To a Rosy 2010...

Malaysia, July 2007: I was walking around the night market in Chow Kit when I was lured by a brightly pink colored drink.  What is it?  I didn't care, all I knew was I had to have some... yes unlike most people who shy away from brightly colored food...I can't seem to get enough of them.  Excited, I walked up to the vendor, pointed to the drink and bought a glass.  It was delicious!  Refreshing and rich with notes of floral and citrus. I briefly mentioned it in my post about Malaysian street food and found out it was called Air Bandung.  A refreshing sweet milk drink flavored with rose water and tinted a rosy, pepto-bismol pink.  I played with a few recipes and discovered that addition of lemon zest will bring out the flavors of the drink more.  The trick is to not add too much...it should be there but not be there...if that makes any sense.


Ingredients:
-1 can evaporated milk
-1 can sugar (use milk can to measure, +/- depending on your taste)
-4 tbs rosewater
-pink food coloring
-zest of 1/4 of a lemon
-water, ice


What to Do:
Rub together the sugar and lemon zest, add milk and bring mixture to a boil, cool, and strain out the lemon zest.   Add pink coloring.  To serve, fill a class 1/3 full with the milk syrup, and water to fill the glass 2/3 full; finish the remaining 1/3 with crushed ice.  Give the drink a quick stir and enjoy!

A Toast to 2010,

May the new year be as Sweet, as Refreshing and as Rosy as Air Bandung.

Cheers!

Buche de Noel 2009

Let's face it, all Buche de Noel is just a cake...like any other cake.  The only difference is that it's made during Christmas time and decorated to look like a log.  I got bored with the same old chocolate icing, scraped with a fork for the "bark" and meringue "button" mushrooms.

I've always believed that if you don't like something; change it. So I did.

Instead of making button mushroom with meringue, I made oyster mushrooms instead.

Yes, the powdered sugar was a bit of an overkill but hey....I was just Playing with My Food!

 I tempered some chocolate and brushed it onto a sheet of parchment...waited for it to set, then peeled it off...and made the cake bark. Arf! :D

     If you're looking for the recipes they're here and here.  Have fun and Happy Holidays!

Forgive Me Father, for I have Stollen

..............just in time for Christmas............

Ingredients:
-200g milk
-20g yeast
-1 egg (50g)
-600g bread flour
-7g salt
-80g sugar
-1/2 tsp cardamom
-300g butter
-250g raisins
-50g ea: candied lemon, candied orange
-150g almonds
-50g rum
-400g marzipan (divided into 4 pieces, optional)

Prep:
Scale the butter and cut it into small cubes, set aside.

Mix together raisins, candied fruit, almond and rum, set aside.

Mix together sugar, salt, flour and cardamom.

Mixing:
In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in milk, add egg. 

Add flour mixture and mix until all of the moisture is absorbed. 

Add the butter and mix until dough comes together. 

Lastly, add candied fruit/rum mixture and mix until incorporated.  The dough will be very sticky, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and rest for 1/2 hour.

Shaping:
After resting, liberally dust a work surface with flour. 

Dump the dough onto the table and dust with more flour.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces (approx 1lb each).

Shape the dough pieces into small logs.  Using a small rolling pin or the side for our hand; aim for the middle of the log, make a slight impression and slightly roll the dough dough out creating a small flap.  Add a piece of marzipan (optional) and fold the dough "flap" over to cover the marzipan.

Baking/Finishing:
Proof for another hour and bake at 350'F until golden.

Brush the cooled stollen with melted butter and dust/roll in powdered sugar. 

Allow the stollen to sit for a day or two for the flavors to mature before serving. 

Pumpkin Cheese Cake, Gingersnap Crust , Maple Cream, Glazed Walnut, Tuile Leaves, Brushed Chocolate

What did I make for dessert on Thanksgiving?  Pumpkin cheese cake.... a cross between pumpkin pie and cheese cake paired with flavors of maple, chocolate and walnuts, what more can one ask for?

For the Crust:
-4 oz gingersnap cookies
-melted butter

*Crush the cookies, add butter and mix until mixture comes together.  Press mixture into a cheesecake pan to make the curst.

Cheese Cake:
-1lb cream cheese
-300g pumpkin puree
-200g sour cream
-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
-4 eggs
-1 tsp cornstarch
-150g sugar

*Cream the cream cheese until smooth, add eggs one at a time, then add sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and cornstarch and beat until creamy.  Add pumpkin puree and sour cream.  Mix until combined.  Fill the prepared cheesecake pan with batter and bake in a water bath, covered with foil at 325'F until the center jiggles like jello.  Chill until sent (a few hours).


Maple Cream:
-2 egg yolks
-150g milk or cream
-30g maple syrup

*Heat milk in a pot.  Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks and maple syrup.  Once the milk comes to a boil, gradually add the milk to the eggs (aka tempering the eggs).  Return the mixture to the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the cream thickens and coats the back of a spoon.  Strain and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tulie Leaves:
Weigh the egg whites (left over from making maple cream).  Scale butter, sugar and flour, each equaling the weight of the egg whites.

*Cream butter and sugar, add butter and flour.  Mix until smooth.  Use a stiff piece of paper to create a stencil of a leaf.  Place the stencil on top of a silpat, use a small spatula to spread a thin layer of the tulie batter over the stencil.  Lift the stencil off the silpat and volia!  You have a leaf.  Bake the leaves at 350'F until slightly golden brown, give them character by shaping them while still hot.

Burshed Chocolate:
Chop chocolate into uniform pieces.  Melt them in a bain-marie over barley simmering water, stirring constantly until the chocolate is melted but still contains a few small chunks.  Remove from heat and continue stirring until all of the chocolate has melted.  Using a pastry brush, brush the chocolate onto a piece of parchment paper.  Place chocolate in a cool place to set.  Once set, gently peel the parchment off the chocolate.  Use chocolate as a garnish.


Glazed Walnuts:
-sugar
-walnuts
-toothpicks or bamboo skewers

*Skewer walnuts onto toothpicks or bamboo skewers.  Place sugar in a pot with a little water (just enough to wet the sugar).  Bring the mixture to a boil, and continue to cook until the sugar begins to turn amber in color. Remove from heat and allow the sugar to cool slightly.  Dip the walnut pieces into the sugar, pull the pieces stright up out of the sugar; the sugar should "thread" as it's being pulled from the pot.  If not, the sugar is too hot, wait a few minutes and try again.

Bánh Bò Khoai Tím - Purple Sweet Potato Rice Cakes (Fatt Koh)

It's been raining in Seattle, pretty much nonstop for the last 2 weeks (no surprise there) and I ran out of rainy day projects. Desperate to kill time I dug into my collection of cookbooks and found this recipe for Bánh Bò Khoai Tím (Purple Sweet Potato Rice Cakes). This recipe comes from a cookbook by Gia Chánh Hoa Hường, published in the early 70s. The cookbook belonged to my aunt and was passed down to me when she moved to California to be closer to her kids. Like all traditional recipes for Bánh Bò, the leavening comes from Cơm Rượu (fermented rice). If you don't have the time or patience the fermented rice starter...I guess you can replace it with some yeast and see how it goes....as always Play with Your Food!


Translated from the original recipe above:

Ingredients:
-150g purple sweet potatoes
-350g sugar
-300g rice flour
-3 tbs Cơm Rượu
-pinch of alum
-180ml water from boiling the potatoes
-2 egg whites

Method:
Peel potatoes and measure out 150g. Cut potato into cubes and boil with a pinch of alum until potatoes are tender. Weigh the potato mixture and adjust to the liquid amount to get 330g (150g potato + 180g potato water = 330g). Mix together potato mixture, fermented rice and rice flour until a smooth dough is achieved. Proof overnight.

Beat egg whites and sugar to stiff peaks, add the fermented dough and continue to achieve a homogenous mixture. Proof until batter doubles in volume. Steam in porcelain tea cups over high heat for 12 mins.

Tomato Assam 'Fish'

Ingredients

2 tomatoes cut into wedges
1 vegetarian fish
1 tbsp mee siam paste
some assam paste - soak in warm water
water for gravy

Method

Lightly cook the tomato wedges in some water till bubbled. Stir in the mee siam paste and strain the assam using a siever. Add more water if necessary to get more gravy. Season to your taste. Slide in the vegetarian fish and cook for 1-2 minutes. Dish and serve immediately.

Yogurt cake with Pineapple (2)

Remember the Eggless Yogurt Cake in the previous post up? And this recette below i added eggs and pineapple..here are the ingredients :)

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 cup of oil
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of yogurt (sweeten)
1 canned of pineapples
4 cups of plain flour
1 tsp of baking powder

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and greased a baking tray.

2. Cream oil and sugar together. Add in the eggs and mixed well.

3. Flour in the flour and baking powder. Last add in the pineapples (draining away the water).

4. Put in oven to bake for 40 minutes or till cooked.

Pan Fried Aubergine with tomato sauce

Ingredients

1 aubergine
1 packet of tomato puree
salt
oil
Method

1. Cut aubergine into chunks, lightly soaked them into some saline water. Drain and set aside.

2. Oil the pan, slide in the aubergine chunks and fry for a few minutes.

3. Dish up and cook the tomato puree with a pinch of salt.

4. When it bubble, off fire and pour the sauce over the cooked aubergine.

Steam Aubergine with Veggie Floss

Ingredients

1 aubergine
2 chinese spoonfuls light soya sauce
1 chinese spoonful of mushroom sauce
dashes of sesame oil
veggie mock floss

Method

1. Cut the aubgerine into big wedges, lightly soaked in saline water. Drain and arrange on a bowl for steaming.

2. Mixed the sauces and sesame oil together and pour over the cut aubergine.

3. When the water starts to boil, put the aubergine to steam for 10 minutes.

4. Before serving, sprinkle some veggie mock floss.

Chop Suey Macaroni Soup

Eggless Yogurt Cake (1)

Ingredients

1 cup of yogurt (plain sweeten or fruit)
1 cup of oil
1 cup of sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
7-up (if necessary)

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together and put in to bake for 30 minutes or till cooked. If the batter gets too thick, pour in some 7-up to get a dropping consistency.


P.S. A choice of fruitty yogurt or canned fruit or fresh fruits can be added to this recipe.
P.S. Using the same yogurt cup as a measuring jar for the rest of the ingredients.

Steam Banana Cake (Eggless)

Ingredients

1 ripe banana - slice into 1 cm thick
1 tsp oil
100 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
20 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
7-up

Method

1. Cream oil and sugar together. Add in the sliced banana and roughly mixed well.

2. Fold in the flour and the rest of the ingredients.

3. Last pour in the 7-up (need estimation) to get a dropping consistency.

4. Steam over medium heat for 30 minutes or till cooked.

Spongy Banana Cake (Eggless)

Ingredients

2 ripes bananas - cut into 1 cm thick
75 g melted butter
50 g sugar
100 g sweeten yoghurt
150 g self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees for 10 minutes.

2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in bananas and roughly stir.

3. Fold in the sifted flour and vanilla essence.

4. Last pour in the yoghurt and blend well the mixture.

5. Greased a baking tray, pour in the batter and put to bake for 40 minutes or till cooked.

Tomato sauce with pasta Rice

Tired of eating spaghetti with tomato sauce? How about trying out tomato sauce with rice?? That my latest creation....

Dough Fritters with Char Siew Sauce

Modified 'Otah'

Wanted to do this 'otah' for a while, finally i did it.....getting beancurd is not easily available in where i stay, always gotta stock up whenever i go to the chinese store in town...since i have in mind that i trying out this recipe i kept the balance of 1.5 pcs of firm beancurd in fridge..

First i blanched with hot boiling water for couple of minutes, drain away the excess water...mashed it with a fork as much as you can...added curry powder and turmeric powder (need abit of estimation, based on how much i can remember i last ate vegetarian otah), salt..some pepper..and strips of roasted seaweed cut in small pcs..mixed them all well, taste to see and adjust accordingly..transfer to a baking tray and press down the 'otah'..put into a pre heated oven at 150 degrees for about 20 minutes..

Voila..here is the best 'presentation' of my modified 'otah' i can make..but i think it can be improved...perhaps i can try to add in some coconut milk to make it more aromatic....cheers :)

Lemon Cake

After attempted with the orange moist cake, i decided to give another try on Lemon..using the same proportion of the ingredients i done up with this recipe...

Ingredients

150 ml lemon juice (squeeze from 2 lemons)
2 tbsp lemon zest
50 g melted butter
100 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
150 g self-raising flour - sifted
2 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (optional)

Drizzle part

1/2 lemon juice squeeze
50 g icing sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest

Method

1. Cream butter, sugar and lemon zest till white and fluffy.

2. Crack 2 eggs and continue to mix well. Sift in the flour and pour in the lemon juice and rest of the ingredients. Blend in together.

3. Pour into a greased tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 175 degrees for 30-35 minutes or till cooked.

4. To prepare the drizzle, mix icing sugar to lemon juice. Set aside.

5. Poke some holes on the cooled cake and pour drizzle over. Sprinkle with lemon zest.

Gnocchi Meal

Always wanted to try what is this Gnocchi, and so i bought a packet at the supermart and finally gave it a try..this recipe is a pan-fried style..

Don't you think it looks cute..nothing added, it already has its taste..but eating alone abit dry so i add on with a bowl of creamy soup..really works perfect!

Green Bean with Grass Jelly Dessert

Another grass jelly dessert, remembered the last creation - Grass Jelly with Barley this time i done it with green beans..juz cooked the green beans and when it has coolen off, add in the cube grass jelly..leave it in the fridge..refreshing dessert in a hot afternoon :)

Beancurd with Salted Soya Beans

I have this similar recipe done sometime last May 2008 - Tao kwa with Salted bean this time i juz added tomato wedges and carrot shreds..

Tomato Salad

Most simplest salad that i can think of...juz needed 2-3 tomatoes, sliced it then marinate with a pinch of salt..let it stand for 30 minutes - drained off the excess water, pour in about 1 tbsp of sesame oil..sprinkle with sesame seed and herbs or corriander leaves...Serve :)

Eggless Orange Cake

A similar version of the Orange Moist Cake, but this recipe i done it without eggs only..and it tasted exactly marvellous..i doubt anyone would realise it contains no eggs...

Orange Moist Cake

Hubby craving for cake again....hm, this time i attempted to bake orange cake....since i have some fresh oranges at home, tot it would be nice to be today recipe..So i went to surf the website and here it goes..take note this cake turn up to be abit moist..but really nice and soft..enjoy :)

Ingredients

50 g melted butter
80 g white sugar
2 tbsp grated orange zest (not the bitter white part)
2 egg yolks
150 g self raising flour - sifted
150-180 ml of fresh orange juice (2 oranges squeeze)
2 egg whites
a pinch of salt

Method

1. Cream butter, sugar, orange zest until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Fold in sifted flour, alternating with orange juice.

3. In another bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff and add a pinch of salt.

4. Fold whisked egg whites into the mixture. Spoon batter into prepared greased tray.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

BBQ Sauce Fried Rice

Very convenience sauce for every vegetarian household....in the below recipe i used the bbq sauce or well known for 'sha cha jiang' to fry the rice....colourful rite? I have corn, green peas, carrots, black olives and eggs....choice of your ingredients, fry it like normal..juz before dish up spoon in the bbq sauce (at your taste) no further salt required..Serve hot.

Spinach Mushroom Lasagne

Ingredients

Spinach (fresh or frozen)

1 canned of button mushroom - sliced

Lasagne sheets (pre-soaked)

Bechamel sauce

70 g parmesan cheese

Pre-heat oven 200 degrees

Method

1. Lay the pre-soaked lasagne sheets on the base of the baking dish.

2. Spread spinach over and top with mushrooms as shown.

3. Spoon some bechamel sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

4. Repeat the whole process until all is done.

5. Put the lasagne dish to bake for 30 minutes or till the cheese turn golden brown.

6. Remove and let it sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Pan Fry Tao Kwa

Forgotten if i posted this before...neway too lazy to search it..hehe ;p

Ingredients

2 pcs of firm tao kwa
some curry powder
salt
oil

Method

1. Slice tao kwa as shown. Marinate with curry powder and salt.

2. Heat pan with oil till slightly smoke.

3. Slide in slowly the tao kwa and fry till it turn some crust.

4. Dish up and serve.

Traditional Sponge Cake

Ingredients A

2 eggs

100 g sugar

Ingredients B

120 g plain flour (sift)

1/4 tsp salt

Ingredients C

25 ml milk

50 g melted butter

1/2 tsp vanilla oil

1/2 tsp pandan paste

Method

1. Put eggs into mixing bowl. Use high speed to whisk until frothy. Add in sugar slowly. Whisk till very light and fluffy (about 10 minutes).

2. Fold in flour lightly into egg mixture in one direction.

3. Lightly mix in ingredients C in one direction. Do not over mix.

4. Pour into a lined and greased baking tin/tray.

5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Puff Loaf

Ingredients A

100 g self raising flour

Ingredients B (mixed well till sugar disolved)

2 eggs
60 g sugar
60 ml milk
1/4 tsp vanilla essence

Ingredients C

50 g melted butter

Method

1. Place pre-greased baking loaf into oven, pre-heat for 10 minutes at 190 degrees.

2. Sift self-raising flour into a mixing bowl.

3. Add in ingredients B, combine well.

4. Pour in melted butter and blend well.

5. Remove baking tin from oven, pour in batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes till golden brown.

Vegetarian Lasagne

Ever curious how lasagne is done? Yup yup, finally i decided to give it a try..

Ingredients

Lasagne sheets

70 g Permesan cheese

Vegetarian Bolognese

Bechamel Sauce

Pre heat oven 200 degrees or gas no. 6

Method

1. Put the sheets of pasta in a bowl and cover them with warm water. Make sure they are submerged. Leave to soak for 5-10 minutes.

2. Remove the lasagne sheets one by one from water and place them onto tea towel. Then turn them over and pat dry on both sides. You may need to do them in batches to finish drying all the lasagne.

3. Start by layering the lasagne sheets on the bottom of the baking dish.

4. Next cover with half of the bolognese.

5. Spoon over some bechamel sauce and finally sprinkle with some parmesan cheese.

6. Now repeat the process: lasagne, followed by the rest of the bolognese then the bechamel sauce and finally the parmesan cheese giving a generous topping.

7. Place the baking dish in the center oven. Cook for 20 minutes .

8. When the parmesan cheese has turned golden brown, remove the lasagne from oven and allow it to sit for 15 minutes before serving.

9. Lasagne is delicious served alone or it can be accompanied by fresh green salad.

How to make Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients

380 ml milk
50 g butter
3 tbsp flour
a pinch of nutmeg

Method

1. Warm the milk in the microwave.

2. Place a sauce pan over medium and add the butter.

3. When it has melted, add in the flour and mix it until smooth.

4. Just before it starts to turn brown, pour in the milk.

5. Using a whisk, stir continuously until the sauce begins to thicken.

6. When thick season with salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Then gives it a further whisk and remove from heat.

Vegetarian Bolognese

Ingredients

3 ripes big tomatoes - cubes
1 tbsp paprika powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
100 g soya mince (xiao dou li)
salt and pepper
oil

Method

1. Heat and oil pan, stir in the tomato cubes for 1 minute.

2. Add in the paprika and cumin powder, salt and pepper and continue stirring till bubble.

3. Blend in the soya mince and cook till almost dry up.

4. Off fire.

5. Voila vegetarian bolognese is ready.

Broccoli Braised peanut

The most simplest dish from a lazy person like me...haha enjoy :)

Ingredients

broccoli cut into florets
a canned of braised peanuts

Method

1. Blanched the broccoli florets with some salt. Drained and dish up.

2. Empty the canned of braised peanuts and pour over the broccoli.

3. Serve immediately. No other seasonings required.

Nameless veggie dish

Having balance of the chick peas from the previous salade preparation...i took it and added into this veggie dish.

Assam Fish

Short of dishes for the dinner meal? These Supreme brand convenient and ready to eat recettes always come in handy.

Juz empty the packed to a serving dish, stir in some hot water into the packed and disolved the paste left inside. Voila the assam fish is ready.