“Love is like swallowing hot chocolate
Before it has cooled off.
It takes you by surprise at first,
But keeps you warm for a long time.”
~Anonymous

This is a girl’s best friend in those cold, quiet evenings.

The rum and citrus heightened the sweetness of the drink, while the cinnamon gave it a little kick. I don’t normally go lowfat with my milk, but that’s the only thing I’ve got in my fridge this time (my sister and her husband came to visit last week and I was trying to cater to their healthier lifestyle). Still, I’m glad I didn’t go crazy with creaminess this time because the flavor was rich enough for my present mood and I didn’t have to worry about the extra calories at night.

Orange-Cinnamon Hot Cocoa

Ingredients:

1 cup lowfat milk
1 cinnamon stick
1/8 teaspoon orange zest
1/8 teaspoon essence of rum
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons water
a small pinch of salt
dark chocolate for garnish

Heat the milk, the orange zest and the cinnamon stick until just simmering. In a mug, combine the cocoa powder, sugar and water and stir to make a paste. Remove the cinnamon stick and strain the milk into the mug. Add the essence of rum and stir to mix well. Grate a little dark chocolate on top to garnish.

This is one of easy hors d’oeuvre recipes. You can also whip this up for a potluck party when you’re not in the mood to create complicated dish but do not want to resort to the lame mac and cheese. The Tuna Melt Cups is inspired by the Essential Finger Food cookbook. I sort of created this on one rainy afternoon while I’m wondering what to do with soon-to-be-expired wheat bread.

Tuna Melt Cups

Ingredients:
6 slices of wholemeal bread (this can vary depending on the size of bread you have)
1 can of tuna
1.5 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp Mayo
1/2 cup Shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbsp dry bread crumbs

Method:
1. To make tuna topping, drain the can of tuna, put the content in a bowl, mix in the mayo, about a big pinch of the cheese and sprinkle with a freshly ground black pepper. Flake the tuna with a fork.
2. Use a roller pin to flatten each slice of bread.
3. Use a round cutter to cut the bread. Alternatively, you can use the empty can from the tuna to get the round shape by taking off the top part, clean and dry it.
4. Brush butter on the muffin cups tray
5. Push each piece of flattened bread into the cups. Brush butter on top of each bread.
6. Baked in preheated oven 350F for 10 mins until golden brown. Remove from oven.
7. Spoon in the tuna topping into the cups. Sprinkle with dried bread crumbs and shredded cheese.
8. Put back into the oven and bake for another 5 mins or until cheese has melted slightly.

Serve immediately. Makes 12 cups.

I found this black-sauced chicken recipe a while ago and decided to try my hands on them. The taste of this dish reminds me of my favorite Singaporean chicken rice dish. Interestingly, this favorite dish can be found at National Junior College’s canteen. You see, unlike the notorious American school cafeteria lunches, I think Asian schools’ canteens serves better food in terms of quality and nutrition.

Another fascinating aspect about this recipe is the fact that the first time you make it, you are not only making a dish but you are also making a master sauce. The black sauce supposedly gets better and darker with age like a good wine. Just the thought of it overwhelmed me at first. This is the very thing that many famous family-owned-and-operated Chinese restaurants do. What I mean here is those restaurants that have a “secret recipe used since ages ago” thing going on in their menus. I was told once that the old age tradition often comes in forms like master sauce, master broth, wok that has never been cleaned for 30 years. Okay, if the last one sounds frightening to you, just remember that they cook with that wok over high heat so whatever germs or bacteria in there should be dead and you will only get the essence of goodness out of it.

Now, this master sauce can be kept up to 5 years in the freezer and thaw it whenever you want to use it. You can add more water to the sauce to cook as with time it evaporates and will get very sticky due to the sugar content. You can add the herbs (cinnamon stick, star aniseed, cloves) to it once in a while depending how you like it. Some people prefer a more subdued fragrance and some just absolutely dig the smell. After 5 years or when you find the sauce not salty enough for your taste, you can recycle it by adding the liquid seasonings again.

It is very practical and flexible. I use it to cook boneless chicken breast (of course the time has to be adjusted for this one) in the picture above. You can also use it to cook duck and pork. Making the master sauce needs a little bit more time, but after you have one in store, it can be categoried under quick, simple meal.

Black-Sauced Chicken

Ingredients:
1 large chicken (about 2-3 pound)

Seasonings:
3 tbsp + 1 tsp Dark Soy sauce
2 tbsp Light soy sauce
2 tbsp Molasses or Dark Brown Sugar
1 cup water

Spices:
2 pcs cinnamon sticks
5 pcs Star Aniseeds
1 tsp cloves

Method:
1. In a wok or a deep non-stick frying pan, add seasonings to boil.
2. When it is boiling, add spices.
3. Cook over low heat for about 15 minutes until fragrant.
4. Slowly slide in the chicken. Cook the chicken on medium heat.
5. Turn the chicken every 5 minutes, scooping the gravy and pouring it over the chicken every time you flip. You need to add water sometimes as heating the sauce over 30 minutes will evaporate it.
6. Cook the chicken for 30 or more depending on the size of the chicken. Turn off the fire.
7. Leave the chicken in the wok to soak for another 10 minutes.
8. Remove chicken and leave it on a large plate to cool off completely.
9. Chop chicken into smaller pieces and serve with white rice or chicken rice.

Notes:
You can add hard boiled eggs to soak/coat with the sauce too.
You can eat this with noodles (regular 3 minute noodles) and use the sauce to braise the noodles with black-sauced chicken and steamed greens on the side.

To prepare myself to become a career woman, I have decided I will need collect healthy quick fix meals for future reference. This one, Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, was actually a recipe I’ve been looking to try ever since I saw Rachel Ray made it for Thanksgiving.

Okay, so it’s not thanksgiving but the dish does look pretty and, most importantly, very quick to make. I’ve made it in about 20 minutes (of course I cheated a little bit by using frozen brussels sprouts). Whoever says brussels sprouts has a nutty hint of flavor is dead-on. Even though adding the bacon would make this meal ‘less healthy’, I think nobody should skip it since the bacon complements that nutty flavor very well. And if you’re really short of time, substituting with bacon bits would cut down the prep time significantly.

Now I’m wondering if that was ever printed. I must have missed it during my trip to Chicago last month.