Cold tofu with century egg

Didn't know much about cold tofu until one day I was exposed to it when a colleague ordered it for lunch. I love it! I didn't realize cold tofu can be so refreshing. I love any tofu dish be it stir-fry, steamed or in soup. Cold tofu is a quick and easy cold dish you can prepare without messing up your kitchen or when you feel really lazy and desire a quick fix to your hunger.

Ingredients: (adapted from Use Real Butter but I tweaked a little to the recipe)
1 chill silken tofu ( I used organic tofu)
1 century egg, cut into 4 quarters or smaller pieces
Pork floss
Fried shallot (optional)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 stalks green onions (I forgot to buy)


1. Drain off the excess liquid inside the tofu pack. Place on a plate or wide deep dish.
2. Pour the sesame oil and soy sauce over the tofu.
3. Sprinkle some fried shallot over the tofu, and followed by pork floss. If you like more pork floss, sprinkle more. It's all up to you. Place the sliced century egg round the tofu. And ready to serve. Bon appétit!


 

Red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting

I find that there is some similarities between baking and exercising. Either you keep baking regularly or you stop totally for a long long while. So it seems the momentum is coming back again. And of course, it is my motto to ALWAYS share my sweet treats (or rather calories) with my colleagues and friends. Today, I decided on red velvet cupcake (RVC)s. Honestly, am not a big fan of it but some of friends do fancy them. I noticed all red velvet recipes call for white vinegar and I have only black one at home. Since it is my first time baking RVC, I decided to follow all the steps in the recipe from Bakerella. And wow, the cupcakes are yum and well-received by my colleagues and friends. The recipe is definitely a keeper!

Bon Appetit!

Mini champignons et jambon quiche

Sur mercredi soir, j'ai fait mini champignons et jambon quiche. J'aime beaucoup quiche. C'est vrai!!! Ils sont délicieux et parfait pour petite fête à la maison. Je vois sur la recette et je suis surpris que ce n'est pas difficile à préparer quiche. C'est bonne! J'ai utilisé la recette pour All Recipes mais je l'ai changée un petite peu . Pardon mon français si la grammaire ou conjugaison n'est pas correct. Tu sais, je suis  dans niveau élémentaire pour mon français. Pratiquer mon français ici.  :)))

Crustless quiche. Yum yum...

 



Ingrédients adapté de All Recipes (avec petit changes) : Makes 16 mini quiche
 - 1 tablespoon d'huile des légumes (vegetable oil)
- 100gm of shaved ham
- 200gm of Brown button mushrooms (sliced)
- 2 grand rouge oignons (chopped)
- 5 tablespoons of whipping cream
- 1/3 cup of milk (fresh or packet is fine)
- 3 eggs
- Shredded Cheddar et emmental fromage ( you can use any type of shredded cheese you like)

 1. Add the oïl to the frying pan and stir fry the onions till they are soft. Add the mushrooms and continue to sauté until everything is soft. Add salt n pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. Put some shredded cheddar and emmental cheese on the bottom of the tart liners, next add the mushrooms and ham and top with cheddar and emmental cheese again. Set aside.

3. Beat the eggs with whipping cream and milk with a fork. Add a pinch of salt. Use a measuring cup to pour the egg mixture into the tart liners. Top with the shredded cheese again.

4. Bake at 170 deg Celsius for 18 mins, or until the top and edge turned golden. Do monitor your bakes. Every oven is different, hence temperatures may vary. Do not attempt to eat them immediately, it will be very hot!! Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Bon appétit  !
 

Devil's food cupcakes

Baking is similar to working out. Both needs  momentum. I always enjoy learning new sweet treats. I decided to bake Devil's Food cake. I know how sinful this dessert is. Oh well, life is too short to be eating healthily all the time. Pamper yourself once a week. I hope it is not too much to ask for. I adapted the recipe from Food.com . If you refer to the recipe, I omit the frosting. Instead, I topped the batter with chocolate chips.

Note: Due to the addition of buttermilk, baking soda and baking power, the batter can really rise and spill over the cupcake liners like volcanoes eruption... So, please put in the batter only half full, not 3/4 full. Inexperienced baker I am, that's why... :P There won't be a second time. I can taste the baking soda in the cake too, so probably I should omit baking soda totally (since I added buttermilk) or reduce to 1 teaspoon instead of two next time. The cupcake was moist and really yummy with some chocolate chips topping and chopped walnuts. The recipe is definitely a keeper.

Bon Appetit!

 

Bite-size crunchy chocolate chips cookies

I love cookies especially crunchy ones. Last sat, I made chocolate chip cookies and finally, I found the right texture of cookies which I wanted. Bite size, crunchy and the  dough will not run when baked. In addition, the cookies are not very sweet. I am so delighted!

Recipe:

- 250gm unsalted butter, soften (I use lurpak)
-290gm plain flour, sift
-130gm self-raising flour, sift
-3 tablespoons corn flour,sift
-3 teaspoon baking powder,sift
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-2 eggs at room temperature
-1/2 cup granulated/fine sugar, sift
-3/4 cup brown sugar, sift
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 cup chocolate chips (add more if desire)

1. Preheat oven to 150 degree celsius and prepare 2 ungreased baking sheets.
2. Sift all flour, baking powder, corn flour and salt onto a sheet of baking paper, set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter till fluffy and pale yellow.
4. Add the sugars and continue beating till mixture is no longer gritty.
5. Add eggs and vanilla and beat on low speed until blended.
6. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed or stir with a wooden spoon until just blended.
7. Add the chocolate chips, if using, mixing or stirring until just blended.
8. With half teaspoon scoop, scoop the dough into small balls, remove using a toothpick and place on the baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
9. Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges, about 12 minutes. Note: I rotate my baking tray after 5 mins. During the last 4 mins, I switched from top and bottom heating to just top heating.
10 Let the cookies cool briefly on the sheets before transferring them to the racks to cool completely
Note: it is impt to sift all flours and the sugars to avoid clumps. If you keep your eggs in the fridge, do take them out n leave to cool at room temperature before using.

Have fun baking!!
 

Pineapple Tarts

Baking pineapple tarts (PT) is a yearly affair, usually for Chinese Lunar New Year. And to kick-start the new year, I finally changed to a new oven. Bigger and with better functions. Bought a 42-litres TEO 3400 from Technogas. Got it at a sale price of S$129 (retail price: S$243) from Harvey Norman. It is alot alot bigger than my old oven. I took alot lesser time to bake compared to the past. I heard good reviews about this oven from my friends who're using this model, hence been waiting for my older oven to 'retire' before a new purchase can be made. J'adore ma nouvelle fours! C'est superbe et magnifique!

For this coming CNY, I decided to bake more PT for some relatives (as per mum's instructions), colleagues and my close friends. Thankfully, I have my mum to help me roll the pineapple jam fillings while I prepare the dough and wrap it with the jam balls.

 My number one favourite butter: Lurpak unsalted butter.

 

For the size of the pineapple jam balls below, I use half tablespoon to measure the dough before wrapping with it. 

Glaze the tarts with egg yolk. I used a silicon pastry brush bought from IKEA. More hygienic too

Recipe:

(A)

- 250gm unsalted butter ( I use lurpak), soften at room temperature

- 3 tbs icing sugar/confectionary sugar, sift

 

(B)

-400gm of all purpose flour/plain flour, sift

-3 tbs of corn flour, sift

-1/4 teaspoon salt, sift 

(C)

- 2 egg yolk

(D)

- 1 egg yolk (to glaze the tarts)

(E)

- 1 kg of pineapple jam fillings (I use Red Man brand, from Phoon Huat), roll into balls.

1. Pre-heat the oven at 150deg c. Cut the soften butter into cubes (for ease of mixing) and add to the mixing bowl. If you take the butter out from the fridge, the butter should be softened in 30-35 mins. Add the icing sugar to the butter and mix it until just incorporated.

2. Add (B) to (A) until it is incorporated. They will resemble like breadcrumbs. Next, add (C) and mix to form a dough. 

3. For the dough, I based on my own estimation to gauge the amount of dough to wrap every single ball of PJ. I measured the dough using a measuring spoon, roll it into a ball, flatten it with my thumb. Then I placed a ball of PJ on the dough and wrap the former with the latter. After that, you glazed the top part of pineapple tart with egg yolk.

4. Bake the tarts at 150deg c. for 20mins.  Leave to cool completely. Bon appetit!