"Guai Wei", literally translated as "exotic/unusual/special flavour or taste", is one of main sauces used in Szechuan cuisine of China. The ingredients of "guai wei" usually consists of sesame, vinegar, Szechuan peppercorns, sugar, hot bean sauce and rice wine.

1. Clean the chicken legs in warm water. Fill a pot with water over medium heat. When it starts to simmer, add in ginger, onion, Szechuan peppercorns and rice wine. Now add in prepared chicken thighs and cook for 12 minutes until just cooked and tender. Remove the chicken and soak in a pot of ice water until cool. Remove the chicken and cut into small pieces. Arrange the chicken on a serving plate.
2. Mix the Szechuan peppercorn oil, hot bean sauce, sesame oil, sesame paste, black vinegar, Maggi seasoning, and chicken bouillon in a bowl. Pour the dressing over the chicken, then sprinkle the roasted sesame seeds and chopped spring onions on top.

Homemade fish sticks are one of my favourites. They are crunchy, spicy and delicious! If you can't take hot food, then skip the step of preparing chilli sauce and make a tartar or remoulade instead to accompany these fish sticks.

1. Rinse and pat the fish fillets dry with kitchen paper. Slice the fillets into 3-inch strips. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Dredge the fish strips to coat with sweet potato flour.
2. Fill a deep skillet half full with oil and heat to 150C/300F. Lower the prepared fish strips and fry until lightly golden. Increase the temperature to 200C/400F and fry for a further 5 seconds. Remove and drain.
3. Leave a little bit of oil in the skillet and stir in chopped garlic, chilli, spring onion and all the ingredients of the sauce. Return the fish strips to the skillet and gently stir to combine. Serve them on a bed of arugula.

The avocado gives this mashed potato dish extra taste and creaminess, and increases the nutritional value of the dish. The caramelized garlic cloves do the trick and give the dish a real punch! Recipe adapted from Essen&Trinken--Kartoffel Avocadopüree mit Knoblauchkaramell.

• 20 g Sugar
• 20 g Butter
• 10 Garlic cloves, peeled
• 300 g Potatoes, peeled and diced
• 80 ml Milk
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 Ripe avocado
• 1 tsp Lemon juice
• 50 g Wholemilk yogurt
• 2 tbsp Curly parsley, chopped

1. Caramelize the sugar in a small skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Add in butter and garlic cloves. Cook until the garlic cloves turned a beautiful golden brown.
2. Place diced potatoes and 1/3 teaspoon of salt in a large pot. Fill with encough water to cover the potatoes. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until cooked through. Drain.
3. Half the avocado and scoop out the flesh and place in a large bowl along with lemon juice, yogurt, salt and pepper. Reserve the avocado shells. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture until smooth.
4. Warm the milk in a pot over the low heat. Mash the drained potatoes through a sieve into the hot milk. Remove, then add in avocado puree and chopped curly parsley. Warm up the mixture over the low heat. Season with salt and pepper. Fill the avocado shells with potato puree, and top with some caramelized garlic cloves.

These easy cheesy olive muffins really make a chic and delish appetizer for your holiday dinner parties. They are mainly prepared with flour, milk, eggs, cheeses (Parmesan and fresh goat cheese), green and black olives, and fresh herbs. I have them served with some mixed salad greens, but you can enjoy them just without. A glass of Loire white, like Sancerre, or sauvignon blanc-based white is highly recommended. If you really don't like the common cat-pee smell from sauvignon blanc, then a refreshing riesling would be just as lovely and harmonious.
Recipe adapted from Kabeleins Olivenkuchen mit Ziegenfrischkäse und Salat
I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

• 100 g All purpose flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 100 ml Milk
• 80 ml Olive oil
• 2 Eggs
• 60 g Green olives
• 60 g Black olives
• 50 g Fresh grated Parmesan
• 2 tbsp Fresh curly parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp Fresh rosemary, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 10 round Fresh goat cheese, 20 grams each
• Some mixed salad to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line 10 wells of a muffin pan with paper liners. Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add in milk, olive oil and egg yolks and beat until smooth. Now add in olives, Parmesan, and chopped herbs. Season the mixture with salt and black pepper.
2. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold the egg white into the batter until combined. Fill the prepared muffin pan 3/4 full with batter. Top each with one fresh goat cheese round and drizzle with a little of olive oil.
3. Bake at the upper rack of the oven for about 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Serve the muffins on a bed of mixed salad.

This is basically a clean-out-fridge salad. So depending on what whatsoever greens or leftover in the fridge, you can mix and match so many different ingredients to make delicious and light meals.

1. Whisk together plain yogurt, walnut oil, mustard, honey, and red wine vinegar until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill until ready for use.
2. Cut the ends off endives, separating leaves. Arrange Belgian endive, orange sections and avocado slices in a serving bowl. Scatter with the olive rings, grape tomato halves, and onion strips. Drizzle the dressing over and serve with some bread.

A quick, easy oven-roasted chicken thighs with Ariosto spice mix, fresh rosemary and maple syrup.

• 2 / 550 g Chicken thighs
• 5 Potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
• 1+1/2 tbsp Ariosto seasoning for meat
• 2 tbsp Duck fat, melted (or olive oil)
• 8 Grape tomatoes
• A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
  ©angiesrecipes
• 1 tbsp Maple syrup

1. Heat oven to 200C/400F. Thoroughly clean the chicken legs with warm water and drain. Make a couple of slits on the meaty part of chicken thighs. Peel the potatoes and cut into wedges.
2. Place the cleaned chicken legs and the prepared potato wedges in a shallow baking tray, add in Ariosto seasoning and melted duck fat, then toss until well-coated. Add in grape tomatoes and rosemary sprigs.
3. Bake for 35 minutes until chicken and potatoes are fork tender. Brush the chicken with maple syrup and broil for 5 minutes.

Few things make your house smell like festive holidays as much as the delicious baked treats fresh out of the oven. Made with fresh ginger, crystallized ginger, Christmas spices, molasses, maple syrup, these ginger snaps are packed with flavours and a great reminder of Christmas. Recipe adapted from Cook's Companion by Carole Clements and Essen und Trinken
To all my friends and readers, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas with Good Mood, Real Food and Love!

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Prepare 3 baking trays with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Beat the golden caster sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in egg, molasses, maple syrup, and fresh ginger. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Beat until incorporated.
3. Fold in the crystallized ginger. Cover with a plastic film and chill for 1 hour. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the sugar, and place about 2-inch apart on the prepared baking tray.
4. Bake until the cookies are just firm to the touch, about 12 minutes or 15 minutes if you prefer them crisp. Transfer the ginger snaps to wire racks and let cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Risotto is really delicious at any time of the day and the addition of beetroot makes this pretty much a super-food, as beetroot are a rich source of potent antioxidants and nutrients. Next time I am going to scatter some

• 200 g Cooked beetroot
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Shallot, finely chopped
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 130 g Risotto rice
• 80 ml White wine
• 400 ml Hot vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp Parmesan, finely grated
• Handful of arugula

1. Puree half of the cooked beetroot and cut another half into small pieces. Ser aside. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Tip in shallot and garlic, then stir until translucent. Stir in rice until well-coated with oil. Pour in the white wine and beetroot puree. Simmer until all is absorbed.
2. Pour in a third of the hot vegetable stock and set the timer to 18 mins. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the stock has been absorbed, then add half the rest of the stock and continue cooking and stirring until that has been absorbed.
3. Add in the rest of the stock, stir, then simmer until cooked. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in most of the Parmesan, arugula and the diced beetroot through the risotto. Serve with Parmesan and arugula scattered on top.

Rosemary, with its unforgettable pine-like fragrance, pungent flavour, and unique health benefits, is an indispensable herb for every kitchen. They are often used to flavour meat, fish, sauces or soups. Besides its well-known culinary use, rosemary has been used in cosmetic and to treat digestive disorders and headaches.
Adapted from BBC Good Food

• 325 g All purpose flour
• 200 g Salted butter
• 125 g Caster sugar
• 2 Egg yolks
• 1 tbsp Rosemary
  ©angiesrecipes, finely chopped
• 60 g Walnuts, chopped

1. Put the flour and butter in a food processor and whizz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, egg yolks and rosemary and whizz to a dough.
2. Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead in the walnuts. Shape into a log about 5cm across. Wrap in plastic and chill for an hour.
3. Line two baking trays with paper. Heat the oven to 180C/350F. Slice the dough into biscuits and arrange on the prepared trays. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove and transfer to the wire racks to cool.

A delicious and simple salad with fresh oranges and quality vacuum packed cooked beetroot served with orange caper dressing. d makes The contrast of colours makes the salad extremely appetizing and pleasing.

• 2 Cooked Beetroot, cut into 4mm thick slices
• 2 Oranges
• 1 tbsp Flat parsley leaves, chopped
• 3 tbsp Orange juice
• 1 tsp Honey
• 20 ml Olive oil
• Salt and fresh ground Pepper
• 1 tbsp Red onion, finely chopped
• 10 Capers

1. Slice the cooked beetroot into 4mm thick slices. Peel the oranges, removing the white pith and slice into 4mm slices.
2. Place orange juice, honey, olive oil in a jar, season with salt and pepper. Close the lid and give it a good shake. Add in chopped red onions and capers. Mix thoroughly.
3. Arrange the orange and beetroot slices alternately in a row on a serving platter. Pour the dressing over and sprinkle the chopped parsley on top. Serve immediately.

And I also want to thank Alisha of The Ardent Epicure and Sara of The Lonely Radish for sharing this award with me. THANK YOU!

Linzer cookies based on traditional Austrian Linzertorte, are one of the common Christmas cookies in Germany. They are nutty, rich and SWEET. Traditionally they are filled with black currant jam, but any other fruit preserves can be used to fill the cookies. Rather than almonds, nuts such as hazelnuts, pecan, can be substituted to make Linzer dough.

Created in Linz, Austria in the 17th century, the Linzer torte is the world's oldest torte recipe. Tortes use nuts rather than flour as the main dough ingredient. The Linzer torte features an almond-based crust filled with black current preserves and topped with a lattice crust. In the 19th century, the Linzer torte was adapted into the present-day Linzer cookie.

1. Cut the orange into halves, put the half of the orange face down on the juicer and rotate it to get the juice. Place orange juice, red wine, canning sugar, star anises, cinnamon stick, and cloves in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for about 4 minutes. Strain the jelly through a sieve. Set aside.
2. Beat butter, sugar, pinch of salt and egg yolk until combined. Add in ground almond, spekulatius spice and flour. Mix all the ingredients together with your hands until you have smooth dough. Flatten the dough into a 5-inch disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
3. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Roll out the dough into a 4mm thick round between 2 sheets of wax paper. Cut 2-inch rounds with a plain or fluted cutter and place them on the prepared trays. With half of the rounds, cut a hole from the middle of each round with a heart or flower shaped cutter.
4. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature. Spread mulled wine jelly thinly on the flat side of each solid cookie. Dust the top of the cut-out cookies with confectioners' sugar and press the flat sides together. Fill the holes with little more jelly. Store them in your cookie box, separating the layers with waxed paper, and store for up to 2 weeks.

These nice soft avocado cookies with a mild tang of sweetness, subtle nutty flavour, and buttery richness are sure to liven up your holiday tea parties. They also make great gifts for the elderly relatives and neighbours.
Recipe adapted from Vegan Yum Yum

• 100 g Butter
• 1/2 Avocado, mashed
• 120 g 0.1% Cream cheese
• 120 g Sugar
• 2 tbsp Lemon juice
• 1 tbsp Poppy seeds
• 230 g All purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda

1. Line 2-3 baking trays with paper. Cream butter, mashed avocado, cream cheese, and sugar together. Add lemon juice and poppy seeds, and beat until light and fluffy.
2. Add in flour, baking soda and mix until incorporated. Fill your piping bag fitted with a star tip half full with cookie batter and pipe out cookies onto the prepared trays. Alternatively you can use a cookie gun to press any desired patterned cookies.
3. Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookies are lightly golden. Transfer them on the wire rack to cool.