Recipe #33: Smores bars

Smores bars are exactly what they sound like - smores in bar form. It's intense, to say the least - graham cracker crust, a chocolate chip cookie-dough like concoction as the middle layer (with the addition of mini marshmallows), topped by Hershey's chocolate squares.

I brought it over to my friend's house, thinking it would go over pretty well with her adorable kids. It did. Her little girl's exact words to me were, "Can you bring this every time you come over?" I'd say that's a ringing endorsement. I wasn't a huge fan of it, but it'll definitely stay in my recipe book for sheer popularity factor (adults raved about it too, when I brought the leftovers to work the next day).

Edits to the recipe: 5 oz of graham crackers isn't enough to cover the pan. Omit the sugar, too - why add more sugar to the crust, when the rest of the recipe contains a lot of sugar? 4 ladles.

Recipe #30: Chicken adobo

Recipes, like just about everything else, require good writing. I discovered this when I tried out a recipe for chicken adobo recently. Having grown up with many Filipinos, I love Filipino food. I've always wanted to try my hand at a few Filipino recipes, but never had the nerve to (you know when something is so good, you know you won't replicate it as well)? Well, I had very little in my fridge but I really wanted to get dinner on the table. So, I dug up this recipe for chicken adobo. While it seemed easy enough, the directions were lousy.

I can often look at a recipe and tell if it'll turn out well, or if it's missing something critical. That was definitely the case here -- I mean, how good can something taste if the only main ingredients are large amounts of soy sauce and white vinegar? So I adapted the recipe by adding thinly sliced onions; a heaping teaspoon of brown sugar to cut the saltiness of the soy sauce; water; and crushed red peppers. The end result was very tasty and very easy dish that came together in minutes (bonus points for not having to run to the grocery store). I served it with some rice and flash sauteed garlic spinach.

I have to say that I was really happy with my first attempt at chicken adobo. I might try it with pork next time. I'll also have to ask E. for her mother-in-law's recipe for chicken adobo, since she's a Filipina and an amazing cook.

Recipe #27:Arborio rice pudding

A few years ago, I received a top-of-the-line Japanese rice cooker, along with a cookbook specially formulated for the rice cooker.

It's worth its weight in gold. Rice turns out perfectly cooked, every single time. There's no fuss, no mess, no nothing...except perfect rice. When I see people cooking rice in a pot on the stove, I feel like telling them to just invest in a Japanese rice cooker and how that'll be a game changer in the way they make rice (what - me, exaggerate? Never). I've never been able to make good rice in a pot, and the time spent trying to scrape the pot clean afterwards is definitely not worth the hassle.

Anyway, I saw a recipe for rice pudding, and staying true to the set-it-and-forget motto of this little baby, it was super easy and turned out quite well. Here's a closeup (the specs you see are nutmeg and cinnamon).

 
The result? Very, very rich (due to the cream and a few tablespoons of heavy cream), but I couldn't see myself having more than a few spoonfuls anyway. Thank goodness I used water instead of milk, as the recipe called for. Had I used milk, I don't know if the recipe would've been edible -- way too much dairy. I also cut down the amount of sugar the recipe called for, as I almost always do to recipes I find. 4 ladles -- a tasty, easy, comforting treat.

Recipe #24: New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie

This recipe is a bit laborious, for a chocolate chip cookie -- it's not for the faint of heart. But I'm perpetually in search of the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, so I was willing to go the distance. I've tried dozens of recipes, but none of them measure up. The perfect cookie, for me, is one that is dense, moist, slightly chewy, and has a balanced sweetness.

This recipe, courtesy of the New York Times, came pretty close. The sea salt really does add a touch of elegance to the humble chocolate chip cookie. My guinea pigs (my dear friends) agreed that it was quite good. I might need to experiment with a few little tweaks in order to make it truly perfect, though (and in all fairness, I only refrigerated the dough for about 4 hours). 4 ladles in the meantime.

And here's a closeup: