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!

Claypot Chicken Rice

I've been a little lagging in posting recipes for the stuff I've cooked or baked lately. Can't seem to get the butt off the couch to get some 'paperwork' in order. Even the lappie has been hibernating for a long time.

But today I tried a recipe which I came across from one of the magazines I brought back from SG and it's so easy and so comforting I had to post it.

To me, claypot chicken rice sold in foodcourts are not worth the money. The good ones are those you get from old, slightly dirty hawker centres. The hubs and I used to patronise one at the hawker centre at Margaret Drive. We usually had to wait for a while cos they're always busy and if you can't get a table near the stall, you'll have to return to the stall to check on your order and self carry your food to your table.

Being far from home now, this dish is extra satisfying. I have a feeling if I cooked it while we were back in SG, it wouldn't have achieved the same emotional result.

If you're a seasoned cook, you need not follow the recipe to the T. I always believe cooking is something very personal. Modify the recipe (which I did) and twitch it to your own liking. As long as you're comfortable, who's to say it's wrong?

Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp ginger juice
- 1 tsp Chinese rice wine
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp light soya sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soya sauce
- 2 chicken drumsticks, skinned and cut into 4 pieces each
- 1 cup rice, washed and drained
- 2 cups water
- 1 Chinese sausage (sliced)
- 4 shiitake mushroom (sliced)
- 1 small piece salted fish, deep-fried and cut into 8 pieces
- 2 tbsp spring onions (chopped)
- 1 tbsp fried shallots

Method:
- Mix the sesame oil, canola oil, oyster sauce, ginger juice, Chinese rice wine, salt, sugar, light soya sauce and 1/2 tbsp dark soya sauce. Marinate chicken in mixture and set aside.
- Cook the rice with 2 cups of water in a covered claypot over medium heat for 10 min.
- Place the marinated chicken, Chinese sausage and mushrooms on the rice. Cook over low heat for 20 min, until the chicken is cooked, and the base and sides of the rice are brown and crisp.
- Mix 1 1/2 tbsp of dark soya sauce and the salted fish into the rice. Top with spring onions and fried shallots.

Cinnamon Toast

We've been having cheese toast for breakfast for the past few days and I thought we could do with a change today. So I decided to make French Toast and at the spur of the moment, thought of experimenting with Cinnamon Toast. It's extremely easy to make and the result surprisingly comforting. I've never been a big cinnamon fan but after having the Cinnamon Melts from Macdonald's during our last trip back to SG, I fell in love with it.

So I mixed some sugar and cinnamon powder in a bowl (proportion to your own liking) and toasted a slice of bread using a pan. When the bread is nicely brown and hot, I sprinkled the mixture evenly while leaving the bread in the pan. Then I flipped the bread so that the sugar will melt and in the process stick the cinnamon powder to the bread. In less than a minute, I'm chewing into fragrant, crispy and appetizing toast. :)

Chocolate Strawberry Bread

My first 2 attempts at baking bread may have been total failures but my quick bread was certainly a success! It's easy to make and there isn't even a need for a mixer.

The original recipe was for bananas. Since I'm not that big a fan, I decided to change it to strawberries since I have some very ripe ones (which I dun like to have as fruits) in the fridge and the lil one in in his 'strawberry mood' nowadays. This boy is really peculiar. Likes sour and bitter stuff! So anyhow, I tried my hands at it and it came out a success. So that added one more variety to the baking bag. :)

Ingredients:

- 55 grams (or as much as desired) toasted walnuts or almond, coarsely chopped

- 230 grams all-purpose flour

- 30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder

- 200 grams granulated white sugar

- 1 teaspoons baking powder

- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 85 grams (or as much as desired) white, dark, or milk chocolate chips

- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

- 113 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled

- 10 (or as much as desired) strawberries, cut into small pieces

- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan.

- Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium-sized bowl combine the strawberries, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (strawberries mixture) into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky.

- Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips. Scrape batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the top of the bread with coarse brown sugar (optional).

- Bake until bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. Can be covered and stored for a few days, or frozen for longer storage.

I Spent Money Again

The lil one was down since the last weekend and all baking and related stuff were postponed and I didn’t get to do anything over the weekend. We originally planned to go to the baking ware shop which a friend recommended on Sunday. But since the baby was running a temperature, I wanted to let him get more rest and so shelved the idea. We finally made it there on Wednesday.

When I was told of the shop, I didn’t hold out much hope. Staying in Jogja has taught me to manage my expectations and I am constantly reminding myself not to expect things to be the same as SG. To my pleasant surprise, the shop was well equipped and comes with lotsa goodies. I spied a digital weighing scale which I’ve wanted to get for a long time but was reluctant to part with the money. The old one I had cost about S$3 but each line of measurement is 40g, which means, there are 5 lines from 0g to 200g. Can you imagine my agony when I had to measure ingredients for baking?! So I heck it and decided to buy the digital one (which I can bring back to SG with me) which cost about S$50. I didn’t like the cost but I loved the ware! So bought it I did. Then the eyes strayed to a cookie-cutter that was displayed next to the weighing scale and I promptly asked for the price and wanted to take a look at it. How easy it is to earn a woman’s money! I already had a simple set of cookie-cutter which I took from mum’s old, unused oven. So I really didn’t need another one. But this one is so cool and it made cutting cookies so easy! Excuses, excuses…I know, I know….But wait! It doubles up as an icing machine too! Comes with several nozzles with different patterns. See! It’s a 2-in-1. Worth it right? So against my better judgement, I added it to my purchases.

Then I saw paper cups. I really didn’t need such fancy ones since most of my baking are for the boys at home or the neighbours or mothers in school. But they are so pretty they’ll enhance my hard work. So again, I decided to part with some money. Together with a bag of supposed all-purpose flour (I’m gonna try making bread with them and see if there is any difference), I bought all of the above. I created a small hole in the pocket (all of them cost less than S$100 but the amount was equivalent to one week’s grocery), but brought back loads of happiness. I was grinning from ear to ear and couldn’t wait to use my new wares.

What do you bake when you dun have much time? Muffins! So I settled the lil one and put him down for his nap and while the hubs helped to jaga him, I measured away and started baking.

I used a different flour (not the one I bought from the shop…just a different one from the one I usually used) and the result came out MUCH better. My previous batch of muffins were so dry and tough I threw them away. Wasn’t even interested in eating them. This batch was ok…just that maybe I over-mixed the batter and caused it to be a little heavy, not fluffy like how it should be.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk or cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cups (135 grams) granulated white sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (170 grams) milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips

Method:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Position rack in center of oven. Butter, or line with paper liners, 12 - 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inch muffin cups.

- In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.

- In another large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

- Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop.

- Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18 - 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

Here’s some tips from joyofbaking:

- The important step here is not to overmix the batter. However, there is a tendency to over mix because the ratio of liquid to flour is quite high. But mixing too much overdevelops the gluten in the flour which will cause a tough muffin with tunnels and a compact texture. Only 10 to 15 strokes are needed to moisten the ingredients and the batter should be still lumpy and you may still see a few traces of flour. Don't worry about these lumps as the batter continues to blend as it bakes and any lumps will disappear. Over mixing the muffin batter causes it to become very stringy. This is the gluten developing in the flour. Over mixing causes long strands of gluten to form making it hard for the leavener to work and causes long tunnels in the baked good.

- If using a dark colored pan, reduce the oven temperature, stated in the recipe, by 25 degrees F. (This is because dark colored pans absorb more of the energy coming from the oven walls so they become hotter and transmit heat faster than light colored pans.)

PROBLEM SOLVING

Muffins have tunnels and are dry:
- batter was over mixed (too much gluten development)
- over baked and/or oven too hot
- too much flour and/or too little liquid

Muffins have an uneven shape:
- too much batter in each cup (fill only 1/2 to 2/3 full). Overfilling will cause muffins to have "flying saucer" like tops.
- oven temperature too high

Tops are brown but muffin is not cooked through:
- oven temperature too high
- oven rack not in center of oven

Muffin does not rise sufficiently:
- oven temperature too low
- batter over mixed or incorrect amount of leavener

Muffins stick to pan:
- pan was not prepared properly.
- let muffins sit in pan too long after removing from oven. Try placing the pan on a wet towel for a few minutes to loosen the muffins. Run a sharp edge around the inside of each muffin.

Soy Sauce Chicken

Ever since I shifted out to stay on my own, I've always missed mum's soy sauce chicken. I didn't know how she did it till a recent trip back (thanks to Merapi) when I stayed with her and she happened to prepare this dish. So I looked up the recipe on the internet (cos asking her will invoke frustrations both in me and her) and started cooking. It's quite an easy dish to cook, actually. And the result is yummylicious! I made some additions to the original recipe to enhance the taste. Have a go at it!

Ingredients:

- 2 chicken thighs

- 1/2 bowl good quality soya sauce

- 3 bowls water or enough to cover the chicken

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 tsp sugar

- dash of pepper

- dash of sesame oil

- dash of vinegar

- 1/2 tsp oyster sauce

- 3-4 tbsp dark soya sauce

- 5 slices young ginger

- 3-4 cloves garlic, smashed, skin removed

- 3 tbsp butter

Method:

- In a pot, put all ingredients except chicken and bring to a brisk simmer for 10 minutes.

- Add chicken and cover pot. Simmer for another 15 -20 minutes until the chicken is done.

- Before you serve, bring the dish to boil again and thicken the gravy with some corn flour.

My Very First Loaf of Roti

I've been wanting to try baking bread for a long time but was always daunted by the knowlegde that it's not as straightforward and easy as baking cake. Hence, I've put it off for quite a while. But for some reason, the bread that we buy here always turned mouldy very quickly. In the span of 4 days, the bread will smell funny and you know it's gonna turn bad soon. So I decided to have a go at it and finally got down to business.

Looked at some recipes online and found a simple one that came with a demo video. So off to the supermarket I went to get bread flour, only to find out that the Jogja's version of bread flour is actually not flour at all. So I stuck to my normal maize flour and hoped for the best.

The dough didn't turn out like the one in the video. I had to make some adjustments to the ingredients and was disheartened. Already I started off with a mindset that bread-making is difficult. The dough coming out funny didn't help matter. I was prepared to throw away the whole batch of dough but was thinking, since I already wasted so much flour (i.e. 700g), I might as well just go ahead and bake it and see how it turns out. The end result might be the same anyway - it ends up in the dustbin. The only difference is the state in which it will be when it ends up in the thrash. That's what I did. Holding no hope whatsoever, I popped the dough into the oven after the specified timing and was curious at the outcome.

When the baking was done and I took the bread out of the pan, it turns out to be hard. So I thought, ok, I have a rock on hand. Then I dutifully placed it on the rack and let it cool. After a while, I proceeded to slice it and other than the crust being kinda hard and the inside a bit springy (not soft like how bread should be), it was actually quite decent! But, of course, the shape wasn't there at all. But, heck! It's my first attempt and I'm actually quite pleased with myself. I got the sis to send me another recipe so I can try again and hopefully obtain better result.

Here's the link for those of you who want to give it a shot: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-white-bread.

Bloomin' Brilliant Brownies

Most people love chocolate right? So you can't go very wrong with them and since brownies are one of the very common choice of dessert, I decided to give it a try and where better to look for the recipe than Jamie Oliver's website! When it comes to dessert, Jamie is one chef after my own heart (or should I say palette). So I gave it a try over the weekend and it turned out well, not to mention so easily made! So I decided to bake more today to bring to school for the mothers tomorrow. They love to eat and chat and who wouldn't like a treat or two right?

Ingredients:
- 125g unsalted butter
- 100g dark chocolate
- 25g chopped nuts
- 40g cocoa powder (sifted)
- 35g plain flour (sifted)
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
- 140g caster sugar
- 2 eggs

Method:
- Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius.
- Line a 25cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper.
- In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth.
- Add the nuts and stir together.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar. Then add this to the chocolate and nut mixture. Stir well together.
- Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.
- Pour brownie mix into the baking tray and place in the oven for around 25 min.

Note: You don't want to overcook them. Unlike cakes, you don't want the skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle.

Kung Pao Chicken

I've always wanted to cook Kung Pao Chicken and refused to buy the ready-mix sauce. So I sourced out the recipe and made it on my own. But cos of Dallen, I left out the dried chilli so it won't be spicy.

Ingredients:
- 350g chicken (diced)
- 3 slices ginger
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 big onion (wedged)
- 1 capsicum
- Cashew nuts
=> Marinade:
- One-quarter tsp salt
- Half tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp Chinese wine
- 1 tbsp corn flour
=> Sauce:
- Half tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp light and dark soya sauce each
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2tbsp plum sauce (which I don't have and replaced with Hoisin sauce)
- 1 tsp black vinegar
- 1 tsp Worchestershire sauce

Method:
- Season chicken with marinade ingredients for 30min.
- Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Saute ginger and garlic till fragrant.
- Add in onions and stir for 5 seconds before adding marinated chicken meat.
- Pour in sauce ingredients and stir-fry.
- Add capsicum and cashew nuts.
- Adjust seasoning to taste and thicken with corn flour solution.

Chocolate Chips Cookies

It's the first day of the new year and I'm feeling extremely tired. Have been baking since morning and I finished only just in time to prepare dinner. But I did go out for a couple of hours in between, though. Still, it's been a long day and waking up early for the past few days (no doubt cos of Dallen) has taken its toll on me. But I really did enjoy bringing out batches after batches of cookies from the oven. After the past frustration over my butter cookies, it's a joy to be producing cookies without much hassle. There were some burnt and lousy ones and these, I kept for our own consumption. The rest were distributed among the neighbours and I also put aside some for one of Des' school-mate and for the teachers in Dallen's school (so they'll take extra care of him..Him being the youngest in the whole school does create a degree of worry and concern for me). So anyway, it was a productive day for me and it's time to take it easy and relax with a good book in hand.

Ingredients:
- 225g butter, softened
- 300g white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 360g all-purpose flour
- 15g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 10ml hot water
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 335g semisweet chocolate chips

Method:
- Preheat oven to 175 degree celsius
- Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Dissolve baking powder in hot water and add to butter along with salt.

Carrot Cake

The first time I tried preparing carrot cake, I failed miserably. It came out as an omelette with big blobs of glue instead of the delicacy that it actually is. I knew instantly where the problem laid and resolved to give it a second try. So today I made it for lunch again and it was a great success. This, perhaps, is really experience. You learned and succeeded from mistakes previously committed. Trust me to be so philosophical about cooking carrot cake...haha...

Ingredients A:

- 200g rice flour

- 550ml water

- 200g radish (shredded)

Ingredients B:

- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic

- 1 tablespoon chilli sauce

- 3 tablespoons fish sauce

- 3 beaten eggs

Method:

- Ingredients A: Mix rice flour in 200ml water and stir well. Boil shredded radish and salt in remaining water. Pour in flour mixture and stir well to make batter.

- Pour batter into 23cm square baking tray. Steam for 30min till carrot cake is cooked. Allow to cool before cutting into pieces.

- Ingredients B: Heat frying pan till hot then pour in 4 tablespoons oil. Heat oil till hot. Add 500g steamed carrot cake.

- Quickly cut carrot cake into small pieces using frying ladle. Pan-fry till both sides are golden-brown. Push carrot cake aside and leave a hole in the middle.

- Pour in 3 tablesppon oil. Add chopped garlic and chilli sauce. Stir-fry thoroughly whole adding fish sauce. Slowly drizzle beaten eggs over carrot cake. Continue to pan-fry till both sides are golden-brown.

- Transfer to serving dish.

Butter Cookies

The success of these cookies didn't come easy. I was so frustrated cos I tried this simple recipe twice and it came out all wrong! How can it be?! I've been baking for the longest time and this is the easiest cookie to make. And yet, nothing comes out right. Out of desperation and an intense need to find out what went wrong, I approached the sis. After going through some pointers, she deduced that the toaster was the problem. To satisfy our curiosities, I decided to get an oven. Since Carrefour has a return policy, I can always return the oven if it turns out that the sis' theory is wrong.

As soon as the oven made its way into the kitchen, I abandoned all else and started baking. Lo and behold! The sis was right (thank you so much!!!)! It was the toaster afterall! As I got it from SG and the voltage is different here in Jogja, the toaster wasn't able to power up enough to produce the right temperature for the cookies. So scientific! I just wanna bake! Not go into a science lesson! But anyway, here's the recipe for those who wanna have their hands at baking cookies. Start with this most basic ones.

Ingredients:

- 226g unsalted butter

- 135g sugar

- 1 egg

- 1 tsp vanilla essence

- 295g all purpose flour

- 1 quarter tsp salt

Method:

- In a mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

- Beat in egg and vanilla essence.

- Whisk flour and salt together.

- Add flour into the mixer bowl bit by bit and beat just until incorporated.

- Divide the dough in half and wrap each lot in plastic wrap and place in the fridge until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight).

- Bake at 177 degree celsius for 10 minutes of when edges start to brown.

Pasta To The Rescue

By dinnertime, I was feeling shitty. My baking failed again! I was in no mood to cook the curry chicken that I planned for dinner tonight. Since it was supposed to be curry chicken for dinner, the lil one won't be able to have that and I was gonna cook pasta in tomato soup for him. So I gave up on my curry chicken and just added spaghetti to the soup for the hubs and I.

By the time I sat down for dinner, I was exhausted. Between the spoiled batch of cookies, Dallen throwing his food at me and soiling his Polo tee (and I'm very particular abt his Polo tee cos they're so freaking expensive), I was prepared to collapse. But one bite of the spaghetti and my spirit soared! Not that it was exceptionally delicious. It's simply cos it's pasta, my comfort food. Amo la mia pasta!

The Hubs Likes Char Siew

Today's culinary project? Char siew! After a week of failures, I really wanted this to work out. Last week I was really feeling lousy, after all my recipes failed. So a lot hinged on this. It's a new week and a new dish; a new beginning. So if this is a success, it'll be a good sign. Moreover, the hubs likes his char siew and where we are now, we ain't getting any. So I did some research and made my own.

I was really apprehensive and placed a lot of effort and hope into it. When I took it out, the anticipation made me real excited. I couldn't wait to slice it and give it a try.

The char siew was a resounding success! Yeah!!! So we had char siew noodles for lunch and I was really glad. This was one dish I thought was very difficult to make and as it turned out, it wasn't that tough. So it was a real surprise and a good way to start the week. I managed to attain the seemingly impossible! Yeah! :)

A Week of Failures

All my recipes failed this week. So disheartening. None of the dishes turned out the way it's supposed to. After all that research, getting the ingredients, the preparation and anticipation, it all came to naught. Damn! But never mind, like wat Julia Child said, I'll keep being interested. One day I'll get round the limitations and make it work!

A new week is upon us; a new set of challenges awaits. As Christmas approaches, let me see wat I can cook for the boys to make it more festive. Shall look for easier stuff to bake and give to the neighbours as well as the doormen who always help with the groceries at the nearby shopping centre.

Butter / Sponge Cake

We ran outta bread at home and instead of getting the hubs to get a new loaf on his way back, I decided to do some baking instead. The recipe looks really simple and it indeed is. I enjoyed the baking process tremendously. It's been a while since I make a cake with a mixer. Revisited those feelings and totally loved it!

Ingredients:

- 125g butter

- 125g sugar

- 125g plain flour (mix with 1 tsp baking powder)

- 2 eggs

- 1 tsp vanilla essence

- 2 tbsp milk

Method:

- Cream butter and sugar.

- Once mixure becomes fluffy, add in eggs a little at a time and mix well.

- Add vanilla essence and half the flour.

- Then add some milk and mix well.

- Put in remaining flour and milk and mix on medium speed.

Hawker Fare Day

Mondays are 'proper lunch days' cos classes end at 1pm for the hubs and he usually is back for lunch. Other days I'll either just polish off whatever is left over from Dallen's lunch or have instant noodles. So I planned to cook char kway teow today and bought the ingredients over the weekend.

Since I can't get kway teow or yellow noodles, I replaced it with another type of noodles. It didn't turn out too bad; but not very char kway teow-ish. Maybe it's due to the sweet sauce I used. But whatever it is, it was a lunch I enjoyed.

Ingredients:
- Noodles
- Chye Sim
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 50g Chinese sausage
- 4 eggs (beaten)
- 50g cockles (shelled)

Seasoning:
- 1 tablespoon chilli paste
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons sweet sauce

Method:
- Heat 3 tablespoons oil in wok till hot. Add noodles, chye sim and water. Stir-fry till vegetables begin to soften.
- Push noodles to one side of wok. Add 1 tablespoon oil, chopped garlic and Chinese sausage. Stir till garlic is fragrant.
- Add remaining seasoning and stir-fry thoroughly.
- Push noodles to one side of wok. Add 1 tablespoon oil and pour in beaten eggs. Quickly cover with noodles. Wait for a few seconds before tossing in cockles.
- Stir-fry thoroughly before serving.

For dinner, it's one of the hawker fare I loved and tried cooking before but failed. So I decided to give it a try tonight: fried oyster omelette. It still didn't turn out quite right but at least I'm closer to success than before.

Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
- 0.5 tablespoon plain flour
- 1 tablespoon rice flour
- 150ml water
- 3 eggs (beaten)
- 300g fresh oysters

Seasoning:
- Fish sauce or light soy sauce
- Pepper to taste

Method:
- Mix tapioca flour, plain flour and rice flour to water to form batter.
- Heat 10 tablespoons oil in frying pan till hot. Reserve 1 ladleful of batter and pour the rest into pan. Once batter solidifies, pour in beaten eggs.
- Cut through batter with ladle so as to allow egg mixture to flow to the bottom. Pan-fry till bottom layer is golden-brown.
- Drizzle with fish sauce or light soy sauce. Cut omelette into smaller pieces with ladle. Push to one side of pan, leaving a hole in middle. Toss in oysters and remaining batter. Stir-fry quickly for half a minute.
- Dish up. Sprinkle with coriander leaves, spring onion and pepper.

A Western Dinner Before Our Getaway

Tonight's meal took me whole of 2 hours to prepare. Western dinners are mostly satisfying, but totally time-consuming. Admittedly, the time would have been halved if I have a bigger oven. Nonetheless, the hubs loved his western cuisine and since the way to a man's heart is through the stomach, I dun mind the hard work once in a while.

This dinner came complete with soup, salad and appetiser. The course that took home the prize is, of course, the main course: Old School Pork Chops with Apples and Oregano. For the soup and pork chop, I followed Jamie's recipes...again! I love his recipes mainly cos they're easy to follow. But due to limitations, I often had to either simplify or improvise the recipes.

For salad, I lightly blanch broccoli and carrots and threw them into a bowl with cucumbers. After drizzling some olive oil, I dressed it with balsamic vinegar. Give it a good toss, sprinkle some parsley flakes and you're ready to serve.

For starters, I made garlic bread, the Yvonne way. Mix finely chopped garlic with butter and a good amount of oregano, spread on white bread and toast. When the bread turns crispy, you have garlic bread! Simple!

One point to note though, never put freshly toasted bread on a plate. The condensation from the heat will turn the bread soggy. So I placed them on chopsticks to cool.

The tomato soup is actually the first course I started to prepare cos I needed to toast the tomatoes. So to save time, I simply popped it into the oven and went on to other stuff. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
- 500g ripe cherry tomatoes
- 3 cloves of garlic (peeled and finely sliced)
- a large bunch of fresh basil (leaves picked, stalks finely chopped)
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- 2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
- 500g or 2 large handful of bread

Method:
- Prick the cherry tomatoes and toss with one sliced clove of garlic and a quarter of basil leaves and a little olive oil
- Roast in an oven for about 20mins
- Heat olive oil and add remaining garlic and basil stalks
- Stir around and gently fry for a minute until softened
- Add tinned tomatoes, fill the tin with water and add into pan
- Break the tomatoes with a spoon, bring to the boil and simmer for 15mins
- Tear bread into thumb-sized pieces and add to pan
- Remove roasted tomatoes and pour into soup with all the juices, basil and oil from the tray
- Simmer a little more and adjust with water or add a little olive oil if necessary

Now's time for the big baby, the pork chops! It's not difficult to make at all and totally yummy. Try it!

Ingredients:

- 4 pork chops

- Salt and black pepper

- Olive oil

- 2 apples (unpeeled, coved and cut into 8 wedges)

- A knob of butter

- A handful of oregano leaves

Method:

- Sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper

- Pour a lug of olive oil into a hot pan. Carefully place chops in it and cook them for 2-3mins on each side until golden brown

- When the chops are nearly done, lift them out of the pan and put them onto an oiled baking tray

- Add the apple wedges and a knob of butter to the pan and fry until lightly golden

- Lay 4 wedges of apple on top of each pork chop

- Dress oregano leaves in a little olive oil and top each apple stack with them

- Put the baking tray into the oven for 4-6 minutes until everything is golden

Take every bite of pork with a piece of apple and enjoy as the flavours of the pork and apple melt into each other.

Alright, I'm off to bed as we have to get up early tomorrow for our flight to KL. I hope you're enjoying your meals. I'm taking the weekend off from cooking. Ciao!

Roast Chicken

It's roast chicken for dinner tonight. A seemingly easy dish to cook, seeing as how you just put everything on a dish and pop it into the oven to roast. However, as the dish taught me tonight, never underestimate your food. To make it real tasty, you need to have the right amount of ingredients; in this case, herbs and seasoning. Ingredients aside, you need to have the right equipment too. I have a teeny-weeny toaster that I use for all my toasting and baking. Tonight, I also use it for my roasting. I believe it’s not hot enough and that makes the dish a little bit lackluster. Again, as it has many times before, the thought of having a well-equipped kitchen for my future home flashed across my mind. Hubs, please be prepared that this may be the most expensive room in the whole house. Meanwhile, here’s what I cook tonight (recipe was adapted from JO and simplified).

Ingredients:
- 2 chicken legs
- 1 large onion (sliced)
- 1 carrot (cut into chunks)
- 1 large potato (cut into chunks)
- Broccoli
- 1 bulb of garlic
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- Rosemary, oregano & basil

Method:
- Remove chicken from fridge 30min before roasting
- Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled
- Pile all vegetables and garlic in the middle of a roasting tray and drizzle with oil
- Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper
- Place the chicken on top of the vegetables and cover with herbs
- Roast the chicken until cooked

Oxtail Stew

Oxtail stew has got to be my fave! I love beef and I love pasta (or you can have it with butter rolls, or add in enough potatoes and have it on its own). So this combination makes for a very satisfying meal. It's one of my comfort food and on days when it's rainy and gloomy, it warms the soul and fills the stomach. :) Plus it's easy to prepare. The only downside is the length of time needed. For optimum result, I usually stew it for 5 hours. But if you have a slow cooker, it shouldn't bother you one bit. Pop everything in and you're off to do whatever you want. But, of cos, we shouldn't neglect what we're cooking. Make a trip back and just check on the stew once in a while. Cook with your heart and your food will taste a lot better. Really! And because this is my own recipe (my very own!), there really is no specific measurements. Everything is up to your preference. What I'm providing is just a guideline.

Ingredients:
- 4 large oxtail (or whatever number that fancies you!)
- 2 large onions (peeled & sliced)
- 2 large potatoes (peeled & cut into chunks)
- 4 tomatoes (peeled & quartered)
- 1 carrot (peeled & cut into chunks)
- Some broccoli (cut into small portions)
- One can of tomato puree (Or 2 if you like a stronger tomato taste)
- Olive oil
- Worchestershire sauce
- Red wine (An alternative would be balsamic vinegar)
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- Oregano
- Black pepper to season
- Basil and parsley to garnish

Method:
- With a generous amount of olive oil (to bring out the flavour of the onions), saute the onions until well-cooked and the aroma is permeating
- Add oxtail into the pan, cover and cook for 15 min, allowing the flavour of the onions to get into the oxtail (I usually dun remove the fats on the oxtail as they add flavour to the stew. Instead, I scoop them up as the oil float to the surface of the stew as it cooks).
- Add in the whole can of tomato puree and enough water to mix well and cook for another 15 mins.
- Pour the whole content into a slow cooker or pot together with the tomatoes
- Add in oregano, 3 sprigs of rosemary, a dash of black pepper, worchestershire sauce and red wine
- Cook for 3 hours and add in carrots and potatoes (the starch from the potatoes will give the stew a nice consistency as we do not want the stew to be too watery)
- Cook for another hour and a half and add in the broccoli
- Cook for another half an hour
- Garnish with basil and parsley and serve

Go easy on the worchestershire sauce and wine/balsamic vinegar as these have very strong flavour. Too much of which will spoil the whole stew. What we're trying to achieve is a tomato-based taste. As the stew cooks, you'll notice that you need to add a little bit of water periodically. When you do that, adjust the taste by adding a suitable amount of worchestershire sauce and wine.

Paired with a glass of red wine, this meal brings extreme delight. Go ahead, tuck in!