~ All at Once!

Oh no, I plead guilty to neglecting my blog. Please do not flog me =/ Anyway I haven't been feeding the lizards or cockroaches in Mum's kitchen for quite some time after my last pictorial post, so not much harm's been done. But to redeem myself, I'll just post all the images of the limited number of food items that I'd made in the remaining of 2010 (newest first), and shall endeavour to publish posts as often as I can in 2011!

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

This was specially-baked for the ones I love for Xmas!

Also made to be distributed to my dear Pharmacy friends and staff of the NUS Pharmaceutics Department.

Ingredients:  30ml oil
75g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 orange essence
1 egg
110g flour
1/2tsp baking powder
30g cranberries, soaked
50g pistachios, chopped
1 tbsp orange peel

Steps: Mix dry and wet ingredients and make a 8X6" log.
Bake 150 deg for 25min. Cool 10min. Bake 135 deg 10-15min per side.

Green Tea Soba with Broccoli and Poached Egg

I'm as green as this dish in terms of pairing ingredients with soba!

Avocado Milkshake

Really basic avocado, simply blend milk and avocado. No sugar please!

Banana Muffins

I'm terribly ashamed to put this image up. For the banana muffins looked extremely distorted, overflowing with gooey messy batter.. What a reflection of rusty baking skills and estimation. Oh well, this is the first few times I had used the new small oven since the previous Kenwood one broke down, and I hadn't been baking for a long long time...

Green Tea Soba with Soft-Boiled Egg, Parsley and Tomato Dipping Sauce

Soba - so good! =)

Cocoa Avocado Milkshake

Added some cocoa powder onto the basic avocado milkshake.

Chocolate Honey Avocado Milkshake

Another of one of my love.

Bird's Nest Drink

I have to admit, this is one of the yummiest beverage ever! I wasn't the one who made it though, Mum did!

Milk Bubble Tea

I'd been wanting to make my own bubble tea, and so I did! But after this, I think I'll just join the queues at Koi or Gongcha or bubble tea stalls.

Tom Yum Instant Noodles

Instant.

Cauliflower Instant Noodles

Another variation of instant noodles.

Seafood and Mushroom Instant Noodles

Yeah, I love instant noodles.

Peanut Porridge, Fish Cake and Stirfried Cabbage with Egg, Ham and Carrot

A simple lunch for me and my bro. Don't get me wrong, this is my share of the lunch.

~ Assorted Pancakes (Apple, Chocolate Chips, Cheese)

Taken from:
BBC

Description:
Fluffy pancakes!

Ingredients:

135 g flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

Pinch of salt

1 large egg, beaten

130 mL milk

2 tbsp melted butter

Directions

1). Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.
2) Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
3) Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it's melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.
4) Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan.
5) Serve with lashings of real maple syrup and extra butter if you like.

Remarks:
-

~ Citrus Muffins

Taken from:
Recipezaar

Description:
Soft fluffy muffins with a burst of citrus flavours~

Ingredients (makes 9):

2 C flour

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C white sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 eggs + 1 egg yolk, beaten

1/4 C vegetable oil

1/3 C low fat yoghurt (used Meiji's Soft Yoghurt with Aloe Vera as it is not very thick)

3/4 C freshly squeezed citrus juices (used 1/8 C mini key limes, 3/8 C limequats, 1/4 C lemon)

1 tbsp grated citrus rind

Directions

1) Add all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt) in a large bowl and mix well. Make a well in the middle.
2) Combine wet ingredients, and incorporate into the dry ingredients along with the rind.
3) Spoon into 50 x 39 mm souffle or muffin cups till 3/4 full and bake in preheated oven at 180 deg for 25 - 30 min till tops are golden brown.

Remarks:
-

~ Japanese Sweet Potato Shortbread Cookies

Taken from:
Cakepia

Description:
Shortbread cookies with a sweetness of Japanese potatoes~

Ingredients:

250 g Japanese sweet potato
30 g butter
20 g sugar

1/2 (20 g) egg, whisked
50 g flour, sifted

Directions

1) Wrap a wet kitchen towel over the sweet potato, and followed by a plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 7 min till the sweet potato is soft. While warm, press the sweet potato through a sieve and retrieve 100 g of sieved sweet potato.
2) Cream butter and sugar.
3) Stir in sweet potato and egg till well-blended.
4) Incorporate flour till there is no white specks left, and wrap the dough in a plastic wrap to be refrigerated for at least 1 hour.
5) Slice or cut into desired shape. Brush shaped cookie dough with egg. Bake in preheated over at 180 deg for 15 - 20 min till golden brown. Cool before storing.

Remarks:
Leftover ingredients in the kitchen pose a great temptation to me, for I'll definitely think of ways to use them up! Take for instance in this case, Mum left 2 purple sweet potatoes hanging around in the kitchen and not long after, they appeared somewhat different:

As I didn't know the recipe was for shortbread cookies at first, I baked the nuggets till brown and baked them further till they were no longer soft in the middle. It is only when I was blogging then I realised my folly ops.

Anyway, I was quite surprised that the cookies came out with a nice brown sheen over them (it's not oil). And during baking, the whole kitchen smelt like condensed milk, which was pretty odd since there wasn't even milk added into the dough. I guess it's probably due to the caramelization of the natural sugars in sweet potato and reaction with the butter.

Each cookie is one tough cookie! It was hard to bite through, and once you do, a milky flavour fills the entire mouth. Seriously, where did that milk come from?

~ Carrot, Apple, Tomato, Celery Blend

Every time I have no vegetables cooked in my preferred ways on my dinner table, I would feel a intense compulsion to get my vegetable fix. The sense of foreboding over having ill health due to reduced intake of vitamins and minerals as well as having harder stools certainly plagues me well.

So upon reaching home today, I pulled out my blender to make a vegetable and fruit drink instead of having them as a salad. In went 2 carrots, 1 apple, 1 tomato, 1 stalk of celery and some water and ice, and I had an antioxidant blend that comes with a lovely orange hue specked with red traces of apple skin. And for once, a vegetable blend was agreeable to my tastebuds~

Just to share a dusk scene which triggered emotions in me while I was waiting for my bus:

~ Tofu Banana "Cheese"cake

Taken from:
Veganfamilyliving.com

Description:
Smooth, guilt-free "cheese"cake with additional protein~

Ingredients:

300 g silken tofu

1/2 C milk

3 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tbsp orange juice

1 medium (80 g) banana

1 egg

2 tbsp corn starch

1 1/2 tbsp water

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

5 (45 g) chocolate wafers, crushed

2 tsp oil

Directions

1) Drizzle oil evenly into the bottom of 4.5" springform pan and press the crushed chocolate wafers down firmly to form the crust. Bake at 175 deg for around 3 min and leave to cool.
2) Blend tofu, milk, sugar, orange juice, banana and egg together till smooth.
3) Over low heat, warm up the mixture.
4) Combine corn starch and water, and stir into the warmed mixture. Stir constantly till the mixture thickens, and remove from heat to sit for 3 min. Stir in vanilla extract.
5) Pour the mixture into the prepared crust and into a ramekin if there are excess, and bake in an oven preheated at 175 deg for 45 min (35 min for the ramekin), or till the top is firm. Turn off the oven and leave the cake in the oven for another 10 - 15 min.
6) Refrigerate overnight and serve chilled.

Remarks:
Midnight-baking had certainly taken a toil on me. I burnt my first crust, mistook the 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon to be the 1 tbsp one, spilled the warmed mixture, overturned the bowl of dissolved corn starch and over-baked my cake! Woah what a night.

After realising my oversight, I went to bed without high hopes that the "cheese"cake would turn out right and also wondered if I should rename it as banana custard pie/tart instead. Fortunately, it wasn't that bad though it was weeping terribly due to the tofu (didn't drain it), and that there was this sinister face on top of the cake:

The "cheese" part was quite velvety despite the obvious lumps, and has some slight tinge of vanilla and banana. I would prefer a more pungent taste though. Furthermore, there wasn't really a creaminess that's imparted by cream cheese.

By the way, I found that 35 min for the ramekin seemed too long as top was positively too charred to pass off as a "cheese"cake. Furthermore, it puffed up too much and collapse to form a wrinkled fabric of scorched surface after being taken out of the oven. Make it 25 min and avoid putting it too close to the hottest part of the oven:

All in all, it seems to be more apt to call it a banana custard.

~ Stove-Top Egg White Fluff with Banana Custard

Taken from:
Bestrecipes.com

Description:
Egg white pancake with a banana custard accompaniment~

Ingredients:

1 egg, separated

3 tbsp milk

1 banana, mash 1/2 and slice 1/2

Directions

1) Whisk egg whites till stiff peaks form.
2) Heat up a non-stick pan, and fry beaten egg white on one side till golden, and flip over to cook the other side. Place the cooked fluff over a kitchen towel.
3) Combine 1 tbsp milk with mashed bananas and place into the same (hot) pan, stirring continously to prevent charring.
4) Over low heat, slowly incorporate the egg yolk. Turn off heat once the yolk starts to curdle, and stir in the remaining milk till smooth. Blend the mixture for a smoother finish.
5) Serve the banana custard and banana slices over the egg white fluff~

Remarks:
Every time Mum sees me with an UFO (Unidentified Food Object), she would never fail to question me why I would spend time making queer dishes.

My answer to that?

Go figure. =p

Anyway, this breakfast dish was inspired from a cooking show, and since I couldn't come up with some fancy name for it, I made do with a one that describes it wholly.

I'm sure anyone would be curious to know more about this egg white fluff. I was too! On the outside it's like crispy fried egg, whereas the interior bears some resemblance to foamy marshmallow.. there's the subtle fragrance of fried egg but some blandness lingers on in one's mouth.. it's quite difficult to describe the exact experience of partaking the egg white fluff due to contrasting taste and texture. However, one thing's for sure, it's fluffy:

Coupled with the banana custard (no it's not poop-like like what the photograph makes one to perceive), the egg white fluff is definitely an interesting breakfast to try:

~ Banana Nutella Swirl Cake

Taken from:
Bestrecipes.com

Description:
Fragrant banana cake swirled with divine nutella~

Ingredients:

3/4 c self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 banana, mashed (I used 1 med and 2 small)
1/4 c oil
1 egg

50 g nutella, warmed

Directions

1) Whisk egg and sugar together till fluffy.
2) Sift flour and soda into a bowl.
3) Make a well in the centre and add in the egg sugar mixture and bananas. Slowly fold in the flour and incorporate till no lumps are found.

4) Stir in oil gently, and pour into a 6" round tin lined with non-stick paper.

5) Swirl nutella into the batter with a knife.

6) Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg for 15 min and followed by 150 deg for another 30 min. Cool before slicing.

Remarks:
The last time which I have baked something was about 2 months ago! What preposterous move by a self-confessed fan of baking! Fortunately I didn't lose my professional touch in messing around with recipes and coming up with something new! This time, it was yummy banana cake swirled with thick gooey nutella!

From the looks of my mediocre photos, the chocolatey spread was nowhere swirled into the cake but on top, which turned out to be not bad afterall since that created a crispy crust. Of course, this is no valid excuse for neglecting my swirling technique! A good marbled cake deserves to be marbled well! I'll have to work harder for that!

For a cake that utilises oil instead of butter, this one proved to be outstanding in terms of fluffiness and moisture! Be sure to use over-riped plantian bananas and this cake's a definite keeper!

In view of the fact that my exams are just around the corner which translates to lesser time for my self-development, I have decided to have a mini commitment plan for my favourite hobby: For every half a module covered, I shall make time for baking an item, and this is on top of any other casual baking attempts! Now, back to my study plan, I can't wait to complete studying for all my modules!


A flurry of fun and taste:

~ Nutella

I know it's not Nutella day today, but I can't help but sing the praises of this intoxicating spread as I just can't get enough of it. I have it on:

1) It's own:

2) Apples:

3) Banana and Bread:

4) Banana Cake:

5) Banana and Chocolate Chips:

6) Chicken Corn Sticks:

7) Fingernails:

I love Nutella!

~ Ice Blended Mocha

It's just like that of Starbucks! But light on the pocket and sugar! =) 2 cups cold coffee, 1 tbsp milk, 1 tsp sweetened condensed milk, 1 C ice.

"Can I have iced mocha too?"

~ Ice Blends and Bak Chang

Ice blended orange juice and milk:

Ice-blended banana and milk:

As you can see, I'm very hooked to blended drinks - yummy treats with minimal effort! And with the spare time that I save on washing dishes, I got my fingers caught between the door and door frame =( Internal haematoma in the middle finger and bleeding on the index, how unfortunate:

Mum made Bak Chang today, though it isn't the Rice Dumpling Season yet:

And a whole lot of it:

Tell me how not to grow fat?

~ Milk Cooler

A simple blend of ice and milk to bring down the heat! It's kind of queer to me, for I felt as though I was drinking beaten egg whites!

~ Rainbow Peanut Congee

Taken from:
Highlanders International

Description:
Brown rice porridge mix and peanuts~

Ingredients:

1 sachet (60g) Highlanders Rainbow Congee, or any brown rice mix

1/4 C white rice

1 can (120g drained) braised peanuts

750 ml water

Handful of red dates

Directions

1) Place rice, peanuts, and dates into the water in a saucepan and bring to boil.
2) Simmer for 10 - 15 min, or till grains are cooked. Serve =)

Remarks:
Hey, where's the rainbow colours of my rainbow congee? Well, sometimes we have to perceive things beyond what is written. For those curious, the term "rainbow congee" stems from the fact that the mix is made from 8 different ingredients (I thought the rainbow only has 7 colours?) - brown rice, mung beans, barley, buckwheat, pumpkin seeds, black glutinous rice, mushrooms and seaweed; and it's marketed as a form of "healthy rice".

Despite the plethora of ingredients added inside, the congee apparently only sports one obvious taste, that is brown rice. What happened to all the other ingredients? Perhaps they have only been added in minute amounts to justify the name of the product =p Combining one spoonful of congee with peanuts definitely enhanced the taste. I think that it would be better to cook the congee with chicken or any meat, which makes a world of difference to the taste (and appealed to me during the taste-before-you-buy session).

Next time around, I shall use the mix to make a sweet chinese soup dessert, that is red bean with brown rice paste. Sounds good? Of course!

Oh do you know what this signals?:

The durian season's coming! AHHHHH!!! ^ ^