CNY Baking

I've never been a big fan of CNY and I dislike it even more now that everything has gotten so pricey and surviving on a single paycheck is a constant struggle for us. 

So I decided to bake pineapple tarts to be given away so we can save on gifts to the older generation. 

After twitching and experimenting with the recipe several times, I finally arrived at one which is relatively good. But pineapple tarts are extremely "sensitive". Overbake them a little and they become too dry. Underbake them and you don't achieve aesthetic success. So you really have got to watch the oven. 

Ingredients:

- 600g pineapple (rolled into 5g each)

- 430g cake flour

- 280g butter (cut into small cubes)

- 3 egg yolks

- 2-3 tbsp ice water

- A few drops vanilla essence

- 1 egg (for egg wash)

Method:

- Pre-heat oven at 180 degree celsius.

- In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and flour until combined.

- Add egg yolks and vanilla essence and knead slightly till you achieve a dough.

- Add cold water and knead just a little more. Be careful not to over knead.

- Place in fridge for 15-30 minutes till dough is slightly hardened. However, you can skip this step if you can manage to cut the dough nicely without hardening it.

- Using a cutter, cut out the shape of the tart and place on baking tray before brushing lightly with egg.

- Bake the pastry for about 10mins or till egg wash can be seen.

- Remove from oven and top with balled pineapple. (Note: If pineapple is store-bought instead of self-cooked, add a couple of drops of water to each ball before baking. I used a syringe for this.)

- Return tray to oven and bake till pastry turns slightly golden brown.

- Remove and cool completely before placing in containers.

Baking pineapple tarts takes a lot of trial and error and it's really quite impossible to please everyone (as with most things in life). So long as the general consensus is positive, I think you've made it. 😃

Another item I've baked is the cornflakes cup. This is super easy to make and the whole process took me less than 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

- 45g butter (melted)

- 1 tbsp sugar

- 1 tbsp honey

- 125g cornflakes 

Method: 

- Pre-heat oven at 170 degree celcius.

- Add sugar and honey into melted butter till sugar is dissolved.

- Add in cornflakes and mix well.

- Spoon into paper cups and bake for 5 minutes or till slightly brown.

- Remove and cool completely before placing in containers.

If you want to make it look better, top it off with some colored ball or chocolate rice. A sure success with children!

Bloop...Bloop...Bloop

No, we're not going diving and I don't see us doing that in the near foreseeable future. After months of procrastination, Dallen has finally started his swimming lessons, and loving every minute of it. 

When we first sounded him off, he was reluctant to take classes for swimming and insisted that he'll be able to master it on his own. This, we know, is not true and so we enrolled him for a new course in the new year. 

He has gone for 2 lessons thus far and is enjoying himself. 

Another new experience in the bag. 

Another Year Gone

2014 ended on a somber note. AirAsia flight QZ8501 has crashed and rescue efforts are still ongoing as the world partied and fireworks went off to usher in the new year. As I tracked the news everyday, I can't help but feel a little shaken and enormously thankful that our family is safe and well. Afterall, this flight that crashed was travelling from Indonesia to Singapore and during our years in Jogja, we've always flown on AirAsia. This same pilot could very well have been the same captain on one of our flights. Too close for comfort; too near to not feel anything. 

2014 has been an awful year. So I'm very glad to see it past. Good riddance! We started the year with Dayen being hospitalized and ended it with Dayen having the runs. In between, so many things have happened it's been more downs than ups. It's been a trying year for me but it has also shown me that I'm more resilient than I perceived myself to be. It's been one challenge after another and I've had no choice but to meet them head on. I don't like it, but I've done it.

Reviewing my resolutions for the past year, I realized I've only fulfilled 1 (out of 5). I've read the Bible from cover to cover and that's the only resolution I've fulfilled, although I came very close to meeting my reading challenge (42 out of 50 books). 

So, a new year and a new set of resolutions awaits:

1) To read 60 books

2) To run a total of 200km (I hate running!)

3) To keep my weight to 50kg or below

4) Most importantly, to devote more time to God, beginning with this book of quiet time. 

So, there you have it. My year, past and present.

Dayen Turns 3!

I've been missing in action for a long time. Life has been, let's just say, a little overwhelming. But I'm back now and I'll try to share more of what's been happening. 

First up, my baby turned 3 yesterday! The extremely stubborn and bad-tempered baby has, a-hem, mellowed with age! Hah! He's still a strong character but these days, the outbursts have really dwindled and melt-downs are infrequent. If he really loses it, it's usually because he's sleepy and tired. However, that doesn't mean he's not snatching toys from his brother or purposely being difficult. He's far from being an angel but at least he's at an acceptable level! 

I love the hugs and kisses he spontaneously gives me and the way he insists I lie in bed with him for a while when he wakes. 

He's no longer a baby physically. But you know what they always say, a child will always be his mother's baby. And that's just what he is: daddy and mummy's baby (in his own words). 

Steamed Herbal Chicken

I've been cooking domestically for more than a decade and it's come to a point where I ask myself on a weekly basis that golden question: What shall I cook for the following week? 

Cooking gets a little mundane when you're short on both ingredients and equipments. It gets even more tiresome when you're on a budget, especially in a country like Singapore where things are really so costly. 

So I'm always looking for new recipes but having to ditch them because, well, my kitchen ain't stocked with what's required. Nevertheless, I keep looking and sometimes, I do succeed in finding just the right one. 

So tonight, I tried my hands on steamed herbal chicken. Those who know me well know that I use quite a fair bit of Chinese herbs in a bid to build up the boys' body constitution. But they, along with the hubs, don't really like the strong medicinal taste of Chinese herbs. So I twitched the recipe a little, going stronger on the marinade and reducing the amount of herbs required. 

I marinated the chicken for 3 hours (overnight would be more ideal) with soy sauce, tsao tsing wine, sesame oil, and oyster sauce. Before covering it up and shoving it into the fridge, I coated the chicken with grated ginger. Don't ask me for measurements. Cooking should be experimental and individualized. What works for me may be too bland for another. So, explore! 

You'll need shiitake mushrooms (sliced), dang gui, wolfberries, garlic (sliced), dang shen and red dates. The original recipe calls for pao shen as well. I omitted this because it's costly and I know the herbs will most likely go to waste as I can't finish them by myself (too heaty) and the boys and man sure ain't gonna be much help. 

Before we steam the bird, pour some of the marinade on the foil and arrange part of the herbs as shown before placing the bird on top and covering it with the remaining ingredients. 

I also placed some of the ingredients in the cavity of the chicken and "stitched" it up with a toothpick. 

Then the chicken gets wrapped up and goes into the steamer. 45 minutes later, you get delicious and aromatic herbal chicken! I recommend drinking the sauce because that's where the essences of the chicken and all that herbs are collected. People buy essence of chicken (and it's not cheap) and here we have it fresh, unprocessed! It's a healthy "by-the-way" addition to the chicken (in the process of steaming, the chicken will release moisture and form sauce without us adding any water). The cooking time will vary according to the size of the chicken. A bigger chicken will naturally take longer to cook. Be very careful not to overcook it. Otherwise, it'll because tough and dry. 

So, my first attempt went well and I think I'll get a bigger chicken and prepare this again as a one pot dinner in future.