[Baking] Chocolate mudcake

Nobody can resist a rich moist chocolate cake.


Adapted from SHOP fashion cookbook; Rachel Ruddick's Italian mudcake.

400g dark chocolate
250g butter
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup brandy
6 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
2 cups almond meal
250g dark chocolate, extra
1 cup thickened cream

1. Pregeat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 23cm square cake tin.
2. Melt the chocolate with the butter in a large bowl over a pan of hot water, stirring to combine. Remove from the heat and add the water and brandy, stir until mooth, then allow to cool slightly.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg wolks and sugar until thick and pale. Fold through the chocolate mixture with the almond meal.
4. Whip the egg whites in medium bowl until soft peak forms. Gently fold the whites through the chocolate mixture.
5. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for one to one and a quarter hours until cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.
6. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Melt the extra chocolate with the cream in a bowl over a pan of hot water, and stir until smooth. Refrigerate until thickened slightly and pour over cooled cake.

This is a sinfully rich cake (read: fattening), indulge with caution ;-)

[Baking] Decadent treats: Pandan chiffon cake and custard cream

If you read my blog regularly, you will notice that I hardly ever visit any cafe.

Cafe culture might be all the rage here but if you could whip up cafe offerings easily at home...........why bother wasting time and money to visit one.

Now if you could whip up a plate of fry-ups for breakfast or brunch in the time you take to drive out or walk to the cafe. Why waste time and petrol?

And if you could cook the stuff for say fry-ups (2 sausages, 2 bacon, hash brown, 2 eggs and 2 pieces of toast, grilled tomatoes) for less than $5, how is it justified paying around $16 for it in a cafe? Not guaranteeing you will even get gourmet sausages, free-range eggs, heritage tomatoes, nice streaky bacon and sourdough toast.

Not to mention the super cheap and fast pancakes you can make at home but in a cafe you will have to fork out around $13 for just a stack of maybe 3 pancakes with some sauce and maybe ice-cream.

It's all very well if people go out to cafe to chill-out, take a break from hectic work week. But I am a stay at home mum and I love to do cooking/baking. So naturally, cafe is just not an attractive option when I go out for food.

I was supposed to be talking about cakes and cookies but I digress.

There are always baked goodies at home; cheesecake, chiffon cake, devilish chocolate cakes, chocolate cookies, melting moments.

And especially when you have merlo coffee, Mariage Freres tea, Lupicia tea and my all time favourite Lipton intense in your cupboard (I don't profess to be a coffee or tea connoisseur, it's just a matter of taste like and dislike for me) , all the less reason to venture out of the house for breakfast, morning or afternoon tea.

But I still have my weakness for beautifully baked goodies from Chouquette and the awesome wood-fired grains and nut sourdough from Banneton Bakery and the macarons from Twist n Roll.

Pictured pandan chiffon cake was made with Leslie from ieat's fantastic recipe. I am still on the lookout for the perfect recipe for I feel the cake's texture could be softer like the result I get from my 4 eggs recipe. I have yet to adapt that recipe for a pandan version.

Custard creams which commonly known as melting moments is one of those thing you can't stop popping into your mouth. You just have to reach for another one after the last one. I got the recipe from a friend, S and the result was delicious and light eventhough there is no cornflour in the recipe, widely regarded as the reason for the lightness in melting moments.

Custard creams

160g butter

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 1/2 cup plain flour

1/2 cup custard powder

1. Beat butter and sugar till pale and flufy.

2. Sith flour and custard powder togther.

3. Gradually add to butter till mixed to a stiff paste.

4. Roll into balls, press flat. If desired, press with a fork for pattern.

5. Cook in preheated oven at 160 degree celcius (fan-forced) fo 10 to 15 minutes.

Icing

25g butter, softened

1/2 tsp finely grated orange/lemon rind

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/3 cup icing sugar

2 tsp custard powder

Happy baking!

[Brisbane] Roast duck noodle soup, Vietnam Corner

I have probably blogged Vietnam Corner to death by now, much like my favourite bakery, Chouquette. It's no secret that it's our favourite restaurant in Brissie and our fall back default when we couldn't decide where to eat.

This pic I took looked too good, I couldn't resist to show it.

Roast duck noodle soup

Princess can eat half the portion (noodle only) by herself! It's a big bowl!

I crave for certain food every now and then, most recently it was egg tart.

Good thing there's ready-rolled frozen puff pastry. Just half an hour, you can sink your teeth into piping hot egg tart.

Recipes have been written before. I must say, my version is not a remarkably fantastic one but it's enough to satiate my cravings.

[Baking] Caramel cashew nut tartlet

I have an ex-colleague, Teresa, who's an ardent cook and baker.

She used to make these little nut tartlets which I like very much.

I missed those little treats of hers so I attempted to make some.

I used store bought sweet tartlet cases (12 for about AUD6.99) and unroasted, unsalted cashew nut.

First roast the cashew nut in the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Then cook butterscoth sauce (sugar, butter, honey, teeny weeny salt), chuck in the roasted cashew nut, coat well.

Fill the tartlet and bake in oven for 10 minutes at 180 degree celcius.

Those ready-made tartlet cases (comes in savoury and sweet) are very handy to have in the pantry. You can whip up a chocolate tart (just melted chocolate and store bought whipped cream, voila!), lemon/passion fruit curd (just fill the tart with ready-made or homemade curd, voila!) or fill with whipped cream and fruits, all done in no time.

Buy from good delis.

[Home Cooking] Egg Pancake. Apple Tarte Tartin

Chinese style savoury egg pancake

Savoury pancake with spring onions topped with omelette and cheese or tuna or whatever you fancy.

Apple tarte tartin with vanilla ice-cream

Watching Masterchef got me eager to try out some of the recipes featured.

Recipe click here apple tarte tartin.

Last night's macaron and caramel panna cotta has got me very excited indeed and I'll attempt the recipe soon. I need to get my hands on a sugar thermometer first.

Wash down the above with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, ah, bliss!


Merlo coffee torrefaziones on James St

It's housed in an industrial looking spartanly furnished building. It's just a roasting facility with merchandise like coffee machines and accesories and ice-cream (made by Licks!) for sale.

Tis the season for oysters!

Coffin Bay Oysters AUD11/doz

I got them from CJ Seafood in Mt Gravatt Plaza, unopened.

I had no idea how to shuck an oyster.

Kitchen shears and chinese cleaver seemed to do the job.

Gave up when I got to the 7th oysters.

Sigh....

Got myself an oyster knife from Executive Chef the next day.

Hmmpphh the job didn't get any easier........

[Home cooking] Coq Au Vin - A French Classic

I have been wanting to try coq au vin ever since I first known about it (donkey years ago XD).


So I tried cooking it at home using a recipe found online. It could be Delia's, I am not sure.

Hmmm, I think my cooking failed :-(

[Home] Potato Salad on Bagel

Potato salad

Diced cooked potatoes (I like to use kipfler)
Diced ham
Diced carrots
Diced avocados
Sour cream
Mayonnaise
Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Chilled before serving.

Served on Glicks bagel (bought frozen from Pennisi Cuisine Distributors).

Down with freshly brewed Campos coffee.

[Home] Xiao Long Bao, Kolo Mee and Asparagus

Oi sis-s, how I like to make you both hungry and ENVY.

Wohahahahaha *evil laugh*

Kolo mee, steamed xiao long bao (bought frozen from Ho Chia in Sunnybank Plaza) and stir-fried asparagus with scallops.

[Home] Grilled chicken, ragu and sweetcorn soup

Sis seems very interested in knowing what I cook at home.

I only know a few dishes and cooked them repeatedly. Its all been blogged before.

But here's a few photos.


Spiced grilled chicken

Grill them on medium high. No oil on foil. Turning twice. The oil from the skin will keep the meat moist.

Linguini ragu with shaved parmesan

I like my ragu on the dry side. None of the watery/oily garbage.

I like to use mince/finely diced ham, carrot, onion and diced mushroom.

Sweet corn, carrot and spareribs soup

[Cooking] Honey mustard sauce

Sunny side up egg and bacon with honey mustard sauce on toasted Turkish bread.

Honey mustard dip:
2 tbsp honey
2tbsp mustard
1tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup good mayonnaise

The dip is also great with chicken fingers/nuggets.

If you like TGI Friday's honey mustard dip, you will love this recipe. They taste very similar.

[Baking] Dark chocolate cookies

Ingredients:
Unsalted butter 100g
Sugar 45g
Brown sugar 45g
Egg 20g
Flour 135g
Cocoa powder 18g
Chocolate chips 60g
Baking soda 1/4tsp

1. Sift cocoa powder together with flour and baking soda.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Add egg to 2. a little at a time and cream till fluffy.
4. Fold in flour followed by chocolate chips.
5. Bake in preheated oven at 170 degree celcius for 12 minutes.

Note:
I used Valrhona cocoa powder.
I substituted chocolate chips with caramel buttons.

I baked some bigger cookies. They are soft and chewy and what better way to devour them than sandwich them with ice-cream.

[Home Cooking] Popiah

Sis BB had asked how to do popiah. So this post is dedicated to her.

Popiah is a traditional Hokkien dish and appear on auspicious days (which one I can't remember). I am sure other dialect groups have something similar.

But of course you can cook it whenever you want to and alter/add/subtract any ingredients you want/like/fancy/hate/can't find/can't be bothered.

I always have the above ingredients in my popiah.

Clockwise starting from top middle:-
Cabbage (cut into fine shreds)
Carrots, julienned (cut into match stick size)
Taukwa (firm beancurd, cut into strips)
Fried shallots (you can cut and fry your own if you feel you don't have enough work already)
Long beans (a.k.a snake beans, substitute with french beans if can't find, finely sliced)
Pork, cut into strips and marinate with salt, pepper, sesame oil and cornstarch

The ingredients above were missing omelette strips (forgot to snap), leeks (finely sliced) and prawns (optional) as I don't have them at hand.

Now preparing all these ingredients and cooking them is a time-consuming task and so required a good knife to speed things up (and prevent unnecessary injuries or a trip to psychiatric ward haha) and a good stir fry pan (the one which distribute heat evenly and cook your stuff faster).

My chosen 'weapon' is a Global chef knife and a non-stick Calphalon pan. I cooked everything in just that one pan, sai lei leh hehehe. Get ready a big container/bowl to store the ingredients as they cooked.

Now all the vege/meat need to be cooked separately as they cooked at different rate. But if you are feeling lazy....no, don't go there, lazy, stay away from popiah!!

First I cook the cabbage in a little oil like 1 tsp (if you're in UK, I suggest you use pointy cabbage as they tend to cook faster than the round cousin or else you will spend an eternity in the kitchen 'watching' your cabbage and other people finishing brekkie, lunch and dinner and you could still be cooking popiah. OK exaggerating XD). Cook at medium heat and avoid adding water if you can otherwise you will end up with a soggy mess later. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and dish into prepared bowl.

In the same pan, add another 1 tsp of oil and stir fry the carrots. Cook till soft but still retaining a little bite. Judge lah, I can't tell you how long. Remove from pan and into the same bowl above.

In the same pan still, add 1 tsp of oil and stir fry the beans. You need a little water to get the beans going. Season with salt and pepper and let the water evaporate entirely before removing from pan and into bowl above.

In the same pan, add 1tsp of oil and stir fry the leeks. When softened, add in pork and prawn (if using) and stir till cooked. Add in the taukwa and omelette strips, stir for a bit to warm the taukwa then add in 1 tbsp of the fried shallots (you can add more if you like). Remove and add to bowl above.

Mix all ingredients in the big bowl until well combined. You can return them to the pan if it's big enough. I normally cook popiah way in advance and warm a portion come eating time.

We eat them wrapped in springroll skin. I like TYJ brand, less prone to tearing.

I know my ingredients is missing the key vege, bangkuang/sengkuang. Do not attempt to substitute it with celeriac or turnip, they are not the same thing. You could argue its similar and die die must substitute with them but to me they just add an off putting taste (yeah I have tried to substitute with them). Its almost impossible to find bangkuang in UK or Oz, you might be lucky and know someone who plant them.

I know the singaporean eat theirs with crabmeat, beansprouts and crushed peanuts with a smear of sweet sauce on the springroll skin.

I can identify with the sweet sauce and crushed peanuts but crabmeat (perhaps its a rich people thing which I'll never understand/know of course) and raw beansprouts??

And the King's family/relatives wonder why he doesn't get all excited with the mention of 'I/We cooked popiah, do drop by and get your fix' in a swelling-with-pride tone whenever we go home and met these hot-blood and kind family members and relatives.

Oi, kam un lah. We really appreciate it and grateful to them. It was a kind and generous gesture *sob*cry*howl* (er maybe not the last).

[Home-cooking] Baked spareribs

Somebody has been eagerly waiting for this spareribs recipe.

It makes frequent appearances on my dining table.

You will need:

A rack of babyback ribs (i normally do at least 2 at one time)

Clean the ribs and pat dry with kitchen towel. Seasoned with brown sugar, chilli powder and salt in ration of 7:2:1.

Wrap tightly in aluminium foil. Chill in fridge for at least an hour.

Prepare marinade:

8 tbsp light soy sauce, 3 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp cooking wine, 1 tbsp vinegar, 2 tbsp water and a clove of crushed garlic. Mix well.

Take the ribs out of the fridge. Unfold one end and pour in the marinade. Reseal.

Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 1.5 to 2 hours or till the meat is tender and separated easily from the bones.

It took several trial and error to find the optimum baking time and temperature with your oven.

I like to reserve one rack (with the gravy) and remove the meat and shred them and fry bihun with it. It tastes just like the tinned braised spareribs.

Oh, this is for second sis to see. An idea for her dinner. Its quick and easy. Try lah B.

**************

I know I have been MIA. Bitten by lazybugs.

Been having funny sensations with my gums and teeth. Felt like getting a rotten tooth soon >_<.

So I googled and found oil-pulling helped.

Mmm, so I started to oil-pull for the first time this morning using cold-pressed olive oil for about 20 minutes.

I spit the oil/emulsion *eww* into the toilet bowl and it came out off-white *gasp*horror* ewwww, full of toxins.

Then I have this slight burning sensation in the chest and felt sluggish the rest of the day and continue to do so. I guess my body is detoxying. I hope.

What is oil-pulling?

Start by feeding a tablespoon of oil into your mouth. Move the oil round the front part of your mouth with swishing action (NOT GARGLE, you might puke!). Swish for 20 minutes. Spit out. Rinse mouth with salted water.

My teeth has never felt so clean!!

[Brisbane] Big King's Birthday 2/9/2008

I have finally finished posting all my Brissie's backlog makan entries *cheers*Hawaiian dancing*fireworks*

Tomorrow I will start posting on Brunei/Singapore food. Hoorah!

So it was my household's Ta Ren/Big King's birthday yesterday.

I made a simple black sesame mousse and red bean cheesecake (adapted from the fantabulous Miss Jubie) and cooked his favourite baked pork chop rice (also from the ever so resourceful Miss Jubie) and braised sea cucumber.

There was a thickish pork chop which was undercooked. It's unlucky Big King ate some of it and had diarrhoea/tummy ache today. Oooops, sorry luv.

[Brisbane] Random home cooking shots

Like I mentioned before, my friends were wondering whether I do any cooking at home. All I ever posted on the blog were eating out experiences. Haha.

Well, er, it's just that I am not the best nor the most creative cook in the world. I only do very very simple dishes at home. Mostly steam and stir fry. Deep frying will only happen on important or auspicious occasions.

Most popular dishes in my household:

Steamed chicken with shiitake and black fungus with ginger and spring onion.

Stuffed beancurd braised in oyster sauce.

Baked spareribs.

The first two dishes were too simple. I am sure most people will cook this better and present them better at home than me.

But the spareribs, my oh my, they are something else. I will share the recipe in, er, due course. Though they are simple and require ZERO technique, they are so good I feel everyone should at least give it a go and taste them.

So, watch this space.......

[Home] Lunch at home - East meets West

Lunch


Ham, egg and cheese sarnie

Princess likes lots of ketchup with er, everything.

Rice sheet roll with sesame dressing

Steam or microwave the rice sheet roll and doused with sesame dressing and hoisin sauce. Delish!


Japanese 'Kewpie' sesame dressing and hoi sin sauce


Mariage Frères' Marco Polo tea

How does one go back to drinking Lipton after tasting Mariage Frères?

[Cook] Lasagne

My friend SY asked me how do I cook my pasta.

Hmmm, I have only ever cooked pasta in ragu, lasagne and spinach & ricotta canelloni . Oh not forgetting the instant Japanese mentaiko pasta sauce. Delish!

Here is the lasagne I cooked recently.

I am not the greatest cook in the world, nor am I the sort who (die-die) insist on cooking from scratch for every dish.

You need:

Lasagne sheets (I used dried store bought variety - 8 sheets)

A bottle of ragu (I used Bertolli oven roasted garlic with wine)

Bechemel sauce

Mince (beef or pork or chicken)

Parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese (you could use other cheese you like)

Please google up bechemel sauce. They are dead easy. Alternatively you could use store bought one if you are time-strapped.

I think the whole world knows how to brown mince and pour over a bottle of ragu. If not, I suggest you visit the nearest restaurant :P.

Assemble:

1. Oil an oblong dish. Start by layering meat sauce, followed by bechemel sauce followed by cheese followed by lasagne sheets.

2. Repeat until all ingredients used up and finish with bechemel sauce topped with cheese. NOT lasgane sheet, very yucky!

3. Bake in preheated oven at 180 degree celcius for 45 minutes.

4. Voila, serve, enjoy!

[Brisbane] Gillian Hirst's Sandcrab Lasagne

Available at all good delis for A$19.90.



Best to have it as an entree. A quarter of it.

I ate 2 mouthful and started to feel jelak (sated).

The rest was forced into the mouth. Didn't enjoy any of it AT ALL. What a waste of money.

Cheapskate really have to stay away from posh food.

Had it for lunch and still feel gali (sick from food) come next day's lunch. Urggggh.

It's fine if you love it to death. It's just not for me.

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2008

Happy(?) Chinese New Year Reunion dinner on 6 Feb 2008.


Cold plate consists of deep fried scallops, spring roll and 炒桂花翅 (stir fried mock sharks fin)

年年有餘 (Sweet and sour fish)


Braised sea cucumber, fish maw and shiitake.


Fish maw and mock sharks fin soup.


Pineapple tarts

I am so knackered. The cleaning, preparation, cooking, washing up, normal household chores, shopping (food) and jaga Princess...... I think it's all too much.

All the food turned out good (I think) but Princess say restaurant food better -_-''' orz......... Despite saying that she sure ate a lot especially the scallops.

Big King had to work late so no happy reunion :(