Double Cheese & Sausage Buns

Yippie!! Another buns successful! You must be thinking that i'm too much....its not a so special buns here. Hmm....but to me, its very special. Cause its my 2nd bread/ buns baking which is successful. That means "practice' do makes perfect! Hahaha!
If you have been reading my previous stories about breads, you'll know what i mean about SUCCESSFUL! Hee hee!
Well, its nothing special here, its just that i want to finish up all the cheese, which has been resting in my fridge for quite some time. So, i've came up the idea of "double cheese" buns. And of course some sausages buns for my daughter. This portion of recipe is quite big, so i did baked some for my dear friends, and glad they like it too!
Got this recipe from a book i have, "Celebrity Bread". And i've made alittle changes here, so i'll post it here for reference...:P



INGREDIENTS:
300g Bread flour
150g Cake flour
7g Instant yeast
4g salt
190g Full cream milk
1+1/2 Eggs
85g Castor sugar
75g Unsalted butter (room temperature)


FILLINGS / TOPPING:
Mozarella Cheese (for wrapping)
Cheddar Cheese (for topping)
Sausages (whole)


METHOD:

~ Mix all dry ingredients together in a mixer. (low speed)
~ Add in eggs and milk, then knead until it forms a dough. (about 15-20 mins)
~ Then add in butter, knead the dough till elastic, smooth and non-sticky. (about 15-20 mins)
~ Put dough in a grease bowl and cover with cling wrap. Allow to proof for 2 hours.
~ Take out dough and punch out the air, then divide into small balls. Leave to rest for 15 mins.
~ Roll out balls and wrap in the mozarella cheese and seal the edges. For sausages buns, just wrapped the sausage and seal edges, then cut 4 slits through the sausage but not dough. Then twist the sections until sausages facing top.
~ Covered and proof for another 20 mins.
~ Brush surface with beaten egg then spread some cheddar cheese on top of the buns. (same as the sausages buns)
~ Bake for 15 mins or until golden brown.
~ Transfer to wire rack immediately to cool.

See the cheese....top is crispy and inside is sticky...wow... yummy! I love it this way...:)

Nyonya Glutinous Wrap

Today is Sunday.....since i have no where to go and my husband need to work, so i decided to make something for tea-time....mmm...:) Yea, when i have nothing to do, i sure look for FOOD! heehee!
Since i got myself a new Nyonya recipe book last week, so i have to make good use of it, right?!
And this is it....one of my favourite kueh.....glutinous rice and chili shrimps/prawns wrapped in banana leafs...yummy!



Its so delicious, that i can easily swallow 3 straight....hmm...fattening hah! hee hee! Nothing can compare when it comes to good food....;P
Anyway the preparation of this kueh is only within an hour or so.


INGREDIENTS:
(A)
300g Glutinous rice, soaked for at least 2 hours
200g Coconut milk
**some banana leaves -for wrapping (cut, washed & boiled)
**some toothpick -for sealing

(B)-(Pounded)
1 inch galangal / cekor
6-8 nos Shallots
5 pips Garlic
5 nos Candle nuts
3-5 nos Red Chilies
1 tbsp Coriander powder

(C)-(Minced)
200g Fresh prawns (shelled)
2 tbsps Dried Shrimps (soaked)

(D)
2 tsps Salt
1-2 tbsps Sugar

**2-3 tbsps water (for simmering)

METHOD:

~ Mix glutinous rice with coconut milk (just covered the rice will do), steam over high flame for 30 minutes. Cool alittle before wrapping.

~ Fragnant (B) with oil, add in (C) and stir-fry for a while then add in (D).

~ Add in 2-3 tbsps of water, mix well and simmer for about 5 minutes. Then stir until almost dry, keep a side to cool.

~ Brush alittle cooking oil on the banana leaf, spread one portion of cooked glutinous rice lengthwise in the centre of the banana leaf, put some prawn filling on it. Fold over the rice to shape into a roll, then seal with toothpick.

~ Grill or pan-fry the rolls.

** I chose to grill cause i like the burning fragnant of the banana leaves, which will bring the rice more flavour. The portion here makes about 20 rolls...give it a try!!

A Birthday Cake

Today is my husband's birthday!! So this is it....a birthday cake for him....:) Yeah....every year will be almost the same....dinner then cake. But this year i'm not preparing the dinner...heehee! We went for Italian food before cutting the cake at home...:P The dishes we ordered were so delicious and very filling.....but too bad, i forgot to bring my camera.....haiz..:(

Okay, back to the cake, its a very simple sponge cake with white chocolate cream and decorations. The topping is full of shredded white chocolate, which was decorated by my daughter..:D...yea yea...she loves to do that and at the same time keep eating the chocolate too!




The recipe is not much special here, just spread the cake (sliced into 3 slices) with the white cream (1 tbsp corn oil + 100g melted white chocolate mix into 200g whipped cream). Then i layered the cake with lychee and pitted dark cherries. The taste is just right with the chocolate...not sweet at all. But as you can see my work here is not very good, still alittle messy...heehee! I think will be better if i get more practice...but homemade larr....can pass....hahaha!

Luckily my husband said its nice, and he really enjoy it! Not to mention my daughter....she loves all kind of food with chocolate.....LOL!

At last......

Have been trying many many time for the buns......At last this turned out quite well.
Still, my buns are not that soft, have to improve it! Guess i'll have to make more buns and breads until i can get the soft soft texture, ha ha!

Kueh Koci

Have been busy with work last 2 days....and i didn't really enjoy my food. Brought home all the paper work from office, sitting down on the working table for almost the whole day! Hmm....miss my kitchen too. Hee hee!
Bought myself a new recipe book (Nyonya Traditional Kueh). I love those Nyonya Kueh selling outside, and usually will buy 1 or 2 at least in a week, ha ha! Today, with the book i have, i tried this "Kueh Koci" which is 1 of my favourite. Its not difficult, but when come to wrapping it with the banana leaf.......opps! I can't do it!! Haiz....:( Got to find an expert for that!...:P So i made it unwrapped instead....

DOUGH:
(A)
395g Glutinous rice flour
115g Sweet potatoes / pumpkin
200ml Coconut milk
Few drops green colouring (i used 1/2 tbsp fresh pandan juice instead)
(B)
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Oil
115ml Coconut milk

** Few banana leaves for wrapping / base


FILLING:
(A)
1 tbsps Sugar
150g Palm Sugar (gula melaka)-crushed
2 tbsps Water
Few pandan leaves
(B)
250g Grated coconut
1 tbsp Sago, mix well with 2 tbsps of water

Making the filling:
~Boil ingredients (A) till sugar turns into syrup
~Add in grated coconut, then lower down the flame and stir the mixture continuosly till almost dry. Add in sago mixture and stir thoroughly and leave it to cool.

Making the dough:
~Steam sweet potatoes / pumpkin till soft and then mash till smooth. Then mix well with 225g of the glutinous rice flour and set aside.
~Boil ingredients (B) and add in colouring (if used) or the pandan juice. Then let cool for 1-2 minutes.
~In a large bowl, add in coconut milk to the sweet potatoes / pumpkin & flour mixture. Stir till form a paste.
~Add in (B) mixture and mix well. Add in remaining flour and knead into a soft dough.
(if its too dry, may add alittle more water)
~Divide the dough into small equal portions and roll into ball. Flatten the dough and wrap in the coconut filling and seal.
~Wrap with a banana leaf, or just leave it on the (oiled) banana leaf and steam over high heat.....
**If wrap with banana leaf, may need to steam for 15 mins.
**If unwrap, only need 10 mins to steam.

Its really nice but its alittle high choresterol here....due to those coconut milk used....:P
Wonder how it taste if i replace the coconut milk with full cream milk....hmm....hee hee! Will try it out......

Chinese Roasted Pork Belly (Cha Siu)

We can have lots and lots of variety of pork, no matter its stew, grill, fry.....etc. Its really delicious, right!? Here is a easy and nice recipe which i like to share with my friends. Just marinated with those ingredients then grill...and it doesn't take much time....:)
Thought to bring over to my friend's house tonight since we have a small gathering. Hope they like it!


The recipe is actually from the book.."Easy Pork Cookery" by Amy Wong & James Wan (local publisher). And i had made alittle changes at the marinated sauce here...


INGREDIENTS:

1kg Pork Belly (Skinless)
2 tbsps Chopped garlic
2 tbsps Chopped shallots

MARINADE:

2 tbsps Light soy sauce
1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
1 tsp Salt
2 tsps Sugar
3 tbsps Cha siu sauce (Chinese barbeque sauce)
2 tsps Sesame oil
1 or 2 tbsps Shaoxing wine (optional)

METHOD:

~ Rinse pork belly and drained. Cut into length strips. Season with the marinade mixture, mix well. Marinate for 2-3 hours.
~ Arrange the marinated pork belly on a wire rack. Roast in a preheated oven at 250'C for 15 minutes. Remove, rub all over with marinade mixture again and continue roast for further 15 mins.
** Can continue to roast for a longer time if pork are not golden brown enough.
** Heat up the remaining marinade sauce, bring to boil and pour over the roasted pork belly.
Slice and serve hot.

And it really delicious when eat with the dry noodles. This, i prepared for my daughter's dinner....mmm YUMMY!

Traditional Mee-Sua

Every Chinese will have 2 birthdays in a year.....one, according to the chinese calender. And today, its my husband's...and i wonder how to celebrate with him on his day.

Finally i decided to celebrate in a very traditional way....a traditional breakfast for him. This is the first time he celebrate his birthday (on chinese calender) hee hee....

See, Hokkien will eat 'mee-sua' & eggs on their birthdays, so i decided to cook this mee with chicken stocks.

A very simple chicken soup, with a little garlic added. Only mee will look alittle dull, so i added chicken drumstick marinated with some light soy sauce and pepper. And that hard-boil egg suppose to look like a heart shape...ha ha ha!

It turned out quite tasty, not to say delicious, but perfect for a traditional breakfast, i guess...hee hee! Will be celebrating his actual birthday next week....mmmm, stay tune!...;P

Angku with coconut fillings

I've made these during last 2 weeks school breaks for my parents and sisters. This time i decided to use coconut instead of mung beans. Its my husband's favourite though, to me....i eat anything..ha ha!
I remember i ate some with white coconut fillings long time ago, so i made 2 types. 1 cook with white (castor) sugar and another with 'gula melaka' (brown rock sugar). And it turned out everybody prefered the brown ones. I think it taste nicer.....hmmm.
Well for the recipe of the coconuts....i just bought some fresh shredded coconut @ the market, then stir fry for alittle while with those sugar i used.
I used:
100g Fresh shredded coconut
50g white (Castor) sugar or 50g mashed 'gula melaka' (palm sugar)
2-3 tbsps of water to melt the sugar
** Mix everything in a wok, stir-fry for about 5-10 mins, then done
** Cool it before wrapping

Back to school & work

Well school starts and holidays are all over...:( Back to school activities and work, work, work! Wish everyday is holiday.....ha ha! Miss those places we've been for pass 2 weeks!
Okay, back to my kitchen, as usual, got to plan for the weekly menu for my family. Mmmm...wonder what to bake and cook. With all the food taken during holidays really made me look guilty and worse....made me FAT! Ha ha! But i love food.....huh!
Okay with those red-bean paste (from my mum) still sitting in my freezer, so i decided to finish up with those paus. Yeah, its my daughter's favourite.

I used the pau's recipe from my previous post, "vege pau". And it turns out just right for the red-bean...

For those red-bean paste, i'll try it out myself soon, but got to get some advise from my mum first. Hee hee! Stay tune!

Cheesy Braided Bread

Ha ha ha! Today is my lucky chum happiest day!! Yeah yeah...you must thought that i'm crazy..hee hee..:D
I'm so happy cause i know axactly how to make a nice soft bread! My fren, BB came tis afternoon and show me the method,...THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
See, i love bread, and so do my family especially my daughter. And yet, all my breads were too hard, i mean it was like a stone after baking! And my daughter used to say 'mmm...NOT NICE'...haiz...:( But until today, she finally said...'wow....soft horr'..ha ha ha! Guess i'll be baking bread every week from now. Yippie...)




I followed this recipe from a blogger, kitchen's corner, which my friend said that would be easy for me to bake....yeah, its true....at least i know how to knead the dough...ha ha!...;P

I can't wait to bake again tomorrow, cause the portion i used just now only made a few..

I was thinking to wrap some shredded coconut ( cook with gula melaka) tomorrow, hope it successful....hee hee..:0

Holiday Cupcakes

Its school holidays now, just want to bake something with my girl. Yeah, she enjoyed baking with me everytime..:) Well, although she's only 5, but she lent a great help. She used to decorate all the cupcakes here with those sugar flowers and chocolate chips. Fun yea....haha! And she also took 2 straight up after decorated.....hmmmm.
Okay, since its holiday now, so i have more time to bake, so end up made 2 types of cupcakes. This is from one of my favourite book, and i did alittle changes for the liqueur here....



All the darlings here are ready to dress up.....heehee!

Stuffing the strawberries in a cake.....surprise!!!

All nicely done!...Yummy...:P

INGREDIENTS (Black Forest Cupcakes):

3 Eggs

1 cup Butter, softened

1 cup Caster Sugar

1/2 cup Milk

1,1/2 cups Self-raising flour, sifted

1 tbsp Kirsch liqueur (I used brandy + alittle sugar water)

1/4 cup Cocoa Powder

Topping:

100g Fresh Cream (Whipped)

1 tbsp Cocoa powder

Some chocolate chips

METHOD:

~ Preheat oven to 180'C. Line a 12 cupcake pan with cupcake papers.

~ Lightly beat the eggs, add in butter and sugar, then mix until light and fluffy

~ Add milk, flour and cocoa powder, and stir to combine. Beat with and electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light and creamy, then fold through kirsch liqueur or brandy

~ Spoon into capcakes paper and bake for 18-20 minutes until firm to touch ( I used a piping bad with a star-shaped nozzle)

~ Allow to cool completely before icing

Method for topping:

~ Whip cream until stiff peaks form, then add cocoa powder and mix well.

~ Top each cake with a dallop of cream and sprinkle some chocolate chips.

INGREDIENTS (Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes)

3 Eggs

1 cup Butter, softened

1 cup Caster Sugar

1/2 cup Milk

1,1/2 cups Self-raising flour. sifted

2 tbsps Strawberry liqueur (I used 1 strawberry (finely chopped) + 2 tbsps brandy-soaked for at least 1 hr)

Topping:

1 cup Icing sugar

1 cup Butter

3 Strawberries, quartered

Sugar flowers for deco

METHOD:

~ Preheat oven to 180'C

~ Lightly beat the eggs, then add in butter and sugar, mix until light and fluffy

~ Add milk, flour and liqueur or strawberry brandy and stir to combine.

~ Beat for another 2 minutes until light and creamy

~ Spoon into cupcakes paper and bake for 18-20 minutes

~ Allow to cool completely before icing

Method for topping:

~ Combine icing sugar and butter with a wooden spoon until well combined

~ Then beat with a whisk until light and fluffy

~ With a sharp knife, slash the top of each cupcake and push a piece of cut strawberry into the centre

~ Used a piping bag with a medium-sized star-shaped nozzle and pipe the icing on the cake

~ Decorate with the sugar flowers

Looks nice hah! It also taste very yummy when chilled.

HAPPY HOLIDAY!!

Stew Rose Wine Pork

Its my girl's birthday.....and we are having a party for her. Well...of course i'll be cooking...hee hee! It really crack my head while planning the menu...luckily my mum was here to help. We had about 10 dishes on that day.....:P
This yummy and juicy stew pork was my new dish, i mean it was the first time cooking, which was from my mum. We stew it the night before, so that the pork will gave a strong taste of the seasoning. Its so easy, that i definetely will cook it again. See the ingredients, then you'll know..:)


Wash everything and cook together.......

While stewing.....my whole kitchen was filled with the yummy aroma........:)

These were the 'paus' that we'll serve our guests with the stew pork...

The recipe i used here was from the 'vege paus' i made before....only its empty inside.

INGREDIENTS:

1 kg Pork Belly (Sliced about 1/2" thick and 2" width)

3 (whole) Black / toasted Garlic (can get these garlic from any grocerries store)-Cleaned & halved

SEASONING:

1 tbsp Sugar

1 tbsp Oyster Sauce

2 tbsps Rose Wine

Dark soy sauce & Light soy sauce.....to taste

Water about 1/2-1 cup

METHOD:

~ Heat 2 tbsps oil & panfry the garlic until fragnant

~ Add in pork slices and continue to panfry until the oil pork oozed out from pork

~ Add in wine and mix well

~ Then add in all other seasoning and mix well

~ After stir and mix for about 1-2 mins, add in water and bring to boil

**(Water should add until cover the pork....do not add too much)

~ When its boiling, turn to medium heat and continue to stew for about 30 mins (lid covered)

~ Then turn to low heat and continue to stew for another 30 mins or until meat tender and the sauce thicken, & serve.

** If it's not salty enough, can add alittle salt or light soy sauce

** Serve with steam buns (pau) or with white (steam) rice.