Roast Chicken

We had a long X'mas weekend and was in the mood to roast something. Instead of roasting turkey I opted for chicken instead. I took the opportunity to use the vertical roaster which I purchased more than a year ago and have never used it till now *LOL*. I roasted this at a very low temperature about 130C - 140C for about 2hrs and at the last 30-40mins, I threw in the carrots and potatoes which I coated with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and dill.

Since my oven does not have rotisserie function, this little simple gadget comes really handy. I really love how the chicken came out, not that oily as all the fats dripped to the tray. But this one I got is a little small, so I will be getting a slightly bigger one which can hold up to 8 pounds of poultry.

I will probably do another round of roast chicken but with asian flavour.

Happy New Year all !!

Eclairs

I got a small tub of whipped cream, left over from my second's daughter birthday cake which I made recently. Don't feel like wasting it and so decided to use it to make eclair fillings.

For the choux, I used the same recipe as my durian puffs http://quickneasytreats.blogspot.com/2009/07/durian-puffs-2nd-take.htmlbut I increased the eggs to 3. It is recommended that you bake the choux one tray at a time because we do not want to open the oven door during baking as it will cause the choux to flat out.

The filling is really easy because I used instant custard powder. You can make you own favourite custard if you like. Here is the recipe for the filling. For the chocolate topping, I used Alton Brown's recipe because it is very easy. However, you can use any of your favourite ganache recipe for the topping.

Ingredients
Custard filling
100g instant custard powder
150g whipped cream (whipped till stiff)
250g cold water

Chocolate topping
1/2C chocolate chips
1/2t oil

Method
Custard
1. Mix cold water and instant custard and stir till combined
2. Add whipped cream and gently fold till well combined
3. Transfer cream into a piping bag with a regular round tip/nozzle
4. Poke the side of the choux and squeeze the filling till it fills up the hole
5. Do the same for all choux and chill them

Chocolate topping
6. Add the chips and oil and double boil till chocolate melt
7. Take the chilled choux and dip the top into the melted chocolate and serve

Best to eat it chilled.

Fried Udon

My kids are not exactly a rice eating bunch. Our meals are usually made up of rice, noodles, bread, pizza, pasta etc etc .. So one of the days when we got sick of eating the same type of noodles, I made fried udon with seafood. This takes less than an hour to make provided you have all the ingredients ready. I usually prefer buying fresh udon as they taste much better.

This is a variation of the seafood and beef noodle which you can get it here http://quickneasytreats.blogspot.com/2009/10/seafood-and-beef-noodles.html. I stick to all seafood and added cherry tomatoes. I just love the chewy noodles .. they are my favourite :-)

Easy steamed cod fish fillet

I love oily fish and cod is one of them. They are not the cheapest fish around but it is sometimes a treat to have them for our meals. I usually buy the frozen ones and normally will either steam or make fish porridge with it. This time round I got a pack of quite huge fillets and it is just a waste to chop them up *LOL* so inspired by a dish I had during lunch at work, I made something simple which tasted just right for me.

Ingredients
2 palm size cod fillet
1 fresh chilli, removed seeds and julienned
2 thin slices of ginger
2 stalks chinese celery
pepper to marinate the fillet
1T fried garlic+garlic oil

Sauce (add more or less to suit your taste)
2T fish sauce
1T light soya sauce
5T water
1T concentrated mushroom stock (I used Woh Hup brand)

Method
1. Mix the sauce ingredients and put aside
2. Marinate the fillet with pepper and let it sit for 30mins or so
3. Prepare a casserole dish and place the fillets into ti
4. Put the ginger slice and chilli on the fish and pour the sauce over, make sure you cover the fillet well with the sauce
5. Cover the dish with either cling wrap or the dish cover
6. Steam in the microwave oven for 3-5 min or until you can flake the fish (I used my steam function with sensor)
7. Once it's cooked, sprinkle fried garlic with oil on the fish and chinese celery and let it sit for 2-3 minutes before serving

Enjoy !

New baking blog ...

Hi everyone, I have decided to create another blog which is strictly on my bakings or rather bakes that do not go under the 'quick and easy' criteria. However, I will still post baking recipes which are easy in this blog. Do have a look at http://mybakingadventure.blogspot.com/

Thanks again for your support :-)

Braised Bee Hoon my version

This is a rather popular breakfast dish that one can get easily here in Singapore. It's relatively cheap and usually eaten with sunny side up egg, sausages, otak-otak, fillet etc. I usually have a problem buying this and can only get it either from Old Chang Kee or vegetarian stalls. My eldest daughter loves this and I have been trying a few times to get it right. I am now pretty happy because I almost getting it there !

On days when I am able to buy a pack for my brunch, I will always take note of the texture and taste. My problem has always been how to get that shiny sheen on the noodles *LOL* I remember watching one show on AFC and this chinese chef was preparing noodles for one of the dish. What he did was he heat some oil and pour the noodles it and coat the noodles with oil as much as possible. The reason why the noodles have to be coated is not to get them stick to the wok when soya sauce is added. So I used the same technique, coated the bee hoon with oil before I pour the seasoning sauces and I am very happy to say that the method worked very well. My next try will be with kway teow and yellow noodles.

Note: Do adjust the seasoning according to your taste :-)

Ingredients

300g rice vermicelli, soaked and drained well

a handful of cabbage, thinly sliced (you can use beansprouts or other vegetable that you like)

2 Tbsp dark soya sauce

2 Tbsp light soya sauce

2 Tbsp fish sauce

4 Tbsp oyster sauce

2 Tbsp of water

8 Tbsp oil

Method

1. Heat oil in a wok

2. Add vermicelli and stir till they are coated with oil

3. Mix all the seasoning in a bowl and pour into the wok

4. Keep stirring the noodles till they are well coated with the seasoning

5. Add the cabbages or whatever vegetables that you like and continue stirring

6. Turn of the heat once noodles are well coated and vegetables are cooked

7. Serve hot with your choice of side dishes

Happy trying !

Chewy Chocolate Chip cookie (Alton Brown)

This is my family ultimate favourite chocolate chip cookie. The dad and girls love chewy cookie but for me I am more for crunchy ones. This doesn't last very long, usually 1 day or 1.5 days tops. The recipe yields quite a big dough so I usually keep them in small portion and freeze them. Bake them as and when I need. It's dangerous to bake them a big portion because the cookie jar will be forever glued to them *LOL*

The dough will be a bit sticky. So it is advisable to refrigerate the dough before baking. This makes handling easier and you also don't want to end up with real flat cookies. Don't overbake the cookies as this will make them hard when cooled. Once you see the edges turned brown, you can take it out even though the centre seemed soft. Remember, this is chewy cookie not crunchy ;-)

Adapted from here

Ingredients
220g unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour*
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence/exract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (use the regular chips and not mini ones to give some height to the cookie)

* Do not replace bread flour with plain flour because the extra protein in bread flour gives the cookie a chewy character.

Method
1. Heat oven to 180C
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat
3. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside
4. Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl
5. Add the sugar and brown sugar
6. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed
7. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined
8. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined and stir in the chocolate chips
9. Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets
10.Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes, rotate the baking sheet for even browning
11.Cool completely and store in an airtight container

Review: Dessa Sambal Goreng paste

This time round I am going to review the sambal goreng paste which I got from a local supermarket. I am not exactly a great fan of off the shelf paste but there are exceptions when I am either to lazy to buy the ingredients for the paste or running out of time. I was intending to make sambal goreng but changed my mind last minute due to some last minute chore that I have to attend to. So with the ingredients I have, I decided to go ahead making it but using a ready made paste. This is fairly straight forward, you need to fry all the ingredients like beancurd, tempe, beef lungs, prawns, meat etc first, then with very little oil, fry the paste till the oil separates a little. I added a bit of tamarind pulp and abit more water. You can add abit of coconut milk but not too much as it will alter the taste. Then add all the ingredients and let it simmer.

The outcome, taste wise, it is not bad.

I don't see any msg in the ingredients list but that doesn't mean it doesn't contain any. So far I didn't feel thirsty eating my sambal goreng and I can safely say that it is pretty alright. I don't mind buying this again if I am pressed for time.

Seafood and Beef Noodles

I made this for my guests who came for eid celebration recently. On a day like this, I will try to prepare something that is simple so that I will have time to sit and chit chat with them. This is best serve when it just out of the wok :-)




The choice of noodles is entirely up to you. I chose hokkien yellow noodles and bee hoon as my kids prefer this compared to kway teow.



Ingredients:
1 packet hokkien yellow noodles
1 small packet of bee hoon, soaked
1 pack chye sim, cut into small pieces
chinese cabbage, cut into small pieces
fish cake, sliced
200g prawns, tail-on and precooked
200g beef slices, marinated with pepper and corn flour
5 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
3T oyster sauce
2C or more water/stock
salt & pepper to taste
corn flour paste (add 2 tsp flour with a bit of water) as thickener

Method:
1. Preheat wok with 2T of oil
2. Blend garlic and ginger into paste
3. Stir fry ginger and garlic paste till fragrant
4. Add salt while sauteing the garlic/ginger paste
5. Add sliced beef and stir fry till it turns grey
6. Add 2 cups of water/stock and let it simmer till beef is tender
7. Add the oyster sauce, salt & pepper to taste
8. Add sliced fish cake, chye sim, cabbage and simmer till they are tender
9. Pour in the corn flour paste and stir till well blended
10.Lastly add the noodles and stir till all the ingredients are blended nicely
11.Serve hot with fried shallots and chilli pickle

Tuna melts

My kids love this, an alternative to the old boring tuna sandwiches that they usually would have on days when I am super lazy *blush* It is extremely easy if you buy all the ingredients from the wrap to the shredded cheddar cheese *LOL*





Ingredients:
Tortilla wraps
Canned tuna or whatever filling that you like
Shredded cheddar cheese

Method:
1. Heat pan
2. Place one wrap on the heated pan let it warm up
3. Spread some filling to on side of the wrap
4. Sprinkle cheese and leave it for a minute, once you see some of the cheese starts to melt, fold over the wrap
5. Press it lightly so that the edges will stick
6. Flip it over to heat the other side
7. Serve it warm with ketchup or chilli sauce

Enjoy !

My kitchen and baking corner

Ok, I know I am lagging .. been busy with ramadhan and eid. Only now I managed to get some space to update this blog. This post has nothing to do with food but just sharing with you my space in the kitchen where all the cooking and baking are done.

This is my kitchen long and narrow. Sometimes can be a little dark which is not a good thing but otherwise it is alright.

And this is where most of the baking/kneading/decorating action happens :-) Sorry about the mess, baked a chocolate cake yesterday night and the place looks a little bit messy.

I do have a couple of things which I have done over the months and I will update them pretty much soon .. !!!

Thank you for your patience =)

Yong Tau Foo sauce

It's been a while since I last update, Ramadan is here and during this time I am always busy *LOL* I did have some things that I would love to upload but not there just yet. In the meantime, I would like to share one of my favourite dish but the emphasis here is not about the dish but rather the sauce. I made this quite sometime back but didn't manage to update it here.

Nothing beats a good sauce for yong tau foo. So I searched the internet and look at what other food bloggers came out with for their sauces and I used it as base for me to try. I was quite surprised that the taste came out just right for me and personally I find this pretty close to what I get at food courts.

It's a very simple recipe, all using ready made sauces unless you are the kind that makes your own chilli sauce :-)

Ingredients
2Tbsp hoisin sauce
4Tbsp chilli sauce (use either Heinz or Sinsin. Do not use maggi chilli sauce), add more if you like it more spicy
2Tbsp oyster sauce
a bit of water

Method
1. Mix the first 3 items till well blended
2. Add a bit of water little by little to get the consistency that you like but not too much
3. Sprinkle sesame seed if you like

Enjoy !!

Yeast-free Banana Cinnamon Roll

Last week was a hectic one for me. The girls were falling sick one after another and I had to work from home to take care of them. It was very stressful as I could not get our of the house *LOL* Couped up with sick girls was no fun at all but I made myself happy by doing this in-between my busy schedule.

As usual, my dad bought another bunch of bananas and I got like 4 of them left and they were very ripe. I was craving from some cinnamon roll but was feeling a bit impatient to do a yeasted one. Searched the net and found this one that fit the bill. Despite it being easy, I was very happy to say that they were good !

The full recipe can be obtained from here I didn't follow the filling recipe to the T. I just estimated the amount of brown sugar and cinnamon powder to my taste.

Ingredients:

Filling
brown sugar
cinnamon powder
bananas, chopped

1. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon powder and put aside

Dough
2C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2C (1 stick approx 110-112g) salted butter, melted
3/4C fresh/UHT milk
Flour (for rolling)

Method

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar
2. Mix milk, melted butter together, with a spoon, stir in the butter+milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix for 1 minute or just until it forms a smooth dough (the dough will be a bit shaggy at first, mix it gently till the dough doesn't stick to the bowl)
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and roll it into a rectangle about 9 by 16 inches.
5. Spread the filling mixture on the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge
6. With your hands, gently roll up the dough, starting at one long side. At the end of the roll, press the seam to seal the roll and cut into 12 equal pieces with a serrated knife
7. Arrange the pieces evenly in the cake pan and bake the rolls in a preheated 180C oven for about 25-35 minutes or until firm and golden
8. Frost with icing and serve warm

Strawberry Chiffon with White Chocolate frosting

Another way to get rid of fresh strawberries ... made strawberry chiffon cake and had it frosted with white chocolate frosting. This was made for my pil and bil during one of our regular monthly visit. The sweetness of the white chocolate blended well with the slightly sourish strawberry chiffon - nice combination :-)

Beef Stroganoff

I love beef but seldom cook them because my kids don't fancy them that much. But I could not resist buying some after seeing some nicely sliced stir-fry beef at the supermarket. After much thought, I decided to try making stroganoff and I was soo happy that the girls love it but they didn't eat the beef of course *LOL* There are loads and loads of stroganoff recipes in the internet but this particular one caught my eye because it has tomato juice added. I love tomatoes as it adds flavours to some dishes especially certain creamy ones. In this picture you see specks of white - those are sourcream which I forgot to stir before I threw them into the gravy :-P But looks can be deceiving, this was delicious.

I got the recipe from here and I omitted the sherry.

Nama chocolate wannabe (ala Royce)

With a tub of valrhona chocolate and cocoa powder to clear, I decided to make Nama chocolate made popular by Royce. This one of course is far from the original but to me it is delicious enough and true bliss especially for chocolate lovers ! It wasn't difficult to make but you have to fast with the Singapore weather, otherwise you will get a pretty messy fingers. To me this chocolate is more like a chocolate truffle, main ingredients are chocolate (good quality please) and cream .. and this is the end product !!!

Pure indulgence !!!

For those who are interested, I got the recipe from this site it's in Japanese btw. I was lucky to have found it translated at one site that I was surfing but unfortunately cannot remember which one :-( Please use good quality chocolates and for the cocoa powder, use dutch processed ones.

Ingredients:
195g dark chocolate (I used valrhona 50% cocoa but best is with 70%)
100ml fresh cream
1 Tbsp honey (if you are not using anything more than 70%, you can cut down the honey a little bit if you prefer slightly bitter taste)
enough cocoa powder to coat the chocolates later

Method:
1. Chop the chocolate into small pieces
2. Place cream and honey in a pot and heat it up. Turn off the flame the moment it boils
3. Add the chopped chocolate into the warm mixture and stir till the chocolate and cream are combined (it should look like ganache)
4. Lay baking paper on a tray (covering the sides too), then pour the mixture into it
5. Place it in the fridge for about 2 hours or until firm
6. Remove the hardened chocolate from the baking tray and chop them into cubes with a warm knife blade
7. Coat them generously with the cocoa powder and serve it chilled

Durian Puffs ... 2nd take (updated with choux pastry recipe)

My second attempt of durian puffs with a different choux pastry recipe. My first attempt was this one and I wasn't really satisfied with the choux pastry although it was ok. They kinda flattened on me after cooling :-( So I tried with another recipe taken from Small Cakes by Roger Pizey and it turned out great. The puffs kept their shape after cooling. I find the puffs are perfect with ice-cream fillings. Maybe I will do that once I can find some space in my freezer *LOL*

This time round, I didn't really have any particular recipe for the fillings. It was just plenty of durian pulp and some whipped cream. Mixed them together and chill it before serving. Make sure you get good grade durians. This is best served chilled also you can even drizzle some chocolate sauce or melted choc to go with it .. yumms

Here is the choux pastry recipe which I used for the durian puffs.

Profiteroles (Choux Pastry)
adapted from Small Cakes from Fondant Fancies to Florentines by Roger Pizey

Ingredients
150ml water
60g butter (I used salted butter)
2 tsp caster sugar
a good pinch of salt
100g bread flour
3 eggs, 55g each whisked - original stated 2-3 eggs, if you are using bigger eggs, you may need less than 3

Method
1. Place water, butter, sugar and salt in a pan and bring to boil making sure butter is melted
2. Add flour and stir with wooden spoon till the dough comes away easily from the side of the pan (you need to cook the flour fully, so try not to hurry)
3. Place dough in a mixer and while beating, add enough eggs slowly to make it suitable for piping
4. Cover dough with cling wrap and leave it to rest in the fridge till it cools
5. Fill piping bag fitted with a large nozzle with cooled dough
6. Preheat oven to 240C
7. Pipe a choux evenly on tray (size is up to you)
8. Place tray on the middle shelf of the oven and turn off the oven, leave it for 15mins
9. Turn oven back on at 180C and bake for about 20-30mins (Do not open the door untill nearly cooked or it will flatten - I took it out when the top turned brown)
10. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool

Curry-in-a-hurry

Being a FTWM and having to prepare dinner on weekdays can be a real challenge sometimes. I am always open to recipes that are easy to prepare and fast. So by the recommendation from friends, I decided to get Rachael Ray's 365 book and this was the first dish that I made. To me it tasted very much like Japanese curry and very kids' friendly.

I used my trusty thermal pot and cooked this in the morning before I left for work and by the time I reached home, I had a piping hot dish waiting to be served ;-) I still have another 362 to try out ..(actually I have done some other dishes but didn't get a chance to take a picture of them) :-P and pretty happy that my kids are eating them with no complains !

Sardine with chillies

I don't know what to call this dish. This is my all-time favourite easy meal. However, I cannot make this very often because my hubby is prone to gout. My dad used to make this when we were young and I think his tastes better than my mom's *lol* We usually make this when we have plenty of bread (to get rid off) or when mom's not cooking. I love to have this with french loaves .. yummy.

I know that some people don't like sardines because of the smell. I love sardine including the smell *LOL* but adding freshly squeezed lime juice is a good way to get rid of it (be generous). Chillies are optional if you don't like spicy, but for me personally it will not taste as good without them.

Ingredients:
1 tall can sardines, mashed (I like Ayam brand)
1 japanese cucumber, cut into small cubes
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly or cut into small cubes
2 red fresh chillies, thinly sliced, remove seeds if don't want spicy (optionally)
juice from 10 small limes (or more)

Method:
1. Mix them all up

Dump everything on the mashed sardines

Lovely juicey limes

Serve this with hot french loaves .. or sliced bread if you like :-)

First fondant cakes ...

I finally took up a challenge to do a large fondant cake (large as in anything bigger than 6inch in size :-P) for my baby brother's engagement. Time is always an issue for me, after coming back from the holidays, I had very little time to prepare - either I was bogged down with work or simply too tired. Initially, I was very sure that I will have enough time to prepare marshmallow fondant, but deep inside I know I need some contingency plan and true enough the store bought fondant saved me. Another issue was with the flowers that I ordered for one of the cake. Unfortunately, I underestimated the time and was not able to get them in time, so took out my backup design and came out with this. This cake was a gift from the guy side to the girl. Pretty couple aren't they :-)

And another one, which the girl ordered for me *LOL* Where's the surprise huh ..

Personally, I like the lilies better :-) On top of the cakes, he also requested for a cuppy set .. well this was easy to make. I used my usually American Chocolate Cake for the cuppies and vanilla frosting .. the flowers again were store bought.

Overall, I enjoyed making them although the rolling and covering the cake with fondant was full of stress .. I was soo scared that the fondant will tear during the transfer, but fortunately that didn't happen. I am now more confident handling it and maybe who knows, I will be a bit more adventurous with it.

Happy viewing !