Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Clear Water Sponge Cake 清水蛋糕

Whoah..it's been almost a year since I've baked cakes!
Bought some new muffin cups and decided to bake 清水蛋糕
Unforturnately, the cups that I've bought are kind of dirty, and had a weird smell.
So I threw it away  =(
I don't want everyone to get food poisoning!
Paper + money wasted!


But yeah...forget about the bad stuffs,
lets look @ the good ones!


Tea time~~


Soft and fluffy~
My man and I love to eat it on it's own..plain...
Another enjoyment for the day...


Try this recipe!
You will be glad =)






Clear Water Sponge Cake 清水蛋糕
(A)3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
50g corn oil 
(B) 50g low protein flour (cake/top flour) 
(C)3 egg whites   
(D)50g castor sugar
1g salt

1) Beat (A) till well mixed with an egg beater.
2) Sift in (B), mix well.
3) Whisk (C) till frothy, add (D) and beat till stiff peak.
4) Fold in the egg white mixture to egg yolk mixture in 3 additions, mix until well combined.
Scope batter into paper cups till 60% - 80% full.
5) Bake in preheated oven at 150C for about 18-20mins.


 


P.S: I baked mine for a longer time, as the surface of the cake was not golden @ 20 minutes.



Recipe Source:

Monday, August 30, 2010

Sanma No Shioyaki & Edamame Potato Salad

Sanma, in English we call it Pacific Saury. In Chinese, it's 秋刀魚.
This fish shouldn't be cleaned. Guts supposed to be intact.
& grilled as a whole fish, with head too, but it will be bitter.
There's lots of fish oil in the guts,  once washed, the fish will be degraded. 





This is our dinner for today....


Edamame Potato Salad...
My man truly enjoyed this...best served chilled...


Used russet potatoes this time round, really soft!
A refreshing dish to start your meal and gain appetite...


Made these flowers with japanese cucumber to brighten up the dull plate...


I think if my family sees this, they will comment "whoah you are really free!" 
HEHEHEHEHE....


So this is the main character...


My man trying hard to appreciate this fish...
He was literally cursing and swearing while eating it...
complained about fish bone and bitterness...
HAHA..MAN.............

But I've enjoyed my sanma! 
The gut was indeed bitter, 
but some people love to eat the guts! 
WHoah..brave!

And now...Recipe time!

Edamame Potato Salad (Serves 2)
2 russet potatoes
1 TBSP of Japanese rice vinegar
2 TBSP of Mayonnaise
Thin strips of carrot
Thin strips of japanese cucumber
A pinch of salt


1.  Boil potatoes till soft, drain. 
2. Peel the potatoes' skin & mash it while it's still hot. Add in rice vinegar, mix.
3. After cooling mashed potatoes for awhile, add mayonnaise and mix further.
4. Lastly, lightly stir in carrot and cucumber.
5. Refrigerate until chilled. 


 Sanma No Shioyaki (Serves 2)
2 sanma 
1tsp of salt
Oil for drizzling

1. Wash sanma gently, and wipe dry.
2. Season with salt on both sides of the fish. Leave for 30mins.
3. Preheat oven in grilling mode @ 180 degrees.
4. Drizzle oil into sanma. 
5. Grill sanma for 8 mins and flip the fish, drizzle more oil. Grill further, 
you can turn up the heat up to 200 degrees for the skin to be crispier.
BEWARE: Oil will splatter.


Thanks for reading!
Having headache now...
b4 preparing for dinner, I baked sponge cake too.
Will update soon.  =) 
Have a lovely night...

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Rolled Oat Cookies + Man & Wife's Bonding Session

My man suggested that we should bake something together~
@ the time of 9+pm!
So...after getting ready, we started to bake at 10.30pm.


Decided to bake Rolled Oat Cookies as it's getting late!




Those muscular hands handling baking stuffs are nice to look @! HAHA!


He's in charge of rolling the dough into balls...




20 mins in the oven....


 Cookies ready to served on the dessert plate @ 12am.


Golden,fresh and crispy!


Even Moo Moo loves it ! =)
And Piano (My doggie) was waiting to have a bite too!


Anyway I'm glad that we've survived through the baking session.
The last time we've tried making steamed banana cake together, which is 1year + ago,
it did not go well. 
and my man was supposed to beat the eggs till it double in volume.
When it's doubled, I asked him to stop, but he kept going on!
And the outcome was, the steamed was way too airy!
I was quite pissed with him, & we did not bake together ever since.

So a baking session can be a bonding session if taken with care,
if not.....it will be a disaster!

If you wanna have some bonding time with your family,
try some easy recipes like this!


You will need:
180g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
125ml oil
90g caster sugar
1 beaten egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup of rolled oats/cornflakes
A couple of  TBSP of milk to bind ingredients, if dough is still too dry.


1, Sift flour, baking powder and soda together. 
2. Mix in sugar, rolled oats/cornflakes till well mixed.
3. Add in the oil, vanilla essence, beaten egg and milk and stir till a dough is formed.
4. Use a cookie scoop or poon to form balls and place them on cookie trays.
5. Bake in preheated oven of 180 degrees for 15 mins or until cookies turn golden brown.
6.Remove and cool on wire rack completely.


Recipe Source: 
I got it from a blog more than a year ago and copied it down, 
but did not write the url. 
So sorry if it's your recipe.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

养生八宝粥


 八宝米..

What are in there?
1. Brown Rice
2. Maize
3. Black Sticky Rice
4. Oat
5. Millet
6. Buckwheat
7.Job's Tears
8. Sorghum
  

Whole lot of nutrients in there!

There's so many ways of cooking it,
for me, I made it into a tonic soup+porridge.
My mummy gave these tonic to me and I bought the dried scallops.


 Seriously, I've forgotten what are these tonic called!
Just asked my mummy this afternoon! and she told me in Hokkien..
HAHA..I'm not good in Hokkien~



Scallops add sweetness to the porridge!


This is my 养生八宝粥


The gluey porridge..
I cooked this before leaving for work in the morning.
It taste so sweet even without any seasoning.


Some additional ingredients are mushrooms, fish and carrot
which my man had added in when he's back home.
these ingredients only need a short cooking time.


How did I cook my 养生八宝 for 2 persons?

You will need :
1 cup of 八宝米
2 1/2 to 3 cups of water
6 dried mushrooms (soak in water till soft)
Sliced/shredded carrot
 Red Snapper fillet
Tonic
6 dried scallops


1. Wash the grains twice, top with water and soak for at least 1 hour.
2. Boil over heat for 10 mins with tonic.
3. Remove from heat and place pot into thermal cooker.
(approx 8 hours for mine)
4. Return pot back to heat and add in fish, carrot and mushrooms. Boil.
5. Serve hot. You can season it with some pepper, sesame oil and light soya sauce.
I like mine plain, the original taste.

I will add in other ingredients next time round.
Such a pity that I've yet to buy wolf-berries! I love it!

 And something else to add on...
Thermal cooker really helps a lot!
I don't have to cook stuffs over the fire for many hours, and still get good results!
save gas + money!
Get a thermal cooker today! =)

Friday, August 27, 2010

A Baking Session soon?

I've threw all my older baking pans and most of the stuffs away b4 moving out from my parent's house.
Bought some new ones!

Should i make some cheesecake? HEHE...
I have a 500g cream cheese sitting in the fridge!


The 1st chiffon cake pan in my life!
So excited! I love to bake chiffon cakes! 


I bought a casserole dish and muffin tray today...
I'm so excited!
And a bit lost...too many things to bake and I don't know which to start with~

Any suggestions!?

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Saba Shioyaki 鯖塩焼き


Saba Shioyaki is a kind of grilled mackerel seasoned with salt
My all time favourite!
Did not have a chance to cook it by myself.
And now, finally!
It's purely baked, and not pan fried, so it's much healthier and 
the best part is it won't make your kitchen oily!


Our set dinner...


 Appetiser..Edamame...


Saba Shioyaki! The best part!


Squeeze lots of lemon juice on the saba if you are afraid of the fishy taste.
It's really refreshing!


Soft and moist...


I will normally cook the Japanese short grain rice by measuring the ratio of 1cup of grain : 1 3/4 cup of water


 The fish seasoning(Furikake) that I've used to top on my rice...
yum yum yum!
A perfect match!


So how did i handle my Saba Shioyaki?
  1. Wash Saba & pat dry with kitchen towel. Spread 1 tsp of salt with on each piece on Saba on both sides. Season for 1/2 hour.
  2.  Preheat oven in grilling mode at 180degrees.
  3. Oil the baking tray and Saba before sending them into the oven.
  4. Grill for 10 mins & transfer tray to a higher rack, nearer to the heating element, and turn temperature up to 200degrees. (I want the skin to be a little crispy, as I've skipped the pan frying part) Grill for another 3 to 5 mins.
  5.  If you find the skin drying up during the grilling process, drizzle more oil onto it.
  6. Serve hot and enjoy!

I hope that you've enjoyed reading my blog =)
Keep coming..You are most welcomed!

How Organised Are You?

I used to be a real disorganised person.
My baking stuffs will be dumped here and there,
Open a packet of flour and use a rubberband to tie it up..

But after moving in to my new home, 
I've decided to keep myself and the stuffs organised!

And this is how i store my grains...
I've been looking high and low for an airtight container 
as I've had bad experiences with bugs in my grains.
And lock and lock is my best choice! Plus, they are BPA free!
I have 3 kinds of grains now
Japanese short grain rice...


8 treasure grains
this is really my treasure, whole lot of nutrition in there!


Organic brown rice


these are my flour...
I will normally get organic & unbleached ones as 
there's not much difference in price compared to regular ones

I feel very good to be an organised person now! 

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Baked Rosemary Salmon & Baked Mashed Potato

I love the aroma of rosemary...
it goes well with any food...
Be prepared to see lots of food cooked with rosemary for the next few days,
or maybe weeks  =)
I want to finish the box of rosemary!

I've found out that organically grown rosemary are juicier and more fragrant than regular ones.
This is what I feel, may not be accurate...


And this is my way of making Baked Rosemary Salmon


Chop rosemary, mix them with lemon zest, minced garlic, black pepper, salt and canola oil. 

Season salmon for 1 hour.










Sliced tomatoes are to be laid on the casserole dish or aluminum foil to prevent salmon from sticking.

















Top it up with broccoli & drizzle with more canola oil. 
 I should have placed the broccoli under the salmon too, so the vegetable will not become dry.




Bake for approx 30 minutes @ 190 degrees.
Poke a chopstick through the thickest part of the salmon to check whether it's done.
 

Squeeze lemon juice onto the baked dish, and enjoy~!



To complete the meal with some carbohydrates...
here's the Evil Baked Mashed Potatoes!
Why evil?
Lots of butter!



Simply mash the cooked potatoes (use Yukon or Russet Potatoes) & some peeled garlic. Mix milk, butter, black pepper and salt in.
 Taste it! You can add seasonings according to your own taste. Just keep tasting it!  =)
I added quite a lot of milk, as I like it  softer and creamier!

I topped the mashed potato with more butter and spread it out. 
This will help to achieve a golden baked mashed potato!

Baked it together with Rosemary Salmon,
which is 30 mins @ 190 degrees.

And this is my Evil Baked Mashed Potato...
Must try!

That was our dinner..table for 6...
An enjoyable dinner...

UNTIL..I saw the news of a gunman who held hongkongers as hostages in Manila...
I was so stunned, and all videos were live!
I felt so sad for the lost of lives...
Life is really fragile...
so many thoughts ran through my mind, & I've realised that we really need to cherish our love ones...
No point spending time quarreling and arguing who's right or wrong...
When time is up, some1 has to leave this world, everything will be too late =(
So...please be kind to your family members...
No harsh words, No violence...Spread your love...