Compost Cookies: Milk Bar Special

Happy New Year! My first post in 2013 and it goes against every resolution I made this year. I've been delaying on writing this entry for a while. And of course, now it comes at the worst of times, when most of us have sworn of sweets for 2013, singing this will be the year I give up sugar! File this one away - you'll want to save the Compost Cookie recipe for a rainy day when those sugar-free-carb-free-calorie-free-taste-free "treats" just won't do. Trust me. Every bite will be worth it.

I first made these cookies for Thanksgiving, when a  bunch of us NYers were getting together to celebrate the holiday. And nothing says New York like Momofuko Milk Bar, so I decided to test out these Compost Cookies.

These are no ordinary cookies (if you've eaten at Milk Bar you know nothing there is ordinary!). These cookies are the perfect combination of sweet and salty - chewy and gooey - chocolate and chips (potato!). Some of the ingredients were hard to track down in Hong Kong but generally these were pretty easy to make.

I got some weird looks while baking these. You're putting those pretzels where?! In The cookie batter?! Traditional cookies these are not. But you're guaranteed to love every bite. 

Milk Bar Compost Cookies

Makes 2 dozen cookies

What You'll need:

chopped Almond Roca

2 C unsalted butter at room temperature 

• 1 C granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons glucose (available at Olivers)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
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  • GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST:
• 1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs 
• 1/4 C milk powder
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 stick melted butter
• 1/4 C heavy cream
• What To Do:                             In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugars and glucose on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat for an additional 7 to 8 minutes.  
• Reduce the speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute, being careful not to overmix the dough. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
                                                                  Still on low speed, add the chocolate and butterscotch chips, the graham crust, oats and coffee and mix just until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the potato chips and pretzels and beat, still on low speed, just until incorporated, being careful not to overmix or break too many of the pretzels or potato chips. (You deserve a pat on the back if one of your cookies bakes with a whole pretzel standing up in the center.)
  Using a 2-ounce ice cream scoop or a 1/3-cup measure, portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing each portion roughly 4 inches apart. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, up to one week. Do not bake the cookies while at room temperature — they will not bake up properly.
  Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the cookies, one tray at a time on the center rack, 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the cookies halfway through baking for even cooking. The cookies will puff, crackle and spread while baking, and should be very faintly browned on the edges yet still bright in the center. Give them an extra minute or so if needed.
  Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temperature, the cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; frozen, they will keep for up to 1 month.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
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•   Indulge, enjoy and savor!
  

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  • 1 Tsp Kosher Salt
  • 3/4 C mini chocolate chips
  • 1/2 C mini butterscotch chips (I used chopped Almond Roca, available in HK supermarkets)
  • 1/2 C graham cracker crumb (recipe below)
  • 1/3 C rolled oats
  • 2 1/2 tsp ground coffee (not instant)
  • 2 C potato chips (Milk Bar suggests Cape Cod)
  • 1 C mini pretzels

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    graham cracker crumbs

  
  

  
  

  

  a little bit of love (and salt)
  
  
  

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Pumpkin Soup Shooters

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday -food, food, football!  I was sad to not spend Thanksgiving at home for the first time in my life (and of course missed Big Wednesday back in the 'dale), but we had a great time celebrating with our new Hong Kong extended family.

Our friends Rachel and Neal hosted a delicious dinner on Saturday - with all the traditional fixin's! The last few years at home, my contribution has always been a Thanksgiving soup, and so I decided that this year I would bring that tradition to Hong Kong.

Tried and true, I made this soup last Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit! Last year I made it with squash, but this year I used Japanese pumpkin, which is really easy to find pre-cut in any market here.  The original recipe from Sunset magazine suggests serving this soup in mini pumpkins - a beautiful presentation! I served it in tall shot glasses as a passed hors d'oeuvre.

Pumpkin Soup with Pumpkin Seed Mint Pesto

What You'll Need:

For The Soup:
1 large onion, chopped

• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger 
• 2 tablespoons evoo
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 4 1/2 cups peeled, 1-in. chunks pumpkin or other orange fleshed squash 
• 4 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 
  
• For the Pesto:
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, plus slivered leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup evoo
• 1/4 cup salted roasted pumpkin seeds

What To Do:

1. Start with the soup: Sauté the onion and ginger in oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat until golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and coriander and cook until softened, 1 minute, then add pumpkin, broth, salt, and pepper. Simmer, covered, until pumpkin is very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Purée in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender until very smooth.
2. Make your pesto: Combine garlic, whole mint leaves, salt, and 1 tbsp. oil in a food processor.  Add remaining oil and pumpkin seeds and pound until coarsely crushed.

Serve: Drop small spoonfuls of pesto over bowls of soup, garnish with slivered mint, and serve remaining pesto on the side.

Serves 4-5

Enjoy! 

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Weekend Getaway To Taipei: Street Food Overdose!!

Last weekend Pat and I went with our friends Matt and Jess to Taipei, Taiwan. I was surprised to learn that the flight from Hong Kong is only an hour and a half long. That's easier than heading out to Montauk for the weekend!

We arrived late Friday night and dropped our bags off at Hotel Eclat before heading straight to one of Taipei's many night markets. The markets are filled with stalls and stalls of food. This was my kind of place! I was also surprised at how much shopping there was in the market! Jess and I browsed for some cute, cheap, finds (scarves, jewelry, jeggings!) inbetween stopping for snacks.

Here are some street market pics. It's all about food, food, food! My favorite was a small, dumpling like bun that was filled with pork (Jessica is buying one above!). I also loved the tempura-style sweet potato fries!

sausage on a stick with a variety of sauces!

There were a lot of seafood options -including the squid, octopus and prawns!

Yes - that's real life! A truck full of hanging hogs.

Why were these cute puppies right next to the street market?!

While most of our trip was about gorging ourselves with delicious street meats, we did manage to visit a few sites. Stay tuned for Taipei Part 2 for more stories and photos!

xx Gillian 

Catching Up: Updates, Visitors and More!

Mom and Dad visit Hong Kong! Here we are on board the Aqua Luna.

I've been slacking. It has been a while since I last updated the blog and weeks have come and gone where "write blog post" never got checked off my to-do list. So here are some quick updates!

About 2 months ago I started at a full time job and I've landed back in the magazine world! I know, I know, I did have it pretty good during my months as a tai tai. But being back at work is great and I'm getting to see a totally different side of Hong Kong.
'

Then I had some very special visitors! In September, my mom and dad came! Seeing them was amazing and I loved showing them around Hong Kong and giving them a glimpse of my life here. They also spent 2 weeks touring through China, which they really enjoyed!

With my mom at Hutong in Kowloon.

We got to see some sites, have some great meals and most of all just spend some time hanging out after 6 months of not seeing each other! Some of the highlights were visiting The Peak, dinner at The China Club, going through the ladies market and jade market with my mom, feasting on soup dumplings and wedding dress shopping!

We also got to spend Rosh Hashanah together and my mom helped me cook brisket and matzoh ball soup for 25 people. Turns out buying "brisket" in the wet market is not the best plan. The meat wasn't great, but the company was.  (And so was Michael's homemade chicken liver - pictured below with Liz!).


Saying goodbye to mom and dad was hard. Tears were shed. I wish they could have stayed for months, but the good news is they're already planning their next Asia adventure! I think next time they'll take our advice - don't visit in August!

On the Star Ferry!

Me, Bobo + Big Buddha!

And then just a few weeks later Rissy came to visit! We had a fun weekend in Hong Kong, dancing to some cover bands, swimming off a junk boat, visiting Big Buddha and lunch on the beach in Lantau. Mid week Riss ventured off to Thailand by herself (brave girl!) to ride some elephants and see some Buddhas and then returned to HK for a final hurrah. We spent our last few nights catching up over foot massages, eating a delicious sushi dinner, and toasting with inventive Japanese cocktails at Butler. Rissy - thanks for making the long trip - I loved having you here!


We've also started some wedding planning! Finally under the year-to-go mark, I guess it's time to get a move on some things! Planning from abroad means that I'll be handing over a lot of the job to my mom (thanks, mom). In many ways it's nice to just take a step back and be able to enjoy this time rather than sweat the small stuff.  Stay tuned for more  wedding related blog posts!




Other than that, life here is just normal life. Go to work, eat dinner, watch Homeland, Dexter, The Good Wife, go to bed, wake up and do it all again...  We may throw some curve balls in there just to keep it interesting, like a weekend jaunt to Taiwan or Christmas in Japan! After all, I wouldn't want to let my readers down!

Malaysia truly Asia: For the Best Time of Your Life

** This post comes with a design disclaimer. Blogspot seems to have a mind of her own, and while I couldn't get the photos and text to flow just right, I've decided just to post this since it is long overdue!!

Mt. Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in SE Asia. Why did we ever choose to climb this beast?

I have no idea how Pat and I decided on Malaysia for our first big Asia vacation. Could it have been all of the local TV ads (Malaysia truly Asia!)? But once we started researching, we learned that Malaysia has some pretty cool stuff to offer.

Only 2.5 hours away from HK, Malaysia has two regions: Malaysian Borneo and Peninsula Malaysia. We flew into Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo, home to South East Asia’s tallest mountain, Mount Kinabalu. Now it would be a stretch to say Pat and I are in peak physical condition, but nonetheless, we decided we couldn’t go to Malaysia and not climb to the top! From there, our trip took shape and we set out for a few days of adventure and a few days of r&r.   Here are some highlights!

White Water Rafting

Our old school train ride.

Day 1 we woke up at 5am to go white water rafting on the Padas River. We took a 2-hour bus to a train station, where we then boarded an old diesel train for a 2-hour ride through the backwoods. The train ride itself was quite an experience. It was sort of like the train in Slumdog Millionaire. No joke. People were carrying live chickens.  We then spent a few hours rafting on class 3-4 rapids, taking in some of the gorgeous scenery in Malaysia.

Climbing Mount Kinabalu  DAY 1:

Day 2 of our trip we were up at 6am to head to Mount Kinabalu. At 4,095m/13,435 feet, she’s Southeast Asia’s tallest mountain and one of the most popular climbs because there are no technical skills needed for this climb. In fact, you see people of all ages on the mountain – including kids and elderly go-getters! (The oldest person to summit the mountain was 98 years old and Japanese tourists around 89 or 90 regularly climb the mountain. What?)


We met our guide, Jimmy, at 9am and set off on our hike, which is divided into a 2-day climb. We each had a small backpack with overnight clothes, a few warm layers, rain gear, a headlamp, and lots of water and power bars. The first few minutes of the hike were downhill. Don't be fooled! The rest of the way was 8.7km uphill. The trail is literally some sort of "step" all the way up hill, rocks, tree roots, wooden steps. But, our guide kept encouraging us to go slow and take breaks. There are 7 shelters built along the trail and your guide makes you stop at each to take a quick break.

2 medicinal tigers: beer and balm

A few hours later we were at our camp, Laban Rata, for the night.  Laban Rata is situated at about 6km and 3,273m) up the mountain and is perched well above the clouds and city far below. It only takes 100 or so guests per night and the only way to get there is by hiking! This place is like a ski lodge – everyone’s sitting around the main room in their hiking gear and hats and gloves (yes, it gets cold!!) and exhausted and sore. Pat and I played a few games of black jack for peanut m&ms and then enjoyed the early bird dinner special at around 5pm, when they cooked up a giant buffet feast. At around 7:30pm we called it a night, retreating to our bunk beds in a group dorm room, which we shared with a few Japanese and Chinese hikers.

Sunset from Laban Rata

Climbing Mount Kinabalu DAY 2: 

At 2am everyone in Laban Rata was awake again and prepping for the morning ahead – a climb to the summit…in the dark!  With 2.72km left to climb, we set out bundled in thermals, led only by our headlamps and the stars above. After about an hour, we were high above tree level and the ground below us shifted from stairs to pure granite. We continued the rest of the way holding onto a rope. A welcome break for my tired and shaking legs!  

By around 5:30am we had made it to the top and took a seat to watch the sunrise. While we waited, there was an amazing lightning storm in the distance. We were so far above the clouds that all you could see was the clouds light up. It looked like fireworks!

It’s really cold on top of the mountain – often reaching freezing plus a major wind. Whoever had warned me to bring extra layers, I should have listened…but I pushed through long enough to watch the sky change from black to navy to orange and pink and finally to a pale blue.

Some straglers made it up after sunrise, but they still made it to the top!