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    Articles and Recipes — Non-Stick Baking Sheet

    Cookies! Chinese New Year Traditions

    Cookies! Chinese New Year Traditions

    Just when you thought cookie season was over, I would like to introduce you to two traditional Chinese New Year Cookie recipes Hup Toh So and Almond Cookies.  

    Almond Cookies are created using traditional wooden molds, last year I demonstrated using husMait round cookie cutters and the bottom of husMait measuring cups. See that post here. The base of the 1/3 cup Stainless Steel Measuring Cup fits perfectly into the second smallest Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters and the 1/8 Stainless Steel Cup can be used in the smallest Stainless Steel Cookie Cutter.

       

    This year I was able to go to Shanghai Street, in Hong Kong to buy the traditional wooden molds, and I am returning to Helen Au’s A Step Full of You for her Vegan Chinese Almond Cake Biscuit recipe. I love the way the traditional molds shaped the cookies.

     

    Hup Toh So is a walnut cookie this year I am using a recipe from Daily Cooking Quest by Anita. If you are looking for a vegan version, I like this one from What To Cook Today, or simply replace the butter with vegan butter or vegetable shortening.

     

    Products used in baking these recipes: 

    Set of 3 Melamine Mixing Bowls
    Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters
    Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
    Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
    Flour Scraper Set of 2
    Essential Bakeware 5 Piece Set
    Signature Bakeware 5 Piece Set

    Spring Rolls - Wishing You Wealth and Prosperity

    Spring Rolls - Wishing You Wealth and Prosperity

    Kung Hei Fat Choi! 🧧 Happy Lunar New Year!

    I have always loved Chinese food, and have been fortunate to live in Hong Kong where we enjoyed the traditions and all of the special food surrounding the Chinese New Year celebrations. This year Chinese New Year begins on February 1st. The first three days have important traditions of family gatherings and gift-giving, with some people celebrating with the culmination of the Lantern Festival on Feb 15, 2022. It is fun to learn the culture surrounding these traditions.

    Spring Rolls are a favorite dish, traditionally served on the first day of Chinese New Year, and year-round at yum cha/dim sum. Generally the shape and color remind us of gold bars, which are believed to bring wealth and prosperity to your home and business. I enjoyed reading Amanda Xi’s explanation of the culture surrounding the spring roll. There is a detailed comparison of the wide variety of fillings and sizes of spring rolls written by Cindy on China Highlights.  

    In the US the more commonly found variation is the larger egg roll, which we loved for years, and still enjoy. Spring roll wrappers are flexible in texture and self-seal, whereas egg roll wrappers are more like pasta dough, need an egg wash to seal the edges, and can hold filling that has more texture and volume. Over the years I have melded many recipes together for my fillings, and our family prefers the smaller spring roll size. Spring rolls can easily be made vegan by adding mushrooms and omitting the pork. Many recipes call for additional ingredients such as shrimp. 

    Sheri’s Spring Rolls 

    Equipment: 
    7” Santoku Knife with Sheath
    Set of 3 Stainless Steel Bowls (useful to cool hot food)
    Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
    Stainless Steel measuring cups
    Silicone  Rolling Mat
    10x15” Non-Stick Baking Sheet
    Cutting board
    skillet
    spatula
    damp cloth to cover wrappers 

    Ingredients:
    1/2 pound ground pork (* vegetarian option noted below)
    2 garlic cloves, minced
    1/2 a medium head of cabbage, sliced thin and chopped
    1 carrot, grated
    4 ounces bamboo shoots, julienned 
    1/2 inch ginger root, minced finely
    2 teaspoons Shao Xing Rice Wine
    1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
    1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
    Salt, white pepper
    2 green onions, sliced thin
    1 pack spring roll wrappers** 
    Up to 1/4 cup vegetable oil for frying.

    Method:

    Prepare all the vegetables. 

    In a skillet over medium heat lightly brown ground pork* and minced garlic. Remove into a heatproof bowl to cool. 

    In the same skillet, over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, cabbage, carrots, bamboo shoots, and ginger then cook until the cabbage begins to soften. 

    Add rice wine, soy sauce, five-spice powder, and seasonings. Continue cooking until the cabbage is soft but not overcooked. 

    Add the vegetables to the pork, and mix well. Taste the mixture and adjust seasonings. 

    When cool set up your rolling station - filling, open wrappers covered with damp cloth, tablespoon,  

       

    Orient a wrapper on the work surface in a diamond, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling just below the middle of the wrapper, fold the lower triangle over the filling, then the left and right points over the filling. Taper the fold lines slightly so that the roll will look neat.

    Lay the rolled spring roll on a tray with the fold side down and continue until all the filling is wrapped.

    Heat the skillet over medium heat, add 1 Tablespoon, or just enough oil to coat 1/2 of the spring rolls. Brown on all sides. You can shallow fry or deep fry for a richer color. Repeat.

    Serve warm with soy sauce with chili oil, sweet and sour sauce, and or mustard sauce. 

    We hope you try this recipe, and tag us on social media!

    Sending warm wishes to your home, 
    from the husMait home kitchen. 

     

    *Vegetarian option: 1/2 pound of brown or Portobello mushrooms, plus a few rehydrated dry mushrooms. 

    **If you cannot find spring roll wrappers you can substitute Egg Roll wrappers.
    If you use egg roll wrappers you will need egg wash to seal the edges.

    Check out this source for lots of information on Chinese New Year.

    Happy Earth Day 2021

    Happy Earth Day 2021

    What are you doing in your kitchen that is environmentally friendly?


    Here in the husMait kitchen we reduce, recycle, reuse, compost, and buy in bulk to reduce packaging to name just a few. 

    We design and source products with carefully chosen materials and an uncompromising focus on quality. Products that are durable and will last; and will eliminate the use of single-use items.



    Our husMait Non-Stick Mini Muffin Pan and Non-Stick Baking Sheet eliminate the need to line with parchment or paper cup liners. Baked goods release easily, and less water is needed for hand washing, or the pans can go directly into the dishwasher, which reduces water consumption further.

    Our Silicone Baking Mat eliminates the need to line a pan with parchment or tin foil and is very easy to clean up. Using the Silicone Baking Mat reduces water, the mat itself is virtually non-stick, and it reduces the water needed to clean a traditional pan with a stuck-on mess.



    Many dough recipes call for covering a bowl with single-use cling film, the husMait Silicone Rolling Mat has a tacky back that can be used in its place. The Silicone Rolling Mat is flexible enough to be used to wrap dough to chill in the refrigerator. These two mats go a long way to helping our kitchen become a zero-waste zone.


    At our kitchen sink, husMait Palm Brushes and the Long Handle Bottle Brushes are put to use every day. They have naturally soft and dense bristles for delicate yet effective cleaning; positioned to scrub at all angles and suitable for any surface. The strong bristles maintain shape and structure to remove tough smoothie or coffee stains. The bottle brush ideal for cleaning all shapes of reusable water bottles and reusable to go cups. 


    We believe quality products that will last at a reasonable price will make a difference to our earth.

    Happy Earth Day 2021! From the husMait kitchen.

    Gluten Free Gingerbread

    Gluten Free Gingerbread

    A family favorite traditional Gingerbread cookie recipe that I have been baking for close to 40 years, and have substituted gluten-free flour, plant-based milk, and plant-based butter. 

    We loved the crisp texture and ginger flavor these cookies delivered!

    Read more

    Cookie Cutters as Cookie Molds

    We lived in Hong Kong for 30 years, longer than I lived in the United States!         In that time Chinese New Year became a traditional holiday for our family, rivaling the festivities of Christmas. This year Chinese New Year falls on Feb 12, 2021, and it begins on the evening before is celebrated for at least 3 days and often longer. It is a time of elaborate dinners, gift-giving, trips to the Victoria Park Flower Market, Dim Sum, and Lion Dances. 

    Food is central to Chinese New Year traditions in the way it is created, gifted, and consumed.  There are customs and traditions going back generations in regards to the variety, shape, and color of the food. So when I saw Helen Au’s Vegan Chinese Almond Cookies I knew I had to make them. 

    Unfortunately, I do not have traditional wooden almond cookie molds. A quick google search will show you what I am talking about. However, as I was contemplating this challenge I came up with an amazing cheat! The basic premise of a cookie mold is to compress the sandy texture dough into a solid shape that can be turned out onto a baking surface. While living in HK for 30 years I became very adept at substitution and ingenuity- So I just reverse-engineered, and used what I have to create a mold - the base of the 1/3 cup Stainless Steel Measuring Cup fits perfectly into the second smallest Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters and the 1/8 Stainless Steel Cup can be used in the smallest Stainless Steel Cookie Cutter. 

      
    I assembled my ingredients and equipment.
    I prepared the recipe according to directions and then put 1/4 cup of mixture into the second largest cookie cutter and took the 1/3 cup and pressed very hard into the dough. Turning the cookie cutter over and gently released the cookie onto the husMait baking mat. 
       
    So while I did not end up with the lovely traditional design on the top of the cookies, this method gave the cookies the lovely scalloped edges of a traditional Chinese Almond Cookie. This recipe is amazingly simple and delicious. The batch I baked yesterday is nearly finished and a good friend said “They taste very authentic. Yummy.  They go well with coffee.”

    恭喜發財  Kung Hei Fat Choi!

    With warm wishes for your home,
    from the husMait home kitchen.

    husMait products used:

    Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters - Set of 6Stainless Steel Measuring Cups,

    Essential Bakeware Set 5 Piece Set - also available individually: Silicone Baking Mat, Silicone Rolling Mat, Set of 2 Flour ScraperStainless Steel Measuring Spoons, Set of 3 Melamine Mixing Bowl

    English Scones

    A great English Scone starts with a great recipe- I used Nigella Lawson’s, Lily Scone recipe. I love that her website translates British to US measure with the click of a button - Thank you! There are two reasons I choose this recipe - one is the leavening agent and the second is the cold butter method. 

    Assemble everything you need first, equipment and ingredients. 

    Turn on the oven and prepare baking pans. I find it very helpful to read the directions thoroughly before beginning to assemble the ingredients. 

    I used a scale to weigh my ingredients. As directed I cut the butter, then returned it to the refrigerator until it went into the bowl. I think cold butter creates less gluten and allows the flour to stay loose and airy, which helps with the rise during baking.

    The recipe calls for two leavening agents Baking Powder and Cream of Tartar. Did you know that Baking Powder is simply 1 part Baking Soda plus 2 parts Cream of Tartar? When you use a part Cream of Tartar you create a better flavor in your Scone.  

    A few technical tips I have learned across the years, first do not over mix or over handle the dough, mix it just until the flour is incorporated. Second, after turning the dough out, knead it by folding and turning to allow the lamination to remain intact and only a few turns. Third, when cutting, push straight down and lift straight up with a lightly floured cutter, this allows for that puffy rise in the oven.

    This cookie cutter set will be a go to set for my kitchen with it’s versatility in sizing, easy clean up, and ease of use.  They are well weighted and comfortable in my hand.  

    An Instagram video of this recipe will be posted on Saturday Jan 30, 2021 come have a look at the process. 

    With warm wishes for your home,
    from the husMait home kitchen.

    husMait products used: 

    Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters - Set of 6.  This will be a go to set for my kitchen with it’s versatility in sizing, easy clean up, and ease of use.  They are well weighted and comfortable in my hand.  
    Signature Bakeware 5 Piece Set -currently the Silicone Pastry Brush & Stainless Steel Cooling Rack are only available in this bundle.