Wholemeal Loaf Bread with Raisins and Sunflower Seeds

Recipe adapted from Alex Goh "Magic Bread"

Ingredients

Water Roux Starter

80g Bread flour

55g Boiling Water

Dough

180g Bread flour

140g Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp Molasses

20g sugar

8g salt

5g yeast

190g cold water

25g butter

Sunflower seeds

Black raisins

Method

1. Prepare water roux starter by mixing flour with boiling water and stir into a rough dough. Keep refrigerated for at least 12 hrs.
2. Mix dough ingredients (except butter) and add in starter. Add in butter when the dough is smooth. Knead the dough till it is elastic and non sticky. Proof dough till it doubled in size.
3. Punch out the air in the dough after the first rise. Leave it to rest for 10-15min.
4. Roll the dough into desired shape, add in sunflower seeds and raisins and leave to proof in container for 1hr.
5. Bake at 200C for 20-25min till bread is ready.

Fried Kway Teow

Ingredients

400g fresh kway teow (rinse briefly)

1 stalk chives or scallions, cut into inch-long strips

2 eggs, lightly beaten

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 handful beansprouts 

1 carrot, sliced

1 bunch of chye sim, washed and cut into small pieces (or any leafy greens you like)

Shrimps, shelled and deveined with tails still on

Seasoning

2 tbsp thick, sweet sauce

3 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp water

dash of salt and pepper (if required)

Mix all your everything in a bowl and leave aside.

Method

1. Heat oil in wok on high. You have to maintain high heat throughout.
2. Stir-fry garlic a few seconds and add in shrimps, carrots and leafy greens, and stir-fry till semi-cooked.
3. Add noodles, drizzle the seasoning sauce soy sauce mixture all over the noodles. Gently stir-fry for 3-5 mins.
4. Push the ingredients to the side of the wok. Add some oil, pour the beaten eggs into middle of wok and scramble. Mix ingredients back in.
5. Add chives (or scallions) and bean sprouts, fold the noodles over, give it one good last stir-fry to mix well with the kway teow.
6. Off heat and serve kway teow hot.

Potato and Leek Soup

I'm addicted to soups. I love soups cos its so easy to prepare and its full of nutritious. Here's the latest soup I made.

Dunk garlic bread into soup -ummph, so satisfying!

Ingredients

1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large leek, sliced thinly
8 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
650ml clear vegetable or chicken stock
3 large potatoes, peeled and then cut to small chunks
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in pan. Add onions, garlic and leek to the pan and stir fry till onions caramelised.
2. Add in stock. Add in potatoes and bring to boil. Cover and simmer till potatoes are soft.
3. Puree the soup mixture in a blender. Return soup to pan and add in water to get the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Serve hot with toast.

Steamed Black Sesame Kuih

Chanced upon this recipe here and decided to do it since I have all ingredients on hand and this seems healthier.

I like black sesame so I like the subtle black sesame taste in this kuih. And I like to peel it off layer by layer, just like how I always eat 九层糕 "9 Layer Cake".

See the layers in the kuih

Ingredients

 
180g tapioca flour
25g rice flour
50g black sesame powder
180ml boiling water
180ml water
130g sugar
3 tbsp thick coconut milk

Method

1. Mix tapioca flour, rice flour and black sesame powder together.
2. Use boiling water to dissolve sugar. Add in the rest of the water and coconut milk.
3. Pour liquid content into the flour mixture and stir till smooth. Sieve mixture if lumpy.
4. Steam the kuih layer by layer on high heat in a greased tray. 
5. Cut into serving size when cold using a plastic knife.

Green Bean Soup

My first guest blogger - Dear Hubby!! *clap clap*

Hubby is now an expert at making red and green bean soup - all thanks to his mentor *ahem* yours truly haha.

As with all desserts on my blog so far, this is super easy to make. Just boil green beans and water together till green beans is cooked and soften, add sugar to taste.

Hope I'll get more good dishes from my first guest blogger!

Tau Suan

This is my favourite dessert. Hubby would always buy this for me whenever I feel like having dessert. However, those sold outside are usually very sweet and contains more water than beans. Decided to try making this at home since its so easy.

I over-steamed the beans and they became very soft, but the end results is satisfactory, just the right sweetness and consistency that we like. Hubby even comment that this taste like those sold outside, just less sweet and with more beans =)

Would taste even better with you tiao!

Ingredients

150g split beans, soaked overnight
About 1L water
Sugar to taste
Potato Starch + 2tbsp water

Method

1. Steam split beans till cooked, about 20min.
2. Add steamed split beans to water and bring to boil. Add sugar to taste. Add potato starch mixture till desired consistency.
3. Serve hot.

Homemade Soya Bean Drink

Ingredients

200g soya bean, soaked overnight
1L water (for a thick soya bean)
few blades of pandan leaves
Sugar to taste

Method

1. Blend soya bean with water and sieve the soya bean water through sieve.
2. Pour soya bean water into pot. Add pandan leaves and bring to a boil. Add in sugar to taste.
3. Serve hot or chilled.

Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake

Tried this recipe which has garnered good raves on the internet. Almost everyone who tried it have nothing but praises for this recipe.

This is recipe is easy to complete, just mix and steam, you don't even need to use the mixer or oven. This is something which you can do at home even in times of blackout haha!

The cake is indeed very moist, light and fluffy, even on the second day. Recipe is definitely a keeper!

See the texture of the cake - Soft, moist and fluffy!!


Ingredients

(I halved the original recipe as follows and got a 7" cake)

(A)
180g butter / canola oil

1 cup sugar (I used 2/3 cup)
1/2 can evaporated milk (I used low fat kind)
1/2 tsp vanilla extrace

(B)
2 eggs, slightly beaten

(C)
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Method

1. Combine A in saucepan. Stir over low heat till sugar is dissolved and butter has melted (if using oil just mix together). Off fire and keep warm.
2. Add B into the slightly cold A.
3. Combine C and sift into a large mixing bowl. Pour the mixture in 2 over and stir till well mixed. Cake batter should be runny.
4. Heat up steamer. Lined and greased a 7" round tin.
5. Pour batter into the greased tin and steam the mixture over medium heat for 40-45min till cake is cooked.
6. Cool and serve.

Water Chehstnut Cake

Ingredients

250g water chestnut powder
200g raw cane sugar (can adjust to taste)
4 cups water
150g water chestnut, diced
50g wolfberries, soaked for 5 min

more water for steaming

Method

1. Combine water chestnut powder with 2 cups of water
2. Prepare water for steaming.
3. In a pot / saucepan, melt sugar in remaining 2 cups of water, add in diced water chestnut and wolfberries and bring to a boil. Add in the liquid mix in (1), stirring continuously to mix thoroughly. The mixture will thicken. Once the mixture is well combined and thicken, off the heat and transfer mixture to a 7" round tin for steam.
4. Steam for 40min till cooked.
5. Best served chilled.

Hubby said the cake is too hard, would either reduce powder or increase water the next time.

Lunch @ Jack's Place

Jack's Place has an ongoing promotion where Maybank credit card holders are entitled to a 1-for-1 Ribeye Steak Set Lunch. We decided to try it out.

Here's what we get:

First Course - Mushroom soup with garlic bread

Main Course - Ribeye steak with baked potatoes and assorted vegetables

Dessert was a scoop of ice cream (not pictured)

We ended the meal with a cup of mocha

At S$20 for both of us, this meal is very value for money. Would try it again before the promotion ends on 30Nov10.

First Roast Chicken

I bought a frozen chicken from a local supermarket a couple of week ago when it was on promotion, only S$2.99 for a 1.2kg bird and since I don't know how to chop up a whole chicken, I decided to roast it whole. First time roasting a whole chicken, am so excited haha kept starring at my oven to check the progress. Halfway through the roasting the aroma of roast chicken already filled the whole house.

Juicy and aromatic chicken waiting to be tore into pieces!!

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, neck and feet removed, cavity emptied
1/8 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 large sprig of thyme
Half a lemon
8 garlic cloves (or adjust to your own preference)

Method

1. Wash chicken and pat dry. Lay chicken on roasting tray. 
2. Rub generous amount of salt and pepper all over the chicken. I rubbed some inside the cavity as well. Rub olive oil all over the chicken. Stuff cavity with garlic, lemon and thyme. Sprinkle some of the herbs all over the chicken.
3. Roast chicken at 220C for 30min, reduce temperature to 220C and roast for another 20-30min till chicken is cooked through. (If you insert a fork in the thigh area and clear juices run out (no blood), that is a good gauge that your chicken is cooked.)

We paired the chicken with baked potato, and tomato soup.

Here's our dinner.

Tomato Soup

This is a simple but very yummy soup, even hubby who don't like tomatoes finished his big bowl of soup!

See the big and juicy tomatoes which hubby choose

Ingredients

4 large ripe tomatoes, remove skin and seeds and diced
1 potato, diced
1 onion, sliced
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
2 cup vegetables broth (I added half a knorr vegetable cube to 2 cups water)
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. In a stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onions, potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20min to blend all flavours. Puree the soup mixture after the mixture cooled.
2. In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, cook till the roux is a medium brown. Pour pureed soup back into stockpot slowly and stir to ensure no lumps formed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Wholemeal Red Bean and White Lotus Bun

I have leftover red bean and white lotus paste from this year's mooncake making and since I'm pretty sure that I'll not be making mooncake again anytime soon, I decided to use them for buns.

Different toppings represent different fillings, black sesame for red bean and melon seeds for white lotus paste, and one with cheese on top as I did not prepare enough filings.

I know, the buns looks ugly, all in different shapes and sizes but thats my best attempt so far haha. I can never seem to get a nice golden brown bun top despite diligently egg washing my bun this time, can anyone please teach me how to achieve a nice golden top?

Insides of the white lotus bun - greedy me uses more fillings than bread dough haha

Insides of the red bean bun, the colour looks different as this photo was taken on the second day under natural lighting.


I've got balanced red bean and white lotus paste, what can I do with them? Hmmmm.....

Paratha Wraps

These are simple spin-offs from the tuna and assorted veg buns. I've got some fillings left from the buns and hence added mayonnaise to it and turn it into wraps using roti parathas. Its simple and yummy, crispy on the outside and creamy smooth on the inside! A great way to use up leftovers!

Wholewheat paratha wraps for me

and plain paratha (which is more crispy) for hubby =)

Sweet Potato Soup

I have 3 orange sweet potatoes that have been sitting in my kitchen for the longest time. Initially wanted to add it to bread or cakes but was too lazy to do so. Finally decided on the easiest way out - to make sweet potato soup =) quick and easy. We had this for lunch today, together with braised Ee Fu mee (I'm aboslutely in love with braised Ee Fu mee at the moment haha)

I added some fresh pandan juice to the sweet potato soup, hence the tinge of green in the soup.

Thai Green Curry

Ingredients

100g thai green curry paste 
300g boneless skinless chicken meat (I used thigh meat), cut into bite size
200g coconut milk (I used evaporated milk)
300g water (I reduced to 200g as I wanted a thicker curry)
1 large yellow onion
1 carrot, cut into bite size
1 brinjal,cut into thick strips
1 large tomato, cut into quarters
1 lemongrass, pounded
1 red chili, shredded
3 Kaffir Lime leaves (I omitted)

Method

1. Heat wok and oil. Add onion and stir-fry till translucent. Add curry paste, water and coconut milk and lemongrass into wok and bring to a boil.
2. Add chicken, vegetables and kaffir leaves and bring to boil. Simmer till chicken is cooked.
3. Serve immediately with rice, bread or prata - simply delicious!!

Tuna & Assorted Veg Bun

Ingredients

Bread Dough

200g bread flour

20g plain flour

15g sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp yeast
20g potato, mashed
20g egg white
100g water
15g unsalted butter

Fillings

1 can of tuna (I used tuna chunks in mineral water), flaked
1 yellow onion, diced
100g fresh shiitake nushroom, diced
1 small yellow capsicum, diced
1 small red capsicum, diced
1/2 cup corn kernels
1tbsp dried parsley flakes
1tbsp dried chili flakes
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
oil for stir-frying

Decoration
Mayonaise
Parsley flakes

Method

1. Combine all dough ingredients except butter and mix till dough is smooth. Add butter and mix till dough is smooth and elastic. Leave the dough to proof till double in size.
2. Heat oil in pan. Add in onions and stir-fry till onion turns translucent. Add in the rest of the vegetables and tuna and fry till cooked. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Leave to cool.
3. When dough is ready, punch out air and divide dough into 5 -6 equal portions. Leave to rest for 15min.
4. Roll dough into oval shape, put filings on rolled dough and fold dough into half. Pinch ends to seal it. Leave the shaped dough to rest for 30-45min.
5. Combine mayonnaise and parsley flakes and pipe onto bread before baking.
6. Bake in pre-heated oven of 180C for 15-20min till bread is ready.   

Blueberry Lemon Cake

Ingredients

Makes a 6" round tin

1/4 cup butter, soften
1/3 cup sugar (I reduced to 1/4 cup)
1 egg
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup blueberries (I used 1 punnet, about 1 cup)
1/8 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1/4 cup icing sugar (I used 2 tbsp)
some sugar to sprinkle on top

Method

1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in egg and mix well. Mix flour mixture and milk into butter and sugar mixture till combined.
3. Fold in blueberries.
4. Fold the mixture into a 6" round tin and bake in a preheated oven of 180C for 35-40min till skewer inserted in middle comes out clean.
5. Mix lemon juice and rind with icing sugar.Pour mixture over cake and sprinkle sugar onto the cake.

Wholemeal Carrot Bread

This was suppose to be a white bread recipe but I wanted it to be more healthy and replaced some bread flour with wholemeal flour instead. Not sure if this had affected the "equilibrium" of the bread but I encountered problem while mixing the dough. The dough was very sticky and flat (abit like cake batter) and I was convinced that this bread is gonna be a total failure.

Nevertheless, I went ahead to proof the bread and luckily, the bread turns out ok. Not the fluffiest we've tasted but it was not too bad. This bread stayed soft for 2 days. Well, gotta try harder again next time.

Adapted from book "新创意养生健康面包 - I halved the recipe as below

Ingredients

450g bread flour (I used 300g bread flour and 150g wholemeal flour)
50g plain flour
5g salt
75g sugar (I reduced to 50g)
6g dry yeast
100g carrot residue (after straining out the carrot juice)
200g carrot juice
50g milk
50g olive oil

Method

1. Combine bread flour, plain flour, dry yeast, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add in carrot juice and carrot residue. Mix using a dough hook, slowly adds in milk and olive oil. Mix till dough is smooth and elastic.
2. Leave to raise in bowl for 60min or till the dough doubles in size. Punch out the air in the dough and divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and let it rest for 15-20min. Shape dough and let it proof again for 45-60min.
3. Bake at 180C for 25-30min till the bread is ready.

Duo Colour Wholemeal Bread

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Sausage Wholemeal Bread

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Steamed Pumpkin Kuih

I used the steamed carrot cake recipe for this, and just replaced the carrots with mashed pumpkin. Strange thing is my pumpkin cake doesn't have the uniform orange colour, doesn't looks like pumpkin cake at all, gotta try harder next time!

Matcha Yoghurt Muffins

Fried Brown Rice with Assorted Vegetables

Muah Chee

Ingredients

200g glutinous rice flour
300ml water
1 Tbsp canola oil
A pinch of salt
Ground peanut and sugar to taste

Sesame powder and sugar to taste

Method

1. Combine glutinous rice flour, water, salt, and mix until well combined. Steam the mixture on high heat for 15 minutes.
2. M.eanwhile, combine the ground peanuts and sugar, and sesame powder and sugar.
3. Remove the glutinous rice mixture from the steamer and let cool briefly, about 5 minutes. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic for about 5 minutes.
4. Pinch or cut the dough and toss into the peanut mixture. Serve immediately.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Reason for the extra large photo......so that you can see the vanilla beans!!! Haha this vanilla bean ice cream is absolutely yummy!! Creamy and smooth, and so so flavourful, no preservative, no colouring, sugar to your taste (a bit too sweet this round, would probably reduce sugar further next time) and all natural!

Adapted from the perfect scoop by David Lebovitz

Ingredients

1 cup milk
150g sugar (I reduced to 100g)
2 cups whipping cream
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split
6 large egg yolks (I used medium yolks)
3/4 tsp vanilla extract (I omitted)

Method

1. Warm milk, 1 cup cream, sugar & salt in a medium saucepan.
2. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the warm milk and add the bean as well. Cover, remove from heat and let it steep at room temp. for 30 mins.
3. Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl and set a strainer on top. in a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and slowly pour the warmed milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
4. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat, scraping the bottom as you stir, until mixture thickens and coat the back of a spoon.
5. Pour custard through the strainer into the cream. put the vanilla bean into the custard, add the extract (or bean paste) and stir until cool over an ice bath (I didn't use an ice bath).
6. Chill the mixture thoroughly then churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions then freeze until firm. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can place the mixture in a shallow metal tray and freeze, whisking every couple of hours until frozen and creamy.

Vegetarian Braised Ee Fu Noodles

Ingredients

Braising sauce (mix altogether)

  2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce 

  1/4 tsp dark soya sauce (more if you want a deeper colour)

  1/4 tsp sugar

  1/4 tsp Hua Tiao wine

  White pepper

  1 cup water

Others (Shredded)

Mushrooms (I used oyster mushrooms)

Leeks (I used 1 stalk)

1 Carrot

Beansprouts (about 80g)

Ee Fu Noodles (enough for 2 servings) 

Oil for frying

Method

1. In a wok, heat oil and fry shredded leeks, carrots, mushrooms for about 1 minute. 
2. Add braising sauce and allow to simmer for another minute. 
3. Add in Ee Fu noodles, submerging them in the braising sauce as much as possible. Cover with lid and let the noodles stew for 2-3minutes. Add in beansprouts and cook till the noodles is ready (not soggy)
4. Season with salt (if necessary) to taste.
5. Dish and serve immediately.

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

1Tbsp Olive Oil
100g leek, sliced thinly
350g pumpkin, cut into cubes
150g potatoes, cut into cubes
300ml vegetable stock
100ml water
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in stock pot, cook leek stirring on and off till soften
2. Add in pumpkin and potato into the leek mixture and saute for 2-3min on low heat. Add in stock and water.
3. When mixture comes to a boil, lower heat, covered and simmer for about 30min.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Cool soup till room temperature and puree the soup.