Noms with Moms

Feeding your family more than food

Chocolate “Diablo” Cookies

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Chocolate-Diablo-CookieThe kids and I made these incredible cookies for my ever-loving husband, Mike,  who said, “Whoa! These are amazing!”

Me: Oh, yeah? Thanks! Is this the kind of cookie you like?

Mike: Yeah! I had no idea you knew how to make a cookie like this.

Me: You mean really chewy and crispy? That’s just not my favorite style…

Mike: And all this time I thought you just hadn’t figured it out…

Me: ???

Mike: …how to make a good cookie…

True love, ladies and gentleman…true love.

What I love about my husband, and our marriage, is that we don’t take things too seriously…or else we take things REALLY seriously. Anyone who knows us knows how true this is…either we are crazy goofballs or all business, there is not much in between. So, here were are celebrating our first Valentine’s Day in China (not counting the Qixi Festival, aka, Chinese Valentine’s Day, that is…), two serious goofballs who found each other and now have 3 mini-goofballs of our own…man, we are a band of crazy people, I tell you.

So we decided to make cookies for the special occasion. Although, literally any day is special enough to make cookies with my kids.

(By the way…I have been working on a Top Secret Chocolate Chip cookie recipe that I will reveal in due time, so there has been an inordinate amount of cookies in this house. I tend to shove them at anyone who will eat them, and so far the feedback has been very positive, so stay tuned.)

Last year I made incredibly rich, decadent raspberry caramel and dark chocolate ganache fudge brownies, and if you have a lot of time on your hands – I urge you to try the recipe…one of the best things I’ve ever made and tasted, period.

However, if you are short on time, but still want to surprise your sweetie with something uniquely delicious and are feeling adventurous – give these gingery-sweet-and-spicy cookies a try! You will not be disappointed!

I halved the amount of cayenne for the kids’ sakes, and the fresh ginger adds plenty of zing, as well as a unique fresh taste you don’t get with your average cookie. The flavor of these cookies is really unique – I have never had anything like them! They are super chocolatey, chewy on the inside, and just crisp enough on the outside as long as you take care not to burn them.

Brushing the cookies with sugar glaze so the sprinkles will stick!

Brushing the cookies with sugar glaze so the sprinkles will stick!

Pro-cooking-with-kids-tip of the day:

When in doubt, bring the sprinkles. Your children will literally help you cook anything- if they know, at some point, sprinkles will be involved.

In fact, you can just go ahead and call all your spices “sprinkles”…”herb sprinkles” “seed sprinkles” “spice sprinkles”. Anything that comes in a jar and can be sprinkled is magic for kids!

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Chocolate "Diablo" Cookies
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
These crisp yet super chewy cookies are perfect for a special Valentine's Day treat - the fresh ginger gives them a zing and freshness you don't expect in a cookie! The cayenne adds a bit of heat - and I halve the amount for the kids.
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 1 cup cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper (half if you are worried about spice for the kids)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips or chunks
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • ½ cup canola oil (or oil of choice, grapeseed, sunflower, melted coconut oil)
  • 3 TBSP freshly grated ginger
  • 1 TBSP vanilla extract
  • Optional:
  • Coarse salt and/or sugar for sprinkling on top
  • Optional sugar glaze (if adding colored sprinkles)
  • Sugar glaze
  • 1 TBSP water
  • 2 TBSP powdered sugar
  • Sprinkles
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C)
  2. Prep your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  3. In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cayenne.
  4. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, brown and white sugars, oil, ginger, and vanilla together.
  5. Add dry ingredients and stir until combined - the dough will be very sticky which is what you want - this is what makes them spread out and get nice and chewy.
  6. Gather the dough into balls about the size of a small scoop of ice cream - I always measure out my cookies, and these were about 3.25 ounces each.
  7. Bake 9-11 minutes, or until you see the cookies start to crack, you want them a bit crisp on the outside and edges, but still fudgey and chewy in the middle.
  8. While the cookies cool slightly, mix the water and powdered sugar to create your glaze. Use a pastry brush or very lightly drizzle a bit of the glaze over the top of the cookie and then sprinkle with your choice of coarse salt, or sprinkles. Let the glaze and cookies completely cool and harden before eating. Store in an airtight bag or container - and these should keep for about 3 days.

 

Raspberry Caramel Chocolate Ganache Brownies

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What better to serve your loved one on Valentine’s Day than a rich fudge brownie layered with raspberry caramel and chocolate ganache? These brownies ARE as delicious as they look! Raspberry-caramel-chocolate-brownies

The recipe for these decadent fudge brownies comes from Caramel, a cookbook by Carol Bloom. And while I loved the idea of layering rich caramel and dark chocolate ganache on top of brownies, I especially love raspberry and chocolate and tried my hand at (several attempts!) making raspberry caramel. My pains were duly rewarded with one of the most delicious desserts I have ever made and consumed. These are RICH…so you really don’t have to eat a huge square to feel satisfied. And they are unforgettable…I will be making these for years to come!

I will not lie – learning how to make a caramel sauce (my first time) was something of a process, so don’t make this recipe if you are not familiar with making caramel, are in a hurry or don’t have a back up plan! I found this video was the best for learning how to make caramel sauce of all the videos and tutorials I watched.

This ruby red raspberry caramel was divine!

This ruby red raspberry caramel sauce was divine!

This is a recipe I made on a solo mission – without my kids – because I had never made it before. And I wanted to mention this because I don’t cook absolutely everything with my kids – even things that seem super fun for kids like brownies! If I know I’m likely to feel frustrated or overwhelmed by a recipe – I will try to set aside time when I know they will be occupied or asleep so I can really focus.

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Raspberry Caramel Sauce for Layered Ganache Brownies
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
This is a rich, sweet and tart raspberry caramel sauce that pairs perfectly with Carol Bloom's decadent brownies!
Ingredients
  • 10 oz. frozen raspberries (you can use fresh too)
  • 1⁄4 C. water
  • 1 C. sugar
  • 2 Tbsp light corn syrup or honey
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1⁄2 C. heavy whipping cream
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • Other tools:
  • Fine mesh sieve
  • Pastry brush
  • Candy thermometer (optional)
Instructions
  1. First add the berries and lemon juice to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stir and break down the berries with a spatula until you have a smooth consistency and all discernible raspberry chunks are gone. Strain the seeds and set aside to cool.
  2. Once cool, add the heavy whipping cream to the raspberry mixture and set aside again, it will be added to the caramel mixture towards the end.
  3. To make the caramel, get all the ingredient and tools you need ready because once you start making it, you should not leave the pot!
  4. Combine the sugar, water, and syrup or honey and stir just slightly to combine. Wet a pastry brush with water and brush it around the inside of the saucepan just above the sugar mixture, this will help ensure sugar crystals don't form which can make the caramel grainy. You can repeat this damping process if you notice sugar crystals forming again.
  5. Turn your heat on medium and do not touch or stir the caramel at all the remainder of the time it is boiling. Also, do not leave the pot unattended at any point. Caramel can go from light amber to dark and burnt rather quickly. You may wish to use a candy thermometer, which is not necessary, but can ensure the consistency you want, which for this recipe is more sauce-like in the 250-275 degree range, rather than a hard, chewy caramel candy consistency, which is 300 and above.
  6. The caramel will be ready when it reaches a deep amber color. You may be tempted to stop once you see a light amber color because you have likely read all about burnt caramel in the internet, but don't, it will be too thin for the recipe and will just taste like sugar syrup instead of a rich caramel taste. It will be a dark brown color almost like whiskey or bourbon. If you see or smell smoke, remove from heat right away!
  7. Now you will add the raspberry cream mixture and the butter while whisking constantly. (You may want to wear an oven mitt if you can manage it with pouring and whisking, as the caramel is very hot and will stick to your skin and burn you if it splatters while you pour.) A hard ball may form in the center - do not worry you have not ruined anything, keep stirring and it will all melt together. You can use low heat if you are having trouble getting it to liquefy.

Coconut Rice Frushi

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Lately I’ve been feeling like if I didn’t get back to cooking in the kitchen with my kids we were all going to go crazy. I didn’t realize just how much fun and connection cooking provided us until I stopped doing it for almost two months! It dawned on me when, for what seemed like the 100th day in a row, my kids were acting up, aimless, bored, and fighting with each other after school while I coco-holding-a-star-fruitwas trying to make dinner.

I was wondering, “What happened? They used to get along better. Maybe it’s China? Maybe it’s the new school schedule?” And then I realized, I often cooked with my kids before dinner time. Sure, cooking with kids is not a cure-all – but it is a great alternative to TV time or fighting over toys, and as soon as I told them we’d be making this snack the mood shifted (and it wasn’t just about delicious coconut sugar-rice) they were interested in what they were doing, worked cooperatively, waited patiently, and we had a great time.

In this way, I think cooking with our children serves a function beyond just having fun with kids, or just teaching them about cooking and the accompanying skills. I think it must serve some kind of bonding, important family tradition and even behavior problem-solving mechanism. Think about it – did the cave people have time to bicker over toys when they needed to get some food for dinner? I know, silly analogy, but cooking organizes our thoughts, time, and actions into a purposeful, fruitful activity. It serves a real human need to satisfy hunger and cravings for connection and delicious flavors. If we did some real research on the topic, I’m sure we’d find all kind of cool innate drives to hunt, gather, cook, eat that even basic cooking in the home satisfies. But I don’t need to find that research study, I’m convinced on my own about the importance of cooking in the home.frushi peach and star fruit2

I recently found this cookbook, Time (for kids): Kids in the Kitchen. As soon as I saw frushi, I had to make it. It was so easy and delicious (I may have eaten more frushi than my kids did.) While not real sushi, it is inspired by Japanese sushi, and you could discuss with your kids why we are calling it frushi, the origin of sushi, as well as how you really make sushi, if they have not yet been exposed to sushi yet.

Just a hint: If you want to make the process go more smoothly and quickly, I suggest making the rice mixture the night before or several hours before the kids get home from school so that it is chilled and set to shape and decorate with toppings. If you decide to make it with your kids from the start, just know my kids weren’t all that interested in waiting for the rice to cool, and had more of a coconut rice pudding with fruit experience, which they didn’t seem to mind at all…this stuff tastes really good. But the next day, the leftover frushi rice had set wonderfully and we enjoyed second helpings that held together nicely.

Extension activities

I do want to say: please don’t feel overwhelmed by this list! Sometimes I come across lists like this on blogs and my head spins thinking I’m supposed to click and do everything, and then I just give up. Don’t worry about that – just scan below and if you find something that looks cool to you or your kids, feel free to tack it on to the recipe-making. Keep it fun!

Practical life activities – practicing rinsing rice using a bowl of water and a sieve, measuring sugar, pouring water between two cups

Sensory activities – tracing letters or shapes in a tray of rice (some people like to color the rice for fun), tasting seaweed snacks, smelling Japanese tea

Science – Study the different grains of rice and the way they react to cooking, purchase a few varieties and have a taste and feel test, have your kids describe the differences. You can check out the Whole Grains Council’s handy rice info page to learn more; plant a Japanese maple tree

Geography – Working with globe and map to identify Japan, learn about the Japanese flag, people and culture of Japan.

Mathematics – Sort and count small objects relevant to Japan; Japanese fabric is known for fascinating and intricately beautiful repeating patterns, print and look at the patterns for repetition and recognizable shapes

Art – Learn about Japanese Furoshiki, a creative way to wrap gifts in fabric; Let your children explore the ingredients in new ways (my kids used the star fruit in an art project), there are a lot of ways to use rice in art as well; learn about the Japanese art of bonsai

star-fruit-artLanguage – reading Japanese-themed fiction for kids; reading about Japanese history and culture such as the Japanese Tea Ceremony; write a Haiku about frushi!

 

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Coconut Rice Frushi
Recipe type: Snack or Dessert
Cuisine: Asian inspired
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 16
 
Ingredients
  • 11⁄4 cups water
  • 1 cup short grain or sushi rice, rinsed until the water runs clear 1⁄4 cup coconut milk
  • 1⁄4 cup sugar
  • Dash of salt
  • 1 T shredded coconut (optional)
  • Variety of cut up fruits: banana, peach, raspberries, mango Vanilla yogurt to dip the frushi if desired
  • Parchment paper or silicone mat
Instructions
  1. Rinse the sushi rice several times to remove all the starch.
  2. Bring the water and rice, combined, to a boil in a saucepan, stirring a bit every 1-2 minutes until the
  3. water comes to a boil, then immediately turn down to a simmer and cover for 15-20 minutes until the water is gone and the rice is plump. It should not be too firm when you taste-test it, but also not too mushy. Check every 6-8 minutes or so to ensure the rice isn't burning.
  4. Once the rice is done, pour into a bowl with the coconut milk, sugar, and dash of salt. Mix to combine, then cover and let rest and cool for 20 minutes.
  5. At this point, you should be able to gather the rice together into a little roll by scooping with a spoon and forming into an oval shape. If the sushi is too loose - I recommend re-heating it to reduce the liquid. Coconut milk's consistency can vary from brand to brand, so it is possible there is too much liquid (this was the case when we made the recipe.) So if you reheat, just be sure to give another cool- down period before your children work with it. As I mentioned in the post, letting the mixture cool in the fridge for several hours or overnight will yield the best results.
  6. I recommend using parchment paper or a silicone mat to place the fruity rolls on, as they can be sticky to remove. Form the rolls and have your kids help to decorate them, you can use a dab of honey to help the fruit stick if needed.
  7. Place in the finished rolls in the fridge to cool for a 15 minutes (if your kids will wait!)
  8. The sticky rice mixture will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.
  9. Enjoy!

Revamping this Blog

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For anyone who is visiting here after several months to find there is just this one lonely blog post – I have some ‘splaining to do…

See, I moved to China. And then chaos ensued, including losing ALL my websites and their content because I’m not a web developer anything and don’t know basic things like how to back up a website.  (ha! good thing I was never too attached to them, no?)

However, I am very committed to rebuilding this blog, and I hope it can be even better now that I’ve had a bit of time to reflect on why I started it and what I hope to accomplish. But it’s going to take some time, and I’m going to shift directions a bit, to include not just recipes and cooking ideas, but parenting and education ideas as well.

So a few things:

1. We’ve covered I moved to China – and I hope this can be a big part of what I share here: food, culture, kids…and of course, chaos.

2. I started training as a Montessori teacher around the same time I landed in China and I have sooooo many more thoughts and ways to approach not only cooking with my kids but just about everything I do with my kids, and I hope that I can share some great insights here.

3. I discovered and have implemented the KonMari method, which is just as crazy, and home-life-changing as she (Marie Kondo) promises in her wacky and endearing book which reads like her love letter to tidying. She is just great, and a little crazy, and I guess that’s why I feel like we’d be best friends if we ever met (and if you struggle with a cluttered home, I promise her method works, as a life-long disheveled mess, myself).

Tang Yuan and Lunar New Year

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Today is the celebration of the beginning of the Lunar New Year in many Asian countries. A friend of mine posted on Facebook that saying, “Happy Chinese New Year” is actually a bit of a mistake, since many countries and cultures celebrate the new year today, and saying “Happy Lunar New Year” is more accurate. Good to know!

I think food is a great bridge to learning about other cultures so we have been making some traditional Chinese foods in anticipation of exploring the meaning and traditions of the holiday. I had read about how tang yuan are a traditional treat prepared and served on several Chinese holidays. It is also fun to make and eat, and has the following symbolism which I think is wonderful to share with children as a family,

For many Chinese families in mainland China as well as overseas, tang yuan is usually eaten together with family. The round shape of the balls and the bowls where they are served, come to symbolise the family togetherness.

We made this tang yuan recipe (though there are many other versions that I hope to try) with some omissions as I didn’t have time to go to a store that has some of the specialty ingredients, but hope to do so soon! Also, don’t let the name confuse you, glutinous rice flour has no gluten- the “glue” means glue-like or sticky – and tang yuan are indeed quite sticky. In fact, I would use caution if feeding them to younger children as their round shape and extreme chewiness might be a choking hazard! Enjoy and let me know what you thought of this fun food and activity!

Click here to skip straight to the recipe

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tang-yuan-tasting

 

tang-yuan-fun

 

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Tang Yuan
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
This is a modified version of a traditional tang yuan recipe, meant to substitute ingredients for what most western households might have on-hand or could find in most grocery stores, however I highly recommend taking a trip to your local Asian market, which most cities will have, to explore new flavors and ingredients with your children!
Ingredients
  • 1 cup glutinous rice flour (also can be found as sweet rice flour)
  • 1⁄2 cup water for making dough
  • 1 tbsp powdered sugar
  • Food coloring of choice
  • Sweet Syrup Soup
  • 2 inches of fresh ginger, crushed with the side of a chef's knife 4 cups water
  • 5 tablespoons light brown sugar
Instructions
  1. Add flour and sugar to a large mixing bowl and add water until the mixture is smooth, but not too sticky. You may need more water if you find the mixture is too crumbly.
  2. Knead the dough for several minutes until it is very smooth and pliable.
  3. Divide the dough into sections according to how many colors you plan to make, roll into large balls.
  4. Make an indentation with your thumb and add 1-2 drops of food color and knead again until the color is fully distributed, repeat if you wish the color to be darker.
  5. Prepare a clean bowl of room temperature water and set aside, you will put the cooked tang yuan in this water after boiling.
  6. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the tang yuan, boiling them for 5 minutes or so, you will know they are done when they float to the top.
  7. Drain and add the tang yuan to the bowl of room temperature water.
  8. Add the 4 cups of water with the ginger and sugar, bring to a boil until dissolved and the ginger flavor has infused, about 3-5 minutes.
  9. Add cooked tang yuan to a bowl and spoon the soup over them, serve, and enjoy!