Piggy's Cooking Journal

Earl Grey Pound Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:30:00 +0000

I've been baking quite a bit recently and I'm glad that I do not have to finish all the baked goods by myself as I have my classmates to share the calories with! I brought an earl grey pound cake to class before the New Year and I've been wanting to share the recipe here but I've been procrastinating until now. Well, better late than never, right? ;-)

Earl Grey Pound Cake Recipe
Recipe taken from はじめてさんのお菓子作り

Ingredients:
130g cake flour
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
7g earl grey tea leaves, crushed
120g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100g caster sugar
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons milk

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 170 deg C. Lightly grease and line a 18X8X6.5-cm cake pan with baking paper.
2) Sift flour, baking powder and tea leaves into a bowl. Set aside.
3) Using an electric mixer, mix butter and 50g of sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy.
4) Beat in egg yolks one at a time, follow by milk. Beat well with each addition.
5) In a separate bowl, beat egg white until soft peak forms. With the mixer running, add the remaining 50g of sugar in a slow stream and continue to beat until the egg whites are glossy and form firm peaks.
6) With a light hand, fold 1/3 of egg white into butter mixture until just combined.
7) Repeat step (6) with the remaining egg white.
8) Scrape the batter into cake pan. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake turns out clean. Let the cake cools on wire rack.

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:28:00 +0000

Here's wishing all my blog readers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Kinako Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:42:00 +0000

I like to use Japanese cookbooks for baking as they tend to use ingredients that are not common in western recipes. The cookies in the photo above use kinako, or soy bean flour as the main ingredient and it gives a nutty flavour to the cookies. If you have not bake with kinako before, give the recipe a try!

Kinako Cookies Recipe
Recipe taken from いつでもクッキー、どこでもクッキー

Ingredients:
70g unsalted butter, softened
50g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon milk
120g cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
20g kinako

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 170 deg C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
2) Sift flour, baking powder and kinako into a bowl, set aside.
3) Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add egg yolk and milk, and mix until well combined.
4) Add the flour mixture and mix only until the dough begins to form a mass.
5) Transfer to a lightly floured surface, knead for 4-5 times, or until smooth.
6) Roll the dough into a 12X15X1.5cm rectangle.
7) Slice the dough into cookies with the size of 4X2.5cm. You should have about 18 cookies. Pierce 6 holes in the top of each cookie using a skewer.
8) Place the cookies in the tray, bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
9) Remove from oven, and let the cookies cool on a rack.

Lemon-Almond Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 19:43:00 +0000

Are you running out of time to bake for Christmas? Well then you should try making this lemon and almond-flavoured cookies! This is an easy-peasy bar cookie recipe the requires short preparation time. The cookies are baked at one go in a baking pan instead of baking by batches. And when the cookies are done baking, just cut them up into whatever size that you want!

Lemon-Almond Cookies Recipe
Recipe adapted from The Ultimate Cookie Book

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

Topping:
3/4 cup almond slices, toasted
2-3 tablespoons caster sugar, for sprinkling

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Line a 13X9X2-inch baking pan with non-stick baking paper.
2) In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium to high speed for about 30 seconds. Add sugar, salt and vanilla and continue to beat until well combined.
3) Beat in as much flour as possible. Stir in remaining flour, lemon zest and half of the almonds.
4) Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle remaining almonds and sugar over the top. Press lightly into surface.
5) Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
6) Remove from oven, cut the cookies into rectangular pieces. Cool on wire rack.

Cranberry and Pumpkin Seeds Biscotti

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:42:00 +0000

Sorry for the lack of updates these few weeks as I was busy studying for my Japanese language test that took place two Sundays ago. Right after the test, I wanted to put up some new posts and also revamp my blog design but laziness got the better of me and I spent all my free time watching Korean dramas instead (I know, you're rolling your eyes right now :-P). Anyway, I have a few cookies recipes to share and first one on the list is a crunchy and nutty cranberry and pumpkin seeds biscotti. If you are still looking for Christmas cookies recipes, stay tune as there will be a few more recipes coming your way!

Cranberry and Pumpkin Seeds Biscotti Recipe
Recipe adapted from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 60

Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pumpkin seeds

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
2) Combine flour and baking powder and sift the flour mixture into a bowl. Add caster sugar and stir to combine.
3) Add eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, cranberries and pumpkin seeds, and mix until a smooth dough forms.
4) Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead until smooth.
5) Divide the dough into two portions and roll each portion into a 20cm-long log. Place the logs on the tray, flatten slightly and bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until firm. Set aside to cool completely.
6) Using a serrated knife, cut the log into 3mm thick slices and place the slices on the tray.
7) Put the tray back into the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until the golden and crisp.

Stewed Chicken with Beer and Mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:17:00 +0000

I love winter in Taipei as the weather is cool and I can have fun dressing up with coats and scarfs. But downside of it is that, it rains almost everyday! The sky is depressingly grey and the ground is often wet and slippery. Going out has become a chore too as I have to carry an umbrella all the time. Because of the cold and wet weather that I'm experiencing right now, I've been cooking stewed dishes very often lately and one of the new recipes that I tried out few days ago was a stewed chicken with beer and mushrooms dish. If you're craving for some stewed dishes to keep yourself warm, give this recipe a try!

Stewed Chicken with Beer and Mushrooms Recipe
Recipe adapted from きょうの料理ビギナーズ 2007年 12月号

Ingredients:
2 whole chicken drumsticks, rinse and chopped into pieces
2/3 teaspoon salt
Black pepper, to taste
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely
1 tomato, chopped finely
200g button mushrooms, rinse and cut into halves
350ml beer
1 bay leave
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 to 4 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Method:
1) In a medium bowl, marinate chicken pieces with salt and pepper, set aside for 10 to 20 minutes.
2) Lightly coat chicken pieces with flour. Heat up oil in a frying pan. Pan-fried both sides of the chicken pieces until golden brown. Dish out and set aside.
3) Melt butter in the frying pan, saute onion and garlic until fragrant. Add mushrooms and chicken pieces and then make a few quick stirs.
4) Add beer, tomato and bay leave. Cover the pan and cook in medium heat for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. Turn the chicken pieces 2-3 times in between.
5) Season the dish with salt and black pepper. Dish up and serve immediately.

Honey-roasted Pear Clafoutis

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I was supposed to post a honey-roasted pear clafoutis recipe that I made two weeks ago with the last two pears that I have. But I was too caught up in making a diaper bag for my SIL that I was in no mood to blog at all. I realised that I'm not too good at multi-tasking, especially when it involves a complicated sewing project that requires my full concentration. Well, now that the bag is completed, I can finally heave a sigh of relief and go back to my daily routines of surfing the internet and watching TV. :-)

Anyway, this clafouti recipe is taken from the same site that I found the recipe of red wine pear cake. The last time i made clafouti was more than 2 years ago, and I wonder why I didn't make it more often. It's extremely easy to prepare and in my opinion, it tastes much better than puddings too. The warm clafouti is definitely a perfect and satisfying dessert to have on cold autumn days!

Honey-roasted Pear Clafoutis Recipe
Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:
2 pear, peeled, cored, quartered
1 tbs honey
10g butter
1/4 cup (37g) plain flour
1/4 cup (50g) caster sugar
1 eggs, lightly whisked
1 egg yolks
20g butter, melted
1 cups (250ml) milk
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier liqueur
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Place pears in two 14-cm oven-proof dishes, and then drizzle with honey and dot with butter.
2) Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, turning occasionally, and when the pears are tender and starting to caramelise, remove from oven and set aside for 15 minutes.
3) In the mean time, combine flour and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the egg and egg yolk and whisk to combine.
4) Add melted butter, milk, liqueur and vanilla to the flour mixture and whisk until well combined. Pour the batter over the pears.
5) Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until just set. Remove from oven, let it rest for 5 minutes, sprinkle icing sugar on top, serve.

Red Wine Pear Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:58:00 +0000

After making these mini pear rustics, I still have a few pears left. So I went online to search for recipes that I could use for the remaining pears. The beautiful picture of red wine pear cake from this site caught my attention and as I have all the ingredients on hand, I started baking immediately. I made half portion using a tiny 12-cm cake pan that I got from my recent trip to Tokyo. Everything went well until the end of mixing process, the batter seems dry to me and so I decided to add some yogurt to "loosen" up the batter. It turned out to be a great decision, as the cake was moist and tasted really good with the poached pears.

Red Wine Pear Cake Recipe
Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (125ml) red table wine
1.5 cups (375ml) water
1/2 cinnamon stick
2 pears, peeled
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
75g butter
1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cups (112g) self-raising flour
50g almond meal
1/2 tbs ground ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/8 cup (30ml) milk
2 tablespoons plain yogurt

Method:
1) In a saucepan, combine red wine, water, pears and cinnamon. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pears, add 1/2 cup of castor sugar to the saucepan and boil the syrup for 15-20 minutes. In the mean time, halves and cores the pears.
2) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Lightly grease and line a 12-cm round cake pan with baking paper.
3) Mix flour, almond meal, ground ginger and mixed spice in a bowl. Set aside.
4) Using an electric mixer, mix butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Fold in flour mixture, following by milk and yogurt, mix until well combined.
5) Spoon the batter into the cake pan and smooth the surface. Press the base of the pear halves into the cake mixture, standing them upright.
6) Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Drizzle the cake with red wine syrup. Serve.

Mini Pear Rustics

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:42:00 +0000

Even though fresh and delicious fruits are available in Taiwan all year round, but certain common fruits like pear are nowhere to be found at all. I guess that's because pear has to be imported and if you've been to Taiwan, you'll notice that the range of imported food (or any goods in general) are quite limited. So for local seasonal fruits like mango and strawberry, once the season is over, it is really ~~impossible~~ difficult to get hold of them. In Singapore, other than durian and lychee, most "seasonal fruits" are available all the time as they are imported from different parts of the world. But the downside is that, they're usually not as sweet and juicy as the ones that I get in Taiwan, especially when such fruits are in the midst of their peak season. Well, I guess I can't have the best of both worlds and I just have to live with it!

Back to the topic of pear. To me, it is part of the 4 staple fruits that are available in Malaysia/Singapore at all time, i.e., apple, orange, banana and pear. Even when I was staying in Saudi Arabia, there's never been a shortage of these fruits. So imagine my surprise when I first came to Taiwan and realised that pear is no longer the staple that I've grown accustom to. Having said that, I'm not really a big fan of pear, and I only bought it occasionally for baking. But since I came to Taiwan, I could only ogle and sigh at the beautiful pictures of pear desserts/pastries and I could never have the chance to try the recipes out.

But two days ago, when I was doing grocery shopping at a small supermarket next to the apartment where I stay, I was pleasantly surprised to see a few packs of pears (with a label that says, "imported pear") lying in the fruit section. I am not sure if they will continue to import these pears but I knew that I had to grab a pack before it's all gone!

To make full use of the precious pears, I tried out several new recipes and one of them is mini pear rustics. The original recipe yields 24 tartlets and that's too much for a two-person household. So I scaled down to a 1/6-batch and I got 4 tartlets instead. The edge of the tartlets are supposed to be folded towards the filling, but I did that for only two of them and left the other two unfolded.

Mini Pear Rustics Recipe
Recipe from Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery
Note: This is a full batch recipe, yields 24 pieces of 4-inch tarlets

Ingredients:

For the dough:
3 cups plain flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons castor sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, frozen and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons water

For the streusel topping:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons castor sugar
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cube and frozen

For the filling:
4-5 pears, unpeeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons castor sugar

Method:

To prepare the dough:
1) In a medium bowl, combine flour and sugar. Add butter into the mixture, toss and make sure that every piece of butter is covered with the flour. Using a pastry cutter, press and cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine meals.
2) Mix vanilla and water in a small bowl, add to the flour mixture. Continue to cut and press the mixture until the dough barely comes together.
3) Turn the dough into a floured surface. Dip the heel of your hand in flour, and working with small sections, smear the dough away from you to blend it together. When the dough is all smeared out, using a scraper or spatula to gather it together.
4) Knead the dough a few times and shape it into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

To prepare the streusel topping:
1) Combine flour and sugar in a bowl. Add butter, cut and press the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Cover and chill in the fridge until ready to be used.

To prepare the filling:
1) In a medium bowl, toss the pear cubes with sugar. Let it rest for 1 hour or until the fruit begins to release some of its juices.

To assemble the tartlets:
1) Divide the dough in half and return the other half to the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick. Using a 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles and place them on trays lined with parchment papers. Chill the circles in the fridge until firm, about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Repeat the steps with the remaining dough.
2) Remove circles from the fridge. Mound 2 tablespoons of pear cubes on the center of each circle. Fold a small section of the edge of the dough up toward the filling and press down to seal. Fold another section up toward the filling and press down where the two edges overlap to ensure that the dough holds the folded shape. Continue to make your way around the tart and make about 6 folds. Repeat with the remaining circles and place them on the tray lined with parchment papers, 2 inches apart. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
3) Pre-heat the oven to 375 degree F. Spoon a tablespoon of the streusel topping over the exposed fruit and press down gently so that it adheres.
4) Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Rotate the tray halfway through to ensure even baking.

Layered Caramel Cheesecake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:55:00 +0000

I bought a block of Philadelphia cream cheese before the start of summer as I promised a reader that I will feature another cheesecake recipe from this book. But a few months has passed and that block of cream cheese still sat in my fridge! With only a few days left before it expires, I had no choice but to finally drag myself to the kitchen early in the morning today and made a layered caramel cheesecake.

The recipe below may seem long but it is definitely not difficult or complicated at all, just a bit time-consuming. If you're a fan of caramel, this is the recipe that you should not miss!

Layered Caramel Cheesecake Recipe
Recipe from ちっちゃなスクエアケーキのレシピブック

Ingredients:

For the base:
100g digestive biscuits
40g unsalted butter

For the plain filling:
120g cream cheese
110ml fresh cream
30g castor sugar
4g gelatin sheet
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon brandy

For caramel filling:
45g castor sugar
1 tablespoon water
140ml fresh cream
120g cream cheese
2 tablespoons fresh cream
1 tablespoon castor sugar
4g gelatin sheet

1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

Method:

To prepare the base:
1) Grease and line a 15X15cm square pan with parchment paper.
2) Melt butter in a saucepan. Pour the biscuit crumbs over the melted butter and stir until uniformly moist.
3) Pour the crumbs into the pan. Using fingers, press the crumbs to form an even layer on the base of the pan.
4) Keep the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the plain filling:
1) Using an electric mixer, mix cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy.
2) Add 55ml of fresh cream and brandy, whip until well combined. Set aside.
3) Soak the gelatin sheet in a bowl of cold water. Remove from water as soon as the sheet soften, wring gently to remove excess water, set aside.
4) In a saucepan, heat up milk and 55ml of fresh cream. When the mixture starts to boil, remove from heat immediately. Let it rest for 2 minutes. Add the softened gelatin and stir until it dissolves. Let the cream-milk mixture cool to room temperature.
5) Add cream-milk mixture into cream cheese mixture from Step 2. Stir until well combined.
6) Scrape the batter into the pan with cookies base. Keep the cheesecake in the fridge for at least 1.5 hours.

To prepare the caramel filling:
1) Using an electric mixer, mix cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy.
2) Add 2 tablespoons of fresh cream, whip until well combined. Set aside.
3) Soak the gelatin sheet in a bowl of cold water. Remove from water as soon as the sheet soften, wring gently to remove excess water, set aside.
4) Cook 45g of sugar and water in a saucepan. When the syrup turn into amber color, remove from heat immediately.
5) Stir in fresh cream. Let it rest for 2 minutes. Add the softened gelatin and stir until it dissolves. Let the caramel mixture cool to room temperature.
6) Add caramel mixture into cream cheese mixture from Step 2. Stir until well combined.
7) Scrape the batter into the pan with cookies base and plain cream cheese filling. Keep the cheesecake in the fridge for another 1.5 hours or overnight. Cut into squares, sprinkle sea salt on top, serve.

Pan-fried Pork Belly

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 09:27:00 +0000

This is what I came up with for our lunch today - pan-fried pork belly, yum!

After lunch, we shared a bowl of tomato and rose wine sorbet.

Pan-fried Pork Belly Recipe

Ingredients:
300g pork belly, sliced
1/4 onion, slice thinly, soak in ice water until ready to be used
1/2 cucumber, cut into thin slices

Marinade:
3 tablespoons grated ginger
5 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons sake
1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoons salt
Black pepper, to taste

Method:
1) Mix all ingredients for marinade in a bowl. Pour over the pork slices and marinate for at least 2 hours.
2) Heat up a wok with a tablespoon of oil. Pan-fried the pork slices until both sides turn golden brown.
3) Continue to cook the pork slices for a few more minutes and when the pork slices are almost cooked, pour the remaining marinade into the wok.
4) Do a few quick stirs, dish up and then serve with sliced onions and cucumbers.

Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 10:21:00 +0000

I baked these little cakes late at night, right after I came back from town and realised that I left a loaf of bread on the train. Reluctant to go to class the next day with an empty stomach, I decided to bake something for breakfast. As I only have chocolate and yogurt in the fridge, I searched for recipes online using these two keywords and I came across David Lebovitz's chocolate yogurt snack cakes which, coincidentally, is a recipe from one of his books that I read not too long ago. I tweaked the recipe slightly by reducing the amount of sugar and omitted almond extract from the batter and I also tried to make the cakes less chocolatey (or so I hope!) by adding some dried cranberries and toasted almonds.

Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes Recipe
Recipe adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris

Ingredients:
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces almonds, chopped and toasted
2 ounces dried cranberries

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Line a 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners or lightly butter the pan.
2) Fit a heatproof bowl into a pan of gently simmering water, melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup of the oil. When the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth, remove from heat.
3) In a medium bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup of the oil with yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract.
4) Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
5) Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add the yogurt mixture. Using a rubber spatula, stir the mixture lightly a few times. Add the chocolate mixture and then stir until smooth.
6) Divide the mixture among the muffin cups. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until they feel barely set in the middle.
7) Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Prawn and Fruit Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:38:00 +0000

During a Japanese conversation class that I attended recently, I learned a new word, natsubate (夏バテ), which means summer fatigue in English. And when the teacher went around the class asking if we suffer from natsubate, most of my classmates said yes, they feel lethargic, insomnia etc. But my answer made everybody laughed. I said I have all the symptoms except loss of appetite and I might even eat more than before! For my readers who know me personally, now you know why I always have a hard time losing weight. ;-)

Despite my dislike for the heat and humidity that comes with summer, I love the fact that two of my favourite fruits, mango and lychee are in season during this period of time. Apart from eating them fresh, I've used mango to make ice-cream and salad (Recipe below) and I will try to incorporate lychee into my cooking/baking too.

Prawn and Fruit Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
15 big prawns
2 kiwis, peel and dice
1 small mango, peel and dice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Salt and Shaoxing wine
Toasted white sesame
Oil for frying

Salad dressing:
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons Japanese Mayonaise

Method:
1) Peel and devein prawns. Marinate with salt and Shaoxing wine, set aside.
2) Heat up the oil for deep-frying. Deep fry the prawns until cooked. Remove the prawns using a perforated spoon and drain on paper towels.
3) Stir yogurt and mayonaise in a small bowl until well combined. In a bigger bowl, mix prawns, fruits and the dressing. Sprinkle sesame on top of the salad, serve.

Pan-fried Pork Slices with Cucumber

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 02:52:00 +0000

You must be wondering why I'm missing from the blogosphere again. Well, so much has happened last month and that includes an unexpected trip back to Singapore, went through the grief of losing my mother to cancer and then a few days after the funeral, I returned to Taipei and spent another week on house-moving. It was physically and mentally exhausting to say the least. Now that everything has settled down, I think it's time to get back on my feet and start blogging again.

Two months ago, I was given two cookbooks by my Japanese language teacher and when I went through the recipes, I chanced upon this extremely easy pan-fried pork slices with cucumber recipe. All you have to do is to prepare some shabu-shabu pork slices (i.e. rinse and pat dry), lightly seasoned with salt and set aside while you prepare the cucumbers. Cut the cucumbers into 5-cm sections, and follow by cutting each section vertically into halves. Make a cut again in the opposite direction and you will get 4 strips out of each 5-cm section. Wrap the pork slices around cucumber strips, heat up a wok with a tablespoon of oil, pan-fried the pork & cucumber strips until golden brown on each side, and then season with black pepper before dishing out the strips.

In my opinion, the recipe is definitely a no-brainer but it's so yummy that my pork-loving hubby gave it two thumps up!

Pork Slices and Pea Sprout Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 02:35:00 +0000

Continuing my quest for cold dish recipes, I found a delightful pork slices and pea sprout salad dish from the spring issue of this magazine. Thin pork slices accompanied with sourish sesame sauce seems like a perfect dish to have for a hot summer's day lunch! However, the recipe calls for white sesame powder, which is an ingredient that I've not heard of, let alone have it in my pantry. So I came up with my own concoction by replacing it with Chinese sesame paste.

Pork Slices and Pea Sprout Salad Recipe
Recipe adapted from 好吃 Vol. 4

Ingredients:
Shabu shabu pork slices
Pea sprouts
Thin slices of seaweed

Miso Sesame Sauce:
1 tbs Chinese sesame paste 芝麻醬
2 tsp miso
2 tsp mirin
1 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs Japanese mayonaise
1 tbs white rice vinegar
2-3 tbs hot water

Method:
1) Blanch pea sprouts in a pot of boiling water. Dish out and soak in a bowl of ice water for a few minutes.
2) Prepare another pot of boiling water, cook the pork slices until cooked through. Set aside.
3) In a small bowl, mix sesame paste and miso with 2 tablespoons of hot water, stir until well combined. If the mixture is still too thick, add another tablespoon of hot water.
4) Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Adjust the seasonings according to your taste.
5) Place pea sprouts on a plate, stack pork slices on top, and then follow by seaweed. Pour sauce on pork slices, serve.

Black Fungus and Celery Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Sun, 29 May 2011 09:12:00 +0000

As the weather gets hotter, I find myself shunning away from "hot" dishes like soups or stews. Cold dishes appear to be more appetising to me and I've been preparing Chinese-style salads (涼拌菜) or cold noodles more frequently these days. I will share more cold dishes recipes in the next few weeks, but in the mean time, here's a recipe of black fungus and celery salad.

Black Fungus and Celery Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
3-4 stalks of celery
3-4 large pieces of fresh black fungus (If you are using dried fungus, soak them in warm water until soften)
5cm knob young ginger
1 tsp white sesame, toasted
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Seasonings:
2 tbs light soy sauce
2 tbs dark vinegar 烏醋
1/2 tsp sugar
2-3 drops sesame oil
Note: The amount required for seasonings is just an estimation, feel free to adjust to your taste

Method:
1) Peel and then cut young ginger into thin strips, set aside.
2) Rinse and cut celery into strips of 4cm long. Cut fungus into bite-size pieces.
3) Put a pot of water to boil. Cook celery for 2-3 minutes. Dish out and put into a bowl of iced water.
4) Boil fungus for 3-4 minutes, or until cooked. Dish out and leave to cool.
5) Mix all ingredients for seasonings in a small bowl.
6) Put celery, fungus, ginger and garlic in a medium bowl, and then toss the mixture with seasonings until well combined.
7) Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Sprinkle sesame on the mixture, serve.

Chocolate Chips and Peanut Butter Cookies (The Healthy Version)

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:27:00 +0000

I've been neglecting this blog since I came back from Singapore after the Chinese New Year break. Attending daily Japanese language class is the main culprit, as the amount of homework to submit and the long list of vocabulary to memorise are just too overwhelming. And on top of my regular yoga class and Japanese language class, I took up craft lessons as well.

With such a busy schedule, blogging has taken a back seat and I almost forgot that I have a blog until sometime in April. I bought a bread-making book and successfully baked two different batches of bread. This is a great achievement for me, as bread-making is not exactly my forte. I was so excited that I wanted to share the news in my blog, but my laptop decided to die on me then.... duh! After I got my laptop back, I was in no mood to blog as I had to reinstall all softwares that I had before and to search for hundreds of links that I used to bookmark. To make matter worse, the repair center in Taipei can only install the Chinese version of Windows for me and until now, I still have a hard time getting use to it, especially when I'm trying to make changes under "Control Panel". :-S

To be honest, the thought of quitting did cross my mind many times. But it's a waste to let it go since I've been using this space as my cooking journal for the past 6 years. Ever since I stopped updating this blog, I haven't been cooking/ baking as often as before, but the shoppaholic in me continues to pick up new cookbooks! I realised that blogging is my only motivation to try out new recipes and so after more than 3 months of absence, I'm back!

One of my new cookbooks features healthy cookies recipes that use vegetable oil instead of butter. I've tried out two recipes so far and I'm happy with results. The cookies are not only delicious, but I feel less guilty when I'm snacking on them too!

Chocolate Chips and Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
Recipe adapted from まいにち食べたい“ごはんのような”クッキーとビスケットの本

Ingredients:
160g self-raising flour
40g wheat flour
50g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
75g crunchy peanut butter
4 tbs canola oil
5-8 tbs water (see Point 4 below)
50g chocolate chips

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 170 deg C. Line a tray with parchment paper.
2) Mix flours, sugar and salt in a bowl.
3) Add peanut butter and oil to the flour mixture. Use hand to mix until well combined.
4) Add 5 tablespoon of water, knead mixture until it forms a dough. If the mixture is still try, continue to add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time until it forms a smooth dough.
5) Mix in chocolate chips.
6) Roll the dough into a rectangle that is 5mm thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the dough.
7) Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until the edges of the cookies turn slightly brown.
8) Transfer the cookies to a rack and cool to room temperature.

TWD: Great Grains Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 02:39:00 +0000

By the time you read this, I'll be back in Singapore to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family! Just before I left for my trip, I baked 1/4 batch of these Great grains muffins. I do not have cornmeal on hand but I decided not to buy a pack just for this recipe, as I know that it will probably never see the light of the day again after being used once. So I substituted the amount called for with wheat flour. Dried cranberries and walnuts were added to the muffins too.

This yummy muffin recipe is chosen by Christine of Happy Tummy for TWD this week. If you want to give the recipe a try, hop over to her blog!

TWD: Nutty Chocolatey Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:45:00 +0000

The recipe for TWD this week is chosen by Jennifer of Cooking For Comfort. The bundt cake is flavoured with orange zest and the "swirl" is made by sprinkling a generous amount of nuts, chocolate, cinnamon and sugar mixture into the batter. I made only 1/4 of the recipe and the two mini cakes in the picture were all that I've got. I wish that I had made a bigger portion though, as the cakes were so yummy that they were gone in a flash!

For recipe, head over to Jennifer's blog!

How to Use up Leftover Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:53:00 +0000

Recently I found out from the newspaper that the pastry chef for one of the Carrefour branches in Taipei is a French who used to work for Maison Kayser and baguette is listed as the must-buy item from their pastry section. So few days ago, I happened to run errands nearby and after I was done with my chores, I dropped by Carrefour and grabbed a loaf of baguette. It is really good and it reminds me of the baguettes that I had in Paris! But it's too bad that I'm staying too far from that Carrefour branch, otherwise, I will be stuffing myself silly with their baguettes everyday.

Anyway, with only two persons at home, it's impossible to finish the baguette before it goes stale. Remembering the recipes from a Japanese baking book that I saw (ok, I admit that I memorised the recipes because I didn't want to add another cookbook to my bursting shelves :-P) in a bookstore recently, I decided to turn the leftover baguette into crispy toasts! I made two types of toasts today - chocolate-dipped and butter & sugar.

To make the butter & sugar toasts, the baguette is cut into thin slices and then toast in the oven at 120 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. Leave the bread slices to cool and then spread with butter and coarse sugar mixture. Bake the bread slices again at 140 degree Celsius for another 10-15 minutes and you'll have a tray of buttery and crispy toasts. It is even easier to make the chocolate-dipped version, just toast the bread slices at 120 degree Celsius for 25 minutes, leave to cool and then dip half of the bread into melted chocolate.

The recipe is really easy, isn't it? So now you know the tasty ways to use up leftover bread!

TWD: Midnight Crackles

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 07:31:00 +0000

Regular readers of my blog know that I don't get along very well with chocolatey pastries and I'm also quite sure that it will never be my BFF. So out of the four TWD recipes chosen for the month of January, midnight crackles is at the top of my "not-to-bake" list as I know that I won't like it. But when I opened my Google Reader this morning and saw Laurie's post about TWD having its 3rd anniversary, I got up from the sofa and headed straight for the kitchen. And in 2 hours time, I had 1/4 batch of freshly baked cookies in front of me. So why did I change my mind? Well, I've been taking part in TWD for almost 3 years, and so I see no reason why I should miss out on participating on its anniversary day!

Rich and strong with chocolate flavour, these midnight crackles would serve as a perfect snack for die-hard chocolate fans, but it's just too chocolatey for me. So if I were to bake these cookies again, I'd definitely add some nuts or dried fruits so as to distract myself from the overpowering chocolate flavour.

If you want to try making midnight crackles, recipe can be found here.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 07:55:00 +0000

2010 has been an exciting year for me. It started off with the big move to Taiwan, and then I find myself busy exploring and getting used to the new city, attending classes, making new friends, and of course, eating my way through the eateries and restaurants in Taipei City! But at the same time, I have not been very productive as you can see from the lack of posts in this blog and worse of all, I've even neglected my other blog completely.

Anyway, I won't be making any new year resolutions for 2011 as I know that I will never stick to them. So instead of setting myself up for failures, I'll just make some small plans for the first quarter of 2011, which is to sign up for either photography or bread-making class, and to try out at least one new recipe every week. :-)

To all of you who has been following this blog, thanks for your support! Happy new year and see you in 2011!

TWD Recipe Rewind: Apple-Coconut Family Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 09:41:00 +0000

TWD is having recipe rewind again this week, and I took the opportunity to bake apple-coconut family cake, which is a recipe that I missed out earlier this month due to my busy schedule. I'm glad that I chose this recipe as my last TWD challenge for 2010. I love having fruits in my desserts and so this recipe is a winner for me. It smells and tastes really great!

If you want to give the recipe a try, hop over to Amber's blog!

TWD: Cardamom Crumb Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:54:00 +0000

I've been very busy these few weeks, as I have relatives visiting from Singapore and also have to attend a new class that started around the same time. So my days are spent running around town and by the time I reach home at night, I'm too tired to do anything else, let alone bake or cook.

Over the past weekend, I tried to squeeze in some time to bake 1/4 portion of cardamom crumb cake, which is a recipe chosen by Jill of Jill's blog for TWD this week. But I managed to screw it up by over-baking it, which resulted in an overly dry cake. I finished half of the cake (and the other half ended up in the trash can) and love the flavour combo-cardamom, orange and coffee! So I will definitely give the recipe a try again soon.

Hop over to Jill's blog if you want to give the recipe a try!

TWD: Devilish Shortcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Piggy) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:29:00 +0000

Tania of Love Big, Bake Often has chosen devilish shortcakes for TWD this week. The dough is quick and easy to put together but it is way too sticky to handle. My hands were covered with the gooey, brown dough as I tried to shape the dough into mounds. It's so sticky that I had weird flashbacks of the movie Swamp Thing, which scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. :-P

Anyway, the shortcake is bland on its own, but it tastes great with fruits and whipped cream. I had the first two pieces with chopped strawberry and cream, and the next day, I gobbled up the last piece with a dollop of strawberry jam.

If you want to give the recipe a try, hop over to Tania's blog!