It’s been awhile..

It’s been quite some time since i last blogged.. I have not stopped cooking all this time, in fact, i have been cooking more than ever before! And the results have been getting better and better! It’s just a shame that my camera has not been working well and without nice pictures, i just can’t blog properly.. Hopefully i can get a new camera soon and start sharing all the new recipes i came up with that Ben loves in these couple of months..

Perfect Spiral Curry Puffs (酥皮咖哩角)

Being a big fan of curry puffs, i have not had a taste of spiral pastry for the longest time. It is so hard to find this anywhere now as everything is machine made these days, and it does take a little more work to make the spiral pastry compared to the regular pastries. I was cracking my head on what budget friendly dishes i can make and i suddenly thought of my favourite sinful little puffs! My curry puffs have always been a big hit in parties and it is always the first thing to get wiped out. Now that i can make the spiral pastry, i can’t wait to show them off at the next party!

My camera really does not do any of my dishes any justice, the pictures turns out too bright when you turn the flash on, so bright that you cannot see anything. And if you turn the flash off, it looks dark and dull. The puffs turned out golden and so beautiful but my cheap camera did not capture any of that at all!! This recipe yields the perfect curry puffs, crispy, flaky, flavourful, and you will never need to even try another recipe!

Spiral Curry Puffs Recipe (yields 20 regular puffs)

Ingredients:

Water dough

1. 300g plain flour
2. 1/4 tsp salt
3. 1/2 cup water
4. 1 egg
5. 1 tbsp vegeatble oil

Oil dough

1. 85g cold butter, grated
2. 150g plainflour
3. 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Fillings: Refer to Crispy Flaky Curry Puff Recipe

Method:

1. Mix and knead water dough till smooth, elastic and not sticky. Divide into two portions.
2. For oil dough, rub butter into flour till fully incorporated. Continue rubbing till the dough comes together and divide into 2 balls.
3. Flatten each of the water dough and wrap one oil dough in it tightly. Seal well.
4. Place one ball of dough on a well floured surface and shape the dough into a flat rectangular shape before rolling it out
5. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible while trying to keep the rectangular shape equal
6. Place the rolled out sheet vertically and make sure the surface is well floured. From the side closest to you, start rolling the dough upwards, slowly and tightly. You will get a long spiral rope.
7. Flatten the rope and start rolling out into a thin rectangular sheet.
8. Again with the dough sheet vertically placed, roll it upwards, making sure it is very tight and secure.
9. With a sharp floured knife, slice the rolled dough as you would for a cinnamon or swiss roll into 10 1cm discs.
10. Repeat step 4- 9 for the other ball of dough
11. Roll out each discs gently and fill it with 1 – 2 tbsp of fillings. Seal well.
12. Fry in hot oil for about 4 minutes till golden brown.

No-Knead Cheddar Cheese Bread Rolls

When i came up with this easy recipe, I have very limited ingredients available. I guess the real challenge in cooking and baking is when you have very little ingredients in your pantry and you are faced with a budget constraint. However, as long as you are not very picky and you try to use your creativity, I believe there is still many delectable dishes you can whip up using the simplest, most basic and cheapest ingredients.

There is no kneading involved in this easy recipe; just mix, stir and bake! The result is a chessy fluffy bread roll that is full of flavour. You can have it for any meal of the day, just pair it up with different stuffs, you can have it for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner!

No-Knead Cheddar Cheese Bread Roll Recipe (yields about 2 dozen rolls)

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 cup lukewarm water
2. 2 tbsp sugar
3. 2 sachets active dry yeast
4. 4 cups plain flour
5. 1/4 cup caster sugar
6. 1/3 cup margerine, softened
7. 1 large egg
8. 3 cups tasty cheddar cheese, grated

Method:

1. Dissolve 2 tbsp sugar in the warm water and sprinkle yeast over the mixture. Leave to rest till foamy.
2. Add sugar, salt, margerine into the yeast mixture. Add in flour gradually while mixing the batter with a pair of chopsticks, followed by an egg. Mix the batter till smooth. The result will be wetter than a dough, but drier than a batter.
3. Stir in grated cheese till well combined.
4. Cover with a damp cloth and let the batter rise for an hour till double in size.
5. Punch down the batter and gently mix. Fill a greased muffin pan till each hole is half filled.
6. Cover loosely with cling wrap and let it rise for 30 mins.
7. Glaze generously and bake in a preheated oven at 205 degrees for about 10 minutes till golden.

Serve warm with a few slices of butter, salami, warm honey or really just anything you fancy! The rolls stays gorgeous even the next day after a quick spin in the microwave.

Easy Cheese Scones

Easy Cheese Scones Recipe

Ingrredients:

1. 3 cups plain flour
2. 3 cups tasty cheddar cheese, grated
3. 70g cold butter, cut into small cubes
4. 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5. pinch of salt
6. 3/4 cup milk

Method:

1. Combine flour, baking powde and salt in a large mixing bowl
2. Rub butter with your fingers into the flour mixture until fully incorporated
3. Add 3/4 of the cheese into the mixture and mix well
4. Form a well in the centre and add the milk in it. Slowly cut the milk into the flour with a knife
5. When a dough starts to form, transfer it onto a floured surface and lightly knead it till the dough comes together. Stop as soon as the dough just comes together and do not overwork it
6. Flatten the dough either with your hands or a rolling pin till the dough is about 3cm tall
7. Cut with a scone cutter and arrange them on a greased baking tray
8. Top the scones with the remainder of the cheese
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 15 minutes ir until golden brown.

Apple Pie Crumble and All Butter Shortcrust Pastry

This apple pie is so so yummy that i made it twice in one week! Nothing beats a warm apple pie served with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. The pastry is really really delicious but the only downside about it is the amount the butter in it. it is really FULL BUTTER. I’d better watch out for our diet, considering Benny finishes the whole pie in one night.

The apple fillings was so easy to make and turned out beautiful. It is officially the easiest way to make the fillings and anyone should give it a chance. It was a great combination of everything in the pie!! And nothing beats a warm apple pie topped with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream

The pastry is full of flavour and has the perfect texture. I will alternate this with the other shortcrust pastry i posted earlier depending on what dish i am going to make. I would describe this as a softer and more  buttery texture and the other is more flaky and cripsy. I would recomment this pastry for sweet pies, while the other for savoury pies. The recipe for this pastry is enough to make 2 apples pies. For me, i made a pot pie for the main course and an apple pie for dessert.

Apple Pie Crumble and All Butter Shortcrust Pastry Recipe

Ingredients

Shortcrust Pastry:

1. 2 1/2 cups plain flour
2. 230g frozen butter, grated
3. Pinch of salt ( i dont use salt in my pastries though)
4. Cold Milk (as needed)

Apple Fillings:

1. 4 Granny Smith Green Apples, thinly sliced
2. 1/4 cups caster sugar
3. Ground Cinammon (according to preference)

Crumble:

1. 1/2 cup plain flour
2. 1 tbsp brown sugar
3. 30-40g butter, softened

Method:

1. To make the pastry, sift flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Start rubbing the butter into the flour, until fully incorporated. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time and knead. Grab a fistful of dough and press them together, when it come sticking together, it is ready. Do not put too much milk. Form a ball with the dough, wrap tightly with cling wrap and chill for 30 -40 mins.
2. Combine the ingredients for the apple fillings in a bowl. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour until juices run.
3. To make the crumble, combine the flour with brown sugar and rub the soft butter into the flour mixture until its resembles bread crumbs
4. Roll out the pastry dough into your desired thickness, and fit into a well greased pie tin. Trim the excess dough with a pair of floured scissors.
5. Arrange apple fillings neatly on top of your pastry
6. Sprinkle the crumble over the assembled pie
7. Bake at 220 degrees for about 20- 25 minutes till golden brown

Serve hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some whip cream.

Shortcrust Pastry, perfect for pies!

I made my first pie ever! I was really excited that whole night after baking it, its a great feeling for me to bake pies and pizzas cause those 2 are the coomfort food loving wives and mothers likes to bake in movies. It makes me feel like one when i have my pizza nights every once a week, and now we are gonna have pie nights! <3

Be it savoury or sweet pies, i think this is a really good pastry for all kinds of pies. Having tried shortcrust pastry, i would be looking forward to making flaky puff pastry pies soon!

Buttery Shortcrust Pastry recipe

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups plain flour
2. 100g cold butter, cut into small cubes
3. 1/2 cup milk + more accordingly

Method:

1. Sift flour into a mixing bowl
2. Rub butter into flour, cube by cube until it is fully incorporated into the flour, it should look crumbly when u used up all the butter
3. Add in milk into the flour mixture and start kneading. You definitely need more milk, add one teaspoon at a time until a dough starts to form
4. Transfer dough onto a clean, well dusted surface and knead well for about 10 minutes till you obtain a smooth dough. You might need a little more milk along the way. The dough should be smooth, comes together well and do not stick to your hands at all
5. Form a ball with the fough and wrap with cling wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before use.
6. When rolling out the dough, ensure that working surface and rolling pin is well dusted. Roll to about 1/4 inch and you may cut your dough according to the size and shape of your pie tin

Handmade French Croissants

Some 3-4 months ago, i promised Ben i would make him his favourite croissants someday. He wasn’t so sure about that considering how difficult it is to make it and it is alot more convenient to get it from the bakeries. But all i want him to know that it is never the same when it is home-made out of love. When i cook in the kitchen, spending hours and hours on something, all i had in mind was Ben and only Ben.

Honestly i thought i would never be able to do it, even the thought of it is quite intimidating. Putting it off for months, one fine day i gathered enough courage and decided that i am determined to give it a go and even if it fails, i will try again. Being a very lucky girl, it turned out to be a success on my first try. The croissants turned out to be flaky on the outside with tender buttery layers on the inside. It tasted really really heavenly! This is no doubt a huge boost to my confidence in my baking.

I will stick to the goal of making anything Ben likes or craves  in the world for him. If the food exist, it is possible to make it, especially when it is out of love <3 The croissants took me about 8 good hours to make including baking time, it was alot of effort for 12 croissants,  when i look at Ben’s happy face when he was eating it, i swear i can go through all this effort every day just to see that face =)

Hand-made French Croissants Recipe

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups plain flour + alot alot more for dusting
2. 1 tbsp instant dry yeast
3. 1/4 cup sugar
4. 1/2 tsp salt
5. 1 1/4 cup cold milk
6. 2 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
7. 340g cold unsalted butter, cut into small squares
8. egg wash – 1 egg + 2 tbsp sugar

Method:

1. Combine 2 3/4 cup of flour with yeast, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour the cold milk into the well gradually while kneading.
2. Knead well before adding in the 2tbsp of butter, a little at a time, until the butter is fully incorporated into the dough.
3. Continue kneading while adding in the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, stop adding when u yield a smooth elastic dough that is not too sticky. Form a ball with the dough and wrapped with cling wrap. Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
4. Let the 340g butter stand for about 5 minutes till it is a little soft but still cold. Sprinkle a small amount of flour over it as needed and start smearing/rubbing it together with something flat (i used a bamboo spatula) until fully combined into a semi-soft butter block. Form a 7″ by 7″ square and wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes till cold and firm
5. Roll the dough on a well-dusted bench into a 11″ by 11″ square
6. Place the butter square on top of the dough in a diamond shape position, wrap the butter inside the dough with the 4 corners of the dough meeting at the centre of the butter. Seal the edges by pinching the dough together
7. Making sure the bench and the dough is well dusted at all times, start rolling the dough out gently into a 14″ by 14″ square
8. Fold the dough into thirds, and turn it 90 degrees and fold in thirds again to form a square. Wrap with cling wrap and chill for 2 hours.
9. Repeat step 7 and 8 again, chill dough again for another 2 hours
10. Remove cling wrap from dough after chilling. Cut the dough with a floured knife into 2 equal portions. Wrap one of the portions in cling wrap again and chill it while you work with the other portion.
11. Roll the dough into a 10″ by 20″ rectangle on a very well-floured surface. Kepp dusting the dough and rolling pin as you roll
12. Divide the dough sheet into 3 squares and cut. Cut each square diagonally where u will get 6 triangles
13. Gently stetch one side of the triangle so that it is the same length as the other side.
14. With the sharp end of the triangle pointing up, make a 3cm snip in the centre of the base of the triangle
15. Start rolling from each side of the snip upwards till u finish rolling the triangle
16. Connect the 2 ends of the croissant to form a crescent shape
17. Repeat for all 6 triangles
18. Repeat step 11 – 17 for the other portion in the fridge
19. Place all the 12 croissants on a greased baking tray and wrap with cling wrap (not too tightly). Place them in a warm place and allow it to rise till puffy for 60 – 90 minutes. (it is alot colder in Albany so i let it rise for 2 hours)
20. Glaze with egg wash, making sure every bit is glazed especially the folds
21. Bake in preheated oven at 200 degrees for 25 minutes till golden brown

Benny loves his corissants served plain, as chocolate or cheese croissants. You can be creative with your toppings according to your preference. i love mine plain as the buttery layers already taste so heavenly it doesn’t need any toppings for me.

Traditional Teochew Fried Carrot Cake (Char kway or Chai tow kway) 潮州炒粿 / 菜头粿

Fried carrot cake is a very popular dish in Singapore, it is commonly known as “chai tow kway”. It is made with white radish and rice flour and in chinese, radish is called white carrots. It is a dish made up of radish cakes cut into chunks and fried with omelette, preserved radish “chai po” and garlic.  Despite the popularity of this dish, it is not known to many, traditionally a teochew dish, this dish was tradtionally made with simply rice flour and water and is called “Char Kway” which means fried rice cakes. That is why elder teochews like my Ah Ma (grandma) will only call this dish as “Char Kway”. Radish was a later modification made to the dish and honestly, they don’t taste very different! I tried making this the traditional way this time, and i was hoping to make it with the addition of radish the next time.

I have been craving for this for the longet time and what held me back from making was the difficulty of finding preserved radish (chai po) in Australia. The chai po is the highlight and most important part of this dish for me! I would always ask for extra chai po whenever i ordered it in Singapore. That explains how excited i was when i came across this asian deli just across the street from Ben’s work place. I was sooooooooooooooooooooo happy! Not only they had my beloved chai po, they had sambal (which i can’t make my curries without), hor fun – flat rice noodles (which makes the most delicious beef hor fun that Ben adores), and heaps of other things that i have been looking for the past year! I can stop bothering my friends to get me bottles of sambal chilli from perth now, heh =) I have never appreciated asian groceries this much!

Back to the recipe, i have nothing but compliments for the texture of the rice cakes i made. I added a small amount of grated carrots for a nicer presentation and slightly sweet taste. However, i do think i can improve on the frying part as i do not have a wok at the moment, it didn’t seem to work as well in a frying pan. There are 2 variations to this dish, white and black, i have the recipe for both although i personally love the black one most!

Fried Carrot Cake Recipe

Ingredients (rice cake):

1. 200g grated carrots
2. 350g rice flour
3. 1 litre chicken stock
4. pinch of salt and pepper

Ingredients (frying):

1. Half a rice cake, cut in chunks
2. 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3. Preserved radish (chai po), rinsed and chopped (as much as you like)
4. 6 eggs. lightly beaten
5. 2 tsp fish sauce /salt (Ben hates fish sauce so i replaced with salt)
6. 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce aka kecap manis (only for the black version)

Method:

1. Heat up chicken stock in a large pot over medium heat and bring to boil
2. Reduce heat to low, and using a small scoop, sccop up some rice flour and mix into the pot. Scoop by scoop, adding every scoop after the previous one is completely dissolved into the soup.
3. When u finish adding all the rice flour, remove from heat and fold in the grated carrots.
4. Transfer into a cake tin and steam over high heat for 45 mins
5. Cool completely and refrigerate overnight
6. Place a non-stick frying pan over high heat and add in about 2 tbsp of oil
7. Add in garlic and chai po and fry till fragrant, followed by rice cakes. Fry rice cakes till it is slightly brown/crispy and add in fish sauce or salt
8. Place rice cakes well distributed all over the pan and pour in half the egg mixture evenly over
9. Wait for eggs to cook and brown slightly before flipping over and frying the other side
10. The black version is done exactly the same way, with the addition od sweet soy sauce at the end

Garnish with coriander and spring onions and serve hot with sambal belachan at the side.

Muah Chee (soft cakes coated with peanuts) 麻芝

I didn’t really like this snack when i was back in Singapore because i used to hate peanuts. I am more tolerant towards peanuts now, and i actually even started to appreciate freshly grounded peanuts now. I was reminiscing how i would buy this snack while walking through the pasar malams (night markets)  in Singapore. It is always served in a small plastic box together with a few toothpicks, and everyone would share among our families and friends while walking down the night market. I guess i really do miss home, and making this sort of made me happier as i could share with Ben a part of me that he doesn’t have a chance to get in touch with.

Ben is a big fan of all sorts of nutty snacks, and a great lover of desserts! He loves food made with flour, glutinous rice flour, bread flour, any kind of flour! So i thought this is a perfect and quick snack to make for him!

Muah Chee Recipe:

1. 1 cup glutinous rice flour
2. 150ml cold water
3. 1 tbsp vegetable oil
4. 2 tbsp coconut milk
5. 2 tsp caster sugar
6. dash of sesame oil
7. 1 cup freshly grounded roasted peanuts
8. 1/4 cup caster sugar

Ingredients:

1. Combine ingrdients 1 -5 in a mixing bowl. Stir till smooth.
2. Microwave on high for 1 min, stir fast with a pair of chopsticks and return to mircowave for another minute.
3. Add the sesame oil onto the dough and mix well, leave to cool
4. Combine ground peanuts with caster sugar
5. Cut a piece of dough and place into the peanut topping, start cutting dough into bite size pieces and cover it completely with the toppings

Chinese Cripsy Pancake 葱油饼

Right after the prata and curry fever, i was hoping to make some chinese food. I remember having 葱油饼 once at geylang (the 24hr store that sells soy milk and you char kway) and it was really yummy. I have a thing for crispy snacks! Well i have an impulse to make this one day but realised i don’t have any spring onions. i went ahead making it anyway as spring onions is optional in my opinion. I do like it alot without spring onions!

One good thing that came out of this try-out is that with ben’s help, i have learned how to make oblong dough! I have since tried it in my roti pratas and i can finally make round, spiral flakes pratas! This is an excellent snack for whatever time of the day and i really think everyone should try making it!

Chinese Pancake Recipe:

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 cups plain flour
2. 1 tsp yeast
3. 1/2 cup lukewarm water (for yeast mixture)
4. 1/2 cup boiling water
5. 1 tbsp sugar
6. 1/2 tsp salt
7. 3 tbsp oil
8. Sesame oil

Method:

1. Mix sugar into the water in a bowl. Sprinkle yeast into the mixture and leave to stand for abut 10 minutes till foamy.
2. Mix flour with salt and seperate into two portions
3. Add half of the flour into the yeast mixture
4. In a seperate bowl, slowly add boiling water into the other half portion of flour while stirring constantly
5. Combine both the dough, adding some oil and knead till you get a smooth and elastic dough
6. Cover and let dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour
7. Divde dough into small balls, about the size of a chinese soup spoon
8. On a floured surface, roll out the ball into a thin, flat dough
9. Brush a layer of sesame oil and start rolling into an oblong
10. Flatten the oblong evenly and thinly
11. Pan fry on both sides till golden brown (more oil is required if you want a more crispy texture)

Crispy Flaky Potato Curry Puffs 酥皮咖哩角

When i was a big girl, i will have 6 curry puffs at a go every saturday morning for brekkie. Some potato ones, some sardine ones. I can still remember my big sister’s face when she looked at me eat. The horror! That was how much i like curry puffs! I only have it once in awhile now, but no way i can find it where i live now. For the last few times, i cheated and used puff pastry as the dough looks too intimidating to make. One fine day, i finally decided to try it out, and now i can’t wait to share the recipe with my mom when i am back in Singapore. Its exactly how curry puffs should be, crispy and flaky, yums! Definitely the recipe you should use if you want an authentic taste!

Ingredients:

Oil Dough:

1. 1 cup plain flour
2. 150g butter

Water Dough:

1. 2 cup plain flour
2. 1 tbsp butter
3. 1/2 tsp salt
4. 150ml cold water

Fillings:

1. 2 large potatoes, diced and boiled till tender
2. 1/2 onion, diced
3. 2 tsp curry powder
4. 1 – 2 tbsp sambal chilli (depending on how spicy you want it to be)
5. 1/4 cup water

Method:

1. Mix and knead oil dough and water dough seperately. Oil dough wll be soft and sticky but smooth without clumps, while water dough should be smooth and elastic and not sticking to your hands.
2. Cling wrap the doughs seperately tightly and refrigerate for 1 hour exactly.
3. While waiting for the dough to be ready, start preparing your fillings
4. Heat up some oil in a wok, and fry onions till soft
5. Add the chilli and followed by curry powder and fry till fragrant, if  the mixture seems to be too dry, add in abit of water
6. Fry in the potatoes and add a little water bit by bit, till u get a dry and sticky texture. Remove from heat and cool completely before use.
7. Take the 2 doughs out from their wraps and roll out the water dough till its about 1/4 inch thick. Place the oil dough on top of the water dough and try to flatten it and roll it out till its the same size as the dough underneath. (oil dough tends to  be flaky and hard to work with so don’t panic. with the support from the water dough, it will be fine)
8. Fold in all four sides of the water dough, completely wrapping the oil dough inside it.
9. Flatten the dough and roll out till about 1/4 inch thick again
10. Fold in all four sides, flatten and roll out the dough again. Repeat this procedure at least 3 times.
11. Depending on how big your curry puffs to be, cut the dough into round circles, and place some fillings on top before forming the puff. Seal tightly.
12. Deep fry in hot oil till golden brown

The Best Pizza Recipe

Before Ben and me met, he has always been a pizza kinda guy. Everyone would tell me about his epic stacks of dominoes pizza boxes he had at home. Everytime he orders his pizza, he would go for the “design your own” option (being the ridiculously fussy person he is). We all love pizzas, but it can really become expensive if you have it every other day. After i lived with him, he stopped having pizzas and switched to home-cooked food. I was just thinking, why don’t i try making him some home-made pizzas, so he can have freshly made pizza anytime he likes, and he can put on any toppng he fancies! At a fraction of the price, you can have any of your favourite and most premium toppings. Besides that, we can have cosy pizza nights every week, like those i have always wanted =)

At the first few tries, i always had the problem with the middle bit being soggy and i could not hold the pizza up on its own. I was kinda upset and i know that the problem does not lie with the dough recipe as the sides are always crispy. I realised that you cannot bake it in the “normal” way in a normal home oven because it does not get hot enough. So i did some trial and error with the method of baking it and bought a pizza stone. The secret to a thin and crispy pizza when u are making a home-baked pizza lies in a very very hot preheated oven and pizza stone. Also, i baked the pizza base on its own before putting on the toppings. I was so happy when i tried this method out cause i finally succeeded! The base is finally evenly cooked, thin and crispy! And i can hold the pizza up and eat with my hands! Please try this method out, i guarantee that you can get the perfect home-made pizza!

Hand-Kneaded Thin and Crispy Pizza Dough/Base Recipe (makes 3 thin and crispy base 8″ pizzas)

You may freeze the dough after seperating them into your preferred portions.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup lukewarm water
2. 2 1/4 cup plain flour
3. 1 sachet (7g) dry yeast
4. 2 tbsp pure honey
5. 3 tbsp ghee (olive oil works well too)
6. 1 tsp salt

Method:

1. Combine warm water and honey well in a big mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast over the mixture and let it rest for about 10 mins till its foamy.
2. Add in salt to the yeast mixture, followed by ghee and flour gradually.
3. Knead the dough for about 10 mins, add a little more flour if needed till you get a smoothe elastic dough that does not stick to your hands.
4. Lightly oil a big bowl and the surface of the dough. Leave the dough to rest in the bowl, covered in a warm place for about 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 240 degrees and place the pizza stone in it for at least 30 minutes. Let it heat up the pizza stone till it is very hot while u prepare the ingredients.
6. When the dough has risen and doubled in size, punch down the dough and release the air inside.
7. Divide the dough into 3 portions
8. Transfer the dough on a floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin, and create the border with the sides of your hands. It might be easier if u do this on your pizza pan.
9. Carefully remove the hot pizza stone from the oven and place the pizza base on top. Do not put any toppings! Bake the pizza base on its own with no toppings for about 3-5 minutes till it puffs up and lightly browns. Keep a close watch by the oven and do not over or under-cook
10. Remove pizza stone and base from the oven and lightly brush the base with pizza suace. If it puffs up alot, lightly push it down with your brush.
11. Top the base with your favourite toppings, we always have mozzarella cheese, onions, marinated meat in different sauces. It’s really up to what u like cause its your own pizza!
12. Bake for a further 15 minutes till golden and cooked.

Top with some frest rocket leaves if you like and enjoy your perfect thin and crispy pizza!

French Brioches

We’ve been working on a tight budget lately, so i was thinking of making more food that uses flour and other cheaper ingredients. Flour is indeed peasant’s food because it is so affordable and there is no boundaries to how you use them to make many many different kinds of delectable food.

I started my exploration with flour in making Brioches! I have always wanted to try baking bread, but i always gave up on the idea because it seems hard without a bread machine and i never remember to buy bread flour when i go foo shopping. Brioches is a type of bread wih a very rich flavour, it taste buttery, milky with a hint of sweetness. It has a crumpy bite to it, and the crust is to die for. This is my very first time baking any kind of bread and it was one of the tastiest bread i have eaten! i am very encouraged by the result, so much that i have decided to bake my own breads from now. They usually sell bread here in huge loaves, and they are usually not very fresh nor tasty. There is only the 2 of us at home whom are not very big eaters so smaller freshly baked breads seem to be the way to go! I am so eager to try and learn how to make all sorts of bread now!

French Brioches Recipe

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups all-purpose flour + a little more
2. 1 tbsp active dry yeast
3. 2 tablespoon caster sugar
4. 75g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
5. 2 eggs (at room temperature)
6. 1/3 cup warm milk
7. pinch of salt
8. egg wash – 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 or 1/2 tbsp sugar according to preference

Method:

1. Combine flour with yeast in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle
2. Add in the the milk slowly and steadily into the well, and slowly rub it into the flour mixture
3. Add in the sugar and salt, followed by the butter, piece by piece, rubbing each piece into the mixture before adding the next
4. Add in the eggs, one by one, and start kneading the dough
5. Add a little more flour, bit by bit and continue kneading till you get a smooth and elastic dough that does not stick to your hands
6. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest and prove for 2 hours
7. Grease the bread tin with egg wash
8. Work the dough very gently on a floured surface and divide into four rolls, arrange the rolls side by side in the bread tin and let it prove again for 1 hour
9. Glaze the dough with egg wash
10. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg for 25 minutes or until golden
11. Cool completely removing from tin

You can serve it with a slice of butter or jam, but i like it best plain because it is really yummy even on its own!

Potato Fritata

I have always liked to make fritatas as it is really simple and fast to make! Always a good choice when u are having a busy morning or just don’t know what to make! It is also a perfect choice for lunchboxes.

Ingredients:

1. 1-2 large potato, cut into good sized squares (not to small)
2. half an onion, chopped
3. 2 eggs
4. 3/4 cup milk
5. knob of butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220 deg
2. Boil potatoes till tender
3. Combine eggs and milk, beat well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Place baking tin over medium heat, melt butter and fry onions till fragrant.
5. Add in potatoes and fry till the sides start to brown
6. Pour in egg mixture and do not stir, when the sides start to get coked, while the centre is still runny, remove from heat
7. Top with cheddar cheese if you like
8. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes till golden brown

Cool completely before cutting. Serve with fresh parsley.

Roti Prata

We had this sudden craving for roti prata in the middle of the night and the joy of living in aussie is that i have to make any kind of asian food we wanna eat. The asian restaurants here, not to be rude, is really “different” from authentic asian food. If we were in Singapore, i would definitely take a taxi to Jalan Kayu right away, no matter what time it is. 24 hours food is seriously awesomeeeeeeeeee.

Well, this was a quite a challenge to make, especially the “flipping part”, which took me one hour to figure out how to do it decently. Fortunately, my hard work was paid off and we got exactly what we craved for. Ben finished all 16 pratas at a go and is asking me to make them everyday now. And i can never say no to my Benny boy <3

Roti Prata Recipe

Ingrdients:

1. 550g plain flour
2. 1 tsp salt
3. 2 tbsp caster sugar
4. 1/2 cup melted butter/ghee
5. 1 large egg
6. 1 cup lukewarm water
7. 1 cup ghee or oil

Method:

1. Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl
2. Beat egg well and add in the water and butter. Pour in to flour mixture slowly while kneading into it
3. Continue kneading till u get a soft and smooth dough
4. Divide dough into 16 balls and pour in 1 cup og ghee/oil. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rest overnight.
5. Flatten the ball into a flat round shape
6. Hold the dough with both hands, thumbs on the bottom and start flipping
7. Flip till the dough becomes extremely thin, like tissue
8. U can add it an egg, onions or anything u like, before u fold in the sides into a sqaure shape. Or u can have it plain and just fold it up nicely
9. Pan fry with a good amount of oil and u get crispy, flaky prata!

Best served hot with curry or sugar =)

Teochew Png Kueh (Glutinous Rice and Peanut Cakes) 潮州饭桃

Ah ma will be very proud of me if she was here to eat this! I can still remember helping her wrap the pink png kueh when i was a little girl. I think i actually made this because i really miss her.. Making food that i grew up with makes me feel abit closer to home =)

It was a pity that i didn’t have any pink couloring and the traditional mould. But other then that, it tasted exactly like how i remember it to be =) The traditional ones have dried shrimp and some mince in it, but i really just like it with glutinous rice and heaps of peanuts so i omitted the rest.

Ingredients:

1. 200g Rice Flour
2. 80g  Tapioca Starch
3. 390ml boiling water
4. 1/2 tsp salt
5. 2 tbsp oil
6. 2 cups glutinous rice (soaked for at least 5 hours)
7. 1 cup chicken stock
8. 2 cloves garlic
9. 1 1/2 cup peanuts (boiled till semi soft)
10. 3 tbsp oyster sauce
11. 3 tbsp sesame oil
12. soy sauce and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Sift rice flour and tapioca starch into a large mixing boil. Combine with salt.
2. Pour boiling water over oil before pouring over the flour mixture. Knead and form a smooth soft dough. Set aisde to cool.
3. Fry garlic with sesame oil in a wok till fragrant. Add in oyster suace, chicken stock , soy sauce and pepper. Bring to boil.
4. Add in glutinous rice and simmer in the sauce over medium heat till the liquid almost dries up. Stir in boiled peanuts and remove from heat. Steam the rice and peanuts over high heat for 25 minutes.
5. Wrap the glutinous rice fillings into the prepared dough, seal well. I used a hear shaped mould for mine but you can use any that you like =)
6. Steam over high heat for 10 miutes
7. Serve with sweet sauce and sambal belachan, enjoy!

Sick..

I haven’t been updating for awhile as i’ve been really ill, so ill i can hardly stand.. So cooking is kinda outta the question, have to depend on Benny to cook my meals and help me around. What would i do without him? Moving to another place while i’m so ill really doesn’t help at all too.. i look forward to getting better and hanging out in my new kitchen soon..

Lor Mai Kai 糯米鸡 (Glutinous Rice Chicken)

I still remember eating this during recess time when i was in primary school!!! It never failed to make my day cause its always soooo yummyyyyyy!!! I know there is the black variation one, where u have chinese mushrooms and chinese sausages, but ben doesn’t eat mushrooms so i thought he might like the whitish version one, it taste exactly the same as the ones we buy at the dim sum stall or in schools. And as Ben doesn’t eat any other part of the chicken except the breasts, while i like the thighs, we compromised with chicken tenderloins. its white like the breast, but at the same time really tender! =)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1. 3 big strips of chicken tenderloins (thinly sliced)
2. 2 cups glutinous rice
3. 1 cup chicken stock
4. 3 tbsp sesame oil
5. 5 tbsp oyster sauce
6. 1 tsp light soy sauce

Method:

1. Soak rice in water overnight. Drain well when you are ready to cook.
2. Heat up sesame oil and fry in chicken till frgrant. Stir in oyster sauce and soy sauce and add in chicken stock. Remove chicken and set aside, leaving the sauces and stock in the pan.
3. Add in rice and fry till the stock dries up.
4. Place chicken in aluminium foil bowls and  place rice on top, tightly packed.
5. Steamed over high heat for 25 minutes

Garnish with fresh coriander, fried shallots and season with pepper to serve.

Fried Mantou 炸馒头 (Fried Chinese Steamed Buns)

I looooove this snack when i was back in Singapore.. i will always order it when we have chilli/butter crab. I actually like the mantous way more than i like the crabs. another way i love eating this snack is with condensed milk, now that i bought skim condensed milk, it doesn’t feel as sinful now =P

My sister gave me a treat at Seafood Paradise down at Defu Lane when i was back in Singapore in August, and when i was eating my favourite mantous, i was thinking that this will be something that Ben would absolutely adore! So i tried making it last week and damn i was right! he looooooves it! I wouldn’t think of anyone who woudn’t like these cute little buns!

Ingredients:

1. 1 tbsp sugar
2. 1 1/2 cup warm water
3. 1 tbsp active dry yeast
4. 4 cups plain flour

Method:

1. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over 4 tablespoons of warm water and leave for 15 minutes
2. Place flour in a large mixing bowl and create a well. Pour yeast micture and remaining water into well.
3. Knead on a floured bench till smooth. Return to bowl, cover with a damp and warm cloth  and let it rise for at least one hour.
4. Punch down to realease the air and let it stand for another 20 minutes.
5. Roll the dough into bun rolls and steam on high heat for 10 minutes.

Can be served hot  right after steaming or deep fried and served with sweetened condensed milk. Perfect to dip in curries etc.

French Onion Soup

I made this for the surprise candle light dinner i prepared earlier.. It was the first time i made it as well as tasted it and i must say, damn it’s yummyyyyyyyyy! But being the one who made it, i know how unhealthy it is and it was the only thing that kept me from having more =(( With this as a side, and tuscan steak as the main, we couldn’t help but dipped the steak into the soup and it went extremely well together, which makes me thought that i could make a this a suace for steaks in future.

Ingredients:

1. 60g butter
2. 6 large brown onions, thinly sliced
3. 1 tsp sugar
4. 3 cups beef stock
5. 1/2 cup white wine
6. 2 tbsp plain flour
7. parsley

Method:

1. Place butter in large suacepan, over high heat and add in onions when butter melts and turns bubbly
2. Reduce heat to medium and let onions cook in butter for one hour, stirring occasionally
3. Add in sugar and let onions caramelise for a few minutes, stirring occasionally
4. Pour in beef stock, followed by white wine
5. Gradually add in flour, while stirring constantly

Garnish with parsley and serve as a side, or serve with crouton as a starter