Props

I went shopping and got me some props for my food photos. Instead of constantly lamenting that my photos are awful, I am finally doing something about it. One new plate, one new bowl, one new placemat, one new...you get the picture.

It was fun picking out the items. I guess I'm going to be collecting a range of props from now on - anything that would jazz up a photo.

Hopefully with David's help I can build a cheap mini light studio.

Cream Cheese Brownies

David and I need our cake or a sweet fix and this is what I decided to bake. Joy of Baking is my baking bible for the moment - I personally think it is a comprehensive site with not just recipes but Stephanie's experience thrown in.

Chocolate is first choice for us but I didn't want to bake just plain old brownies and this recipe is something different. I like my food to be a fusion of taste and the tangy cream cheese is the perfect balance to the rich chocolatey base.

I made 2 pans tonight. One to be shared with some friends tomorrow evening and the other - all for us! Nah! I'm saving some for a friend's daughter :)

I almost didn't have any to share - I doubled the recipe but forgot to add extra eggs. I added them last and was praying that it wouldn't affect the baking. I was so excited to see the marble effect I made - not quite uniform but I do see some artistic swirls, if you take a look at the picture below!

It was terribly wobbly when I took it out of the oven and my heart sank. Since patience is not my middle name, I didn't wait for it to cool very long before I cut out a tiny corner to try. It was delicious but soft and gooey! Aargh! FAIL!

Then I calmed down and decided to wait until it cooled completely. In the meantime I checked through the instructions again and was relieved to read that I had to refrigerate it for 2 hours to let it set! Phew!

It's much too late now to wait for it to set before I take another bite out of it. But I already know that I am going to get a sweet fix for breakfast tomorrow. How decadent!

Ok! You know the drill: click on the post title for the link to the recipe and Stephanie's wonderful recipes.

White Bean Spread with Garlic and Rosemary

I bought a can of white beans on a whim. Then I started searching for a recipe!

I really wanted to make hummus - I'm crazily addicted to it after trying it out at the Lebanese Restaurant, in Ningbo. It goes so well with unleavened bread. I just wished David shared the same cravings. Unfortunately most hummus recipe calls for tahini and there is no way I'd find tahini in Ningbo!

Next recipe I found was this.

For this spread, heat olive oil, fry up chopped garlic, add some rosemary (I used dried) and wait until everything gets aromatic then add the can of white beans with all the liquid. While cooking, mash up with a fork. It will thicken as it cools.

I wanted a smoother consistency for my spread so I waited until it was cooled thoroughly before blitzing it with the hand blender.

This is going to be great for my morning toast since I prefer something savory.

ps. I didn't bother taking a picture - with my styling skills are really wanting and I know it would just look like something creamed in bad lighting. David says it will look like anything from porridge to soup!

Chocolate Banana Cake

This is the first time I am baking from scratch in Ningbo. It's David's birthday today and it seemed appropriate to bake him a cake - he also went all out to get me all the ingredients I needed :)

I've been referring to Joy of Baking a lot lately. This is my 3rd recipe from that site.

David has been meaning to bake himself. He's perfected baking bread, as for his pizza making attempts, let's just say that it is a work in progress. He had home made banana cake in Brisbane courtesy of my friend, Ling and he showed keen interest to bake that.

We had overripe bananas last week but no baking powder. Today I have all the ingredients and I set about baking it while Micah was occupied watching TV!

You can get the recipe by clicking on the post title where I've included the link. Repeating it here doesn't seem right because it's not my recipe.

Well I must say it turned out pretty good. Very moist and I love the combination of flavors from cocoa/chocolate and bananas. I'd definitely bake this on a regular basis and the next time I'm going add some nuts to give it some crunch.

3-day Super Sale Across Asia Pacific

That is if you are looking for a hotel!

The Accor Hotels 3-Day Super Sale Asia Pacific is happening from 27 Oct 09 to 29 Oct and I must say that there are some attractive deals on room stays. I have been quite keen to visit Taiwan, Japan or South Korea since there are direct flights from Ningbo. It'll be a 3 hour flight at the most and I am sure David wouldn't complain if it is a short trip.

Our proposed trip to Seoul was cancelled in summer because the tickets were just too expensive since it was peak season. I guess it might be cheaper now and with hotel savings, I think it is doable.

I've been wanting to visit Taipei since a friend who frequents the island raves about the food. Street food to be precise. She says she eats continuously when she is there and there are vendors at street corners which serve good food. I gotta find out if it's true!

Taipei would be the cheaper alternative to Japan. Even Seoul would be cheaper than the land of the rising sun! I know people visit Japan for cherry blossoms, Mt Fuji and the shopping but I just want the food. I sound ravenous don't I? But I do love Japanese food in almost all form. I have not tried fugu...yet but if I can love natto, I think I should be able to swallow anything! Ok! Maybe not raw prawns or crab.

My wanting to visit Seoul is because of the Korean series. After becoming familiar with some general Korean phrases and seeing quite a few dishy looking guys, I thought I should visit. Also because being in Ningbo means I am quite near for travel. A short getaway is more probable.

With one million hotel rooms at amazing rate across Asia Pacific, this 3-day Super Sale sounds like my cup of tea.

Now I just need a visa approval from that husband of mine!

Healthy Banana Cookies

To call it a cookie is not right. This recipe is more like banana bread! Mini ones. Micah likes it and that the whole point of baking them - a healthy snack for him.

I got the recipe from AllRecipe's Dinner Spinner app on the iPod Touch. And there were variations submitted by people who tried the recipe - for that you'll have to check out All Recipe.

The ingredients are simple:-

3 ripe bananas

2 cups rolled oats (I used quick cooking ones)

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped (I used raisins)

1/3 vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract.

Note: I added 1/3 cup of maple syrup because I didn't think that it would be sweet enough

Method:-

Preheat oven to 350F (175C).

In a large bowl, mash bananas. Stir in oats, dates, oil and vanilla. Mix well, and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven or until lightly brown.

I guess this is a nicer way for me to eat oats! But then again, I am not sure the vegetable oil content is healthy - some used applesauce instead of oil. That's for another time, then.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

The first 6 were huge so I halved the portions for the rest :)

Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside is how I like my chocolate chip cookies!

I made a batch to satisfy my craving - they were a little too sweet because I used regular chocolate chip. I always cut down on the sugar amount in recipes and yet, one cookie gave me a sugar rush for quite a while!

And I am so loving my Magimix. I've been using it quite regularly. Thanks to Fat Boy's recommendation, I know I've bought something I won't regret.

Click on the post title for the link and recipe.

Fish Pie

We've been having too much meat the last few days so fish was the obvious choice for tonight's dinner. I used a recipe from the Magimix instruction cum recipe book. It had all the ingredients I like so I figured it would be nice and it allowed me to try out the slicing function which I now realize I didn't get right the first time round.

Ingredients:-

150gms fillets haddock (I used cod)

40ml single cream

70gms parmesan cheese

150g fresh spinach (I used leek)

3 potatoes

1 egg

1 onion

1 carrot

1 lemon

1 tbs mustard

handfuls of parsley & olive oil to taste

Method:-

Peel potatoes and slice thinly. (The Magimix slicing disc is fabulous! 2mm slices of potatoes in a jiffy) Boil for 2mins and at the same time cook the spinach for 1 min in a colander placed over pan. Drain.

Chop the onions, parsley and carrots. (This was performed by the mini bowl chopper and it did its job really quick) Then fry in a frying pan with a little olive oil for 5mins. Draw aside and add half the parmesan, freshly squeezed lemon juice and mustard.

Blend the spinach, fish, raw eggs and cream. (The Magimix is amazing in that it has 3 bowls from small to big which sits inside each other - I didn't have to wash any to reuse!)

Finally the assembly. Arrange the ingredients in a large oven dish, alternating layers of sliced potato, fish and spinach mixture and the onions and carrots. Between each layer, sprinkle a little pepper and olive oil. Scatter the rest of the parmesan on top of the final layer.

Bake for 25-30 mins at 240C until the top layer is golden brown.

Layers of effort which looks a bit like coleslaw!

Baked fish pie.

Note to self: Remember to sprinkle pepper next time so it wouldn't turn out quite so bland!

A few things went wrong with this attempt. The pepper for one and the substitution of leek for spinach may not have been a good idea. I like leek but I think it doesn't go quite as well in this recipe. Micah spit most of it out but loved the bits of golden brown parmesan on potato!

David gave me a rating of 81/2 which surprised me. He later confessed it was more because of my efforts!