Like most of the recipes for chocolate chips cookies this one is simple and easy.
I’ve tried many recipes and after adjusting for this and that I came up with the one that I like the most…it is soft and slightly chewy, but if you care for a crunchy and crispy style you can bake a little longer and still have a great cookie.

Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick) softened butter
2 tablespoon granulated sugar (if you prefer less sugar omit this)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnut

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a bowl, mix together the flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
In another large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer cream together the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.
Combine dry ingredients to the creamed butter. Stir in the chocolate chips and the walnut.
With the help of two spoons, spoon the dough on to a wax paper cover cookie sheet, 1 inch apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or just until edges are slightly brown.

Makes two dozen cookies.

This is a very simple and easy recipe of oven roast peppers to have always handy in the refrigerator. These oven roast peppers can be kept in your refrigerator for up to 2 weeks and used on top of green salad or as a side dish. It is not only colorful but very tasty.

Ingredients:
2~3 lb of mini bell peppers, yellow, red and orange
10~15 garlic cloves (you can cut on the amount if you are not a garlic fan)
1~2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon dry parsley
1 teaspoon dry basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Remove the seeds and the stem from the peppers, peel the garlic and slice. In a big bowl mix all the ingredients together by gently tossing the peppers. Place the peppers in an oven safe dish for 20~25 minutes at 350F. Let is cool and serve. On my salad, I just add a little balsamic vinegar since the peppers already have olive oil, salt and pepper, it makes a good salad look even better.

Did you know that red peppers contain more vitamin C, lycopene and carotene than green peppers? Did you know that paprika, a spice used in many culinary dishes is made from grinding dry bell peppers.

This is a very simple recipe for Asian style sweet buns, they are so soft and tasty. The water roux method was used to accomplish the softness of the dough. I made the dough with the help of my Zojirushi bread machine, therefore it was very easy, simple and without mess…just let the machine do the work. It is great as a snack or as a breakfast treat.

Ingredients:

Water roux
75 ml of water
15 g of bread flour

Dough
2 cups bread flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dry milk
1½ tablespoon butter
1½ teaspoon dry yeast
1 large egg and complete to 100 ml with water

1 can of red bean paste

Method:

Water roux
Mix flour and water in a small saucepan. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring constantly until it reaches 65ºC/149ºF. The mix will turn to a paste and you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, cover with a saran wrap film over the paste and leave until lukewarm.

Dough
Add the water roux and all the dough ingredients to the bread machine bucket according to the manufacture’s guideline. I let the dough cycle run for 2 times, making sure that the dough reaches a thin membrane. The dough will be slightly sticky. Let is rise for approximately 2 hours in a cover container or until it double its initial volume.

Punch down, knead the dough and form into a ball shape. Then divide into 16 equal portions. Gently flat the balls and fill it with the red bean paste. Shape the buns and place all finished buns on a baking pan. Cover the buns with saran wrap film and let rise until double in size.
Bake in preheated 350°F oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Did you know that red bean paste was originated in China? The red bean paste is also called Azuki bean paste and is widely used in Asian cuisine, the paste can be very smooth or chunky (pieces of beans).