Pan Fried Striploin

After his first attempt at preparing steak, hubby was so encouraged that he decided to try again, this time using striploin, which is cheaper than tenderloin.

A huge piece of tender and juicy striploin

This time round I decided to contribute some side dish, as I happened to have sweet potatoes and carrots at home, I just roasted them in salt and pepper with a drizzle of olive oil.

 

Look at the cross section! This was suppose to be medium rare and I think hubby did a very good job on this. The meat was juicy and succulent, not hard at all!

Guess I can look forward to many great steak meals in future!

Simple Dinner at Home

A simple dinner which I prepared, with whatever things I can put together.

 

Stir-fry lettuce with mushroom and carrots

 Baked Salmon with Garlic Pepper and Thyme

Ginko Barley with Beancurd

Hubby love this dessert very much (probably because he loves ginko to bits) and after procrastinating for a long time (am simply too lazy to crack ginko nuts and do not want to use the canned ones), I finally attempted to make this

The taste is good, though hubby commented its not as "thick" as those sold outside. Am guessing maybe I didn't cooked the barley long enough. Shall try again next time and hopefully will get a better appraisal from hubby =)

Blueberry Crumble Muffin

These were made so long ago I have forgotten which recipe I have followed. Will update if I remember.

Tendeloin Steak

Hubby did something very special this year on his birthday - he cooked for the very first time since the 10 years I've know him! And given that its his first attempt, I have to say he did very well, even though the steaks were overcooked, I love every bit of it!

Showing you pictures of his maiden master pieces

Breakfast @ Restoran Hua Mui, JB

Chicken Chop - This is what the restoran is famous for, the chicken chop is fried to perfection, crispy and not oily, definitely worth a try!

 

Beef Noodles - this is really a disappointment, the noodles was virtually tasteless and there was only a miserly few pieces of beef.

We didn't get to try out the other dishes, shall post again after trying more.

Lunch @ Victor's Kitchen

Hubby was raving about this dim sum place where he had lunch and promised to bring me there. Finally had a chance to visit the place and the small food outlet was swarmed with customers when we were there, and its not even lunch time!

As there were only 2 of us, we only ordered a few dishes to try, these were what we had:

H.K Style Summer Ice Tea ($2.50)- Smooth and silky, and was served in a bowl of ice, helps to keep the drink cold.

H.K Style Pan Fried Cheong Fun ($4) - Not a common dim sum dish, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Scallop Sausage Carrot Cake with XO Sauce ($4) - This was really good, soft and smooth and the XO sauce goes very well with the carrot cake.

Siew Mai ($3.50) - Taste good, but not extraordinary

Golden Egg York Lava Bun ($3.50) - Supposedly the most talked about dish in Victor's Kitchen, if you think it looks ordinary, continue on to the photo below ....... once you bite into the bun, its literally bursting with flavours! 

Lunch @ Cafe Cartel

Had always like Cafe Cartel (for their unlimited supply of freah bread =p) and the fact that we can always take a long, slow lunch and chat away happily with friends.

Tried their weekday set lunch couple of months ago with my friend. They offers simple but very value for money lunch sets which would not set a big hole in your pocket.

Photos of the set lunch which we tried:

Free flow bread - goes best with butter or dipped into soup!

Soup of the day - think this was Cream of Chicken

Main Course - You can choose from 2 main course offered, I took the chicken with mashed potato that day.

Coffee / Iced Peach Tea with Dessert of the Day

All the above for S$9.50net!

Eggless Tiramisu

 

Tiramisu birthday cake for my dearest hubby

 

Before the final touch up

 

Yummy!!

I wanted to make something different for my hubby's birthday and finally decided on making Tiramisu - something which I have never done before as I have always thought that Tiramisu is really difficult to make.

I googled for "easy Tiramisu recipe" and after reading through a few sites, ultimately decided on the following recipe, which is essentially my simplified version (I'm lazy, remember?) of a mixture of various recipes. I choose an eggless recipe as I'm not comfortable consuming raw eggs.

The preparation was easy enough, except for the soaking of the sponge fingers. The first 2 sponge fingers I soaked almost disintegrated in the bowl of coffee syrup as I had soaked them abit too long (like about 4s). I got so nervous after that that I just dip my sponge fingers in and took them out in lighting speed (I think dipping for 2s yield the best result).

The resultant Tiramisu is tasty with a nice coffee aroma and not too heavy nor creamy. The most wonderful thing is that Hubby actually said "very nice" after taking just one bit. I will increase the cheese proportion the next time as I find it not cheesy enough. Other than this, I'm very happy that I managed to hit the right recipe on my maiden attempt on Tiramisu making.

Happy Birthday Hubby!!

Ingredients

Coffee Syrup
3tbsp coffee powder
1 cup boiling water

Cream Filing
250g mascarpone cheese
300ml thickened cream
3tbsp icing sugar
4-5tbsp Kahlua


20-25 sponge fingers
Cocoa powder

Method

1. Dissolve coffee powder in water, set aside for later use.
2. In a bowl, whisk the mascarpone cheese with icing sugar till the mixture is smooth and creamy.
3. In another bowl, whisk the thickened cream until soft peak. Fold the thickened cream into the mascarpone mixture till well combined.
4. Line the bottom and sides of a 6" square loose bottom pan with parchment paper.
5. Dip each sponge finger into the coffee syrup and line the bottom of the pan with the sponge fingers. Spread a layer of the mascarpone cream mixture over the sponge finger and sprinkle cocoa powder over the top of the mascarpone cream mixture. Repeat the layering (sponge finger - mascarpone cream - cocoa powder) and top it off with a thick layer (personal preference, you can sprinkle a thin layer if you do not like too much cocoa powder) of cocoa powder on top.
6. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, best overnight, before serving.

Mee Sua with Egg

I made this for my hubby on his birthday. A typical birthday dish which symbolise good luck and longevity.

Ayam Kunyit (Chicken in Tumeric Sauce)

Ingredients

2 pieces of boneless chicken drumstick, chop into bite size
4-8 pieces of curry leaf
1 tbsp tumeric powder
3 stalks lemongrass, pounded
5 shallots, pounded
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup milk
Salt and sugar
1 tbsp oil

Method

1. Soak chicken in oil before cooking.
2. Fry pounded lemongrass and shallots in hot oil until fragrant. Mix tumeric powder with water and pour into pot. Add in milk and bring to a boil.
3. Add in chicken chunks and fry till soft and cooked. Add in curry leaves and fry slightly. Let chicken simmer for 5 min.
4. Season with salt and sugar to taste.

Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

It has been a long time since I last baked muffins, decided to do this all time favourite since I still have half a bag of chocolate chips on hand.

 

 I had leftover batter and made some mini muffins. See how cute the mini muffins looks besides the normal one =)

Beef Stew

 

Stews are great one dish meals and if you're going to make stews, remember to make a big pot as they taste better the next day! Here is a basic stew recipe which makes use of simple everyday pantry items. Stews are great dish to customise, cook it your way and enjoy!

Ingredients

400g stew beef cubes (I would definitely use more next time to make a bigger pot)

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut

3 large carrots, peeled and cut

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 large onion, diced

6-8 cloves of garlic, minced (adjust to your liking)

2 cups water, mixed with 1 cube of vegetable knorr cube (you can use beef cube for deeper flavour)

Sprigs of thyme

Dried bay leaves

1 tbsp tomato paste

Method

1. Season the beef cubes with salt and pepper. Brown the beef cubes in a large casserole with olive oil. Remove browned beef cubes and set aside.
2. Add a bit more oil to the casserole. Add in garlic, onion and celery and cook them for about 3-5 min till they turn brown.
3. Add stock to the casserole and add in tomato paste. Let the stock comes to a boil and add carrots, bay leave and thyme. Let the stock simmer for about 10min. Add in browned beef cubes and simmer let it simmer for about 1.5hr, or till beef is tender. Add in potatoes at this point and let it simmer for a further 20min.
4. Add in salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve hot with rice or bread.

Double Coffee Chiffon Cake

Ingredients

4 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
50ml oil
3tbsp instant coffee
60ml water
1 1/2tbsp kahlua
100g cake flour, sieved 2x
5 egg white
65g sugar

Method

1. Combine instant coffee, water and kahlua and mix well to form coffee mixture.
2. In a bowl, beat the egg yolk with 40g caster sugar till well combined. Add in oil to the mixture.
3. Slowly whisk in the seived flour alternating with coffee mixture till well combined.
4. In another bowl, whisk egg white and 65g sugar till stiff peak forms.
5. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture in 3 batches.
6. Pour the cake batter into a tube pan and bake in preheated oven at 180C for 30-40min till cake is ready.
7. Remove tube pan from oven and immediately invert the pan. Cool the cake completely before serving.

Baked Chicken Breast Sandwich

 

This is a healthy and hearty sandwich meal as chicken breast contains very low animal fat content. I used too much vegetables which resulted in the bread being squashed thin when I was holding it. If you are like me and like to put lots of vegetables into your sandwich, I would suggest using thicker bread like foccacia or cibatta as they are more sturdy and will be able to hold the thick chicken breast and vegetables together. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Butter Cake

 

The cake is a little underbaked, nontheless, the fragrant of the butter cake filled the whole house while baking and hubby says the cake taste good. I added in some chocolate chips which were expiring soon and reduced the sugar used. The resultant cake is moist and buttery, with a tint of chocolate flavour.

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter

135g sugar (reduced from 180g)

5 eggs

300g flour (I used cake flour)

1tsp baking powder

200g pumpkin puree

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in vanilla extract.
3. Add in flour and baking powder in 3 additions. Add in pumpkin puree and mix to combine.
4. Pour batter into 8" round tin and bake in preheated oven at 180C for 45-50min till cake is ready.

Healthy Wholemeal Carrot Cupcake

 

Recipe from here

Okonomiyaki Again

 

 

Ang Ku Kuih

I didn't have red colouring at home, so I added in some pandan paste to get a light green coloured ang ku kuih. My first attempt at ang ku kuih, the moulding and shaping part is the hardest, I couldn't get an even spread of the filings and always end up having filings mixed into the skin after moulding. Nontheless, the texture is very nice and it taste so soft and QQ when I ate it after it had cooled down. Try it and let me know if you like it too =)

The yellow spots u see on the skin are actually sweet potatoes, somehow I always couldn't mash sweet potatoes nicely

 Luckily the skin is not too thick!

This formed part of my lunch, together with my favourite dessert - homemade Dao suan

Ingredients - I yielded 12 ang ku kuihs with this portion

Sweet Potato Skin
100g sweet potato
150g glutinous rice flour
1 tbsp canola oil
120ml water - you might not need to use all
Pandan paste

Mung Bean Filing
150g split bean (soaked in water overnight)
50g sugar
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 cup diced shallots
1 tbsp oil
a little water

Banana leaf

Method

1. Sweet potato skin: Steam sweet potatoes until soft. Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork and add in glutinous rice flour, oil, enough water and pandan paste to form a smooth dough and to obtain your preferred colour shade.
2. Mung bean filing: Steam the soaked split beans till soft. Mash with a fork. 
3. In a wok, heat oil and fry the shallots till its fragrant. Leave to cool.
4. Add the fried shallot, salt, sugar to the mashed split beans. Add in a little bit of water to form a soft dough.
5. Moulding: Brush ang ku kuih mould with oil. Take a small ball of sweet potato dough and flatten it into a round shape.
6. Place mung bean filing into the flatten sweet potato dough, seal it and press the ball into the mould firmly. Place the ang ku kuih on a piece of oiled banana leaf.
7. Repeat till skin dough / filing finished.
8. Steam the ang ku kuih over high heat for 3min. After 3 min, remove the lid to release steam and continue to steam for another 3-5min over medium heat till kuihs are ready.
9. Brush the surface of the cooked ang ku kuihs with some oil to prevent sticking. Cool before serving.

Steamed Cream Corn Cake

Recipe adapted from Alex Goh "Magic Steamed Cake"

Ingredients

4 eggs
200g sugar (I reduced to 160g)

200g Cream Corn
250g flour
1 tbsp baking powder
80g melted butter


Method

1. Whip eggs and sugar till its light and fluffy.
2. Fold cream corn into the egg mixture.
3. Fold in Flour and baking powder.
4. Add in melted butter and mix till combined.
5. Pour batter into greased 7" tin and steam over high heat for 30-40min till cake is ready.

Steamed Garlic Mussels

Ok, enough of CNY posting.

Here's a quick and easy dish which I prepared for dinner. Frozen New Zealand green lip mussels with garlic, ginger, chili, chinese cooking wine and soya sauce. You can taste the sweetness of the mussels and best of all the dish is ready in less than 15min! Very suitable after a busy day in office and you still need to get dinner on the table.

Yu Sheng

I love yu sheng, give it to me anytime of the year and I'll gladly take it. We didn't had the chance to toss yu sheng on the 7th day and 15th day of CNY as both were working day. Finally had the chance to do it on 18th day when everyone is at home. This year I bought the Kwong Cheong Thye brand as I've read good review on the net about this brand. Its more expensive, but trust me, it really taste better, and it came with 2 packets of crackers haha

 

We added in shredded radish and carrot, as well as a huge handful of pomelo

 

and realised that the plate we used is too small and its gonna be real messy if we were to toss in this small plate....

 

so... we transferred the yu sheng to this huge glass plate! Now it looks so much better. 

 

beautifully (and messy) tossed yusheng, I just love the vibrant combination of colours.

And it taste sooo good....omph....so tasty this huge plate was all snapped up in no time!

Maybe I should try making my own yu sheng so that I can have it anytime of the year =)