Cooking Mummy Recipe

Easy Step by Step video on baking Quiche Lorraine

2010-04-12T21:19:00.005+08:00

You must be wondering what have happened to me since my last post. I have not disappeared from the surface of cooking (heaven forbids !) but have been continuously cooking and baking as always. Just that I have not kept up with my Blog posting as I was busy with my work and family.

To make up for my lame excuses (as my son would have put it) , I am endeavoring to create more exciting food and fun with step by step easy video cooking and baking. So you may catch me at my Best or at my Worst and enjoying every minute of it.

Here’s my very first home-made video on YouTube , presenting to you a home cooked delicious Quiche Lorraine after being tempted so many times from Delifrance. LOL, I do so hope that I am one lucky soul who unknowingly stumbled upon the secret recipe !

A warning to those who watch this video would no doubt be tempted to quickly whipped up a Quiche knowing how easy it can be done, not 1 but perhaps 3 to 4 Quiches at one go !!! I actually did 5 Quiches within a span of 2 days , after my sons’ commented how mouth-watering it was . They were begging me for more after watching my Quiche Lorraine video (my little fans !).

If you love to have more of my videos, I would love to hear from you too .

And if you did not manage to get all details of the recipe, do not fret.

Here’s the recipe and let’s start making Quiche ! As usual being the greedy me, I have set aside for 2 eight inch Quiches.

I know you just dying to have it (well I know I am again !)

Ingredients to make the Quiche Dough
- 400g plain flour (sifted)

- 225g butter

- 4 large egg yolk

-1/2 cup chilled water

Steps
1. Add butter to sifted flour

2. Use fingers to rub Butter until it resembles breadcrumb

3. Add in eggs and water

4. Knead the mixture until it becomes a dough

5. Wrap the dough and keep it in the refrigerator for 20mins

6. After 20mins, proceed to rollout the dough.

7. Use the Quiche Pan to cut out the size of dough

8. Press the cut out dough onto the Quiche Pan

9. Use a fork to prick holes on the dough

Ingredients for the Quiche Fillings and Egg custard
- 25g of butter

- 1 chopped cubed onion
- 1 cup chopped cubed button mushrooms

- 1 cup cubed ham

- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

- 5 large eggs

- 1 1/4 cup milk

- 2 tbsp chopped parsley

- 1 tbsp pepper

- 1/2 tsp salt

Steps to make the Quiche Fillings

1. Heat the pan and add in butter

2. Fry the Onion, mushroom, ham and season with pepper.
3. Set aside to cool

Steps to make the Quiche Custard mixture
1. Mix milk and eggs

2. Season with salt and add in chopped parsley

3. Mix well

Steps to make the Final Quiche
1. Add the cooled Quiche fillings onto the dough in the Quiche Pan

2. Add Quiche custard mixure

3. Add generous amount of grated cheese

4. Put into pre-heated oven and bake at 180C for 35mins.

Try making not 1 but 2 and indulge your loved ones with home made Quiche Lorraine. You will be amazed how all would disappeared in no time. Don’t blame me if you are swarmed with more requests !

Pineapple tarts - CNY favourite

2009-01-18T11:59:00.012+08:00

Over the past few days, many households have been busy baking cookies for the upcoming Chinese New Year (CNY). I too, nevertheless jump into the Baking Cookies wagon, like an ALL-too-good-to be true , ahem, "homely" wife. I suddenly feel so "domesticated". LOL

Well, so why all these fuss over Pineapple tarts ? Chinese simply loves golden colour which symbolises prosperity. Hence there is abundance of pineapple tarts each Chinese New Year. Some households even have hanging Pineapple decorations at their front doors. I mean real huge ones, some look like lanterns.

Me ?? I settle for money plant.. hehe

Here's some pictures of the baking process :

So after all this lucky pineapple tarts, let's hope for the upcoming Big CNY TOTO draw .. Fatt Ah !!! (WIN) Imagine $$$. Oh let me sleep on this..

Kueh Bangkit - the coconut flavoured cookie

2009-01-12T23:48:00.007+08:00

I love Chinese New Year cookies. Never one to miss an opportunity to always grab my hands on those delicious tasty kueh bangkit and pineapple tarts. As a kid, somehow I always make sure I have my fill of cookies when house-visiting relatives and stuff myself silly.

Traditionally , this has cookie has always been white. These can be made in different shapes and sizes. I used different shaped cookie cutters and tried using the princer to make the patterns. Mind you, this requires real patience. I started "princing" away energically for the first few. Somehow along the way, my fingers start to quiver, my eyes losing focus.... well, you know the rest.

I simply the love the coconut fragrance especially when freshly baked..

I have obtained the recipe from Aunty Yochana's Kueh Bangkit, but modified a bit to suit my needs. So don't miss out in baking this CNY cookie !

Colourful assorted-shaped Jelly Pudding

2009-01-11T23:19:00.010+08:00

Dessert time.. my favourite,. I made this 1-day in advance for my girlfriend. This is so colour studded that I am abit dazed by it all. Actually, I got carried away by having too many colours.

What I did was to use the ice-cubes tray as a mould for the agar agar. Quite fascinating.

Please do enjoy the colourful assortment !

After the little jellies have set, hehe.. I guess I just got a bit ridiculous.. and added this into a plastic bowl of transparent jelly. So, what you see is a bowl of assorted little ones.

With this, I transported to my girl-friends house. And without Mess.. Here's a picture taken by my girl-friend. How's that for a piece of jello !

Yummy...

Butter Crab - what a delicacy

2009-01-11T22:50:00.013+08:00

Another long time girl friend meet-up at her place on Saturday , 28years relationship...hmm , feel just like yesterday. So what does good friends do when meeting up ? What else .. FOOD !!! the ultimate joy of fellowship.

I decided the best way to impress my girl friend is to cook what she thinks I can't do.. hehe. Well, I have been wanting to cook Butter Crab for quite some time. So why not ? Here's the good refined way of dine and wine with good seafood to go along with.

If I can't beat her in Chinese, I SURE am going to beat her in cooking. :-P . She is the good one while I am the one that Huang LaoShi (Mdm Wong - Chinese teacher) got me to stand behind the class as I couldn't remember my Chinese proverbs.

I must say my girl friend's quiche is very good... oops, should have taken a photo of the food, so delicious and am going to make it one day once I get the full recipe.

What better way to top it up with dessert - colourful agar agar jelly !

Here's the recipe for the Butter Crab.

What is Required

1. 4 to 5 medium-size Mud Crabs
2. 125g butter (softened)
3. 250g cream cheese (softened)
4. 50g Mayonnaise
5. 2 tbsp lemon juice
6. 1 tsp garlic (minced)
7. 2 tbsp cooking oil
8. ½ cup water
9. 2 cup of fresh milk
10. 1 tbsp sugar

How to Do it

1. Heat the wok. Pour in the cooking oil.
2. Once the oil is hot, fry garlic for about 5 secs
3. Add crabs and fry until shells turn slight orange.
4. Add in water and cover the wok for about 5mins
5. Mix the butter, cream cheese and mayonnaise in a bowl and pour into the wok.
6. Add the fresh milk and cover the wok.
7. Let it simmer until the crabs shell is all orange.
8. Once the crabs are cooked, stir in the lemon juice.
9. Add in the sugar and taste.
10. Ready to serve.

Walnut Pear Crumble Cheese Cake

2009-01-01T23:24:00.017+08:00

Here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year , with lots of great Joy, Abundance of Happiness and Good Health !

One of my dearest long-time friend (hmm..was it 20 years frenz ?? Can't help feeling so young all over again) has invited me to her place for a NY gathering. This is an excellent way to share the Mummy's fanatic joy of baking and to get the Golden friends to taste cakes.

Since this is not an occassion to be missed, I set out on a mission to "volunteer" my cake services, not 1 but 2 cakes to flaunt. Zealous as usual ! Such misplaced courage my dear frenz has in my cakes ! Yes, don't tell her that every attempt is an experimentation.. LOL

Isn't it adventurous to try new cakes. Something a bit more up-market.. yeah, Pear Crumble Cheese Cake and another Chocolate Cake. Very Rich and full of goodness for a New Year celebration ! So here I am, all set to bake the most wonderous cakes ever attempted, if you believe me.

My honourable well-wrapped pear crumble cheese cake , all ready to go !

What is Required - to produce the most rich Cheesy Cake with cranchiness toppings

I use an 11 inch square pan

In the picture, I made a last minute change to a pear instead of an apple ! My pear was gettinq quite ripe and hence I made a quick switch.

A) Cake Base
230g Plain flour
150g Butter
100g Sugar

B) Cheese Layer
500g cream cheese
150g Icing Sugar (sifted)
30g Corn flour

3 eggs
150g Whipping Cream
1 tbsp Lemon Juice

1 Apple or Pear (sliced)

C) Crumble Topping
100g butter
80g icing sugar
150g Plain flour
150g Walnut (chopped till coarse rice grain)
200g Walnut (chopped till fine - may want to use a blender)

What is required - to make it happen

How to Do it..
1. To make the Cake Base,
- whisk ingredient in A.
- Once the mixture is all mixed, lay a grease proof paper and start to spread the Base
mixture on the 11 inch baking square pan.
- Use a fork to poke holes onto the cake base.
- Bake at 130C for 20mins in a preheated oven.

2. To make the Cheese Layer,
- whisk inthe cream cheese, icing sugar and corn flour until creamy.
- Add in Eggs, whipping cream, and lemon juice and whisk. Pour onto the Cake Base.
- Add in Pears to decorate.

3. To make the Crumble topping.
- Whisk butter, icing sugar, Plain flour
- Divide the mixture into 2.
- Take the 1st portion mixture and add in the coarse Walnuts. Mix well and lightly insert onto the top cheese layer.
- Take the 2nd portion mixture and add in the fine Walnuts. Mix well and sprinkle on top of the cheese layer.
- Bake at 100C for 60mins.

Well, the result is ...I guess I may just be invited over again to my friend house. Of course, they love it. They must , otherwise, where got free recipe , hor .. (singlish words) hehehe...

Not to be missed as well , is none other than, my Chocolate Cake.

Now that we are all High in Sugars, may we have a super sweet and prosperous year ahead !

Christmas Turkey - the ALL-Time holiday favourite

2008-12-28T23:23:00.021+08:00

I love Christmas holidays with all the happy festivities bubbling everywhere. Just another of those moods to spend time shopping and cooking up a feast. And, of course, I feel like a frozen-Turkey hunter every Christmas. Hope no one see The dishevelled Mummy scouring around on the day before the Eve of Christmas and looking for her Beloved Turkeys.

Well, not that I know how it looks like under all those plastic wraps (LOL), I must look for the best size Turkey to fit my oven. haha... I quickly zoomed on 2 Turkeys. Phew.. last few left.

I guess if you must know, years ago, I have been the reigning appointed Turkey Cook for my family and in-laws. ;-) I am still waiting to bequeath my title.. hmm ..still waiting..

A little history. Almost every year at least for the past 10 years, I have been cooking Turkey without fail except for that one last year when the family decides to give me a break and we bought those pre-cooked ones to reheat. Bad choice. BIG mistake. A real disappointment as the meat tasted hard and non-juicy. Verdict ? They missed my home-cooked one.

This year, I decided to try a different Baked Roasted Turkey, alot more buttery sauce with flavoured herb Turkey. Well, this version is surprisingly more tender and juicy. Mr H is so easily impressed. The boys are equally full of accolades ! Hehe.. wonders of being someone's wife and mother.. isn't this so thrilling. I have my own red carpet right at my home and in-laws ;-)

Some pictures of the children tucking into a feast !

What is Required

Turkey
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp Teriyaki sauce
2 onions (sliced)
2 stalks celery (chopped to cubes)
2 carrots (chopped to cubes)
2 tsp rosemary leaves , 1 bay leaf
200g of fresh mushrooms

Herb Butter Ingredient
250g butter
1 dash of 5 spice powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp spaghetti bolognese herb

How to Do It

1. Season the Turkey exterior with Teriyaki Sauce.
2. In the Turkey interior, season with black pepper and salt. Add in the Rosemary leaves.
3. To make a flavoured Butter, add the Herb butter ingredient. Use a fork to mix it.
4. Use a spatula to gently insert a pocket of space under the turkey skin for both sides of the Turkey.
5. Insert the Herb Butter into the Skin pocket and spread it inside the skin. Do for both sides
6. Spread the remaining of the herb butter onto all over the exterior of the Turkey.
7. Add in the carrot, celery, onion and mushrooms together with the Turkey for baking.
8. Add 2 cups of water and the bay leaf.
9. Cover top of the turkey with aluminium foil to prevent the top from getting burn.
10. Bake for 60mins at 190C. Insert a skewer to check that the Turkey is cooked. Otherwise, cook for another 5 to 10mins and check again.

Have a tenderising Turkey ! Cheers to everyone and have a wonderful Holiday Season !

Oyako Don

2008-12-22T21:42:00.016+08:00

Another of my favourite .. yummy Oyako Don.

One of my earliest recollection of Oyako Don was eaten at the then Tampines DBS Centre where there was a Japanese restaurant at its Basement. That was way back then. Those days, Japanese food was still not the "In" thing , where most of the innocent people like me (I hope so), always thought that Japanese food was all raw. I was pleasantly surprised to find cooked chicken rice (the Japanese version).

Till this day, I still love eating Oyako Don (Chicken) and Mr H still loves his Katsu Don (Pork). Am I glad that we both seek to keep Mother Nature's poultry in-balance ! hehe..

Here's my attempt to make this gluey eggy chicken rice with all the onions that goes along with it.. I love it when the eggy sauce covers the rice entirely and seeps through the rice.

Can't stop drooling even as I am writing and looking at these pics !

It's simple to make.. unbelievable.

What is required
6 bowls of cooked rice
4 big thigh drumstick chicken, cut small cube sizes
2 tbsp oil
2 big onion, sliced
6 eggs, lightly beaten , 1 egg for each bowl of rice

Toasted Nori (seaweed)

Marinate

1tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sugar
A pinch of salt

Seasoning:
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp soy sauce
3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 cup water (depends on preference for liquid consistency)

How to Do it
1. Add the marinate sauce to the chicken pieces and rest for 15 minutes.
2. In a wok, fry the onion for 2 mins.
3. Add all chicken bites until cooked.
4. Add in the seasoning sauce and 1/2 cup water for 5 minutes and simmer for 2 mins and turn off fire.
5. Set aside cooked chicken. Divide the chicken into 6 equal portions
6. For each divided portion of chicken, saute with 1/4 cup of water in the wok and add in 1 lightly beaten egg on top of chicken and do a quick stir
7. Scoop chicken, onion and egg mixture onto the bowl of rice
8. Repeat step 6 to 7 until all bowls of rice has been completed
9. Sprinkle Seaweed on top of rice and serve.

Have your appetite been whet ? It's easy to cook, try it !

Chawanmushi - Japanese steam egg

2008-12-22T00:45:00.012+08:00

My elder son loves steam eggs ! He is mad about steam eggs, especially if it is the Japanese Steam Eggs. So if you happen to see a young chap gorging down Chawanmushi available at buffets, you know it's him ! And.., should anyone knows of Gorge-ALL-You-Want-Chawanmushi place, you know whom would desparately want to know as well.

Oh..Pray let there be Chawanmushi always.. it's the one way to get him to EAT. He needs all the proteins he can get. So anything to LEVEL-UP ( gaming word , how about that ! , LOL ) his palate , I am always game to try it. (note : The Mummy is ever so afraid that the elder son will "vanish" into thin air because the younger one eats much faster and at times gobbles down his brother's share...sigh).

My elder son has been asking for mummy's chawanmushi for quite a while. I had this chawanmushi recipe for months now. Ughh.. no chawanmushi cups. Well, my elder son was quick to point out during a recent shopping spree when he saw the cups ! No escape.

My many-months-kept chawanmushi recipe

What is Required - cook for 6
2 tbsp Ikan Bilis powder or 1 cube of Fish Stock
6 large eggs
3 1/2 cups of water
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
100g shitake mushrooms (sliced)
100g ham (slice square)
12 cooked peeled prawns (or equivalent of cooked crabstick, chicken, ham)

How to Do it
1. Pre-prepare the Stock. Boil the Fish stock. Leave it to cool in a fridge to bring down the temperature. Note : This is to prevent the eggs from being cooked once the stock is added.
2. Break eggs into a bowl. No stirring.
3. Add in the cooled stock into the eggs. Gently stir the eggs to mix well but not to beat the eggs.
4. Add in soy sauce and salt. Stir gently.
5. Divide and add equal portion of mushrooms, ham and prawns equally into the 6 cups. Leave some for top decoration later.
7. Use a sieve to pour the egg mixture into the cups gently.
8. Fill the wok with water (or electric steamer ) and bring to a boil.
9. Seal the cup with aluminium foil but leave a small gap for the steam to escape.
10. Put the cups into the wok (or steamer) and ensure water is hot.
11. Steam for 15mins.
12. Garnish the top and steam for another 1min and serve

My younger boy decides to give his portion of chawanmushi for his elder brother. The elder one ate 2 cups ! Too little. LOL

Domino Jelly

2008-12-21T23:36:00.010+08:00

Just to make life more colourful and since it is Christmas season, here's bringing you some wonderous rainbow-coloured jello.

Why all sudden interest in Jello ? I am not one to fancy such stuff. Well. somehow, I came across this delightful front-cover dessert recipe book with a picture of an amazing rainbow chequered-coloured Jello. I swear I could hear it beckoning me to "try me", and it kept on whispering to me for so many weeks .

This is the first time I fell all-over for a Jello. It's like a love-hate relationship. Somehow, I couldn't resist buying this recipe book. I guess I just had to have it. Maybe, I may grow to like Jellos. Hmm.., problem was how to get hold of the domino jelly mould . I had hunted down this mould over Singapore, to the end of Singapore... hehe.. boy, am I glad to have found it. It's the only shop now selling the dominos since the manufacturer has closed shop and they bought all the dominos mould over. To think I am one of the lucky few to get this piece of gem !

Anyway, here's sharing some of my pictures on my zealous Agar Agar attempt.

You can find the recipe from My Secret Recipes Series- Delightful Sweet Treats by Madam Wong. Hope you have as much fun as I have !

Strawberry Mousse Cake

2008-12-10T23:57:00.009+08:00

I have been dreaming of Strawberries since my family trip to Cameron Highlands. So here's one for all the Strawberry-crazed people out there..

Picking strawberries are fun ! Exactly what my boys did ! Not that my boys are dying to eat them, that's the least that they want to do, it's just the temptations of resisting to pluck is just too strong. **LOL ** Just as well that I am the "plucky" mummy..

ALL these strawberries into this cake ...

Somehow, pink does not fit into the context of my boys.. hmm.. it's just interesting to see them bite into a piece of my Strawberrryyyyy cake, grimacing their faces...hahaha. Surprisingly, my younger one, the ever-pleasing one, while helping me out, can't resist dipping his little finger into the strawberry icings and commented that it tasted real good !

To sweeten the deal, using the leftover swirl cake side wrappings, I slice into into 4 layers with added peanut butter for my younger one. On another swiss-roll piece , my elder one had yummy cheese spread over it. What a supper for the nite..

Not forgetting dearest Mr H, he gamely joined in as well. Oh.. believe me, I do really love my boys, and the boys love the Mummy. Isn't this great ! Hahaha...

I must really find others to amuse my cake with..

Anyway, here's how you can have fun with your strawberries.

What is Required

(A) Sponge cake

10 egg yolks

400 gm. cake flour

200 gm. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup water

1 cup cooking oil

2 tsp. vanilla essence

4 tsp. baking powder

(B) 10 egg white

1 tsp. cream of tartar

150 gm. sugar

200g strawberry

100g castor sugar

4 tsp gelatine powder

3 tbsp hot water

500g whipped fresh cream

How to Do it

1. Mix all the ingredients (A) together until smooth.

2. Whisk ingredients (B) to create a stiff peak, suggests using a cake mixer.

3. Add this whipped egg white into (A) and fold with a spatula.

4. Put a grease proof paper at bottom of tin.

5. Divide mixture into 3 portions.

6. To bake the coloured swirl cake, take 1st portion for the side decoration. Again, spilt the mixture into another 2 separate portions. Add 1/2 tsp of rose colour to 1st separated portion and mix it well. Pour into a 12" square cake pan and spread it out. Slowly dip the remaining white portion into patches randomly into the cake. Use a tooth pick to swirl the cake. Bake for 20mins at 190C.

7. To bake the sponge cake, pour into a 9" cake tin and bake for about 60 mins till cooked at 190C. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack.

8. Slice the sponge cake into 2 layers.

9. To make the strawberry cream, boil strawberry and sugar in a doubled-boiler pan.

10. When cool, blend the mixture until fine. Stir gelatine with the hot water and add into mixture. Fold in the whipped cream.

11. Spread the strawberry cream between the 1st layer and 2nd layer of the sliced sponge cake.

9. For the side decoration, slice the swirl coloured cake around 2 inches width and wrap round the sponge cake.

12. Top up the rest of cake with the strawberry cream. Keep it in the fridge over night.

13. Have fun with the decoration.

Enjoy this yummy strawberry cake !

Oreo Yogurt Chocolate Cake

2008-12-04T21:21:00.015+08:00

Past 2 weeks had been a madness for the mummy ! Totally washed out. I was scrambling to decide what cake to make for my younger son's 10th birthday. Panic. 2 days to count-down ! I have 10+ hungry kids to feed for his birthday home party ! And that's only the cake saga..

As always, my beloved Chatty one had gone ahead to tell his friends that mum's cooking crabs for this birthday ! Wow..That's super Sales talk, unbelievable thrown-in freebies ! He had totally forgotten his recent sudden onslaught of crab allergy , hmm..how convenient ! And that's only the crab saga...

As ever the "Gung-ho" mummy, as ever the sacrificing mummy, oh.. , there is no backing out. My son nonchalantly flipped through the cake recipe book and pointed out a gorgeous looking Oreo cake picture - a white fondant cake with Oreo toppings. And so, sealed my fate !

It's a change from the usual Chocolaty cake. I guess this will be fun to experiment with my version of Oreo. It's still Oreo, without doubt .. ** fingers crossed **.

My whipping cream was running out. So, I thought why not add yogurt as well.

What I did .. for a 12" by 12" square tin

(A) Chocolate sponge cake
10 egg yolks
400 gm. cake flour
200 gm. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup water
1 cup cooking oil
2 tsp. vanilla essence
4 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. cocoa powder

(B) 10 egg white
1 tsp. cream of tartar
150 gm. sugar

(C) Filling - Oreo Cream
150gm oreo biscuit (crushed)
200gm plain yoghurt
150gm sugar
300 gm Dairy Whipped cream
50 gm pure cream

(D) Decoration :
Oreo biscuits, chocolate twists , icing sugar

1. Mix all the ingredients (A) together until smooth.
2. Whisk ingredients (B) to create a stiff peak, suggests using a cake mixer.
3. Add this whipped egg white into (A) and fold with a spatula.
4. Put a grease proof paper at bottom of tin. Pour into a 12" by 12" square tin and bake for about 45 mins to 50 mins till cooked at 180C. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack. Slice into 2 layers.
5. To make oreo cream, mix yoghurt with sugar. Fold in whipped cream and pure cream. Add in the crushed oreo. Blend in until all mixed.
6. Spread oreo cream over 1st layer of sponge cake. Add the top layer of the sponge cake and spread all oreo cream all over.
7. Decorate with oreo biscuit and other desired toppings. Use a sieve to sprinkle icing sugar

I love the final touching up.. it so so fun..

Only managed to taste the cake on my son's big day. The kids went crazy over the chocolate twist... grabbing and gorging down the side Oreo biscuits ! Thank goodness, the taste came out right !

ALL I can say is that fantastic kids .. well done ! His friends was like "Aunty.. you bake this cake..?" I was like Who me ?? Best of all..was the appreciation from the birthday boy who said.."mummy..this cakes taste very good".

Kids are real honest ! I agree.. ;-)

Rustic Travel with Strawberries Farms, BOH Tea Plantations and Towering Steamboat

2008-12-03T22:01:00.019+08:00

Hey.. I am back !!! Nope, I have not gone hibernating, not slacking.. Just taking a breather. I was away for a 1+ week vacation with my family in Malaysia. We had a marvellous trip to Cameron Highlands and Sunway Lagoon. Fantastic Strawberry farms , tea plantations , butterfly farm, Rose Center.. WOW unbelievable sight with free and easy driving in our family car. The wonders and miracle of GPS !

Along the way, we passed the majestic Iskander Waterfalls. Simply breath-taking.. good for the revival of soul ! Love this untouched beauty, the cool water running down the feet.

How cool can one get !

My 2 cool boys stealing the limelight from the 2 couples - spot the brides and bridegrooms

Look at all the strawberries..visited 3 strawberries farms, traditional to the modern. Go for the Big Red Strawberry Farm , fantastic modern hydrophonic farm.

True to goodness freshness ! Ooohh.. juicy veggies. Don't you wish just for a moment to be a bunny,..yea, just a spilt moment, gorging all the veggies silly LOL.. see what fresh veggies can do to one's senses.

Strawberries, pluck at RM $40/kg .. Strawberry Pop-corn ??!!

My ever 1st sighting of the Giant Pumpkin ... wondering who's stealing the limelight again and again..

Other Strawberry farms ... I AM strawbUrried..

Next, see the mountains and mountains of BOH Tea plantations, we literally manoveured our way into the TEA of action, right into the heart of BOH and enjoying our cup of BOH Tea !

To top off our travel, we had good scrumptuous traditional steamboat ! You don't get this sight anymore ...

My Towering SteamBoat, using real charcoal !

Ironically, I missed baking and cooking while I was away. hehe.. BUT ..the travel was worth it, so rural and serene. So much fun !

Esctasy over Macarons

2008-11-17T23:56:00.012+08:00

Don't they look like rainbow ?!! Where's my pot of gold !

I have the very fortunate opportunity to attend Aunty Yochana's Macarons class recently. It's one of those amazing days to get to see an expert Aunty cooking up a storm on the macarons.

If you have tried making macarons, you know it's not an easy feat to get the "feets" up. Of course there were a few ladies jokes as to why macarons feets sometimes show and sometimes don't show. Hahaha.. blame it on the weather , blame-the-maid or the m**thly thingy.

Imagine these lovely macarons which originates from the land of Paris arriving at our very door-steps. Classy and chic ... so lovely to look at . How could anyone bear to gorge down these refined biscuits. Hmm...

Oh well, let me share with you all the nice macarons photos taken. You are welcome to drool all you want. Drooling is free. Here goes..brace yourself for the deliciously sweet yummy ones..

Look at the arrays of colours.. aren't they magical ? !!!

The Rock of foundation.. so cool

The Kissables..

The Leaning Tower of Macarons

Just when you think all is over, there is ..

The Avalanche of Macarons

EVER WISH it never ENDS ... I do !

Carrot Cake

2008-11-13T21:49:00.013+08:00

I love Carrot Cake , love, love, love it !! Next to chocolates cakes, this is the next best yummiest cake. You simply cannot get enough of this delicious "Top-of-the-hill cheesy lemony creamy" spread across the moist Carrot Cake. How could anyone live without it ! I know I wouldn't.

My first experience of carrot cake was at Secret Recipe (famous for its cakes !) which happened to be served as a dessert, part of a main meal set. I wasn't expecting much from the look of the cake, but the first bite was an instant amazement ! Simply delicious tender cake with contrasting sweetish ,sourish creamy topping.. and the toppings are so so so ..Generous. Whenever I do happen to drop by at Secret Recipe, I had to have it, otherwise I would hate myself for not tasting it.

Now for my version of Carrot Cake, I have added a generous amount of cheesy creamy toppings. Hmm.. could have been more but I ran out of cheese (sigh !) Luck has it that I have pure cream, and added pure cream instead.. And, after that, I ran out of pure cream.. hmmm...

Surprisingly, this concoction came out angeliciously good ! Haha.. my good guy KC, came out with the word "angelicious" for my earlier cakes !

To start off, this is what is required, the ingredients :

Cake

250 gm butter

300 gm castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

5 eggs

350 gm cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon powder

100 gm chopped Walnut

300 gm grated Carrot

Frosting topping

150gm cream cheese

50gm pure cream (I use Bulla pure cream)

150gm icing sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

How to Do it

1. Cream butter and sugar into a creamy mixture.

2. Add vanilla essence and eggs. Mix well with a mixer.

3. Add in the Cake flour, baking powder and cinnamon powder. Do not over-mix.

4. Fold in with the carrot and chopped walnuts.

5. Pour into the 10 inch cake tin and bake for 130C for 60mins

6. Let the cake rest. Reverse the cake to remove it.

7. To make the frosting, mix the frosting ingredients together and whisked it until creamy.

8. Spread the toppings over the cake.

Here's my very own version of Top-of-the hill creamy cheesy lemony Carrot Cake.. yum yum !

If anyone ever ask me what is my last meal going to be, carrot cake with generous creamy topping has to be one of them ! I will eternally RIP..

Moist Chocolate Cake

2008-11-10T22:34:00.006+08:00

I made this Moist Chocolate Cake during the weekend but did not have the time to put it up in the blog until now. Too hectic over the weekend having to attend a wedding dinner, send sons to swimming lessons on Saturday and again on Sunday, going to 2 OpenHouse Secondary schools for exploration (for my elder son) ... Tough life.. I mean for me !

Here's the moissy chocolatey one, my crave ... it's very soft and deliciously moist that melts into one's mouth. So if you do like chocolate, this is one that you cannot miss doing it. Simple and yet heavenly.

In fact , this is a recipe from chowtimes. You got to try it to believe it !

What is Required
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons white vinegar
8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) oil
a handful of semisweet chocolate chips.

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C

How To Do
Sift the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a bowl.
Whisk sugar and wet ingredients, water, vanilla, vinegar and oil in another bowl.
Pour the batter into a parchment lined 9 x 13″pan and bake for 45 minutes at 180C
Cake is slightly moist in the middle when baked.

Hmm.. all packed..not sure if this will last through the week since the 2 boys love this moist chocolate cakes !

Craze for Mango Mousse Cake

2008-11-05T22:44:00.020+08:00

Here's the Mango craze me...

Along the stretch of road, opposite Century Square and Tampines Mall, one can see a long stretch of mango trees brimming with countless mangoes. These are just so wonderous to look at and drool. As always there is this "animalistic-human" instinct within me, the urge to pl**k and the insatiable desire to taste them. Ooo.. if only this is possible. Sigh. Forbidden fruit. We do have a Fine city, you know. LOL , get the pun ?!!

Curious to know ? Well, these are either planted by the Tampines Council or NParks. Many other estates have such similar concepts in Singapore. When these mangoes are riped, I believe they are either given to the residents or sold, although some actually rot away before anything is done about them.

So, pleaaaaseee, I beg, do remember me , I am always ever-ready to lend a hand or two.. ** wink **

Regardless, I find that this is still a sight to truly feast upon, fruits along our streets which make the streets more vibrant and shady. Honestly, to have them in the midst of our urban living is actually quite amazing ! Crazy perhaps, but still an amazing sight.

Again, my neighbour's house across the street has a mango tree, equally as fruitful. Hmm.. should I? Naughty thoughts. Tempting but Nah..

I, instead settle graciously into getting my own mangoes and baking a mango mousse cake.

Here's the recipe.

What is required for sponge cake:
(A) Cake
5 egg yolks
200 gm. cake flour
100 gm. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tsp. vanilla essence
2 tsp. baking powder

(B)5 egg white
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
100 gm. sugar

Filling:
50 gm. Bulla pure cream
50 gm Bulla sour cream
400gm Dairy whipping cream
100 gm. sugar
3 tsp gelatine powder
5 tbsp hot water
1 cup cut mangoes

How to Do it

1. Mix all the ingredients (A) together until smooth.
2. Whisk ingredients (B) to create a stiff peak, suggests using a cake mixer. Use a metal bowl forbetter results and ensure no oil in the clean bowl (otherwise it will not form).

3. Add this whipped egg white into (A) and fold with a spatula.
4. Pour into a 9" round tin and bake for about 45 mins to 50 mins till cooked at 180C. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack. Slice into 3 layers.

5. For the Dairy whipping cream, whipped the cream until stiff peak.
6. Dissolve gelatine in hot water . Mix pure cream with sugar and gelatine mixture.
7. Divide the whipped cream mixture into 3 portions.
8. Add mango cubes into 2 portions of the whipped cream. Fold in whipped cream using a spatula.

9. For 3 cake layers, divide equally the portion of whipped cream. Spread the toppings on the bottom and middle layer. For the top layer, decorate as desired with mango slices.
10. Put into the fridge to let it set.

So here it is.. presenting

the Upright Cake ...

the Laid-back cake

......the Spread-out cake

the Oozing-Cake (my elder son little finger ...)
For now, I believe my mango craze has been fulfilled....

hmm..somehow my eyes are twitching again.

Chocolate Banana Cake

2008-11-02T11:40:00.016+08:00

School Exams are out! What joy from. guess who.. the Mummy ! Last Friday was the end of the whole exam saga. Not that I help that much with my boys' school work. At least now, I have the boys undivided attention, to be part of my gourmet tasters again in my creation of Food ! Haha..

To begin my gastronomical journey, here's one dedication first to colleague Ms Ever-MamaDrama S, as she is so dearly known. Haha.. name is self-explanatory ! She is yet another very slim one, but since the title has clearly been taken by another colleague (the reigning Ms Ever-Slim J unless she puts on prosperously due to my good food), she's still the Drama Queen.

With the birthday "girls and boys" around the corner in December (sorry Nov "kids") , Ms Ever-MamaDrama requested for chocolate cake first, with additional toppings of Bananas. Oops, Me ? Did I get it right ??! I am not professionally trained. I am just the gutsy Passionate Cooking Foodie .

I decided I better test out first before the impending December. With my endless so-called excellent and well,..sometimes not-so excellent cakes track record (now you know !) , I am not always sure of how it turns out. Hmm..perhaps, I tend to experiment too much, so each time is never the same. Now, with so many gourmets around me, my name-sake is at stake. Humpyh..

So if you ever want to try anything, do what it takes, join me in my maiden journey in the Sea of Gastronomy.

What is Required

Chocolate Sponge Cake
(A) Sponge Cake
125 gm. Cake flour
30 gm. Cocoa powder
1/4 cup hot water
1 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
75 gm. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 egg yolks

(B) 4 egg white
120 gm. sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

(C) Ganache
300 gm. dairy whipping cream
250 gm. melted chocolate
50 gm. butter

Toppings
4 slices of cut Bananas
250 gm whipping cream
30gm. cocoa powder

What to Do

1. Use hot water to dissolve cocoa powder
2. Add rest of sponge cake ingredients together and mix into a smooth batter
3. Whisk (B) ingredients until stiff peak
4. Fold into the cocoa powder batter.
5. Pour into a 9" round cake tin and bake at 190C for about 45 mins.
6. Set aside cake to rest and cut into 3 layers
7. Mix all the ingredients for Ganache in a double-boiled bot.
8. Whip the fresh cream and add in cocoa powder mixture.
9. Spread between 2 layers of cake. Add the cut-up bananas.
10. Pour Ganache on the top layer
11. Let the cake set in the fridge

Yummy.. cut and slice up ! Ooo.. I can't wait to give out the title of Ms Ever_Prosperous Looking..LOL..

Fun with Strawberry, Mango, Kiwi Tofu CheeseCake

2008-10-28T23:54:00.035+08:00

The other day when I was browsing through some photos of georgous cakes, I suddenly had the real urge to make lots , lots, and Lots of cakes and desserts. I was smiling away, at some point, perhaps even drooling when viewing some of the wonderful images of lovely pastries (including Aunty Yochana's cakes) on the internet.

Yes.. what you see here is truly an experimentation project over the long holiday weekend! I wasn't sure it will work.. but being the gutsy me, I had a go at it. The truth is I have so much fun making this Strawberry Tofu CheeseCake, it's unbelievable that I feel effortless, even though I was trying Tofu first time into the cheesecake recipe (more Tofu to Cheesecake) ! And, to make it more colourful, I have added fruits like mango and kiwi for more thrill.

Look at these glorious pictures taken in my height of excitement.

I could drool forever. Oops !

My Fun with my all-shaped cutters !

Ha ha.. all to myself (the boys are away from me !)

I feel like a young kid , messing around, silly but fun..

Here's the fun part of decorating the fruits onto the tofu cheesecake base !

Look at how the Jelly begins to form..

As you guess it..

Ok..ok, the sides aren't exactly that straight and nice, a bit on the messy side.

I know, I know , my cutting skills just needs a little touch-up.

Eat your heart out ! Haha.. these are mine, all mine.

Eat your fruits out, these are still mine..

Yours coming up ...

These are yours , all yours ! Haha.. These first ones are a bit melty... was too anxious to taste when it was not yet set.

Try Soy products.. silken tofu is fun ! Why Tofu? To lose weight and prevent breast cancer lah ! More information on http://www.soybean.org/.

Grandma's Curry Chicken secret recipe

2008-10-27T18:14:00.016+08:00

This is one recipe that my relatives always come to our house for, especially during Chinese New Year period. But, since this is Deepavali, we also decided to have our own family dining with Grandma's Curry Chicken, how's that for a mini celebration !

I could say , the Grandma's curry is so well-received by my relatives that I do not always have a 2nd serving by the time I get my hands on it during CNY. So, here it is, my mum's hand-me down secret recipe.. it's more a combination of Northern Indian thick curry, not the yellowish curry ones which we normally have. It's can be real spicy depending on the type of the curry powder !

Brace yourself for the curry fragance while cooking ... can cause sneezing seizure ..haha ! And brace even more when savouring the curry gravy.. For the Faint-hearted, go slow. For the Brave-hearted Foodie, I say GO For IT ! Hmm.. extra curry spices, anyone ?

So here it is...

What is Required

1 chicken - cut into slices
2 big potatoes (peeled and boiled, cut into cube sizes)
3 tomatoes
2 garlic cloves - minced
2 shallots
1 big onion
1 cinammon stick
1 Star Anise

3 seeds of Cardamon
3 tbsp cooking oil
5 tbsp curry powder
50g coconut milk
1 cup fresh milk
3 tbsp sugar ( taste)

1 pinch of salt

How To Do it

Heat the wok with oil and fry the garlic, shallots.

Add in the Star Anise and the cinnamon stick
Fry until fragrant for 1 minute.

Add in the chicken slices and fry.

Pour in the curry powder, add 5 tbsp of water. and fry for another 2mins,

Add in the onion and the tomatoes and fry for 1 min.

Add in coconut milk and fresh millk.

Simmer until the chicken is cooked.

Add in the potatoes and simmer for about 2 mins.

Stir in the sugar and salt.

Ready to serve... hmm... smells good !

What's life without spiciness !!

My undying love with Chilli Crab

2008-10-25T22:11:00.032+08:00

Yummmmmmmmy.... ! Fresh succulent crabs cooked in sweet tomato cum chilli paste.

I guess being a Singaporean, we are always spoilt for seafood choices especially in terms of dining. There are so many famous Seafood restaurants to satisfy cravings for good Chilli Crabs.. Melben, Long Beach, Ban Leong Wah Hoe, No 3 Crab Delicacy... including some local neighbourhood coffee shops sells Chilli Crabs too....the list goes on. Even Singapore Tourism highlights this gourmet chilli crab dish as part of the Uniquely Singapore dish. As a foreign traveller, if you are lucky, you may get this dish on some occasions for free or at a discounted rate.

Singapore Chilli Crabs have gone so famous that many of our foreign visitors are very familiar with our version of Chilli Crab. This is one of the very first thing that we bring our visitors to savour when they visit Singapore. So, perhaps , next time I shall show-case my home version ??!! haha..

Well, I am proud to say that we have trained our future generation, my dearest boys, to acquire such fine taste as well.. And, yes not forgetting , the very refined "Finger-Licking Good" custom. Don't fret if you cannot do at a start, it's an acquired art to suck out the juices as the crabs are being eaten..and lick the fingers at the same time .. LOL (pardon me, these are stressful times !)

As always, my younger son has been craving for crabs ...whilst in the midst of his exams ! Sigh.. it looks like time to satisfy his cravings ! If it helps to get that few extra marks , I guess it's worth to satisfy him.. hehe.. actually, it's more to satisfy my craving as well, but don't tell him that ..

Let me introduce the Chilli Crab recipe , with all due respect to the supporting roles played by the many simple ingredients.

What is Required

500g mud crabs - washed and cut

3 tbsp cooking oil

8 cloves garlic minced

2 fresh red chilli, chopped finely ( add more chilli if desire more spiciness)

1 tsp lemon juice (or lime or vinegar)

1 small bunch of lettuce

2 beaten eggs

Sauce Mixture

1.5 to 2 cup of water,

8 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tbsp chilli ketchup (add more if desire more spiciness)

2 tsp cornflour

1 tsp pounded brown preserved soya beans ,

1 tsp salt
5 tbsp sugar (add more if desire sweeter taste)

If you are afraid to kill the crabs, no worries..I got these fresh crabs from Sheng Siong where they helped to kill and cut the crabs!

Look at those fabulous Crab roe ...

Heat a wok and add oil into the wok.

Add garlic and chilli and fry for 1 minute.

Add the crabs, except the shell head.

Fry the shell bodies for 2 mins, and add in the shell head.

Once the shells turns red, add in the sauce and cover with lid until the shells are all red.

Add the beaten eggs into the work and stir gently.

Add the lime juice.

Simmer till cooked.

Get a serving plate ready.

Add the lettuce to the base of the plate.

Scoop the crabs onto the serving plate.

Oohhh... yummy yummy !!

Haven't you drool enough..

Chilli crabs gravy must always be accompanied with Man-tou..

for the final lick-up of the gravies !

yummy...yum yum my elder son's neat pile of shells...

my younger son's pile is a total mess..too unsightly to even comment on...

And so, Guess what. I thought I could set aside crabs for a while.. Now, it's my elder son's turn to ask for Butter Crabs ! Why can't they both be of the same mind at one go.

Oh.. the perils of motherhood, To Be OR Not to Be ... the Cooking Mummy.. I need a successor..where's Mr H gone to ?? My Dear, where art thou ...? To Be continued.....

My Blues with BlueBerry Cheese Cake

2008-10-24T19:46:00.023+08:00

All these Blues started as a result of the October year-end school exams Blues. So now you know why the Blues....

Bear with me as I expound on the Greatness of Mothers. For mothers, October is the time of either Stress, Despair or Hopelessness. ...OR you can call the Great Panic of the year! It's what we call the self assessment or relevation on how we have fared as Mothers of our beloved children for the past year. Hmm.. Interestingly, do our children grade us too ? !! I wonder..

Well, as a last ditch attempt of what any self-worthy or self-respecting mum would do, this calls for desperate measure for desperate time.. Coaching, Encouragement or even Bribery, etc etc, just to get my crafty younger one to work wonders on his studies (Glad my elder one's PSLE exam is over !)

Will it be Coaching or Simply diving into the oblivion of Baking to sweeten things up ... LOL, this is too daunting for me ! oh..the perils of motherhood.

And so I choose the obvious...

And so begin my Sweet journey into the Blues..

And so let me introduce the ever-amazing ingredients ...Oh , looks like I could start a poem. hehe.. not today..

500g Cream Cheese

100g Sour Cream

200g Fresh Cream (I use pure cream!)
4 Eggs
250g Sugar
1 tbsp Vanilla Essence

1 tbsp Salt

200g Digestives
50g Butter

And so starts ..Making the Biscuit Base
Put the biscuits into a blender for 10 seconds until it looks like sand.
Melt butter in small pan and add to the biscuits. Mix well using a spatula.
Put biscuit mix into the cheesecake tin and pat the biscuits evenly into the corners.
Place in the fridge and allow to set.

And so starts ...Making the Cheese Cake
Add cream cheese and eggs into the blender. Mix for about 20 seconds until the mixture is smooth. Add sugar, salt and vanilla essence to the mixture. Mix for further 20 seconds until smooth.
Take the mixture out of the blender.
Put mixture into a large mixing bowl.

Add the sour cream and pure cream.
Fold the mixture together using the spatula making sure there are no lumps
Pour the mixture into the base that we made earlier until it reaches the top of the tin
Place the cheesecake into a tray
Place in an oven at 110C or 220F for 45 minutes or until just set in the centre.

Once baked, the filling should not wobble in the centre when shaked.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of hours. The tin can be removed.

Here's fhe fun part ... Adding the toppings !

And the Best part...is I get to eat it first !!!!!..

Cheers to ALL the Great October Mothers !

So, what's should be the Blues for next year October Season ? Hmm.. Blue Lobster..this is going to be a great feat !...

Pandan Chiffon Cake

2008-10-20T22:46:00.041+08:00

I had a request a week ago from Mr H's colleague for a Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe. I have seen this Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe a few times but have never attempted it. Hmmm.. here's the chronicles of my very serious attempt to make this chiffon cake as perfect as possible.

Well as serious as I would like to be.. my 1st attempt on Sunday, you should see how my face fell flat .. I swear I could hear my ego crash-landed onto the ground , with the all-knowing smiles from the 3 guys in my life, snickering away when we saw my FLAT chiffon cake, or should I say, what looks like a chiffon pancake emerging out from the oven.

It didn't help that my boys commented that it was much tastier than ...oh whatever (who cares !) I am not going to sit back and play the comforted one !

And ..you know who's again goofing around , this time with my Chiffon mould ...

Whatever it is, I decided I shoud try again, so begins my 2nd attempt.

First, let me introduce my home-made pandan leaves, fresh from the garden

To get the pandan juice out, blend 12 pandan leaves in a blender and add 3 tbsp of water into the minced pandan leaves. Put the minced pandan leaves into a porous cloth, and squeeze out the juices.

My ever-faithful ingredients

200ml thick coconut milk
125ml cooking oil
2 tbsp pandan juice or pandan flavoured paste
8 egg yolks
8 egg whites
300g caster sugar
225g flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar

Chiffon Mould

This is the way to separate the egg whites from the egg yolk

Sift flour, salt and baking powder together.
Cream egg yolks with sugar, add in the coconut milk, corn oil, pandan juice and green colouring. Add in the sifted flour and mix well until smooth.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form.

Here's was my downfall in my 1st attempt. I only managed beat till the 1st stage. This requires to continue till it reaches the soft form stage..

Pour egg yolk mixture slowly into the stiffly beaten egg whites and mix lightly till well mixed. Pour mixture into an ungreased 25cm x 10cm chiffon cake tin.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 45-50 minutes. Cake is done when an inserted skewer comes out clean. Invert cake onto a wire rack and leave to cool in the tin before turning out.

Use a Knife to cut the base of the cake and set aside to rest.

Yummy... cut and serve !

This time round, Mr H commented "I am impressed !" .. and..the boys love it !

The moral of the story, 2nd time is always a charm.. Try this and let me know your success story.

Fish Congee

2008-10-19T22:30:00.016+08:00

Since it's Sunday, I thought I'll spend more time to cook some nutritious lunch for my sons and Mr H. This is what every mother would like to do so, something which as a full-time working mother, I hardly have the good fortune to do so. I am really envious of stay-home mums ! ** sigh **

Hmm.. So what's next, my sons' fav are usually noodles, however I decided rather than having noodles every weekend, I will embark on making some congee.

I love the the glu-ey smooth ones where you don't even see the rice grains. Oo.. tis so fine you can feel it melt in the mouth. I had the great fortune to have been treated to one in Hong Kong during a past business trip where my ex-boss brought me to this very popular restuarant (think was at Stanley Road, can't really recall, must ask her again). This restuarant has so many types of congee selection, even has Abalone Congee on its menu !

To make very good congee, as I recall from my HK friends, the way to do it, is to choose small rice grain, cook it like any porridge and transfer to a Rice Cooker to cook it over-nite for at least around 6 hrs. All it takes is very little cooked porridge, about 1 bowl and add water till 3/4 of the rice cooker. This breaks down the rice grains and make them super-fine.

Anyway, for mine, I cook the porridge for around 2 hours, over a stove, at a low fire.

I begin by adding some dried scallops and sweet potatoes, right from the start. The rule of the thumb is to add water whenever the porridge is too concentrated , about 2 inch above the water. Keep stiring so that the bottom of the porridge do not get burnt.

Finally, around 1.45hrs later, since I cannot let 3 other hungry souls go wailing, I decided it's time to add some ikan bilis stock , the threadfin fish (the fish meat is more tender) and some ginger slices. Add some salt to taste. And serve...

Hmm.. as I guess it, my younger son begin to whine, "mummy, it's so hot". Then my elder boy started on "Pease Porridge hot, pease porridge cold, .. " And, the Mummy, ended with "Pease porridge in the Pot nine days' old ".

We ALL had a good laugh. You really can't always pease everyone..can you !

Chocolate ButterScotch Bar with Cashew Nuts

2008-10-17T23:13:00.053+08:00

Yesterday evening was a happy moment.

My colleague, Ms ever-slim J SMS me on a piece of good news !!! I checked my emails, yes, we did it ! I couldn't have done it without Ms ever-slim J and Mr ever-amusing C. I am so happy , I must do a food workout .. LOL

If ever I want to do something now, this is the time to unleash the last few days of penned up energy. Yes, this calls for Chocolate Butterscotch Bar time ! I have been wanting to make this for quite some time , did not have time for this until now.... Let's see how a weekday nite express creativity will turn out !

Time 9.45 pm. Let's target to finish off by 11pm. ** wink **

Quickly got my camera to capture the moment, hmm.. Checked what I have in my kitchen store, not bad for a last minute decision. I guess I can survive with most items that I have, plus my multi-talented improvisation, I guess I could get away with this... hehe

As usual, my "little" curious one, tagged along.. How's this for his picture contributions to my eventful nite. Oh..isn't he a dear !

Let's call this picture "Little One's nite-out with Cashew Nut"

Mr H made his appearance as well, wondering what the wifey is doing at nite like this , and start meddling the camera...

His pictures' contribution , let's call it "Goofing around with chocos !", it could have been worse !! hehe

Hmmm....

I am just waiting for the next dramatic entrance of the elder one into the kitchen ..where could he be ?? ** my guess, he is playing catch-up time on his MapleStory ! after the whole PSLE saga **

Now ..Here's my ever-humble ingredients.

To the "Left" for the Biscuit Foundation
225g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

115g unsalter butter

50g butter

50g brown sugar

150g dark chocolate melted

30ml ground amonds

To the "Right" for the Toppings

175g butter

115g castor sugar

30ml golden syrup - I use "honey" for the last minute improvisation

175ml condensed milk

150 whole toasted Cashew nuts - usually it's the hazel nut

225g plain chocolate

PreHeat oven to 160C or 325F
First grease a shallow 10" by 10" square pan.

Add the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.

Add in the Butter and rub it in until it looks like the bread crumbs (I use the mixer , thanks to the wonders of invention , can't live without it !)

Add in the Brown Sugar until it is well-combined !

Add in the melted chocolate, followed by the ground almonds... this is actually the tasty biscuit dough !

Mix it all well until it looks like this ! ** nope , that's not what you think it is... **

Spread the dough out on a pan and use a fork to prick the surface evenly on the dough (to prevent it from rising up !) This is good for the oven for 30mins. Once out, leave it to rest for around 15mins for it to form to a biscuit dough.

In the meantime, let's start with the making the delicious topping... my fav !

Mix the butter, sugar, honey and condensed milk into a pan.

Heat gently (I mean real gently.,.. could get burnt here !)..

Stirring until the butter and suger have melted.

Simmer till you see golden and stir in the cashew nuts.

Spread the toppings onto the biscuit dough using a spatula.

Leave it to set for around 5mins.

Pour the hot melted dark chocolate onto the cashew nut toppings. Spread the chocolate evenly.

Don't this look Heavenly... yummy, cannot wait.. sneak a taste !... my younger keep asking me when he can have his bite of choco !

Oooh... it's done and it's 11.30pm and my younger son is still waiting for me..

Now the waiting game, leave it in the fridge for a day to set and harden.

Yes, this is the next morning-after, ie. today 7.30am ! ohhh...., I am so so proud of myself ! Just got to let my colleagues try this !...