Thursday, April 26, 2012

Sesame & Honey Tofu Noodles

hmmm still have list of recipes waiting to be posted, posting cannot keep up with my cooking & baking hehehe...


Simple, delicious & healthy bowl of noodles!!


Ingredient
  • 400gm firm tofu, cut into sticks
  • 150gm dried rice noodles
  • 2 tbsp low sodium light soy sauce
  • 3 tsp five spice powder
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 2 stalk spring onion, sliced
  • 200gm bok choi
Method
  1. Heat some oil in pan, pan fry tofu until golden brown on both sides. Remove and set aside.
  2. Cook noodles according to package. Drain. Set aside.
  3. Mix five spice powder, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey.
  4. Heat 1 tbsp sesame oil in pan, add red pepper and stir fry for 1 min. Add spring onion and bok choi and fry till vege is wilted. Turn off heat
  5. Add in noodles and 1/2 of the dressing. Toss well. Place noodles into individual serving bowl. Top with fried tofu and drizzle with remaining dressing.
Recipe adapted from Good Food Magazine




Linguine Aglio Olio

I always prefer Linguine compare to Spaghetti as I personally feel that it has more 'bite' :D Hubby commented am too generous over the olive oil but I find it just nice :D :D oh yah I used chinese sausage instead of bacon and it taste equally awesome!! slurp slurp slurp....


Linguine with Oil & Garlic Sauce aka Aglio Olio


I use chinese sausage instead of bacon! yummy!!



Ingredient (2 servings)

  • 250gm Linguine
  • 100ml olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 4 small dried chilli peppers, soften & diced
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 chinese sausage, casing removed and diced
  • salt & pepper to taste
Method
  1. Cook pasta accordingly to package, drain slightly.
  2. About 5mins before the pasta is cooked, heat olive oil in a pan. Add chinese sausage and fry for 1 min. Add garlic and dried chilli peppers and fry till garlic is lightly brown.
  3. Add in drained pasta in the pan and mix evenly. Add in parsley and season to taste. Serve.

Recipe modified from Periplus Cookbooks

Lettuce Wrapped with Spicy Mushrooms

Good good good!! That's my hubby commented :D :D Though a little spicy, my boy still manage to eat some.





Recipe by Peng's Kitchen

Ingredient
  • 200gm enoki mushroom
  • 150gm shimeiji mushroom
  • 150gm king oyster mushroom, sliced
  • 150gm fresh shiitake mushroom, trimmed & sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 heap tbsp crispy chilli paste
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp sugar
Method
  1. Blanch all mushroom in boiling water briefly. Drain away water. Set aside.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in pan, add garlic and fry till fragrant. Add crispy chilli paste and fry briefly.
  3. Add in mixed mushroom and seasoning and mix evenly. Adjust taste accordingly. Remove and serve.

Fish Curry

A fuss free dish which uses instant fish curry paste! Taste not bad wor :D Spicy and slightly sour at the same time which I like :D




Ingredient
  • 350gm batang fish fillet
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 5 lady fingers, trimmed & sliced
  • 1 large tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 packet 'New Moon' Fish Curry Paste
  • 300ml water
Method
  1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in pan, add onions and fry till fragrant.
  2. Add in curry paste and fry for a min. Add in tomatoes and lady fingers and mix evenly.
  3. Add water and bring to boil. Add in fish. Simmer for 8mins until fish are cooked. Serve.

Chinese Pear & Honey Sweet Tonic

For the past 1 week, old kid and young kids all fall sick except Mummy still staying strong, hopefully the flu bug stay far away from ME!!!!. The kids have been running fever for 1 full week! This week my boy finally back to school after absent from school for whole of last week. But on and off they are still coughing and having running nose...sigh hope they will fully recover soon!

My boy does not really like to drink water unlike my younger daughter. So I've to think of ways to make him drink more!! Besides cooking green beans soup for them, I try this tonic recipe from Cuisine Paradise, which is well accepted by the kids :D





Recipe adapted from Cuisine Paradise

Ingredients

  • 2 medium chinese pears, 雪梨
  • 4 red dates, 红枣
  • 1/2 tablespoon Gou Qizi,枸杞子
  • 10g soaked white fungus,白木耳
  • 1 tbsp Sweet & Bitter Almond,南北杏
  • 6 strand Of Shan Shen,沙参
  • 900ml Of Water
  • 2 tbsp honey

Methods
  1. Wash all the herbs and bring the 900ml of water to boil.
  2. Peel and core pears then cut each into quarters and put into the double boiler pot.
  3. When the water begins to boil, add in all the herbs and white fungus (except honey and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
  4. Next pour the herbs ingredients into the pot that contains the pears and let it double boiled in a slower cooker for about 2 hrs.
  5. Remove about two tablespoon of the soup and let it cool slightly before stirring in the honey and mix well.
  6. Pour the honey mixture back into the soup mixture and continue to double boil for another 1 hour.
  7. Switch off the heat, allow to cool slightly and serve either warm or cold.
  8. Alternately, you can add in the honey before drinking the soup instead of adding it to double-boil.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Assorted Buns

When hubby tasted the 奶酥面包, asking : 'u bought one??' nope I bake one!......and he gave me an impressive look hahaha...really loves this buttery creamy fillings :D :D




65C Tangzhong, Water Roux

Ingredient (portion enough for 10 buns)
  • 125gm fresh milk/ water
  • 25gm high protein flour
Method
  1. Pour milk into a small saucepan, add in flour and stir till flour is well dissolved.
  2. Cook over low heat and whisk continuously till a smooth paste is formed (I do not have a thermo to check whether the dough reaches 65C, but it roughly takes about 2mins)
  3. Cover the paste with a cling wrap touching the surface, leave to cool completely before using.

奶酥面包


奶酥馅

Ingredient (for 5 bun)
  • 50gm unsalted butter
  • 40gm icing sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 10gm egg
  • 50gm milk powder
Method
  1. Cream butter, icing sugar & salt until light. Beat in eggs until well blended.
  2. Fold in milk powder until a smooth batter formed. Ready to use.


Ingredient (10 buns)
  • 230gm bread flour
  • 70gm cake flour
  • 20gm milk powder
  • 50gm sugar
  • 4gm salt
  • 6gm instant yeast
  • 30gm egg
  • 100gm iced water
  • 100gm water roux
  • 30gm unsalted butter

Fillings for 奶酥面包
  • 150gm 奶酥馅
  • 30gm cranberries
  • dessicated coconut for coating

Fillings for 黄金起司面包
  • 3 slices honey ham, shredded
  • 3 slices cheese
  • parmesan cheese for coating

Method
  1. Combine flour, milk powder, sugar, salt, yeast & water roux and mix briefly.
  2. Add in egg & water and combine into a rough dough. Knead for 5mins.
  3. Add in softened butter and knead for another 5mins until a smooth & elastic dough is formed. Proof for 60mins.
  4. Punch down dough and knead lightly. Divide into 10 equal portions and shape into round. Rest for 15mins.
  5. Roll out each dough and wrap with fillings. Brush surface with some water and coated with some dessicated coconut/parmesan cheeese. Proof for another 40mins or until double in bulk.
  6. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 15mins until golden brown.


黄金起司面包



Recipe adapted from ‘超简单面包精选’

Thursday, April 19, 2012

维也纳面包卷


Do I look like a caterpilla?? ^-^




Vienna Sausage Roll
Ingredient (5 bread rolls)

  • 200gm bread flour
  • 4gm instant yeast
  • 10gm sugar
  • 3gm salt
  • 10gm milk powder
  • 30gm parmesan cheese
  • 128gm warm water
  • 10gm unsalted butter
  • 5 vienna sausages (I use 'Tatsumoto" Extra Lean Pork Sausage)
  • milk for glazing
Method (hand knead)
  1. Combine bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt, milk powder and parmesan cheese in a mixing bowl. Mix evenly and make a well in the centre. Pour in water and mix into a rough dough.
  2. Hand knead for 5mins. Add in softened butter and knead for another 5mins until a smooth and elastic dough is formed. Cover and proof for 45mins until double in bulk.
  3. Punch down dough and knead lightly to remove excess gas. Divide dough into 5 equal portion (approx. 80gm). Roll dough into rounds and rest for 15mins.
  4. Roll out each dough into a square, equal length of sausage. Cut into 6 stripes leaving 1 cm uncut at one edge (refer to pics above). Place a sausage at the end and roll up. Seal the ends tightly. Proof for another 40 mins.
  5. Glaze with milk and bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 20mins or until golden brown.


Monday, April 16, 2012

Spicy Condiments

Have u ever try this brand of condiments before??  As I like spicy food, these condiments are great for spicy up in my cookings!! 1 or 2 tbsp is enough to heat up your tongue :D :D


 

Spicy Crunchy Chilli Peppers


Spicy Black Fermented Beans



港式酱油鸡腿

Few days ago discover this wonderful food blog Smoky Wok, this is the 2nd recipe I've tried from the blog. So far the dishes received good feedback from my tasters :D :D




Ingredients

  • 500gm chicken drumsticks
  • 500gm firm beancurd, cut into chunks
  • 5 hardboiled eggs
  • 1 head garlic, smashed
  • 10 slices of fresh ginger
  • 6 stalks spring onions
  • 3 star anise
For braising liquid:
  • 1 cup light soy sauce (I used Kikoman Premium)
  • 2 tbsp thick dark soy sauce
  • 5 cups water
  • 5 tbsp hua tiao jiu
  • 65gm rock sugar, or to taste
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
Method:
  1. Blanch drumstick in boiling water briefly. Drain away water..
  2. Firstly, heat up your claypot or braising pot until hot.  Add about 3 tablespoons of cooking oil.  Turn heat to low.  Add the ginger, garlic and green onions.  Stir-fry until aromatic.
  3. Add the light and dark soy sauce.  Add the water.  Add the rock sugar , wine & pepper.  Bring to boil.  Do a taste test and add more soy or rock sugar if desired. Place the chicken drumsticks, beancurd & hardboiled egg into the liquid. Bring to boil again. Lower heat and simmer for 15mins. Turn off heat and cover the pot. Let the residual heat continue to cook the meat till done for about 45mins.  Serve.
Recipe modified from SmokyWok

For my serving, I toss some cooked noodles with some sesame oil, braising liquid and spicy chilli pepper and some chopped spring onion! slurp!....


 My cute princess looking so satisfied with the chicken drumstick ^-^



梅子排骨




Extremely deliciously steamed ribs, can't help topping up more rice and slurping down with the gravy :D :D



 Recipe adapted from SmokyWok
Ingredients
  • 500gm spareribs
  • 1 whole garlic bulb, skin removed
  • 8 shallots, skin removed
  • 6cm ginger
  • 3 chilli padi
  • 2 water plums
  • 1 tbsp Szechuan chilli bean paste
  • 1 stalk green onion, sliced at an angle, for garnish
  • 1 large red chilli, sliced for garnish
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 2 tbsp plum sauce
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Cornstarch for marinating the spareribs

Method

  1. Firstly, rinse the spareribs and pat dry.  Add about 2  tsps of cornstarch and marinate.  Set aside.
  2. Prepare the sauce by blending the garlic, shallots, ginger, water plums, bean paste and chilli padi in a food processor until a smooth paste is formed. DO NOT ADD WATER.
  3. Heat up a wok or a saucepan. Add about 2 tbsps of cooking oil.  Once hot, turn heat to medium and add in the ingredients above.  Stir-fry until aromatic.  Add in the plum sauce, sugar and salt.  Do a taste test and add more sugar or salt if needed. Once you are satisfied with the flavours in the sauce, remove from heat.  
  4. Pour over the spareribs and allow to marinate for at least 30mins.  Add in 1 tbsp of sesame oil to the spareribs and mix well.
  5. Steam over medium-high heat for about 30 minutes or until cooked.  Garnish with sliced green onions and sliced red chilli peppers if desired.  Serve hot.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

红糖黑芝麻土司

This time round I did not manage to shape the loaf well, looks out of shape. Furthermore I've uses a too large pan for the dough and it does not raises very nice. But the outcome of the bread still taste very nice. My son commented the crust very crispy and hubby said very good crunch 'cos of the sesame :D


  
65C Tangzhong, Water Roux
Ingredient
  • 125gm fresh milk/ water
  • 25gm high protein flour
Method
  1. Pour milk into a small saucepan, add in flour and stir till flour is well dissolved.
  2. Cook over low heat and whisk continuously till a smooth paste is formed (I do not have a thermo to check whether the dough reaches 65C, but it roughly takes about 2mins)
  3. Cover the paste with a cling wrap touching the surface, leave to cool completely before using.



Brown Sugar Black Sesame Toast
Ingredient (9" x 5")
  • 240gm high protein flour
  • 15gm milk powder
  • 20gm brown sugar
  • 4gm salt
  • 4gm instant yeast
  • 85gm Tangzhong
  • 100gm milk
  • 20gm unsalted butter, softened
  • 20gm toasted black sesame seeds
  • milk for glazing
Method (hand knead)
  1. Combine flour, milk powder, sugar, salt & yeast and mix evenly. Combine Tangzhong and mix lightly. Make a well in the centre.
  2. Add in milk and mix into a rough dough. Knead for 5mins. Add in softened and knead for another 10mins until the dough is smooth & elastic.
  3. Add in black sesame seeds and knead till well incorporated. Cover and proof for 60mins.
  4. Lightly punch down the proofed dough and knead to release gas. Shape into a ball, rest for 15mins.
  5. Roll out dough into a 18cm x 30cm rectangular and roll up like a swiss roll. Seal the seams tightly and place the dough into a well greased loaf pan. Cover and proof for another 60mins until double in bulk. Glaze surface with milk.
  6. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 30mins. Remove from oven and unmould immediately and cool completely on wire rack.
Recipe adapted from 超简单面包精选

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Basil & Parmesan Cookies

Think this is a very a adult taste cookie, as my boy only taste 1 slice and frown hehehe...but I love the wholesome basil flavour :D Great to serve along with some creamy soup or a cuppa of mint tea! :D



rolling the chilled dough over black sesame seeds


sliced & ready to bake


Ingredient

  • 200gm plain flour, sifted
  • 20gm sweet basil leaves
  • 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 100gm butter, softened
  • 1 egg yolk
  • salt to sprinkle (I omit)
  • black sesame seeds for coating
Method
  1. In a food processor, blend parmesan & basil until fine.
  2. Beat butter until fluffy. Beat in egg yolk until well combine.
  3. Beat in basil mixture.
  4. Fold in flour until a dough is formed.
  5. Shape into log and chill for 30mins until firmed enough to slice.
  6. Coat log with black sesame seeds and slice. Sprinkle surface with some salt & place on baking sheets and bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 12-15mins until edge are golden.
  7. Cool completely before storing.
Recipe adapted from Women's Weekly




蚝煎 Orh Chien

Whenever me & hubby order this delicacies, he will always pick away the coriander as he dislike the fragrant...but I loves to eat the omelette with lots of lots of coriander!! And we also tend to fight for the oyster as the serving of oysters is so miserable hahaha....So this oyster omelette I've did this morning I top up with lots of oyster, fair share of servings no need to fight for it hehehe :D

The starch mixture in the original recipe seems very little so I actually increase it but hubby still 'complain' the starch too little >.< but at least he gives good comment on the fragrant ^-*


Oyster Omelette


pan fry starch mixture


flip over, cook for 1 min, add in beaten eggs...


flip over and cook till golden brown


Ingredient (original recipe)
  • 5 heaps tbsp tapioca flour (2 heaps + 40ml water)
  • 2 stalks spring onion, finely chopped
  • 1.5 tsp light soy sauce (1/2 tsp)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 100ml corn oil (40ml)
  • 3 eggs + 1 egg white, lightly beaten (2 eggs)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 chilli padi, finely chopped
  • 200gm small oysters (100gm)
  • bunch of coriander, chopped
Chilli Sauce : Blend 4 red chillies, 2 cloves garlic and 3 tbsp lemon juice until well blended

Method
  1. In a bowl, mix tapioca flour with 100ml water and stir until flour is well dissolved. Stir in spring onion, light soy sauce and salt.
  2. Heat a wok for 1min. Pour in oil and swirl it around to coat the wok entirely, heat for 1 min on high heat. Pour out the excess into a bowl. Then pour in the starch mixture so it forms a thin layer at the bottom of the wok. (swirl the wok to get even thin layer) Cook for 2 mins until golden brown, then flip and cook on the other side for another min.
  3. Add in some of the oil then tip in the beaten eggs (swirl the wok again) and fry, turning once, until golden and crispy. Transfer onto a serving plate.
  4. Add some oil in the same wok, add in garlic and chilli padi and fry until fragrant. Toss and coat the oysters with a little tapioca flour. Add into the wok and cook until the oysters shrink, not more than a min.
  5. Arrange cooked oyster on the omelette and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with the chilli sauce.

Recipe modified from Good Food Magazine


Tuesday, April 10, 2012

红茶面包

Cute little bread in a cake shape which finished on the day by me and my kids :D :D Though the tea flavour is not distinctive, the texture is very fluffy texture and crispy crumbs! Freshly baked breads always taste the best! Dear son ask me when can bake this bread again!!? If am not lazy these few days, will bake another one but will substitute with another flavour tea!





Recipe adapted from '超人气面包简单做'

Ingredient (6" bundt mould)
  • 150gm bread flour
  • 3gm instant yeast
  • 18gm sugar
  • 2gm salt
  • 10gm milk powder
  • 24gm egg
  • 3gm red tea leaves (I use 1 Lipton tea bag)
  • 75gm water
  • 30gm unsalted butter

Method (hand knead)
  1. Combine tea leaves and water and bring to boil. Turn off heat and cool down slightly.
  2. Combine flour, yeast, sugar, salt, milk powder in a mixing bowl and mix well.
  3. Add in eggs and tea liquid. Mix into a rough dough. Knead dough for 5mins. Add in softened butter and knead for another 5 mins until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and proof for 50mins until double in bulk.
  4. Punch down the dough lightly and knead to remove excess gas. Roll in round and rest for another 10mins.
  5. To shape dough : Pull a hole in the middle to fit into a greased bundt pan. Press down the dough lightly into the pan.
  6. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 30mins. Unmould immediately and cool on a wire rack.

A Flop 'Zebra' Cake

This is what I attempted with the balanced egg whites after making the cream brulee!! This cake uses large amount of whites : 10 egg whites to 2 egg yolks but I halved the recipe, just nice to clear my egg whites :D

Alas but my skills not up to par hahaha, cannot get a proper 'zebra' look, but the cake texture did not fail me! very light and moist tasty cake :D






Recipe adapted from Yochana's Cake Delight
Ingredients (I halved the recipe, for original recipe please refer to the link above)
  • 5 cold egg whites (160gm)
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 110 castor sugar
  • 125gm cake flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tbsp Ovalette
  • 1/2 tbsp condense milk
  • 110gm melted butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 10gm cocoa powder
  • 70gm almonds nibs
Method
  1. Beat egg white, egg yolk, sugar, flour, ovalette and baking powder together a high speed until it's fluffy and almost double in volume.
  2. Pour in condense milk , mix for awhile and then pour in the melted butter and beat lightly until combine.
  3. Divide the cake batter into 2 portions. Add cocoa powder into one portion. Add vanilla paste into the other plain portion.
  4. Scoop the batter (a tbsp) alternately into the lined pan (6" round or 9" loaf pan) and sprinkle almonds nibs on every alternate layer.
  5. Sprinkle some almond nibs on top of the cake and bake at 160 deg cel for 35mins.