| Saturday, March 25, 2006 |
deng deng deng. u ought to love this I had loads of Passionfruits at home.. and no one seems to remember there's any passionfruit in the fridge. so, i'm the one who eats them.. and.. because i can't eat soo many in a day.. i decided to do something with it.. i fliped thru all the food mags n see if there's anything interesting n simple with passionfruit. (i dont have a car to drive, so my ingredients are quite limited.. gotta make the best out of it tho) i found them in Australian Gourmet Traveller's March Issue. coincidentally, the fruit in season is... tada.. passionfruit!! ok.. recipe & method
Fold in 1 tbsp cornflour, 2 tsp white vinegar and 1 tsp vanilla extract, then form mixture into eight 9-cm diameter rounds and bake at 120C for 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave pavlovas in until completely cold.
For passionfruit butter, combine 7 egg yolks, 1/2 cup caster sugar, 1/2 cup passionfruit juice (about 3 ripe heavy passionfruit) and 2 tbsp lemon juice in a heatproof bowl and whisk over a saucepan of simmering water for 6-7 minutes or until thick and fluffy.
Remove from heat and whisk in 175gm very soft butter, a tablespoon at a time. whisk until smooth, then whick in 1/4 cup thick natural yoghurt. Refrigerate until firm.
Fill pavlovas with passionfruit butter, and top with sliced banana, strawberries and passionfruit pulp. Makes 8
* The pavlova was abit too sweet.. and the passionfruit butter went too sour because of too much lemon juice... surprisingly when both adds together, with strawberries, they compliment each other well! one thing is that..the fruit has to be sourish type.. Extra Note: Passionfruit are great with - banana, berries, chocolate, coconut, cream, lime, lychee, mango, mascarpone, orange, mint, papaya, pineapple, run, tequila, vanilla, yoghurt.... (NOT with pavlovas)
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| Wednesday, March 22, 2006 |
Passionfruit - a rare find in local markets or grocery stores.. Passionfruit is originated in southern Brazil, from where its name is also derived. Jesuit missionaries in Brazil used the flower of the plant to illustrate the crucifixion of Christ. The flower became known as Flor de las cinco llagas (flower of the five wounds), with each part of the plant symbolising an aspect of the passion, including the crown of thorns, the crucifixion nails, the five wounds and the 10 Apostles who remained faithful to Christ. The passionfruit is also known as granadilla (small pomegranate) in South Africa, a reference to its seediness. In most parts of the world, the passionflower plant is grown mainly for its fruit (recent figures estimate worldwide production of abt 3.5k tonne) In Asia, however, the tender leaves of the vine are treated as an edible green, and they are shredded and wilted over gentle heat before being seasoned with spices and coconut. The common, purple, or 'lacy' variety is a round fruit abt the size of a lime, with dark-purple skin that wrinkles when ripe. It has intensely flavoured deep-orange pulp and small black seeds. It grows on an evergreen vine, mainly in southern and south-eastern Australia. The Panama passionfruit (pic) is larger and more oval-shapped with smooth,pale red-mauved speckled skin, often with green or yellow tinge. Unlike the common passionfruit, the Panama is ripe and sweet before the skin wrinkles. Its pulp is dark gold and it has large seeds.  the seeds are edible! love it or hate it  How to Buy n Store When buying Lacy passionfruit, bypass those with smooth shiny skinds and look for fruit that are slightly wrinkled and weigh heavily in your hand for their size. A smooth-skinned purple fruit is unripe and bitter, if the fruit is lightweight, the pulp has dried up. A ripe passionfruit should sound sloshy when u shake it and have a heady perfume. The Panama passionfruit is sweet even before the skin wrinkles, but it still should be heavy for its size. Passiofruit store well for up to 10 days at room temperature, and they are at their most fragrant and flavoursome under these conditions. THey can be refrigerated for weeks on end and be frozen whole, while the pulp can also be removed from the skin and frozen.  unripe Panama passionfruit *article picked from Australian Gourmet Traveller* *photos from me, taken in d'Paradise, Malacca* passionfruits are awesome!! Next up : Little Pavlova with whipped Passionfruit butter and strawberries  |
| Monday, March 20, 2006 |
hey ya all!!! it's been like months since i made cakes.. i miss the smell of cream cheese.. oh wtf. i was inspired by The Scent of Green Bananas . i like the Matcha Tiramisu that she made.. it looked really awesome.. so i decided to give it a try. I'm not a fan of tiramisu. because usually. no... Tiramisu is made of lady fingers / sponge fingers dipped in coffee... which is something i dont really fancy. so i've kept my mouth of tiramisu.. "Tiramisu is an Italian dessert typically made from Lady Fingers, espresso coffee, mascarpone cheese, eggs, cream, sugar, marsala wine, and cocoa. The name tiramisł means "pick-me-up", referring to the two caffeine-containing ingredients, espresso and cocoa. The Lady Fingers are sprinkled with or briefly soaked in a mixture of the coffee, wine, and sugar. They are then embedded in a mixture of mascarpone cheese and a custard made from eggs, sugar, and cream known as zabaglione. Cocoa powder is then sprinkled on top. The dessert has become one of the most popular types of dessert served in upscale restaurants of all types, not just Italian restaurants. The recipe has been adapted into cakes, puddings and other varieties of dessert made with coffee-flavoured custard." from wikipedia.com right... so, i decided to give the green tearamisu a try...  mascarpone cheese.. not as easy to get as cream cheese. Recipe (this recipe is modified from alex goh's cheesecake cookbook) (A) (B) (C) (D) Method  Ok... so... this was the recipe i used. 6 yolks 1. Whisk egg whites to stiff peaks. Add in sugar.
*the egg whites really have to be "stiff" or else the ladyfingers would be... flat instead of cylinder* Flaws : Praises:
see the sponge fingers... it wasnt' GREEN enough!!!!!! and it's suppose to be... round... not .. flat.. -.-" AH.. nevermind.. i'll make that that again... since i still have mascarpone cheese.. tsk |
| Thursday, March 16, 2006 |
ah... i was checking my stats one day.. i found alot of links to the Portuguese Egg Tarts Recipe first was from Global Voices Online Have you ever prepared "Portuguese Egg Tarts"? Are you still having those recurrent nightmares about your puff pastry not puffing up? The girls from the Just Heavenly blog: Swee San, YeeMei & Melisa, share their secrets and recipes with very nice step by step photos, to help you prepare the perfect "Apple Strudel" with a puff pastry made from scratch, and the traditionally delicious "Portuguese Egg Tarts". Then, a girl made it as well.. Then Human Beams linked it too... ok.. NOW i feel like eating Portuguese egg tarts....but i dont feel like making it.. can someone buy for me tomorrow ? i'll be without car... hehehe.. please !?  oh but thanks peeps.. for featuring it.. and trying it! |
| Wednesday, March 15, 2006 |
Blog Party 8 - Brunch hosted by : Dispensing Happiness " Blog Party is a virtual cocktail party for food bloggers. It's a chance to make those little bites and fantastic drinks we all love, but never make. Blog Party is about taking time for us: setting aside some time to cook (which, clearly, we all love), to prepare appetizers we want to eat but never get around to. And best of all, it's about getting together, albeit via the Web, with like-minded friends.".... "So this month, we're making our little bites from breakfast dishes. Bite-sized quiches and frittatas, tiny cups of fruit salad...mimosas, champagne cocktails! This is my first ever blog party.. em.. i dont really know if i'm doing the right thing or not .. but it was just impulsive.. i just wanted to make something.. first up mini scrambled egg  very very easy to make.. ok.. first, get some eggs, crack it in a bowl. Then, add say abt 2 tbsp of milk for each egg .. then add a tiny piny of salt. ok, so since it's hors d'oeurves.. i decided to put it in spoons.. easier to eat.. get a nice clean soup-spoon, lay baby romaine, or baby cod, or small lettuce.. put in the eggs.. then twist abit of black pepper.. just a LIL bit.. oh.. optional i guess..
Next... ok, this time, i felt like eating spring rolls.. u know those with veges inside.. the ones u eat during yumcha in dim sum restaurants ?? i suddenly felt like eating it.. so i just made it.. ok.. seriously, i dont really know how to make it.. ahha... i just ... whip it up ...=P Spring Rolls
the ingredients are abit.. messy.. i didn't really measure it.. it was just ... impulsive-kinda-thing.. ok..
ok.. pour in oil for frying.. wait for it to heat up...
For drinks.. i so wanted to drink some ice lemon tea..hot weather.. crispy spring rolls.. a glass of icy cold ice lemon tea would be great... - Make breakfast tea. slice some lemon, 3 or 4..
alright.. that's abt it... my First Blog Party... do drop by Dispensing Happinessa few days later for a round up! and join the party ! tsk tsk
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| Tuesday, March 14, 2006 |
  melba toast. poached egg. anchovies. crispy bacon. cashewnuts. parmesan. baby cod nice ? good ?? quite exp. anchovies too salty.. looks like centipede -.-" cashewnuts ? almond flakes would be better |
| Monday, March 13, 2006 |
 boiled eggs. salad leaves. turkey ham. cheese. almond flakes. tomatos. cruotons (tho i couldnt eat) yummmmmm |