speculoos cookie butter bars

so i didnt think eating the whole jar of trader joes speculoos cookie butter with a spoon was healthy so when i saw this recipe i couldnt wait to try it.  too bad i used salt instead of sugar and had to throw the whole thing out.
Frosted Speculoos Cookie Butter Bars
Makes about 25 small squares
Inspired by this recipe for butterscotch blondies (which is originally from How to Cook Everything)
For the sprinkle:
1 tablespoon (12 grams) sugar
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) cinnamon
For the cookie bars:
1 1/4 cup (156 grams) flour
1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) cinnamon
4 tablespoons (56 grams or half a stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup (110 grams) sugar
1/2 cup (115 grams) brown sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup (133 grams) speculoos cookie butter*
For the frosting:
2 tablespoons (28 grams) butter, very soft
generous 1/3 cup (about 90 grams) speculoos cookie butter*
2 cups (250 grams) powdered sugar
5 tablespoons (74 ml) half and half or heavy cream, plus more as needed
Make the cookie bars: Preheat the oven to 375. Butter an 8 x 8 pan then line with two sheets of overlapping parchment. In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the sprinkle. Set both aside. In a medium bowl whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together.
In another medium bowl mix the melted butter with the sugars until combined. Add vanilla and both eggs and mix well until incorporated. Add the cookie butter and stir until smooth and fully combined. Add the flour mixture to the cookie butter mixture and stir to combine. Spread into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula.
Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the bars and gently tap the pan back and forth so that the sprinkle is evenly spread across the top of the cookies. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a rack until fully cooled.**
Make the frosting: In a medium bowl beat together the butter, cookie butter and powdered sugar until well combined, then slowly stream the half and half into the powdered sugar mixture. Increase the speed of the mixer and beat the frosting for least 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add a bit more half and half as needed to achieve a spreadable consistency. Generously spread the frosting over the cooled bars. Slice and serve

beef brisket and tendon noodle soup

i found this recipe and decided to give it a try.  at ranch99 i didnt find beef tendon or brisket nor beef bones so i bought beef shank and beef neck bones.  i made the stock with shank and neck bones then i went to marina and they had all the beef ingredients!  i took out the neckbones, even though most of the meat had fallen off the bones and put in beef bones.  i also put in way too much rock sugar and it was super sweet!  like a sweet dessert soup!  FAIL!  i added salt, soy sauce, and maggi and it turned out ok i think.  also next time i want to use a mix of shank meat and brisket and tendon.  i want to add in tendon later so its not so soft and gelatinous.

Ingredients:

• 450g beef - cut into large chunks
• 450 beef tendons - cut into bite size pieces

For stock:

• 1.6kg beef bones
• 1.5L water
• 3 cardamon pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 10 cloves
• 5 star anise
• 1 tbs fennel seeds
• 1 tbs coriander seeds
• 2 onions - with skin on, washed, dried, halved
• 4 slices ginger (each about 4 inches in length)

Seasonings:

• 1 1/2 tbs fish sauce
• 50 g rock sugar
• 2 tbs Chu Hou sauce

For egg noodles:

• Fresh egg noodles
• Sesame oil
• White pepper powder

Directions:

The day before:

For stock: (refer to Vietnamese beef pho post for detailed instructions.)

• Blanch bones to get rid of scum.
• Broil onion, ginger in the oven until charred.
• Toast spices on a pan until fragrant.
• Place all ingredients for stock in a pot and cook under pressure for 1 1/2 hours.
• Leave to cool.
• Strain stock and refrigerate overnight.

The next day:

• Discard the layer of solid fats.
• Reheat stock in a pot, add beef, tendon, rock sugar and Chu Hou sauce. Cook under pressure for 45 mins.
• Remove pressure cooker lid, leave to simmer until liquid thickened.
• Add fish sauce to taste.
• Serve with egg noodles, not to forget some chili oil!

For egg noodles:

• Place noodles in a pot of hot water to loosen up the noodles.
• Drain.
• Toss with some sesame oil and white pepper.

spinach ohitashi

so we have this japanese cookbook that we've never used and when i spied that we had one bunch on spinach in our fridge i decided spinach ohitashi it is!  some of the other recipes i saw online asks for dashi.  but not the recipe i used.  in the end i think i soaked the spinach for WAY too long.  and the thing tasted like a salt like.  fail.  again. 

ingredients
spinach
soy sauce
water
sesame seeds

directions
1.  place spinach in boiling water for 20 seconds
2.  rinse with cold water
3.  squeeze out excess water
4.  mix equal parts soy sauce and water and soak spinach
5.  when you are ready to serve, squeeze excess water from spinach
6.  form log and cut
7.  toast sesame seeds and sprinkle on top

udon pork carbonara

i made so many mistakes and subsitutions to this recipe im not sure i should even link it. first off i didnt know what gochujang was.  i substituted for some kimchi paste we had leftover. next mistake, i think i was afraid it would be too salty so i put in sugar.  but i think i managed to put in salt instead of sugar.  it was SUPER salty.  like painfully so.  oh and i didnt have pork belly.  i had pork shoulder.  i also didnt want to do bok choy so i made a spinach ohitashi instead. 

The Pork:1/4 cup gochujang
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sriracha
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
splash of water
1.5 lbs pork belly
Mix the sauce, cut the belly into manageable slices, toss together, pour into shallow pan or baking dish, bake at 275 for 5 hours

The Sauce:
4 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
Mix everything well and set aside for a half hour to get to room temperature

The Rest:
2 packages of cooked udon noodles
a few stalks of young bok choy
2 cloves garlic
hand full of bean sprouts

bring water to a boil. saute the stalks of the bok choy for about 8 minutes until they begin to brown. add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the bok choy leaves and saute until wilted. cook the udon in the boiling water for a minute or two. toss into the pot with the bok choy and add in the bean sprouts. Toss to combine. Pour into the bowl with the egg mixture and toss to coat with the egg sauce and lightly cook the eggs in the heat of the noodles. Serve with scallions and black pepper.

matcha mochi

this was another matcha recipe i tried and it turned out pretty well. it was hard for me to tell when it was done because i used a slightly different pan than the instructions.  i did the toothpick trick and it seemed to come out ok.  i wouldve liked to add something else to the mochi, it seems a bit plain by itself.  ive had mochi cake where there were blueberries in it.

Ingredients

• 16 oz Mochiko rice flour (or can substitute for any brand of glutinous rice flour)
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 tablespoons matcha green tea powder

Directions
1. Cream the butter with sugar. It helps to melt the butter a little first.
2. Mix in the evaporated milk to the butter/sugar mixture.
3. Mix eggs into the mixture.
4. Mix in the rice flour, baking powder and vanilla.
5. Mix in the matcha green tea powder.
6. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 pan.
7. Bake for approximately 1 hour at 350 degrees.
8. Let cake completely cool, allowing the mochi to set, before cutting and serving