Polenta muffins

I've tried making polenta once. It didn't make it into our household-favourites list. I wasn't ready to give up on the versatile and wholesome polenta. For those who aren't familiar with polenta, It is basically cornmeal which is usually cooked to a mush and has a smooth creamy texture when cooked in boiling water. Strangely enough...it doesn't taste too much like corn. Polenta on its own is fairly bland and is served as a side dish with condiments/butter/cheeses/a good sprinkle of seasoning.
I made these muffins before the girls left for class early this morning. It's a simple recipe to whip up while you're still half asleep.
I'll let you in on something embarrassing :It was 7, I shuffled my way downstairs and put on my apron, switched the oven on, took out a bowl to break an egg and got out a plastic bag for the shells. I cracked the egg into the bag and threw the shells into the bowl! Was pretty stupid of me; .my brain was still fighting to go back to bed! I didn't realize, up until I whipped out a fork to beat the eggs! haha
Makes 6 tall muffins

5 1/4 oz Self raising flour
3oz polenta (fine grained)
1oz castor sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
125ml buttermilk/ milk with a squeeze of lemon juice
50g butter melted
1 egg

3 large slices of smoked turkey/pancetta diced
1/2 brown onion thinly sliced
good sprinkle of oregano
1 small chilly chopped
1tsp HP sauce/2tsp Lea+Perrins
1tsp olive oil

Microwave meat+onions+sauces+spices+olive oil in a microwavable bowl for 2 minutes on high, stirring occasionally till onions are wilted and meat is fragrant. Set aside to cool.
Put all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat milk+butter+egg till frothy. Add to flour mixture. Stir in meat mixture until well combined. Spoon into greased muffin trays and bake in 170 degree preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven when skewer comes out clean. Tops should be deliciously golden. Serve warm.

I squeezed on some barbecue sauce and sweet chilly on the muffins and added a good dash of cracked black pepper. I loved them! Hope everyone at home approves of polenta this time....*crosses fingers*

I have been tagged! - Recipe Meme (I still have no clue what a meme is!)

Jen jen from Milk and Cookies got me a little confused this morning when she told me I ha€™ve been tagged for a Recipe Meme. Firstly, I have no clue what a Meme is, and now I a€™m tagged with one! I subsequently went into a Google search frenzy (so typical of me). I a€™m hopeless with blogger terms / €œactivities€. Anyway, im presuming this is how it works. She gets €œtagged€--a list of questions from someone and she tags me, so I am to blog about my answers to the list of questions as well. *shrug* Pretty straight forward.

From where do you obtain the recipes you prepare? Almost 90% of the food I cook comes from inspirations from weekly magazines. I call them inspirations because I hardly ever go by the recipe/list of ingredients. (unless its baking a cake or other recipes which require specific proportions) Even with baking; I sometimes add my own nuts/ fresh fruit/different matching flavours into the recipes. I love cooking this way. It allows me to try different combinations of ingredients and I get to personalize recipes to suit the palate of my diners.

How often do you cook a new recipe?
Every other day. I cook 1-2 meals everyday; sometimes 3 on the weekends, so I have many opportunities to try something new.

Where do you store your favourite recipes?
I have a special little ring binder book. It has my favourite tried and tested recipes. It’s difficult to keep updated though. When I need a fail proof recipe from my personal stash, the Book is the key.

How large is your recipe pile? Is it organized? If so, how?
Fairly small. I tend to read lots of magazines and chuck them aside as the seasons change. I like to keep with the cooking/eating trend. I love local weekly cooking magazines because they remind you what€™s in season and how to pick/purchase the freshest quality ingredients. I don’t have an organized pile yet. But will soon get to it.

What is the oldest recipe in your “to try" pile?
Fried chinese radish cake (Loh bak gou). It€™s the white pan fried radish slices you get at Dim Sum restaurants. I get to eat these quite often, but it'll be nice to be able to make it on my own and fry chunks of it with sambal, bean sprouts, shallots, soy sauce€s*mmMmmMm‌might make it this weekend! haha

Are you ever going to make those recipes in your to try pile?
I don€™t really have a to try pile. I have a stack of the latest magazines and dog ears on many of the pages. When I feel like it, I flip through and select! So I guess my to-try pile never gets a chance to pile up. I a€™m constantly looking for new ideas. Other blogs around help with the inspirations too!

Do you follow a recipe exactly or modify as you go?
I think I’ve answered this question several times.

What is one new recipe that you’re scared to try?
Meringue. It €™s still new to me because I havnt made a single batch which turned out right. It€™s scary because I’ve tried a ridiculous amount of times, done research about it at the library, read books with instructions over and over again, used tips like—dry copper bowl, cream of tartar, low swooping motion, clean whisk, etc. etc. Nothing works‌I’m afraid the next time I fail again; I'll cry.

Tag at least one new food blogger for this meme ("new" as in only blogging a few months).
...I am currently unaware of any new food blogs.

Tag at least one food blogger you visit regularly but never interacted with?
Cream Puffs in Venice
I love her writing....and her photo's are amazing as well.

Tag at least one food blogger you constantly visit and leave comments.
The Canadian Baker
This is a great blog filled with the delicious recipes!

Mini potato patties

*sigh*
Not really in the mood to blog today.
Cooked dinner.
Mixed 1/2 inch cube potatoes+ handful of mozzarella + seasalt + 1 tbsp butter + sprinkle of oregano and spooned into muffin trays, grilled and served with salad+ chicken thigh fillets.
My apologies everyone...the picture will just have to explain itself.Food didn't look too good/interesting today, did taste good though....just that its boring. Hope I'll be more inspired tomorrow.

Lil' Orange Cupcakes

I spotted a bright lovely pink book on Sunday; 500 cupcakes by Fergal Connolly. I couldn't resist taking it home! It is adorned with the most magnificent and bold ideas such as fennel and pink pepper cupcakes and vodka, chili and chocolate cupcakes. It was just what I needed to inspire me to experiment and work with new ingredients. I flipped to the first recipe; Spanish Orange Syrup Cupcakes, and headed straight for the kitchen.
After removing the piping hot cupcakes from the oven, I sneaked a tiny bite. They were perfect just as they were and I consequently omitted the orange syrup which was to be drizzled on top. Instead, I iced them with tiny dots of orange infused buttercream. In my personal opinion; cupcakes+buttercream= MMmmMmMm...*lick*. No icing beats buttercream frosting on a cupcake, well...I guess a thick Chocolate Lindt ganache could give it a little competition.Anyway. Here is what I've done with the recipe. Check the book out for the original, Link. Try to use the sweetest oranges you have and skim a little off the sugar proportions. It makes the cupcakes a lot less sinful.

1 Large orange peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup water
115g butter
225g caster sugar
2 eggs
60g fine semolina
60g ground almonds
60g sifted self raising flour

Put chopped oranges and water in a bowl and microwave on high for 60 seconds, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into a blender and puree.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in other dry ingredients and orange pulp gently until well combined. Spoon into cupcake cases/muffin trays. Bake in preheated 160 degree oven, for approximately 25 minutes until golden on top. Makes about 18 cupcakes.P.s: I made the little blue flowers from bits of modeling sugar paste if anyone was wondering. I love the contrasting blue and orange colours. They help bring out the bright orange colour of the cake!

Heart shaped Jelly Donuts

I was inspired to learn to make Jelly Donuts when Shaun linked me here a couple of weeks ago. I was tickled by the random joke and it got my cravings escalated. Jelly donuts are great! I've loved eating them as a child and have been nicknamed "jelly donut" as a result of resembling little round puffy jam filled sugar coated delights. I do not respond to "Jelly donut" in public, and I shrug it off when people to laugh at my chubbyness. It isn't insulting; it's definitely better than having a nickname like fatty of lumpy! "Jelly donut" is cute.
These donuts took me awhile to make. It was tedious waiting and kneading; but definitely worth the trouble! I found the recipe here. It made around 30 donuts; depending on the size of your cutter. I would suggest sprinkling castor sugar on top instead of icing sugar. I love a good crunch to my donuts. Reminds me of the mini donut's at Dunkin Donuts ---------------------->

3 1/2 cups bread flour, plus extra 1/2 cup for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
1 (6/10 ounce) cake fresh yeast or 1 (1/4 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup lukewarm milk
2 eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 cup strawberry or raspberry jam
Â’ sugar for sprinkling

A heart shaped cutter
2 cookie sheets
A pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip

In the bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Combine the yeast, sugar, and milk in a small bowl and let proof” (foam up) for 5 minutes. Add the proofed yeast mixture to the flour. Mix till combined with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs and butter and mix until the dough comes together and is soft, but not sticky. If the dough does seem sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition, until a soft dough forms.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 1 minute, until smooth and elastic. Return the dough to the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap (or transfer to a clean oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap). Let rise in a warm spot (such as an oven that is not on) until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. (The recipe can be made up to this point and refrigerated after the kneading up to 1 day in advance. The dough will rise slowly in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.)
Punch down the dough with your fist. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Roll the dough out 1-inch thick, letting it rest” a few times during the rolling (if you handle the dough too much, the natural gluten will tighten up and make your donuts tough).
Lightly flour 2 cookie sheets. Using a well-floured cutter, cut out hearts of dough, transferring them to the cookie sheets as you work, spacing them 2 inches apart. Reroll the scraps and cut out more disks to use up the dough. Cover lightly with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour 3 inches of vegetable oil into a deep, heavy pot and heat it to 350 degrees F. Lay out a thick layer of paper towels or brown paper bags for draining the fried donuts. Spoon the raspberry jam into your pastry bag. Working in batches of 6 or 7, transfer the risen donuts to the hot oil and fry until golden and puffed, turning frequently, about 5 to 7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the hot donuts to the paper to drain. When cool enough to handle, poke the tip of your pastry bag into the center of each donut hole (entering from the side). Squeeze in a little jam. Sprinkle with sugar and serve as soon as possible.

Almond+White Chocolate Pancakes

These were absolutely DIVINE! Indulgent, nutty and delectable! I dug up a few items in the pantry early this morning to search for little bits and pieces to add to my pancakes. Almonds seemed like a good idea. It came out undenyingly delicious! If there is a pancake recipe of mine you would like to try. This is your winner!! Link here for my basic ricotta pancake recipe. Leave out the cinnamon and add a handful of white chocolate chips and toasted blanched almond flakes to the batter.
For the almond crumble mixture, Heat 1 tbsp golden syrup with 1 cup of castor sugar and 1/2 cup almond flakes on low heat. Stir to combine and remove from heat as soon as mixture turns golden and crumbly.
Layer cooked pancakes with crumble mixture and top with a light drizzle of maple syrup! Serve hot!

*~Happy BiRthday WaynE!~*

Dear Wayne,

How do you like my AFL shortbread cookies?. I initially baked them for you with the intention of mailing them by express post...but finally decided they couldn't possibly make it to Melbourne without looking like birdfeed :( So, I got a couple of classmates to have them on your behalf. I assure you, cookies were yum. :)HapPY HAPPY Birthday! I wish you all the best in your future undertakings and may you have a blast on your 21st celebrations!

My Royal Icing Recipe

Jace, Hope this helps.

To make a small portion of icing (for just covering cookies and piping figurines),
Beat 1 egg white with an electric hand mixer till foamy. Add in 280g icing sugar a tablespoon at a time and beat till stiff and glossy. Soft peak royal icing is usually achieved after approximately 20 minutes. This consistency is good for coating cake tops and flooding outlined designs. Continue beating for another 15 minutes and you will get a stiffer icing mixture which holds its shape when shaken. I usually use firm peak icing to pipe designs and outlines for cookies and other intricate features.
To cover an entire 9 inch cake with all its trimmings; I would suggest 7 egg whites and 1.60 kg sifted icing sugar......did your jaw drop? *shrug* well...now you know what icing is made of! haha.

* add in flavouring essences such as vanilla/lemon as desired. Or if you would like the icing coloured, drop in a couple drops of liquid food colouring.

For these particular cupcake decorations; I first piped firm peak icing onto parchment paper and left them overnight to dry. When stiff, I painted them with a sharp brush+liquer+ powdered food colouring. It's really versatile and I usually make my tiny decorative items in advance. It's useful to have a few pretty things on hand when you're in a hurry to jazz up a couple of cupcakes. There are countless things you could make out of piped icing. Let your creativity run wild!

Chicken Katsu-don

Almost a year ago, I picked up several tricks of the trade from job hopping as a waitress on my local eat street. It was just for fun and to gain some experience...I didn't last long. Waitressing just wasn't my thing, I'd rather be working in the kitchen, but nobody would give me an opportunity. Sexists tick me off. Most restaurant owners feel boys do better when it comes to hard work and pressure in the kitchen.*grrr*
I learnt to make katsu-don from one of the Japanese restaurants I worked at. I would get to work a few minutes before my shift to hang about in the kitchen and watch the chefs prepare for the night. I bought a few basic jap ingredients and had a go at emulating the chefs. I've cooked this dish many times since, and it's getting better as I progress. Everyone I've made it for seems to like it.
Katsu-don (ă‚Ťăƒ„ä¸ź) is basically a bowl of rice topped with meat (usually pork), egg, and condiments. Variations include katsudon with worchestershire sauce, demi glace and green peas, miso, deep fried chicken, etc. etc. Here is mine :) This recipe feeds 3

Wash enough Japanese rice for 3. Cook according to instructions on packet. While rice is cooked and still warm add 1 1/2 tbsp of sushi vinegar and mix to coat. Cover rice pot with a thick tea towel to keep rice moist.

2 chicken breasts cut into 0.5cm strips (marinade in 2 tbsp Kikoman Soysauce + !tbsp sugar)
3 green shallots diced (trim leaf sections and keep aside as garnish)
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 large brown onion sliced into thin rings
Chilly flakes (optional)
Sesame oil

Mirin
Kikoman Soysauce
Pepper
5eggs beaten lightly

Place 1/3 of all condiments into a small flatbased nonstick pan and saute in sesame oil till fragrant. Add 1 tsp of mirin, 2 tbsp soysauce and dashes of pepper. Stirfry till meat is cooked through. Add 1/3 of egg mixture and increase the flames on the stove for approximately 30 seconds. Do not stir condiments at this point. When the eggs are almost done and the bottom is cooked and brown, remove the egg+ chicken mixture from the pan with care. Lift from the bottom. You should get a nice circular shape. Spoon warm Japanese rice into bowls and sprinkle on a tiny bit of Japanese Furikake (available at asian stores). Don't forget to save the juices + sauce from the pan. Pour sauce into the rice mixture and top with egg+chicken. Sprinkle with chopped green shallots. Serve hot! Repeat the whole process again twice with the rest of the ingredients.

Apple pie cupcakes

I didn't think i'd last 3 days without baking! As a result, I have a ton of catching up to do on my assignments tonight. *sigh* the things I do to myself for the love of cooking.
I was inspired by this months Donna Hay magazine on cupcake couture and have been excited to bake these for a long time. They turned out amazing! Although I must say, this is probably the first cupcake recipe i've come across which requires such a large amount of butter! That is probably the reason behind its delicious-ness! I wouldn't recommend eating too many of these on your own. For the sake of your health; share it with friends and family.

250g butter softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 1/4 cups plain flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup milk
ground cinnamon for dusting

2 granny smith apples peeled and diced into cubes
1/4 cup brown sugar
40g butter

1. Pop apples, brown sugar and butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 4 minutes; stirring occasionally, till apples turn soft and caramelized. Set aside to cool
2. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl till light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each adition. Fold in flour, baking powder and nutmeg in small portions alternately with milk until well combined.
3. Spoon into cupcake cases/ muffin try and top with apple mixture. Bake in 180 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until tops turn brown.
4. Ice cupcakes with whipped cream/butter icing and dust tops with ground cinnamon.
Best served hot with a scoop of ice cream! MmmMm..
*note: I've altered several items in the recipe from the magazine to personalize the ingredients, but if you would like a look at the original recipe; it is in Issue no. 27, of May/June 2006 Pg. 136

I made some of these pretty ones with extra frosting and sprinkles for those with a sweet tooth!

Eggplant+balsamic vinegar pasta shells

Pressed for time...
Here's what I cooked for dinner...
curse my torturous assignments!

1 medium sized eggplant/brinjal diced

3 roma tomatoes diced
1 large can tomato puree/chunks
3 thick slices smoked ham diced
2 cloves garlic diced
1 brown onion sliced
1 tbsp good olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp chili flakes (optional)
good dash of sea salt (Maldon)
Pasta shells enough for 3

Cook pasta in hard boiling salted water. When done, strain and dish out into seperate bowls/plates.
Saute garlic, onion, eggplant and ham in olive oil until eggplant is tender. Sprinkle with sea salt. Add tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, chilly flakes and salt+freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Cook on low heat until the eggplant turns to 'mush' and sauce is thick. Should take approximately 20 minutes or more. Spoon on top of cooked pasta.
Sprinkle oregano and parmesan/boccocini chunks if you like. Serve hot. YUM! I love this pasta combination!A real good way of hiding vegetables from the kids.

Spanish Paella

I logged on to google and typed in a search for prawn paella. I had a quick browse through lists of recipes and ingredients and decided this one was fairly simple and convincing. Click here. The whole idea of making paella was relatively hassle free as I had an electric multicooker which I used to saute the ingredients and cook the rice in as well. We rarely have seafood at home as I find it difficult to store for long periods and they are fairly uneconomical (considering our tight budget). It was a nice change though...I got the prawns cooked just right and they were crisp and sweet. However, I don't think I'll be using this recipe in my next Paella attempt; maybe I was worried about putting in too much salt or I went wrong somewhere with the prawn stock, but the rice was a little too bland.

Chocolate Sandwich Crumble

I baked this specially for our very thoughtful friend Nali and her family. They heard that we often missed local Malaysian food and generously packed us some lovely idli, sambhar and coconut chatni which they knew we loved. Thanks so much for the thoughtful and wonderful surprise! For those who are in the dark about idli, click here. Sambhar is a dish common in Southern India and Sri Lanka, made of lentils (usually red gram, also called toor dal) and vegetables in a spicy tamarind and lentil flour soup base. My housemates and I decided to bake a cake to thank them for our delicious Indian spread.This is the first time I've ever made a chocolate crumble sandwich. I took a long pause thinking of the title for my blog post a few minutes ago; I didn't know what to name my cake. I stared at the photographs for awhile and decided to name it after the way it looks. It is a dark chocolate cake, sandwiched with white chocolate liquor buttercream + strawberries and it turned out a little crumbly (from my very disappointing cake stacking incompetence). I definitely need to get myself into a baking class or 2.
Why is it in 1/2 you ask? No...My housemates and I didn't eat some! *sneaky*.....Heh
.......well...to be honest, the real story is; I'm lazy, I only have 1 miserable round cake tin and I didn't have much time. It was going to take me over 3 hours to bake the cake in 2 batches to get 2 full layers and not to mention the cooling time, icing time....etc. etc. I decided it would be much simpler to just bake one cake and slice it through the middle horizontally and once across to make 4 semicircles of yummy crumbly(I don't own a good knife *sob*) chocolate cake. I personally would consider it an entire cake. Just think of it as a cake with a unique shape *wink*

Pink vanilla chiffon cake

As a typical kid born and raised in Malaysia, chiffon cake has always been a comforting snack while I reminiscence about my childhood days in Ipoh. The 'roti'(bread)-man would make his rounds every evening around the neighbourhood with his motorcycle and trusty bell. My sister and I would run outside when we heard the chime to get ourselves a tea-time snack! He sold fresh bread and many yummy kiddy treats like chocolate and giant sugar coated donuts! It might be that the donuts seem giant back then because my hands were very little. *shrug* Anyway back to the story, he often sold chiffon cake slices in 2 flavours, citrus (which were orange in colour) and pandan (which was green).
When I saw Lily Ng's recipe for pandan chiffon cake, I couldn't wait to try it! I often find chiffon cakes sold in Asian stores around Sydney fairly artificial in flavour. I guess its the preservatives which they include to make it last longer. I tried Lily's recipe with a few alterations and changes to the proportions to suit my house of 3. I didn't have a chiffon cake tin either, so I used a can in the middle of my round spring form cake tin. Instead of flavouring it with pandan, I used vanilla essence and coloured my cake a pretty tint of pink! *sigh* I'm such a girl hehe
Remember to handle this cake really gently and never pierce the cake while its in the oven. Be patient. The idea is to trap the air in the cake to have a soft and fluffy texture; not to poke a hole so the air can escape! If you cant take it! and you MUST check if the cake is done, lightly touch the top of the cake. It will be spring-gy when the center is set!
Thanks lily for your great recipe. I have enjoyed baking it and we (my housemates and I) have enjoyed eating it together while sharing childhood memories. Despite my heavy uni workload and 'unwanted-happenings', it was a delightful morning!

Homemade aioli

I finally got to release a little sigh of relief today. A particularly important and time consuming assignment from my huge stack of work was done and handed in. I came home today; eager to make something from scratch for dinner! Inspired by this weeks Donna Hay magazine, I decided to make use of some lovely baby coliban potatoes I purchased.
For dinner; we had toasted turkish bread with melted Brie topped with Parmesan crumbed chicken and grated cucumber salad. I spread a good layer of aioli on the turkish bread before popping it under the grill. It was a delicious combination! As a side dish; I washed and cooked several baby potatoes in the microwave until partially done. I then squashed the center of the fairly soft potatoes with my thumb and sprinkled a generous pinch of sea salt and oregano. I gave it a light brush of olive oil and then popped it under the grill together with the turkish bread!
For a formal explanation of the term aioli from Wikepedia: "Also called allioli — aĂƒÂŻoli (French spelling) or aiĂƒÂ˛liProvenĂƒÂ§al aiet ("garlic") and oli ("oil"), pronounced [eye o li'] — is a cold sauce made of garlic, egg, acid (lemon juice or vinegar), and olive oil, basically a garlic-flavoured mayonnaise." It is pronounced ai-lio-li. It seemed like a mouthful for me a couple of years ago, but after having this yummy dip several times around Sydney; it eventually came naturally to me.

3 egg yolks
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
11/2 cup good quality olive oil

Blend yolks, garlic, vinegar and lemon juice until smooth. Gradually add olive oil in a thin stream while processor is running and beat till smooth and lemon-ny in colour. You should get a thick and fluffy icecream-like mixture when its done. Serve it with roasted potatoes, toast, or as a dip for bread sticks! Its good to have a tub in the fridge when you need to jazz up a quick sandwich.

Happy Birthday Azalia

Here's to Azalia....
We've been aquainted for years, it's a pity we don't know much about one another. Out of the thousands of Universities in the world, we've been fated to bump into each other again here in Sydney. Hope to see more of you throughout our years here in UNSW. *hugs* its nice to have another Ipoh girl around :)

Happy Birthday!

Here's a tier of cupcakes with strawberries & cream frosting. The clutch bag and bow slippers aren't exactly wear-able, but feel free to eat them!

Yati's style beehoon goreng

This used to be a favourite after-school lunch for my sister and I when we were younger. I used to watch longingly and impatiently as Yati(our Indonesian maid) fried strings of yummy beehoon. When I came to Australia on my own, I tried hard to replicate Yati's beehoon-goreng(goreng means fried in malay) but it just wasn't the same. I guess its the special soysauce my mom gets specifically pre-ordered in Malaysia. I miss Yati since she decided to return home to get married. I hope shes doing well. She was the best at what she did and lots of fun to be around. To show my appreciation for her days spent with our family; I shall name my fried beehoon after her. Hehe.
For those who are unfamiliar with the term beehoon, click here. I am not certain on how beehoon became a Malaysian term for this noodle of Chinese roots, however in proper English, beehoon is known as rice vermicelli. Here is a picture of dried vermicelli from Wikepedia.

2 cakes dried beehoon (soaked in salted water for at least 15 minutes)
2 chunks chicken thigh marinated in soysauce and diced
half a handful of dried prawns (har-mai)
3 stalks shallots diced
2 cloves garlic diced
1 large carrot peeled and diced
2 tbsp light soysauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp kecap manis
1tbsp sambal(optional)
2 tsp dried chili flakes(optional)
2 tsp chicken stock powder diluted in 1 cup water
1 tbsp sesame oil

Heat sesame oil in a wok with the flames on high. Shallow fry chicken, shallots, carrots, prawns and garlic. Add in sauces and reduce heat. When mixture is fragrant and chicken pieces are almost done, place in beehoon and chicken stock mixture. Toss in wok until well combined and sauce is absorbed. Serve with extra chopped shallots or sliced shreds of thin omelete.

This recipe is from what I had ready in the fridge today, feel free to use prawns, mince meat or make it vegetarian if you like. Experiment! *wink*

Pink fairy cakes

Strawberries in the fridge were getting a little old, I had to use them up before they begin to go bad. I am on a fairly tight schedule througout the day and I had to wake at 7.30 this morning to satisfy my urge to bake a batch of cupcakes. Don't really have much time to blog about my strawberry cupcake recipe, but here is how the frosting was made.

1 block philly cream cheese softened
2 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp strawberry jam (preferably without pulp)
1 drop red liquid food colouring (optional)-this gives it a brighter pink tint.

Cream all ingredients in a mixing bowl until well combined, and spread/pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Simply put, the cupcakes were made with my favourite basic vanilla cupcake batter + 3 tbsp's berry jam and fresh diced strawberries.

*sigh* I wish my uni assignments would turn into cookie dough....they would be yum and I could bake them!

Ham and Onion muffins

With my current hectic schedule, cooking at home and updating my blog on a daily basis has been quite impossible. My dear housemate Pinky has just turned ill, she has a lump on her throat and her tonsils are sore. I was about to make her favourtie seafood paella for dinner; but I doubt she's in the mood for anything chunky and difficult to digest. The only meals she's had the past 24hours are bland porridge and bread. I hope these would cheer her up a little.For 6 Large muffins

4 slices thick smoked ham sliced thinly
1 onion sliced thinly
1 tbsp lea and perrins woschestire sauce
2 1/2 cup self raising flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup light olive oil
1 large egg
fresh grated pepper
1 tbsp grated parmesan
2 sprigs fresh lemon thyme
1 tsp salt

Cook ham and onions with sauce and pepper in microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions are wilted. Sift flour into a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Whisk egg, milk, oil and salt in a jug and pour into flour. Mix gently until partially combined. Add in ham mixture and the rest of the ingredients. Fold through until smooth. Spoon into muffin tray and bake in 180 degree oven for approximately 30-45 minutes or until tops brown and skewer comes out clean. Serve with cream cheese and dashes of black pepper; or however you wish!
Here's one with a little piggy I made.

Bread and Butter pudding

We had a bowl of overnight loaf chunks from the cheese fondue at the Toga party and so I decided to make bread and butter pudding for breakfast.

3 large eggs beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
butter
handful of raisins/currants
2 tbsp jam (of any sort) preferably homemade
1 tbsp of sugar to sprinkle (optional)
Bread chunks from stale loafs or any type of chunky crusty bread sliced

Beat the first 4 ingredients until frothy. Butter both sides of the chunks of bread and lay neatly in the baking dish of your choice. Squeeze jam in between layers and sprinkle the raisins.Pour over the egg mixture and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes to allow the bread to soak up the custard. If you like, sprinkle some sugar on the top before popping it into the oven for about 20minutes or until the tops of the bread begin to brown and the custard is set. Top with dashes of fresh fruit and serve hot!

Toga Party 2006

It was an eventful night for many at our toga party. Food was good and the drinks flowed well. We had a largely diversed group of 20-ish bedsheet-clad-people mingling about and It was certainly unforgettable. *extra cheers to Shaun(our toga-king) for being such a great sport! Several people came without toga's and we togafied them in garbage bags! I wish I had more pictures taken; but I didn't have my camera on me throughout the night. I remember many happy faces and loud noises and 'white russians' (the drink). Thanks again our "bartender" for the night; Shaun, for introducing us to this excellent cocktail - vodka, kahlua, mlik+ice cubes. It was really good.

Here is what we had;

Cheese fondue served with great bread, crackers, dips and lovely olive bread.
Cheese platter with Brie, Camembert,Babybells, Bavarian smoked Grunland and Norwegian Jarlsberg.
French onion and tzatziki dips with poppyseed bread sticks
olive skewers
Vine leaves
Greek yogurt with raspberry swirls, almonds and fresh fruit
Pasta with tuna, kalamata olives and capers
Cracked pepper pate and mascarpone sandwiches
Spicy mexican dip with cream cheese and cucumber

And for dessert table we had;

Malt chocolate cake and cupcakes
Honeycomb cupcakes
Almond cherry cake
Vanilla raspberry squares

A big thank you to everyone who came by and I hope you had yourself a good time. We (pinky amrit and me) had a great time putting it together! This will probably be the last of the parties for awhile...the Uni work and exams have begun to kick in full swing. Maybe something after the exams in our semester break!