Seri Muka II/Glutinous Rice Layer Cake

I’ve posted this before but it is a different recipe. I did some changes to the recipe and also tinted the glutinous with some bunga telang(butterfly pea or clitorea ternated) given to me by Sonia when I went back to Malaysia early this year. This flower which was used to blue the rice in nasi kerabu (rice salad) or nyonya kueh but now many of them just used the blue coloring. To obtain the color from the bunga telang, the blooms are dried in the sun before storing. When required, they are soaked in water to allow the color to seep out and subsequently, obtain the rich blue color. My friend Sue given me some seeds and I planted it during summer. I think I planted it a bit too late and by the time it started to flower it was already late summer so I didn’t get much flowers out of it. I kept quite a bit of seeds for my next season planting.

No sure why but the plants have more leaves than flowers.

Corn Fritters

I made these sometime ago when corns were at their peak during summer. I will usually grill or boil it but this time I made some fritters out of it. I used a bit of oil to pan fried them in a non stick pan and it turn out more like a pancakes. The fritters were crispy on the edges and tender in the middle. We had this with my homemade chili sauce.

Ingredients:

2 cups corn kernels
1/2 cup chopped shrimps
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 small onion
¼ cup chopped cilantro
4 spring onions – chopped
2 red chilies – chopped
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
Salt and pepper to taste
enough water to hold the batter together

Prickly Pear Chiffon Cake

Now what is this exotic Prickly Pear?? They are known to few, the fruit of the nopales cactus (cacti with beaver tail-like paddles), are actually edible. Called prickly pears, these vibrant magenta color fruits are delicious,they taste like a cross between watermelon and pear. The best way to eat this is just cut it into halve and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh. The juice is often used to make jam or candy, but works wonders in cocktails and used in vinaigrettes for salads. I've seen people used the juice to flavor cream cheese frosting for cakes and have seen others boil it down with a bit of orange and lemon juice to make a sauce for fruit salads and cheesecakes.

We used to have one huge cactus plant at my mom house and there were plenty of these fruits on it but during that time we have no clue that they are edible. So the birds had a field time eating the sweet fruits.

Guess the Flavor of Chiffon Cake – The Result!!

Yes, we have a winner. The person who guessed the flavor correctly is Wendy of Table for 2 or More. The Chiffon Cake is made out of Prickly Pears. The recipe and details of the fruits will be coming up next. Thank you everyone for taking the time to participate. There are some very good guesses and I will be making some of the flavor that you suggested. Do come back and check out another one of my giveaway soon.

Wendy, these gifts will be coming your way soon.

1. 2 packets of cupcake wraps (12 and 18 pieces each)
2. 1 packet of Wild Rice
3. 1  year 2011 and 2012 planner - cupcakes photographs by Kylie Lambert.

Guess the Flavor of the Chiffon Cake (Closed)

Can anyone guess what the flavor of this chiffon cake is? The first correct answer will receive some gifts from me.

Oh, in case you are wondering, this is open to anyone anywhere in the world and not just for USA readers. Remember to leave your email address in your comment. Dateline for this guessing game will be on the 24th November 2010 at 11.00am (Eastern Time) Good Luck.

Update 11/22/2010 (7.30pm): Still no right answer yet. I know the cake color might be a bit misleading. This cake is made out of one type of fruit and not sure what happen as it turn bright orange after baking. Hope this help with the guessing :)

Apricot and Apple Braid

This braid is very similar to my Blueberry Cream Cheese Loaf but this time I made the dough from scratch rather than using the store bought kind. I mix the dough and let it rise overnight and in the morning I just shape it up and we have freshly bake bread for our breakfast or brunch. It might takes some time to prepare this bread but the results are worth the extra effort.

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups bread flour
¼ cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 packet (7 gram) dry yeast
1 egg
½ cup + 2 tbsp milk
¼ cup butter

Egg wash:

1 egg - beaten

Hearty Beef and Potato Soup

This is a hearty autumn and winter soup that will warm your family from the inside out. This beef and potato soup is richly flavored, nutritious but it is also light on calories. I prepared a large pot of this and freeze some of it up so we can have a warm bowl of soup anytime we want it.

Ingredients:

1 pound beef (stew meat) – cut into small cubes
3 carrots – cut into small cubes
3 stalk celery – cut into small cubes
3 potatoes – peel and cut into cubes
1 large onion – finely chopped
2 cloves garlic – chopped
2 bay leaves
1 can of 14 oz chopped tomato
½ cup elbow pasta
6 cups low sodium beef stock
Enough water
Salt and pepper to taste

Asian Style Ribs

These are one finger licking ribs. The meat is so tender and juicy that it falls off the bones easily. The sauce is sweet, tangy and with a light hint of 5 spice powder. The secret of cooking this tender ribs is wrap it up in foil and let it cook long and slow in the oven. Normally we will grill it on the BBQ after the baking part but since we already clean up BBQ set so I did it all in the oven. The results are just as good except minus for the smoky flavor.

Ingredients:

3 pound of ribs
1 tsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
1/4 cup light soy sauce
3 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Spare Ribs sauce
1 large orange juice and zest
½ tsp 5 spice powder
1 tsp pepper
3 tbsp dark brown sugar

Mushroom, Tomato and Camembert Tarts

Marcus of Ile De France sent me a sample of Camembert to try out. This mild soft and creamy cheese which has a wonderful aromatic mushrooms and nutty undertones is crafted in Normandy from local RBST free pasteurized cow milk. The herds spend most of their time outside, grazing in the fields of Normandy; known for its temperate climate and rich soil.

I made these wonderful tarts with the mushroom and tomato and pair it with the camembert. The combination of flavors is just great and this one is a real winner. Why not try this out for your coming Thanksgiving gathering or Christmas party. I am pretty sure it will be a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients for pastry

2 cups all-purpose flour
10 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 tsp of salt
6 tbsp ice water (more or less)

Ipoh Noodles Soup with Shredded Chicken/Ipoh Hor Fun

Ipoh is famous of their hor fun (flat rice noodles). The star of this noodle dish is the silky-smooth flat noodles, or as the locals calls it, hor fun. Around Ipoh, vendors may serve the hor fun in a clear chicken broth, or with chicken-and-shrimp broth. I actually cooked this noodles many months and only post it now as I totally forgoteen about it.

Ingredients:
Recipe adapted from My Gastronomic Odyssey

A handful of dried shrimps, soaked for 5 minutes in hot water, then drained
About 1 pound shrimp heads and shells
a handful of rock sugar
a small handful of peppercorns
4 tbsp oil
1 liter of chicken stock

3 cups Chicken

This is another classic Chinese dish originated from Taiwan. The main ingredients for this dish are using 1 cup soy sauce, one cup of sesame oil, one cup of rice wine and a generous amount of Thai basil leaves. That is how it got its name 3 cups chicken (san bei ji) The first time I tasted this dish was when I went home last year and my BIL CK took me to a famous Taiwanese restaurant called Fong Lye. Once I tasted the dish I fell in love with it. So here is my version of 3 cups chicken but I didn’t use the whole cup of sesame oil and soy sauce. I think that is a bit too much for me but do feel free to adjust the amount of marinate to your liking.

Ingredients:

1 small chicken – around 2 pounds, clean, remove skin and cut into bite size pieces
5 slices of ginger
4 dried chilies – soak and remove seeds (optional)
1 small bunch Thai basil leaves
1 cup Chinese cooking wine
¾ cup soy sauce
4 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 thumb size rock sugar or 1 tbsp sugar

Brown Sugar Cake

This cake is made with dark brown sugar. So far I think this is the first butter cake I made using dark brown sugar and I was pretty satisfied with the outcome. The brown sugar gives the cake a rich, buttery, caramel like flavor, almost like butterscotch. The cake taste even better the next day.

Ingredients:

2 stick/226 gram/1 cup butter
1 ¾ cups dark brown sugar
2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 eggs
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 cup dried cranberry

Blanch Okra with Spicy Sambal

When the weather gets cold I get lazy too. There are days I like something simple for my lunch. No elaborate preparation or cooking. I bought a huge bag of okra/lady fingers from the produce place for only $2.00 and beside stir-fry with eggs or put it in curries this is how I like it. Simple and delicious!!

Ingredients:

10 okras – cut the ends off

Sambal – blended into paste

4 red chilies
2 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1 ripe tomato – cut into chunks
2 tbsp dried shrimps – soak for 15 minutes
Sugar and salt to taste.

Prawn Fritter/Cucur Udang

This is one of the favorite tea time snacks in Malaysia and you can usually find stalls selling them by road side stall in the afternoon or at the night market. This is something so readily available back home and I don’t usually make them. But here in the US when craving strike I have to make it myself. The last time I made this was in 2007 when my sisters came to visit us so it is time to make some for my evening tea and keep some for my mee rebus.

Dulce De Leche Chiffon Cake

When I went to the Latin store I will usually get a few jars of DDL. I used a jar for Carlos birthday cake and there were some leftover from it and decided to used it for Chiffon Cake. This was the first time I bake chiffon cake with it and I love the outcome of it. The cake has a nice fragrant of DDL and not too sweet. Even Carlos who never likes chiffon cake eats it. Do you think I convert him into liking chiffon cake? I don’t think so. If you ask me it is not the chiffon cake he likes but it is more of the DDL I drizzle on top ha ha… For this cake I used the Rainbow Chiffon Cake recipe but with very slight changes.

Ingredients A:

8 egg yolks
120 gram Dulce De Leche
20 gram corn flour
180 gram cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
100 ml vegetable oil
100 ml milk