caramalising

dusting and rolling

downside

upside... pear tartin!

DIY sushi handroll

cold shabu shabu

Mentaiko Onigiri

Mentaiko - Fish Roe

Skills....

Dusted Mochi with Azuki Beans

Rolling & Boiling

Dusting

Okonomiyaki Chef Chisako

In the pan

In the bowl

Peanut Happy Cookies

Milky Fish

M&M Oatmeal cookies

mango mashie cake

why?

I saw this on Do What I Like's blog and thought it was a cheesecake, but upon reading further, I discovered that it is a 'pirated' cheesecake! The white layer is actually made up of mashmallows and whipping cream. I love cheap thrills and making this would be such an opportunity :)

success?

I brought it to class and most of them love it! Especially this girl who abhors anything cheese.

failure?

There were a few areas I would most definitely improve on. Firstly, I might bake the biscuit layer as pouring the second layer did make the biscuit a tad too moist. Secondly, I would also definitely not whisk the second layer because it became a little foamy and light and could not firm up nicely and did not produce a smooth consistency. Thirdly, I will never trust my springfoam cake pan to retain liquid again, it leaked and i had to wrap the aluminium foil and still quite a bit of both the second and third layers were wasted.

Mango Mashie Cake

Ingredients for Base:

200 gm digestive biscuits

80 gm melted butter

2 riped mangoes

Method:

1. Crushed digestive biscuits and mix well with melted butter.

2. Press into a 8” cake pan.
(I would bake this for 10min at 180 degrees in future)

3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4. Line the base with sliced mangoes.

Ingredients Marshmallow filling:

300g white marshmallow

150ml milk

300ml whipping cream

2 tsp of gelatine powder

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients into a pot.

2. Doubleboil over small fire until gelatine is dissolved.
(Stir gently and do not whisk!)

3. Cool for 20min, then pour it into cake base.

4. Chill it for at least 2 hours.

Ingredients Jello topping:

1 pkt of Mango pudding

Method:

1. Prepare the pudding as per instructed by the packet/box.

2. Cool for 15min

3. Gently spoon the pudding over the second layer.

4. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

tomato soup

pumpkin soup

strawberry salad

chicken cottage pie

why?

I wanted to prepare a dish that I could make the day before to serve at the luncheon to save me slogging over the kitchen and leaving me utterly exhausted on the day when my friends arrive. This dish also tastes better the next day after the chicken fillings are allowed to soak in the gravy at least over a day. I have made this dish so many times and it is something that my mom taught me that never fails to WOW my guests. Thanks mom!

failure?

I forgot that the gravy would be lessen with baking and being soaked up by the chicken and potato topping. So personally, I would have preferred the filling to have a wetter consistency.

success?

Never fails and I this dish is a keeper. Here's the recipe:

Chicken Cottage Pie (serves 10)

Ingredients

• 1 kg chicken breast, diced in bite size
  
• 2 cups of frozen vegetables
  
• 1 can of mushroom soup
  
• 1 can of button mushroom, sliced
  
• 3 tbs of mixed herbs
  
• 2 medium white onions, finely sliced
  
• 20 cloves of garlic, chopped
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• 10 US potatoes, peeled and cut into half
  
• 300g of butter
  
• 1 cup of full cream milk
  

Method

1. Fry the onions and garlic in some butter till fragrant.
2. Add in some pepper and mixed herbs.
3. Add in the chicken and fry till slightly browned.
4. Add in the mushrooms and frozen vegetables.
5. Mix the canned mushroom soup with 1 can full of water and 1/2 can full of milk, and pour in.
6. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 min.
7. Spoon the fillings into the baking pan for your pie.
8. In a pot of boiling water, add a pinch of salt and the potatoes.
9. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain off the water.
10. Mash the potatoes with a fork and add the butter.
11. Add in milk 1 tablespoon at a time till smooth consistency is achieved.

apple crumble

peach and cheese salad

yam rice

why?

Just last week, I was hit with this unexplainable push of wanting to be more intentional in juggling work and home responsibilities has somehow inspired me to want to start preparing cheap, quick and of course delicious meals at home. I don't know, perhaps this could be a sign of my biological clock ticking? Somehow I always liken mothers to being SUPERwomen. How they need to juggle work, family and kitchen still boggles me. Can I ever be a SUPERwomen? Everyday when I get home from work, I simply can't see myself doing any housework or cooking after a long tiring day even though I really enjoy being in the kitchen! So perhaps this concern has prompted me to start with small? I don't have kids right now... so maybe I need to start with managing work and kitchen and somehow slowly I can see myself progressing to managing children as well. Sounds so tough! No wonder in Singapore, it's so easy for families to succumb to employing help. Wow... What a rant! Haha... ok, so back to yam rice. Totally fits the criteria of cheap, quick and delicious!

success?

This took about half an hour to prepare and cook, although I had to soak some of the ingredients in the morning before I left the house. So quick it is! Cheap? I probably spent about $8 to prepare a 4 person portion. So yeah it's cheap too! Delicious? Good enough for me and LR!

failure?

Nothing to complain about! So here's the recipe...

Yam Rice (serves 4 person)

Ingredients

500g yam, diced in 2 inch cubes

100g dried shrimp, soaked in warm water and drained

100g dried scallops, soaked in warm water and drained

8 dried mushrooms, soaked in warm water, sliced and drained

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 small shallots, finely sliced

2 tsp pepper

2 tsp sesame oil

2 cups of rice, washed and drained

4 cups of chicken stock

2 tbsp dark soya sauce

Serve with

small bunch of corriander

sweet dark sauce

Method

1. Heat up 2 tbsp of vegetable oil

2. Fry the garlic and shallots till fragrant

3. Add the yam and fry till slightly browned

4. Add in the shrimps, scallops and mushroom and fry till fragrant

5. Add sesame oil and pepper

6. Add in the rice and fry for 10min

7. Dish everything into a rice cooker

8. Add in 4 cups of chicken stock and cook accordingly to the rice cooker

9. When cooked, season with dark soy sauce and serve with corriander and sweet dark sauce

lady marmalade biscuits

why?

I was flipping through my Bake It recipe book and came across this recipe for thumbprint biscuits and I couldn't resist making these cute little jam filled cookies :)

success?

They tasted really light and almost had a texture of a macaroon, coupled with the marmalade filled centre to give the buttery biscuits a nice tang of citrus flavour with the right amount of bitterness. I would definately try this recipe again with other jams and possibly even chocolate!

failure?

They really didn't had the crunch of being a biscuit and they expanded so much! In future, I would reduce the pre-baked size of biscuits and maybe try the recipe with less baking powder and soda.

Lady Marmalade Biscuits (Makes about 45)

Ingredients

250g unsalted butter, softened

140g icing sugar, sifted

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

90g cream cheese, softened

1.5 tsp of vanilla essence

zest of 1 whole orange

350g plain flour, sifted

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

6 tablespoons of marmalade

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius

2.Grease baking sheets

3.Cream the butter, icing sugar and egg yolk till pale and fluffy

4.Beat in the cream cheese, vanilla and orange zest till smooth

5.Combine the flour, baking powder and soda and salt with a wooden spoon

6.Until a soft dough firms up, set aside for 10min

7.Break off small pieces of dough to shape into balls

8.Flatten slightly and make a small indent in the centre of each with your thumb

9. Spoon in the marmalade into the small indent

10.Bake for 10-12mins

11.Cool for a few minutes on the tray then transfer to a wire rack

candied chicken wings

meatball noodles

why?

GBS organised a picnic last Saturday, and it was requested for me to prepare beehoon. To me frying beehoon would be automatically labelling myself as an Ah-Soh!! Of course, I wanted to prepare something close to the request of beehoon but still try something exciting :) So began to pour through all my cook books to find something to cook. I found this recipe in Nigella's FEAST book and as I read through how to prepare the dish I discovered that even when it comes to cooking, there can be an element of surprise and mystery! I bet you must be wondering as you look at the picture above and cannot help but ask "Where are the noodles?" Haha... that's the surprise! The noodles are actually mixed with minced meat to form the meatball noodles!

success?

This dish is so easy to prepare and it definitely got people asking where the noodles are! Yeah, this is really a 'cheap thrill' experience, but I did get a kick out of it! Haha.. It does look pretty as well, but somehow the noodles were not visible enough.

failure?

Somehow Nigella's recipes never turn out great for me at least. On my part, I knew that from my many experiences trying out her recipes, so I already knew I had to tweaked the recipe to add more spices and seasoning but the meatballs still ended tasting too bland for my liking. Yes, the recipe did call for Thai sweet chilli sauce to complement the meatballs, but it should not be bland on its own! And the meatballs could have turned out much worse if not for my added ingredients...Sigh, I wonder if she really did pen down the recipes accurately. I watch her on television and I am more incline to think she has not been as meticulous as she should be :(