Monday, September 28, 2015

Spiral moon cake

On mid-autumn festival, it is tradition to share and consume moon cakes for the Chinese and Vietnamese community. Different Chinese provinces have different types of moon cakes. For this year, I am attempting the Teochew spiral/swirl moon cake.
After 2 attempts at this spiral pastry technique, as you can see, it was unsuccessful. My oil dough was crumbly and I wasn't sure how to remedy it. Add more oil to bring it together? I'll definitely have to try to do a better job perfecting this technique by the next mid-autumn festival!

Notes:-
1) I am inserting the exact texts from both links as mentioned below for my own future reference.
2) I have halved the recipe for the dough which makes about 16 medium-size mooncakes
3) I have made the full custard recipe; which is sufficient.
4) To make egg custard filling ahead to let it cool before preparing the dough part.

Spiral moon cake
For the pastry (recipe via House of Annie )

Ingredients:
Water Dough (A)
200g unbleached all-purpose flour
28g icing sugar
pinch of salt
80g cold butter
80g water
Oil Dough (B)
180g unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
90g oil (I use canola)
½ tsp pandan essence (sub. with almond extract)

Method:
1. For the water dough, sift flour, sugar and salt. Then cut butter into flour mixture using fingertips or pastry blender until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add in water and mix to form a soft, non-sticky dough. If it is sticky, you will need to add a bit more flour to get it to be the right texture. You should be able to form a soft ball that won’t stick to your hands. You don’t have to knead it. Cover and set aside to rest for 20 mins.
2. For the oil dough, sift flour and salt. Then, make a well in the centre of the flour and add in oil and pandan essence. Draw in the flour from the sides and mix to form a soft even coloured dough (same thing here, if it’s too sticky, add more dough till you form a soft ball that doesn’t stick to your hands). Do not over-mix. Cover and set aside for 20 mins.

To assemble and bake:
3. Preheat oven to 185 C or 350 F.
4. Divide A and B into 10 equal balls.

5. Taking one piece of (A), flatten and wrap (B) in it. Pinch to seal edges.
6. With the sealed side facing up, roll into a rectangle.
7. Roll up like a snail to form a ‘cylinder’, turn the cylinder 90 degrees, with the end facing up.
8. Roll again into a long thin strip.
9. Using a sharp knife or a pastry cutter, cut the cylinder in the middle into two pieces.
10. With the cut side facing down, flatten the dough, making the edges slightly thinner than the centre. I tend to leave a little hump in the center so that when the filling is wrapped around the pastry, the dough will be evenly thick all around (looks like a Mexican sombrero).
11. Wrap the filling and pinch to seal. Try not to ‘tug/pull’ too hard, otherwise the layers will tear. Best to flatten the dough larger than smaller so it’s easier to pinch. And when you pinch, you will find that the bottom looks ugly—don’t worry about it.


For Egg Custard filling (via MaomaoMom)
3 extra large egg yolks,
½ cup sugar (105g)
1/3 cup+1 tbsp milk (88g)
3 tbsp all purpose flour (34g)
(B)
2.5 tbsp dry milk powder (14g)
2.5 tbsp butter (35g)

1) Place all ingredients (A) in a medium size microwave safe bowl, whisk well with a fork-
2) Add in the same bowl, all ingredients (B)
3) Place the bowl in the microwave , heat on high for 40 seconds. Stir the content and then heat for 30 seconds, reheat with 20 second intervals until fully cooked. Let it cool then divide into 12 equal portions. Form into balls with both palms then set aside and continue to start the mooncake dough

Monday, September 14, 2015

KFC style gravy


Although not exactly healthy, I do like to serve this gravy occasionally when I make my oven-baked chicken

KFC style gravy
via PanlasangPinoy

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter (only used 1 knob butter and vegetable oil)
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour (only used 2.5 Tbsp)
1 piece chicken cube or 2 teaspoons chicken powder (omitted)
1 piece beef cube or 2 teaspoons beef powder (half a cube of beef  stock cube)

2  1/4 cups water (only used 1 cup)
++ ground black pepper

Preparation

  1. Dilute the beef stock cube in water.
  2. Melt butter in sauce pan and add a little vegetable oil on low heat.
  3. Add all-purpose flour and cook in low heat while continuously stirring for 7 to 8 minutes or until the color turns medium brown. There is a tendency that the flour might burn when overcooked or if high heat is applied. Be extra cautious.
  4. Gradually add the beef stock (1) while stirring. Continuous stirring is needed to prevent lumps from forming.
  5. Put the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes more while stirring once in a while until the texture thickens.
  6. Serve hot with fried chicken or mashed potato.

Wednesday, September 09, 2015

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

My first Pineapple upside-down cake.  It was delicious and so the recipe's a keeper!

Pineapple upside-down cake
via BBC Good Food

For the topping

50g softened butter
50g light soft brown sugar
7 pineapples rings in syrup, drained and syrup
glacé cherry

For the cake

100g softened butter
100g golden caster sugar
100g self-raising flour (used all-purpose flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
++ lemon zest
++ lemon juice
Method :-
  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. For the topping, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Spread over the base and a quarter of the way up the sides of a 20-21cm round cake tin. Arrange pineapple rings on top, then place cherries in the centres of the rings.
  2. Place the cake ingredients in a bowl along with 2 tbsp of the pineapple syrup and, using an electric whisk, beat to a soft consistency. Spoon into the tin on top of the pineapple and smooth it out so it’s level. Bake for 35 mins. Leave to stand for 5 mins, then turn out onto a plate. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.

Sunday, September 06, 2015

Homemade chicken liver pâté


Chicken liver pate could be homemade easily. This kept in the fridge for 6 days! I'm not including an exact recipe but just ingredients used for my own reference.

Homemade chicken liver pate

Ingredients
300-350gm chicken liver
cooking oil and butter for sauté
Onion, sliced
garlic, minced
Spices
tarragon
smoked paprika
oregano
black pepper
salt
cream (10% fat)
butter for topping

Sweet and sour sesame chicken


Whenever we order for Chinese take-out, the sweet and sour sesame chicken is always on top of our order. So, when I came across this following recipe, I have got to give it a go. Turns out pretty good and two thumbs up for this recipe!

Sweet and sour sesame chicken
via Aprosef

Ingredients
400gm Chicken breast

For batter
200gm plain flour
1 egg
12gm baking powder (I used less)
1 Tbsp corn flour (sub. with rice flour)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
7 Tbsp water
salt, to taste

For sweet and sour sauce (adjust to taste)

4 Tbsp vinegar (I did not follow this exact qty.)
4 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp Honey (we dislike strong honey taste in savoury food; hence we adjusted to taste)
2 Tbsp oil
1 heap tsp sambal oelek
4 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Preparation


For the sauce
1) In a sauce pan, mix in all ingredients for sauce, check and balance the taste. Bring it to a boil.
2) Set aside.

For Chicken

1) Cut chicken breast into medium cube size.
2) In a bowl, mix all ingredients for batter except for water. Add water slowly to get a very thick batter.
3) Heat oil for frying.
4) Dip each chicken cube into thick batter. Make sure to fully coat it.
5) Fry in hot oil until golden brown and chicken is cooked through.
6) Place on wire mesh to drain away excess oil and keep it crispy.
7) Then immediately dip the cooked chicken into sauce and place on serving dish.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Spiral moon cake

On mid-autumn festival, it is tradition to share and consume moon cakes for the Chinese and Vietnamese community. Different Chinese provinces have different types of moon cakes. For this year, I am attempting the Teochew spiral/swirl moon cake.
After 2 attempts at this spiral pastry technique, as you can see, it was unsuccessful. My oil dough was crumbly and I wasn't sure how to remedy it. Add more oil to bring it together? I'll definitely have to try to do a better job perfecting this technique by the next mid-autumn festival!

Notes:-
1) I am inserting the exact texts from both links as mentioned below for my own future reference.
2) I have halved the recipe for the dough which makes about 16 medium-size mooncakes
3) I have made the full custard recipe; which is sufficient.
4) To make egg custard filling ahead to let it cool before preparing the dough part.

Spiral moon cake
For the pastry (recipe via House of Annie )

Ingredients:
Water Dough (A)
200g unbleached all-purpose flour
28g icing sugar
pinch of salt
80g cold butter
80g water
Oil Dough (B)
180g unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
90g oil (I use canola)
½ tsp pandan essence (sub. with almond extract)

Method:
1. For the water dough, sift flour, sugar and salt. Then cut butter into flour mixture using fingertips or pastry blender until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add in water and mix to form a soft, non-sticky dough. If it is sticky, you will need to add a bit more flour to get it to be the right texture. You should be able to form a soft ball that won’t stick to your hands. You don’t have to knead it. Cover and set aside to rest for 20 mins.
2. For the oil dough, sift flour and salt. Then, make a well in the centre of the flour and add in oil and pandan essence. Draw in the flour from the sides and mix to form a soft even coloured dough (same thing here, if it’s too sticky, add more dough till you form a soft ball that doesn’t stick to your hands). Do not over-mix. Cover and set aside for 20 mins.

To assemble and bake:
3. Preheat oven to 185 C or 350 F.
4. Divide A and B into 10 equal balls.

5. Taking one piece of (A), flatten and wrap (B) in it. Pinch to seal edges.
6. With the sealed side facing up, roll into a rectangle.
7. Roll up like a snail to form a ‘cylinder’, turn the cylinder 90 degrees, with the end facing up.
8. Roll again into a long thin strip.
9. Using a sharp knife or a pastry cutter, cut the cylinder in the middle into two pieces.
10. With the cut side facing down, flatten the dough, making the edges slightly thinner than the centre. I tend to leave a little hump in the center so that when the filling is wrapped around the pastry, the dough will be evenly thick all around (looks like a Mexican sombrero).
11. Wrap the filling and pinch to seal. Try not to ‘tug/pull’ too hard, otherwise the layers will tear. Best to flatten the dough larger than smaller so it’s easier to pinch. And when you pinch, you will find that the bottom looks ugly—don’t worry about it.


For Egg Custard filling (via MaomaoMom)
3 extra large egg yolks,
½ cup sugar (105g)
1/3 cup+1 tbsp milk (88g)
3 tbsp all purpose flour (34g)
(B)
2.5 tbsp dry milk powder (14g)
2.5 tbsp butter (35g)

1) Place all ingredients (A) in a medium size microwave safe bowl, whisk well with a fork-
2) Add in the same bowl, all ingredients (B)
3) Place the bowl in the microwave , heat on high for 40 seconds. Stir the content and then heat for 30 seconds, reheat with 20 second intervals until fully cooked. Let it cool then divide into 12 equal portions. Form into balls with both palms then set aside and continue to start the mooncake dough

Monday, September 14, 2015

KFC style gravy


Although not exactly healthy, I do like to serve this gravy occasionally when I make my oven-baked chicken

KFC style gravy
via PanlasangPinoy

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter (only used 1 knob butter and vegetable oil)
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour (only used 2.5 Tbsp)
1 piece chicken cube or 2 teaspoons chicken powder (omitted)
1 piece beef cube or 2 teaspoons beef powder (half a cube of beef  stock cube)

2  1/4 cups water (only used 1 cup)
++ ground black pepper

Preparation

  1. Dilute the beef stock cube in water.
  2. Melt butter in sauce pan and add a little vegetable oil on low heat.
  3. Add all-purpose flour and cook in low heat while continuously stirring for 7 to 8 minutes or until the color turns medium brown. There is a tendency that the flour might burn when overcooked or if high heat is applied. Be extra cautious.
  4. Gradually add the beef stock (1) while stirring. Continuous stirring is needed to prevent lumps from forming.
  5. Put the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes more while stirring once in a while until the texture thickens.
  6. Serve hot with fried chicken or mashed potato.

Wednesday, September 09, 2015

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

My first Pineapple upside-down cake.  It was delicious and so the recipe's a keeper!

Pineapple upside-down cake
via BBC Good Food

For the topping

50g softened butter
50g light soft brown sugar
7 pineapples rings in syrup, drained and syrup
glacé cherry

For the cake

100g softened butter
100g golden caster sugar
100g self-raising flour (used all-purpose flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
++ lemon zest
++ lemon juice
Method :-
  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. For the topping, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Spread over the base and a quarter of the way up the sides of a 20-21cm round cake tin. Arrange pineapple rings on top, then place cherries in the centres of the rings.
  2. Place the cake ingredients in a bowl along with 2 tbsp of the pineapple syrup and, using an electric whisk, beat to a soft consistency. Spoon into the tin on top of the pineapple and smooth it out so it’s level. Bake for 35 mins. Leave to stand for 5 mins, then turn out onto a plate. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.

Sunday, September 06, 2015

Homemade chicken liver pâté


Chicken liver pate could be homemade easily. This kept in the fridge for 6 days! I'm not including an exact recipe but just ingredients used for my own reference.

Homemade chicken liver pate

Ingredients
300-350gm chicken liver
cooking oil and butter for sauté
Onion, sliced
garlic, minced
Spices
tarragon
smoked paprika
oregano
black pepper
salt
cream (10% fat)
butter for topping

Sweet and sour sesame chicken


Whenever we order for Chinese take-out, the sweet and sour sesame chicken is always on top of our order. So, when I came across this following recipe, I have got to give it a go. Turns out pretty good and two thumbs up for this recipe!

Sweet and sour sesame chicken
via Aprosef

Ingredients
400gm Chicken breast

For batter
200gm plain flour
1 egg
12gm baking powder (I used less)
1 Tbsp corn flour (sub. with rice flour)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
7 Tbsp water
salt, to taste

For sweet and sour sauce (adjust to taste)

4 Tbsp vinegar (I did not follow this exact qty.)
4 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp Honey (we dislike strong honey taste in savoury food; hence we adjusted to taste)
2 Tbsp oil
1 heap tsp sambal oelek
4 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Preparation


For the sauce
1) In a sauce pan, mix in all ingredients for sauce, check and balance the taste. Bring it to a boil.
2) Set aside.

For Chicken

1) Cut chicken breast into medium cube size.
2) In a bowl, mix all ingredients for batter except for water. Add water slowly to get a very thick batter.
3) Heat oil for frying.
4) Dip each chicken cube into thick batter. Make sure to fully coat it.
5) Fry in hot oil until golden brown and chicken is cooked through.
6) Place on wire mesh to drain away excess oil and keep it crispy.
7) Then immediately dip the cooked chicken into sauce and place on serving dish.