Good day peeps! It has been a sunny day today while I am enjoying my breakfast with a cup of hot coffee. Such a great start ahead, how about yours? It has been always a busy day for me, juggling between work and home, but during this school holiday we took a break in Penang, my all time favourite relaxing island. And a foodie place too! Need not to say the weighing scale is rising up! (laugh). We didn't take a lot of photos this round instead we strolled around the town to hunt for food. Oh dear, how I love Penang food especially the "Assam Laksa" & "Fried Kuey Teow". If you happen to visit the Penang Island, you will surely agree with me of those authentic and delicious Penang food and not forgetting the beautiful seasides.
Back to my today's special which I would like to share with all of you. The black pepper chicken! I got this recipe from my husband's uncle who is a Eurasian. He is such a good cook and love to whip up good food for his family. He cooked this dish for us during our visit few years back and I have to admit it was delicious. This recipe is his own creation and it is a-must-try recipe! Thus, I cooked this dish for my family last weekend for dinner and all of us love it to bits!
If you are a big fan of black pepper and the kick of it, you will surely like this dish! You may add more of the grounded black pepper according to your taste bud. He also topped this dish with fried potato chips, homemade! It is just a prefect combination! Alright peeps, till then I got to get back to work. Have a nice day!
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into 12 pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 tbsp frozen mixed beans (carrot, peas, corn)
Seasoning sauce:
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp black soy sauce
2 tbsp Lea & Perrin sauce
2 tbsp Maggie Seasoning sauce
2 tbsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp ground white pepper
1 cup of water
Thickener (optional):
1 tsp of Cornflour
5 tbsp of water
Method:
1. Thaw the mix beans and blanch with hot boiled water for 30 seconds, drain and set aside.
2. Heat up wok with 1/2 cup of oil, fry the chicken until half cooked. Drain and set aside.
3. Use 2 tbsp of the remaining oil, saute garlic and onion until fragrant.
4. Add in the chicken and seasoning sauce. Stir and mix well.
5. Add in extra water to cover the chicken (make sure the water is enough to cover the chicken). Close the wok with lid and simmer until the sauce reduce to half and begin to thicken. (about 20 mins)
6. Add in the thickener and mixed beans, mix well. Dish up and serve.
Note:
• The amount of black pepper is vary depending on personal taste bud. You may add or reduce the amount stated.
• If the gravy has become thick enough, you may omit the Thickener.
• You may make some homemade fried potato chips to complement this dish. Just rinse 2 big US Russet potatoes, pat dry then slice it thinly, rub in some salt. Heat up 1/2 cup of oil, deep fry it batch by batch until crispy. You may need to eat the potato chips immediately to prevent it to get soften. Enjoy! |
Hi there! Time really flies..... it has entered into the 2nd month of the year 2013! I still remember we were preparing for Christmas and New Year count down past few months, now with a blink of an eye, the Chinese New Year is on the way! For those who celebrating CNY, how is your preparation? I can feel the slowing down in Facebook, blogging and Twitting as a result of busy getting ready for CNY.
As I wanted to join in the fun of baking, especially the thrill of making cookies, tarts and all sort of traditional pastry I was inspired to make this custard cookies which I find it easy to follow! This is my first attempt into making this type of cookie, which require piping from cookie nozzle and I would say it is pretty time consuming especially for a first timer. But, the end result and the joy of making it outbid all the hard work! As practice makes prefect, the more I piped, the pattern of the cookies become prettier and nicer. The tips of today - always press it lightly and leave the nozzle up as fast as possible. If you press too hard or down, the pattern from the nozzle will get less prominent and the cookie will becomes flatter. Hop over to this
blogger's site for more pictures of making this cookies and the correct piping nozzle for this cookie.
According to this blogger, these custard cookies are simply awesome and definitely is the type of custard cookies that she has been hunting for all this while. I do agreed with her, the cookie has buttery taste and melts in the mouth, giving you that kind of simple, traditional yet tasty feeling.
Need my conclusion for this recipe? My family loves it to bits especially my son and even my Mother in law. My son has been munching the cookies almost everyday and requested us to pack it for school. I gave some to my friend's daughter and she came back asking for more! I am very pleased by all these compliments and will definitely make this again! Do try this yourself and I am sure you will love it too!
Till then, wishing all who celebrate
Chinese New Year [ The Year of Snake ] a happy, prosperous, auspicious, healthy and joyous Chinese New Year!
Recipe adapted from My Lemony Kitchen
(makes approximately 70 pieces)
Ingredients:
150g margarine
80g icing sugar
50g cornflour
80g custard powder
120g plain flour
1 egg yolk
glaze cherries - chopped (I bought ready-chopped cherries)
Method:
1. Heat up a dry wok over low fire, fry the cornflour, plain flour and custard powder until the mixture is light and leaves the side of the wok. Set aside to cool. (Do not over fry the flour)
2. Beat the margarine and sugar with a stand mixer until creamy.
3. Add in the egg yolk and beat the mixture until well combine.
4. Add in flour bit by bit and mix well.
5. Pre-heat oven to 120ºC. Line a baking tray with baking paper. (You may use non-stick baking tray)
6. Fill in batter into the cookie pump by using the cookies nozzle to pressed out the dough onto the baking paper.
7. Top with cherries and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Note:
• Get the correct cookie piping nozzle for this cookie.
• Keep cookies in airtight container. |
Hi peeps! Christmas is around the corner and for us Christmas cake is a must to celebrate this festive season! My hub is a big fan of fruit cake and upon his request every year, I will specially baked one especially for him. I chanced upon this lovely lady's
English fruit cake recipe and immediately fell in love with those beautiful photos she has displayed. I am sure this fruit cake will definitely be a hit for my family.
Without wasting much time, I gathered all the ingredients needed and start to baked. Then, seasoned the cake in the fridge for a good 1 week and "voila"... the moment I cut the cakes into slices, the cakes were gone within minutes. (LOL) Even my little boy loves it so much and has been munching for last few days!
It is kinda easy to make fruit cake, you just have to soak the fruits, get the ingredients correct and pop it in the oven. Then, you can have a fruitful fruit cake to be served for Christmas!
It has been quite a busy weeks for me to prepare for the coming Christmas, there will be a lot of cleaning, decorating, baking and cooking until the end of the year! And also a beautiful Christmas dinner with the loved ones!
Thus, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you whom celebrate Christmas
A Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Happy holidays peeps!
 Recipe adapted and modified from bisousatoi
Ingredients
(A)
250g butter
200g brown sugar (I used Muscovador sugar)
(B)
4 eggs
(C) Sift
200g flour (I used superfine flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
80g almond powder
(D)
100g dried cranberries
100g red cherries
450g black raisins (I used mixed fruits)
100g orange peel (I used mixed peel)
1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
80g orange juice (I used freshly squeezed orange juice, drained)
1 no orange zest
(E)
60g plain flour
Sugar Syrup: Cook all the ingredients until boiling, then set aside to cool
100g orange juice (I used freshly squeezed orange juice, drained)
50g water
80g sugar
Method:
1) Mix ingredients (D) and soak it overnight in the fridge.
2) Line a 8" square baking tray with double baking papers, wrap the outside tray with aluminium foil. Preheat oven at 170ºC for 15 mins.
3) Cream ingredients (A) with standing mixer at medium speed until light. Add ingredients (B) one at a time and cream until light and smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula after each addition.
4) Add ingredients (C) and mix well with a spatula.
5) Remove Ingredients (D) from fridge and rest for 10 mins in room temperature. Toss ingredients (D) with (E) to coat the fruits with flour. Then add it into batter and mix until well with a spatula.
6) Pour it into baking tray, spread evenly. Bake at 170ºC at the bottom rack of the oven for 1 hour. Remove the cake from the baking tray and put it on a rack then brush with sugar syrup and set aside to cool. Once it is completely cool, remove the cake and wrap it with aluminium foil. Keep for minimum two days then serve.
Note:
• Use dark muscovador sugar or dark molasses sugar for a darker colour cake. |
Talking about omelette, I simply adore them and I can have them most of the time. My family classified me as an omelette addict, (LOL) as they could see me cooking omelette at least once a week or ordering omelette most of the time when we dined out. Am I an omelette addict? Well, let me tell you bits of the history behind it. During my childhood my maternal grandma whom was the sole cook in my house used to whipped up various of omelette for her grandchildren including me most of the time. As time goes by omelette has become one of my childhood's favourite food until today. Need not to say omelette is also an easy dish to cook for daily meal. Agree? That is the reason why I love omelette so much!
Recently, I stumbled upon this quick and easy Spanish omelette from Annabel Karmel's website and immediately I whipped this up for my family. The main reason I fall for this recipe is because it consists of various vegetables in the omelette which is a perfect recipe for a veggie fussy eater like my son. In this way, I don't have to squeeze my brain juice to think of any extra dish which contains vegetables for his meal. Oh yeah! It is kinda tough job for mum with a fussy eater.
This recipe is great in away where it consists of milk and cheese, kids just love milk and cheese, don't they? With the combination of potatoes and vegetables in it, it is such a wholesome side dish for the whole family. Since we are a small family, I have reduced the portion into half which was just a perfect size for our consumption. If you need a bigger portion for your family you may need to hop in to
Annabel's site to get the complete recipe. Alright, till then I will come back with more omelette recipes in the future! (LOL) Enjoy your weekend peeps!
Ingredients:
- 1 large Russet Potato, skinned
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 courgette, chopped
- 1 tomato, skinned, de-seeded and roughly chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
Seasoning: Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Bring a lightly salted saucepan of water to the boil, add the potato, reduce the pan to a simmer and cook the potatoes for about 6-8 minutes, until tender. Drain, leave to cool and cut into slices.
2. Heat the oil in an 14-16 cm non stick frying pan. Sauté the onion for 1 minute. Add the chopped courgette and sauté for about 3 minutes.
3. When the courgette is cooked, add the tomato and cook for 2 minutes. Then stir in the sliced potatoes.
4. Beat the eggs together with the milk, parmesan cheese and a little seasoning. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and cook over a low heat for about 4-5 minutes or until the eggs are set underneath and cooked on top. (I have omitted this step : "Meanwhile, preheat the grill to high. Place the frying pan under the grill with the handle sticking out if not metal and cook for about 3 minutes until golden and set.")
5. Leave the omelette to cool, then cut into wedges. Serve immediately. |
It has been a rainy season recently, thus we have to confine ourselves from outdoor activities. After all the busy schedule, finally I can stay at home and bake something to warm up my oven and our tummies! *haha*. It had been a hectic task juggling among work, home and my boy's year end exam. Oh yes! Finally, the exam is over and I can breath a little bit easier now!
We are fans of baked chicken wings, we simply can't resist the temptation of biting the juicy and finger licking good chicken wings. Hence, it will be great if I bake it at home and we can savour ample of them together. The baked chicken wings are easy to make, just marinade them with some marinate ingredients and dump them in the oven. It is ready within minutes, a cosy dish for the whole family. I have also added a touch of the fragrant sesame seeds! Simply heaven! The baked chicken wings were gone within minutes the moment I brought it out from the oven! If you too like baked chicken wings like we do, try it out today and enjoy! Till we meet again, have a nice day!
Ingredients:
10 pcs of chicken wings with drummets (cut into 2 parts, discard the end part)
Sesame seeds
Ingredient B:
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder (optional)
2 tsp meat curry powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbps of honey
3 tbsp of olive oil
Method:
1) Preheat the oven at 180ºC for 15 mins. Clean and trim chicken wings and drummets. Pat dry and set aside.
2) Put chicken into a ovenproof dish, marinade chicken with ingredient B. Mixed well.
3) Marinade chicken in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
4) Remove the chicken from the fridge, sprinkle with sesame seeds.
5) Bake chicken for about 20-25 mins until the chicken is cooked and golden brown. Serve while warm. |
