Linzer Cookies & Claypot Tofu Meat Balls

What have I been up to lately? Sudoku. Have you played Sudoku before? If not, you should really try it! It really gets your brain juice working! Perhaps I have already miss the "trend"? Because it was an international hit in 2005. And for a period of time, Sudoku was quite a hot topic, but now, it kinds of quiet down a little. Nevertheless, it's still pretty popular since they still offer a wide range of books in store. Yeah, you guessed it, I'm addicted to it now. When I get some free time, I'll start doing a puzzle. No, I'm not an expert at it, but somehow I like being able to complete the number puzzles...sort of a tiny accomplishment for me, haha! Furthermore, I need to get my rusty brain working these days...else all I think about is the usual daily routine. :-P Lately me and my better half would just quietly seat by the sofa and furiously working on a Sudoku puzzle, haha! And because of that...I'm really behind on my posts!! This is one of those "So much to do, so little time" thingy. Anyway, if you're interested to try out this game, click here!

You must be wondering about my post name....Linzer Cookies? I know it's no where near Christmas yet. It's not even Mooncake festival! I just happen to have the mood to make some Linzer cookies . :) Love the buttery, melt in your mouth texture. ;) So who says we need to wait till Christmas for these delicious treats?
Ingredients (makes about 22 to 24 coookies):
350g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
250g unsalted butter, room temperature
90g confectioner's sugar
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
Jam, dark chocolate, nutella for the filling

Method:

• In a bowl, sift together flour and salt. Set aside.
• In another large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla extract and stir till well blend.
• Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix well till it comes together.
• Press the dough together to form a ball, divide into half. Flatten each dough into a disk and wrap in cling warp. Refridgerate until firm, about 40 minutes.
• Remove one of the disk from the fridge. Lightly dust the work surface with flour and roll out the dough to about 1/4" thick.
• Use desired cookie cutters and place the cookies on parchement lined baking tray. make sure you have same number of cookie base and top. Top meaning there will be a small cut out in the center.
  
• Preheat the oven to 165°C.
• Bake the cookies for 14 to 16 minutes, till it turns light golden brown. Transfer on rack to cool completely before filling them.
• Leaving a 1/4" boder uncoveres, spread about 1 teaspoon of the jam or chocolate filling to the cookie base.
• Sandwish the cookie base and top together. Dust a little confectioner's sugar on the surface if desired. Store in aritight containers up to 4 days.

I have opt not to dust any confectioner's sugar over the cookies. Reason being it makes the cookies sweeter, which is not what I want. And it will also soften the cookie when it melts...not desirable too. I guess I will only have that "snowy" look when it's meant for Christmas.:) Love the little cutouts in the middle. Well, there's princess tiara (again), flower, Micky Mouse and also star. It goes without saying which are the ones that are gone first. Even though this is a relatively difficult dough to work with (sticky), I still think it is really worth the trouble. It's light and crisp texture is really to die for. Be sure to use the best quality butter, as it will yield a much more fragrant and tasty cookie. ;)
Wanted to add another dish that I made for dinner a couple nights back into this post. It's call Tofu Meat Balls in Claypot (again!!) You all must be wondering why lately I have been putting up dinner dishes in my posts?! Reason is I have friends that has been asking me why all I cook is cakes,cookies and bread...what do I cook for dinner? I guess these dishes are really useful to those busy moms that run out of ideas to cook. So I figured why not just add on to my posts once in a while to give out some ideas to those busy moms. ;) Ingredients A:
300g minced pork/chicken
1 egg tofu
1 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked and chopped
1 tbsp cornflour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 beaten egg

Ingredients B:
some corn flour
2 cups cooking oil for deep fry
1/2 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 tbsp shredded ginger
3 black mushrooms, soaked and sliced
200g Chinese cabbage, cut into bite size

Seasoning:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar
Dash Sesame oil & pepper
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
500ml water

Method:

• Put ingredients A into a mixing bowl and stir until well mixed. Form into small balls.
• Coat the balls with corn flour, then deep fry them in cooking oil until golden brown. Dish and drain.
• In a claypot, heat up 1 tbsp cooking oil. Saute the garlic and giner until fragrant. Add mushrooms, Chinese cabbage and seasoning. Cook till the vegetables have release it's liquid and soften a little, add the meat balls.
• Continue to simmer at lower fire for abohter 10 minutes till the sauce thickens. Serve hot with steam rice.

This is a delicious dish to go with steam rice. ;) The tofu meat balls is tender due to the added tofu and flavorful too, something the old and young will enjoy.
I love dishes that has gravy with them. I enjoy drizzling the tasty gravy over steam rice...which now has also been a habit for my girls. ;) No clay pot? No worries, use any pot you have, it will taste as great. ;) Do try out this simple and delicious dish tonight.