Easily Good Eats

Mocha Meringue Recipe

2013-05-15T15:49:00.001+02:00

Mocha Meringue

These meringues are the chewy type, actually the very chewy type. I suppose if you bake longer, it will get more crispy, but I didn’t try this.

I find standard meringues to be overly sweet so I used less sugar, and it turned out fine.

By the way, perhaps I am a little biased but these meringues look like something sitting on the side of the road that you don't want to eat, let alone step on. Once you get over the hesitation and actually try it, you won't be disappointed. I am referring to the mocha meringue, in case this was not clear.

Adopted from Emeril Lagasse and Cadbury Kitchen

Ingredients

1 egg white

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa, sifted

½ teaspoon instant coffee

¼ teaspoon white vinegar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 120°C/250°F

2. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

3. Add sugar a little at a time and continue beating until sugar has dissolved.

4. Gently fold in cocoa, coffee and vinegar.

5. Place the mixture on a sheet of baking paper. Bake for 45 minutes, turn off oven and let meringues cool in the oven for 1 hour. Do not open the oven door while the meringues are cooling.

Mocha Meringue

Blood Sausage / Black Pudding Sausage Roll Recipe

2013-05-12T19:05:00.001+02:00

Black Pudding Sausage Roll

Or you can call it black pudding wellington, it sounds more gourmet and complex! Its anything but complex.

Making black pudding sausage roll is far easier than making regular sausage roll. You need 2 ingredients and get a delicious result with minimal effort. Though not so delicious if you don’t like blood sausage.

Even though I didn’t add anything to the black pudding, it wasn’t dry. Have it as is, or with some hot sweet sauce.

I haven’t given any amounts in the recipe. You can add more or less sausage depending on availability and preference.

Ingredients

Blood sausage/black pudding

Puff pastry

Directions

1. Dice the black pudding. About 1cm cubed should be sufficient.

2. Lay the mixture along the centre of the pastry.

3. Roll up the pastry around the black pudding mixture as tightly as possible.

4. Bake at 200°C/400°F until golden brown and delicious, about 20-25 minutes

Black Pudding Sausage Roll

Easy Smoked Fish Cake Recipe

2013-05-06T09:37:00.001+02:00

Smoked Fish Cake

This was my first attempt at making fish cakes. I never realised it was so easy to make.

The original recipe suggested pureeing the fish, but I preferred chunky bits. There is no binding agent like eggs so the cakes are quite delicate. You will not be able to hold it in your hands, let alone use it as a hockey puck. But its delicious when eaten with a fork.

This is part of the Secret Recipe Club. Recipe source: Cook Book of Trial and Error

Ingredients

350g peeled potatoes

75 ml milk

350g smoked fish

15 ml lemon juice

5 ml dijon mustard

115 g breadcrumbs

Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with water and cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain, mash with milk and season to taste.

2. Dice the smoked fish. Add it to the mashed potato, along with the lemon juice and mustard. Mix well.

3. Shape the mixture into fish cakes and coat with crumbs. Chill for about 30 minutes

4. Shallow fry the fish cakes until golden brown on each side

Semolina Yogurt Cake Recipe

2013-04-04T20:31:00.001+02:00

Semolina yogurt cake

I made this cake 3 times in 2 weeks. Firstly because I bought a lot of yogurt, I couldn’t walk away from a good deal. Secondly, and equally important, this is delicious. The cake is super moist, and semolina gives a fantastic soft gritty texture. Thirdly, and less important, some eggs needed to be used up, because I couldn’t walk away from a good deal.

Semolina yogurt cake goes by various names, basbousa, samali, harisi, rava, revani… There are probably slight differences, some use milk, others use yogurt. To keep things simple, I call mine semolina yogurt cake.

Semolina yogurt cake

Ingredients

1 cup semolina

½ cup sugar

1½ cup yogurt

½ cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

For syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Juice from ½ lemon

Directions

1. Beat eggs and sugar until sugar has dissolved

2. Add yogurt and oil and mix well.

3. Add all the rest of the ingredients and mix to combine

4. Line a 8×8 pan with baking paper and pour batter in it.

5. Bake at 175°C/350°F until golden brown and delicious, about 25-30 minutes.

6. To make the syrup: Boil water and sugar for 3 minutes. Add lemon juice and boil for further 3 minutes. Let it cool completely

7. Pour the cold syrup over the warm cake. Let it cool completely, or chill, before serving

Semolina yogurt cake

Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

2013-03-24T18:57:00.003+01:00

Chicken Tikka Masala

National dish of Britain? Debatable. There seems to be more claims that this dish was invented in Britain rather than India. However the name doesn't sound very British. Technicalities aside, this is delicious.

Going through various recipes, I discovered there are two approaches for preparing chicken tikka masala. One approach involves marinating the chicken, grilling it and then dousing in sauce. Sounds great but too much effort. I preferred the second approach, cooking everything together.

I’ve already posted a recipe for butter chicken/murgh makhani. Chicken tikka masala does not seem to be too different, except for the origin of the dish.

Recipe source: BBC Good Food

Ingredients

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

25g butter

4 onions, roughly chopped

6 tablespoons chicken tikka masala paste (see recipe below, or use store bought)

2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2.5cm cubes

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

4 tablespoons tomato purée

2-3 tablespoons mango chutney

150ml double cream

150ml natural yogurt

Masala Pasta

5 garlic cloves

1 large knob of fresh root ginger, roughly chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons coriander

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garam masala

Seeds from 4 cardamom pods

Directions

1. Heat the oil and butter in a large casserole

2. Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for 15-20 minutes until soft and golden. Add the paste and peppers and cook for 5 minutes

3. Add the chicken and stir well to coat in the paste. Cook for 2 minutes, add the tomatoes, tomato purée and 200ml water. Cover and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked, about 15-20 minutes.

4. Add cream, yogurt and mango chutney and warm through

5. To make the curry paste: Blend all the ingredients together with a small amount of water or oil to make a paste. Store in a fridge for up to 1 week

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

2013-03-17T21:05:00.001+01:00

Chocolate Cheesecake

This is the first time that I tried chocolate cheesecake. It is quite a nice alternative to the regular cheesecake.

Melted chocolate and cream cheese taste a bit like nutella, I think so anyway, not that I eat nutella. Perhaps if you have nut allergy and can’t eat nutella, try chocolate and cream cheese.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Adopted from my earlier recipe for Dulce De Leche Cheesecake and Kraft

Ingredients

⅓ cup (40g) almond meal

¾ cup (105g) plain flour

¼ cup (55g) caster (superfine) sugar

90g butter, chopped

225 grams (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

225 grams (8 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate, melted, cooled

4 eggs

Directions

1. To make the base, place the almond meal, flour, sugar and butter in a bowl. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until a rough dough forms.

2. Line the base of a 20cm-round springform tin with baking paper. Place the base mixture into the base and flatten. Bake at 150°C/350°F until light golden, about 12-15 minutes.

3. Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla until well mixed

4. Add chocolate and mix well.

5. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and mix well

6. Pour the batter over the base

7. Bake for 45 minutes or until the center is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Orange Olive Oil Polenta Cake with Orange Glaze Recipe

2013-03-10T20:18:00.001+01:00

Orange Olive Oil Polenta Cake

I had to do this, to try an olive oil cake. I’ve read lots of rave reviews on the flavor that olive oil imparts, and at the same time I wonder why I don’t see olive oil cake in cafes and supermarkets. Maybe it’s because we are still getting used to savoury ingredients in sweet items.

Anyway, this cake is delicious, moist and orangy! But I didn’t notice any olive oil flavor, even though I used a really fragrant olive oil. In future if I wanted to have a cake with some olive oil flavor, I would use olive oil in the frosting or drizzle.

Orange Olive Oil Polenta Cake

Ingredients

3 orange (about 500 grams in total)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

1 cups sugar

½ cup flour

1 cup polenta

1 cup almond meal (or use polenta instead)

1 teaspoon baking powder

Orange Glaze

Orange juice

Sugar or golden syrup

Directions

1. Boil 2 oranges in water for an hour, ensuring that the oranges are totally covered at all times. Once boiled for an hour, drain and let it cool to room temperature

2. Cut oranges into quarters, remove any seeds and puree it in a food processor

3. Whisk the eggs, sugar and olive oil until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture turns pale. Add the orange puree and mix well

4. Add polenta, almond meal, flour and baking powder, and stir until just combined

5. Lightly grease a round 20cm cake pan.

6. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake at 160°C/320°F for an hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

7. To make the glaze, extract orange juice from 1 orange, mix with sugar/syrup to get the desired amount of sweetness. Cook over medium heat until it thickens slightly.

Goulash Recipe

2013-03-03T23:17:00.002+01:00

Goulash

This goulash tasted good, and it was easy to prepare.

Recipe adopted from Dancing Veggies. As you guessed from the title of the blog, it’s a vegetarian website but my version has pork. The ‘original recipe’ was made with kielbasa style tofurkey sausage. Unfortunately I didn’t have any tofurkeys lying around so I substituted with pork. Amanda from the blog calls her version “The Goulash Gone Vegetarian”. I perhaps should call mine “The Goulash Gone Back to Original”!

I have made something similar with chickpeas and its absolutely delicious. So if you want to have a vegetarian goulash and don’t have any tofurkeys lying around, substitute with chickpeas, tofu or something along those lines. It won’t disappoint, just don’t try serving it to Hungarians.

This recipe was prepared as part of The Secret Recipe Club.

Goulash

Ingredients

500 grams pork cut into 2 inch pieces

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 kg tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

½ cup stock

½ tablespoon Hot Hungarian Paprika

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon cayenne powder

1 teaspoon fresh pepper, plus more to taste

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the pork and cook until it starts to turn brown.

2. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions turn soft.

3. Add the tomatoes and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently to help the tomatoes break down and to prevent sticking.

4. Turn heat to high and add the stock along with the spices, bringing to a quick boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Caramelised Onion Sourdough Bread Recipe

2013-02-21T22:37:00.001+01:00

Caramelised Onion Sourdough Bread

Caramelised Onion Sourdough Bread Recipe

The few times that I had onion bread, I loved it. I wonder why it is not more popular considering that onion is not an expensive ingredient.

Caramelised onions add nice flavor, aroma and moistness to bread.

I've read about two ways of preparing onion bread. One method involves sautéing the onions. The other method involved baking the onions in an oven until it turns dry and golden.

I have only tried the first method but the second method sounds pretty appealing as well since the onions may retain a bit more texture.

Caramelised Onion Bread

Adopted from Food.

Ingredients

2 cups proofed sourdough starter

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

¼ cup water

3 cups flour (plain, whole wheat, oat or a combination)

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Add oil to frying pan and heat over medium high heat. Add onions and sauté, stirring regularly, until onions start to turn soft. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook until onions turn golden. Let it cool

2. Mix all the ingredients together

3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until well combined and dough is slightly elastic

4. Shape into a loaf or place in a loaf tin

5. Let it rise until it has doubled in size. It may take a couple of hours, or longer

6. Make diagonal slashes in top of loaf with a razor blade or very sharp knife.

7. Bake at 190°C/375°F until done, about 40 to 50 minutes

Caramelised Onion Bread

Chocolate Orange Cake with Chocolate Orange Sauce Recipe

2013-02-11T21:36:00.000+01:00

Chocolate Orange Cake with Chocolate Orange Sauce

This is a different and nice cake. I used orange juice instead of milk, resulting in a cake with a fudgy texture, nice flavor and a way to use up orange juice.

The orange flavor is subtle. Add orange zest or orange liqueur if you prefer a stronger orange flavor. The sauce also has a subtle orange flavor, and its not overly sweet.

Chocolate Orange Cake with Chocolate Orange Sauce

Adopted from my earlier recipe for red wine chocolate cake

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1-1½ cups sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

4 heaped tablespoons cocoa

1 cup oil

1½ cups orange juice

2 eggs

1½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Orange Sauce

200ml orange juice

20ml cocoa

40ml golden syrup

8ml corn flour

Directions

1. Heat oven to 175°C/350°F

2. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

3. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in large bowl.

4. In a separate bowl beat eggs, sugar, orange juice, oil and vanilla until sugar has dissolved

5. Fold in the flour mixture. The batter will be thin.

6. Pour the batter into prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

7. To make the sauce, add all the ingredients to a saucepan and heat through until the sauce thickens to the desired consistency

Chocolate Orange Cake with Chocolate Orange Sauce

Oreo Cookies Recipe

2013-02-03T21:56:00.004+01:00

Oreo Cookies

The cookies in the picture don't look like real Oreo's, but the taste is pretty close, except for the cream. I didn’t make the cream as suggested in the recipe below. Instead I filled the cookies with a simple custard.

Did you know that Oreo is the best selling cookie in the US? In China, Oreo's were introduced in 1996, and by 2006 it became the best selling cookie. The Chinese Oreo has lower sugar content. There was a marketing campaign to educate Chinese consumers about the American tradition of pairing milk with cookies. I thought this was brave, considering that most Chinese people are lactose intolerant. One study even estimates that up to 90% of adults are lactose intolerant.

If you want to try something different, consider Coconut Oat Oreo Cookies. Personally I prefer this version, it has coconut and oats in it.

OREO Cookies

This recipe was prepared as part of The Secret Recipe Club.

Recipe source: Life of a Modern Housewife

Ingredients

2 ½ cups flour

½ cup cocoa

½ salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream Filling

1¼ teaspoon unflavored gelatin

2 tablespoon cold water

½ cup shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2½ cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. To make the cookies

2. Heat oven to 175°C/350°F

3. Mix flour, cocoa, and salt

4. In a separate bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix until well combined

5. Add flour mixture and mix well

6. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface

7. Cut cookies and freeze for five minutes.

8. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool completely before filling with cream.

9. To make the cream filling.

10. Combine the gelatin and water in a small bowl. Place the bowl into a larger bowl of hot water and leave it there until the gelatin is completely dissolved

11. Let the gelatin mixture cool to room temperature

12. In a medium bowl beat shortening until fluffy. Add vanilla and mix well. Add sugar a little at a time, beating until the mixture comes together.

13. Add gelatin and mix well. Use immediately, or store, well-wrapped at room temperature.

OREO Cookies

Black Pudding Potato Cakes with Tomato Chili Chutney Recipe

2013-01-29T20:12:00.000+01:00

Black Pudding Potato Cakes with Tomato Chili Chutney

British food usually does not get people excited. I love British food, but it seems many people find it bland and boring. This black pudding potato cake is perhaps one of the attempts to modernize British food. You probably think this is just black pudding and potatoes, shaped and fried. You are right, but at least its progress.

It goes without saying that this dish is great. Black pudding and mashed potatoes are great on their own, combining and shallow frying it is a different way of having the same thing. Plus by making cakes you can add other ingredients to the mixture such as cheese, onions or bacon.

Sweet, acidic and spicy sauce is a great accompaniment to black pudding. If you can't be bothered making the chutney, use thai sweet chilli sauce.

One issue is getting the right amounts of black pudding and mashed potatoes. I modified the recipe by increasing the amount of black pudding. Black pudding is mild tasting, too much potatoes is probably not a good thing. If in doubt use more black pudding.

Black Pudding Potato Cakes with Tomato Chili Chutney

Adopted from BBC Good Food

Ingredients

200g black pudding, diced

400g cold mashed potato

½ bunch spring onions, finely diced

½ small onion, finely chopped

125g cherry tomatoes, quartered

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

Powdered chili, to taste

1 tablespoon plain flour

2 tablespoons oil

Directions

1. To make the chutney: heat vinegar, sugar and 1 tablespoon water, mixing to ensure that the sugar dissolves

2. Add the onion and chili powder and cook until onion softens slightly, about 1-2 minute

3. Add the tomatoes and cook until it starts to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool

4. To make the potato cakes: Mix the mashed potato and spring onion and add salt and pepper to taste

5. Add black pudding and mix gently

6. Shape into 4 - 6 patties and dust it in the flour

7. Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the potato cakes until browned, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Add more oil if necessary, especially when turning over the potato cakes

Black Pudding Potato Cakes with Tomato Chili Chutney

ANZAC Biscotti Recipe

2013-01-27T22:09:00.000+01:00

ANZAC Biscotti

Well this does not quite have the characteristics associated with ANZAC cookies even though similar ingredients are used. ANZAC cookies are crispy and chewy, these ANZAC biscotti’s are just crispy. But still very very delicious. And if you are calorie or fat conscious, you will notice that there is no butter used in the recipe.

Just like ANZAC cookies, these biscotti’s don’t keep for long. Its difficult to stop eating until they are all gone.

ANZAC Biscotti

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup desiccated coconut

2 eggs

¾ - 1 cup sugar (original recipe suggests 1 cup, I prefer less)

1 tablespoon golden syrup

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 160°C/325°F

2. In a bowl, mix flour, rolled oats and coconut.

3. In another bowl, beat the sugar, golden syrup and eggs until pale yellow.

4. Add the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

5. Divide the dough evenly into 2 equal mounds and place on the prepared baking sheet. With moist hands, space the dough evenly apart and form into logs.

6. Bake until lightly browned, about 25-30 minutes.

7. Cool for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs crosswise into ¼ - ½ inch thick diagonal slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the same baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are pale golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

ANZAC Biscotti

Orange Crumb Cake With Almond Cinnamon Crumb Topping Recipe

2013-01-24T21:32:00.000+01:00

Orange Crumb Cake With Almond Cinnamon Crumb Topping

This is an interesting recipe. The liquid in the cake is orange juice instead of the usual milk. It worked, but without the crumb topping this would be an ordinary cake, not that there is anything wrong with an ordinary cake.

The cake is really moist, and the chopped almonds in the crumb gave it a nice crunch. This is probably not the right place to have a discussion on healthy cakes, but crumbs instead of frosting is lower fat, and healthy, for those of you who think fat is unhealthy. Most importantly, it is delicious and making the crumb topping requires hardly any additional effort.

Orange Crumb Cake With Almond Cinnamon Crumb Topping

Adopted from Southern Food

Ingredients

1 cup flour

½ cup sugar

¼ cup butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

½ cup orange juice

2 tablespoons almond, either flakes, chopped or meal

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 175°C/350°F

2. Combine flour, sugar, and butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles bread crumbs

3. Measure ½ cup of the crumb mixture and move to a separate bowl. Add almond meal and cinnamon to this mixture and mix well

4. To the other crumb mixture add baking powder and blend well.

5. In a bowl beat egg, orange juice and orange zest until well combined. Add the crumb mixture containing baking powder and mix to combine. Do not overmix

6. Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square baking pan.

7. Sprinkle the almond cinnamon-crumb mixture over the batter. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Orange Crumb Cake With Almond Cinnamon Crumb Topping

Orange and Soy Glazed Baby Back Pork Ribs Recipe

2013-01-20T22:33:00.001+01:00

Orange and Soy Glazed Ribs

This is a simple recipe that takes time, but your patience is rewarded with sweet salty glazed fall of the bone ribs.

I simplified the original recipe that came from The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen. I am certainly not claiming to improve the recipe in my own test kitchen, just taking short cuts and simplifying it. The original recipe suggests cooking the ribs in part of the glazing liquid and draining the liquid. The remaining glazing liquid is reduced and used for glazing. I used all the glazing liquid to cook the ribs and reduced it. The result was still marvelous.

By cooking ribs in the glazing liquid and reducing the same liquid, you keep all the meat juices. On the other hand if you throw away the liquid in which you cook the ribs and reduce just the glazing liquid you get a cleaner flavor, free from the meat juices. I don't know which is better or worse but I was quite happy to reduce the effort required. I hope I haven't confused you.

Recipe adopted from The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen

Ingredients

3½ pounds pork ribs

1½ cups fresh orange juice plus zest from 1 orange

1 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons honey

9 garlic cloves, minced

5 teaspoons cumin seeds

3 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in a large pot and add enough water to completely cover the ribs.

2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until ribs are tender, about 1½-2 hours. Leave the lid slightly open

3. Remove the ribs. Boil the glazing liquid until it is thick

4. Heat a broiler. Place ribs on a baking sheet, brush with thickened glaze and place under the broiler until the glaze starts to dry out. Brush more sauce and keep repeating until the sauce is used up

Orange and Soy Glazed Ribs

Salted Peanut and Raisin Cookies Recipe

2013-01-13T20:23:00.000+01:00

Salted Peanut and Raisin Cookies

I love eating salted peanuts and raisins together. The sweet and salty combination is a delight, just like peanut butter and jam sandwiches. On Wikipedia I came across the term Gorp, short for "good old raisins and peanuts", a trail mix made with peanuts, raisins and M&M's. I decided to make Gorp cookies, minus M&M’s.

These cookies are different from Fah Sang Pen, the traditional Chinese New Year cookies. Fah Sang Pen is made with ground peanuts, does not have raisins, but sounds absolutely delicious too. Perhaps a future project! For now I am sticking with M&M-less Gorps. Trying saying this quickly three times. However you won't have any difficulties in eating these.

A useless thought. Since peanut is not a nut but a legume does it mean you can eat peanuts if you allergic to nuts?

Ingredients

1 cup flour

½ cup sugar (use 1 cup if you prefer ‘normal’ level of sweetness)

1 egg

½ cup oil or butter

½ cup salted roasted peanuts (optional: coarsely chopped)

½ cup raisins (optional: coarsely chopped)

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Heat oven to 180°C/360°F

2. Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda

3. In a separate bowl beat oil, sugar, egg and vanilla until sugar dissolves and the mixture turns pale

4. Add flour mixture and mix well

5. Stir in peanuts and raisins

6. Place balls of dough about an inch thick onto a baking tray, flatten and bake until golden brown and delicious, about 12 - 15 minutes

Salted Peanut and Raisin Cookies

Kung Pao Pork Recipe

2013-01-10T21:28:00.000+01:00

Kung Pao Pork

Traditionally chicken is used to make Kung Pao but there is nothing wrong in using pork. Pork is closer to chicken compared with other meats such as lamb, beef or dog.

Little bit of history. According to Wikipedia Kung Pao chicken, also known as Gong Bao chicken, is believed to be named after Ding Baozhen, a late Qing Dynasty official, a one-time governor of Sichuan. His title was Gong Bao, hence Gong Bao chicken.

Kung Pao pork may sound complex but it is quite easy to prepare. The list of ingredients includes ‘exotic’ items such as chinkiang vinegar. Don’t be alarmed, you can easily substitute with everyday ingredients to get the desired sweet, sour, salty and spicy combination. The most important ingredient is Sichuan peppercorns. There is no substitute that I am aware of. Of course you can make the dish without it but it will not be the same. The American version does not use Sichuan peppercorns since it was illegal to import it from 1968 until 2005.

Don’t let the long list of ingredients discourage you. When I see recipes with many ingredients I usually try to avoid it. I try to stick with recipes that have single digit number of ingredients but this one has about 20 items, though some of them are repeated. When you take a closer look, it is not complex. You first mix all the marinade ingredients and that takes care of 5 items. You mix and set aside the sauce ingredients and that takes care of a further 7 items. You are then left with just a few items. Once you make the sauce and marinade mix, the rest of the dish is like preparing a simple stirfry. If you want you can exclude all the marinade ingredients and cook the pork without marinating it. I think the difference will not be much. It is probably best to deep fry the pork in this case.

Recipe adopted from With a Glass. The serving size is two.

Ingredients

About 160-200 grams pork, diced into 1½ cm cubes (or enough pork for two persons, any cut of pork will do)

5 spring onions (white parts) cut into 1½ cm pieces

3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh ginger

2 tablespoons oil

Minimum 10 dried Sichuan chilies or any chili will do

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns

2-3 tablespoons peanuts or cashew nuts, roasted (or preferably raw nuts deep fried in oil)

Marinade

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine (or white wine)

1½ teaspoon corn starch

1 tablespoon water

Sauce

3 teaspoons sugar

¾ teaspoon corn starch

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

3 teaspoons Chinkiang vinegar (substitute with other vinegars such as red wine/red rice/balsamic/apple cider)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons chicken stock or water

Directions

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl, add pork and let it marinade for at least 30 minutes

2. In a separate bowl mix all the sauce ingredients

3. Heat oil in a wok over high heat, add chilies and Sichuan peppercorns and cook until crispy and aromatic, but not burnt

4. Add pork and cook until almost done, then add ginger, garlic and spring onions and cook until pork is done

5. Add the sauce to the wok, stirring continuously.

6. When sauce becomes thick, add the peanuts or cashew nuts and remove from heat. Kung Pao Pork is now ready to wok and roll

Kung Pao Pork

Sticky Fudgy Fig Chocolate Pudding Recipe

2013-01-08T21:02:00.003+01:00

Sticky Fig Chocolate Pudding

As the name suggests this pudding (or cake) is sticky and fudgy. Figs and chocolate is a great combination.

Sticky puddings are generally served with toffee or butterscotch sauce, which is a rich and delicious concoction of sugar, butter and few other ingredients. I decided to choose a lighter option, crème anglaise, to keep my teeth and heart intact! I have included the recipe for toffee sauce as well in case you want to keep things traditional. Be warned: if you have sticky pudding with toffee sauce you may feel your teeth rot with every spoonful!

Ingredients

½ cup butter (or oil)

1 cup sugar (increase to 1½ cups if you prefer normal sweetness)

¼ cup golden syrup

20 dried figs, finely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

For Crème Anglaise

1 cup milk

3 large egg yolks

3 tablespoons sugar

½ vanilla bean

For Toffee Sauce

½ cup butter

2 cups dark brown sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 180°C/360°F. Grease a 7 by 11-inch baking dish.

2. In a medium saucepan, bring the figs and 2 cups water to a boil and simmer over medium heat until almost all the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Puree the mixture (optional)

3. Beat the butter with the brown sugar and vanilla extract until the mixture is creamy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time and continue beating until the mixture is light, about 3 minutes.

4. Add the fig mixture, flour, cocoa and baking soda and mix well

5. Bake until the fig cake is done. It should be springy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes.

6. To make crème anglaise: Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. In a saucepan heat milk and seeds from the vanilla pod. Once heated gradually add milk to the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sauce thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 5 minutes. Strain sauce.

7. To make toffee sauce: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, add the brown sugar and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream, bring to a boil, stirring once in a while over moderate heat until it starts to thicken, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. Keep warm.

Sticky Fig Chocolate Pudding

Dried Fig Red Wine Jam Recipe

2013-01-06T20:55:00.002+01:00

Dried Fig Red Wine Jam

This recipe uses dried figs instead of fresh figs. Dried figs are cheaper and easier to find. The fact that it is cheaper does not make the jam any less delicious, on the contrary the flavor could be more intense. This is my guess, I haven't compared jam made from fresh and dried figs.

This jam will go well with certain cheese, on toast, in baking, as a sauce to accompany certain meats or on its own. Anyway you have it, it will be delicious. It is sweet but not overly sweet, and the crunch from the seeds is a real bonus.

The original recipe suggests port wine but I substituted with red wine since thats what I had. You don't have to use red wine, you can substitute with water.

Dried Fig Red Wine Jam

Adopted from Emeril Lagasse’s recipe.

Ingredients

1½ cups red wine

½ cup water

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

170 grams/6 ounces (or about 1 cup packed) dried figs, stems removed and cut into ½ inch pieces

Directions

Add wine, water, sugar and cinnamon to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat
Cook until reduced slightly, about 8 minutes
Add figs and return to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, or until figs are tender and liquid has reduced to a syrupy consistency
Remove from the heat, puree the mixture (optional) and allow the jam to cool
The jam will keep for up to 2 months, refrigerated in a nonreactive container. Time will tell whether it lasts that long.

Hervé This's/Heston Blumenthal's White Chocolate Mousse Recipe

2013-01-01T14:59:00.002+01:00

White Chocolate Mousse

"I invented it — but it was so easy, I'm embarrassed!"

Hervé This, Wired magazine, 2007.

Hervé, a French chemist, is considered the father of modern gastronomy and apparently he is the source of inspiration for Heston Blumental. Hervé invented a mousse recipe, calling it chocolate chantilly. His recipe contained just two ingredients, chocolate and water. Recipes don't get too much simpler than this. You only need to buy (or borrow or steal) chocolate.

Mousse made this way has a much stronger chocolate flavour since there is no cream used. Water has a neutral taste and does not dilute the chocolate flavour.

You probably think that you should not mix chocolate and water. Water makes chocolates seize, becoming grainy or lumpy. That’s correct but if water and chocolate are heated together, it becomes a simple and delicious chocolate sauce. If this sauce is whisked over ice it becomes mousse.

I slightly modified the original recipe, replacing dark chocolate with white chocolate. The result was excellent. Even though the chocolate has been diluted with water the mousse was still pretty sweet.

I made this recipe couple of times but the result was not 100%. I learnt my lesson. For white chocolate you need to use less water compared with dark chocolate. I kept whisking over ice expecting the mixture to turn into mousse. It turned thick but not into mousse. I put the mixture in the freezer but it didn’t firm up. However leaving the mixture in the refrigerator did the trick. It firmed up after a little while. So if your mousse seems runny, don’t be alarmed, add more chocolate or it should firm up after spending time in the refrigerator. The original recipe suggests dark chocolate. I suppose dark chocolate will produce a better result, it will turn into mousse during whisking and you won't need to refrigerate.

The recipe is almost fool proof, you cannot spoil the ingredients. If for some reason the mixture turns grainy, reheat it. If the mixture is too runny, reheat it with more chocolate. If the mixture is too firm, reheat it with more water. If anything goes wrong, just reheat and start over again. If it does not work out, you will end up with delicious chocolate sauce.

Recipe modified from here. You can watch Heston Blumenthal preparing this mousse here.

Ingredients

½ cup water

225 grams white chocolate

Ice cubes

Directions

Add water and chocolate to a saucepan over low-medium heat and whisk continuously until the chocolate has melted
Place the saucepan over a bowl filled with ice cubes and whisk
Keep whisking. The mixture will thicken, having a texture similar to thick cream, then it will get thicker. If the mixture does not firm up, place in refrigerator.

White Chocolate Mousse

Herring Omelet Recipe

2012-12-27T20:17:00.004+01:00

Herring Omelet

Nice, easy and nutritious dish. Of all the fishes, herring has one of the highest levels of omega 3. Omega 3 is good for your brains.

Even though herring is one of the healthier fishes, it is quite reasonably priced. Good things don't necessarily have to be the most expensive all the time. The less awareness there is of herring and its benefits, the better it is for us!

Herring Omelet

Ingredients

About 100 grams herring, fresh or smoked, diced into cm squares

2 eggs, beaten

¼ onion, finely diced

Oil

Directions

Add oil to non-stick frying pan and place over medium high heat
Add onions and cook until tender. Reduce heat to medium
Mix together eggs and herring, add to frying pan and cook until the bottom starts to turn brown. Turn over and cook the other side.
Add salt and pepper to taste

Puff Pastry White Chocolate Cookies Recipe

2012-12-20T22:16:00.003+01:00

Puff Pastry White Chocolate Cookies

Just two ingredients are required to make these cookies, and cookie or cake mix is not one of them. These are incredibly quick and easy to make. Spread the puff pastry with chocolate, roll, cut and bake. That’s pretty much the whole recipe in one sentence.

You will end up with cookies that are buttery and crispy, flavoured with slightly caramelized white chocolate.

The French make something called a palmier. Palmiers are made with puff pastry and sugar, and the cookies are shaped like a palm tree or elephant ear.

I didn’t give any measurements in the recipe below. You can decide how much chocolate to use. I generally prefer less sweet desserts so I spread the chocolate sparingly. But you can be as generous as you want.

A tip for melting white chocolate. Place chocolate in a bowl and put it in an oven that has been heated to about 50°C/120°F and turned off. This method takes time but requires no attention, and there is no risk of burning, either yourself or the chocolate.

Puff Pastry White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

Puff pastry, thawed if using frozen pastry

White chocolate, melted

Directions

Heat oven 200°C/390°F.
Melt the white chocolate
Spread the white chocolate over puff pastry, leaving about a centimeter border at the end of the pastry
Roll up the pastry. Chill the pastry if it is too soft
Cut the rolled pastry into ½ centimeter thick slices
Place the sliced pastry on baking paper, place another sheet of baking paper on top and flatten it either by pushing down with the palm of your hands, or using a rolling pin. Aim for about 1-2 millimeter thickness
Bake until golden brown and delicious, about 10-15 minutes

Puff Pastry White Chocolate Cookies

Crème Caramel Recipe

2012-12-19T09:43:00.001+01:00

Crème Caramel

This is a lighter recipe that uses milk instead of cream. Many of the recipes I saw online used milk instead of cream. I don’t know the history of crème caramel but I presume it was initially made with cream but now the milk based versions are becoming more popular. I have never tried crème caramel made with cream but I think I would prefer the milk based version because of lightness.

I've also tried crème caramel made with oat milk and the result was absolutely fantastic. I preferred the oat milk version. In addition to bringing extra flavour, oat milk also added a bit of color.

Recipe Source: Mary Berry

Ingredients

For the caramel

160g/6oz sugar

6 tablespoon water

Unsalted butter, for greasing the ramekins

For the custard

4 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

25g/1oz sugar

600ml full-fat milk

Directions

Heat oven 150°C/300°F. Warm the ramekins in the oven, so they are warm when the caramel is poured in.
First make the caramel. Pour the sugar and six tablespoons of water into a clean stainless steel pan.
Dissolve the sugar slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon over a low heat.
When there are no sugar granules left, stop stirring and boil until the sugar turns a dark copper colour.
Remove immediately from the heat to ensure the caramel does not burn. Quickly pour the caramel into the warmed ramekins. Set aside to cool and become hard. (Do not put in the fridge because the sugar will absorb moisture and go soft and tacky). Once hard, butter the sides of the ramekins above the level of the caramel.
For the custard, whisk the eggs, vanilla extract and sugar together in a bowl until well mixed.
Pour the milk into a saucepan, gently heat over a low heat until you can still just dip your finger in for a moment, then strain the milk through a fine sieve onto the egg mixture in the bowl.
Whisk together until smooth, then pour the mixture into the prepared ramekins.
Stand the ramekins in a roasting tin and fill the tin half-way with boiling water from a kettle.
Cook in the oven for about 20-30 minutes or until the custard has set. Do not overcook the custard – check around the edges of the dishes, to make sure no bubbles are appearing.
Take the crème caramels out of the oven, remove the ramekins from the tray and set on a cooling rack. When cool, transfer to the fridge overnight so that the caramel is absorbed into the custard.
To serve, loosen the sides of the custard by tipping the ramekin and loosen with a small palette knife round the edges. Place a serving dish on top of the ramekin and turn upside down.

Crème Fraiche Fish Mousse Sauce with Pasta Recipe

2012-12-16T21:31:00.004+01:00

Cremé Friache Fish Sauce with Pasta

This is a really quick and easy dish. The fish is pureed before serving and this completely elevates the taste. It is surprisingly different, and arguably tastier, than having 'unpureed' fish with crème fraiche or smetana. I knew pureed fish would taste different but I didn't expect it to be this different.

Some people may scream at the thought of pureeing an expensive piece of fish. But we puree fish in our mouth, so I had no issues with pureeing it before eating.

I’ve tried this dish with salmon, canned tuna and herring. My favourite is salmon, followed by canned tuna and herring taking last spot, unfortunately. Herring is still delicious, though not as delicious as salmon or tuna.

Ingredients

About 120 grams finely diced fish (such as salmon or herring) or small can of tuna (185 grams)

¼ cup smetana or creme fraiche or thick yogurt

¼ onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon oil
Lemon juice (optional)

Directions

Heat saucepan over medium heat and sauté onions until they turn soft
Add garlic, sauté for couple of minutes. Don’t let it turn brown
Add fish, salt and pepper and cook until the fish is done. Add lemon (optional). Cremé fraiche is already tangy so you may not need lemon.
Add smetana and puree the mixture. I used a hand held stick blender

Smetana Fish Sauce with Pasta

Swedish Red cabbage (Rödkål) Recipe

2012-12-13T23:02:00.001+01:00

Swedish Red Cabbage (Rödkål)

This braised red cabbage dish is usually part of the Swedish Christmas table. Its popular in other Scandinavian countries. I also heard that Germans prepare something similar, and I presume other European countries make some version of it. There are many different versions made in Sweden. The recipe below comes from Per Morberg, a Swedish actor, chef and news presenter.

Braised red cabbage might sound dull and boring. Not this version, the sweet and acidic flavours are quite addictive. I couldn’t stop eating them. The salad is quite refreshing, and of course cabbage is good for you as well.

I wasn’t sure whether I found the cabbage a bit too sweet for my liking, I am undecided. That’s just my personal preference, I might prefer slightly more acidity and less sweetness. Next time I will half the about of syrup.

Swedish Red Cabbage (Rödkål)

Adopted from recept.nu

Ingredients

1 red cabbage, about 0.5 kg

1 onion

2 apples

4 tablespoons syrup or honey (you can use syrups such as maple, dark or golden)

4 tablespoons red currant jelly (or any other jelly such as strawberry or raspberry)

2 tablespoons cider vinegar (or substitute with red wine or balsamic vinegar)

5 pcs cloves, ground

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Shred the cabbage.
Peel and slice the onions and apples
Heat butter over medium high heat in a large saucepan
Sauté cabbage, onions and apples until onions turn soft
Cover and cook until cabbage turns tender
Add jelly, syrup or honey, vinegar, water, and cloves and cook uncovered for a further 5 minutes
Add salt and pepper to taste