Bubur Pulut Hitam (Black Glutinous Rice Porridge) Dessert Recipe

Bubur Pulut Hitam... (an ode)

Bubur Pulut Hitam
How I love thee
Thy silken smooth
Texture of gleaming black

Bubur Pulut Hitam
How I love thee
Thy so rich and
Generous with flavours I adore

Tiramisu Cake Balls

Cake Balls have become all of the rage now these days (in internet cooking terms)... I first heard about it from the fantastic Bakerella...

So for one pot luck dinner we recently had (the theme was Italian)... I put my hands up for dessert...and decided to make Tiramisu Cake Balls :) A deconstructed version of the classic Italian Tiramisu Cake

This was a fairly easy and fun process... I used a regular Tiramisu cake recipe (found on the web) and incorporated that together with the Cake Ball recipe (from Bakerella)... this is one fun (and messy) project for the whole family to do!

Lobster Risotto Recipe

Lobster Risotto... sounds superbly grand does it not?

"What did you have for dinner last night? I had a delicious fried rice!"

"Oh, you know, I had the usual. Nothing fancy..."

"C'mon, what did you have?"

"A lobster risotto, that's all!"

Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!!

Happy Yuletide season to all my lovely readers! I hope you have had as much fun as I have in reading my posts (as I have in eating on your behalf!)

Last night for Christmas Eve, the Boy cooked up a romantic dinner for two... and I've got the pictures below!

Many thanks for sticking by this blog through its infrequency in postings... and here's to many more food related (and some other reviews) posts in 2011!

CSR Bake A Difference - Honeycomb Cake - A Malaysian Recipe

I first heard about this wonderful charity drive from Penny at Jeroxie.com, and decided to jump aboard this wonderful sweet wagon of goodness! Check out Penny's recipe here.

CSR Bake a Difference is a wonderful event that encourages everyone to bake their Christmas presents this year instead of buying them and donate the money they save to Mission Australia through http://www.csrbakeadifference.com.au/.

The great thing about this is that CSR Sugar will match each donation dollar for dollar up to $100,000 so there’s the potential to raise $200,000 that will go directly towards helping disadvantaged Australians!!!

If you’d like to make a donation, all donations need to be made via the CSR Bake a Difference website, or you can simply go to the Donate page here and follow the instructions.

I'd been hankering to bake a cake for a while now and I really wanted to try the Boy's family's "secret" Honeycomb Cake recipe. This cake is also known as Kek Sarang Semut (Ant's Nest Cake) in other parts of the world...

Fried Radish Cake - Chai Tau Kueh (Chai Tow Kway) Recipe

I've always loved Chai Tau Kueh and there aren't many places where you can find this delectable dish. I'm of a Hokkien background and for some reason, I know this dish as Kueh Kak. The Boy however is Teow Chew (and insists that this is called CTK), so CTK is what we will go with. Apparently is a teow chew dish, and he is in the process of experimenting with this dish until he gets his grandfather's recipe right.

In the meantime, this is the Hawker style version (which you can apparently get in Muar [a town in Southern Malaysia]).

There are many versions to this dish (and we've tried a few), and you can put as many or as little ingredients into it as you like, provided you follow the same basic recipe, which would churn out a dish that looks like this. Still fantastic tasting on its own, without all the other elements to make it look pretty (and sometimes you don't have to :] )

Vegetarian Chai Tau Kueh

International Incident Salt Party - Fleur De Sel Caramel 'Sneakers'

It's that time of the month again for another International Incident Party post! This time, the key ingredient was to be Salt...

The Boy and I cracked our heads and nearly gave up.. throwing our hands up in frustration as we couldn't decide on a Salt recipe...

He finally decided on a Salted Caramel theme, but he couldn't decide on whether it'd be plain caramel, peanuts, or ice-cream.

So we decided to do all three!! I welcome you to our very own version and play on the 'Snickers' to our Fleur De Sel Caramel Sneakers (with its own shoe-string caramel!)

Spooky Hollow: A Hallowe'en Special

Happy Hallowe'en (or Halloween)!!! Welcome to Spooky Hollow... where nothing is quite what it seems!

For Hallowe'en, the Boy decided to make something extra special for my blog readers (and tweetpeeps)... He planned this entire thing up himself. The result being something quite beyond my imagination and wildest nightmares...

The Planning

The Materials

There are several recipes already published on the world wide web, but in your interests and convenience, we meshed them all up to get our own recipe (as usual), but if you really want to see other recipes online, feel free to serve and plunder as you wish :)

Recipe for Meringue Mushrooms

Ingredients:

2 Egg Whites, room temperature

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup super fine sugar (caster)

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (melted)

Cocoa powder                                                                                   

(Makes 25-30 Meringue Mushrooms)

Method:

Preheat oven to 100 degrees Celsius. Mix egg whites in a bowl on medium speed. once they are very frothy, stop the mixer and add the cream of tartar. Continue beating the eggs until soft peaks are formed. Increase to high speed and gradually add the sugar. Beat until stiff peaks are formed.

Spoon the meringue mixture into a piping bag and start forming the mushroom caps and stems. For a more descriptive method, read this.

Bake the meringues at 100 degrees Celsius for about 60 minutes. Once done, the meringues should be hard and dry to touch.

To assemble the mushrooms, make small incisions on the base of the mushroom caps. Paint the base of the mushroom caps with the melted chocolate (using a pastry brush). Dip the top of the mushroom stems in melted chocolate, and attach it to the hole made on the mushroom cap. 

Place on a baking tray to set. Once completed, lightly sift cocoa powder on the tops of the mushrooms.

Recipe for Meringue Ghosts:

Ingredients:

2 Egg Whites (~ 60 grams)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup super fine sugar (caster)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of whole black peppercorns (for the eyes)                            

(Makes 12 Meringue Ghosts)

Method:

Preheat oven to 100 degrees Celsius. Beat the egg whites on a low-medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until soft peaks are formed. Adding the sugar slowly, continue beating the eggs until stiff peaks are formed. Beat in the vanilla extract. (Should be a smooth, non-gritty consistency).

Transfer meringue mixture into a piping bag and pipe (with even pressure) a 2 inch high mound of meringue onto a baking mat (or sheet). For tips, click here and here.

Carefully press two peppercorns into each meringue ghost for the eyes. Alternatively, you could use silver candy sprinkles or chocolate chips.

Bake the meringues for approximately 60 minutes or until they are dry and crispy to the touch. Remove the meringues from the baking mat (so that they unstick from their spot) and transfer onto a separate baking paper or re-use the mat. Once they are dried, use immediately or store in an air-tight container.

Recipe for Trees:
Ingredients:
Grape Stems
Dark Chocolate (melted)
Dried seaweed (Soak in water to revive)

Method:
To get the grape stems, buy a bunch of grapes, pluck all the grapes out and cut the grape stems to form "trees".

For an amazing recipe for a different kind of edible tree, click here.

Melt the chocolate and using your fingers, coat the grape stems with the chocolate to "paint" it. (Note: I find that it gives a streakier effect (Tree bark-like) rather than dipping it whole into chocolate. Alternatively, you could use a small pastry brush)

Drape the seaweed on the edges of the grape stems to give it an eerie look.

Using the remainder of the melted chocolate, stick the base of the grape stems onto a board (we lined ours with aluminium foil).

Recipe for Edible soil
 Ingredients:
120 grams of Nutella
80 grams of tapioca maltodextrin                                                      
(Ratio: 3:2 (Nutella: Maltodextrin))

Method:
Combine ingredients in a food processor and process until the mixture has a soil-like texture.

Once the texture has been achieved, pass the mixture through a fine sieve to lighten the texture.

Scatter the soil on the pre-prepared board.

Recipe for Purple Swamp:
Please view my post on Lavender Sorbet recipe.

In the middle of the board, cut out a small square opening). Line the board with aluminium foil. Using the remainder of the melted chocolates (from above recipes), paint the edges of the board with it.

Line a deep roasting tray with black cloth and place a scoop of dry ice in the roasting tray.

Assemble the ingredients onto the board. Place the finished board on a wire rack, taking care to decorate as you go.

For the smoky effect, we used a mixture of Papyrus essence (from our Egypt trip) and hot water (not boiling) and poured it into the sides of the tray as well as into the cut-out opening of the board (use a funnel for the cut-out to prevent splashing onto the board).

The essence of the papyrus really added an amazing dimension to the whole effect of Spooky Hollow. The papyrus has a sweet, heady, woody scent.

This was the most fun we've had in a while and I hope you enjoyed it!

Happy Hallowe'en!!

The entire Spooky Hollow project was conducted by the Boy (minus my purple swamp). I contributed to the naming of the ghosts (Curly, Wonky, Sharpie, and friends!).

The Boy was inspired by Heston Blumenthal's Gothic Feast and Nicolas Poelaert's forest floor.

International Incident Lavender Party - Lavender Sorbet

My first International Incident Party! Yayy!! iip for short, is hosted by Penny from Jeroxie.com. This monthly event attracts global participation!!

The theme for the month of October was to be Lavender!... Thank Goodness I'd bought some dried culinary (edible) lavender flowers from Prahran Market a few weeks ago, in my attempt at making macarons (failed, we shall no longer speak about it...

Lavender Sorbet with Strawberry Drops

What I decided to make instead, for this months iip party, is Lavender Sorbet (there aren't many Lavender recipe's sitting out there that doesn't invoke thoughts about hand creams and soap... hence why I decided against my initial plan for a Lavender Panna Cotta...

For this sorbet recipe, I used an ice-cream maker machine (I guess you could do it the hard way of freezing the liquid and waiting for it to chill and then take it back out and break it with a fork/ice-pick/food processor/blender and then freeze it again)...

The crucial ingredients

Ingredients:

Half a cup of granulated sugar (I used 1 cup of caster sugar and it was way too sweet)

2 cups of water

1 tablespoon of dried lavender (edible) - never use lavender flowers from the florist or garden due to chemicals

2 tablespoons of vodka (I used Absolut Vanilla)

2 and a half tablespoons of freshly squeezed (and sieved) lemon juice

This recipe makes 8-10 servings

Dissolving sugar

In a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, combine sugar and water and heat up until the sugar has fully dissolved.

Once the consistency of the liquid is clear, add in the lavender flowers and turn to medium heat.

When it is boiling as such, change to low heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes

Let the flower infuse into the syrup. Once it starts boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, cover and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

Pour the lavender liquid into a clean bowl (sieving out the flowers), add in the lemon juice and vodka. Make sure to stir and combine it thoroughly.

TRIVIA: Can you guess why Vodka is being used?

Lavender syrup, lemon juice, red and blue colouring

Because the the lavender syrup is a completely colourless liquid, I decided to use some colouring. I mixed red and blue colouring to achieve a nice vibrant purple (not too bright)... I used less than half a teaspoon of each to do this (I didn't measure, but I would estimate 3 drops of red and 3 drops of blue).

Once the lavender syrup has cooled down, cover the bowl with some cling wrap and chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours (more if you like)...

Lavender Sorbet in the making

Following the instructions on my ice-cream maker (and your's too), the sorbet was ready for some rock and rolling!

After 45 minutes, my sorbet was done!

Plated by the Boy

Serve with fresh fruit (I have strawberry drops here) and fresh lavender flowers from the garden...

Extremely fun and easy, a definite hit with kids and parties!!! I do hope you enjoy it!

Do visit the other blogs listed below on their fun International Incident Lavender Party recipes

4 Hour Roast Port Belly Recipe

**Warning - May contain traces of Pork **

Some of you may have recalled my earlier post of the Autumn Dinner in Spring the Boy and I recently hosted...

I asked which recipe you would have liked to have me share with you, and although I would love to say, "By Popular demand, let me present to you the Roast Pork Belly Recipe!", I can't... that's because, everyone went for everything!!!

So... I thought I would be nice, and share more than one recipe with my readers, starting with this ... 

Les Petit Truffe - Autumn Festival In Spring

The Boy and I spend approximately 20 hours last weekend preparing for a fabulous dinner for our Autumn Festival (Moon Cake Festival) dinner for his cousins....

The feast was a huge success, the dishes all prepared by us (apart from the macarons, I do NOT want to talk about it)... yes even the dips and mayo were all made by us :)

This post, I'll put up all the dishes and description and I'll leave it up to you, my wonderful readers, to select your favourite dish and in the following post, I'll put up the recipe for that dish!

So enjoy, feast with your eyes and don't forget to comment at the end :)

Aii yaii yaii... arrribbbaaaaaa... Les Petit Truffe

Read this blog post title and just picture a chef (any chef) wearing a Mexican hat and screaming in the French kitchen... just picture it...

The Boy wanted to finish up some ingredients in pantry/fridge/freezer/kitchen (he was going to cook all my food)...

We were going to have a "rubbish night!".. you know... the night where you can't be bothered and just eat sausages, chips, pizza...drink lots of coke...

Except that, this is the Boy's take on his "rubbish" night =)

First dish was a thinly sliced aubergine (brinjal/eggplant) which he baked in the oven drizzled with olive oil.

Roughly chopped and fried some chorizo to put on the topping... served with chorizo oil and garlic crisps...


Chorizo done 3 ways... one with Japanese Mayo, one with tomato relish and one with gherkin.... served with preserved capers


Lastly, hash browns served with thinly sliced swiss brown mushrooms, sliced chorizo


Together with burnt sage and crisp Serrano ham (I nearly murdered him when I found out what he did with the Serrano... but it was so crispy and delicious... I just glared at him for 2 minutes)



And that my friends, is how you make a "Meh" night to a "Glam" night!!

Lamb Patties Recipe

Hello folks!

This is a simple recipe which I made up and have decided to share as it was soooo good... I'm going to eat it for the whole of next week's lunch at work!

Lamb Patties - Cheat version =)

Problem is, I never measure my ingredients when I'm cooking, so this is the recommended recipe (by me) *fingers crossed*

500g of lamb mince
1 large shallot finely diced (depends on how much onion you want really)
2 cloves of garlic finely diced
1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
1 tablespoon of Gourmet Garden mint (I'm using what I got from the Good Food and Wine =))
1 tablespoon of Gourmet Garden rosemary
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (I might have put a bit more, feel for the consistency)


Mix ingredients all together well with your hands (the fun bit!)

Roll up about 6 medium-large meat balls and flatted with your hands... kids would have so much fun doing this...


You can store them in the freezer as well, just separate with baking paper and keep them in a zip lock bag...


Serve with a fresh salad of mix leaves, mushrooms, and feta cheese...

or


On it's own with some feta on a English Muffin...

You can pretty much eat it however you want... I had mint on one day with a bun, feta the next with English Muffin on it's own...


The power is yours!!

p/s obviously cook the lamb patties before serving.. heat up some olive oil in the pan and fry until cook (About 2 mins on each side)

Now go cook!

Happy weekend!

My Mother's Mee Bandung Recipe...

Hello Folks... Let today be the firsts of Home Cooked Tuesdays

This is quite a big recipe and includes a lot of pictures taken of Madam Mummy cooking and me generally being in the way...

First up, a list of the ingredients used for this fantastic dish.. (Which Madam Mummy claims she learnt from an Indonesian lady)...

I've compiled the pictures to make it easier to follow... as there are quite a lot of pictures!

Start by frying the firm tofu and letting it rest. When you're ready to serve, slice the tofu up.


To make the soup stock, it is very easy.

First, place discarded prawn shells and heads into water (to make stock) and bring it to boil.

Drain the stock of the shells and add in the pork rib pieces, some whole shallots and whole garlic... leave to simmer...


Add some tomato ketchup into the soup to give it a sweet taste


Using a mortar and pestle, pound the dried shrimps, chili paste, shallots to make a paste.

This base paste will be used in all of the dishes and is key to the Mee Bandung!


Sambal Prawn (Chilli Prawns)

Heat some oil in a wok and put in about 2 tablespoons of the chilli paste and fry until fragrant


Add more chilli paste if necessary (if you want it thicker/hotter/spicier) and put in the prawns (deshelled and deveined)


The finished product... would taste even better if you add some petai (otherwise known as stink bean or bitter bean) into it


Sambal Sotong (Chilli Cuttlefish)
To prepare the Cuttlefish, clean it and slice into equal lengths (about 5 cm or more, again depending on you)

Using the same chilli paste as before, add 1 teaspoon of brown sugar (I've been told that this is the secret ingredient)

In another bowl, take a few pieces of tamarind and soak it with water (about a 50cents piece)


As before, heat up some oil in the work and fry the chilli paste until fragrant, adding in the cuttlefish once it is ready.

Add some stock (from the soup, 2 ladles) and the tamarind paste...


Dish up and everything is ready to serve!

Serve with yellow egg noodles, lettuce, bean curd, egg slices, bean sprouts and coriander


A delicious meal that will make you crave for more each after every spoonful!