my kitchen: EASIEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE

Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 12-24

Credit to I heart eating blog 

Happy new year everyone! 

I’m always trying to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe (and oatmeal chocolate chip) that’s not a fussy recipe and is tasty. I scribble recipes into a notebook and try mark notes afterwards what I thought of the result. This one had a bunch of hearts from last time and it may be my cutest batch yet, so it’s a keeper. The cookie didn’t seem to flatten much with softened (not melted) butter during baking, but were easy to take off the pan after short cooling. The taste is soft but still slightly chewy and crispy on the edges. 

EASIEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE 

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• My Optional add in - 1/4 cup oatmeal for 1/4 of the flour 
• 
  
• 1.  Preheat the oven to 190 C / 350 F
• 2. Microwave the butter for about 40 seconds. Butter should be completely melted but shouldn't be hot. (I had some butter that left at room temperature for another batch, so I used that today) 
• 3. Mix butter with the sugars until well-combined.
• 4. Stir in vanilla and egg until incorporated.
• 5. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. (Spoon in flour rather than packing it in)
• 6. Mix dough until just combined. Dough should be soft and a little sticky but not overly sticky. (Do not over mix) 
• 7. Stir in chocolate chips. (And oatmeal. Add chocolate chips on top of scooped dough if needed) 
• 8. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown on edges and bottom. 9. Sprinkle sea salt or salt flakes on top. 

my kitchen: ONE BOWL BANANA BREAD WITH YOGURT

One Bowl Banana Bread with Yogurt

Makes 1-2 loaves

Another day, another banana bread recipe. Today’s hit recipewas from Sally’s baking addiction -My Favorite Banana Bread with 4.8 stars and 1200 plus votes. I picked it because I wanted something more moist and had some yogurt on hand (and a lot of browned bananas) and the recipe was a hit! It’s moist, not too dense, nice crust and I added chocolate chips and (and nuts to half of it) and used a square cake pan instead of a loaf pan which reduces the baking time by 20-30 min. 

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (leveled)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt or sour cream, room temperature
• 2 cups 
• mashed bananas (about 4 large ripe bananas)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used a mix of semi sweet and milk) and added some almonds and walnuts 

1. Preheat oven to 350F or 180C 

2. Best butter and sugar on high until creamy, about 2 minutes. Then mix in eggs, one at time on medium speed; then yogurt, bananas, vanilla until mixed

3. On low, mix in dry ingredients. Sally’s recipe whisks dry beforehand but I just added one by one with flour last so it’s just one bowl. Don’t overmix 

4. Scrape sides down and mix in chocolate chips and/or nuts with spatula. I mix in 2 kinds of chocolate chips and then add nuts only to half of the side so there’s options. 

5. Bake for 60-65 minutes in loaf pan or 30-40 minutes in a square cake pan until top is browned and center is set. If you bake in loaf pan, cover the top halfway so it doesn’t burn. 

6. I can never wait for it to cool one hour. I cut it right away and try it and there’s nothing like eating it hot out of the oven! 😆 Store in fridge after 2 days, if it’s not all eaten by then. 

Enjoy! 

news/michelin: 2023 MICHELIN TAIWAN STARS REVEALED

Wow! This year, Michelin decided award two new restaurants with 3 Michelin Stars, changing the predictable result of Le Palais being the only one in Taiwan holding 3 stars since 2018. 

The first restaurant the Michelin Guide honored with new 3 stars was JL STUDIO in Taichung, and Michelin mentioned it’s the first time Singaporean cuisine + chef has gotten THREE STARS!! Huge huge congrats for Chef Jimmy Lim, who looked visibly shook (not shiok, haha) and taking in the moment, and the JL family! 

The second milestone of the day was chef Kai Ho receiving his first shiny THREE STARS for TAIRROIR, putting modern Taiwanese flavors on the Michelin 3 star map for the first time ever. Congrats Chef Kai and your team!!  

Ten other restaurants received new Michelin stars, including chef Kunihiro Hagimoto’s playful INITA, which has been on my to eat list for too long, and ZEA, a modern Latin American restaurant by chef Joaquin Elizondo that I enjoyed very much when it opened, and MUDAN, a refined (and expensive but still very difficult to book) restaurant serving an amazing tempura tasting menu. 

 

Congrats to all the chefs and their teams! Here is the 2023 Michelin Stars for Taiwan- Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. (Will add more tomorrow, typing this out from East Coast 230AM!) 

2023 MICHELIN GUIDE TAIWAN

★ MICHELIN ONE STAR

Danny's Steakhouse 

de nuit 

Fleur de Sel (Taichung) 

Forchetta (Taichung) 

Fujin Tree Taiwanese Cuisine & Champagne 

Holt

Impromptu by Paul Lee

Ken Anhe

Longtail

Ming Fu

Mipon

Mountain and Sea House

Oretachi No Nikuya (Taichung) 

Paris 1930 de Hideki Takayama

Shin Yeh Taiwanese Signature

Sho (Kaohsiung) 

Sur（Taichung) 

Sushi Akira

Sushi Nomura

Sushi Ryu

Sushiyoshi

T+T

The Guest House

Tien Hsiang Lo

Ya Ge

Yu Kapo

Golden Formosa 

2023 NEW ★ MICHELIN ONE STAR

A Cut

Ad Astra

Ban Bo

Haili (Kaohsiung) 

Inita 

La Maison de Win (Taichung) 

Zea

★ ★ MICHELIN TWO STARS

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

logy

RAW

2023 NEW ★ ★ MICHELIN TWO STARS

Liberte （Kaohsiung）

Molino de Urdaniz

Mudan

★ ★ ★ MICHELIN THREE STARS

Le Palais

2023 NEW ★ ★ ★ MICHELIN THREE STARS

JLStudio（Taichung）

Taïrroir

MICHELIN GREEN STAR ★

Embers 

Little Tree Food

Mountain and Sea House

Yangming Spring

NEW 2023 MICHELIN GREEN STAR ★

Hosu

Thomas Chien (Kaohsiung) 

news: ASIA'S 50 BEST 2023

Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2023

Wow! Congratulations to all the restaurants on the list and to chef Tonn who has not only the number 1 restaurant with Le Du, but 2 in the top 5 with Nusara as number 4. Sezanne made an incredible climb to number 2, with chef Daniel Calvert at the Four Seasons Tokyo. A lot of movement on the list this year with everyone being able to travel again last year. 

This year, Mume is the sole rep for Taiwan at number 45 on the list. 

1. Le Du (Bangkok)

2. Sezanne (Tokyo) 

3. Nusara (Bangkok)

4. Den (Tokyo)

5. Gaggan Anand (Bangkok)

6. Odette (Singapore) 

7. Florilege (Tokyo)

8. La Cime (Osaka)

9. Sorn (Bangkok)

10. Narisawa (Tokyo)

11. Labyrinth (Singapore) 

12. Sazenka (Tokyo) 

13. The Chairman (Hong Kong)

14. Villa Aida (Wakayama, Japan)

15. Mosu (Seoul) 

16. Masque (Mumbai) 

17. Meta (Singapore) 

18. Fu He Hui (Shanghai) 

19. Indian Accent (New Delhi) 

20. Ode (Tokyo) 

21. Zen (Singapore) 

22. Suhring (Bangkok) 

23. Onjium (Seoul) 

24. Burnt Ends (Singapore) 

25. Euphoria (Singapore) 

26. Cloudstreet (Singapore) 

27. Les Amis (Singapore)

28. Mingles (Seoul) 

29. Neighborhood (Hong Kong) 

30. Avartana (Chennai, India) 

31. Ensue (Shenzhen, China)

32. Cenci (Kyoto, Japan) 

33. Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh (Bangkok) 

34. Da Vittorio (Shanghai) 

35. Potong (Bangkok) 

36. Born (Singapore) 

37. Wing (Hong Kong) 

38. Raan Jay Fai (Bangkok) 

39. Wing Lei Palace (Macao)

40. Anan Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

41. Mono (Hong Kong) 

42. Toyo Eatery (Manila) 

43. Sichuan Moon (Macao) 

44.L’Effervescence (Tokyo)

45. Mume  (Taipei) 

46. Baan Tepa (Bangkok)

47. Born & Bred (Seoul) 

48. Metiz (Manila) 

49. Caprice (Hong Kong)

50. Refer (Beijing)