Makanning

White Bean Spread with Garlic and Rosemary

2009-11-02T22:10:00.003+08:00

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

2009-10-29T13:50:00.004+08:00

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

2009-10-27T21:50:00.004+08:00

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

2009-10-20T17:26:00.004+08:00

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

2009-10-09T15:24:00.003+08:00

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

2009-10-03T06:27:00.003+08:00

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!

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

2009-10-02T16:17:00.007+08:00

I have no more excuses! I have my food processor and I am set to go. First use was chopping parsley for last night's dinner and today I used it to its maximum capacity - almost overflowing.

There are so many recipes out there to try but the one I chose for my Magimix's maiden effort is this cream cheese pound cake.

I followed the recipe almost to a tee but decided to cut down on the sugar. The recipe called for 3 cups sugar which sounded too much to me. I halved the portion. I also had to make do because of the lack of instruments - I forgot to equip my kitchen with measuring spoons so I had to estimate the baking powder and soda and I didn't buy a sifter so I just added the flour straight from the packet. The magimix worked like a dream and it was so quiet. I didn't pay much attention to that feature but when using it, I realized how silent it was compared to my old dinosaur of a cake mixer.

The smell of baking really makes a house homely :)

Baking time was over an hour long so I started preparing for dinner. The cake was baked exactly at the recommend time and it was nice and brown and crispy from the outlook.

I was quite excited to slice into it but resisted. Cooling time is so important, I realized. When I could cut into it, I was a bit disappointed with the texture. It was a bit bread like! David said it is nice. Taste wise it was very buttery and nice but I think I should have used more lemon zest as that flavor was lacking. Loved the crispy sides though.

All in all a good first effort I would think :)

Beef Stroganoff

2009-10-01T16:54:00.003+08:00

It has been a tiring but fruitful day with many new things to add to my kitchen. I finally invested in a food processor - got myself a Magimix. After months of deliberation and price comparisons here and there, I splurged today.

I tried to use it to slice my onions but either I was very new at using the grating disc or that it just isn't meant for slicing onions. Had to do it manually. The recipe didn't call for any other use so I resigned myself to trying the machine out soon when I bake a cake.

So, I had decided earlier today that I wanted some beef for dinner and wanted to try and make stroganoff. I got a simple recipe from Epicurious but I modified and added sour cream.

As I was cooking I suddenly realized that I needed to chop up some parsley - I used the mini blender on the Magimix! Easy peasy :)

I can't believe how unbelievably easy this recipe is. Onions, mushrooms, beef tenderloin, cream and sour cream. Parsley thrown in last. We ate ours with spaghetti.

Sadly the photo doesn't make it look very appetizing!

Lime and Honey Glazed Salmon with Rice and Broccolini

2009-09-20T17:52:00.004+08:00

I relish cooking in my own kitchen now that we are home in Brisbane. For tonight's dinner, David requested fish. In China my fish dishes are limited to either fish curry or steamed fish. I wanted to try something different.

We were out and happened to be near a Woolworths so I popped in to buy some salmon filets. I had no particular recipe so I tried out the Epicurious application I downloaded onto my iPod Touch and the first recipe that popped up was of salmon. Glancing through the ingredients and method, this simple recipe is just what I am willing to try.

I cheated of course - I don't really like following a recipe to a tee. It's really because I am lazy :)

Instead of baking the rice in oven, I cooked mine with some vegetable stock in the rice cooker. I dished the cooked rice onto a oven proof pan, placed salmon filets (seasoned with a bit of salt and cracked pepper), arranged the broccolini and doused the fish with the sauce from the recipe. I grilled the whole thing for about 20 minutes, adjusting the heat once to a lower temperature because I didn't want the fish to dry out.

The sour from the lime juice is balanced nicely with sweet from the honey and salty from soy sauce. A very nice sauce to go with salmon. David gave me the thumbs up!

Omelette

2009-08-17T15:41:00.003+08:00

I had the most fantastic omelette yesterday. It was a three egg omelette with chopped spinach, sundried tomatoes and goat's cheese. An explosion of flavor. Goat's cheese has a rather strong flavor - David reminded me when I ordered but I really wanted something different from the ham and cheese type or the potato, ham and bacon one he ordered. When eaten with sundried tomatoes, it was perfect. I didn't regret it one bit and neither did Micah. I went easy on the goat's cheese and sundried tomatoes when I feed him in case he'd spit it out but then I got lazy and didn't really check but he surprisingly ate a lot.

I watched Jamie's Ministry of Food video podcast on how to cook a great omelette with cheddar cheese. Using his method I am going to experiment with some exotic ingredients - if I can find some!

Eggs are so versatile. Pair it with the right ingredients and you can serve up a 5 star meal, I would say. And I love eggs in any form. I am thinking about that meal, all over again!

2 Pictures as a Post

2009-08-16T00:19:00.004+08:00

Waffles with whipped cream, strawberries and maple syrup

@ Casa Verde, Botanical Gardens in Singapore.

Ravioli with cream sauce and walnuts

@ Modesto's, The Elizabeth Hotel in Singapore

We had Tony Roma's too but there was no way I could take any pictures with Micah banging away with a spoon and a couple having a romantic evening at the next table getting quite agitated. We could only gobble up as fast as we could and split.

And one night out with old friends, we had a drink after dinner @ Paragon Shopping Centre. We were supposed to have tea. Viv considered having Lavendar, me, Pomegranate and Shivaun wanted a margharita! Viv and I changed our minds so fast and settled on a mojito each :) Great choice and great company but no photos. And would you believe that I don't remember the name of the place! It's not the mojito - we were just too busy catching up - you have to believe me :)

Simply Thai, Shanghai

2009-07-20T09:22:00.004+08:00

We've walked past umpteen times and never once did David want to eat at Simply Thai. We did check out the menu once but found the prices a bit steep - for the price, we'd rather eat Western. Finally, on our last trip, we ate there. It was because we've run out of restaurants to try at the Hong Mei Entertainment Street. And there is only so many times we can eat at Bastiaan's.

It looked more like fine dining by our standards and I was a bit apprehensive when they showed us to a table near a couple who looked like they were on a date. Another couple were seated near us too! And Micah wasn't in his jovial mood that evening after being stuck in the stroller for hours.

Despite everything, I am just so glad to have dined there. I love Thai food - it is sweet, it is spicy and there is rice. A combo of all my favorites.

We were in Shanghai for a weekend trip with our friends, Steven and Magie so we took turns to choose a dish each. I picked duck curry, Magie chose beef with coriander, Steven selected the vege and David wanted tom yum.

Beef with coriander

Broccoli with shrimps

Duck curry with pineapple.

I remember having this dish at a Vietnamese restaurant

so I am not too sure of its origins :)

Tom yum soup

It is becoming increasingly difficult to take a good photo with a fussy toddler and friends who are waiting to start their meal. I am sometimes embarrassed to make everyone wait while I get a picture right :) I do have understanding friends who put up with me.

I enjoyed whatever I could stuff into my mouth - and very quickly too. Steven and Magie were great - they kept serving David and I seeing that we were preoccupied with feeding and entertaining Micah. Micah was grabbing spoons, forks, banging the table and eating steamed white rice for dinner!

I am definitely going to insist on us dining there more often when we are in Shanghai.

White Tea

2009-07-08T11:04:00.002+08:00

A summer treat - white tea brewed with cold water makes a refreshing drink to quench a thirst on a hot day. The flavor is subtle but it leaves a cool effect on your tongue. White tea is also a specialty product of Ningbo.

I asked for it one winter and it was not surprising to be told that it is only available in summer.

Kimchi Fried Rice

2009-06-24T13:21:00.006+08:00

It's been a while since I've felt like cooking something new.

We've come back to Ningbo for about a month now and in that time, I've cooked almost daily but nothing new. Just simple dishes and stir fries. We try to minimize eating out because it is quite difficult to enjoy our food and have to entertain Micah.

When we do eat out, I take some pictures but end up not being able to blog about it because of the Great Firewall. I've got a VPN service now - blogging has revived and so has cooking.

I've had kimchi in my fridge since our visit to the Korean restaurant. As much as I like it, I didn't find myself eating it often and looking at what's left, I doubt I'm going to finish it this year! And I've been wanting to try my hand at fried rice. Why not Kimchi Fried Rice.

It is no secret that to cook great fried rice, you should use overnight rice. The grains are less moist and remain nice and fluffy after frying. I cooked extra rice yesterday so that I could fry some today.

But sadly my rice was still soggy - just like all my previous attempts at fried rice. I figured that the heat for the wok is not hot enough. I was doing fine until I added beated eggs. I even had this method of frying up portions of rice so that I could make it fry evenly but it didn't matter because when I added the eggs, it didn't cook quick enough, instead got absorbed by the rice. Now I can't even tell that there are eggs in the rice!

I think I'd better fry the eggs separately next time and add it in. Or have more patience to wait for the eggs to set a bit in a well I made in the wok of rice before mixing it all up. Sigh!

Anyways the recipe is simple - garlic, onions (diced), fry until fragrant, add meat (I chose chicken), add kimchi cabbage which were chopped up together with the juice and finally, eggs. The method varies from one recipe to another but I think you get the picture.

I don't think David was impressed - it wasn't even spicy because Micah had a few mouthfuls of the rice :)

Bread

2009-06-20T22:52:00.002+08:00

It took my few failed attempts to spur David to try and bake bread himself. He was successful on his 2nd attempt after lots of googling and tips from friends on Facebook! He is sure is proud of his bread! It has become his weekend task now and he bakes 2 at a go. Micah is enjoying the bread too.

Blocked

2009-06-20T22:33:00.001+08:00

This is seriously not good. I can blog but I can't seem to get pictures posted. There are other ways but all seem to be limited somewhat. This is getting so frustrating.

I even tried purchasing a VPN but it didn't work so I am now waiting for my refund.

I gotta preservere and beat this!

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Jjajangmyeon

2009-06-19T11:09:00.002+08:00

Watching Korean drama series get me hungry for Korean food. I watched a series where the lead actress was eating Jjajangmyeon all the time. In the story, she suffered amnesia and the first meal she had after being discharged from the hospital was Jjajangmyun. After that she sure ate a lot of it. And got me interested to try it too!

I finally tried it. It wasn't as delish as it was made out to be in the TV series but it wasn't too bad. A tad bland after eating Kimchi but it can count as comfort food.

I doggie bagged a portion of kimchi and was given another portion free by the proprietress. I can't wait to try and cook fried kimchi rice.

Pipa Fruit

2009-06-02T12:09:00.001+08:00

IMG_0043
Originally uploaded by Tracy Tan

Loquat as it is more famously known, is in season. I first saw it a few days ago in the compound garden. (The garden is quite amazing - it has such variety of plants, bushes and trees. Some flowering, some fruiting. And there is something to observe almost every season). And so we were pushing Micah on his new trike and noticed this tree with lots of yellow/orange fruit. At first I thought it was kumquat but the shape of the fruit didn't correspond. With no one to ask, we just walked on. There was a sign on the tree but we can't read Chinese - in fact the management has labeled some of the plants around with its scientific names.

Yesterday, David's business partner gave us some fruits - it was a box of the yellow/orange fruit. I still didn't know what it was until David asked them today - they said it was pipa or peipa (Cantonese). The only peipa I know is my sore throat/cough medicine - King To Nin Jiom Pei Pa Kao! And now I am eating the actual fruit.

When I started writing this post, I hadn't tried it. David had and didn't have anything good to say - he mentioned that it was too troublesome to peel the skin, take out the seeds and remove a layer of translucent membrane inside. And it is a small fruit.

I had to try it myself. I stopped writing and went to eat one so that I can describe it. It was like eating a cross between a peach and a mango in texture but honestly the fruit is almost tasteless! And I agree. It is quite troublesome.

I wondered if I could use it to cook since there was a whole boxful of it or else it will be given away to our friendly security guards at the basement carpark. I found loquat chutney recipe.

The only question now is whether I'd want to sit and peel, deseed and remove the membranes of like a thousand of these fruits to make that chutney! Maybe Micah can help!!!!!

Note: I have to say that our stay in China is very 'fruitful'. I've tasted many new things and learned more about Chinese foodstuff we get in Malaysia (usually dried or preserved) or in medicines. My blogging about it also forces me to do research and now I know more.

Pumpkin Talam

2009-05-21T21:26:00.004+08:00

The inaugural meeting of the Onde Onde Club started without me! But no matter - it is great to share from afar, especially since I've got other members who stepped up and took photos and did a write up!

Photos were taken by Rachel and the write up by Ling. All got to sample except Celia and me! And this is what Ling wrote:

What a better way to meet a fellow Malaysian than inviting her to make some kuih together! Pumpkin talam is an invention by our Onde Onde club consultant, Grace Chew (who is now in the heart of Africa while Sarah raids her garden!). Sarah, being the president of the club, did her share by providing all the ingredients! Rachel, our new member, took the responsibility of taking pictures when our official photographer had to keep up with her jet-set life style flying off to China! (Note: that would be referring to me!)

The pumpkin came from Grace's garden. I had to use my cleaver and a lot of muscle work to cut open the pumpkin. I used a quarter of the pumpkin to produce 2 cups of mashed pumpkin for the kuih. It was easily done, yes, you guessed it, just microwave it until pumpkin is soft and can be mashed easily. Then, we added water, sugar, tapioca flour and rice flour. Mix well and steam probably for about 15 minutes or until it's cooked. While we waited for the bottom layer to cook, Sarah started preparing the top layer. To make ourselves feel less guilty in terms of how fattening this kuih is, we used light santan! Mix santan, rice flour, tapioca flour and salt together.

When the bottom layer (pumpkin layer) is cooked, just pour the santan mixture on top and steam further until top layer is cooked. This is the agonizing part - patience!! We couldn't cut the kuih immediately as it had to be cooled down to set. So, Sarah and Rachel went home empty handed! But I promised to deliver the kuih to them the following day.

Recipe:

Bottom layer

2 cups of mashed pumpkin

1.5 cup of water

1 cup of sugar

1 1/3 cup tapioca flour

2/3 cup rice flour

Top layer

1 tin (400ml) santan

1/2 cup rice flour

2 tbsp tapioca flour

1 tsp salt to taste

Wonder what should we make for our next Onde Onde club meeting!! Any ideas?

Ling, Onde Onde Club VP

Organically grown pumpkin from Grace's garden.

When we visited their house early this year they were so tiny.

Pumpkin layer

Coconut milk layer on top of pumpkin layer

The finished dessert!

Restoran Siow Tiow

2009-05-21T14:50:00.008+08:00

Ah, Klang food! It was either BKT or Siow Tiow, this round. There are so many good food restaurants to choose from but my cravings were limited to these 2.

BKT stands for Bah Kut Teh and the Klang style is termed 'kau' referring to the dark colored soup - my favorite type. Why choose? - have both! Suggests Meng, my ex business partner. We were law firm partners and the office is in Klang where he still operates. So a visit to Klang would inevitably include him and the generous fella did a stealth maneuver and paid the bill at Siow Tiow.

The food at Siow Tiow is consistently good. Everything taste just the same - the only difference is that the elderly lady waitress is not there anymore - the one who would complain if you ordered too much! I kinda miss her - she was always nice to me.

There's no menu and they don't serve white rice or provide chili padi. And there are only a handful of dishes to order but they cook them well.

First things first - a full bowl of red chilies and chopped garlic are served together with a bottle of light soya sauce and another for dark/thick soya sauce. We were early and the bowls were still full. These get passed from table to table. Condiment for all the food.

The first dish was something new. Meng ordered Abalone Kerabu! It was an interesting addition. A generous serving of abalone on a bed of onions, cucumber, spring onions and tomatoes with a sweet garlic sauce. They don't go easy on the garlic here.

Next came the Oyster Omelette. The oysters seem to get smaller and smaller - my only grouse. Otherwise the eggs were done just right - not too well cooked and leek is added which makes the Siow Tiow style a little different from the rest I've eaten.

Then came my favorite - Hokkien Noodles. Yellow noodles fried with some pork slices and green leafy vege. The dark and thick soya sauce makes this dish all caramel like and a bit sweet.

Then the Pièce de résistance. Steamed pomfret fish! Steamed to perfection all the time and topped with so much garlic that unless everyone at the table eats, the odd person out might have a hard time being up close and personal with us! And it isn't enough. Most of us dab more dark soya sauce with garlic before savoring the nice plumb white meat of the fish.

We had only 4 dishes and it was surprisingly enough for the 5 of us - even without rice. We took leave of our other friends and headed to pack BKT before leaving Klang. Our dinner plans are made! And I have satisfied all my cravings.

Lastly a picture of the shopfront. My friend Doris commented that with a facade like this, it's hard to believe that the food is good! Or that they serve abalone :)

The Onde Onde Club

2009-05-19T15:44:00.005+08:00

What was said jokingly turned out to be a great name for our group. The Onde Onde Club is born. Forged together by a craving for Malaysian food, we have decided to put saliva into action (not literally speaking of course!). We need to recruit more members in Brisbane. We hope to get together to cook and eat. We are pooling our resources - experience, ingredients and knowledge - hoping to eat our way through life away from Malaysia.

Mandarin Cheesecake Slice

2009-05-12T07:37:00.007+08:00

The original plan was to make orange cake. I found the recipe on a website that specialized in Spanish food. Since I was attempting paella for our dinner guests tonight, I thought I might as well go Spanish all the way. And it was a simple recipe which calls for refrigeration instead of baking.

I started on the cake yesterday thinking that I could save some time today. When I opened the cream cheese packaging I found another recipe! A baked raspberry cheesecake sounded more like something I want to try. The only thing missing was raspberries! No matter. I had the preserved mandarin oranges for the other cake.

It was hard work because I don't have a cake mixer or a food processor. I did everything by hand and I've got a sore thumb now! Crumbing the biscuits took some time but that was the easy part - mixing the cream cheese with sugar to make it smooth was tough. In the end I put the slightly lumpy batter to bake. I figured that it will eventually melt in the heat. I wouldn't have been able to get away with it if it was to be refrigerated.

Ling came over just when the cake was done. We were both staring at the cake and taking big whiffs of it but since it was for my guests, we couldn't have any yet.

But I couldn't wait. I served her a slice and I ate one too. It was nice except that the biscuit base was still very loose - came apart when I sliced the cake. We were too eager. When the cake cooled down, the base was more firm.

Mandarin cheesecake slice.

I sent Ling off with half of the cake. David had some for dessert after dinner and I am having the last slice for breakfast. All gone.

I'd better start making a new one for my guests tonight!

Here's the recipe:-

Ingredients:-

250g cream cheese cubed and softened

200g biscuits (Digestives are perfect)

200g fresh or frozen raspberries or mandarin

60g butter, melted

1/2 cup caster sugar (I used brown)

1/2 cup cream

1 egg

finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon (I omitted this)

Method:-

Combine biscuit crumbs and butter then press into a 20x20cm removable base tin. Chill. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add cream, egg and lemon rind and beat till smooth. Pour into prepared base and top with raspberries. Bake at 160C for 45mins or until set in the middle. Allow to cool, then remove from pan and cut into squares to serve.

Cheese Puffs

2009-05-08T17:56:00.009+08:00

Not the junk food but puff pastry.

I realized after baking my spring roll samosas that there might not be enough to go round for our guests coming for tea. I panicked. David was out playing golf and I had Micah with me and I still had to prepare the Sweetened Sweet Potato soup. I ran through all my options - run out to shops with Micah who was due for a nap or wait for David.

I decided to do my favorite thing - innovate. I had puff pastry in the freezer bought for the samosas (I ran out of filling so I didn't try with pastry!). Then rummaging through my fridge, I found some shaved parmesan cheese. I came up with a cheese puff pastry.

Cut puff pastry into squares, put some parmesan and a sprinkle some sugar (I prefer brown) wrap it however you want - I just folded 2 opposite corners to the middle and overlapped them. Then brush some beaten egg over to give the pastry a sheen. Bake in oven at about 180C for about 10 mins and they are done. The marriage of salty cheese with sugar always taste nice.

Come to think of it, I could have used up the frozen blueberries too....but that would require some custard. Next project then!

This cheese puff pastry recipe is going to be a keeper. Our guests cleaned up everything! Well, almost. Sweetened Sweet Potato soup was only popular with the ones who live in Australia :) Our Malaysian guests can get them anytime back home.

Chicken Tikka Masala

2009-05-06T18:35:00.004+08:00

It's time I hosted dinner for the Lipscombes! After staying at their place and practically living off them in Brisbane, I made an extra effort to feed them right tonight. And it will be great to host at our new home.

Mike loves Indian curries. Chicken Jal Frezy in particular.

I didn't attempt to cook his favorite lest it didn't meet his standards so I chose Chicken Tikka Masala. You'll find interesting facts and the recipe from the link. I had a good read myself and am enlightened.

When I first traveled to UK with David, I told him that I wanted to eat Indian food. He looked at me weirdly. The moment he tasted it, he was sold. He is more used to the Southern Indian cuisine more commonly served in Malaysia and still prefers it over the Northern type. I am the opposite.

One of the first cook books I bought is on Indian curries and I've tried a few already to much success (if I may blow my own horn). You see, you can't go wrong - the spices and sometimes yoghurt added to marinade meat makes it flavorful and tender.

Of course if your palate is not quite used to the spices, you might not even like the smell of it cooking! I can imagine some of my China friends balking at the thought of eating Indian. They claim it stinks! I have seen a Chinese man with a bunch of, what sounded like British men, at the Indian restaurant in Ningbo. The foreigners must be his customers and they were clearly enjoying their dinner. This Chinese man was just smoking - never eating. On another occasion, we spotted a Middle Eastern man eating alone at this same Indian restaurant. Almost at the end of his meal, a Chinese man joined him, called for the bill and paid. They left together making me summarize that he must have brought his customer to eat, making an excuse that he couldn't eat spicy food or something to get out of eating Indian! David's Chinese business partner won't even step into the restaurant.

Then there are the adventurous type but they are few - unless they are like us, Malaysian Chinese who are so used to spices and spicy food that everything else without would taste bland.

Back to the recipe at hand. I marinated the meat yesterday night just before I cooked the Spring Roll Samosa filling (in my previous post). My whole fridge smelt nice and spiced!

I started grilling the chicken in the early afternoon. I didn't use skewers as instructed. I didn't have any! So I couldn't get it all nice and charred or smoky flavored. The grilled chicken were so tender and lightly spiced. I cut down on the chili powder wanting to make it palatable for Harry who is almost 6. The tender juicy chicken pieces were actually good to eat on its own. I set some aside for Harry because I was going to make the gravy spicy for the adults.

The gravy was pretty straightforward and I was done cooking by half 5. What's left to do would be to boil rice and open a bottle of red to breathe.

When Ling arrived, she brought naan bread. Store bought but nevertheless, necessary for an Indian meal. Mike would have preferred papadom as well but Ling couldn't find any.

No second helping of rice for anyone but I received a big burp from Harry - I'll take that as a compliment!

This Chicken Tikka Masala sure doesn't look as

nice as the one from Rasa Malaysia's blog!

Taste wise, I am satisfied and Mike said dinner was nice.

My improvised version of Aloo Gobi.

Cauliflower and potato stir fry with garlic, ginger and onions.

A dash of ground cumin, salt and pepper for taste.

I quite enjoy cooking for friends - it gives me a chance to try out new recipes. It's just too much trouble to cook for 2 so having a dinner party is an opportunity to share or have more guinea pigs!

Spring Roll Samosa

2009-05-06T18:21:00.006+08:00

We are slowly inviting friends over to our new home in small groups. We can only manage a few people at once since we have limited furniture and the house is quite small.

For tea on Friday, I want to make samosas. Our friends are from Malaysia hence something spicy is always welcomed!

For my filling, I found this recipe. I added diced chicken for more bite and instead of making the pastry for the samosa, I used ready made spring roll skin.

And I am baking them. Healthier, I suppose.

As I was preparing them in advance, I folded them spring roll style and David said, 'What? Not a triangle!". So it is apt to name this Spring Roll Samosa ;)

Brushed with some oil for baking

Light and crispy brown.

I baked a few to test them out and received a thumbs up from David. Let's hope our guests will enjoy them too. I am also serving sweetened sweet potato soup with the samosas, courtesy of Lily's Wai Sek Hong. My menu for tea can't get any more Malaysian than this.