White Chocolate n’ Almond Blondies

Christmas is just around the corner and I was planning to make some Christmas goodies from the Christmas recipe books that I bought last week. There are a few Christmas recipes that I wanted to do and I already listed into my “to do” list.

My first Christmas goodies this week was **White Chocolate n’ Almond Blondies**from Taste.com.au – The Very Useful Christmas Book. You can also get the recipe online here.

The aroma of the blondies was strong which make me mouth watering while baking. Hehe… I helped myself with 2 of the biggest slices after it was done! A sinful craves… ashamed after I had it. =( Nevertheless, more fitness class to attend!


Ingredients

75g unsalted butter, chopped
300g white chocolate, roughly chopped
3 eggs
90g castor sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
200g self-raising flour
100g slivered almonds, roughly chopped
100g white chocolate chipsIcing sugar, to dust

What to do

(1) Preheat oven to 175 degree. Lightly grease a 20cmX30cm (base) lamington pan. Line the base and 2 long sides with baking paper.

(2) Melt the butter and chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch water).

(3) Whisk the eggs, castor sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture. Fold in flour. Add the almonds, chocolate chips and stir to combine.

(4) Pour into prepared pan. Using a spatula, spread mixture to the edges. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top has a firm crust.

(5) Cool in the pan, then cut into 15 squares. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Sausage Puff

After baking Chicken Pie , I still had some left over frozen puff pastry in the freezer which I wanted to finish them quickly to save some place for some other stuff (as my fridge is kinda small here). Hence, I made this mini sausage puff for today’s tea.

This is very simple to do which you just need to leave the frozen pastry to thaw for a couple of minutes until it is soft enough for you to roll up the sausage in it. I covered the top with some egg wash and sprinkled some white/ black sesame to make it look good. :P After that, I baked in the oven for 30 minutes and served while it is still hot!

It is so easy to do yet taste so delicious too! Give it a try, you will like it! Enjoy~

Sweet & Sour Chicken

This is my first attempt on Sweet n’ Sour Chicken and I am very happy with the outcome! I love the sauce as it really boosts my appetite. This is very easy to prepare and taste yummylicious. It is really worth to give it a try! = )

Ingredients

500g chicken thigh, sliced

1 can pineapple

2 red chillies, sliced

1 onion, cut into thin wedges

2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 garlic gloves, chopped

Marinade the chicken

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp light soy sauce

1 egg

3 tbsp tapioca flour

Sauce

1 tbsp chilli sauce

3 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp sugar

50ml water (or canned pineapple juice)

What to do

(1) Clean chicken and remove the excessive fats on the chicken thighs. Cut it into smaller pieces.

(2) Season with marinade ingredients for at least 30 minutes. Deep-fry it in the hot oil until golden in colour. Remove from oil, drain well and set a side.

(3) Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the saucepan, add in the chopped garlic, onion wedges and stir-fry till it's fragrant.

(4) Add in sauce mixture and bring to boil. Add in fried chicken pieces, pineapple, red chillies and tomatoes. Stir-fry briskly until well combined.

(5) Thicken with the sauce with some cornstarch (*optional - just omit this step if the sauce already thick).

(6) Dish up and serve warm with steamed rice.

Garlic and Parsley Bread

Garlic bread is my all time favorite and I just love the aroma of the garlic and the crunchiness of the bread. Hmm… yummy! I used baguette bread for my garlic bread but you can make it with other breads. So, choose your favorite!

Oh yeah, I’ve added some parsley as I thought it will look more colorful and I’ve also added some paprika so that it’ll taste a bit spicy. Well, they were great! Crispy and fragrant!!! = )

Ingredients

1 long baguette breads
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
A bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
½ tsp paprika
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

What to do

(1) Slice each baguette diagonally at 1.5cm intervals.
(2) Sprinkle the garlic, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper evenly over each baguette.
(3) Drizzle generously with olive oil and place on a baking tray.

(4) Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until hot and crisp. Serve.

Easy Chicken Pie

I baked these chicken pies last Sunday noon for our afternoon tea. Originally I planned to make the pastry on my own but hubby said doesn’t want to be troublesome so he suggested buying the ready made puff pastry.

Well, I was thinking that it was a good idea too as I can use the remaining puff pastry for other recipes. As for the pie’s filling, I used chicken thighs and marinated for 30 minutes.

The filling...

Ready to go…

Done!

The meat was tender and delicious, the pastry was crispy too! You will need to serve the pies while it was hot if not, the pastry will be soft after a while.

Ingredients

400g chicken thigh, diced
100g vege mix1 medium onion, chopped
100g whole champignons, sliced
1 tbsp corn flour mix with 3 tbsp of water (to thicken the gravy)
1 egg, beaten (for glazing)
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed

Marinade the chicken

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

some salt and pepper to taste

What to do

(1) Heat a non-stick pan with olive oil. Sauté diced onion till it's fragrant and soft. Add the vege mix, whole champignons and continue to cook for a minutes. Stir in the chicken and cook till its juices are sealed in medium heat.

(2) Pour in the corn flour mixture and stir till the gravy is thickened.

(3) Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Invert pie moulds on puff pastry and cut around the moulds to form the lids of the pies. Set lids aside.

(4) Invert pie moulds on puff pastry and cut circles from the edges of the moulds.
Ease pastry circles into pie moulds, making sure there are no air bubbles under the pastry. Trim overhanging pastry with a sharp knife.

(5) Divide chicken mixture evenly among pastry bases.

(6) Brush edges of puff pastry with water and cover pies with puff pastry lids. Firmly press edges of pastry together with a fork. Make some holes on top of the pie by using the fork.

(7) Glaze the pies with egg wash and bake pies at 180 degree for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot!

Stir Fry Instant Noodle

I cooked this noodle as supper for hubby on Saturday night. He doesn’t usually have supper but we had an early dinner that evening. He was yearning for supper and I thought it was a good idea to cook him a “healthy” version of instant noodle instead of those MSG products.

So, here’s my simple supper *Stir Fry Instant Noodle*. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 blocks of instant noodles
1tsp garlic minced
1 small onion, sliced
5 pieces of prawns
80g of chicken thigh, diced
a handful of choy sum
a handful of bean sprouts
1 egg


Seasoning

1 tbsp of kikoman soya sauce
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste


What to do

(1) Bring a pot of water to boil. Toss the noodle till soft, yet not totally cooked.

(2) Heat oil in a wok, sauté garlic and follow by onion till fragrant. Add in prawns, chicken and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add in choy sum and bean sprouts follow by egg. Toss briefly.

(3) Add seasoning and water and bring to simmering. Add noodles and stir-fry until noodles are dry.

(4) Dish out and garnish with chili and crispy shallots.

Pineapple Coconut Muffins

… came across Angie’s recipe and THIS recipe caught my attention immediately! Those muffins look so tempting and beautifully baked and I can’t wait any longer so I decided to bake it immediately. The ingredients are simple and I always stock up all these simple ingredients in my pantry. Hence, everything was ready to go, so was I. = )

This is a brilliant idea! The combination of coconut desiccated + brown sugar + pineapple, they were fabulous! I love it so much! Thanks Angie for sharing such a wonderful recipe. I will absolutely bake these muffins again! (*_*)

Ingredients

220g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
100g sugar
125g unsweetened desiccated coconut flakes
1 egg
50g olive oil
120ml milk
1 can (440g) pineapple, diced

Topping of the muffins
½ tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp unsweetened desiccated coconut flakes

What to do

(1) Preheat oven to 180 degree. Sift flour then add baking powder, salt, sugar, and coconut and mix through.

(2) Beat eggs and then add in oil, milk and pineapple and stir well. Add dry mixture to wet ingredients and combine quickly. Do not over-mix.

(3) Divide the batter into muffin cups, about 3/4 full. Sprinkle the top of the muffins with coconut flakes and brown sugar. Bake for about 25 minutes.

Baked Crispy Fish Finger

It’s been a while since I made something other than finger food! So I’ve decided to make this light fish finger for our movie time on Sunday noon.

You can easily get the ready fish finger in the cold storage but all too often the commercial brands which are high in saturated fat (which is not good for health).

I remember I came across an article that we shouldn’t have the food which has more than 3% of saturated fat. So, here’s the recipe that show how to get prepared the crispy fish in a healthier way. In addition, this is an easy meal to prepare too!

I serve my fish finger with “Lemon and Herbs Peri Peri Sauce” that I bought from Nando few months ago. The sauce gives the fish a savoury taste. It tastes really good!

Ingredients

2tbsp plain flour
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 egg, lightly whisked
70g firmly packed breadcrumbs, toasted
30g finely shredded parmesan (optional)
450g boned skinless white fish fillets
Olive oil cooking spray

What to do

(1) Preheat oven to 220 degree and line an oven tray with non stick baking paper.

(2) Spread the flour on a plate and season with pepper. Use a fork to whisk together the egg and milk in a shallow bowl. Combine the breadcrumbs and parmesan, if using, and spread in a plate.

(3) Cut each fish fillet into manageable portions. Lightly dust the fish pieces with flour. Dip into the egg mixture, allowing any excess to drip off, and then coat well in the breadcrumbs mixture, pressing the crumbs firmly so they stick. Place the coated fish pieces in the lined tray.

(4) Lightly spray both sides of the fish pieces with the olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden, crisp and just cooked through, turning the pieces over halfway through cooking time. Serve.

Raisins Bun

… another bread baking! Raisins are my favorite dried fruits and I wanted to have it for my breakfast so here’s how my raisins bun turned out!

The bread recipe is simple and easy to make. I found this recipe from one of the food blogs – Do What I Like. You can find a lot of goodies in this food blog. Do hop over her blog and enjoy those goodies. Thanks Florence for sharing such a wonderful recipe.

I love the crusty top of the bread. This is how useful the egg wash is! They look so shinny and tempting, right? ^_^



Recipe taken from here

Ingredients

(A)
300g bread
15g sugar
15g brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
10g milk powder

(B)
30g egg + milk = 165g (lightly beaten)

(C)
9g fresh yeast dissolved in 1 tbsp water

(D)
25g butter
75g raisins



What to do

1. Mix (A) in a mixing bowl till well-mixed.

2. Add in (B) and mix till rough dough state then add in (C) and knead till you get a nice dough.

3. Add in the butter, knead till butter is mixed in, then add in the raisins. Knead till you get a smooth and shiny dough which passes the windowpane test.

4. First prove: prove for 60 minutes at about 28C.

5. Division: divide dough into 3 pieces, shape it into round balls and rest dough for 30 minutes.

6. Shaping: shape dough and put dough into loaf pan.

7. Final prove: prove for 50 minutes at about 30C. 8. Baking: bake at 190C for 35 minutes.

Notes: For shiny crust, apply egg white to the top of the final proved bread.

White Chocolate with Dried Fruits Cake

I came across this cooking website and I am “falling in love” with all her delicious and tempting photos of food. I can’t wait to try all the recipes! (kinda greedy… hehe)

Ok, I think I should decide what I am going to try from her list. I chose to bake this “White Chocolate with Dried Fruits Cake”.

This… really taste GOOD! I love the texture as it was so soft and fluffy! As you know I love raisins so this is a PLUS for the cake. Also, I love the dried apricot. The combination was perfect! You should try this out.

This recipe definitely is a keeper for me!

Ingredients

60g white chocolate

2 tbsp milk

200g self-raising flour

2/3 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt1

80g unsalted butter, at room temperature

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp lemon juice

80g dried raisins

80g dried apricot


What to do

(1) Preheat oven to 160 deg C. Grease a 18X8cm rectangular baking pan, line with baking paper.

(2) Melt white chocolate with milk over a pot of simmering water. Set aside.

(3) In a medium bowl, whip butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add melted chocolate, egg and continue to beat until well combined.

(4) Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl, then sift the flour mixture over the batter. Mix until just combine.

(5) Finally add lemon juice, raisins and apricot, stir with a wide spatula until just combine.

(6) Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake turns out clean.

Crusty White Loaf

Baking cheers me up! Even after a long day at work and spending an hour at fitness class, I still feel like doing some baking. = )

I haven’t baked any bread for a while and I just realized that I had a few pack of bread flour still sitting in the pantry. Hence I decided to bake a basic white loaf. It is a simple type of everyday bread and the steps involved in making this bread are very easy too! Well, here you go…

------------------------------------ 20 minutes later ---------------------------------------

The outer layer was crispy and the inner was fluffy and soft. It taste good serve with my favorite blueberry jam as breakfast!

Ingredients

300g bread flour
3g yeast
190ml milk, warmed

What to do

(1) Blend bread flour and yeast in a large bowl.
(2) Add warmed milk and mix to form a dough.
(3) Knead vigorously for at least 10 minutes, until he dough is smooth and elastic.
(4) Place dough into a bowl, cover with a damp cloth and allow to stand in a warm place until double its size (approximately 40 minutes).
(5) Place dough on a floured surface and knead lightly to degas the dough. Shape dough and place in an oiled bread tin and allow the dough to rise (proof) until at least double its size.
(6) Bake in oven at 180 degree for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Pikelets

Pikelet is the best treat for afternoon tea. It is very easy to prepare too! It usually serves with strawberry jam and whipped cream. I did not have whipped cream so I had it with strawberry jam and it taste delicious still. = )

Pikelets ready to serve!

Ingredients

150g self-raising flour

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

36g caster sugar

166ml milk

1 egg

20g butter, melted

Extra butter to grease pan

What to do

(1) Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda and sugar together into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.

(2) Using a whisk or fork, beat milk and egg in a small bowl until combined. Pour milk and egg mixture into the well. Gradually incorporate the flour into the milk mixture, whisking until a smooth batter forms. Mix in melted butter.

(3) Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Lightly grease pan with butter.

(4) Drop tablespoons of the mixture into the frypan. Dropping the mixture from the tip of the tablespoon will give a round shape to the pikelets. Don't overfill the frypan as this will make turning the pikelets difficult. Cook until several bubbles appear on the surface (this should take about one minute).

(5) Turn pikelets over using an egg slice and cook until golden brown. Remove cooked pikelets from pan and repeat with remaining batter, lightly greasing pan between each batch. Serve.

Butter Cake

I baked this cake a couple of days ago and it was awesome! I was craving for butter cake out of sudden and without much hesitation, I decided to bake it immediately!

Going to the oven soon...

Ta da! This is my easy peasy Butter Cake!

While baking, the aroma of the cake was so strong which was extremely tempting. I'm glad that the outcome of the cake was lovely, but it had some cracks though. :P

Ingredients

250g butter
200g castor sugar
4 eggs
200g self-raising flour, sifted with ½ tsp salt
4tbsp fresh milk

What to do

(1) Grease and line a cake tin with greaseproof paper. Preheat oven to 170 degree.
(2) Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
(3) Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is light and fluffy.
(4) Fold in sifted flour gradually and add in milk until well combine.
(5) Pour the mixture into prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked when tested with skewer.

(6) Allow to cool briefly and then turn out onto a wire rack.

Marinara Pasta

On of the lunch meals that I prepared on the weekend was this tasty Marinara Pasta! I came across some Italian cooking websites and saw those tempting pasta photos and I decided to make us pasta for lunch. Yummy! = )

yummylicious!

Ingredients

Spaghetti, amount for 2 people
300g marinara
1 can of tomato pasta sauce
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
Dash of mixed herbs
Salt and pepper to taste


What to do

(1) Boil pasta according to the packet instruction. Drain and set aside.
(2) Heat some olive oil in a sauce pan and fry the garlic til slightly brown.
(3) Add in the marinara to stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
(4) Pour in the pasta sauce, follow by the salt, pepper and mixed herbs. Cook and stirring for 3 minutes.
(5) Toss the sauce through the pasta and serve.

Lemon Chiffon Cake

I was in my baking mood again… I’ve looked through my blog list and I found that I hardly bake chiffon cake. With the plenty of lemons in the fridge, hence I decided to bake lemon chiffon cake for afternoon tea!

Oopsss... a little bit "crack" on top of the chiffon cake...

... but then the chiffon cake tumble down after a while! Looks better huh?! = D

Goodness me! I ate 3 slices at once, still not enough though. (erm... can't have some more as I gotta control my diet! Too bad...)

The cake texture is light, soft and fluffy!

Ingredients

100g plain flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

3 egg yolks

40g caster sugar

50ml olive oil

50ml water

25ml lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

3 egg whites

40g caster sugar

½ cream of tartar

What to do

(1) Sift flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.

(2) Separate egg yolks/whites and bring to room temperature.

(3) Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl, add sugar in 3 separate additions and with a manual whisk, whisk till the mixture becomes sticky and turns pale.

(4) Drizzle in the oil, whisking at the same time till the mixture is well combined. Repeat the same with the water, followed by the lemon juice. Sieve over the flour mixture and whisk until flour mixture is fully incorporated into the batter. Add in the lemon zest and mix well.

(5) In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar, follow by cream of tartar and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

(6) Add the beaten egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.

(7) Pour batter into the tube pan (do not grease the pan). Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.

(8) Bake in pre-heated oven at 170 degC for 45 ~ 50mins or until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

(9) Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let cool completely before unmould. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the pan and the center core. Release the cake and run the knife along the base of the pan to remove the cake.