Category Archives: Recipes

Brownies, brownies.

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Classic walnut brownies

I thought of giving some brownies away for Christmas and decided to try out some new recipes over at Smitten Kitchen and Raspberri Cupcakes. I ended up having a very long day in the kitchen and then out of it with the vacation packing and what-not.

Eva, as usual, was my kitchen assistant even though this time around, she didn’t do much – just help me taste the chocolate, clean the spatula and well, mix the batter for one of the recipes. Through some stroke of bad luck, I didn’t exactly preheat the oven so my plans of baking one brownie first went out the window so I decided to bake both brownies together. I baked them both at 175°C and for 30 minutes. While the banana walnut brownies came out fine (even though I forgot that I had a new carton of eggs in the fridge and used only 2 instead of the 3 called for), the classic brownies from Smitten came out cakey. Still good but a sign that it was baking for far too long.

Nonetheless, they were a hit especially the banana walnut brownies – Nil’s words were “C’est excellent, ton brownies, Mabel!” Me? I’m determined to get it right so I’ll be working on these again. In the meantime, back to my search for personalized lapel pins.

Banana walnut brownies

Flaked almond cookies

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Flaked almond cookies

In search of an afternoon activity for Eva considering the rainy afternoon & days, I decided to make some Christmas cookies with the almonds I have in the pantry. Turned out to be a really fun activity for her and it ate up our entire afternoon – nearly two hours! YAY!

As for the recipe, I made some changes. I used orange juice instead of water and cut back on the sugar – I am certain that if I hadn’t, these cookies would be ultra sweet! I also made the cookies in such a way that the flaked almonds were layered in the cookies instead of just sprinkled over the top. Turned out to be pretty delicious and a keeper!

Flaked almond cookies

Ingredients

175 gms unsalted butter, diced
225 gms self-raising flour
100 gms cane/brown sugar
1 egg, separated
2 tbsp orange juice
50 gms flaked almonds

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Rub the butter into the flour until they resemble breadcrumbs and stir in the sugar before adding in the egg yolk and juice to form a firm dough.
  2. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1 cm thick and sprinkle over the almonds. Fold twice and roll again until the dough is approx 5mm thick.
  3. Cut the dough into desired shapes and place on an ungreased baking tray. Continue to do the same until there is no more dough left. Whisk the egg white lightly and brush over the cookies.
  4. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove immediately and leave on a wire rack to cool & harden. The cookies will be soften at first but will harden as they cool.

Meat with leek, tomato & mushroom pie

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Meat with leek, tomato & mushroom pie

Another one of those hearty yet light dishes which is great on a cold autumn evening. It’s pretty easy to whip up – I started working on this at 5pm and by 6pm, it was all set for the dining table to be consumed. No leftovers too! Everyone loved how this dish turned out.

The pastry must be rolled to the right thickness – too thin and it’ll break during the transfer, too thick and it won’t taste right. The addition of cherry tomatoes directly into the dish and not into the pan to cook makes the resulting sauce/juice oozing from the pie sweeter and all the more fragrant. Feel free to try this with seafood, fish and other meats as well as other vegetables like potato, zucchini, eggplant and carrots. Definitely a keeper!

Meat with leek, tomato & mushroom pie

Ingredients

(A) Pastry
Approx 80-100 gms plain flour
Approx 40-50 gms butter – cubed
A sprinkle of ice cold water

(B) Filling
Some fresh button mushrooms – quartered
2 medium sized leeks
About 1 cup cherry tomatoes
Some chicken breast – skinless and cubed
Some mince beef
A handful of smoked pork belly
Salt & pepper to taste / Vegetable stock cube
Egg yolk (for glazing)

Method

  1. Prepare the pastry by mixing in the butter with the flour until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add in some water to bind into a firm dough. Place aside in the fridge.
  2. In a pan, add some oil before tossing in the leeks and smoked pork belly. Fry until fragrant and the leeks slightly burnt/caramelized before adding in the mushroom, beef, chicken and the stock cube. Fry until the meat is semi-cooked before putting aside.
  3. In an ovenproof dish, toss in the cherry tomatoes before spreading the filling over. Remove the pastry dough from the fridge and roll out until it reaches the size needed to cover the dish.
  4. Place the dough over the dish and seal the edges before trimming off the excess. Remember to slit the top to allow steam to escape.
  5. Brush some egg yolk over the pastry and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve warm as is or with a serving of French loaf to soak up the excess juices.

Nachos The Grousson Style

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Nachos The Grousson Style

I ran out of ideas on what to make for dinner and decided to use the tortilla chips my parents bought – they would be heading back soon and I didn’t want to have any chips lying around (bad for Eva)! My parents wanted something light and since Noah has been fussy of lately, I wanted something that I could prepare earlier and put together quickly when necessary. Plus me turning into a panda (maybe I should buy a silver panda to commemorate me having another child!) and complex recipes equals a disaster!

So I ran out and bought some avocados as well as mince beef and bell peppers. Ended up with some pretty interesting nachos and really fabulous guacamole! Do note that with nachos, it’s best to use cheese that melts like mozzarella topped off with a strong flavoured cheese like cheddar or Gruyère. They didn’t have any of these so I settled for Emmental. Not the best of choices but it makes for a decent meal. Also, feel free to pile your nachos high up with plenty of layers of chips and mince as well as cheese. Do feel free to substitute beef with chicken, turkey or even pork and don’t worry – you can use different cuts of meat and not just mince!

Nachos The Grousson Style

Ingredients
Tortilla chips (unsalted)
1 Red & 1 yellow bell pepper – chopped and sliced (size is up to you)
1 cup fresh button mushrooms – chopped roughly
500 gms minced beef
1 medium sized onion – diced finely
A handful of smoked pork belly
Grated cheese – mozzarella & cheddar is preferred
1 stock cube

Method

  1. Line the tortilla chips in a pan or ovenproof dish of your choice and place aside.
  2. In a pan, add some oil before tossing in the onions and smoked pork belly. Fry until fragrant before adding in the peppers, mushroom, beef and the stock cube. Fry until the beef is cooked and the mushroom is soft.
  3. Once ready, spread the meat mix over the chips before topping off with some grated cheese. Bake under the grill under the cheese is golden brown. Serve with some guacamole and sour cream.

Five vegetable soup

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Another soup recipe that is a definite keeper and great for those days where you just want something warm AND light! In the meantime, I’m on the hunt for some kobo ereader reviews.

Five vegetable soup

Ingredients
2 medium-large red bell pepper
2 large leeks
1 large zucchini
1/4 portion of a pumpkin
2 large tomatoes
Approx 1 liter of stock – I used vegetable stock
Some garlic croutons and mozzarella cheese – optional
Olive oil

Method

  1. Wash and roughly cube all the vegetables.
  2. Add some olive oil in a pressure cooker and fry the vegetables on high for 1-2 minutes before adding in the stock. Cover and cook under pressure for 15-20 minutes.
  3. Once ready, release the pressure, remove the cover and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper if needed and serve warm or hot with some croutons and mozzarella cheese.

Simple beef stew

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I am beginning to fall in love with my pressure cooker and stews. Earlier, I have been busy cooking up beef bourguignon, Italian-styled beef stews and even vegetable soups, experimenting with spices and wines. Even Eva felt that they were yummy – “C’est bon!” she declares. Then again, just about nearly everything is yummy – except that cake I made previously (she refused to touch it – LOL – a testament of what a disaster it was).

If you’re looking for something quick and easy, which doesn’t require much time slaving in front of the stove and more time for surfing on Gateway computers, this is it. That is provided you have a pressure cooker. Just dump everything, wait for the liquid to boil, cover and activate by locking in the cover. Once the pressure builds, it’s a matter of leaving it to continue cooking while you go about doing other things. Me? While this was cooking away, I was busy changing Noah’s diaper followed by a good breastfeeding session. Once I was done and while my mum burped him, I dumped the vegetables into the pressure cooker (release the pressure first, naturally) and cooked it for a futher 10 to 15 minutes. That allowed me to check my emails and such. Amazing, no?

Definitely a tool I’d recommend to cooks out there! Oh, apologies for the lack of photos – everyone was too hungry and well, there will always be another time for pictures! Kekekeke.

Simple beef stew

Ingredients
1 kg stewing beef
2 cups fresh mushroom – quartered
5 medium sized potatos – peeled & cubed
1 medium sized onion – diced
3 medium sized carrots – peeled & cubed
100 gms streaky bacon – cubed
1 star anise
3 cloves
Some vegetable stock
Some olive oil

(B) Thickening
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp water

Method

  1. In the pressure cooker, fry the spices, onion and bacon in olive oil until fragrant before adding in the beef.
  2. Fry the beef on high heat for five minutes before adding in the vegetable stock. Once the liquid comes to the boil, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
  3. Release the pressure and remove the lid. Add the potatoes, carrots and mushrooms. Cover and cook for another 15 minutes. Add thickening, then dish out and serve immediately.
  4. Release the pressure and remove the lid. Add thickening, then dish out and serve immediately with thick slices of bread or a side serving of rice.

Glacé fruit-orange with almond rock buns

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Glacé fruit-orange with almond rock buns

I had originally planned on making financiers and then somehow felt like baking up a banana bread. In the end, I ended up with about 30 over medium sized rock buns. Talk about a shift in tastes. That said, I must admit that the last time I made rock buns was a long time ago and I didn’t remember getting a moist rock bun. In fact, the ones I made in secondary school were, well, as hard as rocks!!!!!

Anyway, the original recipe called for dried fruit and ginger spice but I decided to keep things simple as I had glacé fruit (or candied fruit), almonds and some orange juice lying around. A trip a few days ago to the market saw me purchasing some candied strawberries and melon that are usually meant for baking or cooking. I roughly chopped these up and wash them to get rid of the sickly sweet coating. An addition of almond gave it some crunch. I threw in some orange juice for a light flavour and the resulting rock buns were moist, fluffy and not sweet at all – good for those of us who don’t have a sweet tooth.

Needless to say, these were a hit with Eva – she had four of them at one go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Yay for homemade bakes! Now to go back to reviews on horse equipments.

Glacé fruit-orange with almond rock buns

Ingredients
2 cups self-raising flour
90 gms butter
1/2 cup glacé fruit – chopped and washed
1/2 cup chopped almonds
Slightly less than 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk & orange juice

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Sift the flour into a small bowl before putting it aside.
  2. Cut the butter into cubes and rub in the flour until they resemble breadcrumbs.
  3. Stir in the glacé fruit, almonds and brown sugar. Mix well.
  4. Make a well and mix the egg and milk & orange juice using a wooden spoon or spatula until you get a stiff, sticky dough.
  5. Drop tablespoons of the mixture on to a baking pan – no need to smooth them out as rock buns are supposed to have a rough surface. Space the cookies 2.5cm apart.
  6. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and leave to cool.

Ricotta & lemon tart

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Ricotta & lemon tart

Ricotta & lemon tart
Adapted from Hamlyn’s 200 Italian Favourites

Ingredients

(A) Pastry (adapted from Jamie Oliver’s recipe)
250 gms plain flour
50 gms cane/brown sugar
125 gms good-quality cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 large egg, beaten
A splash of milk

(B) Filling
2 eggs
50 gms cane/brown sugar
175 gms ricotta cheese
200 ml cream
Rind & juice from 2 lemons

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly grease an 8″ tart/pie pan.
  2. Sift the flour into a bowl before adding in the sugar and cubing the butter into the flour mix.
  3. Rub the butter with the flour, using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the center, add the egg and milk. Mix well until it forms a dough – add more cold milk if necessary.
  4. Cover and leave to rest for 1 hour in the fridge.
  5. When ready, remove from the fridge and roll out before covering the tart/pie pan. Remove excess dough from the top/sides, prick some holes in the base before pouring in the baking beans.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is set.
  7. Remove the pastry shell from the oven, put aside and immediately lower the temperature to 150°C.
  8. In a bowl, mix ingredients from (B) in a bowl and use to fill the pastry shell.
  9. Remove the baking beans from the pastry shell and pour the filling in before baking it for 35 to 40 minutes until the filling has set.
  10. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool. Serve as is or some fresh fruit.