Green with Envy

It's my off day today everybody~ Green with envy? No monday blues or whatsoever for this mademoiselle in the kitchen:)

Green tea tarik?!

I'm trying out green tea cheesecake today since i would be slacking anyways at home.. (probably going for a jog later in the evening.. or erm.. we'll see how it goes :p) keke~ Anyways, I've always have a packet of green tea powder in my cupboard, not only for brewing tea, it can also serve as a beauty treatment! I used it to make body masks for whitening and facial toner...also for whitening:).. and though it has no scientific prove, green tea has been claimed useful for weight loss management too! Cool huh!

Unlike other baked cheesecakes, chiffon cheesecakes has to be unmoulded immediately after baking or else it'll shrink. A LOT. Which explains why i'm feeling a little jittery now while waiting for the oven to make that 'tee tee tee' cry. Have i lost my touch after staying away from my Ice KitchenAid for the longest time?? Will i be greeted with a cracked, sunken, anything but green cheesecake?~ Oh.. 6 minutes to revealing time..

*6minutes later*

ooOOOoooo~

I frantically unmoulded the cake and i think it sank a little.. but it still looks pretty!! It's now sitting in my dining room slowly cooling from the exuberant heat from the oven.. Muahaha!!! Hope it'll taste okay.. *crosses fingers*

*and many more minutes later*

Yay! the cheesecake wasn't as high as the 101 tower. But! it's yum yum! Hehe~ and now.. for my 8.5K at east coast...awwwwwwww...lazy

BACK.

Let me check. The last post in my blog was in May and it's now October. OMG! i've officially neglected my blog for 5months... See how workaholic i can get? (kidding) Anyhoo, i got reminded of my blog recently and i thought i should be diligently updating SS again:)

Cream cornet bread from a mobile bread van

Oh well, I haven't been baking/cooking recently:) just a trip or 2 for the past few months. So i thought...i'll dedicate this late late post to my new found good good friends LL and Lynn.. they are my colleagues but are incontestably fun/crazy girls to be with:)

*pause* while i'm hunt-and-pecking.. a cake is being delivered for my dad's birthday. ;) how sweet of them.. Just in time for my post:) PHOTOS!

Fried rice in (lotus leaves?)

Pancake.. Huey style

And so.. back to my post.. I've just visited HCM, Vietnam recently and am still fresh from the experience. As usual, i'll blog about the food we had there. mMMm... I'm fine with what i had in HCM(i'm not sucha food-picker afterall) but i'm quite sure that's not the case for everyone. For instance, they like to use a kind of spice/herb -- i'm not sure.. in their dishes. and this spice/herb has this distinct taste that doesn't appeal to all diners.

My No.1 favourite there would be the french bread/baguette. Since vietnam has been under the french colonial in their history, vietnamese sure adore this (crispy on the outside and fluffy in the inside) grain product. YOU can find it everywhere, anytime of the day can!

their noodle dishes (not pho)

And we had their springrolls in rice paper:) it has "VIETNAM" written all over it! It's a must-try! Not that it's nice(it's fine).. it's like their trademark! just like you have to have hainanese chicken rice when you're in S'pore. And of cos WE had lotsa other foods.. foods we don't normally have.

Portugese Egg tart in KFC!

And i had freshly cooked coconut candy! It's super nice can! I'm really tempted to microwave or steam the candies i've bought.. wonder how it'll turn out to be...........

All in all , i really enjoyed my trip and am looking forward to the next one! oooohhhh~ but for now.. back to work.

Big Big POW!

Elephant Fish (we wrapped in rice paper after this pic was taken)

Day of good stuff:)

*Just a short entry to sweep the dust off my nearly ignored blog.*

Baked Oreo-oreo cheesecake for a mahjong House visit to MH's crib. The cake didn't turn out the way i want it to be, but ALAS! everything was too late. Me being me, couldn't wait long enough for the cake to cool before shoving it into the fridge.. and what's the outcome?? CRACKS... those thunderbolt-like splittings on the cake just make everything all so NOT right.

Well.. enough of the cracked cheesecake. MH made green bean AND red bean soup! talk about efficiency! and both tasted oh soooooo good:) p.s. and she say it's her first time preparing the red bean soup.. (some people are just born talented <-- that i must agree) hee:) oooh.. and since i was so drawn into my 东南西北 i've completely forgotten to take pictures of the ying and yang... (maybe i'll ask her for pics :P)

Mont Blanc

This month, i decided to take part in Rosie & Maria's Sweet N Simple Bakes monthly event - Vanilla Cupcakes. I 'think' if i can recall clearly, the first ever 'bakes' that i've baked was vanilla cupcakes, credits to my mum's recipe.. well, it's not any secret recipe, in fact, it's a very easy to follow list of vanilla cupcakes instructions.

As it turn out, i filled the cupcake cups too high up and the batter actually overflowed while baking, forming an elephant trunk-like structure. Nevertheless, it's still edible and i brought it over to Nani's place:) Since, at that time, we were at the period of kitchen testing age, nani suggested that we bake ANOTHER batch of cupcakes.. and yesh... we continued to bake cupcakes for the rest of the week....muahahaha.. cute..

For this 'batch of cupcakes, i made meringue for the frosting instead of butter cream.. because simply... i ran out of buttter.. heeeeee... the product, being quite plain and colourless HAS TO BE DECORATED!.

So, in my effort to add some colours to it.. i dyed some pasta letters and stuck it to my cupcakes... keke.. cheating i know... but.. pretty!

So that concludes my entry for SASB's monthly event. Do visit their blog to see other pretty cupcakes:) CIAO~

Easter frolic!

ChickenpoX

Did a little cookie deco for this christian festival celebrating the ressurection of Jesus.

Bed of Roses

More importantly, it looked better in my mind than the 'real' product. Hopefully, my skills of executing my idea can improve over time. But for now, i have to make do with what i came out with... *sigh*

I *Heart* U

And last but not least....

Breaking away from recession!

(you have to see it upside down) if u still dun get it.. well.. u're not alone:) Have a very Happy Easter to all of you!

Yo-yos

Tried baking some cookies over the weekend and it was a pleasant surprise that it turned out well:) BTW, I got the recipe from the "Golden book of pastries" the instructions were easy to follow and the ingredients were.. well.. easy to find in any baker's kitchen~

To me, the cookies looked kinda cute. Made me crave for Mac's burger for a minute there. Anyways, digressing a bit.. i MIGHT be going for a 10km race (not confirmed since i'm only on their waiting list) but i think i should train soon and maybe think of some pasta recipes for my carbo loading..(do they carbo load for 10k runs?)

oh well.. a few spaghetti won't kill the scale right??

Yokoso Japan!

Well...Not that I'm going to Japan. ( FYI: I don't have the time, the $$ and the 'friend' to go with) The word 'Yokoso' just sprung up when i was thinking for a title for this post.

Anyways, i cooked probably my (most) favourite food whenever i visit a jap restaurant - Agedashi Tofu. It's surprisingingly simple and of high reproducibility with minimum TLC! It's great, really! And according to my mum, it's as good as those found in restaurants.. *dances with glee*

For this particular dish, all you need is Arrowroot powder - no seasoning or whatsoever needed. Only maybe the udonji/tsuyu sauce after you fry the tofu. A must try for all tofu lovers yah!!

Btw, I find no time cooking/baking since i started work.. and with so many documents to apply and collect.. my blog would probably be collecting dust for quite a while. BUT! I'll update as soon as i have the time!.. heehee~ have a good weekend!

KARI->CURRY

i cooked some curry today. quite a healthy version with funghi(button mushrooms)as the main ingredient. The whole receipe is quite home-made (to a certain extent) as in i made the curry paste myself, and formed my own formula of spices to get my 'curry powder'.

It's quite easy. It's basically adding all your ingredients.. blend it to make ur curry paste. The rest... all up to your imagination. For my case, i sweat the the mushrooms abit, add the rest of the ingredients and finally my curry paste.. and Viola~ savoury mushroom curry (with roti prata as the side).

Come to think of it, it's great that i have the time to cook/bake anytime, anyday and anywhere i like NOW. But i guess my way of idling my time for the past 9months would probably take a new turn coming this 16th. I have plans.. but i'm not sure if i can stick to it. I have dreams.. but i'm not sure if i can make it true. I have flour.. but i'm not sure if i have the time and mood to bake. I have milk in my fridge, and it's expired.. bleah~

Bread+Potatoes

I am joining this bread baking event hosted by Lien where i am supposed to bake bread with potatoes in the recipe. And since i'm so into TANG ZHONG recently, of cos i'll use this time and tide to test the technique again..

And so! i have to think of a recipe that is bread with potatoes in them (and think of a name for it.) The first part was easy but name? I ran out of creative nomenclatures so why not something that's straight to the point right? HA! BREAD+POTATOES

My version of THE Potatobread, like the name suggests, is not as creative and may even be rather unadorned. The skeleton of my creation is mashed potatoes wrap in bread dough. Though the simplicity, i'm really beginning to like the product of using the tang zhong technique! my bread always comes out soft and yeast-taste-free. 99.99% fool proof guaranteed?

i've added parmesan cheese to my mashed up potato instead of adding salt to give it more taste. and the outcome? to me, NOT BAD AT ALL! haha~

so much on bread baking.. in fact, after browsing my past blog entries, i think i've only been 1.baking and 2.baking.. maybe it's time to use the stove again:)

Ingredients

Bread dough

95g bread flour

45g wheat flour

3g yeast

3g salt

15g castor sugar

6g milk powder

1 egg

30g milk

43g tang zhong

23g unsalted butter

Mashed Potatoes

250g potatoes

50g butter

1tbsp chopped coriander

black pepper

3tbsp parmesan

Method

Bread dough

1. Add all ingredients except butter and knead until dough consistency

2. Add butter and knead until membrane stage.

3. Put dough in a plastic bag with a little oilive oil and let proof for ~40mins

4. After first stage proofing, remove dough, knead for a couple of times, cut dough into portions and let proof for another 40mins

Mashed Potatoes
1. Steam potatoes until soft and mash the cooked potatoes

2. Add the butter and continue until will mixed

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and MIX!

Wrap mashed potatoes in flattened dough and shape well. cut a cross on the top of the bun and add parmesan cheese. egg wash and put in oven(lower rack) at 180 C for 15mins:)

Public Display of Affection

It's our third year into the relationship, and yes, our anniversary is just 2 days after V-day. In fact I have friends telling me that it's very smart of me (in a way)

So! After Eric's dinner - prepared with love. We're are going to somewhere posh (or i deem likely) to have our 3rd year anniversary dinner--Le Petit Salut located at Dempsey. I'm so looking forward to it:) I'm goin to get loaded with expensive calories! YaY!

But as much as the title is concerned, i'm not much of the person who parades PDA. I'm too shy to flaunt my feelings on the world-wide-web.. soooo...

a little something i've prepared..

Happy Anniversary~

Love Is In the Air

Love is in the air~~ ooo~~ Love is in the air~~ YYYYYY

V-day! The day when the significant other and myself decide not to eat out and let wily restaurateurs break into our purses.. keke~ He's goin to cook! UCOOK! FYI for the third year in a row. I can still remember the very first time he cooked for moi.

~He decided to prepare steak~

E: *looking excited* MN! How would you like your steak?

Me: Like as if i say i want 'medium' u'll give me 'medium' like that..

E: HEY! Don't look down on me K!

Me: Okay then... I'll have 'medium well'..

E: OKIE!

~After 10 minutes~

Me:*trying to cut thru a very well-well-done steak* \(m--)m

I'm NOT complaining! really. In fact i'm glad that he's the way he is because he will on no grounds (ever) to criticise MY cooking..hehe

OOO! and i made chocolate truffles for V-Day btw. Earl grey and Green tea. Just so happen to find the 2 Teas in the kitchen.. why not right:) I'm not a big fan of Earl grey.. but green tea?! not bad:) sounds healthier too~ ( i don't know why it sounds healthier to me. I'm not making sense anyway)

Anyways. Happy V-day to all! may all couples and couple-to-bes have a wonderful wonderful Valentines DAY!

ERT

V-day msg: dear xx, when are you goin to make it official with xxx?!?! (Ignore msg if you're not xx)

UPDATE! : Dinner prepared by Eric

What's in your Bread Basket?

baseball in the form of banana bread

I've been experimenting with breads recently.. i still can't capture the "essence" of proofing.. so i tried recipes without yeast. Then again, things just don't happen the way i want it to be. One of the recipes i tried was using yogurt, cream and baking soda as the 'fluffing' agent. But the bread turned out hard and still HARD! (it can double as a baseball and make a hole in the wall if i want to..) well.. but i need to confess, the recipe states that if the bread is too hard add more cream/milk, but i find it really beyond impossible to shape the dough after adding all the liquid ingredients. And so i threw the recipe out of the window

Green Tea Bread

BUT! *with grin* i've found a method of bread baking called 65˚C 汤种-tāng zhŏng-. It's fantastic! the bread turned out fluffy, it's almost fool proof and most importantly there's no yeasty taste. I Y it!

Green Tea Bread-Tearing

Anyways, with the 汤种 i baked cinnamon roll and green tea bread.. muahaha~ and i was so very satisfied with the results.. SIMPLY EXCELLENT! I'm goin to bake more breads in the near future.. simply because i still need to fine (/major) tune my technique of bread baking..

Scurries to my 面包宝典 (Book of 'BREAD' War)