Sunday, May 26, 2013

Nasi Lemak



This is my family fav combination. We really love fish instead of chicken wings for a change.
The must have ingredients are : Sliced cucumbers, fried ikan bilis and sambal chilli.


Coconut Rice recipe:

~ 3 cups of Jasmine rice
~ 3-4 Fresh pandan leaves ( knotted)
~ 2 cup of coconut cream
~ 3 cups of water
~ 1 fresh lemon grass ( wash and smash)
~ 1 tsp of grinded ginger
~ 1 pinch of salt

Methods :
~ Wash the rice first.
~ Place all the ingredients into the rice cooker.
~ Soak for about 15mins then press start button to cook
~ Make sure to stir well before cooking the rice.
~ Leave it warm in the rice cooker before serving.


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Sambal chilli is adapted from : http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.sg/2010/05/homemade-asian-basic-chili-paste-sambal.html
This recipe is very versatile as it can be use to make curry, fish etc etc as this is a basic one as no seasonings or shrimp paste is added before hand.

Sambal chilli recipe:

Ingredients A300g dried red chili (cut 1” length and cooked in hot water for 10mins, remove seeds)
175ml water

Ingredients B
2 onions
10 shallots
10 cloves of garlic
50ml water

300ml cooking oil or more

1. Blend ingredients A till fine or paste texture, and set aside.
2. Blend ingredients B till fine or paste texture, and set aside.
3. Heat wok (without oil) over low flame, add in chili mixture, stir fry for 15mins.
4. Add in cooking oil, continue stir fry for another 15mins (at this time, the mixture is quite heavy and hard to stir)
5. Add in onion mixture, continue stir fry for 45mins or till oil separated from chili (at this time, the mixture is light and easy to stir)
6. Cool down completely before store in clean air tight container. Store in fridge or freezer.

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There is another recipe which I like that is featured in Sunday times  dated 27 Sept 2009 using Lee Wee & Brothers' recipe for Nasi Lemak rice.

Ingredients:

70g fresh red chilli
1 large red onion
6 cloves garlic
3tbs cooking oil
80g ikan bilis ground to fine powder
8g salt
18g sugar

Method:
~ Blend the fresh red chillies , red onion and garlic to form a smooth paste
~ To a heated work, add cooking oil and stir fry the ground ikan bilis for about 2 mins till fragrant.
~ Add the ground chilli paste, salt and sugar and stir fry for 15 minutes.

Lastly serve with your fav ingredients you like on your nasi lemak.






Rosemary Begedil



 
Ingredients:

 - 500g peeled potatoes (use slightly firmer ones), cut into small pieces
- 100g fry shallots ( can use ready ones )
- 3 to 4 stalks spring onions, chopped

- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (  wash the rosemary, remove the leaves and chop finely)
- Pinches of  white pepper to taste
- Pinches of salt
- 1 beaten egg

- 1 tsp of corn flour ( to add more if mixture is too wet)
 



Methods :

~ Fry shallots in oil till crisp and golden. Drain and spread them out to cool.

 ~ Using the same shallot oil, fry the potatoes. You can cut them into slices / cutes as they are  going to be mashed up .

~ Drain the potatoes of the oil .


~ Mix in the shallots, spring onions, rosemary and pepper  and salt  then mash.

~ Shape the potatoes into palm sized patties, dip in beaten egg and fry.

~ You need to shallow fry them and be careful of high heat which will burn the patties.

~ The patties should be semi-submerged in oil.

~ Drain the begedil of excess oil before serving. Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Mango & banana Smoothie



I love Thai mangoes so I decided to make them into smoothie

Ingredients:

2 Mangoes
2 bananas
2 cups of yogurt
1 cup of milk
1 spring of mint leaves

Methods:

Cut up the mangoes and bananas into small chunks first.
Place all into the blender and mix till smooth.
Ready to drink .



Ham and cheese buns with bonito flakes



Basis bread dough recipe:

280g bread flour
20g light brown sugar
3g salt
4g yeast
37g egg
30g condensed milk
100g milk
50g plain yogurt
28g unsalted butter

Methods:

Place all the ingredients into a BM . Knead and proof for 1 hr 30 mins
Remove the dough and divide equally into 55-60 g each
Rest the dough for 15 mins
Then shape the dough into smooth and round shape
Add in any ingredients u desire.
For this , I added cream cheese into the dough. Shape into round buns and place a slice of ham on top. Press the middle down only and leave the sides alone. It is like making a crater like shape.
Rest the dough for 45-60 minutes or till the dough doubles in sizes
Egg wash the buns  and squeeze some Jap mayo on top
Bake @ 170 degrees for 25 mins / till golden brown ( depending on your oven)

Once out of the oven, you can place some bonito flakes / seaweeds on top for garnish .
Below are some of the varieties I have made. Enjoy!!!!

Note: This liners are very good in keeping a round and fat buns below. You can purchase from PH.
This recipes can yield about 11 buns depending on the sizes you knead.


Red beans buns top with Chia seeds


Ham & cheese with seaweeds toppings


Pork floss buns




Winter melon soup



Ingredients:

1 slice of winter melon
3 dry Japanese scallops
4-5 pieces of pork ribs ( use the soft bones types)
1/2 cup of ikan bilis
1 dry cuttlefish
A handful of wolfberries
1 carrot cut into slices
8-10 red dates ( small)

Methods:

Boil the pork ribs to remove any oil or dirt .
Pour away the hot water and wahs the pork ribs to remove any oil or broken bones
Boil a fresh pot of water about 1-2 litres
Add in all the ingredients except the wolfberries
Let it boil and cooked over slow flame for 45- 60 minutes .
When ready to serve, add some sea salt for taste n sprinkle the wolf berries on top.

Note: I am using the tiger Thermal cooker so I just boil my soup for 20 minutes and left it to cook on its own in the pot for the next 5-6 hours.




5 Spices Tau kee & Tau pok



This is a yummy and yet inexpensive dish. I bought the pre-fried Tau kee ( beancurd skins)  for $1.50 and 2 bags of 8 Tau pok ( long type) for $1. Total cost of this dish $2.50 excluding gas of course.



Ingredients:

5 dried beancurd sticks (tau kee, 腐竹)2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine ( I use Hua tiao )
1/2 tsp sugar ( I omitted )
1 tsp five-spice powder
3 cloves garlic, washed and smashed
3 thin slices ginger
1 Star anise
Methods:

Place deep-fried beancurd skin and all other ingredients in a pot. Add enough water or stock to almost cover all ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 40 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with steamed rice.

Original source from: http://kitchentigress.blogspot.sg/2010/07/five-spice-beancurd-skin.html

Thai Pineapple Rice



To serve this dish in a cutout "pineapple bowl", half a pineapple lengthwise and hollow out the flesh without cutting through the skin. Set aside the flesh of half pineapple to cook this dish.

Tumeric is permanently staining on clothes, certain materials (such as plastic bowls) and surfaces. Use non-staining crockery and cookware. I use an old wok and spatula specifically for cooking anything with tumeric in it.


Ingredients

  • 1 tsp tumeric powder
  • 1 tbsp pineapple juice
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp ikan bilis or chicken seasoning powder
  • 350 grams cooked long grain rice refrigerated overnight
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil
  • 30 grams butter
  • 3 shallots peeled and minced
  • 3 garlic cloves peeled and minced
  • 1 heaped tsp shrimp paste ( I omitted)
  • 6 prawns peeled, de-veined and diced
  • 100 grams boneless chicken breast cut to bite-sized pieces; marinate with 1/2 tsp sesame oil and 1/4 tsp light soy sauce
  • 100 grams diced pineapple flesh may use fresh or canned
  • 2 tbsp roasted cashew nuts
  • 2 tbsp dried raisins
  • pork or chicken floss
  • coriander

Instructions

  1. Combine tumeric, pineapple juice, fish sauce and seasoning powder in a non-stain bowl. Mix well and set aside.
  2. Heat oil and butter in wok, stir fry shallot and garlic for about 30 seconds or until the shallots start to soften.
  3. Add chicken and stir fry until they just turn opaque. Add prawns, stir fry until semi-cooked.
  4. Add rice and pour the sauce (step 1) over. Stir fry until the rice grains are dry and evenly-coated in the sauce.
  5. Add pineapple, cashew nuts, raisins and stir fry for another minute or two. Ladle pineapple rice to serving bowl and garnish with meat floss and coriander.
Original source from : http://www.noobcook.com/pineapple-rice/2/

Baked Pandan Chicken

 

This is my family favourite. I happened to harvest a lot of pandan leaves so I decided to make these. But it was time consuming for the wrapping part. No wonder some people just wrap it up and secured with a toothpick. But the efforts are worth it. My family give me thumbs up for this recipe.
 
 
Ingredients:
 
  • 4  Chicken tights meat, Deboned and cut into small pieces
  • 12 pieces of Pandan Leaves
Marinade: 
1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
2 tablespoon Gula Melaka or brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon Fish Sauce
3 cloves of garlic ( minced finely)
 
 
 1/3 teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
1 Tsp of grinded ginger
 

 
Method:
 
  1. Mix ingredients for marinade well
  2. Marinate chicken for at least an hour or more.
  3. Wrap chicken with pandan leaves. Refer to video below on the instructions.
  4. Set aside to oven bake.
.
 Oven Bake:
 
  1. Place on baking tray and bake in preheated oven at 200C for 20 minutes, turn once in-between baking.
  2. Then change to grill mode to bake for about 10 minutes for a nice roasted brown colors.
  3. Remove and serve with thai chilli sauce.
 Notes : If you do not have an oven, you can proceed to deep fry the chicken. They still taste good but will be oily too. Remember to the oil must at least cover half the chicken.
  
Thanks to Wokkingmum Elaine's video below:
 

Stir fried Mee Tai Mak

 

Mee Tai Mak / Bee Tai Mak is noodle made of rice flour. It is very similar to other type of noodle such as rice noodles. Fried Mee Tai Mak is my family favourite dish and this is easy to cook and usually turn out great .I usually like to buy fresh ones from market. 500g of Mee Tai Mak is $1 in my market here.


Ingredients:

  • 500 g of mee Tai mak ( fresh ones from market)
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 Tbsp of Grape seeds oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 pork muscle (sliced thinly)
  • 5-6 large prawns (peeled and deveined) or 10 pieces of small shrimps
  • 4 stalks of Organic baby chye sim (cut into small pieces )
  •  Some bean sprouts ( I usually buy 30 cents from market)
  •  
     
    Seasonings:
    • 1 tbsp of fish sauce ( I buy the thai brand )
    • 1 tbsp of soy sauce
    • 1 tsp of dark soy sauce ( depending on how dark you want your Mee tai mak to be)
    • Dash of white pepper powder
    • Dash of Garlic powder
    Garnish:
    • Fried Shallots
    • Spring onions
    • Cut slices of chilli
    • Sambal chilli

    Methods:
     
    1. Heat up the wok/skillet with oil. Break in two eggs and let them cook for about 1 minute before breaking them up lightly with spatula. Push them to side of the wok or skillet, add in garlic and saute until it’s fragrant.
    2. Add in the pork and stir fry until they just turn color. Add in the prawns and cook until they turn pink.
    3. Add in noodles and seasonings and continue to stir fry for another minute or so
    4. Lastly add in the Chye Sim vegetable  and stir fry briefly until they are soft . Then add in the bean sprouts last for a crunchy taste.
    5. Serve hot with garnishes.
     
     

    Picture of the fish sauce




    Saturday, May 18, 2013

    Pandan Chiffon cake



    Recently I am crazy over Pandan chiffon cake. And my family loves it very much. Special thanks to Alan for sharing his wonderful recipe. This is a keeper.

    ingredients ( 21cm tin)

    Group A

    4 egg yolks
    50g caster sugar
    60g of corn oil
    100g of coconut cream
    130g cake flour
    1 tsp baking powder
    1/4 tsp salt
    2 tsp concentrated pandan juice
    2 tsp pandan paste
    1 tsp vanilla essence

    Group B

    6 egg whites
    60g caster sugar
    1/2 tsp cream of tartar

    Method
    cream egg yolks with sugar until pale and creamy. It should have more than double its volume
    add corn oil, coconut cream, pandan juice  pandan paste, pandan paste and vanilla essence.
    add remaining dry ingredients i..e cake flour and baking powder until well incorporated
    prepare meringue by whisking egg whites at high speed until it turns foamy
    add cream of tartar followed by caster sugar in at least 3 additions into egg whites while still beating
    whisk until stiff peaks are JUST obtained.
    take 1/3 of the meringue and fold into egg yolk-flour batter. do this quickly until a thinner mixture is obtained. This bit of egg white is “sacrificed” for a more homogenised mixture which allows the subsequent meringue additions to be folded in more smoothly
    repeated the process with remaining meringue in 2 successions, but this time, folding more slowly and carefully so as not to deflate it too much and destroy the meringue structure
    fold until no more egg white bits can be seen. do not overfold as more folding means more deflating
    pour batter into tube pan and while grasping  tightly to the sides, rap the tube pan against a hard surface to remove any air bubbles. Alternatively, a wooden skewer or satay stick can be used to dredge through the batter very carefully to bring any large trapped air pockets to the surface.
    bake in a preheated oven at 170C for about 40 min.
    take the pan out once the baking is done and immediately invert the pan to cool.

    Notes :
    I use a 17cm tin for baking this recipe and my eggs sizes is about 55g only.

    Original source from:http://travelling-foodies.com/2011/08/11/pandan-chiffon/

    Basil Pesto

     
    Just harvested my basil so I decided to make these Basil pesto. This is really yummy.
     
     
    Ingredients :
     
    1/4 cup toasted pine nuts ( I use walnuts . Almonds are recommended too)
    3 cloves of garlic
    2 cups of fresh basil leaves ( I use 1 cup as I only managed to harvest this much)
    1 small handful of fresh parsley ( I omit it as it is mainly for colour)
    1/2 Olive oil ( I use extra virgin olive oil)
    Salt to taste
    1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 
    

    Methods:

    Grind the nuts,garlic, basil leaves, salt, parsley and gradually add in the olive oil to get a smooth paste.
    Finally add in parmesan cheese and mix till all combine.
    The paste is ready for use.

    Immediately, I made my Spaghetti with home made pesto. Yummy delicious.


    Original basil pesto recipe from : http://shelookethwell.blogspot.sg/2009/08/perfect-pesto.html?m=1


     

    Oreo Cheesecake with Panda


    These are super cute right ? I baked this for my boy 10th birthday as a treat. This is super yummy!
    My CG group members love them too and I packed for them separately for their kids as well. I will attempt this again.


         Line 8 x 8 x 1 1/2 inch baking pan with parchment paper.

         Cake Base - lined and greased baking pan
         160g Oreo cookies, remove the cream and crush it or grind coarsely
         80g Melted butter or add a little more if needed

    Method :

    Mix crushed Oreo cookies with butter and press them firmly on the base of the prepared pan and chill in the refrigerator for later use. 

         Cream Cheese filling:


         250g Cream cheese (room temperature)
         70g Sugar
         3 Eggs
         1 tsp Vanilla extract
         1 tbsp Fresh milk
         100ml Sour cream/natural yoghurt
         3 tbsp Plain flour - sifted
         70g Oreo cookies, remove cream and break into quarters, alternatively you can           break the whole Oreo together with the cream if got a sweet tooth


         Method:

    Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy.

    Add sour cream, milk and vanilla extract, mix well.

    Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each just until blended and add 3 tbsp sifted flour into it and mix well.

    Lastly add in Oreo cookies and fold in with a rubber spatula and pour into prepared baking pan.

    Bake at pre-heated oven at 150 degrees C for about 30 minutes.

    Leave cheesecake to cool completely. Spread chocolate ganache cream on it and decorate as desire or just dust some icing sugar on top.

    Chill cheesecake for few hours before serve.

    Note: For perfect slices, dip your knife in hot water and quickly dry it off before each cut

    Ganache cream
         200g dark chocolate compound
         20g Butter, cubes
         100g Whipping cream

    Double boiled the dark chocolate till melted. Add in whipping cream and butter. Stir till chocolate mixture is shiny.

    Thanks to Anncoo for sharing this wonderful recipe.

    Neapolitan Ice-cream Cake

     
     
    This is shared by Rita Choo from MFWL . She is my baking buddy. She made this first for her hubby 's birthday and she inspired me to make this for my boy 10th birthday. Really easy and my family enjoyed this cake very much.


    Things you need:
     
    1. 19cm/7.5inch (diameter) detachable cake ring
     
    2. 1 tub of Neapolitan Ice Cream
     
    3. Some chocolates, biscuits  for decoration
     
    4. Cling wrap
     
    Method:
     
    1. Melt the three flavours of ice-cream in three separate containers (bring them down from freezer and let them melt in the chiller compartment).
    2. Arrange the chocolate sticks (you can use other wafers of your choice) around the detachable cake ring mould then pour 1st layer of melted ice-cream (whichever flavour you prefer to be at the bottom) in the cake ring mould, cover it with cling wrap then freeze it until it hardens.
    3. When the 1st layer is frozen, pour the next flavour, cover with cling wrap then freeze it. Do the same for the last layer.
    4. When the 3rd layer is hardened, you can remove the cake ring (with care) and decorate the top and side with chocolates (or whatever you prefer).
     Note: You have to decorate fast as the ice cream will melt fast (so you have to plan ahead).

    Pink Ombre petal cake



    This is shared by Tiffany Koong from MFWL. The cake is super soft and yummy ! This is actually a trial practice for my gal 's birthday coming up in late May. This is actually my first attempt doing a cake. I am not a very patient person and this cake took me a while to complete it. But the effects are really stunning when you have completed the whole cake.


    Ingreds:

    170g butter, unsalted
    1 3/4cups of sugar ( to reduce as this is too sweet, use about 220g)
    2 large eggs
    2 tsp pure vanilla extract
    1/2 vanilla bean, scraped(optional)
    1/2 tsp salt
    2 1/2 tsp baking powder
    312g of cake flour
    305g of fresh milk
    Wilton colour gel ( Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet)


    Method:

    1) In a medium bowl, mix together salt, baking powder and flour. Stir to combine then set aside
    2) Weigh the mixing bowl from the electric mixer and note down the weight of the mixing bowl.
    3) Cream butter and sugar together in the mixing bowl, then add in eggs, one at a time. add vanilla extract and the seed of half a vanilla bean. Beat until well combined.
    4) Alternately add the dry ingreds and the milk to the butter/sugar mixture. Start with flour and end with flour.
    5) Weigh the mixing bowl with the batter inside. Minus the weigh of the mixing bowl to get the weight of the batter.
    6) Divide the batter into 6 bowls. Colour the batter with the colour gel.
    7) Grease and line the baking tin with baking paper.
    Pour the individual coloured batter into each individual cake tin. ( depend on your oven space, can bake 2-3 tins at one go)
    9) Bake at 170'C for 18-20mins or till toothpick come out clean
    10) Cool the cake in baking tin for 5mins and remove to cool at wire rack
    11) Wash and dry the baking tin with kitchen paper then grease and line the baking tin with baking paper again. Repeat step 8-10 till all the coloured batter finished baking

    Finally, once all the rainbow cake cooled down completely, you can start frosting and deco your rainbow cake
     
    For my version, I only divide into 3 bowls as I only want 3 colours only.
    As for the frosting , I am using frosty whip to frost this cake.
     
    For details to do the petal effects, you can refer to the video below:
     
     

    Mini Nutella Muffins

     
    Ingredients

    285g Nutella
    62g cake flour
    2 eggs

    Method

     1. Whisk all ingredients till smooth, & pour into muffin cases & bake at 180C for 15-20 mins (until toothpick comes out in gooey crumbs) for mini muffins. For regular-size muffins, you'll have to bake longer, likely 25-30min depending on your oven heat. Be careful not to overbake as it'll get dry.
    2. It'll be gooey crumbs in the centre & will be ok after it's cooled. Remove from muffin tray after 5 mins to cool on the rack.
     
     
    Note: This recipe will give 7-10 mini muffins or 4-5 regular-size muffins
    This recipe is shared by CK group in FB.

    Almond Bienetta




    This is introduced to me by a food sharing group in FB. Really addictive and nice.
    I bought this premix at Sunlik trading along 33 Seah street and it is really super easy to make.

    Ingredients below :

    100g of almonds
    75g of Bienetta powder

    Methods :

    Mix together with sprinkle of salt and sesame seeds ( I omit)
    Spread thinly onto lined tray
    Baked at 170 degrees for 10 minutes or more depending on your oven ( I baked mine for 27 mins)
    Cut while hot to get uniformed shapes or
    bread with hand for irregular shapes after cooled .

    Other variations: You can add Chia seeds or other nuts e.g. pumpkins nuts , pine nuts  to make these yummy snacks.