large baking sheet, and sprinkle it with cornmeal.
16. While the oven is preheating, boil some water and remove the dough from the fridge to warm up a little bit.
17. Turn the loaves out onto the prepared pan and slash the tops as desired.
18. Once the oven is preheated, pour a few cups of boiling water into a large pan and place it on the bottom rack of the oven.
19. Place the bread on the middle rack. Try to be quick about opening and closing the oven to keep as much steam inside as possible.
20. Steam the bread until the crust has some good colour on it (10-20 minutes).
21. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and remove the water pan from the oven.
22. Bake for another 20-30 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow and not wet inside.
23. Turn off oven and let bread rest in warm oven for 5-10 minutes.
24. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ The original recipe calls for using your "storage starter". If you bake fairly frequently and your starter doesn't get too lethargic or sour, you don't necessarily need to feed it up before starting this recipe. (It won't hurt anything if you do, but you don't have to. However, if you're like me and tend to go for long stints without using it, it's best to refresh it with a 1:1:1 or 1:2:2 feeding before you being and then use 2g of the refreshed starter in the preferment. ^Back

Kaaju Methi Murghi (Cashew-Fenugreek Chicken)

The last time I went to the butcher's shop, I asked them to break down and skin a chicken for me. I didn't have any immediate plans for it, but I figured I could freeze it and use it for a curry at some point in the future.

I've been on a bit of a Chinese cooking kick lately, but that takes a bit more mental effort for me. Curries are my comfort zone. So I figured this week would be a good time to bust out that chicken and lean into the chicken and potato curries for easy dinner fixes. I especially appreciate that this curry doesn't require a marinade. It means that I can throw it together as a relatively last-minute dinner as long as I have the chicken on hand.

Kaaju Methi Murghi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. canola (or other neutral) oil, divided
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1/4 c. raw cashew nuts
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp. whole cloves
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds from green pods
• 2 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 (7-8cm) cinnamon stick, crushed/broken
• 1 c. water, divided
• 1 (1.5kg) chicken¹, jointed and skinned
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh or frozen fenugreek leaves

Directions

1. Heat 2 Tbsp. of oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion, cashews, cumin, cloves, cardamom, chilies, and cinnamon and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
3. Transfer stir-fried mixture to blender along with 1/2 c. of water and purée until smooth.
4. Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil over medium heat.
5. Add the chicken pieces in a single layer. Cook, turning every 2-3 minutes, for 7-8 minutes.
6. Add the onion sauce from the blender.
7. Wash out the blender with the remaining water and add it to the pan.
8. Add the salt, turmeric, and fenugreek and stir to coat the chicken in the sauce.
9. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring and turning occasionally, for ~20 minutes.
10. Serve with rice and/or flatbreads and whatever vegetables you prefer.

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¹ My chicken was very large, so I only used half a chicken for my recipe. This required extending the cooking time by about 20 (because the pieces were larger and took longer to cook through), but didn't necessitate any other changes to the recipe. ^Back

Haam Choy Chow Gai (Chicken with Pickled Mustard Greens)

I always thought I didn't really care for Cantonese cuisine. Give me Sichuan! Give me Hakka! Give me something with chilies and spices and big, bold flavours! My perception of Cantonese cooking has always been that it tends to involve a lot of steaming and very mild, carefully balanced flavours. Nothing should be fried, nothing should be crispy, nothing should be too strongly flavoured. Ideally things should be soft and/or gelatinous. And that just... never really appealed to me. But I've been trying a few more Cantonese dishes lately, and I've actually really enjoyed them!

I really liked this mustard green dish. Even if it was a bit too salty. That's what I get for not reading the full recipe preamble. They did mention that you should rinse and taste the pickled mustard greens if you were using store-bought rather than making your own:

"If you use store-bought haam choy, you will want to give it a good rinse and also taste it because it is much saltier than homemade."

I missed that memo though and just dumped them straight into the wok. Whoops!

It was still tasty even with that small glitch. But it definitely would've been even better without the overpowering saltiness.

I ended up using an adorable vegetarian chicken as the "meat" component of this recipe. Feel free to use actual chicken if you have it (or tofu or seitan). I had vegetarian chicken, so that's what I used.

The author also notes that this dish is often made with bone-in chicken that has been chopped into bite-sized pieces. The bones add extra flavour and richness, but some people may not enjoy having to eat around the bones. The recipe is written for boneless chicken, but feel free to experiment with bone-in if you have a whole bird and a cleaver!

I had a bit of trouble finding the Chinese/Hanzi/汉字 name for this dish. The original recipe only gave the transliteration of the Cantonese name + the English name. Luckily I was able to able to ask for some help with that on a language-learners' Discord server. So, based on that, it looks like the dish is called 咸菜炒鸡.
Hanzi/汉字: 咸菜炒鸡
Pinyin/拼音: xiáncài chǎo jī
Transliteration of Cantonese: haam choy chow gai
English/英文: fried chicken with pickled vegetables/mustard greens

Haam Choy Chow Gai

From Woks of Life

Ingredients

Chicken

• 450g boneless skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts, cut into 3cm pieces
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 tsp. oil
• 1/8 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)

Everything Else

• 1/2 c. chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 tsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 2 tsp. water
• 3 Tbsp. oil, divided
• 2 slices ginger (~8g total), smashed w/ cleaver
• 225g pickled mustard greens, cut into 1cm by 2cm pieces), rinsed if using store-bought
• 3 cloves garlic (~20g total), smashed w/ cleaver
• 1 green onion, cut into 3cm pieces, smashed w/ cleaver, green and white parts separated
• 1-3 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 2 tsp. 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine)

Directions

1. Combine chicken, water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, oil, and white pepper. Mix well, cover, and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine the chicken stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and white pepper and set aside.
3. Combine the cornstarch (for the "everything else") with the water to make a slurry and set aside.
4. After 30 minutes, add the cornstarch to the chicken and mix well.
5. Heat wok over medium-high heat.
6. Drizzle in 2 Tbsp. of the oil and swirl to coat.
7. Add the ginger and stir-fry for 15-30 seconds.
8. Add the pickled mustard greens and stir-fry for a minute or so.
9. Add the garlic, white parts of the green onion, and chilies and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
10. Move the contents of the wok over to the sides to create a clear spot in the middle.
11. Turn the heat up to the highest setting and add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil to the clear spot in the centre.
12. Add the chicken in a single layer and sear for 1 minute on each side.
13. Toss everything together so it doesn't burn.
14. Drizzle the 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine) down the sides of the wok and stir-fry for another 10-15 seconds.
15. Add the sauce, push everything into the centre of the wok, and reduce heat to low.
16. Cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes.
17. After a few minutes, sauce should be significantly reduced. Add more liquid or more cooking time (uncovered) as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
18. Increase heat to medium and add the green parts of the green onion.
19. Stir the cornstarch slurry to make sure it hasn't settled and add it as well.
20. Cook for another 30-60 seconds.
21. Served with rice.

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Variations

Vegetarian Version

I believe this should be vegan too as long as you can be a bit careful about the pre-made components and sugar. Double check your soy sauce, "oyster" sauce, pickled mustard greens, and sugar to make sure they're vegan and you should be good to go!

Ingredients

Protein

• 450g extra-delicious tofu, seitan, or vegetarian chicken, cut into 2cm pieces
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. vegetarian oyster sauce
• 1 tsp. oil
• 1/8 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)

Everything Else

• 1/2 c. vegetable stock
• 1 Tbsp. vegetarian oyster sauce
• 1 tsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 2 tsp. water
• 3 Tbsp. oil, divided
• 2 slices ginger (~8g total), smashed w/ cleaver
• 225g pickled mustard greens, cut into 1cm by 2cm pieces), rinsed if using store-bought
• 3 cloves garlic (~20g total), smashed w/ cleaver
• 1 green onion, cut into 3cm pieces, smashed w/ cleaver, green and white parts separated
• 1-3 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 2 tsp. 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine)

I think I still want to try to tweak this recipe a bit more, but this was a decent start. I think it would be good with a bit of coconut in. Maybe swap out some of the flour for coconut flour or mix in some shredded coconut or something.

Chocolate Pancakes

Adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/3 c. cocoa powder
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 7/8 c. (3/4 c. + 2 Tbsp.) milk
• 2 large eggs
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 50-100g dark chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Combine flours, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well.
2. Beat eggs with milk and add to dry ingredients.
3. Add melted butter and mix to combine.
4. Stir in chopped chocolate.
5. Heat a pan over medium-low heat.
6. Grease the pan as needed (which might be not at all, depending on your pan).
7. Use 2-4 Tbsp. of batter per pancake depending on how large you want them. (I generally prefer smaller pancakes as they're easier to flip.)
8. Once bubbles start to form and the sides of the pancakes begin to look dry, flip them over and cook the other side.
9. Remove pancakes from pan once both sides are cooked and repeat process with remaining batter.
10. Serve with strawberries, cherries, jam, syrup, ganache, and/or whipped cream.

Aloo Methi Paneer (Potato-Fenugreek Paneer)

The original plan for dinner tonight involved a chicken curry. I was going to place a grocery order, pick it up around lunchtime, and have delicious curry for dinner. Except that I couldn't pick up the groceries today. Because the grocery store is closed. Because it's Easter. That left me with no plan and missing a lot of key curry ingredients. No onions, no cilantro, no yogurt, no garlic... what am I supposed to cook if I don't even have the basics?!

But, it turns out that you can still make a pretty good curry without any of those! (I did end up running out to the Indian grocery store to get a bit more paneer and picked up some onions while I was there, but the point still stands.)

Aloo Methi Paneer

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. asafetida
• 450g russet (or other floury) potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
• 1 c. chopped fresh or frozen fenugreek leaves (methi)
• 2 c. water
• 225g fried paneer cubes

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they stop popping (30-60 seconds).
3. Add cumin seeds and sizzle for 5-10 seconds.
4. Remove from heat and add sugar, salt, coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, and asafetida.
5. Stir the spices briefly, then add potatoes, fenugreek leaves, and water.
6. Return to heat and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for ~30 minutes.
8. Stir in fried paneer, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.
9. Serve with your favourite pulao and/or flatbreads.

This is a bit different than what I usually expect to see for a chocolate frosting. It's got the large quantity of butter that I would expect of a typical American buttercream, but it also includes melted chocolate and corn syrup, neither of which I'm used to seeing in buttercreams (of any variety).

The authors note that you can use whatever kind of chocolate you like for this icing. I opted for a mix of dark and milk chocolate. I think I used ~200g of dark (70% cocoa) chocolate and 140g of milk chocolate.

Chocolate Frosting

From The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

To Make 3 c.

Enough for 1 dozen cupcakes or a sheet cake

Ingredients

• 20 Tbsp. (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 114g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 64g Dutched cocoa powder
• 3/4 c. light corn syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 225g chocolate, melted and cooled

To Make 5 c.

Enough for a two-layer cake (20-30cm diameter depending on your preferred cake:icing ratio)

Ingredients

• 30 Tbsp. (3 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 170g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 85g Dutched cocoa powder
• 1 c. light corn syrup¹
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 340g chocolate, melted and cooled

To Make 6 c.

Enough for a three-layer cake (20-30cm diameter)

Ingredients

• 40 Tbsp. (5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 225g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 128g Dutched cocoa powder
• 1 c. light corn syrup
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 450g chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions

If you have a food processor, use that for making this icing. If not, a hand or stand mixer will do the job.

1. Combine butter, sugar, and cocoa and mix until smooth.
2. Add corn syrup and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
3. Add cooled (but still pourable) chocolate and mix until thoroughly combined.
4. Spread or pipe onto cooled cake or cupcakes or refrigerate until ready to use. If chilled, bring up to room temperature before using.

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¹ I was low on corn syrup and ended up using a 50:50 mix of corn syrup and golden syrup. It seemed to work out fine. ^Back

Pyaaz Waale Unday (Easter Eggs in Onion-Garlic Sauce)

This recipe is dead easy to make and absolutely delicious, making the favourite lists of both myself and symbol (although the Kidlet was completely unimpressed). We made it as an accompaniment to a vegetable curry for dinner, but I think it would also make a delicious breakfast curry with a bit of toast or naan.

The recipe calls for four eggs, and that's how I've written it up here, but it can easily accomodate another egg or two if you want to bulk it out somewhat.

Pyaaz Waale Unday

660 Curries, p.168

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 large red onion, coarsely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tsp bin bhuna hua garam masala
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 fresh green Thai chiles, stemmed and cut in half lengthwise
• 1 medium tomato, cored and finely chopped
• 4 large eggs, hard-boiled, peeled, and bisected lengthwise

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic and stir-fry until the onion is browned, 8-10 minutes.
3. Stir in the garam masala and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
4. Transfer to a blender and add ½ C water. Puree until smooth.
5. Pour the sauce back into the skillet and stir in the cilantro, salt, chiles, and tomato.
6. Rinse out the blender with another ½ C water and add that too.
7. Lower the eggs into the skillet, cut side up.
8. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, basting the eggs regularly, until it thickens, 5-8 minutes.
9. Gently transfer the eggs to the serving plate and pour leftover sauce over them.

Urulikazhangu Manjal Mullangi Kari (Potato-Carrot Curry)

We have A LOT of potatoes right now. I got a 5kg bag because they were on sale for $2, but then I forgot to adjust our produce baskets for the last few weeks and they also came with a kilo of potatoes each. So now we are kind of drowning in potatoes. So I'm trying to use them up. Unfortunately I've been very tired this week and not feeling up to much cooking. So all I've managed to do with them so far is this one potato curry. It was pretty good though. Not one of my favourites, but tasty enough. And the Kidlet loved it, so that was nice.

Urulikazhangu Manjal Mullangi Kari

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (mapte beans/urad dal)
• 450g russet (or other floury) potatoes, cut into 5cm cubes
• 3 carrots, cut into French fry strips (~5cm by 0.5cm by 0.5cm)
• 1 1/2-2 c. water, divided
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 15 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 1-3 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 c. shredded fresh coconut or 1/2 c. shredded dried unsweetened coconut, rehydrated¹

Directions

1. Heat canola oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they stop popping (30-60 seconds).
3. Add the lentils and cook until lightly browned (15-30 seconds).
4. Add the potatoes and carrots.
5. Add 1 c. of the water, salt, turmeric, and curry leaves and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender (~15 minutes).
7. Meanwhile, heat the sesame oil over medium-high heat.
8. Add the coriander, fenugreek, and chilies and roast for 1-2 minutes.
9. Transfer roasted spices and oil to a blender jar.
10. Add the coconut to the blender jar as well. If using reconstituted dried coconut, add the coconut along with its soaking liquid.
11. If using fresh coconut, add up to 1/2 c. of water. (However much you need to make it blendable.)
12. Purée until smooth.
13. Once the potatoes are cooked, add the contents of the blender to them.
14. Add a bit more water (up to an additional 1/2 c.) to the blender jar and swish it out. Add these blender washings to the potatoes as well.
15. Increase heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens (~8 minutes).

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¹ To rehydrate dried coconut, pour 1/2 c. of boiling water over it and let it stand for 15 minutes. Normally you would then need to drain it. But since this recipe calls for adding to the blender with some water anyway, I didn't bother draining it and just left out the water. ^Back

I wanted dessert tonight. I wanted chocolate dessert. So I hit up the Internet and the Perfect Cake to look for inspiration. In the end, TF and I both liked the look of this chocolate cake, so I decided to give it a go.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 115g unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 c. hot water
• 1/4 c. Dutched cocoa powder
• 1 5/8 c. sugar (1 1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp.), divided
• 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 c. buttermilk¹
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs²
• 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
• 4-5 c. chocolate frosting³

Directions

Baking

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour two 23cm (9") round cake pans.
2. Combine chocolate, hot water, and cocoa in a heatproof bowl and set it over a pot of simmering water. Warm, stirring, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
3. Stir in 1/2 c. of the sugar and mix for 1-2 minutes until smooth and glossy.
4. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
5. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
6. In a small bowl (or measuring cup) combine the buttermilk and vanilla.
7. In another bowl -- yes, this recipe takes a lot of bowls! -- beat the eggs for a few seconds, then add the remaining 1 1/8 c. of sugar and beat until light and slightly thickened (2-3 minutes).
8. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture.
9. Beat in the butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time, mixing for ~10 seconds between each addition.
10. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix to combine.
11. Add half the buttermilk mixture and mix well.
12. Add another 1/3 of the flour (half the remaining dry ingredients) and mix, followed by the remaining buttermilk. Mix.
13. Add the remaining flour and mix it in.
14. Stir a few times by hand, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
15. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans.
16. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-40 minutes⁴
17. Remove from oven and let cool in tins for 10 minutes.
18. After 10 minutes, turn the cakes out onto wire racks to finish cooling.

Decorating

1. Once the cakes are completely cooled, transfer one layer to a platter or whatever you intend to serve it from.
2. Scoop a generous 1 1/2 c. of frosting onto the cake layer and spread it evenly across the top, all the way to the edges.
3. Place the second layer on top and gently press it down.
4. Scoop the rest of the icing out onto the top layer and spread it over the top and down the sides.
5. Share and enjoy!

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¹ If you don't have any buttermilk, you can use 1 Tbsp. of vinegar mixed with enough milk to bring the total volume up to 1 c. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 4 large eggs + 2 large egg yolks. I didn't want to have to deal with the leftover egg whites so I just used 5 whole eggs instead. If you happen to have leftover yolks from something else though, this would be a good place to use 'em! ^Back
3 The original recipe called for 5 c. of icing with 1 1/2 c. being used between the layers and the remaining 3 1/2 c. being used to ice the rest of the cake. I think I used slightly more than 1 1/2 c. between the layers, but the remaining icing was way more than I needed to cover the rest of the cake. I think I had about a cup left over. Hence the 4-5 c. range. If you like your cakes with a lot of icing or don't want to have to worry about running out of frosting, you'll probably want the full amount. If you like your cakes to be a bit lighter on the icing, then 4 c. will probably be enough. Go with whatever approach you prefer! (Or whatever you have enough butter for.) ^Back
4 The original recipe called for baking for 25-30 minutes, but my cakes were still very underdone at the 30-minute mark, so I put them in for another 10. It's possible that they might've been done after 35, but they seemed so liquid in the centre that I doubted another 5 minutes would cut it. ^Back

I got this from symbol's mom many years ago. It's a nice simple quickbread that comes together in five minutes and is suitable for sandwiches, toast, or just snacking.

I hadn't made it in ages, since symbol isn't so much a fan of it, but we needed a bread in a hurry the other day for the kidlet, so I put together a loaf. She loved it; it's a "super favourite" and has now served as breakfast, lunch (in a sandwich), and dessert.

Aggravatingly, the amount of beer called for is just slightly more than the size of a standard tin of Heineken (which we occasionally get as free pack-ins with orders of other food for some reason). symbol suggested using milk to make up the difference and that worked out well.

Cheesy Beer Bread

symbol's mom

Ingredients

• 3 C all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1½ tsp salt
• ¼ C sugar
• 355mL beer (if you don't have quite enough, supplement with milk)
• 1 C diced cheddar (go a bit heavy on this if you like)
• ¼ C green onions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
2. Add beer (and milk, if using) and stir together.
3. Add cheddar and green onions and mix well. The dough should be relatively dry, but if you find it too stiff to mix effectively, add another teaspoon or two of milk.
4. Pour into a well greased loaf tin and bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes, until the exterior is golden brown and a probe comes out clean.
5. Let stand 10-15 minutes and then remove from the tin to a wire rack. (You may need to do some prying to get it come free, given the cheese.)

Mirchi Waale Kala aur Kabuli Chana (Black and Yellow Chickpeas with Red Chilies)

I forgot that the grocery stores would be closed on Easter Sunday and thus couldn't get the bits I needed to make the chicken and potato curries I had planned. So I had to do a swift search of the curry book for an emergency back-up plan. I ended up setting on a potato-paneer curry and this mixed legume dal.

Mirchi Waale Kala aur Kabuli Chana

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. dried chickpeas
• 1/4 c. dried black chickpeas
• 1/4 c. dried kidney beans
• 1/4 c. whole black lentils (mapte beans/sabud urad)
• 3 1/2 c. water, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 10 whole cloves
• 3-8 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies, stems removed
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 2 (7-8cm) cinnamon sticks, crushed/broken
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Rinse the dried legumes, drain, cover with hot water and let stand for 8-24 hours. For a quick-soak, place in pressure cooker, pressure cook for 1 minute, then let stand for 1 hour.
2. Drain the legumes, add 3 c. of fresh water, and pressure cook for 1 hour, followed by a 15-minute natural release.
3. Meanwhile, add 1/4 c. of the remaining water to a blender along with onion, cloves, chilies, cardamom pods, and crushed cinnamon sticks and purée.
4. Transfer onion paste to a bowl and stir in the ginger paste, garlic paste, and turmeric.
5. Melt ghee over medium heat.
6. Add the onion paste and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
7. Stir in the tomato paste and salt and set aside.
8. Once the legumes are done, open the pressure cooker and add the sauce.
9. Pour the remaining 1/4 c. of water into the pan that the sauce was cooked in to deglaze it and add this liquid to the legumes as well.
10. Simmer the dal over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. For thinner dal, keep it covered while simmering. For thicker dal, simmer it uncovered.
11. Stir in the cream.
12. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

I've never been a big fan of steamed buns. I always felt like buns really needed to be baked to be any good. Steaming them just seemed sad. But TF really likes steamed buns, so I figured I'd give this recipe a try. And it turns out that homemade steamed buns are actually really good! I loved these! I felt like they needed some sort of sauce since the filling didn't have much umph, but the buns themselves were really, really delicious.

Steamed Vegetable Buns

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

Filling

• 450g baby bok choy
• 8 fresh shiitake mushrooms¹
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 115g 五香豆腐干 (five-spice dried tofu)
• 1 tsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/8 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt²

Dough

• 3/4 c. warm water
• 1 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 4 tsp. oil, divided
• 280g all-purpose flour
• 20g cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda

Directions

Filling

1. Prepare an ice bath.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add half the bok choy. Cook for 10 seconds, then quickly transfer the bok choy to the ice bath. Repeat the blanching process with the remaining bok choy.
3. Once the bok choy has cooled completely, drain it, squeezing out as much water as possible.
4. Finely chop the bok choy. (A food processor is helpful for this. I don't have one, so I did it by hand.)
5. Finely chop the mushrooms.
6. Heat a wok over medium heat.
7. Drizzle the oil into the wok.
8. Add the chopped mushrooms to the wok and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes.
9. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
10. Finely chop the tofu and set it aside.
11. Return the the chopped bok choy and pour off any liquid that has accumulated. (This will prevent soggy buns!)
12. Add the mushrooms and tofu the the bok choy.
13. Add the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, white pepper, and salt and mix to combine.
14. Cover and chill while dough is being prepared.

Dough

1. Stir the yeast and sugar into the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Stir in 1 Tbsp. oil.
3. In a separte bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda and mix to combine.
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, working from the centre outward.
6. Once the flour has been mostly incorporated, turn the dough out onto your work surface and begin kneading.
7. Knead for at least 10 minutes. The dough should be very smooth and supple. If it is lumpy, uneven, or tears, keep going!
8. Shape into a ball and place in a bowl.
9. Brush the top of the dough ball with the remaining 1 tsp. of oil. Cover and let at room temperature for ~1 hour.

Assembly

1. Once fully risen, turn out and knead for a few minutes to deflate and remove gas pockets.
2. Divide dough into 30g portions³.
3. Round each piece of dough and cover with plastic wrap to stop it from drying out.
4. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it out into a flat disc ~8cm in diameter, thinner on the edges and thicker in the middle.
5. Place a spoonful of filling in the centre of the disc.
6. Holding the bun in the palm of one hand, being pleating the edges. Once you've worked all the way around, keep the last pleat pinched and work your way around again. Twist and close until the bun is almost completely closed. There should still be a small open hole at the top, but it should be mostly closed and neatly pleated.
7. Place each bun on a square of parchmentpaper (5-6cm squares work well).
8. Place place the buns (on their parchment squares) into a steamer. Be careful not to crowd them.
9. Cover and let rise for ~20 minutes.
10. Make sure there is sufficient water in the bottom of your steamer and bring to a boil over high heat.
11. Once water is boiling, reduce heat to medium. Steam for 10 minutes.
12. Turn off heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Do not remove lid during this time!
13. Remove cooked buns from steamer and get the next batch ready to go. Each batch much start with cold water.
14. Serve hot.
15. To reheat, microwave for one minute or steam for 6-8 minutes.

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¹ I didn't have any fresh shiitakes so I just rehydrated a few dried ones. My dried mushrooms were quite large, so I only used six. ^Back
2 I'd be tempted to leave out the salt and add in a teaspoon of dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, or hoisin sauce next time. The filling was good, but I feel like it really needed something to give it a bit more presence. Of course, adding one of those dark sauces would probably have a negative impact on the aesthetics. They blanched bok choy is lovely and vibrant in this version. But I think I'd be willing to sacrifice some aesthetic value in the pursuit of better flavour. Just something to keep in mind if you're after something very pretty. ^Back
3 The original recipe called for making 14 equal portions. This worked out to ~40g of dough per bun. I did this, but when I made a second batch the next day, I found 30g portions much easier to handle. So I would actually recommend making more smaller buns (18-19) vs. a smaller number of larger ones. ^Back

Baked Char Siu Bao (叉烧包)

I couldn't make char siu without making a batch of char siu bao. I debated whether to make the baked or steamed version, but ultimately decided to try baking them this time. Maybe next time I'll try the steamed version.

Baked Char Siu Bao

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

Dough

• 2/3 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 c. whole (3.25%) milk
• 1 large egg
• 75g sugar
• 525g all-purpose flour
• 11g instant or active dry yeast
• 7g coarse sea salt

Filling

• 25g sugar
• 2 tsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 2 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3/4 c. chicken stock¹
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 300g char siu (叉烧), finely chopped

Assembly

• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp. water, divided
• sesame seeds
• 1 Tbsp. sugar

Directions

Dough

1. Bring the cream, milk, and egg to room temperature.
2. Add the cream to a large bowl.
3. Stir in the milk.
4. Next beat in the egg.
5. Mix in the sugar followed by the flour.
6. Once the flour is mostly incorporated -- I like to mix in ~75g at a time -- add the yeast and mix/knead well.
7. Finally add the flour.
8. Knead for ~15 minutes. Add a little extra flour as needed, but don't overdo it! You want the dough to be soft, silky, and well-hydrated. If in doubt, err on the side of too loose over too tight.
9. Shape into a ball, place in a covered bowl, and allow to rise for ~1 hour. It's done rising when a 1cm deep fingerprint/dent doesn't fill in. Try to catch it before it gets to the point of sighing or sinking back in response to the poking.
10. While the dough is rising, make the filling.

Filling

1. Combine sugar, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and dark soy sauce and set aside.
2. Heat wok over medium heat.
3. Drizzle the oil down the sides of the wok and swirl to coat the bottom.
4. Add the onion and stir-fry for ~2 minutes.
5. Add sauce mixture and bring to a boil.
6. Add stock and flour and cook until thickened.
7. Add pork and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and set aside.

Assembly

1. Turn out the dough and knead it for a few minutes.
2. Divide into 16 equal portions. Aim for 60-70g each.
3. Shape each portion into a smooth round ball and place them under a damp tea towel or some plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.
4. Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll them out into 8cm discs that are thinner on the edges and thicker in the middle.
5. Place a spoonful of filling in the centre of the disk and very carefully bring the edges up around the filling to seal. Try not to get any filling on the edges of the dough or your fingers or the buns won't seal properly.
6. Place the filled buns seam side down on a greased baking sheet. (You will probably need more than one baking sheet to fit all the buns.)
7. Lightly cover and allow to rise for 40-50 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
9. Beat the egg with 1 Tbsp. of water.
10. Brush the buns with the egg wash.
11. Sprinkle a few sesame seeds on top of each bun.
12. Once oven is preheated, place buns in oven and reduce heat to 180°C (350°F) and bake for 25 minutes. Rotate and swap trays about halfway through for even baking and browning.
13. While buns are baking dissolve the sugar in the remaining 1 Tbsp. of water. You will need to heat it up to get the sugar to fully dissolve. 30 seconds in the microwave should do the trick.
14. As soon as the buns come out of the oven, brush them with the syrup.
15. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
16. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

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¹ I actually saved the liquid that was left over in the roasting pan after making the char siu and used that in place of the chicken stock for this recipe. ^Back

叉烧 (Char Siu/Cha Shao)

I had a really great char siu recipe years ago. It was a recipe that I synthesized after reading through dozens of char siu recipes + getting advice from Chinese cooks. It involved lots of different ingredients, most of which I've forgotten now. Unfortunately I've since lost the recipe. (This is one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place.)

I'd like to try to recreate that recipe at some point. Or at least a close approximation thereof. In the meantime, I figured I'd give the Woks of Life recipe a try. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. But I am still definitely interested in experimenting with different recipes and tweaks in the future.

汉字/Hanzi: 叉烧
拼音/Pinyin: chāshāo
英文/English: (lit.) fork roasted
This roast pork is usually called "char siu" or "char siew" in English. This is a transliteration of the Cantonese. In Mandarin, it is called "chāoshāo".

叉烧

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1.4kg boneless pork butt/shoulder¹
• 50g sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. five-spice powder
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine)
• 1 Tbsp. light (regular) soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 2 tsp. molasses
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 Tbsp. malt syrup or honey
• 1 Tbsp. hot water

Directions

1. Cut the pork into slabs or strips about 5cm thick. Don't trim off any fat!
2. Combine the sugar, salt, five-spice powder, white pepper, sesame oil, wine, soy sauce, hoisin, molasses, fresh garlic, and garlic paste and mix well.
3. Set aside 2 Tbsp. of the sauce and set it aside in the fridge.
4. Slather the sauce all over the pieces of pork. Place the pork in a bowl or baking dish, cover it, and place it in the fridge for at least 8 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 245°C (475°F) and place a wire rack in a roasting pan or large baking dish.
6. Pour 1-2 c. of water into the bottom of the pan and place the pieces of pork on the rack.
7. Roast in the top third of the oven for 10 minutes.
8. Reduce heat to 190°C (375°F) and continue roasting for another 15 minutes.
9. Remove the pan from the oven and flip all the pieces over. Rotate the pan 180° and return it to the oven.
10. Roast at 190°C (375°F) for another 15 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, mix the reserved 2 Tbsp. of sauce with the malt syrup (or honey) and hot water. You may need to warm it up a bit to get everything to fully combine.
12. Remove the pan from the oven and brush the pork with the glaze. Flip the pork over and brush the other side with the glaze as well.
13. Return to oven and roast for another 10 minutes.
14. If the pork hasn't crisped up yet, set the oven to broil and broil it for a couple minutes on each side. Watch it carefully while it's under the broiler!
15. Remove the pork from the oven and brush another coat of glaze on each side.
16. Let cool for 10 minutes, then slice and enjoy!

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¹ I actually ended up using pork loin. Pork butt is fattier and generally preferred, but I was still happy with the results I got from the leaner loin. ^Back