Blueberry Chiffon Cake (2)

It is really too shocking and saddening to hear about the missing flight of Air Asia QZ 8501. I feel very sorry for the passengers onboard and their worried families. Hope there will be a miracle of their safety (however until now there is no latest report of the missing plane).

Recipe:

Ingredients  A:
6 egg yolks
30 g fine sugar
40 g sunflower oil
120 g  fresh blueberry - blend into puree
120 g plain flour.

Ingredients B:
6 egg white
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
50 g fine sugar

Method:
1) Combine ingredients A in a big mixing bowl. Use egg whisk to whisk till the mixture is smooth and thoroughly combined and set aside.

2)  In a clean, grease-free mixing bowl, beat egg whites for a  few seconds until frothy, add cream of tartar, then beat hard until softly-peaking.  Beat in the sugar, beat just until stiff, shiny peaks form.

3)  With a spatula gently fold the egg whites into the batter in a few batches, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, until just blended .  Pour into an ungreased 18 cm chiffon cake mould. Bake in preheated oven at 165 deg C for 40 - 45 mintes until cooked.

4)  Remove from the oven and up-side down immediately. Leave to cool completely.

5)   Use a thin plastic knife to run around the cake"s side . Slice the cake and serve.

X'mas tree look-alike-bread

Hello again!

I do not know if you dear readers have noticed that my blog posts have not been as frequent as before? 

That is because my latest addiction is in beads making! 

I picked up beads making from a friend who pulled me along to her lesson. The moment my fingers laid on the cute tiny beads, I loved them to bits. The same night, I found myself searching for beads making on google, youtube etc. The next few days and weeks saw me doing the same and even starting to try out to model a few myself - cute rabbit, chicken, squirrels. Whenever there was time on my hands such as after dinner and after shower, I would be fiddling with them and watching youtube videos. Haha you can say the interest and addiction for beads making are comparable to Candy Crush (guilty)!

Since X'mas is around the corner, I decided to make Christmas themed buns and at the same time make use of the opportunity to showcase two of my beads making products - Mr. Santa Claus along with a Xmas tree. Can you spot them in the photos above? :)

Recipe:

I would recommend you to use my Potato Bread or  Sweet milk bread   recipe to be the basic dough for this X'mas tree bread.  The texture of the bread is soft and puffy. And it can be eaten just by itself.

Curry Briyani

One fine afternoon my elder son returned and excited announced that he just had very sumptous home-made curry briyani at his colleague's Hari Raya open house. Knowing my family's appetite for flavourful and spicy cuisine, I urged my son to ask his colleague for the recipe. However I did not hold high hopes as he said that his colleague's wife had gotten the recipe from a paid cooking course.

A few days later, a nicely printed recipe was placed on my kitchen table. Finally! I grabbed the ingredients and blended them into a yummy, thick and aromatic curry.

My family tasted it and commented it was alright, but lacking the distinctive 'oomph' of a Asian curry. It was good enough, though, and we similarly devoured the curry with lots of steaming white rice. As the portion was quite large, half of it was kept and saved for the next day. Eureka! We discovered the secret to enhanced curry flavour was to keep it overnight. Here you go, a mean dish of spicy, relishing and mesmerizing Indian-styled briyani.

Recipe:

Ingredients A:-  All to be blended/ground
1 kg meat (mutton/beef/chicken) - if use chicken, need to fry half cook.
4 red shallots
5 green chillies
5 red chillies
5 cm ginger
5 cloves garlic
 
Ingredients B:-
1 small can tomato puree (the smallest can)
1 cup tomato sos
1 tablespoon curry spices (for meat)
2 tablespoon briyani spices
2 tablespoon kurma spices (optional)

Method: Mix ingredients A and B together.

Ingredients C:-
1/2 cup yogurt, fresh milk or evaporated milk
10 almonds (optional)
10 cashew nuts (optional)

Method:- blend ingredients B together (if you are using almonds and cashew nuts).

Ingredients  D:-
2 red small onions (slice/cut)
1 stalk of mint (pudina) leaves
3 stalk of coriander leave
1 stalk lemon grass
4 fresh tomatoes (cut each tomato into 4 halves)
some cooking oil
salt
potato and carrot (optional)

Method to cook curry:
1)  Cut meat into small pieces,
2)  Heat up ghee or cooking oil, add in lemon grass,sliced onions and fry till fragrance.
3)  Pour  in ingredients A and B, stir-fry till spices are well cooked.
4) Add in the meat, corinader leaves, mint leaves, fresh tomatoes and salt.
5)  When meat is half cooked, add in ingredients C, also add in potato and carrot if you like.
6)  Cook till meat is tender and gravy has thickened (stir-occasionally  to avoid being burnt).
       Served hot with rice.

Sweet Milk Buns

Got this link from my niece. Heard about the buns which are so soft and puffy. Even until the next day the texture still supposedly remained intact. This is enough to convince me so I didn't wait another second more to give this a try. I hurriedly gathered all the ingredients and started the process.

The buns turned out to be soft, puffy and tall.  I am happy and like the end product.  I will definitely make these buns again and again. Thanks again to 'My Mind Patch' for sharing this wonderful recipe.

RECIPE:
Ingredients:
150 g whole milk
20 g condensed milk
3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
225 g bread flour
25 g cake flour
40 g fine sugar
25 g beaten egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
30 g unsalted butter

For method pls click here
http://mymindpatch.blogspot.sg/2014/11/sweet-milk-buns

Golden Sand Pumpkin-金沙南瓜

I had this dish a month ago in a restuarant at Simpang Rengam when my extended family celebrated my mother-in-law's 89th birthday. We liked this dish as it has  both the flavours of the salted egg yolk and the natural sweetness of the pumpkin.

I know that salted egg yolk is not healthy, but eating this once in a while should not be too bad for the body.


Recipe:

Ingredients:

300 g  pumpkin (without skin), cut into 1.5 cm x 4 cm pieces
5 pieces of salted egg yolk, steamed and mashed
some plain flour for coating
cooking oil

Method:
1) Blanch pumpkin in boiling water and dish up when the water boils.
2) Drain the coat blanched pumpkin with plain flour.
3) Heat up a non-stick frying pan with little oil, Pan fry the pumpkin till crispy and then dish up.
4) Leave some oil on the same frying pan. Over a low flame, stir-fry the mashed salted egg yolks till it bubbles and eventually becomes drier (make sure it does not get burnt). Throw in the pumpkin and toss till every piece is coated with the salted egg yolk.
5) Dish up and serve.

Enjoy!!!

Steamed Chicken With Black Fungus

Just simply like this easy and healthy steamed chicken for today's dinner.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2  Royale or Kampong chicken
15 g small dried black fungus
5 g Cordycep flowers (虫草花）

Seasoning:
1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
dash of rice wine (optional) to taste
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
some shredded ginger
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Garnishing:
spring onion and coriander leaves

Method:
1)  Wash, clean and pat dry the chicken. Cut into pieces and put in a bowl.. Marinate with seasoning and put in the fridge (covered with clingwrap) for 30 minutes.

2)  Soak dried black fungus with warm water for 2 hours. Remove the stem, clean and drain.

3)  Soak cordycep flowers with tap water for few minutes, clean and drain.

4)  Arrange black fungus and cordycep flowers in a deep dish, and place chicken on top of them. Steam over high heat for  25 minutes.

5) Sprinkle spring onions and coriander leaves as you like. Serve.

Disgusting!!!!

Just came back from my 10 days group tour from China. I have not many post recently and many post still appending for me .

Today I would like to illustrate an anecdote which I encountered on the flight back to SG. 

There was a middle-aged man sitting diagonally in front of me across the aisle. He must be unwell because he had a lot of phlegm to clear. Every time he needed to clear the phlegm, he will make the iconic noise of bringing the phlegm to his oral cavity and i couldn't help but notice him dealing with his phlegm many  times. 

The first time, he spitted his phlegm into the sanitary bag which comes with each seat. After that, he proceeded to read the newspapers provided. For a few times after that, he will spit into the newspaper he is actually reading and continue reading like nothing happened. I also noticed he will used his finger to clear the remnants of his phlegm from the edges of his mouth and wiped his finger on the edge of his seat and the flight blanket provided. One other passenger later asked to read his copy of newspapers and he readily lent it to him. The other passenger went on to absorb all the information in the newspaper without making much of a fuss.

I didn't think I will believe this story if someone else told me about it but I have witnessed it for myself now.

Soft Beancurd Top With Minced Meat

 Beancurd has always been one of my family's favourite.  Today I prepared a dish of  beancurd topped with minced meat. 

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 box beancurd (any brand)

100 g minced meat

1 shallots (sliced) 

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1/2 cup water

pepper

a pinch of sugar to taste

cornstarch water (for thickening the sauce)

Garnishing:

spring onion, coriander leaves

Method:

1) Remove beancurd from the box,  Slice them into pieces and arrange them onto a plate.

2)  Steam the sliced toufu (beancurd) for 3 minutes. Using a tablespoon to scoop away the water on the surface after steaming.

3. Heat up oil (about a tablespoonful) in a wok, stir-fry  shallots until fragrant, add in minced meat and stir-fry until meat is cooked. Add in oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, water and sugar, allow to simmer for few minutes.  Thicken the sauce with cornstarch water.

4)  Pour the minced meat over the steamed toufu, garnish and serve.

Blueberry Pound cake - 蓝莓磅蛋糕

The blueberry pound cake belongs to one of the classic pound cakes. When compared to the everyday pound cake, it contains a smaller ratio of sugar and butter and eggs. This is why the blueberry pound cake lacks some of the iconic strong flavour commonly associated with the common pound cake. However, the soft and moist texture due to the sour cream mixed with the light fragrance of the blueberry have resulted in a uniquely flavourful creation.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

170 g All purpose flour (Plain flour)
30 g Almond flour
5 g Baking powder
2 whole eggs (lightly beaten)
130 g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
120 g fine sugar
120 sour cream
a pinch of slat
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

* 70 g fresh blueberry  (lightly dust with 1 tablespoon  of plain flour)

Method:

1) Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
2)  Add egg in 4 batches, until well blended.
3)  Add in sour cream and vanilla.
4)  Fold in flour with the help of rubber spatula, mixed well.
5)  Add in blueberry.
6) Pour mixture onto a lightly greased tin. Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg C for 40 -45 minutes and until cooked.

Blueberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese and Yogurt Frosting

This is my second attempt within a few days as I am keen to make some improvements to my previous attempt. This time round, I added a layer of frosting which turned out to complement the fresh blueberries really well. The frosting was made using cream cheese and blueberry yogurt. The sponge cake was spongy as sponge cakes should be and being mild in taste, it allows the fragrance of the frosting and the blueberries to take the lead in taking over your senses.

Recipe: adapted from  美味糕点新主张

Ingredients: 

For the sponge cake:

35 g fresh milk

45 g unsalted butter

90 g egg yolk

20 g fine sugar

120 g egg white

60 g fine sugar

90 g low protein flour

Method:

1 ) Put fresh milk and unsalted butter in a container.  Use double boil method to melt the butter. Leave for later use.

2)  In another mixing bowl  put sugar and egg yolk together over hot water, using a hand electric  mixer to beat till colour turns pale and thick.

3) In another mixing bowl beat egg white  with sugar in 3 batches till stiff and peak form.

4)  Mix method (2) into method (3) mix well.

5) Add in shifted flour into method (4) in 3 batches till well incorporated.

6) Take a small portion of method (5) add to method (1).

7)  Then pour everything back to method (5) mix well.

8)  Pour or spoon batter into paper cups till 3/4 full.  Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg C for 20 minutes.

   

For the Cream cheese frosting:

80 g cream cheese ( at room temperature)

100 g unsalted butter  (at room temperature)

30 g icing sugar

45 g  plain yogurt  (I used blueberry yogurt)

Method:

1)  Beat soften cream cheese, icing sugar and unsalted till smooth and fluffy. Then gradually add in yogurt and mix well.  Transfer to a pipping bag and pipe on the cupcakes.

Blueberry Chiffon Cake - 蓝莓戚风蛋糕

Never came across blueberry that could be so cheap - 3 pkts  (125 g x3) in total less than S$7!  So I decided to heed heaven's call and went ahead to buy and add to my collection of cakes. however, these blueberries came with a tinge of sourness and didn't have the fragrance of blueberries I expected.


Recipe: 

Ingredients:
(A)
110 g  egg white
55 g caster sugar
1/2 tablespoon corn flour

(B)
40 g egg yolk
36 g corn oil
50 g fresh blueberry puree
60 g fresh blueberry
55 g low protein flour
1 tsp  lemon juice

Method:
Chiffon cake method.
1) Beat ingredients (A) till stiff but not dry.
2)  Mix Ingredients  (B)  all together till a smooth mixture.
3)  Pour cake mixture into a 17 cm clean and  non-greased chiffon cake tin.
4)  Bake in a preheated oven at 160 deg C for 40 minutes or until cooked.
5)  Remove from oven, invert the cake tin immediately.  Let it cool completely. Remove cake from the mould.  Slice into pieces and serve.

Chocolate Molten Lava Bread - 巧克力爆浆面包

There is one bakery shop near my place that sells very good and soft buns with as many different types of fillings you can name.  I personally like their salted egg yoke buns and creamy yam buns. They are really delicious.

Today I boldly tried to replicate their chocolate buns. As you can see from the pics above, the result is a success. The chocolate filling is really like molten lava, oozing from the interior as you peel the soft bun apart. Yummy and chocolatey. Next challenge? I shall try with salted egg... stay tuned.... 

Recipe:

Ingredients:

300 g bread flour

5 g instant yeast (1.1/4 teaspoon )

65 g sugar

30 g cocoa powder

5 g salt

50 ml fresh milk

150 ml cold water

40 g butter (at room temperature)

Method:

1) Combine bread flour, cocoa powder,  sugar, and salt in a mixer. Stir in fresh milk and cold water, beat until forms dough.

2) Add in butter continue to beat until a smooth and elastic dough is formed.

3) Cover dough with a piece of damp cloth or clingwrap, leave them in a warm place  for 60 minutes or until doubled in size.

4) Divide dough into 11 equal portions. Shape each dough into small balls. Place them on a greased baking tray. And let the small dough to rest for 60 minutes or doubled in size.

5) Brush with egg wash and  bake in  preheated oven for 15 minutes at 180 deg C.

6) Cool the buns on a wire rack. Pipe filling into each bun. .

For Molten Larva cream:

45 g egg yolk

50 g fine sugar

15 g Hong Kong flour

190 g fresh milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional)

100 g fresh cream

80 semi sweet chocolate (or bitter chocolate)

10 g butter

Method:

1) Double boil chocolate and fresh cream, stir well until the mixture is smooth.  Leave to cool for later use.

2) Beat egg yolk and sugar with an egg whisk. Add in sifted flour, mix well .

3) Add in milk a little in few batches, mix well.. Boil over low heat, stir occasionally to advoid burnt at the bottom, add in vanilla.  Cook the mixture becomes thick and bubbling. Remove from  heat.

4) Add butter into (3), blend well.  Let sit on ice, stir until the mixture is cold and smooth.

5) Add chocolate mixture into (4), mix well.  Transfer to a piping bag ( with a nozzle), insert nozzle into the buns and gently squeeze the cream until ooze. Enjoy.

Sweet Potato Pandan Talam

Is anyone interested to join me for coffee?  Made these small Sweet Potato Talam for my beads making class. These small kuih talam are really very nice and fragrant and easy to prepare. The texture is soft and little springy and sweetness is just right.

Recipe: Click here.

In my older post I made purple sweet potato talam. Today I substituted it with light yellow sweet potato.  I added pandan paste to give it a pandan flavour and green colour.

Chocolate Cake 朱古力蛋糕

Hi! Finally I am back here today.  I wasn't so busy to the extent that I had no time at all to update my blog. The main reasons are I am very LAZY and TIRED.

Do you like chocolate cake?  Maybe this is the cake you are drooling for.

Recipe: (source from SCS-BUTTERCUP recipe book with minor modification)

Ingredients:

250 g salted butter 

300 g fine sugar

275 g self-raising -flour

60 g unsweetened Van Houten  cocoa powder 

1 teaspoon baking powder

8 whole eggs

Pinch of salt

6 tablespoons evaporated milk

Method:

1) Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add in eggs one at the time.  Beat well after each addition.

2)  Sieve flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder twice.

3)  Fold in flour mixture a little at the time alternately with milk. (Always begin and end with flour). Fold  mixture lightly until ingredients are well blended.

4) Grease baking tin and sprinkle lightly with flour (if you are not using non-stick pan).  put cake mixture into baking tin and bake in the preheated oven for 30 - 40 minutes at 180 deg C.

Mi Laksa Goreng Ala Thai (2) - (Fried noodle laksa with Tom Yum paste )

Came back from my USA and Canada tour just a few days ago. After 2 weeks of western cuisine, you have no idea how much I have been craving for spicy food.
Still feeling the effects of time jag, I felt rather lazy so I decided to cook this tom yam paste noodles with prawns since I have some prawns freezing in the fridge and also it is very easy to prepare.. Actually this is a revised version from my older post.

Recipe: Serves 5 to 6 persons

Ingredients:
600g laksa noodle
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
2 shallots, chopped
15 shelled medium size prawns
1 piece of fish cake, sliced
10 fish balls, cut into half
2 eggs, beaten
100g bean sprouts
some shredded lime leaves

Seasoning:
2 to 2.5 tablespoon Tom Yum paste ( I used  hollyFARMS brand)
2 teaspoon lime juice
2 teaspoon fish sauce
2 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
Dash of white pepper
1 cup water

Method:
1)  Heat up oil, saute chopped garlic and shallot until fragrant.  Add in prawns, fish ball, fish cake, and beaten egg, stir-fry for few minutes till the raw ingredients are  just cooked.

2)Add in laksa noodle, seasoning and stir-fry for few minutes.  Pour in water and continue to stir fry till the gravy has absorbed by the noodle. Add in bean-sprouts, mix well,  Dish up onto a serving plate, sprinkle with shredded kafir lime leaves, serve.

Garam Masala Chicken

This is my third attempt at cooking masala chicken.  I've always had a liking for Indian curry and am constantly on the lookout for authentic recipes. Ideally, they should taste like what my family has at our favourite Indian restaurant - Shari Maharani in Raffles City. 

The other day I passed by a newly open Indian grocery shop in my neighbourhood. The lady boss strongly introduced and recommend me the House Brand garam masala powder mix. Though still not the standard I want, it's the closest yet and I am quite happy with the end products.

Recipe:

Ingredients A:

1 medium size chicken (about 1.2 kg), cut into about 20 to 22 pieces

80 g garam masala powder

1  large onions, chopped

2 tomatoes, cut into small cubes

4 red chilli, cut into half

50 g ginger paste

50 g garlic paste

500 ml water

100 ml plain yoghurt

50 ml lime juice 

salt to taste

 Ingredients B:

 150 ml ghee or cooking oil

1 stick cinnamon

3 cloves

3 cardamom

2 star anise

1 piece bay leaf

Garnishing:

2 stalks coriander leaves, chopped

4 strands curry leaves, chopped

Method:

1) Heat oil in a wok or large pan, and add  ingredients B for stir-frying.   Fry for 1 minutes.  Add in onion and saute the mixture until onion turns brown.

2) Add tomato, chilli and continue to fry till the tomato is soft.

3)  Add ginger paste follow by garlic paste and cook for 1 minute over medium heat.  Add chicken and stir-fry and mix well. Cover the lid and cook for few minutes. over low heat.

4) Add in the Garam Masala Powder, follow by yoghurt.  Mix well till the spices are blended with the chicken.

5)  Add water, cover and cook over low heat till the meat is tender. Keep stirring occasionally.

6)  Add lime juice, salt, chopped coriander and curry leaves.  Stir the thick garam masala gravy slowly till chicken is well coated with the mixture.  Serve with rice.

Braised Winter Melon with Dried Scallop

I have forgotten to soak the dried scallops earlier and was also in the hurry so did not cook them well... else, you would see them in tiny shreds.

Most of the time I use winter melon to make soup or dessert.  This time I gave it a change. I had a bowl of chicken stock which I collected from my steamed chicken last week. Thinking of how to use it before I go for my long holiday this Friday.

I have seen this recipe before, but I have never tried cooking it... Decided to give it a try today since I have all the ingredients ready.

I liked the final dish because the taste consists of a heavy chicken stock yet with a light hint of winter melon. As it is boiled, this is a really healthy dish and will suit all ages.

Recipe:

Ingredients: 
- 1 big rim of winter melon
- Some dried scallop  (soaked in water, drained)
- Chicken stock (one bowl)
- Salt to taste
- Dash of pepper
- 1 tablespoon of goji berry also known as wolf berry, washed and drained
- Some corn flour for thickening the sauce

Method:
1) Wash winter melon, discard seeds, with skin on, cut into pieces as the picture shown below. Do not slice through completely.
2) In a pot, cook winter melon, chicken stock and dried scallop together (cover lid) over low heat for 10- 15 minutes until melon is soft.
3) Dish up winter melon on a serving plate.
4) Add salt to the sauce to taste. Add corn starch water to thicken. Then throw in wolfberries. Pour the sauce over the winter melon. Serve.

Oops...forget to cook the dried scallop together.

Healthy Spinach Cream Soup - 健康菠菜浓汤

I am trying to perfect the 'drawing' of designs on the surface of cream soups. You should have seen my very noob attempt on the pumpkin soup; this time I think the hearts can be better made out on the spinach cream soup, yes? :)

This is another easy, fast, economic and nutritious soup. I know there are many children who do not like to eat their greens... By converting into a soup, it is a transformation from fresh vegetables. In order to encourage children to eat  more vegetables, you can even design some patterns or cartoons characters on top to attract them.

Recipe:

Ingredients: (serves 4 -5 pax)

225 g spinach,  washed, drained and cut into small pieces
30 g soft butter
1/2 large onion, diced
1 pip garlic, diced
1 small potato,  peeled, cut into small cubes
250 ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
300 ml UHT milk
1/4 teaspoon lemon rind
salt to taste

fresh cream  - optional

Method:

1) Heat up a wok, place butter, saute garlic and onions over medium until fragrant about 5 minutes.
add in potatao cook for 2 minutes.

2)  Pour stock into (1) cook over  medium heat for 10 minutes until potato is cooked.

3)  Then add in milk, 1/2 portion of spinach and lemon rind and cook for 10 minutes over low heat.

4)  Transfer to a blender, add in the remaining spinach and blend till fine.

5)  Transfer blended soup to a clean pot, and reheat over medium heat until it boils. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Easy Shepherd's Pie (2)

This is my improvised version of Shepherd's Pie . I added more grated cheese and crunchy bacon bits on top, I think it is more interesting.

I also used chicken instead of beef. You can see from the pics that the inside is creamy and appetizing. An one-dish meal that is easily prepared by simply heating it up, it is also filling and yummy, I'm sure your kids will like it very much.

Recipe: 

Ingredients:  Makes 4  18cm x 9cm baking dish (bought from Daiso @SGD2 for 6 pcs)
1 kg potato, peeled
30 g soft butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
450 g chicken fillet, diced
200 g  fresh button mushroom, sliced
1 can (300 g)  Campbell's Wild Mushroom cream soup (Premium Selection)
150 g to 200 g mixed shredded Cheddar cheese and Mozzarella Cheese
100 g bacon, diced and fry till crispy.

Method:
1)  Place the potatoes into a small pot, and add enough water to  cover.  Bring to a boil.  Cook until soft, drain and mash.
2)  While the potatoes are cooking,  heat up a frying-pan with some oil, fry the diced chicken over medium heat until fragrant. Stir in the button mushroom and cook for a while, add salt and 1/2 chicken cubes to taste. ( Add some cheese into the mixture to thicken the sauce if the sauce is too wet)
3)  Mash potato with a folk and add in salt, butter and pepper , mix well.
4)  Transfer chicken mixture onto  a light oiled baking dish.  Sprinkle  shredded cheese over the meat.  Spread mashed potato evenly over the top.  Make some patterns as you like.
5) .Bake in a preheated oven at 200 deg C for 20 - 25 minutes.  Sprinkle shredded cheese and bacon bits.
     Serve and enjoy.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup (2) - 南瓜浓汤

Recipe:

Ingredients: 

1 potato

800 g orange-fleshed pumpkin  (without skin)

100 g large onion, peeled and cut

50 g celery, peeled and cut

150 g carrot , peeled and cut

2 pip garlic

30 g soft butter

1000 ml chicken stock or more, adjust to your liking and preference

Seasoning:

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

salt to taste

Garnishing:

100 ml fresh cream

Mixed herbs (optional)

Method:

1)  Peeled pumpkin, discard seeds and cut into pieces.  

2)  Melt butter in a large, deep pan over low heat. When hot, saute onion,  garlic until fragrant.  Add pumpkin, celery, carrot, potato cook for 5 to 10 minutes, then add stock.  Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat until vegetables are soft.

3)  When soup is done, let it cool  slightly, then transfer to a blender in 2 batches and blend until smooth and fine.

4)  Transfer blended soup to a clean pot and reheat over medium-low heat until  hot (keep stirring while cooking).  Add salt and pepper to taste.

5)  Add fresh cream and mixed herbs, serve.

ENJOY

Fry Tomato With Egg - 番茄炒蛋

I personally like this dish.The ingredients are easy to get and cheap. Not just because of  that, tomato is rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Potassium and also high in hycopene to help prevent heart disease and cancer. 

I have cooked this dish quite a number of times before, but I am not very satisfied, either the egg is over cooked or it turns out too dry.  Until yesterday I chanced upon this link and I tried it out today. I am happy with the result and like the consistency, the egg is not over cooked and the taste is just right done, it is not too sour and sweet, is not overly wet but juicy.

Recipe: Adapted from 楊桃美食網-3分鐘學做菜

Ingredients:

5 eggs

3 tomatoes

40 g spring onions

Seasoning:

50 c.c. (ml) stock

3 tablespoon tomato sauce (I put one tablespoon, as I do not want the overpowering tomato taste)

1 tbsp sugar (I used 1 teaspoon only as my tomatoes are sweet)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp corn starch water for thickening 

Method:

1.  Wash and clean the tomatoes, cut into pieces, cut spring onions into 2 cm long.

      Break eggs into a big bowl and add salt beat till mix well.

2.  Heat up wok, pour oil, saute spring onions, tomatoes over slow heat until fragrant.  Add in stock, sugar and 

     cornstarch water to cook for a while until a consistency you get..  Dish up.

3.  Heat up a clean wok, pour some oil, stir-fry the egg evenly and almost cooked (the egg should be a 

     little watery, soft) , add in (2) and toss up and till well combined. 

  楊桃美食網-3分鐘學做菜

材料
雞蛋 5顆
牛番茄 3顆
蔥 40公克

調味料
高湯 50cc
番茄醬 3大匙
細砂糖 1大匙
鹽 1/4茶匙
太白粉水 1大匙

做法:
1. 番茄洗淨切小塊；蔥切小段；雞蛋打入碗中，加入鹽打勻備用。

2. 熱鍋，倒入沙拉油，小火爆香蔥、番茄，再加入番茄醬、高湯、細砂糖煮開，用太白粉水勾­芡後起鍋備用。

3. 另熱鍋，倒入適量油，倒入作法1的蛋液快速炒勻至稍凝固，再加入作法2炒好的番茄拌炒­均勻即可。

EZ Char Siew Buns

Kimmy's EZ Char Siew Buns surprised me because I have never come across this type of bun before. Today I picked up all the ingredients and gave it a go.

The buns turned out soft and moist. However, I thought it could have been better if the serving of char siew is more generous, will try to improve on that during my next attempt.

Recipe – Adapted from Kimmy’s EZ Char Siew Buns

Ingredients: (makes 12 buns)

-         350 gm bread flour (I used 300gm bread flour + 50gm wholemeal flour)

-         50 gm sugar

-         3/4 tsp salt

-         1 3/4 tsp instant yeast

-         210-220 ml ice cold water

-         30 gm butter

-         100 gm char siew - chopped 

-         1 stalk spring onions - washed and chopped

Steps:

- In a mixing bowl, mix and knead all the ingredients except butter, char siew  and spring onions into a soft dough.

- Add in the butter and knead until the dough is smooth, soft and pliable.

- Add in char siew and spring onions and mix well.

- Shape into a dough and cover to rest for 1 hour.

- Divide dough into 2 equal parts.  Round up and divide each portion into 6 equal portions.

- Round up the dough into ball, lightly spray the top with water, then coat with sesame seeds.  Place onto prepared baking tray.

- Rest for 50 minutes or until double in size.

- Bake in preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 12-15 minutes or until cooked.

- Remove and cool on wire rack.