Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Shrimp Carbonara

Since Carlos is not around I hardly cook anything elaborate. My lunch and dinner is just something quick and simple that I can whip up in no time. I like to have pasta in light creamy sauce rather than the red sauce. This carbonara sauce comes together easily and you can play around with the ingredients you have in hand. You can check out one of the version here and for this pasta dish I added some fresh shrimps and some lemon zest to it. The pasta turns out light and tasty and the succulent shrimps with a hint of fresh lemon works really well in the carbonara sauce.


Sunday, November 27, 2011

Mushrooms Tarts

I made these tarts as our appetizer before our Thanksgiving dinner. This year we just had something simple as we are in the mid of packing and moving. So there is no turkey for us as I don’t want to have any leftovers. I roasted a Crispy Skin Roast Chicken with a few side dishes. As for this appetizer, I just used store bought puff pastry but if you like to make your own pastry you can always do so. They are easy to make and look sophisticated too and great for party. All you have to do is pre-baked the tart shells, cook the mushrooms and assemble it when your guests arrive.



Monday, November 21, 2011

Shoo-fly Pie

Shoo-fly pie is a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch pie. I fell in love with this pie the very first time I tasted it 6 years ago. We were driving through some farm land in Lancaster, PA and we saw a little vegetable stand by the road side and we stopped to get some fresh produce. There was this little Amish boy taking care of the stand and beside vegetables he sells pies too. One particular pie caught my eyes as it look different from the rest of the pies. He told me it was Shoo-fly Pie. The name sounds funny to me so I bought half a pie home to try it out. I actually like the taste of the pie. It has a nice molasses flavor, cakey like on the side and gooey and soft at the center. Here is a bit of history on this unique pie.

Taken from What’s Cooking America:

Pennsylvania Dutch cooking is indigenous to those areas of southeastern Pennsylvania that were settled by the Mennonites and Amish. William Penn (1644-1718), founder of Pennsylvania, was seeking colonists for the Pennsylvania area. The Amish and Mennonites both settled in Pennsylvania as part of William Penn's "holy experiment" of religious tolerance. He wanted to establish a society that was godly, virtuous and exemplary for all of humanity. Encouraged by William Penn’s open invitation to persecuted religious groups, various sects of Christian Anabaptists-Mennonites and offshoots such as the Amish and the Brethren-emigrated from Germany and Switzerland. The first sizeable group arrived in America around 1730 and settled near Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
 

Friday, November 18, 2011

Banana Oatmeal Crumbly Cake

This is a pretty healthy cake. I actually baked this cake a few months ago and only get to post it now. I love the texture and nutty flavor of this cake. Like Bee Bee said, it has a nice fragrance of banana and the right amount of sweetness to it too. Beside that I like the crunch topping too. This cake taste even better if you let it sit for a day and it goes well with a cup of tea. This recipe is from Honey Sweet Bee and I lightly toasted the oatmeal for 6 minutes in the oven and blend it in the food processor before putting it in the cake.


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Egg Floss Butter Prawns

This is by far my most favorite prawn’s dish. I love the crunchy egg bits, the taste, the smell and the presentation of this dish. I usually like using the whole big prawns but I can’t get them from the regular supermarket so I have to make do with the headless prawns. Instead of deep fried them I pan fried them till lightly brown and as for the egg floss I used my leftover egg yolks from my French Macarons , they should be in thinner strands which I still couldn’t perfect it. But what the heck, they still taste divine. I will definitely cook this again but not anytime soon as I have to watch my cholesterol. I just saw my doctor last week and my cholesterol reading was good so no problem. Can indulge again, maybe ;) Nah, I think I just wait till Diana come home for Thanksgiving and cook this for her.



Monday, November 14, 2011

French Macarons # 3

I made these macarons for my doctor. She has been taking care of my well being for the past 6 years and she is such a kind and gentle lady and I am going to miss her. I hope I am able to find someone like her when I am in San Francisco. Since this might be my last visit to see her before our move, I decided to make her an Orange Scented Cake , Oatmeal Raisin Cranberry Cookies and these Macarons.

I’ve made macarons many times but they don’t usually turn out all perfect. The first tray will usually have cracks on top and some of the macarons will have no feet. It really puzzles me as the second tray will usually turns out perfect. I normally bake one tray at a time rather than putting two trays in at one go even though my oven is big enough for it as I wanted them to have an even heating. I just filled them up with some melted dark chocolate to cut down on it sweetness. This is a repeat recipe from here but I am just going to repost it again.



Sunday, November 13, 2011

Corn Croquettes


This recipe is from Min’s Blog . I bookmarked this recipe some time ago and only get to tried them out recently. I love the rich milky taste of these croquettes. They were crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside and I think they make a great appetizer for the coming holidays get together. You can make it a day before, put it in the fridge and fried them up just before your family and guest arrives.



Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Kuih Talam Gula Melaka/Steamed Palm Sugar Cake

This is another popular snack from Malaysia and Singapore. ‘Talam’ is a Malay word meaning ‘tray’, because the kuih is steamed in a tray-like steaming pan and it is made into two layers, one layer is sweet and the other is on the salty side. One can easily find these kuih (cake) sold at in the morning or night market. Instead the usual green and white one, I tried it with palm sugar. The top coconut milk layer is slightly salty and it compliment well with the sweet fragrant taste of the palm sugar from the bottom layer.



Monday, November 07, 2011

Crispy Skin Roast Chicken

When I saw Kristy of My Little Space posted this roast chicken at her blog I knew I have to try it out one day. They skin look so evenly brown and super crispy. True enough, they were perfect. Even Carlos who is not a fan of chicken skin eats it all. Kristy sun dried the chicken outside but I didn’t do that as I don't want my neighbor to wonder what was I doing to the poor chicken and moreover it was summer and I don’t want it to attract any flies or insects. So I just sit the chicken on top of a wine bottle and let it dries out for a few hours on the kitchen counter. It still turns out great. I adjust the seasonings a little bit as Carlos is not a fan of fermented soybean paste. You can check out the original recipe here .



Friday, November 04, 2011

Kam Heong Chicken/Fragrant Chicken

It is difficult to get into regular blogging after a break. I didn't cook at all since I came back from SF as my fridge is running low of supplies and I am trying to clear it all up before the move. I might drop by the supermarket to get some greens and fruits tomorrow.

I made this dish a few months ago and only get to post it now. This is a popular dish in Malaysia and I’ve tasted one done with prawns, lala (clams) and crabs. I never try it with Chicken until now. Kam Heong literally translates to ‘Golden Fragrant’ from Cantonese dialect. This dish has a flavor of Chinese, Malay and Indian all mixed together. With the combinations of dried shrimps, chili, curry powder and curry leaves it gives this dish great flavors and aromas. The next time I cook this again I will try it out with other protein. I think it will taste good with tofu too.

Ingredients:
Recipe source: My Kitchen Snippets


2 chicken breast - sliced
1/2 egg white
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp salt
a few dash of pepper
1 tsp cooking wine - optional
3 tbsp cornstarch

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Closing the 30-Day Challenge .... Announcing One Lucky Winner!

I'm back from San Francisco! What a tiring week! The road trip went well, we passed through 8 states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada to arrive in California. It was a long journey but I'm glad we did it. We are unlikely to make a similar road trip again but there are two states I want to return to visit in the near future - Nebraska and Utah. More about why later.

For now, I thought I'll round-up the Royal Selangor Jellyriffic Challenge with this special video my good friend, Rita Ho created for me to recap all my 30 jelly-mould entries. She made a movie of them! The accompanying song you hear is 'We Are The Champions' by Queen, a favorite song embraced by many breast cancer patients in their individual battle and often played at awareness programs for the illness.



Again, very special thanks to Royal Selangor for the opportunity in participating for this great cause and to all my blogging friends and readers for their comments, suggestions and support.


Last but not least, it is my pleasure to announce the winner of the Olympus Camera generated by random.org, the true random number service. Josephine was the commenter's No 683 from Bailey's Mocha Pudding - Day 25 .

Congratulations, Josephine! I hope you enjoy snapping endless memories with your prize! Please email me your address so I can send you the gift. My email address is at my profile.