Oh for the love of food!

Hey There Everyone!

2009-01-23T07:36:00.006+09:00

Chloe, me, Ming and Paige at King's Park

Happy 2009! Just a short post to say 'Hi!' and Thank you for all your lovely emails - I am very well, just really busy having a Great, Great time enjoying my family these holidays! I have a Huge, no, GIANT post coming up with so many photos to share you won't believe! I've had a really busy but extremely fulfilling time over the last six months and I'm going to tell you all about it in my upcoming post. And of course, not to mention a Gorgeous little recipe for a SEXY cupcake! So Stay Tuned!

Before I go though, I want to wish all of you a Blessed 2009 from my Family to yours - I hope 2009 will be the year that things that truly matter will happen for you, that you will find Love, families will be reunited, relationships will be cherished and most of all, that you will find God, because, when you do, everything else will fall into place!

One last thing, before I really zip off.. I have the pleasure of presenting to you, a new member of the Rodé-Chong family! Drum roll please!

Introducing.. 'Puppy'! our Budgie. For the longest time, the Girls and Ming have been bugging me for a Puppy, but Mom knows Best, our circumstances and habits hardly allows for it - so, we got a Bird instead and named him 'Puppy'! Not a bad idea, don't you think?

See you all real soon!

Carol xoxo

Cream Cheese-stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes

2008-07-16T01:21:00.014+08:00

I turned 40 over the weekend. I did not wake up to find extra fine lines on my face or new crows' feet at the corner of my eyes. It wasn't raining buckets and the sky wasn't a gloomy grey. On the contrary! The sky was the prettiest blue and the odd cloud or two were like cotton -candy suspended in the air. And me? well, I was 40 and fabulous! So sue me! The way I see it, '40' is just another number and you are only as old as you feel. Anyway, we picked Chloe up from a sleep-over party a little past 10.30 am and then we were off to pick up Aquilla. Yes, I'm allowed to say his name now. A Q U I L L A. My 14 year-old daughter, Chloe's boyfriend, that is. Chloe and Aquilla have been 'going out' for about a month, now. And on the 12th of July, on my Birthday, it was official. It was official because he finally got Ming's permission to date our daughter. The 12th of July was the day that the whole family got to 'bond' with Aquilla.

Since they started this relationship, Chloe and Aquilla have been THE topic of conversation among their friends and ours. There has been expressions of sheer surprise as well as hush-hush gossiping, snickering, glares of disapproval and of envy from people we know and people we don't as a result of this young relationship. A few genuinely concerned friends asked me if I approved of this relationship. 'Approve'? I rejoice in it. I celebrate it. What's not to approve? Love is the most beautiful gift from God and Young Love is no different if there is loving support, guidance and understanding from parents. To put it in a blunt way, your kids are going to have relationships with or without your approval. The only difference is whether they let you in on their lives when they have these relationships. Do the math.

So.. continuing what I was saying earlier on, we picked Aquilla up from his home and proceeded to have lunch in one of our favorite restaurants, 'Little Seoul'. Aquilla was understandably nervous at first, being around 'the father'- the more 'intimidating parent ' as he puts it. I had gone shopping with the the girls and Aquilla the Thursday before, and we had broken the ice then. Ming was 'on the other side of the fence' (being 'the father', not 'the boyfriend) for the first time too, and I could tell he was 'fumbling' , not knowing for sure how to handle the situation. He told Aquilla a couple of embarrassing 'home truths' about Chloe which did break the ice but got Chloe a little grieved. Poor Chloe. After Lunch, we grabbed some cakes and slices from David Jones then headed for home.

Once we got home, I put out some tea and coffee and got out the cakes and the monopoly set. It was bonding time. I would say this day spent with Aquilla put our minds at ease as to where this young relationship was going. Parenting and Life doesn't come with a manual and we are learning the 'operations' one day at a time. One thing is for sure, I want to be a vital part of my daughters' lives, and if I have to break the 'mold' of this society's 'norms' and 'values' - so be it.

Chloe and Aquilla

Now.. let's talk cake, shall we? Ever since I came back from my Holiday, it's like I've been put under a 'Bad Cake Spell'! Every new recipe I've tried has been less than passable. To be fair though, I must admit that I am a terrible, terrible 'Cake Snob'. Don't misunderstand, I am not making an apology here. If the recipe is not up to my standards, I absolutely refuse to share it. So now you know why I haven't been posting for so long. I pondered over and over as to whether I would share this recipe. It's not the worst recipe I've tried, neither is it one of the best. But if I am to continue to post, I guess I will have to stop being such a perfectionist all the time.

Paige, Chloe and Aquilla

There were a few reasons why I wasn't 'comfortable' with this recipe. First, there was no BUTTER! This recipe requires 'Vegetable Oil' instead. ( If this had been a Sponge,it would have been ok) This almost sounded vulgar to me. Then, the recipe required the inclusion of Chocolate Chips ( which I omitted and replaced with melted dark chocolate) in the cream cheese filling in the center. The texture just felt all wrong in my head. The other ingredient I didn't approve of was instant coffee. I substituted that with Espresso. And the frosting.. how can I put this,.. The chocolate frosting was made from cocoa powder, not chocolate. It tasted artificial. It was rich but not satisfying, like a mocha made with chocolate flavored syrup for example, as opposed to a mocha made with real Belgian Chocolate. Do you know what I mean? I went with the recipe just to see how it would turn out.For the benefit of those of you who would like to try this recipe, I have altered the method of hiding the 'surprise' filling, so that it will not burst out of the cakes like magma from a volcano.

Ming, Paige, Aquilla and Chloe, skipping stones

We went for a walk in the Picturesque area where we live after our game and then we sent Aquilla home. I had a Birthday Dinner with the entire family after that at a new Vietnamese Restaurant in Victoria Park and then we returned to my place for Birthday Cake. It was lovely to have my sister Jacq bake me a Birthday Cake, as you can see, she's the artist in the family. Life is Good.

My Birthday Cake made by my extremely multi-talented and Gorgeous sister, Jacq

Look at the work Jacq put into decorating the cake! The mittens and choc-chip cookies are intricately fashioned with marzipan. Notice my computer on the oven? My Blog page is on it too! Thanks, Jacq! muaw!

The Rode/Chong Mob

I must get my Darling Photographer in one of the shots at least!

Cream Cheese-stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from this cookbook

for the filling

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup melted dark chocolate, cooled

for the cupcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup Dutch -processed cocoa powder
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups hot water
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsps white vinegar
1 shot espresso (optional)
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

For the chocolate frosting

8 tbsps unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 1/2 cups Dutch-processed cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 cup Double cream
a dash of espresso (optional)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsps pure vanilla extract

First, make the filling. Fit your mixer with the paddle attachment and beat the cream cheese until fluffy, scraping the bowl often. Blend in the egg yolk and vanilla and then add the sugar and melted dark chocolate. Mix well. Now, preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius and line your preferred cupcake tins with paper liners.

To make the cupcakes, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a large measuring jug, combine the water, oil, vinegar, espresso (if using) and vanilla. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Fill each cupcake liner one-third full of batter, then add a dollop of the cream cheese filling into the center before adding more batter on top to bring the batter to two-thirds full. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cupcakes have puffed on top and are firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the tins.

To make the frosting, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the caster sugar, cocoa and salt. The mixture might look grainy or sandy and this is ok. Whisk the cream and espresso into the cocoa mixture and cook over low heat, while stirring to dissolve the sugar grains. The mixture should get hot to the touch but never simmer or boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Cool the frosting a little before putting in the fridge to thicken. Stir the frosting every 15 minutes or so . When the frosting has thickened, remove from the fridge into the mixer and whip very quickly to get the frosting fluffy. Fill the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle then pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes as desired.

Hey, Look at what's NEW in Perth! If you live in this Beautiful city and Love Cooking, Baking and Food in general, read on!

What is Food Lover's Link about?

The Food Lover's Link is the newest Foodie Club to hit Perth! It's a gathering of people with a common interest in cooking, baking and most of all, Eating! Anyone can join this link and it's aim is to create new friendships and bond present ones. Free Cooking and Baking demonstrations take place at these meetings followed by a tasting session. Eating out and writing food reviews is another activity of the Food Lover's Link. Members can volunteer to do cooking/baking demos if they wish and on occasions we may invite Guests to do this. Perhaps you have a recipe you want to share. Meetings are held on Saturdays on a fortnightly basis. Come along and join us, you might just enjoy yourself!

For more information on the Venue and time for the Upcoming meeting, e-mail Carol Rode - carol-rode@hotmail.com or Tasia Limawan - cintapopia@mac.com

Matcha Love Hearts

2008-06-18T02:30:00.012+08:00

"..Give, give in any way you can, of whatever you possess. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace."

-Author unknown

One of my favorite bookshops in Perth is the 'Inspiration Factory' in Subiaco. I hardly ever leave the place without a purchase. Just last Saturday, Ming, the girls and I were spending the afternoon in Subi - Ming had decided to give Badminton a miss and just hang out with us. We've all been so busy with our own stuff ever since we came back from our holiday, so I guess it seemed appropriate for us all to put everything aside and just spend some time together, just the four of us. We grabbed some lunch at Nippon, got lured into a couple of stores displaying their "Up to 70% off everything" sales banners before we settled down for some drinks at Dome. We talked about so many things - how Ming can spend more time with me before I looked for his replacement in the form of a Gorgeous, Romantic Korean man (wink, wink), we teased Chloe relentlessly about her new boyfriend 'A', we laughed, we cried (from laughing so much) and we ironed out a few 'issues' that have been bothering us.

Then, we made our way to the 'Inspiration Factory'. Being there was like taking a breath of fresh air. I came across a book I hadn't seen before, 'Blossom - Affirmations for Personal Growth' by Janine Brown. After flipping a couple of pages of the book, I knew I couldn't let it go. I just loved it so much - there were so many quotes that were my own believes, and some that I wanted to believe in and embrace. The virtue of Generosity, the act of giving and sharing is a reward in itself because it brings so much joy to it's recipients. I came across a post on 'Green Tea Sweets' - Cookies that looked like jeweled-encrusted pieces of Jade in Foodbeam last week and couldn't help reading on. The recipe for these beautiful cookies won Kelli Bernard of Amai Tea and Bake House the Finalist Award for Best Bakery Recipe in Pastryscoop.com's 2007 Golden Scoop Awards, and Kelli was generous enough to share her recipe with the whole world via her blog Lovescool.

These Matcha cookies have been the delight of so many Food Bloggers all over the globe since the release of it's recipe last year that I couldn't resist giving it a go myself, especially too, after my success with the Matcha Macarons last year. Besides reducing my oven temperature to 160 degrees celsius (fan-forced) and using salted butter, I followed Kelli's recipe closely. Oh, and I decided to use a Love Heart cookie cutter instead of a leaf-shaped one. After all, giving , sharing and love are inter-connected! The result was a distinctively Aromatic and buttery cookie with a delicate crumb.The slight bitterness of the matcha was complimented by the pretty sugar coating.

Matcha Love Hearts (Green Tea Sweets)

Ingredients
Yield : Approx 25 2' Love Heart Cookies

3/4 cup/ 2.25 oz/ 64 g Icing sugar
5 oz/142 g Salted butter, cut into cubes
1 3/4 cup/ 8.5 oz/ 241 g All-purpose flour
3 Large egg yolks
1.5 TBS Matcha (powdered green tea)
1 cup Granulated sugar (for coating)

* Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F( 160C fan-forced). Line a cookie sheet with baking paper.
* Whisk the icing sugar and green tea together in a bowl.
* Add the butter and green tea/sugar mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until combined and smooth.
* Add the flour and mix until well combined.
* Add the egg yolks and mix just until the eggs are fully incorporated and a mass forms.
* Form the dough into a disk and chill in the freezer for 10 minutes
* Roll the dough out to ½” thickness.
* Cut the dough with a Love Heart cookie cutter.
* Toss each cut cookie in a bowl of granulated sugar to coat.
* Place the sugar-coated cookie on the lined cookie sheet and bake at 180C/ 350F( 160C fan-forced) for 12-15 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges.

Kelli Bernard and the team at Amai Tea and Bake House recommend that these cookies be served with light and sweet white teas or an aromatic Oolong.

Singapore 2008!

2008-06-05T10:11:00.065+08:00

Boat Quay - by Sudharshan Murthy

About 2 months before our holiday, I received a very heart warming e-mail from my Best Friend Miti. It reads like this:

'I’ve got an assignment in Hong Kong on the dates that you'll be here and Eugene will bring the kids over to meet me . I would like for you, Ming and the girls to stay atmy new place. I guarantee that you’ll like it. It’s only a 10 minute walk from the MRT station. You and Ming can use my room and the girls can either share a room if they like or they can use the kid’s rooms. Call it house-sitting!

When you stay here, you do not need to bring anything … not even your toothbrushes . My domestic helper will be here, she will change the bed sheets, clean after you and even feed you. Just tell Ani (her name), I would like Assam Pork, Gado-Gado and Onde Onde for dinner … she’ll know what to do! There’s no need to have the keys as Ani will be home except for Sunday. You can get the keys from her if you like. Feel free to use our home like it's your own and tell Ani if there's anything else you might need.

Some facts about my place –

There are 5 bedrooms plus 1 maid’s room.

3 bathrooms and plus one toilet.

You can use the computers, they're in the office on the third floor

The supermarket is 10 minutes walk from my place

Get the Car Keys from Ani if you would like to use the car

There's a Bus Stop just outside our place too

The swimming pool is right at the door step, there’s a gym as well.

The kitchen is open concept – you can cook whatever you like, we have both outdoor and indoor cooking. It’s usually well stocked; you can get your milk and eggs from the supermarket when they run out, or you can send Ani to get it.

Since my kids are all young, they are perfectly happy to bunk in with us on the floor – we have loads of extra mattresses and they love sleepover parties! So,there’s no need for you to move when we return from our trip. We’ve got enough room for everyone. I think I’ve covered everything … let me know what else you need.
Happy house sitting!

Love, Miti '

Wouldn't you just LOVE to have a friend like this? A Friend like Miti is like a Hug from God. Coincidently we were making accommodation arrangements when she so generously offered us to stay in her home, and what a home it is!

The main entrance opens up to the pools

Paige, enjoying a snack after a dip in the pool

Chloe and Paige - what are they doing??!

This is THE life!

Paige sure knows how to relax..

How to make 'Lemper' - 'Lemongrass infused Glutinous Rice wrapped around Spicy Chicken. Ani is a great cook! We enjoyed 3 meals prepared by her this trip.

Ani wrapping up the 'Lemper' for our tea time treat..

'Lemper'

Our favorite place to eat when we're out and about shopping is at the 'Food Republic' . We've been to two of these chain food courts so far, one with a ' yesteryear village' simulation theme and the other with an 'old library' theme.

Deciding where to go after a satisfying meal at Food Republic, Suntec City

Don't you just love the colors in this pic?

Paige and I posing for a photo. Notice the 'books' behind us? This Food Republic chain is the one with the 'Old Library' theme. Very cosy indeed..

A Roast Chicken Rice set

Beef Bulgogi

Chicken Bibimbap

'Loh Bak'- an assortment of fried snacks

Singapore Laksa

Notice the 'Old Village' theme decor? I love those colored shutters..

What about the suspended antique Bicycles and Bird Cages? Cool, huh?

Cheers!

Ming and I

What do you do when you meet up with relatives? Eat Of course! Ming's uncle who is an ardent Fishing and Boating fan, invited us to the Singapore Yacht Club for Dinner one evening. The Dinner was great - we got to 'hand-pick' our seafood and have it cooked the way we wanted. I didn't take any photos of the food though, I thought it would be rude to let everybody wait while I positioned their food this way and that while I snapped. After dinner as the sun was setting, I excused myself from the table and took these shots..

The Yacht Club Restaurant

Ahh...

This is what serenity looks like

So peaceful..

Again, Ahhh...

The pool by the restaurant

Can someone help me with this caption? I don't really want to say 'Ahhh..' again

Wouldn't you like to spend an evening here?

Paige came looking for mommy

The girls dipping their feet

On our last trip here, we had the pleasure of meeting the Gorgeous Annette Tan of 'Greedy Goose'. This trip, Annette invited us over to her place for Dinner - she cooked up a storm of the yummiest Peranakan fare, a Eurasian Devilled Curry, A Berry Clafoutis (?) and served up flavor after flavor of the most beautiful home-made ice-creams! We had the privilege of meeting Mervin, Annette's very cute and youthful-looking partner, her good friend Deborah and her lovely, lovely critters Ralph and Oxford.

The Feast..

Annette and the girls

Annette, the girls and the frolicking hounds!

The great thing about going to S'pore is that I get to catch-up with old friends. I've known Yean , Dee and Stefan since my school days. We met for Dinner at 'Bayang' , an Indonesian restaurant in Clarke Quay and later for coffee and cake at 'Nectarie'.

We passed a quirky looking bar on the way to Dinner - 'C Clinic'- all the seats are either wheelchairs or hospital bed look-alike thingys. What a strange concept!

See what I mean?

Another Bar - this time a Moroccan Shisha Bar. Don't you just love the lighting at the entrance?

A group of Latin Dancers at the Samba Lounge (I forget the name)posing for a shot

Here we are at our Dinner venue - 'Bayang' which means 'shadows'

The 'Shadow Puppets' at 'Bayang'

The girls on the left, then across, Ming, Dee and Yean sitting at the far end

Most of us ordered this - Spicy Grilled Chicken

Ming's order of 'Bebek Panggang' - Grilled Duck

Paige's favorite side dish - Stirfriend Sambal Kangkong (Watercress). Behind that are our drink orders of 'Chendol' and Avacado shakes

My little poser, Paige

Our Dessert Venue, 'Nectarie'

My Good Buddie, Stefan, Ming and I

Say 'Cheese'!

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Mango Mousse Cake

Raspberry and Gianduja Mousse

New York Cheesecake

There are two other people that I adore in Singapore and they are Stefan's Dad and Mom, Chee Nan and Mei Ho. They are like parents to me. This time around, Uncle Chee Nan was out of town but I managed to pay Aunty Mei a visit..

The girls, Aunty Mei and I at Aunty Mei's 'Heartroom Gallery' in Owen Road near Farrer Park MRT. Mei Ho is a Brilliant Folk Artist. She conducts folk art painting classes at the gallery and does pieces on commission. Proceeds from the sale of her work goes to the Church. She's an AMAZING lady and a great inspiration to me.

The girls showing off their gifts from Aunty Mei

Two days before I left Singapore, Miti returned from her trip to Hong Kong and we did what two best friends do. We hung out, went for a massage, and had meals together. We didn't get to visit 'Lodger' (Roger) my Reflexologist in China Town this time around though, which is unfortunate, but I will make a point of doing so on our next trip.

Miti and I

Miti and her wonderful doting husband, Eugene

We had dinner at the 'Soup Restaurant'. Unfortunately we only remembered to take photos of two of the dishes we had. This is their Signature Homemade Egg Tofu.

Stewed Pork Ribs

This concludes my report on my Singapore vacation. I hope you've enjoyed reading this post. Loading so many photos was a pain in the bum! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Kuala Lumpur 2008!

2008-05-14T00:10:00.086+08:00

View from the Tower View Room at Westin Hotel, Kuala Lumpur by Ahazan

Hello Bloggers! Did you miss me? Holidays are always Great but nothing beats the feeling of coming home to your very own abode! The sweet smell of Lemongrass and Ylang Ylang filled my nostrills as I entered our home, my shoulders relaxed as I gazed at the tranquility that I left behind some weeks back. It sure is Good to be home, to finally be in my own bed, to sprawl luxuriously on my lounge. I love to be in a state of 'awareness' like this because I can genuinely appreciate and be grateful for all that God has so lovingly provided for me. Sure, I thank God everyday for all this but so often this prayer is a mere 'template' I use. Feeling authentic about yourself is I really beautiful and humbling, my Friends!

I must really remind myself (and Ming) not to lug our laptops with us when we travel in future! (we would have more hands to carry more Valhrona Chocolate, Vanilla Beans and other baking-associated stuff!) Internet access for us was next to zero and I was so looking forward to keeping you updated. Either that or the speed was sooooooooooooooo SLOW! So, as I'm sure you've already guessed, we gave up after the first few days. I apologize for not answering your emails and not coming by your blogs to say 'thank you' for your comments. I hope this post (and the next/final installment) featuring 'snippets' of our Holiday and the photos will be a worthy peace offering.

Chloe and Paige at the 'Curve'

This Vacation like a lot of my other vacations are all about Food and Shopping, so you won't see many scenic photos at all. A heap of Happy moments captured is what I can promise you though. One of our first stops in Kuala Lumpur was the 'Curve', a trendy shopping district with yummy food haunts. One particular 'quirky' cafe we visited was 'The Apartment' - What drew us to it was that it looked like the inside of a cosy little apartment with a loft. We headed straight for a Day Bed in a corner, took our shoes off and huddled together like we often do at home. After a while, I realized we had become a 'spectacle'- everyone that passed by the cafe had stopped and looked in at us, some smiling, laughing and pointing and some even looked at us in amazement. We felt a little strange at first, like we were animals in a zoo. But being 'us', we just continued with what we were doing with our "who cares?" attitude.

Chloe, Paige and I posing for a shot on the comfy daybed at 'The Apartment'

Ming and the girls making themselves at home..

Having a bit of fun..

One of the best things that have come out of blogging for me are the nice people that I've had the pleasure of getting to know, and on this trip, I got to meet some of them for the first time - Jackson Kah of 'Living in Food Heaven', Sunny Yaw and Sidney Kan of 'Big Boys Oven and last but not least, Chong Kok Wai , of 'Young Patissier Journey' who is known by his very witty blog persona 'Bread Pitt'. We met at Jackson's cosy new establishment, 'Pick and Brew' at One Utama. Jackson's blog is a comprehensive journal of his food reviews, done locally as well as on his travels and is an invaluable source of reference for anyone who loves food. Sunny Yaw is the ever-creative half of the Big Boy's partnership, always coming up with Dreamy cakes and desserts while Sidney Kan is the editor and mastermind behind Big Boys Oven. Chong Kok Wai, with his boyish good looks on the other hand, is a Junior Patissier at a local Five Star Hotel. His passion and artistry reflects in his creations even at this tender age - I dare say his success in this industry is imminent.

Food Blogger's meet at 'Pick and Brew'..
From left; Sidney, me, Kok Wai, Sunny and Jackson

Some of the shots taken at 'Pick and Brew'..

Having a "getting to know you" cuppa together..

Miyako Japanese Restaurant at the Sheraton Subang

Oh, Did I mention that Sidney is a free lance food reviewer for Foodstreet? We were his guests at a Food Tasting /Review at the Miyako Japanese Restaurant at the Sheraton Subang. The evening was superb - we received such a warm greeting from Datin Jasmine Abdullah Heng, the General Manager of the Sheraton. We had a brief conversation but I will never forget those warm twinkling eyes of hers. Her staff were just as cordial. We had the privilege of the company of Bel Shem Wei, the Public Relations Executive and Farhana Tan, the Food and Beverage Coordinator all through the Food Tasting. The food was delicious and fresh-tasting and I would definitely recommend Miyako for a memorable meal. At the end of the evening, we had a chat to the Assistant Japanese Chef, Ronnie Wong who prepared our food.

Paraphernalia at the Multi-Award-Winning Miyako

Assorted Sashimi Platter

'Dobin Mushi' (small teapot soup)

Assorted Seafood and Vegetable Tempura

A Consomme of Chicken and Bean Curd with gingko nuts,oyster and enoki mushrooms

'Toriyaman-yaki'(Spicy barbequed chicken fillet)

Pan-seared Cod Cutlet with Green tea noodles in a Lemongrass broth

The 'Spread'..

Chloe and I, listening intently as Chef Ronnie Wong introduces the evening's dishes. Chef Ronnie is originally from Penang and has been in the Japanese Cuisine Industry for 22 years. He trained under Japanese Master Chef Tadashi Mayashi for 5 years.

Miyako Japanese Restaurant
Sheraton Subang Hotel and Towers
Jalan SS 12/1, 47500 Subang Jaya
Selangor Malaysia
www.sheraton.com/subang

Garra Rufa Fish Therapy

Have you ever heard about Fish Therapy? It's the newest 'thing' that's come to Kuala Lumpur. Sitting at a cafe one afternoon, I actually overheard some ladies talking about their experience, something about a spa where you put your feet in and little tiny fish nibble on them. Before I could tell Ming about what I heard, he hands me a brochure for Garra Rufa Fish Therapy! Being the curious people that we are, we decided to check it out. Ming was quite excited about the idea of fish nibbling on his feet, and I must say that he was the driving force for this family adventure. I must admit I wasn't very keen but went along just to be a good sport and to see what it was all about. Chloe needed a little coaxing but finally agreed. Paige on the other hand, well.. we practically had to drag her yelling and screaming!
The Garra Rufa species of fish, as I learned, originated from the Middle East over a century ago and was used as an alternative treatment for skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema and dermatitis. What happens is, the fish consumes dead areas of the skin whilst releasing healing enzymes, leaving healthy skin to grow. You don't have to have one of these skin conditions to experience this treatment, it's just a novel and fun way to pamper yourself while exfoliating dead skin at the same time.

The friendly staff at the Reception Area

Chloe and Paige cleaning their feet. They get you to do this before you immerse your feet into the warm pool

Ming looks like he's enjoying the experience. Can you see the Garra Rufa Fish? They're also known as 'Doctor Fish'

Here's a closer look. What do you think?

Chloe about to dip her feet. As you can see, this place has a pleasing and relaxing ambience

Paige - a little apprehensive

We paid for 30 minute sessions and 20 minutes down the track Paige is still deciding if she will dip her feet! Chloe doesn't look too impressed with her sister

Finally! It Looks like (both) the girls are having fun!

And we're ready to leave. It sure was a relaxing 30 minutes! You should definitely give it a go!

Garra Rufa Fish Therapy
No.4 Jalan Telawi,
Bangsar Baru,
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Telephone + 60 3 2287 5518
www.garrarufafishtherapy.com
Open Daily 10am-10pm

Earlier on this post I mentioned one of the best things that came out of blogging, well, here's another! - About a month before I went on this Holiday, I got an e-mail from a childhood friend of mine, Jackie Rajoo who I had not seen since the age of 16 and whom I had lost contact with! Isn't it AMAZING? Jackie was looking for a macaron recipe on the internet when she came across my blog and saw photos of me. So, we met up for dinner one evening and talked about old times.. It was really fun reminiscing and catching up on the last 20 years or so!

Purple Cane Tea Restaurant - This was the place where we had dinner with Jackie. All the dishes are prepared with tea in some way or other. How cool is that?

Eating and 'yakking' at the same time..

A photo taken inside the restaurant. Notice all the tea canisters in the little cubicles..

..and the teapots

Peking Duck Pancakes - Yummmmmm!

Peppered Beef

Ooooh... this is their Homemade tofu, I really enjoyed this!

Stirfried baby Kale

I can't do without this ever! Rice! The food here was light on the pallette, really refreshing and comforting too. I like the concept of using tea in the food..

Purple Cane Tea Restaurant
Lot LG 206, Lower Ground Floor,
The Gardens, Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur
tel: +603 2283 6090
www.purplecane.com.my

After Dinner we walked over to 'Alexis' to finish off the evening with coffee and cake..

The 'Alexis' menu..

Inside 'Alexis'

Ooooh.. I see the cakes!

Let me at 'em!!

An 'Ooogling' session. The cakes here are supplied by 'Suchan', a fairly-newcomer to the cake scene and who's causing quite a buzz..

The Girls - waiting patiently for their dessert..

Jackie and I

This is what we came here for - the Tiramisu! It's quite different from the classic Tiramisu, this one is loaded with almond praline chunks on top and is served with raspberry coulis. This is one of the best cakes I've tasted in a long,long time.

The Rich and moist chocolate cake was good too..

The 'White Forest'- This was delicious as well, white chocolate and blueberries

The 'Black and White'- Jackie seemed to think that this usually tasted better..

The Girls attacking the Chocolate Cake..

Alexis Kitchen + Bar
Lot f209 1st floor
The Gardens
Mid Valley City
Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
tel: +603 2287 2281
info@alaxis.com.my
www.alexis.com.my

One of our favorite cuisines is Korean and there's this area in Ampang that has a 'Little Korea' where all the Businesses be it Restaurants, Hair Salons, Supermarkets, Boutiques or Bakeries are owned and operated by Koreans. My Cousin Chelsea took us to Lunch at 'KangSane Restaurant' the last trip we were in KL (January 2007) - the food was so good we decided to go there again this trip. Chelsea has been such a gem to us, taking time out to drive us around especially when Ming is not familiar with the area that we want to go to.

In Kangsane Korean Restaurant - Paige, Chloe and my cousin Chelsea

Look at all this! and these are only the side dishes!

My all-time favorite - Spicy Seafood and Bean Curd Soup

I'm sure these cockles were tasty but I stay away from these fellas these days after a food poisoning episode I'll never forget..

Another favorite of mine - Chili Pork

KangSane Restaurant
C5-1 Jalan Ampang Utama 1/1
One Ampang Avenue
68000 Ampang
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel:(03)42512598

Another Restaurant that Chelsea took us to was a Tim Sum place called the 'Oriental Pavilion' . This is a very popular place for Tim Sum but I reckon the Tim Sum we had the last trip at 'Luk Yue Teahouse' in Starhill Gallery was by far tastier and more refined.

The facade of the Oriental Pavilion

Steamed Bean Curd Pork rolls

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken and Barbecued Pork

Prawn Dumplings

Pork and Prawn Dumplings

Barbecued Pork Buns

Chinese Egg Tarts

Fried Taro Puffs

Pork and Century Egg Congee

Braised Pig intestines - Ming's favorite! (eew)

Fried Seafood in Bean Curd skin

Fried Radish Cakes

My Mob

Oriental Pavilion
Lot P104, 1st Floor,
Jaya 33,
No.3, Jalan Semangat,
Section 13
46100 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
tel:03-79569288
www.orientalrestaurants.com.my

We spent a lot of time window-shopping during the course of this trip, my favorite places being the Mid-Valley Mall and Bangsar Village. In the last few years, flea markets have become popular in KL too, but since they're only open on weekends, we only managed to visit two, the one at the 'Curve' and the one at 'Mont Kiara'.

Chloe and Paige at Bangsar Village

The girls and I at Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC)

Outside a pretty Homewares Store

Chloe and I roaming the flea market at Mont Kiara

Paige at Mont Kiara Flea Market

Before I leave this post I just want to say how happy I was to have the opportunity to meet my fellow food bloggers and am so grateful for their Hospitality - I had the pleasure of being a guest at The Big Boys Oven' 'De Rouleau Demonstration Class'. Sunny Yaw is an excellent Baking Instuctor and being present in his class gave me an insight of how I might run my own classes in the near future. I'm also thankful to Kok Wai for taking my family and I Pastry shop 'hunting' on his day off. Thanks also go out to Jade of 'Smorgasbord of Delights who gave me an award when I was on Holiday.

The Lovely Tea Time Treats prepared by Sunny Yaw for his De Rouleau Class

The award presented to me by Jade of 'Smorgasbord of Delights'

I hope you've enjoyed this post, next up: Singapore 2008! See you soon!

UPDATE 19 MAY

Dear Readers,

This Blog almost vanished into cyberspace while I was experimenting with new templates two days ago! Fortunately, my archives are still intact, but I had lost everything else that was previously on my sidebar,eg. my important links, award badges, BabelFish translator etc. Please be patient with me while I try to get everything back the way it used to be. So, bloggers, I've learned a very important lesson from this, and that is to BACK UP my blog!! Looks like I'll be a very busy girl! Thanks for your support.. Carol

Hazelnut Espresso Babycakes

2008-04-06T20:12:00.017+08:00

Before we get on to anything else, Please congratulate Nags of "For the Cook in me" for her brilliant winning photo in Jess Dang's Food Porn Contest! Nag's photo of Curd Rice with Pomegranates served with chow chow sambhar is truly a sight for sore eyes as is her Beautiful Blog. So, for Gorgeous Southern Indian Food Recipes, don't forget Nags!

I've been craving a Coffee cake of some sort for the longest time and last week, out of pure desperation, I bought a Coffee Sponge roll from a local bakery in Northbridge. Unfortunately it just tasted really artificial and left me feeling very very dissatisfied. You see, I've been really busy getting things done and tying up loose ends before we go on Vacation in three days. Can I slip in a 'Yay'? YAYYYYYYYYYYY!! So with my craving not satiated, I've been feeling a wee bit irritated to say the least.

You can imagine my excitement though, when I saw a recipe for 'Coffee Teacake' in the April issue of Delicious - I rushed home, put away the food shopping, sat myself comfortably on my lounge, put my legs up and started flipping the pages to where the recipe was. As I read through the ingredients list, I felt my excitement deflating. It was a boring recipe. You can actually tell it's a boring recipe when they say " Chocolate, coffee or vanilla ice cream to serve" at the end of the Ingredient's list. The word 'Teacake' is a bit of a giveaway too.

But I had to have a Smashing Coffee Cake that day. So I brought out my pen and note book and started to make some changes and additions to the recipe. Very soon it looked like a totally different recipe, but I was happy with the ingredients - Espresso coffee, Hazelnuts, Frangelico (Hazelnut Liqueur) and Nutella - they all totally complimented each other. And the cupcakes turned out extremely well, fragrant and full of flavor with a tender crumb. I couldn't be happier with the result.

For first time readers of my blog, don't be alarmed that I used Salted Butter in my Cake, I use it in ALL my cakes. I find it renders a richer, more flavorsome cake. I use Sponge Cake Flour regularly too when a recipe calls for Self Raising Flour, and even sometimes when ordinary cake flour is used. I like my cakes soft and fluffy. For this icing recipe, use any Coffee Liqueur if Frangelico is unavailable.

Hazelnut Espresso Babycakes
Makes approximately 12 Cupcakes or one 22 cm round cake that will serve 8

170 g Salted Butter, softened
150 g Caster Sugar
3 eggs
120 g Sponge Cake Self Raising Flour
50 g Ground Hazelnuts
1 shot/ 10 tsp strong espresso coffee
Coffee Beans for decorating

Frangelico Icing

90 g Unsalted Butter, softened
90 g Cream Cheese, softened
75 g Icing Sugar
1 1/2 tbsp nutella
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp Frangelico

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius or 160 degrees celsius if you have a fan forced oven. Line a muffin pan with cupcake paper or if you are making a whole cake, grease and line the base and sides of a 22 cm round springform cake pan with baking paper.

Now, here comes the crucial bit of this recipe - you have to dry roast the Ground Hazelnuts in a shallow pan over low heat. This will ensure an amazing tasting cake. Keep moving the ground hazelnuts around in the pan with a spatula until fragrant. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the hazelnuts into a small bowl to cool. Sift the sponge flour then add the ground hazelnuts to it, mixing to combine. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and pale.

Add the eggs, one at a time, adding 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture after each addition, and beating well. Fold in the remaining flour, then the coffee. Spoon the mixture 1/2 full into the cupcake cases or into the prepared pan. The baking time for the cupcakes is approximately 15 minutes. Bake a whole cake for about 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. For cupcakes , remove from the muffin pan after 10 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, put all the ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Spread or pipe the icing as you desire. Enjoy!

OK Bloggers! Next destination for this blog is Kuala Lumpur and Singapore - You Comin'? Over and Out.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

2008-03-25T00:34:00.014+09:00

Early last week, I received an email from Jess Dang, a foodblogger from the United States, whom I had never 'met' inviting me to join in her blog event known as 'The Petite Pig's Food Porn Contest' for a chance to win $200. I clicked on the link that was on her email and was transported to her gallery of photo entries. There were less than 10 entries then. I submitted a photo of my Coconut and White Chocolate Ganache Baby Mud Cakes from my previous post. Two days later, I was on The Petite Pig again, checking out the latest entry submissions. I realised that a couple of foodbloggers had submitted more than one entry. So I wrote an email to Jess, asking her how many entries each blogger was allowed. Very promptly Jess replied saying that we could enter as many photos as we liked.

"Well in that case.." I thought, I might as well enter in a couple more photos. It was fun watching my photos loading onto the gallery. My fingers started clicking and typing and before I knew it, my photos had taken up almost a whole page in her gallery! Oh no, where's the delete option? This was bad. It really amazes me sometimes how slow my brain works. I was monopolising Jess' competition and putting the other contestants at a disadvantage.

Realising that I could not remove my photos, I, very sheepishly wrote to Jess again, apologising for the matter and asking if she could remove all my photos except for the first one I submitted two days before. I mentioned as well that I would like to withdraw from the contest to be fair to the other contestants. I was just happy to be able to show my work on her blog. Jess wrote back saying that it was ok and that she preferred more entries than not, and left it at that. So, fellow foodbloggers, I extend my sincere apologies to you all that entered this contest. And for all of you who are reading this now, please go to The Petite Pig and vote for some other foodblogger.

Pheww! I'm so glad I got that out of the way. Next topic. What did you get up to this Easter? We had a lovely, lovely longggggg weekend spent relaxing and catching up with good friends. And of course we were at Church on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. These Double Chocolate Cupcakes were Sunday's beautiful finish to our Dinner. I made some specially decorated for the kids as well, as you will see as you scroll down the page. If you prefer, you could add the zest of two oranges to the cake recipe and a splash of Grand Marnier to the Chocolate fudge Icing for a decadent Grown-up treat.

We have a little over two weeks before we go away for our vacation, YAY!! It will be another exciting time for me, meeting some of you face to face for the very first time and of course eating my favorite foods! I invite you to come along on this trip with me through this blog as I shall be updating you regularly. But till then, take care, won't you?

Double Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from Donna Hay's Simple Essentials - Chocolate
Makes 12

125 g salted butter, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup Self Raising Flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
100g good quality dark chocolate, melted
1 quantity chocolate fudge icing

Chocolate Fudge Icing

Place 250 g dark couverture chocolate, 1/2 cup single or pouring cream and 70 g salted butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove and set aside to cool completely then beat with electric beaters until thick and fluffy.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well in between. Sift over the flour, baking powder and cocoa and beat until combined. Fold through the milk and chocolate and spoon the mixture into 12 x 1/2 cup capacity muffin tins lined with paper patty cases. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on wire racks. Spread or pipe the chocolate fudge icing over the cupcakes .

Coconut & White Chocolate Baby Mud Cakes

2008-03-12T00:53:00.013+09:00

How's everyone's last two weeks been? Good? I'm sorry to report that I've been feeling rather LAZY these two weeks. I did nothing much at all. I did not do any blogging. Neither did I bake anything besides this. Did I have LOTS of things waiting for me to do? Yes. But did I feel like doing them? No. Unfortunately, this is how we feel sometimes and we just want to escape. For me, it was an escape into fictional lives in the form of Korean Drama. I take it like I'm in 'maintenance' mode - I make sure my tear ducts are in good working order... ok, ok, sad excuse I know, but that was how my two weeks was. And do you know what's scary? For the last two weeks, my Pastor's message was on a series called " Do not waste your Life". Guilty as charged, Pastor D, but knowing how full of hope you are in mankind and in me, I will say that I have not made a permanent mistake.

I just remembered I did something else in the last two weeks. I auditioned for the worship team in Church. How did it go? Well, the week leading up to the audition, I felt ok, not nervous or anything even though my girls kept asking me whether I was. I know now why I wasn't - I wasn't Me that week, I was the Korean Drama Heroine! But I was Myself again as soon as I stepped on that stage on the evening of the audition. What can I say? I forgot the words to the songs, I had to look at the lyrics. My mouth went all dry, my tongue was numb and I couldn't hear my own voice so I couldn't control it. I really felt BAD for the musicians and the worship team who were looking on encouragingly yet sympathetically. AMAZINGLY enough, I was accepted into the worship team, though it will be 3-6 months before I'm comfortable to be rostered for Sunday Worship. A word of advice for all of you out there who believe you have talent, 'Use it or you will lose it!'

On a more positive note, Ming gave his first lesson on 'Women's Self Defense' yesterday. It was a fun and informative class and the girls and I really enjoyed it. Ming was assisted by his two trusty 'Organic' punching bags, Christian and Rudy. The ten week course serves to raise female awareness of how we can use our bodies as 'weapons' should we find ourselves in situations where our lives are in danger. In the following weeks, we will explore Blocking and Counter attacks, Escape techniques, 'Weapons' around you and how to use them, the Krav Maga technique etc. The course is free and held in THEROCKS Church on Mondays at 7 pm. If you live in the Perth metropolitan area and are interested in attending these classes, email ming@wekyso.com.au . This is the best thing we can do for ourselves, Ladies, the worst , on the other hand is having the mentality that 'it will not happen to me'.

Today's recipe is a really easy one, almost as easy as if it came out of a box, and don't we like recipes like these? This recipe is adapted from Haalo's Beautiful Blog 'Cook Almost Anything'. The Original recipe is from a cookbook called 'AWW's Cakes, Biscuits and Slices'. Now, here's my take on the recipe: As a standard, I've used Salted butter. I've also reduced the sugar content, quite heftily I might add, from the original recipe that required a whopping 330 g! I personally do not enjoy 'sickeningly sweet' desserts, and frankly who needs that much sugar?

Coconut and White Chocolate Baby Mud Cakes
Makes 15 cupcakes or 1x 22 cm / 9 inch cake

250 g salted butter
1 lemon, use rind only, grated finely
180 g white Chocolate, chopped
200 g caster sugar
180 ml milk
225 g plain flour
75 g self raising flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Coconut White Chocolate Ganache

140 ml coconut cream
360 g white chocolate, chopped

Moist flaked coconut, (not dessiccated, please) to decorate

Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Line muffin tray/s with cupcake papers, or if making a whole cake, line and grease a 22 cm / 9 inch cake pan, preferably springform. Put the butter, lemon zest, chocolate, sugar and milk into a medium sized saucepan over low heat and stir till the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
Sift the flours together into a bowl and stir in the cooled chocolate mixture followed by the lightly beaten eggs and mix till combined and smooth.

Pour this into the prepared pan or if you are making cupcakes, fill the cupcake papers to 3/4s full. A whole cake will take, and I quote," 1 hour and 40 minutes" in the oven, though I personally feel that this will dry out and brown the cake too much. So, my advice is if you are baking a whole cake, lower the oven temperature to 160 degrees celsius, put a timer on for an hour and by the end of that time if the cake isn't cooked and looks like it's browning too much, cover the pan with some foil and check again every 5-10 minutes to see if it's cooked through. If you are making cupcakes, they will cook in 25-30 minutes at 170 degrees celsius.

Now, for the Ganache, place the coconut cream and chocolate into a saucepan over low heat and just stir till the chocolate dissolves and the mixture is smooth. Pour this into a bowl and into the fridge ( if you don't mind waiting till the cows come home..) or freezer (YES!) if you are impatient like me, stirring occasionally as it cools and removing as soon as it becomes a spreadable consistency. Spread the ganache evenly over the cooled cake/ cupcakes before applying a generous coat of coconut.
Enjoy the rest of your week!

My Pear and Frangipane Tart

2008-02-26T01:28:00.008+09:00

Let's talk about that 'voice' in our heads. Have you noticed that it never shuts up? I'm talking about that voice that told you that your Date hasn't called because he's avoiding you. He's avoiding you because you're not 'his type'. You are not 'his type' because you are a little on the heavy side. And you shouldn't have had dessert - it made you look like a glutton after that rich T-bone with the fried shallot and peppercorn cream sauce. Maybe you should have had a salad instead. And no dessert. That dress sure didn't help - it's just not you. He was friendlier the first time you met and you were wearing that comfy old pair of jeans with the lime green top. That dress just made you look like a 'try-hard'. It also made your calves look chunky. Oh, and that T-bone! $46! What were you thinking? This was your first date and you whacked him with an expensive main course! Why would he call you? He thinks you're a Gold Digger. You should have split the bill. And what was that comment you made about him moving back home? You made him sound like a 'Mommy's Boy'. Great Job ! You sure did yourself in! Why on earth would you..

That voice in your head SHOULD SHUT UP ALREADY! Aren't you miserable enough? How many times have we allowed that 'voice' in our heads to ruin our day? Our week? Shape us into who we are today even? We spend most our lives interpreting other's words and actions or the lack of words and action thereof towards us. We let the 'voice' in our heads govern how we feel, decide the course of action for each and every circumstance in our lives. Why is this so? It's because we are afraid. We are afraid of 'looking bad'. We are worried about what others MIGHT think of us. I used the word 'might' because we are not a 100% sure whether what we think others are thinking of us are accurate. It's all Guess work if you will. Still, we have allowed this Guess work to dictate our lives. We quit our jobs because of it. We are estranged from our parents for 20 years because of it. We end our marriages because of it. Bad experiences in our lives are very often designed by ourselves through what we PERCEIVE to be true. Those bad experiences in turn CONSTRAINTS us from actually LIVING our lives. We become 'by standers' in our own lives toying with the possibilities of 'what if's', 'should have's', 'could have's'..

Ming and I attended a Seminar over the weekend. No. Correction - I attended the first day and gave up, while Ming finished the 3 day course. I'm not here to make excuses for myself. I will say however that I am glad that Ming completed the course and was able to share with me what I had missed. The Seminar was an 'enquiry' of what it is that is stopping us from achieving what we want in life. What is it that is holding us back. This Seminar's (that I will not name) methodology is the believe that once we recognize the constraints in our lives and deal with them, we free ourselves to embrace our dreams.

On the second day of the seminar, Ming came home, cupped my face with his hands, looked me in the eyes and said;

"Do you know that I Love you?
Do you know that I don't care what the whole world thinks of me, but I care what you think of me?
I'm sorry for all the times that I misinterpreted what you said to me and we fought because of it. I know that you Love me and that everything that you've ever said to me was said out of love,concern and at times to protect me. From now on, I will take in everything that you say as an opinion without being defensive. Ok?"

All the time Ming was talking, I just kept nodding, my eyes wide in disbelieve. I didn't want to say anything and ruin the moment. He could have been SO LUCKY that night but we stayed up and talked about the seminar and how in our own relationship, we have been self-inflicted victims of the 'voice' in our heads. So many times in my own life, I have put aside my dreams because of FEAR. Fear of people judging me, fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of looking bad. Today, I present my Frangipane Tart to you, braving judgement, rejection and the possibility of looking bad. Why? just as an exercise I guess, because I wasn't going to feature it in the first place. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious, but I didn't like the photos. I guess amongst other things, I'm trying to learn to cut myself some slack too.

Pear and Frangipane Tart
Serves 6-8
Takes 50 minutes to make and 1 hour 15-20 minutes to bake, plus chilling and cooling

For the pastry
225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
110g butter
110g caster sugar
3 medium egg yolks, lightly beaten

For the frangipane
125g butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g ground almonds
1 tbsp plain flour

For the poached pears
250g caster sugar, plus 2 tsp extra
4 good-sized pears
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
3 cloves
1/2 lemon
2-3 strips thickly pared orange zest
1/2 vanilla pod

1. Make the pastry. Tip the flour onto a work surface. Cut the butter into cubes and dot over the flour. Sprinkle with the caster sugar. Using your fingertips, rub the butter, flour and sugar together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre, add the egg yolks and, using your fingers, gradually draw in the flour. Knead lightly, until it comes together in a smooth ball – you might need to add 1 teaspoon cold water if the dough is very crumbly. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes. You will need a 23 x 2.5cm round, deep, fluted, loose-bottomed flan tin for this tart.

2. Make the frangipane filling. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time, then fold in the ground almonds and flour. Mix well and chill until needed.

3. Make the poached pears. Put the sugar in a saucepan, pour in 500ml water and place over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Peel the pears and add to the pan, along with the cinnamon and cloves. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the pan and add the squeezed lemon and orange zest. Split the vanilla pod in half, scrape out the seeds and add to the pan with the pod. Add some more water to just cover the pears.

4. Cut out a circle of baking paper large enough to fit inside the pan, and lay on top of the pears. Weigh down with a saucer or small saucepan lid so that the pears stay submerged in the poaching liquor. Simmer for 20 minutes, then remove the pears to a plate with a slotted spoon and discard the liquor and solids. Set aside for 15 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.

5. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry to a circle large enough to line the tart tin. Don’t worry if it breaks up, as this is a very short, crumbly pastry – you can just patch it together in the tin and mould it up the sides, making sure it is even all over. Trim off any excess pastry and spread the frangipane evenly on top.

6. Cut the pears in half lengthways and, using a teaspoon, scoop out and discard the core from the centre. Cut each pear half in slices, widthways, then lift onto your knife and push down on the pears slightly to fan them out. Lift into the pastry case and arrange in a circle. Fill in the gaps between each pear half with a few more slices and arrange some in the centre. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is golden and the filling is set. Sprinkle with the extra 2 teaspoons caster sugar and bake in the oven for a further 15 minutes to finish off the browning. Cool in the tin slightly, then remove and transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of crème fraîche.

On another note, I'm submitting my Little Lemon Meringue cakes as an entry into Jugalbandi's February 08 Click event entitled 'Flour'. Thanks Jai and Bee, you rock!

I leave you with an insight into the fate of this tortured soul..

You can't call her, not after looking like an idiot, a cheap idiot too! How could you have exceeded your credit limit? What could be more embarrassing on a first date? What a dork! She must think you're broke too, moving back home! Too late now to wonder what could have been.

Little Yoghurt and Orange Blossom Hearts for my Valentine!

2008-02-13T22:00:00.010+09:00

"How much do I love thee? Let me count the ways.." Have you ever heard this one before? or how about this one, " Love is... Never having to say you're sorry". Whoever wrote this crap probably never ever had a relationship. Our wedding theme song was 'Never gonna let you down' (yeah, how naive were we?), just in case you've never heard it before, here's some of the lyrics..

Forever, I will love you
Forever, I will be true
Forever, I'll always be right here by your side
and every morning I'll be there when you open your eyes

Never gonna let you down
I'll always be around
I'll be there for you
because I love you
Ohhh...
(Never no never will let you down)

Have you had enough? Since that song was sung at our wedding almost 15 years ago, there's been countless times that Ming and I had let each other down and there were times we wondered if we did love each each other. What IS Love exactly?
Is it that warm fluttering feeling one feels in the stomach ? Nope. That sounds more like an early warning for food poisoning.

I don't know how Valentine's Day came to be a day of celebration for lovers and frankly, I'm not interested. Just hearing last Sunday's sermon on 'LOVE' and the staggering statistics of the divorce rate in the U.S. tells me that WE ARE ALL VERY DISILLUSIONED ABOUT WHAT LOVE IS. Marriage vows are spoken mindlessly and Pre-nuptual agreements are on the rise. Couples who go into marriage with pre-nupts are really setting themselves up for a Marriage break up, because a pre-nuptual agreement spells DISTRUST.

I have come to understand that we are all here for the one purpose of learning to Love. Sadly, some of us will never grasp the true meaning of 'LOVE'. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 of the Holy Bible ( New Living Translation) states;

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand it's own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

I have a lot to learn. How about you? I guess, when we can change the sentence from "I love so and so because of..." to " I love so and so in spite of... we are on the right track. As for Ming and myself, we are soldiering on, I hope that you will too. With that thought in mind, I made some Little Yoghurt and Orange Blossom Heart Cakes for my Darling Valentine, Ming Chong. I'm also submitting these little Love Hearts to Zorra's 'A Heart for your Valentine' event. Thanks, Zorra, you are a true romantic!

Little Yoghurt and Orange Blossom Cakes
(Adapted from Gourmet Traveller Annual Cookbook 2007)
Makes 6 Love Hearts

300 g (2 cups) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
300 g vanilla yoghurt
60 ml (1/4 cup) buttermilk
200 g salted butter, softened
220 g (1 cup) white sugar
2 tsp ( rind from a whole medium sized navel orange)
4 eggs
100 g vanilla Persian Fairy Floss

Orange Blossom Icing

50 g butter
250 g pure icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp orange blossom water
1 tbsp vanilla yoghurt

Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius, fan forced. Grease and line the bottoms of two sponge pans, allowing some baking paper to hang over the two sides of each pan for easy removal of the cake. ( sorry, I don't have the measurements). Sift flour and baking powder and set aside. Whisk yoghurt and buttermilk together in a bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and orange rind until pale and creamy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly between each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add one-third of the flour and mix to combine, then add one-third of the yoghurt mixture and mix to combine. Repeat with remaining mixtures, alternating, until incorporated. Mix till the batter is smooth, then pour into the lined sponge pans, tapping the base to level the batter. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted draws clean. Cool completely in pans on a wire rack, then loosen the edges of the cakes with a spatula and then lift them out of the pans by holding on to the 'hanging bits' of baking paper.

Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many hearts as you can. Keep the heart shaped cakes in an air tight container until ready to fill.

For the Orange Blossom Icing, beat all the ingredients in an electric mixer for 1 minute or until smooth. Add more yoghurt if necessary to adjust the consistency of the icing. Spread some icing on one heart shaped piece of cake and top that with another heart shaped piece of cake. Spread icing on the second piece of cake as well and top with a final piece of cake. Spread some icing on the surface of the cake and top with some Persian Fairy Floss just before serving. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse and a cure for a hot day!

2008-01-30T15:35:00.000+09:00

I had my first taste of Mousse when I was about 16 - Man, it was yucky. It was a strawberry mousse and the airy texture looked very much like the hair sculpturing mousse that I used at the time - think Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran hairstyles, we all needed mousse for our high tide fringes - you teenagers in the 80s will know exactly what I'm on about. That strawberry whatever really put me off mousse for many years. It was not until I had a Chocolate mousse torte at a french patisserie here some uh-mmm 20 years later that I discovered that the REAL THING had a BODY to it. It didn't feel like FOAM in my mouth. In fact, it felt silky and tasted really good.

I found myself fancying Chocolate mousse more and more, so much so that last Christmas saw me featuring a Gianduja Mousse Torte for dessert. I LOVE Chocolate pots too, but in this scorching heat, you want something lighter on your taste buds. There's a bonus too, it's sooooooo easy to prepare. I bet Paige could make it all by herself with her eyes closed.

Easy Peasy Chocolate Mousse
Makes approximately 6 espresso sized cups

70g good quality dark chocolate
1 tsp granulated gelatine
2 tbsp hot water
1 egg at room temperature
1 egg yolk at room temperature
150 ml thickened cream

Melt the chocolate and set aside. Place the gelatine in a bowl and dissolve with hot water, stirring continuously. Strain the gelatine to make sure you get rid of any lumps. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and the egg yolk until light and fluffy, then stir in the melted chocolate. Very quickly, mix in the gelatine.

In another bowl, whip the cream until just thickened and then fold into the chocolate mixture. Fill your cups or moulds with the mousse, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Another yummy treat we've been making a lot here are Ribena Icypoles. Yes, I know all about that dirty Ribena scandal - there are probably NO vitamins whatsoever in the syrup, but I didn't LOVE Ribena for the loads of Vitamic C that was supposedly in them. Carol Rode LOVES UNCONDITIONALLY. Enough said.

Icypoles are so quick and easy to make, and the children look forward to having them, especially if they've made it themselves. I know its more convenient to just buy a pack of ready made icypoles but there are so many nasties (additives) in these products. I made sure (in fact, I have a Ribena bottle in front of me) that Ribena has no artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners in it, but if someone proves that is not the case, I shall have to re-evaluate the unconditional love thing.

So, go get the kids an Icypole mold, mom, it does'nt matter what syrup you choose, it's gonna be healthier than the stuff you get from the supermarket freezer. Oh, if anyone wants the recipe for the Icypoles, please e-mail me, I would love to 'chat' with you, and then I'll get paige to tell you how to make the Icypoles.

Last weekend (26th January) was Australia Day! We had an awesome time at our friend's home having dinner and watching the spectacular skyworks. I put a pavlova together for dessert and had Ming record the whole thing hoping to post it on youtube and on my blog. I need to edit the recording but have no idea whatsoever on how to go about it. So, if anyone of you out there can educate me, I'd be very grateful.

Have a great week, EVERYBODY!

The Best Buttermilk Waffles and my Rock Chic!

2008-01-21T18:33:00.000+09:00

Every once in a while in the Rode-Chong household, we have ‘family-initiative’ cook-offs – what this means is, every family member gets involved in the food prep and the cooking itself. We have had ‘Sushi evenings’, ‘Popiah afternoons’ and last Saturday, we decided to make waffles for breakfast together. We got up bright and early and still in our PJs, we scurried downstairs into the kitchen. Unfortunately, the photos that follow only show Paige and I in action, as we look better in the morning compared to Ming, and Chloe insisted on being photographed only if she’s washed and dressed. Hhumppph! Teens!

The waffle making process.. separating the eggs, buttermilk makes the waffles sooooo flavorsome! Paige was really getting into it!

Whisking the egg whites... adding cornflour into the waffle batter makes it crisp on the outside and soft on the inside! That's me on the right. What? were you hoping to see me with sleep lines all over my face??!

1. The naked waffle...

2. with the delicious dollop...

3. Ta.......Da! Sink your teeth into this! ...a drizzle of maple syrup and a dusting of powdered sugar to finish off...

Here is the recipe for the Buttermilk Waffles we made;

2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup corn flour
2 cups buttermilk
8 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Lightly whisk the dry ingredients together. Add the egg yolks to the buttermilk and blend well. Add the dry ingredients into the buttermilk mixture, then the melted butter and beat with a few quick strokes, then fold in the beaten eggwhites.
Heat up the waffle iron and bake the waffles according to the manufacturer’s instructions till golden. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and maple syrup.

Earlier in the month, we celebrated Chloe’s 14th Birthday – she had wanted a guitar for a while now, so we granted her wish. She sure looks good with the guitar draped over her shoulders. I wish I were more like her when I was 14, beautiful and confident. I have to admit, I’m living vicariously through my daughters!

The only problem is, we really need to get her some lessons soon. We’ve been watching ‘Friends’ re-runs lately, and hearing Phoebe belt out …
“Smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you?!
Smelly cat, smelly cat, it’s not your fau…lt…!”
… So guess what Chloe’s been singing?? Go figure...

Boy, was she strummin' ma pain! Ouch! classes soon for sure!

Lemon Polenta Cranberry Cookies and my first DMBLGIT win!

2008-01-14T20:27:00.000+09:00

In my previous post, I mentioned that Paige and I baked a batch of Lemon Polenta Cookies after Christmas – some of you who know us would have had little puzzled expressions on your faces. “ Paige??” no, don’t you mean ‘Chloe’??” you might think aloud. Nope. It was Paige. These days Chloe bakes all on her own and might I add, very confidently too. Paige on the other hand becomes an eager assistant if we’re making something she loves.

...And she definitely LOVES this!!

I saw this recipe on JenJen's fabulous blog last year I think it was, I tried it, had first time success and fell in love with the cookie ever since. The only difference to the recipe was that JenJen used raisins (or was it sultanas?) (Both) of which I’m not a big fan. I prefer cranberries, but you can substitute them with a dried fruit of your choice. The most gorgeous thing about this cookie is the incredible texture that the polenta imparts. The grainy texture will leave your taste buds very happy and if you think you have the will power to stop at one cookie, you are kidding yourself. I love to watch Paige eat something she totally loves – it’s as if that cute little mole on the side of her mouth is dancing!

I have lots to show and tell today so I’ll get on with the recipe, shall I?

Lemon Polenta Cranberry Cookies
Makes: Approximately 56 Yummylicious Cookies

220 g salted butter, softened
1-cup caster sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
½ tsp salt
4 large egg yolks
1 cup Polenta
2 ½ cups plain all purpose flour
1-cup cranberries

Add softened butter to sugar in a mixer and whizz until just combined. Add zest, yolks and salt, whizz again just for about 5-6 seconds. Then add the flour, polenta and cranberries. Whizz again until it all comes together, but only just. Make sure you do not over beat the cookie dough! Knead the dough into 2 balls, then using some cling wrap, cover and shape the balls into 2 cylinders, then using a rolling motion to smooth and neaten the cylinders. I find it helps to wrap the cylinders with 3-4 folds of the cling wrap. Chill in the freezer for about 45 minutes before slicing and baking in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees Celsius. The cookies only need 2cms apart on the baking sheets.
Tip: resist the temptation of adding more than the recommended amount of cranberries, as this would undermine the quality of the texture.

Two days ago when I was having my dinner in front of the TV, I accidentally spilled some water onto the glass table while adjusting its position. (You know the type of side table with castors that are sometimes used as Cocktail servers – I just love them, they are so retro! And so versatile too!) I didn’t worry about it too much and continued to enjoy my dinner and my current Korean soap. Then with an excited tone of voice, Paige said, “Mom! There’s a heart-shaped puddle of water on your table!” And sure enough, there it was, a naturally formed heart-shape water puddle! It’s just one of those wonderfully peculiar unexplainable things. All at once the other family members were crowding around my dinner and my pretty water puddle. “Don’t move Lou Poh!” (Meaning ‘wife’ in Cantonese) In a flash, Ming had the camera in his hands, my dinner was removed by the camera crew, i.e. Chloe and Paige, my soap was put on ‘pause’ and I was instructed not to breathe.

Ming started ‘clicking’ left, right and centre. Isn’t it beautiful? What do you think? Incidentally, this month’s ‘click’ (a monthly themed photo competition hosted by Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi) theme is ‘Liquid Comfort’. I don’t know if this water puddle will qualify as an entry, but I’m going to submit it anyway and let the Judges decide.

Next but not least in today’s order of news.. (Drum roll…..) I’m very happy and honoured to announce that I’m the Third Overall Winner (in all three categories, Edibility, Aesthetics and Originality) in the December 2007 DMBLGIT (Does my blog look good in this) Photo Competition hosted by Dayna of Food and Photography. Thank you Dayna, Andrew of Spittoon Extra the Organiser of this wonderful event and the Judges, namely
Bea of La Tartine Gourmande
JenJen of I love milk and cookies
Lara of Cook and Eat
Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything
Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen
Congratulations to all the other winners!

Third Overall Winner in three Categories: Edibility, Aesthetics and Originality

This is indeed a very special event for me as it’s my first win in the DMBLGIT Competition – I see it as my 1st Blog Birthday Present.

Gianduja Mousse Torte & Christmas 2007

2008-01-06T20:28:00.000+09:00

Happy 2008 everyone! I hope you spent Christmas and the New Year with loved ones and good friends as I did! I also managed some well-deserved rest after all that cooking and baking leading up to Christmas, so that was good too. I left the meals to Chloe and Ming to organise; it’s really nice to have others think about what to serve up for a change. That’s not to say that I took a break from leisurely baking or dessert making, on the contrary, I had a couple of ‘young-er’ girlfriends of mine over the other day and we whipped up a mean Frangelico Tiramisu, Paige and I baked some Lemon Polenta Cranberry cookies that were ‘to die for’ – not literally, thank goodness! Chloe and I baked a Chocolate and Potato cake – definitely her favourite ingredients in the whole wide world, and I made a Chocoholic’s Ultimate Chocolate Mars Bars Cake for Chloe’s 14th Birthday on the 3rd of January.

Christmas Day was easy, I decided that we would do a ‘pot-luck’ and everybody made a dish or two so I didn’t have to slave over a hot kitchen, the weather wasn’t too bad though, 34 degrees Celsius, rather mild compared to Boxing Day, a whopping 44.2 degrees Celsius! We didn’t have the traditional Christmas Turkey and the works –too heavy, I thought, so I made ‘Babi Chin’- a braised pork belly in shallots, garlic and aromatic coriander served with steamed Chinese Buns and some gourmet lettuce and as a second dish, ‘Popiah’ – a Malaysian-Singaporean hawker favourite of stir fried turnip with dried shrimp wrapped in spring roll skins with lettuce, prawns, chopped omelette, Chinese sausage, crushed peanuts and fried shallots, a little dark sweet soy caramel and a prawn paste chilli jam.

You must be wondering why I have not mentioned this dessert that you’re looking at. I’ve decided to call it ‘Gianduja Mousse Torte’- it’s the Christmas Day dessert that I painstakingly made for my family and friends. This dessert that took me two days to create (because of the lack of expertise (hey, this is my first time experimenting with, attempting and putting this dessert together!) and only 8 dessert rings!) is the reason why I’ve not written a post about it up until now. THE VERY THOUGHT OF WRITING OUT THE RECIPE for the Gianduja (pronounced ‘zhan-du-ya’ meaning hazelnut paste. The commercial product ‘nutella’ is what it is) mousse, then the Jaconde layer (a thin, pliable almond sponge), followed by the chocolate caramel truffle layer, not mentioning the dark chocolate mousse and hazelnut wheat biscuit layers IS ENOUGH TO SEND ME OFF ON A HOLIDAY. So, I hope you will be happy with the photos.

And on Christmas Day...

The Dramatic sistas Chloe and Paige happily posing...

...and doing the sisterly thing...

...While Ming captures a candid shot of me preparing the buffet table...

Gift Opening!

... and some of us are hmmmmm.. very enthusiastic! HA!HA!

Some of the Chrissy Food!

The 'Popiah' DIY station...

Kim and Kenny at the Buffet spread...

It's Dessert time! My Gianduja Mousse Torte..

A Lovely Gingerbread House made by Tania of "LittleCheffo". To view the complete set of the Gingerbread House photos, head on to Tania's Blog!

I have something to share with you all. 2008 is a special year for me, as I will be embarking on Teaching Cooking and Baking classes. It’s all very exciting for me and I will have the full details for you on this blog when I’m all ready. With the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season, ‘Oh for the Love of Food!’ turned ONE very quietly. That’s ok; it was a humbling time for me as I reflected on all the beautiful new friendships I’ve made through this blog. I am very thankful for all the kindness, assistance, and encouraging comments I’ve received from all of you. I hope that 2008 will be another wonderful year of Food Blogging, another wonderful year of getting to know you better. I pray that we will not lose focus of the most important people, relationships and moments of our lives. God Bless you all.

Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

2007-12-22T00:26:00.001+09:00

After a busy week of cooking a Christmas Dinner for 20 something people last Saturday and finally doing the lasts of my Christmas gifts shopping, I can finally sit down with the family and enjoy some quality time together baking and decorating Gingerbread cookies. It was a really therapeutic exercise for me and the girls and Ming thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

I was over at Big Boys Oven today and couldn’t help but feel totally blissful with the sound of Nat King Cole crooning “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” in the background, so much so I have downloaded the tune for the purpose of adding some Christmas ambience to my blog. So, if you do so feel inclined, press ‘play’ on “imeem” on the top right hand corner of my blog. Don’t forget to check out the very gifted Sunny and Sid for some really creative festive baking ideas on their brilliant blog – I get loads of inspiration from these two awesomely cool dudes!

I am also submitting these Gingerbread Cookies as an entry for Susan’s 'Eat Christmas Cookies'event. Check out Foodbloggafor more Christmas Cookie ideas or better yet, submit your very own entry for a chance to win a copy of Sherry Yard’s new cookbook, “Desserts by the yard”.

Christmas Gingerbread Cookies
Makes a whole lot of Gingerbread Cookies! Recipe may be halved to yield around 40-50 mid sized cookies.

1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 cup molasses
340g butter
5 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1tsp salt
1 ½ ground cloves
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp water

Mix softened butter and sugar till creamy. Add eggs, molasses and water and mix well. Mix the dry ingredients together then blend into butter mixture.
Wrap dough in two portions with cling wrap and chill for two hours or if you’re impatient like me, freeze for 40 minutes. Roll out dough onto lightly floured surface and cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Place cookies an inch apart on baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes on 175 degrees Celsius. Cool completely before decorating with royal icing.

Have a Blessed Christmas from my family to yours!

Christmas Greetings!

2007-12-13T23:56:00.001+09:00

Here's Wishing all of you a wonderful and safe Christmas! Take Care and God Bless,

Carol xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox...
ps. the recipe for these cookies can be found here
I'm submitting these cookies as an entry to Susan's Eat Christmas Cookies event. Don't forget to check out Foodblogga for more Christmas cookie ideas!

Matcha (Green Tea) Macarons and a Christmas Musical

2007-11-29T06:51:00.000+09:00

I have come to realise that macarons, well, they GROW on you. I now understand why so many people are 'infatuated' with this cookie - the many colors that they come in and the many flavours that it can carry . I could not be happier with my second attempt at making this cookie - they were smaller and daintier, and the flavor of 'matcha' or green tea goes incredibly well with dark chocolate eventhough it wasn't the filling that I had originally intended for it.

I had initially planned to use a matcha butter cream for the filling, but for some reason that didn’t turn out – it was too runny, and I was tired and didn’t want to start another batch of butter cream. So, I just made some chocolate ganache – easy, quick and fuss-free. As expected, the flavour combination of matcha and dark chocolate was sensational.

The first time I made macarons, I left the piped batter to sit for half an hour for the ‘skin’ to develop. I felt though, that the ‘skin’ was too thin, so this time around, I left the piped batter to sit for two hours instead and the outcome was a crisper and less fragile skin. To make the matcha macarons, all I did was add 2 teaspoons of matcha green tea powder to the basic macaron batter.

I also wanted the macarons a little less sweet, so I lessened the powdered sugar by 35 grams and it turned out great.

Matcha Macaron Batter

125g almond flour
190g powdered (icing) sugar
100g egg whites
25g granulated sugar
Pinch of cream of tartar
2tsps matcha green tea powder

Baking instructions and the recipe for the chocolate ganache can be found on my previous post.

I’ve not had time to do any blogging the last two weeks because of the many rehearsals we had to attend for a Christmas musical that our Church is staging this Saturday. It’s a really entertaining and enjoyable musical, so if you live on my side of the world, I welcome you to attend. You will not be disappointed!

EVENT: "Heaven's Lamb" Christmas Musical (SUPPER Provided after)
DATE: Saturday 1st December 2007
TIME: 6:00 P.M.
PLACE: Perth Christian Life Centre
3 Rangerview Place, Canning Vale 6155
ADMISSION: FREE

The Elusive Macaron

2007-11-16T00:14:00.000+09:00

I’ve always wanted to know what the hype was with Macarons. I’ve seen countless postings on this seemingly ‘hard to make’ French cookie in the last year or two but have never had the guts to attempt making them. Furthermore, I had never tasted them before until my recent trip to Singapore a couple months back. And even then, I thought, ‘Yeah, It tastes pleasant’, but it didn’t get a “WHOA!” out of me. Despite that, there was something alluring about it still. Maybe it was the different colours and flavours they came in. I couldn’t be sure.

I remember seeing some really gorgeous photos of macarons on Tartelette – the brainchild of the lovely and talented Helen and decided to refer to them again. Her Pistachio macarons were a sight for sore eyes. She breezed through the recipe like it was the easiest thing to make. I must say I had my reservations still because of the many different ‘must-do-in-order-to-achieve-success’ tips I’ve read on other blogs that she had done without. I doubted that I could pull it off the way she did. After all she is THE Tartelette, the Awesome baker!

I must tell you now that I DO NOT take failure gracefully and I’m hardly the type of patient person that will persevere with a recipe over and over until I succeed. On the contrary, when I fail in the kitchen, I SULK and I MOAN and GROAN, and I seek solace in the comforting arms of my husband and children. Yes, I’m not afraid to disclose the fact that I am somewhat of a DRAMA QUEEN.

It was not until I stumbled upon Veronica's Test Kitchen that I finally had the courage to embark on macaron making. Veronica’s obsession and persistence in mastering the macaron was truly inspiring, from her very funny and entertaining documentation of her failed attempt to her step-by-step journey to success ‘Macaron Chronicles’. And so began my exploration with the macaron. Suddenly, making the macaron didn’t seem so intimidating anymore. I followed Veronica’s findings faithfully and had success on my very first attempt. YAY!

I made hazelnut macarons by substituting half the amount of almond meal with hazelnut meal, just like Veronica did but instead of the Caramel fleur-de-sel filling she used, I thought that I’d start off with an easy chocolate ganache filling. I ‘aged’ (leave egg whites at room temperature) the egg whites for 43 (Veronica recommended aging the whites for 24-48 hours) hours before starting the recipe. Even so, I noticed the ‘skin’ of the macaron shell was very thin, which probably meant that my eggs were SUPER fresh and that I’d need to age them more in the future. Also, I carelessly spaced the macaron batter too close and a couple stuck together on the edges, no drama though, I just carefully pulled them apart. The other thing too, was that I didn’t expect the macarons to spread so much – I ended up with HUGE macarons! Other than that, everything was hunky-dory.

Hazelnut Macarons with Chocolate Ganache
(Taken from Veronica’s Test Kitchen)

62.5g almond flour
62.5 hazelnut flour
225g icing sugar
100g egg whites
25g granulated sugar
Pinch cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150C). Run the flours and icing sugar through the food processor and sift twice. Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat at medium speed. Slowly add the granulated sugar and continue beating until the whites attain medium peaks and are glossy.
Add the dry ingredients slowly to the meringue, taking about six additions all in all. Pipe the batter to a diameter of an inch and let rest for 30 minutes before baking. Bake for about 11 minutes or until done, turning the sheets halfway through.

Note:
Draw a circle template on the reverse side of the parchment paper. Keep your tip positioned about ½ inch above and in the middle of the circle guide, the batter is going to spread out more evenly into the circle you want. If your macarons stick, peel away the parchment rather than force the spatula to lift the macarons out.

Chocolate Ganache
85g semi-sweet chocolate melted with 1/3-cup heavy cream
Refrigerate until consistency becomes spreadable.

Malaysian/Singaporean Hawker Cuisine: Prawn Noodles

2007-11-07T16:36:00.000+09:00

I don't often do posts on savoury dishes mainly because I HAVE TO cook dinner every Monday to Friday whilst I DON'T HAVE TO make desserts, bake cakes, pastries or cookies, thus the idea of baking becomes more appealing and is a treat for me. Styling and Photographing sweets is more fun too because the colors of sweets are more interesting.
However, every once in a while I whip up something savoury that takes a little more time and effort than the Monday to Friday dishes, something like this that I really take pride in preparing. I had some friends over recently to share this dish.

Most of you guessed right – This is Prawn Noodles or ‘Hae Mee’ as it’s known in Singapore or ‘Mee Yoke’ as it’s known in Malaysia. I’ve made Prawn Noodles in the past, but I must say that I was only totally happy with the flavour recently, thanks to Madam Chia Ah Bee, the mother of a good friend of ours from Singapore, Jeffrey Lim. On their holiday trip here two years ago, Madam Chia was kind enough to show me how she made her famous Prawn Noodles. Those of you living in Dover Road Singapore will remember Madam Chia for her noodle stall simply known as ‘Teck Hock Prawn Noodles’ that had been in the area since 1978. She is retired now and spends her time doing the things she loves like travelling, having her weekend mah-jong sessions, cooking for her family and watching cooking shows on TV.

Madam Chia Ah Bee (extreme right) with her family on holiday in Bangkok

Life wasn’t this easy for Madam Chia in the late seventies – she had been widowed in her mid 30s and had to be the only bread winner for her family of four children. Teck Hock Prawn Noodle Stall became her primary source of income. On Sundays and Public Holidays, she made and sold another of her specialty dishes, Braised Duck Noodles which was another popular favourite. I was told that Madam Chia had learnt her cooking skills from her mother and Mother-in-law, and this had become an invaluable asset for her in hard times.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to learn some of her ‘tips’ and ‘secrets’ to making some of the best tasting Singaporean dishes including this Prawn Noodle dish. The secret to making a memorable ‘Hae Mee’ is in the stock, which derives it’s rich flavour and coloring from prawn heads and shells that are sautéed until well caramelised.

I look forward to my next trip to Singapore when I will again savour Madam Chia’s skilful cooking!

Madeleines, Memes and Awards

2007-10-31T00:23:00.000+09:00

The last few weeks saw me tagged with a couple of memes that I haven’t been able to fulfil due to the 3 lengthy vacation posts that I published, but as promised, today is THE day, but just in case you haven’t noticed that I already share my personal life quite freely with you, my advice to you is, don’t hold your breathe – I have nothing ‘juicy’ to expose. I have also been fortunate enough to received four awards but have been unable to down load them onto my sidebar for some strange reason. Anyway, first things first – Here’s a brief history of the ‘Madeleine’;

Madeleines have always been associated with the little French town of Commercy in the region of Lorraine. In the 18th century, the bakers of Commercy were said to have once, long ago, paid a very large sum for the recipe and sold the little cakes packed in oval boxes as a speciality in the area. Nuns in the 18th century France frequently supported themselves and their schools by making and selling a particular sweet. Commercy once had a convent dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. Historians think the nuns, probably when all the convents and monasteries of France were abolished during the French revolution, sold the recipe to the bakers.

In 1923, the Madeleine was made famous by Marcel Proust (1871-1922) in his autobiographical novel ‘A la recherché du temps perdu’, translated ‘Remembrance of things past’. This novel was left unfinished upon his death and his brothers published the book in 1923. In it he wrote:

“She sent for one of those squat plump little cakes called “petites madeleines” which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell... I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure invaded my senses…
And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings in Combray when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Leonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane… and the whole of Combray and it’s surroundings, taking shape and solidity sprang into being, town and garden alike from my cup of tea.”

Proust’s reminisce of a happy memory associated with the madeleine is not unlike our own reminiscence that is almost always associated with food, after all, food is the basis of any one happy memory, well, for me anyway! Madeleines are traditionally made with eggs, butter, flour and sugar with the inclusion of the zest from the orange or the lemon, but in the recent years, other ingredients have been added to add interest to the flavour.

Madeleines
Makes about 30

100g salted butter
100g icing sugar
40g almond meal
40g plain flour
4 eggs
Zest of 1 large lemon
1tsp. vanilla bean paste
Caster sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Melt the butter in a small pot over low heat. Let it bubble briskly for about five minutes (you’ll hear it crackle a bit as it loses water.) When it’s a deep golden colour and smells nutty, turn of the heat and leave it to cool slightly. Strain the melted butter (using a paper towel over a mesh strainer) – you want to leave the solids behind.
Grease the madeleine molds and dust with caster sugar. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the sifted flour, almond meal and icing sugar and set aside. Put the eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until thick. Fold in the lemon zest and vanilla, then sprinkle the flour mixture on top of the egg mixture and gently fold in. Now fold in the melted butter and stir only enough to bring everything together.
Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each mold 3/4s full. I use a small milk jug filled with batter to keep things clean and manageable. Bake the madeleines for 12-14 minutes or until the madeleines are golden brown. Remove from oven and unmold immediately on to racks to cool slightly. Serve warm.

Now, on to the Memes..

Big Boys Oven and Singairishgirl both tagged me with the ‘5 things’ meme, so here ‘tis…
5 things…
A. Found in my room
1. A Queen sized brown leather bed
2. Two nightstands on either side
3. Two table lamps, one on each night stand
4. Oil paintings on canvas
5. An Oil Burner

B. Found in my bag
1. A wallet
2. A tube of hand cream
3. A tube of Vaseline Lip Treatment
4. My mobile phone
5. My house and car keys

C. Found in my wallet
1. Cash
2. Drivers License
3. Bankcard
4. Loyalty Cards
5. A stack of receipts

D. I have always wanted to…
1. Be able to swim
2. Be slim
3. Be able to fit in nice clothing (Man! this is becoming depressing! Don’t anyone tag me with a meme ever again!)
4. Be able to eat whatever I want without putting on weight
5. Be able to sing well

E. I am currently into…
1. Blogging
2. Watching Korean and Hong Kong soaps
3. Home Decorating
4. Watching my daughters dance hip-hop (they are SO good, I want to learn how to youtube them. Can anyone teach me??)
5. Lounge and Korean music

And now, I have the pleasure of tagging the following bloggers with this meme;
(If you have been tagged with this meme before, you may choose to not take this on)

1. Daniel of Messy Pastor
2. Ming of Ming the Merciless
3. Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen
4. Anh of Food Lover's Journey
5. Sylvia of La Vida en Buenos Aires y afines...

Daniel of Messy Pastor tagged me with the ‘ 7 things most people don’t know about me’ meme, so here goes…

1. I don’t like crowded places – you’ll never find me at a sale
2. I can’t be under the afternoon sun for more than 15 minutes, I’d almost always have a headache
3. In my teens, I used to represent my school for singing competitions
4. I have terrifying stage frights – at a solo performance in Church with hundreds of eyes watching, my mind went totally
blank and I forgot the words to my song. (HORRORS!!) So, I made up some lyrics on the spot until the familiar chorus
kicked in. (ARGHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!)
5. That was the last time I sang solo on stage.
6. In 2000, I went on the Atkins Diet. I didn’t have rice, noodles or any carbohydrates for a year. I lost 15kgs and dropped
to a size 6. After a year of eating meat, sausages and bacon with very limited fruit and vegetables, I gave up.
7. In 2001, I decided to Love myself more

I’m tagging the following bloggers with this meme…

1. Jaden of Steamy Kitchen
2. Belinda of Bel’s Fish Bowl
3. Sunny of Big Boy’s Oven
4. Rafe of Rafe New York
5. Bee of Rasa Malaysia

I want to thank the following bloggers for giving me an award, I’m humbled and honoured.

1. Nora B of Life’s Smorgasbord for the Thoughtful Blogger Award. I have earlier passed on this award in a previous post.

2. Sylvia of La Vida en Buenos Aires y afines... for the Thinking Blogger Award. I pass this award on to the following bloggers:

Daniel of Messy Pastor, for helping me understand my faith better
Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, for being such a huge inspiration to me

3. Debra of Singairishgirl for the Creative Blogger Award. I pass this award on to the following bloggers:

Sylvia of La Vida en Buenos Aires y afines for her excellent food styling and photography
Bee of Rasa Malaysia for her fabulous recipe ideas

4. Debra of Singairishgirl (again!) for The Power of Schmooze Award. I pass this award on to the following bloggers:

Anh of Food Lover’s Journey for always being helpful and obliging
Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen for her beautiful personality that shines through her blog

Chloe -my school holiday guest chef & Singapore - my vacation wrap-up

2007-10-24T00:07:00.000+08:00

After 2 solid vacation posts, the passionate foodie in me is literally ‘itching’ to do a post on a home spun goodie of some sort – so today, I present to you a guest chef from the Rode-Chong household, my gorgeous multi-talented daughter Chloe who is affectionately known at home as ‘Theng-Theng’. For all you foodies reading this post, I hope you will leave a kind comment as an encouragement to her. Many thanks in advance from this doting mom!

Chloe

Chloe is 13, loves to cook and bake – her favourite food items in the whole wide world are the glorified Potato and the highly exalted Chocolate so it’s no wonder that she’s sharing her favourite Brownie recipe today. I’m just a little surprised that she did not incorporate a spud or two in the recipe! See here for another of Chloe's creations! Chloe also enjoys Hip Hop dancing, reading girlie novels and magazines, racquet sports, rock climbing and swimming. Albeit her tender age, Chloe is a sensible and responsible child who assists me in my home duties above and beyond her assigned tasks. She is a delightful companion and I count myself extremely blessed to have her as my daughter.

Chloe’s totally awesome Chocolate, Chocolate Brownies!
Makes 24

40g all-purpose flour
60g unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
250g good-quality dark chocolate,
chopped into small pieces
125g milk chocolate chips
250g salted butter, melted
2tsps natural vanilla extract
4 eggs lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to160 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease a 20 x 30 cm cake tin and line with baking paper, leaving the paper hanging over on the two long sides.
Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl and add the sugar and chocolate. Mix together and make a well in the centre.
Pour the butter into the dry ingredients with the vanilla and eggs and mix well. Pour into the tin, smooth the surface and bake for 40 minutes (the mixture will still be a bit soft on the inside). Chill for 2 hours before lifting out, using the paper as handles, and cutting into pieces. Enjoy them with your friends!

Now, on to the second part of this post - a wrap-up of my recent vacation in Singapore, I would firstly like to say that Singapore is Ming’s (my husband) country of origin, his family and the friends that he grew up with are all there, so we visit the island about twice a year. As for me, besides visiting Ming’s family, I get to hang out with one of my ‘Bestest’ (I learned this word from my daughters) friends, M, (of 'Yummytots') who actually introduced me to blogging. I have known M for yonks, we went to High School together here in Perth. We used to ‘wag’ (play truant) school together, cook and bake together, have long chats while we plucked hairs from our legs, ok, maybe a little bit too much info there but yeah, we were really close then and we still are.

The very impressive color changing canopy at Clarke Quay

Paige, at Clarke Quay

Paige and I browsing some bling-bling at Clarke Quay

Paige, digging into the Haagen Daaz Chocolate Fondue at Clarke Quay - hey, this here is a natural born foodie!

During my stay in Singapore, M and I went for two Delicious treatment massages at the ‘Renewal Day Spa’ in Tong Building Orchard Road, a couple of ‘toe-curling’ reflexology sessions at the People’s Park, countless meals together with our families – the best being the afternoon tea at the PS. (Project Shop) Café in Harding Road where we had their famous Steak Sandwich and fantabulous Tall Chocolate Cake. The most memorable meal however was had at M’s home where she cooked up a really satisfying meal that included her mouth-watering ‘Assam Fish Head’ (Fish Head cooked in a spicy tamarind sauce). As always the best meals are had without the presence of a camera, unfortunately. M and I also did a baking class together with Lynn Chen, patissier blogger and instructor at Palate Sensations, a cooking school in Singapore. We learnt to make the ‘Opera’ – a rich 3-layer almond sponge saturated in coffee and liqueur, sandwiched in a coffee butter cream and covered in a Valrhona Dark Chocolate Ganache. It was heavenly, as you can imagine. Lynn was wonderful, M and I totally enjoyed the experience.

Our 'Opera' making class in Lynn's Kitchen

The finished Product..

'M's very successful 'Opera'

During this trip, I also had the pleasure of meeting ‘A’ of Greedy Goose, one of my favourite food blogs. ‘A’ was really sweet and hospitable and my family and I took to her immediately. We had lunch together at the famous Chicken Rice stall in the Alexandra Village Hawker Centre. The Chicken and the fragrant ‘oil’ rice was delicious but the girls and I stared in horror as Ming and ‘A’ tucked into the plate of Chicken livers!

After Lunch, ‘A’ took us to ‘Macaron’, a patisserie specialising in macarons where we had some very tantalising samples over coffee. It was a very pleasant afternoon indeed.

Our Macaron Tasting Plate

A half chomped-on Lavender Macaron

Besides having a lot more lunches....

Ming, Chloe and I at Toast Box, Food Republic in Vivo City

.....and a lot more dinners...

'Rojak' - Singaporean Spicy Fruit Salad with Crisp Cruellers

Cheryl (my niece) and I at Island Cafe, CK Tangs

Spicy Fried Chicken Wings

...Ming and Paige visited the zoo whilst Chloe and I caught up on some retail therapy. Here's Paige (my precious, precious baby!) to take you on a mini tour of the World-Class Singapore Zoo..

Paige and the Alligator

A very rare White Tiger

Paige and the Hippos

Paige with the monkeys and the trainer in the background

Paige and the Elephant

This post concludes the recount of my August 2007 Foodie Vacation. I hope you have enjoyed reading this post as much as I've enjoyed writing it!

Chiang Mai- A Foodie's Vacation Part 2

2007-10-16T13:56:00.000+08:00

Welcome! For this final installation to my Chiang Mai Vacation recount, I promise to deliver a lot more photos, photos which will show you where we’ve been, and what we ate, essentially, but you won’t see any elephant rides or monkey shows because, this is, after all, a foodie’s vacation. This is an EATING HOLIDAY in other words, and I make no apologies for this. This trip has proven to me what I had earlier suspected, that food served in grandeur is not necessarily the best tasting, and the humble food hawkers on a dusty Chiang Mai ‘Soi’ (side street) may be your true answer to food nirvana. I say ‘may be’ because I will never know for sure. Why? You ask. The answer is because I did not ATTEMPT to eat at a humble food hawker stall on a dusty Chiang Mai Soi. Why? You ask again. Because I cannot enjoy eating while stewing in my own sweat! There you have it. I don’t like hot humid weather, but for a lot of you out there who enjoy it, you should give these eating stalls a go, but have some ‘Poh Chai’ pills (diarrhoea ammo) with you just in case.

Four Seasons Resort Hotel

These photos are of some of the decor pieces used in the Four Seasons

Deemed one of the 20 most beautiful Boutique Resort Hotels in the world, the Four Seasons should be a priority on your ‘places to go’ list if you’re ever in Chiang Mai. We spent a breathtaking half-day there taking in all the beauty and wonder of this spectacular setting..

Me and the family (in the background) in the sculptured gardens of the Four Seasons

'The Three Posers' - Sheryl (my niece), Chloe and Paige. Look at that gorgeous backdrop of terraced rice paddy fields and the mountains in the beautiful Mae Rim Valley!

Chloe, standing outside one of the spacious Lanna-style pavilion resident suites. The family suites come with a live-in housekeeper and an exclusive plunge pool and will set you back from just under US$3,000 a night for a minimum of three nights.

Who says men don't like flowers?

Doesn't this arrangement make you feel happy?

The common pool where you can savour the sweeping vistas. Not too shabby, wouldn't you say?

More photos of blossoms and Paraphernalia at the Four Seasons

Care for a simmer in the Jaccuzzi, anyone?

It's time for dinner, don't you think? Let's go..

Inside the Sala Mae Rim Restaurant - A high teak wook ceiling compliments Northern Thai artifacts and sweeping views of the Mae Rim Valley

Ming, seated comfortably, waiting for his dinner

Sala Mae Rim - renowned for the unique flavors of it's sumptuous northern and vegetarian Thai specialities

The condiments..

Sen Lek Tom Yum Talay - Rice Noodles with Seafood and Lemongrass

Goong Mae Narm Pad Takrai - Wok Fried Prawns with Green Peppercorn

Kaow Pad Poo Prig Goong - Wok Fried Rice with crab meat, prawns and chilli

Ming, introducing his dinner. Let's have a closer look at it..

Ming's main course - Hors D'oeuvre Ruam - Pork Satay, Marinated chicken wrapped in Pandanus Leaf, Crab cakes and Vegetable spring rolls

Cake Bai Toey - Pandanus Coconut Cake with Chocolate-Lemongrass Bon-Bon

Kaow Niew Mamuang - Black and white sticky rice with mango

My happy little camper, Paige - as we take our last picture at Four Seasons.

The Foothills of the Doi Suthep Temple

A natural Waterfall near the Palaad Tawanron Restaurant at the foothills of the famous Doi Suthep Temple. Unfortunately, we accidently erased the photos taken at the restaurant. But wait, we have a peace offering to offer you for this blunder..

Urrhh.. Fried Bugs, anyone??

Food Court at the Airport Plaza

A delicious array of Thai hawker fare at the Airport Plaza

Condiments and Garnishes..

Yummy Desserts!

Paige, spoilt for choice, finally decides to have a mung bean jelly dessert

Ming decides that he will not pass on the opportunity to eat some fried maggots! After all, you can't get this anywhere in Perth! The Thais treat this delicacy the way we do Beer nuts. Ming says that the maggots taste similar to fried anchovies!

Suan Paak Restaurant

Paige, at the entrance of the Suan Paak Restaurant. This restaurant was recommended by Tim from the Kaohom Cooking School- it was the BEST meal we had in Chiang mai, not counting the food we cooked at Kaohom. Unfortunately, it was our last night at Chiang Mai.. oh, it's situated just outside the Airport Plaza which happens to be the Best Shopping Centre in Chiang Mai

This is the Best Tom Yum Goong I've ever tasted - It has a little coconut cream in it. YUM! Sorry, this is the only photo we have to show for our dinner at Suan Paak. The food was soooooooo good we inhaled it all before realizing we forgot to take anymore photos!

Overview

We completely enjoyed our Chiang Mai trip but our time spent with Tim at the Kaohom Cooking School was definitely the highlight of our holiday, surpassing even the breathtaking half day spent at the Four Seasons! We're definitely coming back !

Chiang Mai- A Foodie's Vacation

2007-10-10T00:43:00.000+08:00

“What? You’re not stopping over at Bangkok?” My friends asked, quite surprised when I told them that I was flying out to Chiang Mai for five days from Singapore the second week of my vacation. I’ve been to Bangkok about 4 or 5 times before and I think I’ve out grown it. I remember my first trip to Bangkok; I must have been about 13. I was waiting outside an Arts and Crafts shop in the Night Bazaar while my parents were trying to get the best price (i.e. HAGGLING) for some items when this Sleazy and Greasy European Old Fart approached me and tried to push some Baht notes into the palm of my right hand. I was overcome by surprise at first; I couldn’t make out what he was saying to me. I glanced around for help and that was when I put two and two together. There were ‘Street Walkers’ soliciting at every few metres and this idiot had mistaken me for one of them. I’ve been told many times by Thais that I look like a local, but hang on, I was 13! Sure, I had too much make up on for a 13 year old but I was dressed decently, a little too mature maybe, but decent. We’ve all been there, we want to look as grown-up as possible when we’re teenagers, and as young as we possibly can when we’re my age. SIGH!

Anyhow, the last few trips to Bangkok with my family were, I felt, not very suitable for the girls. Bangkok is too ‘worldly’ for them, I mean the sex industry isn’t exactly low key and there’s too much reality for them to handle at their age. At my age on the other hand, I don’t like too much of a hustle and bustle type place anymore, I’m too laid back these days and prefer a serene countryside with simultaneous mountain and river views like Chiang Mai for a holiday destination. So, are you ready to share the glimpses of my Chiang Mai vacation? Here we go..

Kaohom Cooking School – A Thai Culinary Treasure

When I was planning this holiday, I did a bit of research via the Internet on the Cooking Classes offered in Chiang Mai. I read some really funny comments by tourists who took cooking classes in the kitchens of local’s homes. There was also the very famous Cooking School in Four Seasons Hotel where in the midst of the class, an elephant is ushered by. I didn’t want frills, that’s for sure, and nothing too commercialised. When I came upon the Kaohom website, I knew I had found the cooking school I wanted. It is highly recommended by ‘Lonely Planet’ and I must say I was impressed with what I saw. Still, I had some reservations with what to expect as from past experiences I have found that photos on websites are highly edited and can be really deceiving.
On the scheduled day, we were picked up from our hotel at 10am and chauffeured to Kaohom. It was a pleasant 30-minute drive out of the city. When we finally arrived, we were all “Ooooh and Arhhhs!” – Kaohom was every bit as beautiful as what I saw on the Internet! The cooking school is set in the middle of a lush estate with manicured lawns and gorgeous landscaping. Kanchana (our cooking instructor) and her assistants were there to welcome us as we got out of the car, and what a warm welcome it was. At that moment, I felt like I was on the set of ‘Fantasy Island’. It was almost surreal.

This photo collage is made up of pictures we took of the surrounds of the cooking school. Isn't the caterpillar a beauty?

Kanhana gave us a tour of the cooking school – the place was so immaculate and beautifully organized. There was an indoor cooking class and an outdoor cooking class set under a gazebo. The weather was exceptionally cool that day, perfect for cooking outdoors. Kanchana or ‘Tim’ as she introduced herself as, made us feel as though we were in the company of an old friend, we felt really at home.

This is me, with my head cut off, doing the prep work for our dishes.

Ming, all pleased with himself for completing the prep work before me. Paige in the background.

We were shown how to make beautiful garnishes out of chillies and carrot as part of our 'Botannical Delights' class. Isn't it fantastic!!??

Our lovely cooking Instructor, Tim, showing Chloe how to put the ingredients together for the Fried Corn Cakes.

Cucumber Relish - the accompaniment for the Fried Corn Cakes

Paige enjoying the experience.. and me, looking on.

Fried Corn Cakes - They were soooooooooooooo yummy! After we cooked each dish, we sat down together alfresco style and ate together while the food was piping hot!

Ooooooooo, Green Mango Salad! I'm salivating just thinking of the sweet and sour flavours!

Deep Fried Talipia Fillet - beautifully crisp eaten with the green mango salad, truly a match made in food heaven!

This is the point of difference that Tim offers in her cooking school, trade secrets! No cook book is going to tell you how to get the freshest, best tasting peanuts for your Pad-Thai!

Ming, stir-frying the Pad-Thai like a pro!

Yay! I can make Pad-Thai!

This is the Best Pad-Thai that I've ever tasted - and I made it myself! Tim uses the freshest and best quality ingredients.

Ms Kanchana Ubolsootvanich, 'Tim', our lovely hostess and cooking instructor. I have so much respect for this lady- she runs the school professionally with her carefully orchestrated teaching powered by her passion for Thai cuisine culture. Tim is a single mom who raised her two sons and put them through College and continued studies abroad single handedly. Hard work and long hours continue for Tim as she manages the school and does the prep work for her restaurant, the renowned 'Wanlamoon' which is accredited by Thailand's most prestigious gourmet critique every single day. Tim has no culinary training but learned her cooking skills from watching her own mother cook as a little girl. We had a teary-eyed moment as she shared her inspiring story with us.

After the tears, we need dessert! This is the pumkin custard we made - it was nothing short of AMAZING!

We chattered more over an aromatic cup of coffee...

We really had an excellent time together. Here's Kanchana laughing at one of Ming's Jokes...

Another shot of Tim - she sure is petite!

We all had such a fantastic time with Tim- the girls made us promise that we would return to see Tim again in the near future. Are you planning a trip to Chiang Mai? This is one experience you dont want to miss! Here's how you can contact Tim;

www.kaohom.com
E-mail: kanchana@kaohom.com
180/1 Chiang Mai - Mae Rim Rd.,
Donkaew, Mae Rim, Chiang Mai
50180 Thailand
Tel: 66 5386 2967, Fax 66 5386 2968
Mobile 08 1993 5320

Stay tuned for the 2nd part of our Chiang Mai Foodie Vacation!

Cupcakes Galore!

2007-09-18T22:47:00.000+08:00

Hi fellow foodies and bloggers! I’m back from my 3-week holiday to Singapore and Chiang Mai and shall put up a post on that as soon as I have all the photos organized. Thank you all for all the sweet well wishes and kind words you left on my last post. While I was away, Nora B. of Life’s Smorgasbord awarded me the ‘Thoughtful Blogger’ Award. Thank you Nora, I’m honoured. I’m not very familiar with how this award goes but I think I’m supposed to pass the award on to 5 other bloggers. These bloggers are not necessarily food bloggers, though..

Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen
Mandy of Fresh from the Oven
Joy of The Goddess in You
Daniel of Messy Pastor
Belinda of Bel’s Fish Bowl

The Cupcakes on today’s post are the ones I made for Paige’s Birthday. You probably can’t tell by looking at them, but they are the mini sized ones so you don’t feel soooooo bad if you have more than one. To get a bigger and clearer view of them, just click on the photos. The recipe is pretty simple and the décor, well.. it’s really up to you what you want to top it with. I used jelly lollies, some sugar paste flowers I piped and lots and lots of different colored hundreds and thousands. So, which is your favourite?

PAIGE’S (MINI) ORANGE CUPCAKES
Makes 50

250g salted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
4 eggs, lightly beaten
250g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp orange juice

Orange butter Icing

100g salted butter, softened
2 cups Icing sugar
Enough orange juice to achieve a spreadable consistency
Food colors of your choice
Lollies and hundreds and thousands

Preheat the oven to 170C. Line your mini cupcake trays with mini paper cups. Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the orange zest, then gradually add the egg, beating thoroughly after each addition. Fold in the sifted flour and baking powder as well as the orange juice. Stir until just combined and almost smooth. Spoon the mixture into the paper cups ¾ full and bake for 10 minutes or until the little cakes look golden. Remove the trays from the oven and wait 10 minutes before transferring the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, simply beat the softened butter and the icing sugar until combined, and then gradually add the orange juice until you get the right consistency. Decorate the cupcakes as you please!

Strawberry Pavlova

2007-08-15T11:34:00.000+08:00

The last few days have been absolutely Chockers! On Saturday, my daughter Paige had 8 of her giggling- and- screaming- all-at once girlfriends over for a movie marathon-sleepover Birthday Party to celebrate her turning 11. So, essentially, the day before was dedicated to party food preparation and the highlight: making 50 mini orange butter cupcakes and individually decorating them.

The next morning, I took advantage of the beautiful light coming in the dining area window and snapped something like 300 over photos of the cupcakes using my new Nikon DSLR. I have blisters on my elbows to show for it! I must admit that when the camera first arrived, I felt really intimidated with all the different settings and functions. I’m one of those people who ABHOR reading instruction manuals, so that wasn’t going to help. I secretly thought of putting the camera away and going back to using my Pentax Optio. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. I want to thank Greg Winning, Photographer Extraordinaire and Business Partner to my husband Ming at Brando for offering to ‘take me under his wing’, and our very wise and generous friend, Jeff Miles for presenting me with my very first Tripod! My elbows thank you gratefully, Jeff!

Although the cupcake photos were shamelessly taken on the ‘auto’ function, I was quite happy with them and will do a post on them when I return from my Vacation. Yes, foodies, I’m taking a long awaited Holiday to Singapore and Chiang Mai! YAY! This is my last post until I return on the 10th of September. This holiday is a little different from the ones I’ve had in the past because this time around, I’ll be meeting up with a couple of Food Bloggers. I will also be doing a baking class with Patissier Blogger Lynn Chen who has so kindly fit me in her busy schedule despite the fact that she’s shooting for a cookbook.

Over in Chiang Mai , I’ve booked Ming and myself for a 4 course Thai Cooking Class and Lunch at the Lush Kaohom Cooking School. Apart from this, we will of course be doing the glutton thing and will be eating non-stop. Mind you shopping , massages, spas and delicious foot reflexology is on the agenda too! I am SO looking forward to all this! I promise to document my eating and learning adventures and shall deliver when I return. Foodies’ Pledge! I leave you with a recipe for Strawberry Pavlova, a delectable yet simple dessert .

STRAWBERRY PAVLOVA
Serves 10

4 egg whites
2 cups caster sugar
2 tsp white vinegar
4 tbsp boiling water
4 tsp cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp vanilla essence

CUSTARD

To save time, I used my favourite store-bought custard

FRESH WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

1 600ml carton of thickened whipping cream
Icing sugar to taste

STRAWBERRIES

500g fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
1 tsp caster sugar sprinkled onto strawberries and lightly tossed

Preheat oven to 200C. Line a 30cm (12in) baking tray with baking paper and draw a 20cm circle on the paper. Place the caster sugar, boiling water, vinegar and egg whites into a large bowl. Beat until mixture is stiff enough to hold it’s own peaks. Sift the cornflour and baking powder into the bowl, then add the vanilla and fold in lightly.

Pile the meringue onto the baking tray within the circle, flatten the top and smooth the sides. Place into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 150C for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat further to 100C for an hour longer. After that, turn off the oven and leave the pavlova in the oven overnight to dry out.

To serve, top the pavlova with some custard, then with the whipped cream and the strawberries.

Gateau Suprise Chocolat Pistache

2007-08-06T14:36:00.000+08:00

First of all, I want to say thank you to those of you who take the time to go through my previous posts and leave comments. I don’t know about all you other food bloggers out there, but once I put up a new post,
the old one is hiistory, and I rarely go back there. So, please do not think that I’m ignoring your comments; I just am unaware that you’ve left me one. I found out about those new comments as I was looking up a recipe from a previous post.

About a week ago, I received an e-mail from Dr Joy Barredo, a Life Coach in the UK, inviting me to write in the ‘Kitchen Goddess’ page of her website. Joy's website is a ‘home’ for us women to share our dreams and fears, a place in which we can discuss issues concerning our everyday lives, may it be love, finances, personal development etc. I totally LOVE this website and recommend that you pay a visit. My posts and recipes will now be published in Joy’s website too.

The girls are home today, both slightly unwell, and quite happy that I’ve given them the ‘green light’ to stay home. I overheard them talking just then, something about the Antartica, and then the conversation went like this..
Paige: it’s (referring to the antartica) isolated!
Chloe: No it’s not!
Paige: Yes it is!
Chloe: Do you even know what “isolated” means?!
Paige: It means it’s covered in ice!

Today’s recipe for Gateau Surprise Chocolat Pistache is from JenJen's beautiful blog. I made these about a month ago and will definitely be making them again. This recipe originated from Clotilde'sblog, then Heidi made it, and then JenJen, and then me. And I’m pretty sure it won’t stop here.

GATEAU SUPRISE CHOCOLAT PISTACHE

270g plain all-purpose flour, divided in half
2 tsp baking powder, divided in half
1 tsp baking soda, divided in half
150g unsalted butter, room temperature, divided in half
250g caster sugar, divided in half
4 eggs
1½ cups plain yoghurt or sour cream, divided in half
1½ tsp vanilla extract, divided in half
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup shelled pistachio, chopped finely

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 25cm springform cake pan, or alternatively prepare 12 small paper cake cases.

Prepare the chocolate batter first. In a food processor mix together half of the sugar, butter until fluffy.
Add in two eggs one at a time, pulsing in between each addition.
Add in half of the yoghurt and the vanilla extract, pulse again.
In a medium bowl, combine half of the flour, baking powder, baking soda and all of the cocoa powder.
Add the flour mixture into the food processor and mix again until the flour is just incorporated.
Pour the batter into the cake pan, or if you are using the paper cake cases, then using an ice cream scoop, place one scoop of batter into each paper case.
Place the chocolate batter into the fridge.

Rinse the bowl of the food processor and prepare the pistachio batter.
Mix together the rest of the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in the last two eggs one at a time, pulsing in between each addition.
Add the remaining yoghurt and pulse again.
In a medium bowl, combine the rest of the flour, baking powder, baking soda and all of the chopped pistachios.
Add this flour mixture into the batter and process again until the flour is just combined.

Remove the chocolate batter from the fridge and sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly and liberally over the surface of the batter.
Gently pour over the pistachio batter on top of the chocolate chips, or alternatively if you are using the paper cases, then use an ice scoop to place the pistachio batter on top.
Smooth out the surface using a spatula.
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, or if you are making the individual cakes, then for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to rest for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Hellooooooooooo! Anybody out there?

2007-08-03T07:03:00.000+08:00

Hi Fellow Bloggers! I have currently exceeded our wireless internet quota for the month and am unable to load my blog page,much less publish a new post. I am able to do this bit now because it's 7am and it's not the peak internet usage time , not for another 20 minutes or so! Hopefully, I'll be able to post and look at yours on the 5th of Aug when our quota is reset for the month.

I would like to leave you with this poster to ponder a little bit.. I love sharing moments of my life and my recipes with you, but what I should really be sharing with you is why I have such a beautiful life, family etc. You are all so important to me, I have made so many wonderful friendships through this blog. I owe all the Joy, Peace, and comfort in my life to Jesus, and I hope you will do the best possible thing for your lives and seek him. If you have any questions about Christianity, I invite you to visit Daniel's blog. He is happy to try to answer any questions you may have. I know that the topic of Christianity can be very daunting, but the answer is simple really, if you just give yourself the chance.
Thanks for listening!

Carol

Gordon Ramsey's Perfect Creme Brulee

2007-07-25T22:14:00.000+08:00

The girls are back at school after the two week school break, the apartment is so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I suddenly feel very tired. Despite this, I have a lot of housework to catch up on, so there’s no time to sit down and feel sorry for myself. These two weeks have been great, I tried my best to keep up with my 13 and 11 year olds during the day, and when they finally get to bed at 9pm, I relax on my couch and ‘attempt’ to catch up with my Hong Kong and Korean serials, I am told however, that 10 minutes later, I am snoring, mouth wide open, and salivating. Hardly adorable looking and much less, sexy.

Ming and I have been married for 15 years this April, so, in case you’re wondering.. I’ve gone past being ‘worried’ about being caught in unattractive situations. There are much worse situations, let me tell you, but we shall not delve into them just yet, after all, I’ve only known you guys for barely six months!

On the 12th of this month, I celebrated my 39th birthday with family and a handful of close friends – it was nice, we had a ten-course banquet dinner at Golden Century, an up-market Chinese restaurant in Northbridge. My favourite dish was the ‘Lobster Noodles in Superior Stock’. Sorry, I had intended to post some photos; unfortunately half of them were blurred for some reason. Maybe it was the bad lighting, or it could be that my hands were shaky from being too hungry!

After the dinner, we came back to my place and had coffee and Birthday cake, a chocolate truffle cake from Francois’- the ONLY cake I ever bother to buy. My Birthday present from Ming and the girls will be arriving shortly, the Nikon SLR- don’t ask me the model, I’m really bad at remembering these things.
Today, I’m posting Gordon Ramsey’s ‘Perfect Crème Brulee’- I made this a couple or so weeks back for dessert when we had some friends visiting from Bali. The only thing I would add is that the dessert needed half an hour in the oven instead of the 10-15 minutes specified. A ‘misprint’ maybe? You be the judge.

GORDON RAMSEY’S PERFECT CRÈME BRULEE
Serves 4

300ml double cream
130ml milk
40g vanilla sugar
4 egg yolks
Vanilla sugar to sprinkle for caramel topping

Heat the milk and cream until just about to boil, stirring in I dessertspoon of vanilla sugar and allow to cool. Lightly whisk together the remaining sugar and the yolks. Reheat the cream until about to boil then pour into the egg and sugar and whisk. Strain into a jug and pour into the ramekin dishes.

Fill a large roasting tin half full of boiling water, put the ramekins in and bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes until just set. Allow to cool and place in the fridge until required. Dust the top of the crème brulee with a little vanilla sugar and then use a blowtorch to caramelise the sugar.

Mary's Butterballs

2007-07-18T21:08:00.000+08:00

We’re into the second and last week of the school holidays, and the girls and I have been making the most of the time we’ve got left to do all the things that we want to do. I have hardly had any blogging time whatsoever this week and the last, but that’s ok, as there’s always next week to catch up. Chloe and I made ‘Mary’s Butterballs’ on Tuesday (Paige is more interested in the eating bit) and we were so happy with the way they turned out that I had to put up a post on it this week, the other posts lined up will just have to wait.

We were at Borders two Sundays ago when I flicked through a copy of Gale Gand’s Chocolate Vanilla. The pictures were oh so yummy, but I was especially mesmerized by ‘Mary’s Butterballs’. I was oogling over them when the girls and Ming declared that it was time to go. A couple of days later, I was on Ivonne's Gorgeous Blog when I thought the picture looked familiar the moment her post appeared on my screen. It was ‘Mary’s Butterballs’! Ivonne had posted a review on Gale Gand’s Chocolate and Vanilla. This was a definitive sign that I should get the book.

I must confess that I did not follow ALL the instructions on the recipe, I of course used Salted Butter for starters and being the impatient baker that I am, I did not chill the dough for “3 hours”, instead, I thought that they were firm enough to handle after an hour and 15 minutes. After rolling the dough into balls, I popped them into the freezer for no longer than 10 minutes instead of the 30 minutes specified.

I encountered one problem though; I couldn’t get the floured mixture to form a dough even after approximately ½ an hour of mixing on medium speed with my Kitchen Aid. I don’t know what went wrong there but the problem was fixed the moment I added 50g of melted butter to the mixture – It transformed the crumb like texture of the mix into a ball of dough!

See how you go with the recipe, and if the flour mixture doesn’t form a dough, you know what to do. These lovely little cookies were very popular, and like Ivonne, I used nutella to sandwich them together. I had a lot of comments from the family about what the cookies looked like though, my loving husband Ming, not the most refined man I know, thought that the cookies looked like little ‘buttocks’ and decided to call them “Carol’s Love Lumps”. Poor Gale, I’m sure she would be absolutely mortified!

MARY’S BUTTERBALLS
Adapted from Gale Gand’s Chocolate and Vanilla
Makes about 40 to 50 cookies

1 cup salted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup raspberry jam or chocolate ganache
2 cups vanilla sugar, for rolling

Chocolate Ganache
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate melted with 1/3 cup heavy cream. (refrigerate until consistency becomes spreadable)

Vanilla Sugar
1 vanilla bean (can be one that was previously used)
2 cups sugar (In an airtight container, bury the vanilla bean in the sugar and let it sit overnight. I did not have any vanilla sugar on hand, I just rolled the cookies in caster sugar)

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until it’s light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Mix in the granulated sugar and when the mixture is well blended add the flour and mix until it forms a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least 3 hours to make it easier to handle. This also helps prevent the balls from flattening out too much when they’re baked.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Taking off pieces of dough with your hands, roll small (3/4 –inch) balls of dough. Chill them for 30 minutes in the freezer, then place them 2 inches apart on cookie sheets to allow for some spreading. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or just until the cookies are firm but not browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pans.

Spread the flat face of half of the cooled cookies with the jam or ganache and top with a second cookie to form a little sandwiched ball. The filling will not show very much. Once you’ve sandwiched them all together, bury them in vanilla sugar to coat the entire outside.

Almond Lemon Cake

2007-07-10T18:29:00.000+08:00

Does anyone remember watching ‘ Love Actually’? It’s a 2003 production with an all (English)- star cast including Hugh Grant (my favourite actor of all time!) Colin Firth and Emma Thompson. I watched it for the 100th (ok, I exaggerate) time last weekend. It was hilarious! It’s a blockbuster film that explores the ups and downs of relationships in the weeks building up to Christmas.

Boyfriends and girlfriends, husbands and wives, fathers and sons and rock stars and managers all combine to make ‘ Love Actually’ not just one story but ten very different ones. I enjoyed it tremendously with my family, even though there were bits where I had to ask the kids to shut their eyes. It was one of the few movies we brought home to watch over the school holidays. Yes, School Holidays are here, YAY!! I just love it when I can spend days on end with my children, it’s a luxury that I indulge in, even though it means putting blogging, housework, and everything else aside for a while.

Oh, if you haven’t watched ‘Love Actually’, watch it, it’s a really worthwhile film. Why, any film with Hugh Grant is a worthwhile film. We watched ‘Music and Lyrics’ ( Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, my favourite actress) recently and it was so funny, at least I thought it was funny even though the reviews weren’t that fab. Well, the girls and I have a heap of activities that we’ve planned for the next two weeks, so if I am a little slow coming by to say hello or answering any questions or e-mails that you might send me, please excuse me.

Today’s recipe of ‘Almond Lemon Cake’ is adapted from the April 2007 issue of Gourmet Traveller,and is inspired by London’s River Café. I love this Golden fragrant Lemon cake with its sandy texture from the addition of Polenta. Ricotta cheese and honey also add interest to the beautiful flavour. This cake is originally served with roasted Plums, and since I’ve never been big on cooked fruit, I have omitted it from the recipe.

ALMOND LEMON CAKE
Serves 10 (this recipe may be halved)

450g salted butter
450g caster sugar
6 eggs
450g almond meal
225g fine polenta
Finely grated rind of 4 lemons
Juice of 1 lemon
400g ricotta
2tbsp honey
Icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 160C. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy, and then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the almond meal, and then add polenta, lemon rind and juice. Add the ricotta ad honey and stir until just combined, trying to keep walnut size lumps of ricotta throughout the mixture.

Spoon the mixture into a lightly greased and baking-paper lined 26cm-diameter cake pan. Bake for 1 hour or until golden and a skewer withdraws clean when inserted. Cool completely in the pan before turning out and serving, dusted with icing sugar.

Christmas in July

2007-07-02T11:28:00.000+08:00

Do you celebrate Christmas in July? In some parts of Australia and New Zealand where Christmas falls in the summer, and July is one of the coldest months, ‘ Christmas in July’ parties are held to mimic the traditional northern Christmas. Some traditional Christmas activities are difficult to have in the December summertime (such as heavy meals with roasted meats and heavy sweets like Sticky Date pudding) so these may be held in July instead.

In the Unites States, ‘Christmas in July’ is known as ‘Holiday in July’ and is an unofficial holiday exploited as a marketing opportunity. Stores have ‘Christmas in July’ sales. Still, some individuals do choose to celebrate the time themselves typically as an intentionally transparent excuse to have a party. Whether you celebrate Christmas in July or in December is not the important issue, what is important is if you actually know the true meaning of Christmas and it’s significance. See here for answers to these questions.

I personally celebrate Christmas in December, but if you were like me, you wouldn’t wait for Christmas to enjoy ‘Christmassy’ desserts! Warm saucy puddings are the way to go especially when you’re experiencing the height (or what feels like..) of winter. My favourite pudding of all time happens to be Stephanie Alexander’s ‘Sticky Date Pudding’ adapted from this book.

I found that baking the pudding in paper muffin cases were less fiddly when it came to serving and it also used less baking time, 15 minutes to be exact. To be on the safe side, though, do the skewer test as oven temperatures vary. For first timers on this blog, I always use Salted Butter in Baking, if this idea seems too strange to comprehend, go ahead and use the unsalted kind, it WILL matter to me, just make sure I don’t find out about it! HA!HA! (I can almost hear my daughters say, “not funny, mom’” as they look at each other, shifting their eyes from side to side) I reduced the sugar content from 170g to 150g for the pudding, as the toffee sauce will make up for it and more. One very important tip is this: leave the chopped dates to soak in the bicarbonate soda and boiling water for at least twenty minutes, this will guarantee a moist pudding. Good Luck!

STICKY DATE PUDDING

170g pitted dates, chopped
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
300 ml boiling water
60g salted butter
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
170g Self- Raising Flour
½ tsp pure vanilla extract

TOFFEE SAUCE

400g brown sugar
1 cup thickened cream
250g salted butter
1 vanilla bean, split

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter and line an 18cm square cake tin. Mix the dates and bicarbonate soda; pour the boiling water over and leave to stand. Cream the butter and sugar till light and pale, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold the flour in gently, and then stir in the date mixture and vanilla. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 30-40 minutes or until cooked.

To make the Toffee sauce, bring all the ingredients to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean. Pour a little sauce over the warm pudding and return to the oven for 2-3 minutes for the sauce to soak in. Serve warm with extra sauce and double cream or vanilla ice cream.

A Celebration of the Lemon

2007-06-25T02:27:00.000+08:00

Have you ever heard the saying, “When Life gives you a lemon, make lemonade”? This is good and well because what it means is ‘Make the best you can out of a bad situation’. I don’t know when this saying came about, but the humble Lemon is one of the most versatile fruit with a myriad of uses. Thus the negative connotation associated with the lemon is really invalid. Besides Chocolate, the Lemon is my next favourite ingredient in sweets. The brilliant Lori Longbotham, author of ‘Luscious Chocolate Desserts’ also devoted a whole cookbook to lemons entitled ‘Luscious Lemon Desserts.”

Used in cuisines around the globe, the lemon is a common sight in both the finest produce market and the cheapest corner store, and is essential to haute cuisine as it is to home cooking. Along with its versatility in cooking, the lemon has been known for it’s medicinal powers. In the 19th Century, the lemon was used in treating medical conditions including enlarged spleen; it has been recorded as a treatment for wounds and skin eruptions, a cure for kidney stones and prevention for scurvy.

The lemon has long been used in the home for much more than cooking purposes. For amazing household uses for lemons and lemon juice see here And this book, tells of the extraordinary uses for the lemon, amongst other ordinary things. For example, did you know that you could get rid of mineral deposits and polish chrome by simply rubbing a piece of lemon rind over it? Watch it shine after rinsing and drying with a soft cloth.

Have you ever gone to the fridge to get some lettuce for a sandwich only to find a soggy mess? Don’t throw it out. Add the juice of half a lemon to a bowl of cold water. Then put the soggy lettuce in it and refrigerate for an hour. This will crisp up the lettuce leaves. Make sure you dry the leaves completely before using it.

In the laundry, lemon juice is a safe and effective fabric whitener when added to your wash water. Your clothes will also come out smelling fresh! Now wait for it, you can also use lemon juice to lighten age spots. Before buying expensive medicated creams to lighten unsightly liver spots and freckles, try this: Apply lemon juice directly to the area, let it sit for fifteen minutes and then rinse your skin clean.

Ok, I LOVE Lemon, we have established that, so I won’t get carried away any further. Today I am sharing with you a recipe for Lemon Cake with a Crunchy Topping adapted from ‘Sweet and Savoury Bites’ by Jane Price. This is the first recipe that I have tried from this book and it was absolutely brilliant. In fact, it’s one of the best tasting cakes I’ve made in awhile. Try it and let me know what you think.

LEMON CAKE WITH CRUNCHY TOPPING
Serves 8-10
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes

250g (9oz) salted butter, softened
200g (7oz) caster (superfine) sugar
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
4 eggs, lightly beaten
250g (9oz/2 cups) self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp lemon juice

CRUNCHY TOPPING
110g (3 ¾ oz/ ¼ cup) sugar
60ml (2 fl oz/ ¼ cup) lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 170C (325F /Gas 3). Lightly grease a 22cm (8 ½ inch) square cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar in a small bowl using electric beaters until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the lemon zest, then gradually add in the egg, beating thoroughly after each addition. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Using a large metal spoon, fold in the combined sifted flour, baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt, as well as the lemon juice. Stir until the mixture is just combined and almost smooth.

Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the tin and turn out onto a wire rack. To make the topping, mix together the sugar and lemon juice (do not dissolve the sugar), and quickly brush over the top of the warm cake. The juice will sink into the cake, and the sugar will form a crunchy topping. Cool.

Strawberry Tart with Creme Patisserie

2007-06-17T00:50:00.000+08:00

Have you ever heard the saying, ‘The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree?’ Well, I’m afraid to report that there is some truth to that. I’ve been downloading stuff from the Internet onto my blog this whole week. I’ve become my Dad! I’m a gadget junkie! I’ve downloaded visitor counters, music from Sonific, and most importantly, my favourite song of all time, ‘True’ from Spandau Ballet. I’ve tried to download more songs, but have been unsuccessful. The how-tos are still too complicated for me. The thing is, I find myself LOOKING for things to download. I just hope this isn’t becoming a new obsession! Yikes!

Today, I’m presenting a recipe for a Strawberry Tart with Crème Patisserie, you can use other berries that are in season, if you like. I used Mulberries from my dad’s tree once, and it turned out really well. An idiosyncrasy of mine, if you don’t already know it is that I use Salted Butter for all my baking. I just prefer the overall outcome. There’s a more rounded taste to the baked goods, if you know what I mean, and it doesn’t leave me craving for something savoury after I’ve finished Dessert!

I’ve used a Rich Shortcrust pastry also known as ‘ pate brisee’ for the base of the tart. It has a higher proportion of fat compared to the basic shortcrust pastry and it’s made with an egg yolk and chilled water.

STRAWBERRY TART WITH CRÈME PATISSERIE
For the Crème Patisserie
3 egg yolks
¼ cup caster sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp plain (all purpose) flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups milk
2/3 cup double cream

400g strawberries, hulled and halved, then tossed in a 2 tsp caster sugar

For the Pastry
2 cups plain flour
12 tbsp chilled salted butter, diced
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp chilled water

To make the pastry, sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix the egg yolk with the chilled water and sprinkle over the dry ingredients. Mix to a firm dough. Put the dough on to a lightly floured surface and knead for a few seconds, until smooth. Wrap in clear film and chill for 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the fridge and place in between two large pieces of baking paper. Roll the dough to the shape required, depending on the tin you are using to about 1cm in thickness. Remove the top piece of baking paper and lifting the dough from under the bottom piece of baking paper, ease the dough onto your tin. Still using the baking paper, press the dough lightly on the base and sides of the tin, and then run the rolling pin over the top of the baking paper to neatly trim the excess dough. Wrap in clear film and chill for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Remove the pastry from the fridge and prick the base of the pastry, line with baking paper and baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for 10 minutes more or until the pastry is a nice golden colour. Leave to cool.

Beat the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour, flour and vanilla together. Bring the milk to the boil in a pan. Slowly pour on the egg mixture, whisking all the time. Pour the custard into the cleaned pan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until it has thickened. Return to a clean mixing bowl, cover the surface with a piece of clear film and set aside to cool. Whip the cream until thick, and then fold into the custard. Spoon the crème patisserie into the pastry case and spread out evenly.

Arrange the strawberries on top of the crème patisserie. Refrigerate the tart until ready to serve.

Warm up Winter

2007-06-09T20:44:00.000+08:00

It’s that time of the year again when I crave for casseroles with thick luscious gravies, steamy hot soups, flaming curries and everything that requires the assistance of my deep fat fryer. Winter has slowly but surely set in on us. If you are like me, this is also the time when you get the odd pimple or two, a sore throat, a runny nose as well as a stuffed one, a tension headache and glistening eyes. Why is it that our immune systems fail us at this time of the year?

The answer is quite simple, really. If you believe in the Chinese theory of Yin and Yang, you would understand that our bodies are designed in such a way that it requires a balance in order for us to be in optimal health. In winter when we overload our systems with ‘comfort foods’ such as those that I’ve mentioned, we ‘over-heat’ our bodies so to speak. The untimely pimple and all the other symptoms are our bodies’ way of screaming out its need for ‘coolants’.

What are these ‘coolants’ you may ask. Here in the Rode-Chong household, we come to the rescue with remedies such as ‘Five Flower Tea’, Chrysanthemum Tea, Barley water, Dried Sugar cane water, Grass Jelly water.. The list is endless. If all this seems foreign to you and you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, don’t fret. It’s not Rocket Science. If you do so feel inclined, get to your local Chinese Gourmet store and ask for any of the items I’ve mentioned, say, “ I would like to make.. (Fill in the blanks) could you please point me to the item?” Then get a packet of rock sugar or sugared winter melon strips and you’re good to go. These remedies do come in the form of ‘instant’ sachets but if you choose to go along this path, I am sorry, but you are on your own. JUST KIDDING! But really, you just can’t be sure how much of the real thing there is in those sachets.

All you do now, is rinse the dried herbs (unless you chose to buy a can of grass Jelly, you would cut the jelly into tiny cubes, then add to your pot of boiling water and rock sugar or winter melon strips) under cold running water, then put into a pot and fill with water and rock sugar or winter melon strips. Bring to the boil and simmer. It is as simple as that. Please feel free to email me if you are unsure about anything or everything.

If you simply cannot be bothered (I can think of at least one person here, you know who you are! HA! HA!) to do this, just remember to flush your system with plenty of water. I truly believe that Water is the Elixir of Good Health. Now with this said I feel less guilty in presenting today’s recipe of a ‘Malted Chocolate Pudding’ with melted chocolate and almonds to you. This indulgent winter warmer is adapted from the August 2003 issue of Delicious. The original recipe calls for a mars bar custard and chopped walnuts to be served with the pudding, but I personally prefer melted Valhrona Manjari and sliced almonds.

MALTED CHOCOLATE PUDDING
Serves 4-6

125g salted butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g plain flour
50g malted milk powder
1 tsp baking powder
2-3 tbsp cold milk
1 tbsp cocoa powder (I used Valhrona)
150g milk or dark couverture chocolate (I used Valhrona Manjari)
30g sliced almonds, lightly toasted, to garnish

Grease a 1-litre pudding basin. Place butter and sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift in flour, malted milk powder and baking powder. Add enough milk for a dropping consistency.

Place half the mixture in a separate bowl and sift in cocoa. Place alternating spoonfuls of each mixture in the pudding basin, then use a wooden skewer to gently swirl together. Cover the lid with foil and tie with a piece of kitchen string. Place an upturned plate in the base of a large saucepan and stand the pudding on top.

Pour boiling water into the saucepan to come halfway up the sides of the pudding basin. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and steam for 2 hours. Just before serving, melt the chocolate. Turn out the pudding and serve with the melted chocolate and garnish with the toasted almonds.

A Tribute to you

2007-06-02T15:25:00.000+08:00

As my girls were getting dressed for school this morning, I set out a breakfast of toast, butter and strawberry conserve on the table. Nothing fancy. They are petite little things, my girls, and cannot manage more than a slice of toast or a bowl of Cheerios in the morning. I turn on my Macbook and click on ‘comments’ from my previous post. I have a new comment from Ming the Merciless He writes, “ We need more recipes from you, Carol!” I smile to myself. Ming doesn’t cook a day in his life. I feel a warm fuzzy feeling come through me. This is what blogging has done for me. I have met really beautiful people along the way. I came across Ming’s blog through a comment he left on someone elses’ blog. The pen name ‘Ming the Merciless’ stood out to me because my husband’s name is also ‘Ming’, and he too is known as ‘ Ming the Merciless’. (In his Marketing and Graphic Design Industry.) I never thought that I’d be interested in a blog that wasn’t about food. I have always wanted to visit the US and Ming’s Daily Photo blog has taken me there, well, to New York City, at least.

The girls finish their breakfast and I wash up. I ‘shut down’ my lappie and prepare to send them to school. As the girls chatted along in the car, I pondered on what I had to get done today. There was nothing urgent, I guess, so I decided that I would put up a new post today. I don’t blog as often as I’d like to, because I’m first and foremost a wife and mother, and with that comes the responsibilities which I prioratise. I guess I have come a long way (According to my standards!) since I started blogging and using the computer in December. I managed to set up the Flickr badge with my food photos two days ago without my husband and kids’ help! HOORAY! They are proud of me too. I still have no idea whatsoever about how to highlight blog sites or whatever that I’m referring to on my post so that readers can click on them and be transported to the blog site. BUT I’M SURE SOME REALLY NICE PERSON OUT THERE ON THE BLOGIVERSE WILL CARE TO ENLIGHTEN ME! ( Thanks Tara for educating me! )

I remember feeling very lost when I first started blogging. It was like I was alone in a huge, endless white room with nothing but the echo of my own voice. Then Haalo came by. She was like an ambassador from the Blogospere. I don’t know how she found me, but she was the first blogger to visit and welcome me to food blogging. She made me feel like I was a new member of a club. Haalo’s links took me on an exploration of a bigger food blogging community. I was in awe with Bea, her Food Photography absolutely blew me away. And then there’s JenJen whose blog reflects and embodies her Love of Life. Reading Jenjen’s posts always makes me feel dreamy and warm and for a brief moment, I feel like I’m on a holiday.

We have a long weekend coming up and I can’t wait to spend it with my girls. It would be just the three of us as Ming is going on a hiking trip with his two Business Partners.This will be the third time he’s away from us for a couple of days. Talking about him, he’s just walked in. He looks a billion bucks in his Black shirt and pants and his Grey Versace tie. His grey hair that he refuses to dye makes him look distinguished. He’s had 70% grey in his hair since the age of 20. People who don’t know him well think that he dyed his hair grey deliberately as a fashion statement. The girls and I will miss him but we look forward to when he comes home on Monday because we insisted he took a few days off to be with us to make up for the few days when he’s going to be away.

Recently, I came across Rasa Malaysia, a blog that serves up food that’s close to my heart. I can relate to RM’s heart-warming stories as we share the same culture growing up in Malaysia. And then there’s Melting Wok who ‘speaks’ to me in ‘Singlish’ (a term that refers to the way Singaporean locals speak English) when she comments on my blog, and I play along. More recently, there’s this beautiful french girl, Pom d'api who’s been leaving me sweet comments. Her blog is entirely written in french and I have no idea whatsoever, what it all means. I see pretty pictures of food and so I’ve concluded that we do understand each other. We both speak the language of ‘Yummy’! What I’m trying to say is that blogging has been so much more than an expression of my passion for Food. Thank you so much to all you bloggers out there who have been such an inspiration and encouragement to me. My life has truly been enriched with your friendship and support.

With all that said, I would like to dedicate today’s recipe to you all, it’s the BEST Pineapple Upside-down Cake recipe that I’ve ever tasted. It was given to me by my sister, Jacq who doesn’t cook or bake that often because of her busy and glamourous work schedule, but when she does, it’s always superb! She put this recipe together afer trying a few other recipes that just didn’t ‘hit the spot’! I must apologize for the main photo on this post, the next time I make this cake I will make sure I over-lap the pineapple slices.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Temperature: 170 degrees Celsius
Baking time: Approximately 1hr & 15 mins (if the cake starts to brown too much, cover with foil)
Tin size: 10 inch round

The Topping
1 cup finely packed brown sugar
½ cup salted butter
1 820g pineapple slices (retain juice)

The cake
1-½ cups flour
6 tbsps ground almonds
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups caster sugar
1 cup salted butter (room temperature)
4 large eggs
1tspvanilla essence
¾ cup sour cream

What to do…
Combine the brown sugar and butter in a saucepan on medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add pineapple slices and juice into pan and simmer for five minutes. Remove pineapple slices and arrange around the greased tin, over-lapping the pineapple slices. Leave the syrup to simmer on medium heat to reduce for about ten minutes, then turn off heat and pour enough syrup into tin to just cover pineapple slices. Set aside remaining syrup.

Whisk the sifted flour, almond, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

Seperate the yolks from the whites. Beat egg whites until stiff, and then set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until creamy, then add egg yolks one at a time, beating well in between.
Add vanilla, and then dry ingredients, folding and alternating with the sour cream.

Fold in the egg whites, and then pour cake batter over caramel and pineapple in pan.

Bake for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven and pour a little of the remaining syrup onto the cake. Stand for 10 minutes to allow syrup to soak into cake. (OPTIONAL) Alternatively…

Remove cake from oven and cool slightly for ten minutes.

Turn cake onto a serving platter. Serve warm with Double Cream. (Do not refrigerate cake. Keep for up to 3 days. Cake tastes even better on the second day!)

ENJOY!

Crave: Bean Curd Skin Pork Rolls

2007-05-13T20:37:00.000+08:00

One of my family all time favourite dishes happens to be 'Bean Curd Skin Pork Rolls' or 'Ngor Hiang' as it is called in Cantonese.The crisp texture of the fried Bean Curd skin and the crunch of the water chestnuts along with the flavorsome pork mince makes my tastebuds come alive. This indeed is comfort food that soothes, the something savoury just to make you feel that the world is a safer place when you are tired and stressed.

The recipe may be halved but I always make a large amount and freeze for times when I"m just too lazy to cook. I have listed five spice as an optional ingredient, you may use it if you like, but don't go ballistic as it's flavor is very potent. I choose not to include it when I cook this dish as this is how my children prefer it. As seasoning quantities go,please regard the specifications in my recipe as the merest guidelines as I always marinate my food in "Agaration".( you won't find this word in Wikipedia or any dictionary, this word is made up by me, Carol Rodé, from the malay word 'agak- agak' which means 'approximate' or 'guesswork' HA!HA!)

Having said that, my recipes are tried and tested over and over and I serve them with confidence at dinner parties that I so frequently hold. If you have any questions regarding any of my recipes, I would be happy to answer them. You can pose your question in the 'comment' section or e-mail me at this address: carol-rode@hotmail.com

BEAN CURD SKIN PORK ROLLS

Ingredients

• 2 packets of bean curd skin
• 400g pork mince
• 1 carrot peeled, julienned and minced
• 4 stalks spring onion sliced thinly
• 1 small can of water chestnuts, drained and roughly chopped.
• 5 tbsps of oyster sauce
• 2 tbsps of fragrant sesame oil
• 1/2 a tsp of white pepper
. 1/2 tsp five spice (optional)
• 2 tsps of maltose ( use honey if maltose is unavailable)
• Enough Veg oil to deep fry

Method

Mix all ingredients except bean curd skin and veg oil. Cut bean curd skin into approx. 8 cm width strips. Work with one strip at a time – with a clean damp cloth, dab the bean curd skin on both sides to soften and remove excess salt.( be careful , as the bean curd skin tears quite easily.) Rinse the cloth after treating each strip of skin) working with the 8 cm width towards you, place about a heap tablespoon of pork mixture onto the bean curd skin, leaving an edge of about 2 cms.

Roll the skin over the mince 4 times, flattening and smoothing the meat as you go. On the 4 th roll, dab some water along the edge of the bean curd roll to seal. Repeat the process until all the meat mixture is used up. Steam the meat rolls for 4 minutes and drain all liquid. Set aside to completely dry out( about half a hour ).

Heat enough oil to deep fry the meat rolls. When the oil is hot , place a few rolls at a time into the oil and fry until golden brown. This will take no time at all. Remove quickly to prevent over browning. Drain rolls on some kitchen paper and serve immediately along with sliced cucumber and your favorite sweet chilli sauce or fresh sambal blachan with sliced shallots and lime juice ( my absolute favorite)

New look Raspberry Almond Friand

2007-04-26T22:45:00.000+08:00

A couple of weeks back, we were invited to a friend’s home for dinner. I wanted to bake something to bring along with us but didn’t want to fuss about it too much. I had bought my first silicone bakeware recently, and this was my chance to use them, two 6 hole Heart shaped Muffin trays by Willow.

I was shopping at our local Supa IGA when I saw these cute muffin trays. The nice people at Willow had pledged to raise $100,000 for the Breast Cancer Research in Australia with the sales from their new range of ‘Easy Flex’ Silicone Bakeware. I couldn’t think of a better reason to buy these muffin trays.

Of late, I have realized that even though I enjoy baking, I am less inclined to experiment on laborious looking recipes, lovely as they may look. More and more often, I find myself looking in the pantry for ingredients I already have to whip up something quick, yet presentable and delicious

I always stock egg whites and ground almonds, the basis of Friands , and If you’ve read my original post on Raspberry Almond Friands with white chocolate ganache, you would see how easy they are to prepare. This time around though, I diluted the ganache with extra cream to simply drizzle on the friand.

Melting Moments

2007-04-12T10:22:00.000+08:00

For the past three weeks, we have been entertaining one relative or another from Singapore. The house has been busier and noisier than usual, but ‘it’s all good’. My Girls are particularly happy spending time with their pretty 19 year old cousin, ‘Sheryl’ who’s been here for about 3 weeks. She’s leaving to go back to Singapore tomorrow, and she will be missed.

I met Sheryl when she was about 4. I was going out with Ming then, and had visited his family in Singapore. I took an immediate liking for this cheeky 4 year old, who was always trying to melt someone with her pretty smile for a lolly. Being 19, she’s not so fond of lollies anymore, but she had wanted to learn how to make Melting Moments, my ‘Durian Dream Cream Cake’ and Strawberry Tart amongst other things to impress her family ( or was it her boyfriend??.. I forget. Wink-wink.)

We managed to make Melting moments together, but after 4 other relatives arrived, the idea of making the other stuff went out the window. We were just too busy going out, then sometimes coming home to do dinner. I was either too exhausted or fearful of dirty looks being thrown at me for making the whole lot of guests wait while I baked.

Anyhow, this recipe is dedicated to you, Sheryl. I hope you will have fun baking these on your own.

Melting Moments

1 cup butter

4 tbsp sugar

1 cup cornstarch

1 cup plain flour

For the lemon cream filling

¼ cup butter , softened

½ cup icing sugar

2 tsp grated lemon rind

1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180C . Combine the softened butter and sugar in a bowl and beat only until just mixed. Add the sifted flours and beat, again only until just combined. Fill dough into a piping bag and pipe onto lined trays, spacing them about an inch and a half apart as they will expand. Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes or until they are golden.

Remove and cool totally before filling with the lemon cream. To make the cream filling, combine all ingredients and beat to a smooth consistency.

Makes 12

Little Lemon Meringue Cakes

2007-04-04T10:47:00.000+08:00

Hello! fellow bloggers and lurkers! I’ve been M.I.A. for two whole months and am glad to be back. I can’t begin to express how frustrating these two months have been , what with the my laptop charger giving up on me , then realizing that the computer was . contaminated with viruses of sorts after waiting for a new charger to arrive from Melbourne. And now.. (sigh!!) that the computer has been fixed, it’s slower than it’s ever been, I feel like I’ve been ‘Driving Miss Daisy ‘ all morning!

Anyhow, enough whining for now, I think. Today , I’m posting a recipe adapted from Julie Le Clerc’s gorgeous book ‘ Little Café Cakes’. It’s beautiful to look at and tastes absolutely yummy!

Little Lemon Meringue Cakes

1 ½ cups Snowflake self-raising sponge flour

¾ cup caster sugar

150g salted butter, softened

3 eggs, lightly beaten

4 tblsp milk

juice and zest of 2 lemons

lemon curd (below)

meringue (below)

1 Preheat oven to 175C. Prepare 12 paper cases.

2 Place first six ingredients into a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Spoon mixture to ¾ fill cases. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 120C.

3 Once cold enough to handle, cut out a large cavity from the top of each cupcake and discard. Fill cavity with lemon curd. Pipe small mounds of meringue on top of lemon curd. Bake for 10 minutes further to set meringue.

Lemon Curd

75g salted butter

½ cup sugar

Juice and zest of two lemons

2 eggs, beaten

1 Place butter, sugar, lemon juice and zest into a double boiler. Stir over heat until sugar has dissolved. Whisk warm mixture into beaten eggs and return to double boiler. Cook over a low heat until mixture thickens to coat the back of a spoon.

Meringue

2 egg whites

½ cup caster sugar

1. Whisk egg whites until stiff. Add 1 tablespoonful of the sugar and whisk until
incorporated. Whisk in remaining sugar until mixture is glossy.

Makes 12

Luk Yu Tea House

2007-02-01T12:13:00.000+09:00

In one of my previous posts entitled 'Mango Pudding' , I mentioned tasting the best Dim Sum I've ever had when I was on holiday in Kuala Lumpur. I'm featuring the Tea House, today, namely Luk Yu Tea House , situated at the very trendy Starhill Gallery in Bukit Bintang.
As I said, we were brought there by my aunt, Julie Kim, an entrepreneur with a taste for the finer things in life. I can always count on her to know the best places for anything and everything. Aunt Julie owns and operates an oriental style antique and objet d'art store in 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Damansara and busy as she is , she always takes time out to entertain us 5 star style.
Anyway, before I continue, I must tell you that the words 'Dim Sum' should actually spell 'Tim Sum' meaning 'to touch the heart' in Cantonese. And never say "Let's have Yum Cha" because the words 'Yum Cha' means ' to drink tea'. The correct way to say it is, "Let's have Tim Sum" ie 'food that touches the heart'. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, we can continue.
Luk Yu's decor is reminiscent of the 50's Chinese Coffee shop and they serve everything you've ever had at a Tim Sum Tea House and much more. To start off, they have approximately 15 different if not more, varieties of Chinese teas to choose from ranging from RM 3 to RM 10 per serve. Then, you look around and you see waiters dressed in traditional 'Sam Fu' , white mandarin collared shirts and black baggy pants , one or two carrying large kettles of hot water ready to refill your teapot.Luk Yu has an open kitchen concept and food is made to order, you won't see push trolleys with bain -maries anywhere. As you can imagine, the food is served piping hot fresh, and believe me when I say the Tim Sum is very refined and delicate, nothing like the stuff we get here. I guess you will only know the difference when you make a taste comparison. It's like they say, ' there's no substitute for quality.

Spicy Lemongrass and Curry Leaf Tiger Prawns

2007-01-31T00:02:00.000+09:00

One of the most memorable dinners we had during our vacation in Singapore was at the home of our dear friend Jeffrey Lim aka "Ah Lau" to his childhood friends. I was told by Ming that the nickname "Ah Lau" meaning 'old man' stuck because Jeffrey had a tendency to whinge a lot as a kid.The funny thing was, the nickname was given to him by his own mother, the brilliant lady that cooked us that awesome dinner.
Of all the dishes Mrs.Lim served us, I was especially impressed with this dish. She generously shared her recipe with me and now I'm sharing it with you.

You will need..

1/2 kg Large Tiger Prawns, cleaned, shell intact
1/3 cup chopped lemongrass
3 stems of curry leaves, stems removed
1 birdseye chilli, sliced finely
3 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1tsp sugar
2tsp chicken powder
1/3 cup full cream fresh milk
11/2 tbsp vegetable oil for stirfrying
4tbsp vegetable oil for shallow frying

How to..

Heat the 4tbsp of oil and shallow fry the prawns on both sides. Remove and set aside.
Remove some oil leaving only about 1 1/2 tbsp in the wok. Put the shallots, garlic, chilli, lemongrass and curry leaves into the hot wok and stir till fragrant.
Add friend prawns, sugar and chicken powder and stir for about ten seconds before adding the milk
Add in the milk and stir until most of the milk has been absorbed. Remove and serve immediately

Pressie Show and Tell

2007-01-30T23:31:00.000+09:00

On a recent business trip to Indonesia, My sister Jacq came across these gorgeous food covers at a trendy up market homeware store called 'Anteak'. We've been looking around for food covers for the longest time and the ones we found were mostly tacky to say the least. Anyway, she carted 6 home, three for me and three for herself. Thanks Jacq!xo

Pandanus Chiffon Cake

2007-01-28T15:33:00.000+09:00

We had a quiet day at home on Australia Day, Ming went to run a quick errand for my Dad who's away in Kuala Lumpur while the kids and I stayed home .I finished off the book covering 'chore' for the girls and then we put the Butter pecan ice cream mixture we prepared the day before into my smart looking 'Krups' ice cream maker. We watched in anticipation as the 'krups' started churning. 20 minutes later we had an unmemorable tasting butter pecan ice cream. It was too oily, and lacking in flavour. The abandoned ice cream took its place in the bin and the disinterested children and their father went to do their own thing. The Family project was over. I cleaned up the ice cream stuff and thought to myself, 'how uneventful, I have no Australia Day ice cream to post'.
So, I looked in my fridge and pantry to see what I could whip up , and there sitting in the corner of the pantry was the new Pandanus essence I brought back from Singapore. Why not? After all, Australia is a multi cultural country, I can make an Australia Day Pandanus Chiffon Cake. Objections, anybody? I thought so.
This recipe was given to me by my friend, Erica Usher, the mother of the young connoisseur I was telling you about a couple of posts ago. I used 1 teaspoon of pandanus essence instead of the required 1 tablespoon because I had not tried the essence before and since my previous attempt with another brand was a disaster ( I had to bin it) , I thought that the worst that could happen was that I'd end up with a less flavoursome cake. Anyhow, It turned out ok, so maybe I will use 1 tablespoon of pandanus essence next time. You can decide for yourself.

You will need...

5 eggs, separated
100g caster sugar
100g 'Snowflake Sponge Self Raising Flour
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tbsp pandanus essence (I use Indonesian brand 'Koepoe-Koepoe')
100ml coconut milk
120ml vegetable oil

How to...

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff, leave aside
beat egg yolks with sugar until thick, add flour, oil, coconut milk and pandanus essence. Fold into egg whites
Pour into 'pandan cake tin' ( angel cake tin ) Do not grease tin
Bake in a 150 degrees celsius fan forced oven for 35 minutes
As soon as you take the cake out, invert the tin and allow the cake to cool completely inverted.

My House Pig

2007-01-27T22:42:00.000+09:00

I don't actually have a pig at home. I'm referring to my younger daughter, Paige. She's been away from me since 9 o'clock this morning and she's sleeping over at a friend's house tonight. I happen to be a clingy, over-protective parent. What am I to do? I just prefer it when my children are around me. I know, I know , - I have to learn to let go, but maybe not today though.
When Paige was about two, she had a huge appetite. As soon as she finished her meal, she would eyeball ours. That's how the pet name 'house pig ' came along. She's 10 now, slim and has lost her huge appetite. She's a feisty child with attitude aplenty. I wish she was here to drive me nuts today.

Chloe's Peanut Buttercups

2007-01-26T00:17:00.000+09:00

My daughter Chloe seems to be following in my footsteps. She loves baking amongst a whole lot of other things. When we were on our vacation in Malaysia and Singapore recently, I was'nt the only one doing the shopping at Baking shops. Chloe got herself some chocolate molds and cups. She even got some stickers printed - 'Delicious' by Chloe Chong , to stick on her baked goods when she wants to give them as gifts! Chloe sure is like her mommy!

Mango Pudding

2007-01-25T22:19:00.000+09:00

Last Sunday we had lunch at a Dim Sum Tea House in the city. Frankly, I was'nt keen on having dim sum, not after tasting the most beautiful and delicate dim sum during my recent visit to Kuala Lumpur. I just did'nt want to spoil that memory. But for some reason, my husband Ming was quite adamant that it was what he wanted for lunch that day. So, Dim Sum it was, and "Eew" is all I can say. I hardly ate that afternoon.
Molly, my daughter Paige's "bestest" friend was with us. She wanted Mango Pudding for dessert, and I knew that the place we were at served a nasty (and I mean that literally, not 'nasty' as in 'good' in today's 'modern ' English) mango pudding. The main ingredient in their mango pudding is custard powder. Need I say more? Anyhow, I must tell you that Molly isn't any ordinary 10 year old. She's the youngest food connoisseur I know, and I did'nt want her to have a lousy mango pudding. So, I promised her that I'd make her some soon. 'Soon' happens to be today.
Before I continue, you must be wondering why we had lunch at that particular dim sum Tea House if the food was that bad. The truth is, it's one of the best dim sum places in Perth. It's just that , after I had that oh so refined dim sum in Kuala Lumpur, this one just was'nt worth visiting, not for awhile, at least until my taste buds forget....
Ok, this mango pudding recipe was given to me by a wonderful lady, Mrs. Betty Khoo. Friends like her are like "hugs from God". Do you know anyone like that? Well, when I was pregnant and very sick, so much so the hospital was my second home, she came by every day without fail with food for Ming and myself. I’m one of those unfortunate women who throw up about every 15 minutes and am bed-ridden throughout pregnancy. Well ‘Aunty’ Betty has been like a mother to me since my own mother passed away 14 years ago. So, Aunty Betty, this posting is dedicated to you.

What you need..

3 Large Ripe Mangoes
1 Litre quality Vanilla Ice Cream
3 packets Aeroplane ‘mango mania’ jelly crystals
600ml. boiling water

How to..

Empty the three packets of jelly crystals into a bowl with the 600ml of boiling water and stir until the jelly crystals dissolve.
Dice 2 mangoes into tiny cubes and puree the last mango.
Mix the diced and pureed mangoes together with the ice cream in a bowl , then pour in the jelly mixture and stir well.
Spoon pudding mixture into serving bowls and refrigerate until set and ready to serve.

What more could I ask for?

2007-01-23T23:23:00.000+09:00

Going back to my Food Adventures in Kuala Lumpur, I thought I should give 'House & Co. a bit of a highlight. Why? Because they have two of my pet passions under one roof - Homewares and Beautiful Food! House & Co. is situated in Bangsar Shopping Centre, better known as BSC, in an area favored by European Expatriates.
My Dear Aunt Julie , a woman with exquisite taste for the finer things in life was the one who brought us to this place. Unfortunately, the homewares section displayed a "no photography" request. I'm sure the management has good reasons for this . I was , however, able to take a couple of photos of the delightful local fare we had there.
House & Co. stock items from local and imported Objet d'art, one-off furniture pieces, glassware and ceramic tableware to trendy cotton Bedlinen. In a sentence, it's a one stop giftshop. Now, here's some eye candy for you!

Raspberry Almond Friands with White Chocolate Ganache

2007-01-21T20:38:00.000+09:00

Did I ever mention that I have a small group of family and friends over every friday or saturday (sometimes both days!) for Gin Rummy? Yup! I'm an avid gambler too. Just Kidding! Gin Rummy is just an excuse for us to catch up and eat cake. The stake is only $10 each, the evening is filled with laughter and at the end of the game , the winner goes home with about $70 or $80 !
So Friday is Baking day because of Gin Rummy. When I don't have a lot of time on my hands I always make Friands because they are quick and easy to make. My 13 year old daughter Chloe made some recently for her teacher as a thank-you gift. Oh, before I forget, don't be alarmed to see "salted butter" in the recipe. I ALWAYS use salted butter in my cakes and cookies. It's just one of my idiosyncrasies in Baking!

For the Friand..

. 185g salted butter, melted
. 6 egg whites, lightly beaten
. 1 cup icing sugar
. 1 cup ground almonds
. 2 tsp vanilla extract
. 1/2 cup Sponge Flour
. 1 cup raspberries

For the White Chocolate Ganache..

. 160g white chocolate
. 3 tbsp thickened cream

Preheat oven to 190C and grease friand tin.
Place all ingredients except raspberries into a large bowl and stir till combined.
Spoon mixture into friand tin, 1/2 full and top each friand with 3 raspberries.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Stand the friands in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out to cool on a rack.
Melt the white chocolate and cream in a microvave, stirring every 10 seconds till it reaches a smooth consistency.
Leave the ganache to cool for 15 minutes before popping in into the fridge.
Stir the ganache every 15 minutes to prevent it from setting.
When the ganache is firm, ( about 45 minutes) remove from fridge.
When the friands are completely cool, spoon a dollop of ganache on the top and dust with icing sugar.

Makes 12

New kid on the blog

2007-01-18T01:33:00.001+09:00

Hi! My name is Carol and I live in Western Australia with my husband Ming and my two gorgeous girls Chloe and Paige. I’m a 38 year old spring chicken (after all, you’re only as old as you feel and age is only a number!) who’s just called truce with the computer, the internet, and the web. You see, up until Tuesday, I was computer illiterate and could’nt care less, but because of my love for food and my passion for cooking and baking, I finally caved in and got my dear friend Deon to show me how to work this damned machine. I must say that at this point in time, I have finally made peace with the computer and it’s allies though I must stress that because I’m new at this, I will take longer than most bloggers to put up new posts and photos.

Who am I? I’m a homebody (if there’s such a word!) because my whole life revolves around my wonderful husband and two girls. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret that I never went to University or never completed my hospitality course and never had a career. If I could turn back time, I would do this all over again, because I was made for this. I just LOVE looking after my family, making a beautiful and comfortable home for them, cooking and baking for them.

When I have some alone time, I spend it watching movies, reading foodie magazines and more recently, food blogging. I also have another passion,- art and crafts. I have a studio where I do ceramic painting, mosaic mirrors and chandeliers made from recycled copper cables. But that’s a whole separate blog! I love dining out with family and friends, trying out new restaurants then coming home and experimenting on the tasty dishes I tried based on memory of the taste and flavors.

When I feel the need to splurge, I visit homeware shops.This is because besides loving to cook, bake, dine out etc. I have a weakness for kitchen stuff and Egyptian cotton bedlinen. This ‘weakness’of mine more than rarely causes my husband Ming to be nervous. He ‘fondly’ refers to the objects of my weakness as “doodads” and himself as the “cash-cow” cum “camel”. Why “camel” you ask? He says it’s because he has to carry all the shopping too!

Well, before I finish off with this introduction, I’d just like to say that I have started this blog so that I can share my recipes and family life with anyone who bothers to read about them. On some occasions, this blog will be an outlet for my whining and whingeing . Most Importantly though, this blog is for keeping in touch with old friends and possibly making new ones. Thanks for visiting!

Hello Kuala Lumpur!

2007-01-17T22:10:00.000+09:00

We were greeted with a hot steamy bowl of crabmeat sharksfin soup for supper on our arrival at Gasing Hill where we were staying. This was the real Mc Coy, - not the new agar-agar based imitation, and at RM 12.00 each, it was a real steal! Dad brought out the Martell VSOP and we all (except for Ming , my sweet other half, who wheezes at the whiff of alcohol ) added a dash of it into our bowl of comfort. This is the way to start a holiday!

Our Holidays are very much about eating, and I make no apologies for that. There’s this Restaurant in New Town Petaling Jaya that you should visit if you are in the area, Sri Karak but beware of Market Price Seafood dishes. Always ask to view the seafood item that’s been weighed and the price for the dish before placing your order. If you do this, I assure you , you and your tummy will be very happy. Sri Karak has a wide selection of local favourites at very reasonable prices, its clean and air-conditioned.

Food is not just a survival necessity in Malaysia, eating is a cultural aspect. We even eat as we are shopping, and that is why you will see quaint little food stalls lined up amidst boutiques and departmental stores.

Babi Chin (Fragrant Nyonya Pork)

2006-12-06T10:13:00.000+09:00

It’s Thursday today and that means an early finish at school for my girls. I’m glad I got tonight’s dinner out of the way, mainly because I want to do some ‘potato couchin’ and watch the final episode of a Korean soap I’ve been following. What’s more, it’s a humid 31 degrees Celsius today and I don’t take the heat very well. It’s best to do a quick number while its still cool.

I got a slab of belly pork out of the freezer this morning, which means 'Babi Chin' (Fragrant Nyonya Pork) was going to be the main fare for tonight's dinner. I cook this dish when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to fuss about too much in the kitchen but that's not the best thing about it, the best thing is, it's absolutely delicious and the kids cannot resist digging into it way before dinner!

Being a first timer on the blogging scene, I would be thrilled to receive any feedback after you’ve tried this recipe.

Babi Chin
(Fragrant Nyonya pork)

You will need…

. 1kg skinniest belly pork you can find

. 1½ cups thinly sliced shallots

. 6 cloves of garlic thinly sliced

. 4 star anise

. 2 tbsps. Coriander powder

. 1½ tbsps. Knorr chicken powder

. 2tsps. Sugar

. ½ tsp. white pepper

. 1½tbsps. dark soy sauce

. 1½ tbsps. Soy caramel

. enough hot water to just cover the pork

. 3 tbsps. Vegetable oil

Let’s start!

Cut up the belly pork into bite size chunks, leaving the rind on. Heat a medium sized pot on the fire then drizzle in the oil. Add the sliced shallots and garlic and stir till fragrant. Now add the star anise and coriander powder and stir to combine. Continue to stir for about 20 seconds to release the flavours and aromas.

Add the belly pork chunks, stirring to avoid any sticking. Next, add in the chicken powder, sugar, white pepper, dark soy and caramel. Continue stirring to combine all the ingredients. Finally, pour in enough hot water to just cover the pork. Give the pot another quick stir, then bring to the boil.

Turn the flame down to low and simmer the pork, covered for about 2 1/4 hours till tender. After cooking, leave the pork to rest at room temperature for about 2 hours for the flavours to develop further. Reheat the pork before serving on a bed of steamed jasmine rice.