Sunday, July 24, 2011

To All My Loyal,,,, Fan

IT has been 3 months since I stopped blogging... So many reasons for that. Firstly, I have been eating out a LOT more than normal now that I'm in the high-roller club (i.e. Entertainment Card LOL). Also, my mum was here to feed me lots and lots of other home cooked food so I dont really need to cook any desserts/foods anymore.....aaaand that pretty much sums up my 3 months.

Look forward to the next post: Kaya Balls! I just made some kaya pancakes and they are fantastic!! I'll let you know about it laters!

PS: IF you noticed, ball =/= pancake! You'll know why in my next post!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Green Tea Puffs!

Whoa... I didnt even realise it has been such a long time since I updated my blog. I'm a busy guy after all haha... However, fret not! I havent been lazy. I've been trying different recipes still and I've made at least 4-5 different dishes since my last posting but have been quite lazy in updating.

I love a few websites for learning cooking. The main one I have been copying from is http://homekreation-recipes.blogspot.com/ . She is a great cook and a full-time mum to boot!! She has terrific recipes on her website and I've tried making 3-4 of her recipes with great success!! It would be good for you guys to support her too!

The main one I am blogging about today is the Green tea puff which took under 1 hour to actually make. This recipe is originally from About.com (all credits to them) ... not quite authentic but it does taste really good.

Ingredients
3 tbsp of butter
2 tsp of sugar
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of flour
2 eggs


Custard filling
2 tbsp of flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup of milk
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp of melted butter

Steps:
1) Preheat the oven to 190 celcius.
2) Beat eggs in a bowl slightly till mixed.
3) Mix butter , sugar and water together and bring to a boil. Add flour into this mixture stirring quickly and turn off the heat.
4) Add the eggs in slowly and mix well.
5) Put it into a plastic bag and pipe 9 even mounds on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
6) Bake for around 30-40mins depending on oven. Cool and halve them (or slit them)

Custard
1) Mix egg yolks and sugar in a pan and add sifted flour and mix well.
2) Add warm milk gradually to the mixture , turn it on low heat and stir constantly till the mixture becomes thick. Now stop the heat and add in the melted butter and stir well.
3) (Optional for green tea custard) Dissolve 1tsp of green tea in 2tsp of water. Add a few spoonfuls of custard cream and mix well. Then transfer to the rest of the custard mixture.
4) Cool and pipe into the prepared puffs.


There you have it. A GREAT tasting product if you are a big fan of green tea.. and oh so easy to make. Till next time my little friends!

Your "fake" Masterchef buddy,
Doug.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Long time coming

Not sure if anyone still reads my blogs but I'm still alive!! :)

The only thing is, I havent really made anything special lately so nothing of note to post up on the internet. Just made some black sesame soup today... however, I consider it a failure because it does not smell like black sesame at all... Dont you just hate it when sometimes you just cant make it perfectly the first time around?? Well, I do! I hate high failure rates... next time though, I'm gonna try making some tang yuan with the black sesame soup.. AWESOME combo if you ask me!!

Anyways, I'm gonna try to make some more biscuits/cookies the next time I have some free time to cook.

What have I been up to you ask? Well, Steven a good friend of mine is moving to Queensland to open up a new pharmacy business with his dad. How awesome is that! The downside though, is that we will not be able to meet up as often anymore as he is in another state. So very very sad. But as always, glad to see him taking a new step up in his career. I definitely wish him all the best with his future endeavours though whilst I'm still only stuck in a pharmacist position. Hope my luck turns around soon and I'll be able to manage or even own my own store. *wishes super hard*.
The boys


The Girls
My life these few weeks consists of eating, eating and eating. Went to Shoya ( http://www.shoya.com.au ) the last night of meeting Steven with a bunch of friends. The set meal was $59 each. A bit on the expensive side, but definitely very worth the money. The ingrediends that were brought out to barbeque were definitely of the freshest quality. Take a look at the set menu on the website. We also had a bottle of sake to be shared between all of us which was fantastic to wash down our bbq with. Besides the food, which I thoroughly enjoyed, the ambience was really good as well as fantastic service from the staff there. I have been there twice already and the quality is still as good as ever! Well done on them and they deserve to be rated highly. I do recommend going there.. even though I havent tried their lunch menu yet.. should do that one day eh?

Thats my life story compressed into one semi-long post. Oh... lets not forget the tragedy in Japan. Pray for their speedy recovery. The loss of a loved one is all too familiar to me and I would not wish that upon anyone.

Your fake-masterchef buddy,
Douglas.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

CNY is around the corner.... Part 4

Good morning my fellow bloggers.. CNY is just in 2 days time.. I am so excited and sad at the same time. The only reason I am sad is because I cant spend it in Sibu like I usually do. All those visiting different relatives and friends as well as enjoying the spectacular fireworks at night at 12am does really make me miss celebrating it in Malaysia. In addition to that, food during CNY is always awesome... we have a whole range of cakes, cookies, random snacks and sweets to be consumed. One would normally gain at least 2-3kg's in the few days of chinese new year visiting. But no matter! Its still an awesome time to be at.

Continuing on like I usually do, I've decided to show everyone the type of cakes that we eat during chinese new year. Cakes from Sarawak are usually steamed and not baked. The result? A spongy yet sticky and moist cake which is absolutely delightful to the tastebuds. It takes a lot of time to make layers if you do decide to make layers but they taste awesome and its totally worth it at the end of the day. The two cakes that I decided to make are the Kek Lapis Kopi (Coffee Layer Cake) and also Kek Horlicks/Belacan (A cake with a mixture of horlicks and kaya). This is the first year that I have succesfully made them so I am plenty excited! =)

Kek Lapis Kopi Recipe / Coffee Layer Cake Recipe
Kek Lapis Kopi (Coffee Layer Cake)
Ingredients:
10 eggs
227g of butter
300g of kaya
375g of condensed milk
1/2 tsp of salt
142g of castor sugar
227g of flour (plain/hk)
2.5tsp of baking powder
25g of coffee powder

Steps
1) Beat the sugar and butter together till it becomes fluffy. Then combine the eggs in one at a time while beating.
2) Pour in the kaya, condensed milk and salt. Then add baking powder+flour mixture. Mix till it looks even and there are no clumps remaining.
3) Seperate the mixture into two. Now, dilute the coffee powder in some hot water and add to one of the mixtures.
4) Now that the mixtures are ready, steam it over high heat in the wok/double boiler. Alternate the layers as seen in the photo. Each layer takes roughly 10-12 mins depending on the temperature of the day and the strength of the fire. The layer is ready when it is no longer fluidy.

Tips:
* This may seem stupid... but... try not to use cold butter/eggs.... they clump REALLY badly and I had to warm them both up before I used it. So if you live in Australia, leave it outside if its a really cold day for at least a few hours.
** Add more coffee if you are a coffee-holic like me =) I LOVE ME SOME COFFEE WOOOOO~
** This recipe is NOT sweet... so you do not need to modify the recipe anymore unless you want a really bitter cake.
*** If you dont have HK flour, you can use plain flour. The main reason for using HK flour is that it is bleached and is more glutenised. So it holds its shape a little bit better. 

Kek Belacan/Horlicks Recipe

Ingredients
225g of butter
110g of caster sugar
5 eggs
200g of sweetened condensed milk
200g of kaya
100g of horlicks (can be substituted for milo if preferred)
150g of plain flour
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
40ml of browning essence
Optional (2.5tsp of baking powder) if you prefer a fluffier cake

Steps:
1) Beat the sugar and butter together till it becomes fluffy. Then combine the eggs in one at a time while beating.
2) Pour in the kaya, condensed milk and horlicks. Then add flour. Then add vanilla extract and browning essence.
3) This recipe makes a 15cm cake.
4) Now steam the mixture on high heat for at least 30mins. You can test the cake by poking it with a stick/chopstick and the stick should come up clear. When that is done, the cake is ready.

Tips
* If you steam it for 4 hours, then it will last a little longer than a week. So if that is preferred, you can do that. Make sure though, that you do not let the pot run dry!
** Any ingredients can be increased be it horlicks, kaya or condensed milk depending on your tastes. I love my horlicks so I added another 20g to it!




Credits DUE!
Kek Lapis Kopi Recipe (http://www.malaysiabrides.com/forum/Layer-Cake-Kek-Lapis-reciple-t5402.html)
Kek Belacan/Serikaya/Horlicks (http://cornercafe.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/kek-belacan/)

Please go thank these fantastic fellows for actually sharing their recipe online!! And thank me too :P Took me half a day just to look for those recipes!

Douglas.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

CNY is around the corner.... Part 3

A big hello to my fellow readers... its nearly CNY this year!! (3rd FEB) and guess what?! ITS MY YEAR =) I happily welcome the year of the Rabbit. Apparently this is a good year for the rabbit to be in a relationship *fingers crossed*??

Anyways, just another update of my CNY cooking. This week, I bring to you one of the most famous traditional dessert that HAS to be eaten during chinese new year.. the Pineapple Tart. The tart itself comes in many many various forms from a flat cookie with jam on top to ones that are wrapped in pastry or even shaped in the shape of a mandarin ball. The tart that I made was rolled up and I felt a little 'creative' so I decided to put tiny crosses on them (being Christian and all).

The recipe was an adaptation of many many different kinds on the internet. But most of the credit does go to http://www.malaysiabest.net/ as that was the main source of inspiration and the pastry that was recommended is really really REALLY crumbly... but it melts in your mouth so quickly so its worth the pain and effort rolling it!

PS: I should really work on my presentation. But it was nearly gulfed down in 1 day anyway -_- so .... well... it must have tasted really good.

close up view of 'my' pineapple tart

army of pineapple tarts going to battle....the empty stomach
Ingredients
Filling

2 cans of pineapple rings
sugar&honey
spices(cinnamon,star anise,clove)
cornflour

Pastry
400g flour (made of 300g plain flour,  50g cornflour, 30g custard powder, 20g milk powder)
250g butter (in little cubes)
2 tbsp of caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg yolks

Steps
1) You would want to prepare the filling a day beforehand so it actually sticks a lot better. But I prepared mine on the morning itself (no difference to me... so... up to you).
2) Take out the rings from the can and mash them up well (you can also use a food processor if you prefer). After mashing, put the pineapple mush in a saucepan to simmer. Here you add the sugar and honey to the sweetness that you prefer. For me, I added roughly 100g of sugar and 1tbsp of honey and 1/2tsp of cinnamon powder. Once the fluid is nearly gone, add 1tsp of cornflour to thicken up the mixture.
3) After simmering, remove the pan from the heat and put the jam into a bowl to cool. Afterwards, leave it in the fridge to cool for about 2-3 hours.
4) To make the pastry, add the flour, sugar and salt together. Then, add butter and knead till you get an even spread (looks like breadcrumbs). At this point, put in the egg yolks and mix well until the dough sticks together. If it looks too dry still, you can add 1 more egg yolk (if its too wet, add more flour).
5) Soft dough is REALLY hard to work with. So if required, you can leave it in the fridge if the day is too hot. For me, I left half in the fridge first while I worked with the other half.
6) Now, prepare a baking tray lined with baking paper.
*7) Pinch a small ball of dough (depends on how big you want it to be) and flatten into a 3x1cm strip and put a bit of the jam in the middle and roll it into a cylinder then put aside on the baking tray. Glaze the tarts with egg white so it looks shiny and brown when it comes out of the oven.
**8) When you are nearly done, pre-heat the oven to 180celcius and bake at this temperature for 20mins on the middle tray of your oven. Best to take it out and rotate the tray if you dont have a fan-forced oven.
9) When it is done, it should be just slightly brown because of the egg white. You can taste test it if you prefer too..

Tips
* Mine was the rolled up version of the egg tart.. Reason being I don't have a cookie mould. If you prefer, you can roll the dough flat and use the cookie mould to make different shapes and put the jam in the middle.
** Heat variations can lead to cooking time differences. Its always recommended that you have a look at the tarts 10mins in to make sure that the tart is evenly cooked.


And thats it... A relatively simple, easy and delicious recipe. This has been taste-tested by a few lab rats in my house and they approve of it! I'll let you know what my 'english' work buddies think of this!

Your Masterchef buddy,
Doug.

Monday, January 17, 2011

CNY is around the corner.... Part 2

Chocolate Macarons (Walnutcarons)
Credits for this recipe goes to ( http://www.chocoparis.com/chocolate-macarons/ ). Thank you for helping out with making my 2nd attempt a success.


Chocolate Macaron Recipe
Ingredients:
90g of egg white
125g of almond flour
125g of icing sugar
25g of cocoa powder
125g of castor sugar
125g of dark chocolate
100ml of heavy cream
25g of unsalted butter

Steps:
1) Mix the almond powder, icing sugar and cocoa powder together. Sift the mixture into a large bowl and set aside.
2) Beat the egg whites till it is slightly fluffy and then add the castor sugar slowly. Continue beating all the while adding the castor sugar till you see stiff peaks form.
3) Mix the almond mixture into the egg whites and fold gently. Once all the dry ingredients are mixed with the egg whites, beat it up a little bit to get most of the air out (so it doesnt puff up like a pavlova). They liken it to a 'molten lava' like consistency... Look it up on Youtube to get it right.
4) Add the mixture into a piping bag and pipe onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Pipe out about a 10cent piece leaving about 1 inch apart from the mixture. Let the mixture then sit for 20-30mins to form a 'skin'. The skin means that when you touch it you dont get anything sticking to your hands.
5) Bake for 20mins or longer depending on your oven @ 160celcius. Use fan oven as it spreads the heat more evenly. The macaron is ready when the top does not move when you touch it and should remain completely on its food.
6) Remove and leave to cool.

Next up, the sauce!
7) Chop up the chocolate and butter into fine pieces for melting.
8) Heat up the heavy cream in a pot and pour on the chocolate+butter mixture when it boils.
9) Let it cool and then add it to the macaron like a burger filling :)

I have only ever had the Macaron's from Haighs.... so I am not sure what macaron's are really meant to taste like. But according to 'someone' it tastes fine :D. So all in all, a success....not really on the presentation part. BUT WHO CARES!!!

Enjoy reading and have a good day.

PS Christine thinks these look like walnuts. And she hath named it WALNUTCARONS!

Your MASTERCHEF buddy,
Doug.

CNY is around the corner.... Part 1

Hi all. As every Chinese person knows, Chinese New Year is around the corner. More precisely, this year, it lands on the 3rd of February.... and also, it is finally my year again. The year of the rabbit!!! Hopefully, this year will be a lucky year for us 1987 kids!! And rightfully so! I've actually been succesful in cooking my macaron's again the 2nd time around. Thank you God for these blessed hands

Just to let you guys know as well. I am actually trying to make all different sorts of new year desserts in the coming weeks leading up to chinese new year. This allows me to enjoy my chinese new year away from home and also allows you to have an insight into what family traditions we have in Malaysia over the new years celebrations. Food of course is only one part... but visiting family and friends and playing with firecrackers are what really makes up our Chinese New Year in Malaysia.

I'm probably boring you guys now... Without further ado!
CNY Almond Cookies
 The recipe can be found on this blog ( http://www.malaysiabest.net/2008/02/03/recipe-almond-cookies-for-chinese-new-year/ ). All credits go to this awesome mother blogger. I merely halved her recipe to make mine. And it actually makes 2 trays full...As a bonus, its REALLY easy to make.

CNY Almond Cookie Recipe
Ingredients:
200g roasted almonds (no skin, blended in food processor)
200g flour
170g castor sugar (the finer the sugar the better)
a pinch of salt
50g of unsalted butter
sufficient oil to hold the product together (I used 1/2 cup of peanut oil - might have used too little...)
egg white (to glaze)

Steps:
1) Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut butter into small cubes and add to the flour mixture. Knead till it looks like bread crumbs.
2) Add in the blended almond and mix well.
3) The next step is to add in the oil till it binds the mixture together so you can mould it into a ball. Do not add too much oil otherwise it wont taste as good.. (and really unhealthy too).
4) Glaze the top of the cookies with egg whites. Then put it in the oven for 15-20mins at 200celcius.

Enjoy! These cookies are REALLY addictive. I shall warn you now... I bear no responsibility for you gaining weight =)