| Monday, April 10, 2006 |
*oppss, abit exaggerating?* Anyways, It's my dad's birthday yesterday, and i decided to make the birthday cake.. They didnt want something too sweet.. or cheesey... So, a Carrot Cake would be good i presumed This recipe has been tried. I made it last Nov for my dog's birthday but without nuts. It was a really good cake, so, making it for my dad's birthday... again.. would be good !! (no need to fear if it turns out good or not.. hahaha) Ok, so first, grate the carrots (about 6 medium carrots). and crush some nuts, i used almonds, walnut would be good too. Then whisk oil, sugar and eggs until thick n creamy. Add in the carrots and nuts, stir well. Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, bicarbonate soda and 1 tbsp or cornflour*) . I pour the mixture into 2 8" baking tins, so i'll have the layers ready, dont need to halved them later.. Bake at 180 C for about 45 mins.. well, depending on what type of baking tins u use.. Then beat butter, cream cheese and icing sugar to make the frosting After that, it depends on your creativity on how u wanna decorate the cake.. or just eat it *Nigella said, with a lil bit of cornflour added, it'll make the cake's texture fluffier n softer*
I could have eaten the whole cake.. but er... need to watch my waistline
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| Thursday, April 06, 2006 |
ok, I did not quite follow exactly, but i just got inspired by it. it's from his book Jamie's Dinners ("Tomato Sauce with Portabello Mushrooms and Taleggio" on pg 44 to be exact) He's written how to make good tomato sauce for pasta or sausages, prawns, anything.  I bought a bottle of organic tomato sauce (not ketchup ah) from the Australian fair last weekend in BSC. It's made with organic tomatoes, basil, garlic.. and etc. so it's already made-ready, i didnt follow JO's tomato sauce. Chop garlc and fry them gently in olive oil and oregano. Pour in the sauce and let it simmer for about 1 minute. Add some black pepper. Pretty simple. Cook pasta according to the label behind the box.. eg 9 minutes. I opted for the Whole Wheat Pasta i bought in CS last week. Pour the warm tomato sauce into a small baking dish. Place cooked pasta on top, give it a lil stir. Place the portabello mushrooms facing up. Spread some parmesan (i used parmesan instead of taleggio - no idea what's that). Drizzle with olive oil. Scatter some torn breadcrumbs if u have. Bake in oven at 220 C for 15-20 minutes.  the tomato sauce wash garlic-y. the oregano aroma was strong. the parmesan was a bit chewy, maybe mozarella would be nicer ? well, i would try Taleggio if i know where to buy it.  ah.. satistying brunch  |
| Wednesday, March 29, 2006 |
My friends have been asking me how to make chicken pie.. I've been wanting to make as well.. so. today, i decided to make .. chicken mushroom pie.. remember yesterday, i bought a mushroom sauce powder thing... yeah... ok.. the crust is from Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess.. well i bet the crust recipe must have been in all her books cause it seemed foolproof.. and tasty.. for the pastry: 2 large egg yolks 1 heaped teaspoon salt 2 tablespoon cold water 250g flour 35g Trex or shortenning, spooned out 90g cold unsalted butter, diced for the filling: (not in the book, just came up with it) 200g chicken, peeled into slices 1 cup frozen mixed vege (peas, corn and carrots) sauce (u can use white sauce or chicken sauce, i used mushroom) 4 button mushroom, sliced Put flour in a shalow bowl, add the cold, diced fats and stir gently to coat. Put in the deep freeze - no need to cover - for 10 minutes. As you do so, put liquid in a bowl or cup with a pinch of salt and transfer to the fridge. Either in a processor or - for choice - in a freestanding mixer with flat paddle, blend the fats and flour until u have a mixture that resembles sandy porridge. Then, gradually process or paddle in the liquid until the pastry is almost coming together. Use your hands now to form it into a disc or couple of discs, wrap in clingfilm and let it rest in the fridge for 20 mintues before rolling out. Amazingly, it can roll out easily, and it doesnt break up or anything when i lift the whole piece up to cover on the baking dish. For the sauce, cook the sauce as it's written on the can / packet, depending on what kinda sauce u use. but for a tip, dont make it too watery. make sure it's abit thick, right. Then add in the mixed veges and chicken and mushroom, stir well. Pour out into a butttered baking dish. Cover the top with the crust. Bake at 190 C for 30 mins.  thats the new baking dish i bought from ikea.   ok. the sauce was a bit watery / soupy.. it started boiling inside the oven.. maybe because the filling was too full..   anyway, the crust was fantastic. but the sauce disappointed me.. maybe i should use cream of chicken or mushroom..  well.. why not..have a great mid week |
| 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! |