Lights out - Earth Hour

We are voting for earth by having our lights n TV off for one hour. Our home is pitch black except for the tealights. . . 7 in total. One in the bathroom cos F need to do the no. 2 heheh. . . We took the opp to reflect on our life, relationship and work. . . It's really cool. We plan to do this every other week when we have time off together. Time for a massage in the dark!!

Cheese Puffs

David Lebovitz called it Gougeres and he added chives. Oh. . I dun know how to add hyperlink thru my hp, google him for his recipe. I called it cheese puffs and did not use chives. [24 Mar: I updated the link.... click to go to David's site].

So i researched. . . Tried Donna Hay's reciped for Profiteroles, and add cheese n chilli powder like what David blog. Perfect! Except i didn't bake for the same length of time the recipe called for. . . I'm gonna break my finger if i type the recipe in now. But i'll do so soon. Plus update on Engkak

24 Mar:
I tried his recipe but it did not come out right. Could be something I did wrong. I have more pictures on my several attempts.

My very very first attempts on top left hand corner. David was kind enough to include notes at the end of his recipe as a precaution. So I know my oven was not hot enough. Second attempt on bottom right hand corner. I used Gouda and Cheddar cheese. And I realised that if I bake as what David advised, about 35mins in total. I get a rock hard Gougeres. Helpp!!!


So I baked for only a total of 10mins. I get a nice golden brown colour. Rather than a dark brown to thge shade of black. Heheh.... I brought it to office as nibbles for the department meeting. But I realised that it did not retain it shape. The air in the puff sorta escaped, and I got fairly flattened but edible Gougeres.




So I tried one more time and brought it to offce the next morning for breakfast nibbles.


But I was still not satisfied, cos the way it is made is similar to the cream puffs... profiteroles. So the texture should be like what I ate for Beard Papa right. The recipe is for Choux paste right....

So I found a recipe for Profiterole in the Donna Hay book that I borrowed from the library. Tweaked it a bit to be similar to David's and got this.



So I used Edam and Cheddar. More Edam, less Cheddar. I think the Edam melted. JT helped me in the kitchen. And she kept telling me that she cannot grate the Edam.. It's crumbling in my hands!! she said. So she ended just crumbling them instead of grating. We tried one batch. It worked and the boys ate it all up. So we made 4 more batches to bring to the 2 Sunday events that we were invited to... we as in F & I.

We had an amazing crazy weekend! Which is another story and another recipe. The tweaked Donna Hay's recipe too. I promised.


Cheese Puff
1 cup water
100g butter
3/4 cup plain flour (shifted)
4 small eggs (lightly beaten)
1 tsp chilli powder
3/4 cup grated cheese

1. heat water, butter and chilli powder until butter melted
2. Pour in shifted flour and whisk until the batter comes together in a ball.. abt 5mins. But to me it seems more than that cos of the effort it takes to whisk the batter
3. take the batter out of the pot and let it cool.... I suggest putting it in a Mixer and let it whisk the batter a few times to cool off the heat
4. Slowly pour in the eggs as the batter is being whisked by the mixer
5. Fold in the grated cheese
6. Either pipe about a teaspoon blob on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper... or just use a teaspon! LOL
7. Bake at 200°C for about 10mins or until golden brown

Final product. . Engkak

It soo didn't turn out too great! So unsatisfied i am that i decided to try making Gorgeres the next day.

24 Mar

OK...blogging from a PC now. The recipe for Engkak can be found here.

I think I did not get the preparation of the batter quite right. It didn't really turn out spongy as the recipe indicates.

I dun have the Bahulu mould that it requires. I used a muffin tray. But if ever I do it again, I'll use the whatchamacallit... cupcake papers... did I get it right?

Engkak - Step 2

I'm a bit skeptical that this will work. . .

Engkak

Blogging from hp again. F's off having dinner with his pals to celebrate a successful project. I,ve done laundry, mop the kitchen, clean the toilet and it's 11pm and i'm bored . . . So i pulled out the various recipes that i've gotten while surfing. . It's either Gougeres from David Lebovitz or this kuih. I figured it's been awhile since i make something for mum. . . So kuih it is then! Final product picture and recipe later. . . That's just the picture of the filling. . . Hehe

My attempt on a Lemon Meringue Pie

I am blogging using my h/p. This was my attempt to make a Lemon Meringue Pie y/day.

I borrowed two books on Sunday - Donna Hay and Delia's, after my night shift.

Donna Hay's Modern classics book 2

The Delia Collection, Puddings

After my dinner with OLK & E at Double Bay Restaurant. Discussion swirls around dessert and the best place to have Sticky Pudding. The one that we ordered at Double Bay was not fantastic.

So I revealed to them that I seldom eat out anymore. That I tend to cook more and pack lunches. So if they talk about restaurants eating, it is a big treat for me. But I will be more than happy to set a date to try to make them the sticky pudding and have them tell me how I fair.
We are yet to set a date... cos I am yet to get the recipe.

Thus the reason I borrowed the two books.
And in the books, I chanced upon the Lemon Meringue Pie. I've always wanted to try after reading the courageous attempts made by the DBs. I am not as daring, so I tried on my own really really free time.

And I had a bottle of lemon juice from Waitrose which I bought only becos I fell in love with the bottle. You would too!!

Oh ok! So some explaination abt the really burnt bits on top of the meringue. I read one of the books, I think it was Donna's. So it says place the pie under a broiler for bake till meringue sets. I dun know what she mean... like totally bimbo abt those jargon * twirling hair, looking in the air* ... So, while still chatting with JT on the phone, I set my oven to 220C, top heat only and place the pie underneath it... 5 mins chatting, I decided to do a check. Thank God I did! It's still edible.. F & I ate half of the pie in one seating.

Agro Dolce

You won't believe this but our computer went kaput(!) on us. Thus the absence of a few months worth of recipes.

Dec was a busy period. There wasn't much cooking I think.
I tried the Velvet Cake recipe with the Cream Cheese icing but I suppose it is old news for alot of the food bloggers cos the would have attempt that in the DB challenge.

And I have been burying my nose into several cookbooks in an attempt to wake up my sense of creativity, adventure and tastes.

One lazy lazy day, when F and I were soo undecided on whether to go out or to stay home. F fell asleep in front of the TV. I was feeling super restless but refuse to join him in a nap. We borrowed a few thick and heavy cookbooks from the library the previous day. Well, I borrowed, F helped to carry the books home heheh...

I decided that this recipe is interesting enough to try.

I used chicken instead of Poussins. Like errmmm.... where do I get Halal Poussins at 8.30pm?The recipe calls for 3 wineglasses of Chianti and red wine vinegar. But the problem is I don't take wine. Not in drinking or cooking. I know the effect may be different but instead of wine, I used Pomegranate Juice and white vinegar.

When I told NL about what I did, she raised an eyebrow but said that Chianti is a sweet wine, so Pomegranate juice sounds appropriate. Of course, after that I have to promise to make some to let her try. One day....

Oh! and no smoke pancetta too. I used Turkey bacon.

Served it up with mash potatoes just as how Jamie suggested. And grilled veggie salad (not to his suggestions).

The results was super amazing. F had a second helping and a 3rd......
I was soo thrilled with the results that I forgot to take a picture. It is such an inspiring and unique way of cooking chicken (to me). It does not use garlic, no chilli. None of the usual spices that I would have used to flavour a sweet and sour dish.

And I have to tell Sis about the recipe cos she was complaining that she still have not used up the big Jar of Sun Dried Tomatoes that she have in the fridge.

Hari Raya Cookies and Open House

*Stuff bought for the Cookie making frenzy.*

I am blogging again but I shall not tell where I am blogging from... location *Top Secret* LOL

My itch to blog overcomes the better of me... thus here I am blogging, but without recipes. So just food porn... ;-)

Thanks to Boss who gave me her brand-new-totally-not-used-been-sitting-in-her-kitchen oven. It's perfect. I think it bakes even better than my current oven.

I made three types of cookies this year:
1. Compulsory Choc Chip Spotties ( No pictures... totally slipped my mind to do that, cos we made it so often)

This is a must each year. When both of were still staying at Mum's, every year my sis and I will make a list of stuff to buy to put in it. Every year it's different types of nuts. There is one year we went crazy and dumped in every single nuts that mum has in her fridge.... we'll prob throw ourselves in too (geddit?) , but we cannot fit into the bowl!! This year it was sliced almonds, walnuts and green pumpkin seeds.

2. Oatmeal Cookies

I bought The Cookie book specifically cos of this recipe....

3. Dates and Celory Cut-out Cookies

I sooo wanted to use up the dates that MIL gave me last year. And I wanted some colour... but I dun like those cherries in the packet. I found this product made of from papaya.. they made it look like cherries. And Mum's Phoon Huat member's card is permenantly with me. Yeay!!
And I tweaked a recipe that I got from the Cookie Book.

And then there is the open house. We invited friends and families over... mostly family. Cos our family alone... parents, in laws, sister, brothers, aunties, uncles... it's enough to fill up the whole house.

We serve a simple spread:

1. Fried Chicken Wings

- 7.5kg of it to be exact.

2. Flat Arabic Bread

3. Foul Mesdammes

4. Kheema

5. Summer Salad

HC helped me with the preparation and the dishes. THANK YOU HC. Love you deep deep. I don't think I could managed w/o her.

F was in charge of the rest of the house. I sewed new curtains and cushion covers. MIL bought us a new carpet. Thank you MIL :-* (Although she dun read my blogs... )

F did a fabulous job re-arranging all the furnitures on his own. My strong F :-*... he dragged the furnitures tho and our neighbour staying below us came up to inform us to keep it down.. shesshhh

We now have a TV corner for F and a reading corner for me.

Another area that I can use to chill with a book in the daylight :-)