The best cookie dough recipe (so far)

Everyone's got their own definition of the perfect cookie, so I would qualify the title of the post by saying that this is the perfect cookie dough recipe for me.

Five cookies sitting on my windowsill

I also don't think I've found THE recipe yet, and so am still experimenting. This is the basic dough to which you can add whatever you want, toffee chips, chocolate chips, raisins, swirls of espresso, nuts, blueberries - go wild!

Crunchy cookie = good

To me, the perfect cookie is:

1. Crunchy (think Famous Amos); and

2. Possibly just ever so slightly chewy right in the middle...

I do not like big soft chewy cookies (think Millie's) or worse, powdery crumbly cookies (think shortbreads). Yech at the powdery floury aftertaste. Yech Yuck Bleruch.

Walnut, cashew nut, peanut...and a swirl of coffee

I'd like to share this latest recipe. It's work-in-progress, but I think it's pretty close to what I'm looking for.

     1 and 1/2 sticks of butter

     1/2 cup brown sugar

     2/3 cup granulated sugar

     1 egg

     1 tsp vanilla essence

     1/2 tsp salt

     2 cups of plain flour

     1 tsp baking soda

1. Cream sugar and butter in a bowl until well combined.
2. Add egg and vanilla essence. Mix well
3. Add the dry ingredients - plain flour, salt and baking soda, and form into a dough. At this stage you can add your nuts, raisins, chocolate chips etc.
4. Next, roll the dough into a cylinder and place it in the fridge for at least 30 min. YOU MUST DO THIS. Especially if you live in the tropics. Lukewarm cookie dough makes bad cookies. Don't ask me why, just trust me. I'm yet to figure out why myself. Maybe one day, if I ever do a baking 101 class, my pâtisserie teacher will tell me. Until then, I do this on the basis that my refrigerated cookie dough always yields better cookies than room temperature ones.
5. Preheat the oven to 175 deg celcius.
6. Cut out your cookies into discs and place them on a greased, non-stick baking tray, 2 inches apart. Greasing is mandatory.
7. Bake in pre-heated oven for 12 minutes, and keep a close watch on them as the bubble deliciously.
8. Remove tray from the oven, and let the cookies cool completely before transferring them. Do not attempt to touch/move your cookies when they're even remotely warm as they are very soft at this stage and will fall apart. I leave mine to cool and harden for at least 2 hours.

Enjoy your crunchy cookies!

The photos are of the most recent batch I made. They are wonderfully crunchy with a slight chewy centre. I put raisins, cashews, walnuts, brazil nuts and swirls of espresso in them. I love the chewiness of caramelised raisins and crunchiness of the nuts which have roasted in the cookies. Yup - definitely a chew/crunch fan :)

What type of cookie are you?

McDonalds Seaweed Shaker Fries - How to?

When it comes to food, we Asians love taking things to the next level. Localisation, adaptation, call it whatever you want. Welcome to our world of wasabi Filet-O'-Fish, tom yum KFC, Teriyaki McBurgers and Starbucks green tea (matcha) frappucinos. Oishi!

In my last visit to Singapore, one favourite night-time snack with the girls after a long Saturday of doing not very much is McDonald's Seaweed Shaker fries. Words fail me when describing the novelty of it all, and so my beautiful friend, P, will demonstrate:

At the counter, you will be given:

1. A brown paper bag (shown below), 

2. Fries and 

3. The all-important seaweed shaker seasoning.

So you open up your brown paper bag, like so. 

Eurgh, flash photography is so unflattering. Think I'll turn it off 

There, much better without flash. P is lovely regardless. 

Next, pour your calorie-laden, hot, crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, shoestring fries into said bag, like so.

This is what they'll look like. As you can see, there's a good fries to airspace ratio in the paper bag to optimise shaking and even distribution of the seasoning. There's such a science to this.

Why does P always look so glamourous? It's like gusts of modelling breeze follow her wherever she goes and whips her hair into a perfect wind-swept look.

Now you take your seaweed shaker seasoning. It's a tiny packet but it packs a punch. From what I can remember, the ingredients are nori (seaweed), salt and various other mystery ingredients. Does anyone know what the complete list of ingredients is? Is there MSG in this stuff, because it's very more-ish!

Add your seasoning to the fries in your brown paper bag.

Then shake it to your right.

Shake it to your left

All done! Fold the sides of the paper bag down (as you would with, uh, sleeves and socks) and enjoy! See the dark green bits of seaweed clinging to the crispy fries? Yummy!

From memory, the photos might have been taken with a phone so excuse the grainy-ness

Soldier-boy shoe shopping

I don't shop very often at all but when I do, I spend ages hunting for the perfect bargain. I really like fashion but don't believe in spending more than I have, which at the moment is not very much.

I like looking at the latest fashion trends but don't normally follow them. Classic, evergreen trends are definitely my kind of thing. I only buy shoes when the old pair has worn out and is beyond repair. Even then, I will wait until a sale is on.

And nothing beats the post-Christmas sales, with reductions as much as 90% off the original retail price. The downside to this is that Christmas and New Year is normally spent with my favourite man D. D really dislikes coming shopping with me. As it is, he finds shopping a pain, but coupled with my 3-hour deliberations over 10 different pairs only to decide none of them are discounted enough to buy, I think I push the boundaries of his patience.

I've tried all kinds of tactics to make the experience tolerable:

Approach 1:

Get him involved in the selection process.

Advantages: This works really well if he's interested in women's fashion

Disadvantages: Guys tend to decide too quickly, not taking into account the full breadth of options available.

Road-test report: 4/5 stars - D has, once upon a time, helped me pick out the most amazing, durable, affordable (£40), expensive-looking coat. However, this doesn't always happen!

Approach 2:

Give him something to play with whilst you shop.

Advantages: He can watch your bags for you.

Disadvantages: If he's particularly good at the game you give him, he might beat the game prematurely, run out of levels and get bored again.

Road-test report: 3/5 stars - he does indeed run out of levels in that tennis game on my phone.

Approach 3:

Don't take him with you. Leave him with your brother in the arcade.

Advantages: He bonds with your brother and you get to shop without the time pressure.

Disadvantages: They might not want to leave when you return to meet up with them for dinner.

Road test report: 5/5 stars - everyone's happy. He's up-ed his Guitar Hero skillz, I've found the perfect pair of shoes to replace the boots with a hole in the sole (yikes!)