I'm Back & Ready to Cook Some More

Sorry for the 1 month+ long blogging hiatus but after having spent 5 weeks in Europe, I seemed to have lost my inspiration to cook and bake BUT I think I'm getting my inspiration back. Maybe you feel like this sometimes but I just haven't had the urge to cook/bake for the last couple of weeks. Maybe it's because I got lazy during my trip (but then I did cook 2 wicked pasta dishes in Cinque Terre), or maybe there's so much more to think about since getting back from Europe (work, life etc), other thoughts have taken over. It's been 3 weeks since I've been back and after having 3 weeks of simple homemade mediocre food of soups, salads and simple stir-fries, I have decided to get my act together and get back into it again. Food, afterall, is something I enjoy - whether it be eating it, making it or blogging about it. We should all count our lucky stars that we are able to enjoy even the simplest of foods because there's a food crisis going on out there.

Away in Europe

I'm currently on holidays at the moment and writing from an internet cafe in Austria.

So far I've been to Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and am currently in Innsbruck. I've got lots of photos from these countries to share when I come back. So far, I've quite enjoyed Austrian food. Czech food however, I have not taken a fancy to.

Austria is beautiful and their warm apple strudel with vanilla sauce is something worth trying. We've been to so many restaurants here...I'll have to blog the ones worth mentioning when I get back!

Hot Apple Strudel

I'm a big fan of apple strudels, apple crumbles and apple pies. Well, anything that has to do with baked apples. I don't like apples as is, in its raw state, let alone a Granny Smith apple. So the only way I will ever eat this fruit is if you cook it or bake it, one way or the other.

This is one of my all time favourite desserts - hot apple strudel. Served hot with rich vanilla ice-cream...yum...yum...o yum! Everyone needs to try and make this at home. It only took me 15 mins to prepare and 35 mins to bake. The smell of this freshly baked dessert after 25 mins of baking will make you want to take it out from the oven right away and dig in.

I've made this dessert twice already this week. Once when a friend came over for dinner and another just for hubby & I to indulge in whilst watching a dvd on a lazy Sunday night. It seriously is worth the effort. You will not regret making this!


Hot Apple Strudel
(serves 4)

1 sheet of low fat puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp raisins

- Preheat oven to 180C
- Line a baking tray with foil and top with baking paper
- Thaw the puff pastry at room temperature on the baking tray until it is easy to handle
- Make egg wash by stirring the egg and water in a small bowl
- Mix the caster sugar, flour and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add in the apples and raisins and toss to coat
- Spoon the apple mixture onto the middle of the puff pastry. Leave 1 cm from the side edges. Then fold the top and bottom parts of the puff pastry together to seal. Then tuck the ends under to seal the sides.
- Brush the pastry with egg wash
- Cut slits that are 2 inches apart on top of the pastry
- Bake for 35 mins or until golden
- Cool on the baking sheet for 10 mins
- Slice and serve this warm with rich vanilla icecream

Pumpkin, Spinach & Haloumi Salad

I tried this Pumpkin, Spinach & Haloumi salad at a local cafe a few weeks ago and thought it was totally delicious. The sweetness of the pumpkin mixes well with the saltiness coming from the haloumi cheese. This is not a quick salad to put together but one that is well worth the effort.

For those you who are not familiar with Haloumi cheese - it is a cheese made from a combination of goat's and sheep's milk, it's white, salty, its texture is semi-soft and because of its high melting point, the cheese is often grilled or fried before serving with salad or vegetables.

Pumpkin, Spinach & Haloumi Salad
(serves 2)

2 handfuls of spinach leaves
1/2 butternut pumpkin, sliced
100g Haloumi cheese, sliced to 0.5cm-1cm thick
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper

- Grill the butternut pumpkin slices until soft
- Grill the Haloumi cheese until golden
- To make the dressing, whisk the extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper in a small bowl until well combined
- Combine spinach, grilled pumpkin and dressing in a bowl. Divide between plates. Top with grilled Haloumi.

Dark Chocolate & Blueberry Muffins

I varied the ingredients I used in making my White Chocolate & Blueberry Muffins to come up with this dark chocolate version.

Follow this recipe but add in 1/2 cup of cocoa and replace your white chocolate pieces with dark chocolate chips.

Turkey, Spinach & Zucchini Quiche

If you're not hungry after work and have an hour to spare, try and make a quiche for dinner.

You can basically put anything as part of your fillings, be it ham, spinach & fetta cheese, mushrooms, capsicum....in my fridge, I had turkey slices, a bag of spinach and half a zucchini leftover from the night before...so I used these ingredients for my fillings tonight.

One thing that's different about this recipe is that instead of using the traditional milk/cream/half & half, I used a 99% fat free buttermilk that was already sitting in my fridge. I didn't know if it would work but experimenting with food is a typical foodie behaviour and so I gave it a try. The quiche turned out perfectly and was extremely tasty. My hubby ate 3 pieces of it and I had to tell him to stop stuffing himself!


Turkey, Spinach & Zucchini Quiche

6 pieces of Turkey slices, diced
1 handful of spinach leaves, sliced
1 zucchini, diced (I used 1/2 as I only had this much left after the other night)
3 stalks of parsley, chopped finely
2 eggs
250ml buttercream
1 tsp salt
dash of black pepper
1 handful of low fat shredded chedder
1 piece of shortcrust pastry

- Preheat oven to 180C
- Lay out a piece of shortcrust pastry and let it thaw
- If you are not using silicone, lightly grease your pie pan (I used a 25cm pie pan)
- Once the pastry has thawed, mould the pastry into the pan, smoothing the edges and the rim carefully. Use a fork to poke holes on the pastry. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add in buttercream, salt & pepper. Combine well.
- Add in turkey, spinach, zucchini and parsley into the buttercream & egg mixture. Combine well.
- Add cheese into the mixture, leaving some to sprinkle on top of the quiche later when the filling is in the pan. Stir in.
- Pour the filling into the pie pan.
- Sprinkle the top with more cheese.
- Bake this in the oven for 45-50mins. When baked, take the quiche out of the oven and let it rest for 10 mins before serving.
- Serve this with salad.

Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta Salad

When you come home from work wanting something tasty, healthy and takes only 30mins or less to prepare, this Warm Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta salad is for you.

As soon as you get home, just do 2 things:
(1) take the chicken out of the fridge and marinate it
(2) boil water in a pan for your pasta
When you've finished getting changed and cleaned up, the water should be boiling. Start preparing your pasta and pan frying the chicken pieces. Toss your salad leaves and pasta together with your desired dressing then placed the cooked chicken on top. Voila!


Here's my Warm Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta Salad recipe:
(serves 2)

2 small chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 tsp English mustard
2 tsp honey
1 tsp minced garlic
1.5 cups of pasta spirals
6 button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 zucchini, sliced
1 handful of rocket leaves
1 handful of parsley, chopped
99% fat free Caesar dressing
black pepper

- Place the chicken pieces in a bowl and marinade them with mustard, honey and minced garlic.
- Boil water; add in pasta and cook for 10 mins until al dente.
- Place button mushrooms and zucchini slices in a frying pan, let this cook through then set aside.
- Place the marinated chicken pieces on the pan and let it cook until brown on both sides.
- Toss rocket leaves, mushrooms, zucchini and parsley in a large bowl; add in cooked pasta. Add in your desired amount of dressing; toss well together.
- Serve salad on plates; topped with chicken.
- Add in black pepper if desired.

White Chocolate & Blueberry Muffins

One failed attempt after another in 2 weeks gave me the illusion that yes, I am not made to bake muffins. The last 2 attempts in making muffins turned out to be disastrous. When you are longing for baked goods and decides to spend 20 mins preparing and waiting an additional 25 mins for them to bake, one would be anticipating some wonderful, cake-like delectables right? Well, the last 2 times I baked, I felt like I was cursed. My 1st attempt was in making Spiced Peach Muffins, whilst the 2nd attempt was in making Mixed Berry Crumble Muffins...both were meant to be really nice but NO, my damn muffins stuck to the paper cases and the insides of the muffin came out doughy. I swear I didn't miss a step and followed the recipes to the T. So what went wrong? I've made cupcakes and muffins before and never failed so dismally. After thinking it through, I think it HAS TO do with those DAMN muffin paper cases I bought from Coles. If you ever go to Coles, DON'T EVER, EVER buy the muffin cases by the makers of "Bakeit" - these muffin cases look cute on the outside, with mini bananas and strawberries printed on them but don't be fooled - don't use them because your muffins will stick to the paper and you will have to literally rip the paper off your muffins.

Today was my 3rd attempt in making muffins - my 3rd time in 2 weeks. Lo & behold, they turned out soooo well! This time, I didn't use those cursed muffin cases but instead used my other cheap, plain, white & foiled muffin cases which served me well many a times. The muffins I tried this time around were White Chocolate & Blueberry Muffins. These turned out soooo well!! The muffins were very light and fluffy, and just right with the amount of sweetness. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I'm going to use this recipe and improvise a bit next time to make Dark Chocolate and Cherry Muffins. First we'll need to clear these puppies off first - which shouldn't be too hard! They're really really yummy. I'm so happy my 3rd set of muffins turned out so well. Let's just say I will never use those cursed muffin cases again and if you ever come across them in your supermarket, remember this - DON'T BUY THEM!


White Chocolate & Blueberry Muffins
(makes 15)

2 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
125g white chocolate, cut into chunks
2 lights, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g butter, melted
1 punnet of blueberries

- Preheat oven to 180C. Line your muffin pan.
- Sift flour into a large bowl. Add sugar and white chocolate chunks. Stir until well combined.
- Whisk eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter together in a separate bowl.
- Use a large metal spoon, stir butter mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Gently swirl through blueberries.
- Spoon mixture into muffin pan. Bake for 25 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean. Stand in pan for 5 mins. Turn onto a wire rack. Serve.

Prawn & Chives Fried Rice / Watercress, Carrot & Pork Soup

Watercress, Carrot & Pork soup is a typical Cantonese style soup. What typifies a Cantonese style soup is that the soup is a clear broth that is prepared by simmering meat and other ingredients (vegetable and sometimes herbal ingredients) for several hours. You may eat the ingredients with your soup or dish them out and serve them with a little soy sauce to eat with rice and other prepared dishes.


Watercress, Carrot & Pork Soup

1 bunch Watercress, washed thoroughly
1 large carrot, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 piece of pork fillet
2 dried dates
salt to taste

- Add 3/4 water to a pot and bring this to the boil
- Add in pork fillet, carrots and dates
- Add in watercress
- Turn the heat down to medium and let the soup bubble away for 1 hour
- After 1 hour, turn the heat down to allow the soup to simmer for another hour
- Add salt to taste

I used pork fillet in the soup but some people prefer to use pork bones or chicken bones. If you are using pork bones, bring the water the the boil and add in pork bones first and let this boil away until all the bone marrow and scum float up to the top of the water. You will need to skim this away otherwise it will leave specks of grey in your soup so it won't look as clear. I used pork fillet because it's very lean so there is no need to skim off any fatty residue from your soup. Another tip worth noting is that you should boil your water first before you add in the watercress - if you don't, your soup will be bitter - that's what my mum told me.

You should be able to find ingredients such as watercress and dried dates in your local Chinese grocery stores. The dried dates, carrots & pork add sweetness to the soup and when the soup is boiled, the taste and smell of watercress is very apparent. Soup is very good for you. Drinking soup apparently gives you nice skin and who doesn't want that?

I also made Prawn & Chives Fried Rice to go with our soup tonight. Hubby says I should clear out everything that's in our fridge/pantry before I'm allowed to buy anymore groceries. He thinks I go overboard when it comes to food shopping. I guess he's right! So for this coming week, I will attempt to come up with dinner ideas from food that we already have at home so I'll need to be creative.


Prawn, Chives & Ginger Fried Rice
(serves 2)

1 cup brown rice, cooked
8 frozen tiger prawns, thawed then cut
1 bunch of Chinese chives, chopped
2 tsp grounded fresh ginger
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp soy sauce
white pepper to taste

- In a frying pan, add in the ground ginger. Stir-fry until fragrant.
- Add in cooked brown rice. Coat well with fried ginger.
- Add in chopped chives. Mix well with rice.
- Add in prawns
- Stir-fry until all of the ingredients are cooked and mixed well together
- Add in lightly beaten egg. Mix this in thoroughly and should coat the rice. You don't want large lumps of egg in your fried rice.
- Add in soy sauce. Stir.
- Sprinkle white pepper to taste. Stir.
- Serve immediately

Chinese chives are flatter, longer and has a stronger smell than chives you may normally find in your local supermarket. The chives and ginger make the dish very very fragrant. It's worth trying this version over the typical fried rice you may find in Chinese takeaway stores. It's very tasty and extremely easy to make.

An Afternoon Hanging Around Glebe

It's been over a week since I've last posted. I've been really busy lately and haven't had the chance to cook much last week. I wonder if anyone missed me :)

My hubby and I ventured out to Glebe late Saturday afternoon to check out the Glebe Market. This Market is open every Saturday and it's a great place to look for vintage items at bargain prices as well as pieces from aspiring designers. There are also food stalls at the Market and one of them worth mentioning is a Turkish pide store that is always there without fail every Saturday. More on this in a minute.

First, let me share with you on my experience at the Fair Trade Coffee Co - a cafe on Glebe Point Road, located not far from the Market. My hubby and I came here before we went into the Market because by the time we got to Glebe, it was already 3pm and I was starving. It would've been 24hr+ since I last had food in my stomach. The only thing that kept me going til 3pm was water. So I was getting cranky and needed some food desperately. We headed into the Fair Trade Coffee Co. and I immediately ordered their Buckwheat pancake with strawberries & apples (asking them to bring me honey instead of maple syrup) whilst hubby ordered toasted sourdough with butter & honey and a flat white. Our orders came after 20mins and I was totally disappointed at the sight of my pancakes and my hubby's toast.

This is a photo of the pancakes:

The presentation of it was not good. The dish came with 3 pancakes and on top of each pancake were slices of strawberries and long thin slices of Granny Smith apples. When I ordered, I asked for honey instead of maple syrup but a small ramekin of maple syrup came with the pancakes instead so the waitress had to go back into the kitchen to swap it with honey. A minor mistake is OK with me. Since I was already starving by the time my pancakes arrived, I dug into it even before the waitress came back with my pot of honey. OMG, these pancakes were the worst pancakes I have ever tasted. First of all, it was cold..ok, a little lukewarm...secondly, it was slightly burnt...and the third point I want to raise is that they were tasteless and dry, like chokingly dry. The honey didn't make them any better so I ate 1.5 of them and got my husband to eat the rest but all he did was to eat a small piece of it and left the sorry looking pancakes on the plate.

As for my husband's toasted sourdough bread with butter and honey - sorry we didn't take a picture of it so trust me on my description of it. When his order came, he wasn't given a butter knife so he had to ask the waitress to go get one for him. But the most shocking thing was the size of the order - 2 tiny, thin pieces of toasted sourdough bread were laid out on the plate and they just looked so tiny on a normal sized plate. I can't remember how much it was but our reactions were "gees, we paid money for this?! why are they soooo small?!" I felt jipped, so jipped. The only thing that was good was the coffee. Well I thought it was good because I like weak coffee but hubby said it was just alright...and he's a coffee drinker so he knows coffee way better than me.

I wasn't satisfied after our cafe experience. I was still starving and was getting even crankier. So we headed off to the markets and I had to find the food stall I can always rely on for a quick and tasty meal. I headed directly to the Turkish pide store (run by 2 Turkish ladies - I think it's a mother & daughter team) and ordered their vegetarian pide. They sell 2 types - (1) Spinach & Fetta (2) Spinach, Fetta & Lamb. I ordered the Spinach & Fetta pide. As soon as I gave the lady my money, her mother chopped the pide into 6 pieces and placed it on a plastic plate and topped it with a sliced piece of lemon. Oh it smelt soooo good and it was pipping hot. We found a spot near the lawn and sat down to enjoy this somewhat oily but delicious pide and did some people watching. Here is a photo of the pide. It totally satisfied my empty stomach. I didn't need any fancy buckwheat pancakes, a pipping hot & oily pide did it for me that day.


The Fair Trade Company Co.
33 Glebe Point Road
Glebe NSW 2037
Phone (02) 9660-0621

The Glebe Market
Glebe Public School
Glebe Point Road
When: Every Saturday
Time: 9.30am-4.30pm

Mini Cinnamon Palmiers

I haven't eaten Palmiers in ages. Palmiers are also known to me as "butterfly biscuits" - that's what they call these in HK and the name is so fitting because the curly bits really do remind me of wings on a butterfly.

Since I had only 1.5 pieces of puff pastry in my freezer, it wasn't a hard decision to use them all up to make my butterfly biscuits. I made mini cinnamon palmiers which are perfect as mid morning snacks.

I packaged these mini palmiers and took them to work for a few friends of mine. They were very well received!


Mini Cinnamon Palmiers


1.5 sheets of puff pastry, partially thawed
1/8 cup raw sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp hot water

- Preheat oven to 220c. Line a tray with non stick baking paper.
- Place puff pastry on the workbench. Sprinkle one side with raw sugar. Turn this over and sprinkle the other side with raw sugar and cinnamon.
- Tightly roll one end of the puff pastry to the middle. Do the same with the other end. Cover with cling wrap and put this in the freezer for 15 mins until the pastry becomes hard.
- Take the pastry out of the freezer, unwrap cling wrap and cut roll into 0.5 cm slices. Place palmiers on the lined tray. Allow room for the puff pastry to expand when baking.
- Bake this for 8 mins. Meanwhile, dissolve the honey in hot water. After the palmiers have been baking in the oven for 8 mins, take the tray out and brush each palmier with the honey water. Put the tray back into the oven for an extra 3-4 mins until brown.
- When browned on one side, slip each of the palmiers over and brush the other side with the honey water. Bake for another 3-4 mins until brown.
- Cool on wire rack.

Cooking Salmon - 2 Ways

I went grocery shopping yesterday and bought a pack of salmon fillets from Coles. A pack of salmon comes with 2 equal sizes of the fish and since I'm home alone again, it served its purpose over 2 dinners. So economical.

Yesterday's dinner was Pesto Salmon on Wasabi Soba, accompanied by steamed broccolini. Tonight's dinner was Green Curry Salmon with Tofu and Mushrooms. Both very quick and easy to make. Dinner for 1 can be just as enjoyable. All the more reason for cooking up something tasty and enjoying dinner whilst watching your favourite TV show.

Pesto Salmon on Wasabi Soba & Steamed Broccolini

1 piece of salmon fillet
1 tsp pesto
1 handful of organic soba
1 tbsp Hakubaku Wasabi Noodle Sauce
1 bunch broccolini
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

- Rub pesto over salmon; refrigerate for 10 mins;
- Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add in broccolini and cook for 2 mins. When ready, transfer the broccolini to a sieve. When dry, place on plate.
- You can use the same water that was used for the broccolini to cook the soba. Cook for 4 mins or until the noodles are just tender. Drain & rinse over with warm water.
- Toss the noodles with the Wasabi Noodle Sauce. Place on plate.
- Add olive oil to a heated pan. Cook the salmon, 2 mins on each side or until cooked to your liking.
- Serve salmon on the Wasabi soba and drizzle Dijon mustard on top.


Green Curry Salmon with Tofu and Mushrooms


1 piece of salmon fillet, cut into cubes
6 button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 pack of firm tofu, sliced
1 tbsp green curry paste
1/4 cup buttermilk
Coriander, to garnish

- In a saucepan over medium heat, add in the green curry paste. Cook until the flavour comes through.
- Add in buttermilk and a splash of water. Bring this to the boil then add in salmon cubes and mushrooms. Let this simmer for 2 mins.
- Add in tofu. Cook for another 2 mins.
- The dish should have enough flavour in it so you shouldn't need to add in any salt or pepper. However, if you wish, you could add in a few drops of fish sauce (but I don't think that's necessary)
- Garnish with corinander.

Double Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cake

This cake was made for my brother's gf, M, who celebrated her 2x bday yesterday. Happy Birthday! I thought it would be fitting to make her a birthday cake to celebrate the occasion.

From what M told me, she likes chocolate and nuts, and she has a liking towards white chocolate. So that's how this Double Chocolate & Macadamia Nut cake came about.

This is my first birthday cake attempt. Maybe it was me and I was very particular about getting it right, the whole process took me a few hours to make. Most foodies out there will probably take a lot less time than me. Initially I wanted to make a round cake but alas, my cake box was alot smaller than I had thought so I had to cut the cake into a square shape instead. The cake ended up being smaller than I had in mind. Eventually, after many hours in the kitchen, my creation was born. I got some reviews back and the birthday girl said the cake was delicious. Am so happy it turned out well.

Happy Birthday M! I hope you had a great one!


Double Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cake

Chocolate Cake:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
6 tbsp cocoa
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup margarine
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water
2 tsp vanilla essence

- Preheat oven to 180C
- Line 2 round cake pans (8 inch - I used a 9 inch and made this twice coz that's all I had) with baking paper, grease the sides
- Sift the flour, baking soda, cocoa and salt into a bowl
- Add in the eggs, margarine, buttermilk, vanilla and water
- Using an electric mixer, beat on low setting then increase the speed until the batter is smooth
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40 mins, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
- Cool in the pan for 30 mins then turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Dark Chocolate Frosting:
180g unsweetened dark chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp vanilla essence

- In a bowl, beat butter until creamy
- Add icing sugar and continue to beat until fluffy
- Add vanilla
- Add cooled and melted chocolate
- The icing should look glossy and smooth

Decoration:
18 caramelized macadamia nuts
White chocolate shavings

- When the cakes are cooled, use a spatula and spread the dark chocolate frosting evenly on the top of one cake
- Place the second cake on top
- Continue to spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake
- Decorate the top of the cake with the caramelized macadamia nuts and fill the rest of the top layer with white chocolate shavings

Foodie Blogroll

I'm now on the Foodie Blogroll! Yay! I've wanted to join this since I've started my blog so I could start sharing my recipes with other food enthusiasts out there.

To join, simply go to this website: Foodie Blogroll

I hope I'll meet and interact with more of you out there. Happy to be a part of the group now :)

Mixed Berry Cheesecake

My brother and his gf came over the other night for dinner so I made this mixed berry cheesecake for dessert.

This is a very light cheesecake. I used cream cheese and yoghurt to form the filling, topped with a low calorie jelly.


Mixed Berry Cheesecake

Base:
125g digestive biscuits, crushed into fine crumbs
60g butter, melted

Filling:
250g low fat cream cheese
250g low fat plain yoghurt
50g icing sugar
1 tbsp gelatin powder
40ml boiling water
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup mixed berries

Jelly:
1 packet Jelly crystal (raspberry or strawberry) flavour
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water

- Mix biscuit crumbs and melted butter together in a bowl. Transfer to an 18cm tin, with removable base. Use your fingers or a glass to spread and press the mixture firmly onto the base of the tin. Place in the fridge for 30 mins to chill.
- Place gelatin and boiling water in a bowl. Stir well to combine. Keep warm.
- Using an electric beater, beat cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla essence together until smooth & creamy.
- Add in yoghurt and beat until smooth. Add in gelatin and mix well.
- Pour the mixture onto the base. Add the mixed berries onto the cheese mixture. Chill for 3.5 hours.
- Dissolve the jelly crystals using the boiling water, then pour in cold water. When the cheese mixture has solidified, pour the jelly on top. Let the jelly set before removing the cake from the tin.

My One Pot Wonder - Chicken, Bok Choy & Mushroom Fragrant Rice

I had a severe attack of Monday-itis. Yes this is a day where you wished you could've just stayed home, sleep in and not have to do anything at all. I was still feeling it at 5:30pm! When I bumped into a friend of mine while I was leaving the office, she noticed right away that I was affected by good ole "Monday-itis". It certainly didn't help when, at 4:30pm, I had this guy standing next to me talking to his colleague who's sitting on my right in an ever so boring monotone voice for half an hour!! It could not have happened at the worst time - 4:30pm - when you're already sleepy and you are trying to keep yourself busy and entertained for another hour before you could leave work. That voice..that monotone voice…nearly made me fall asleep on my keyboard and hit the zzzzzzz key.

I was bored and tired. I needed some form of entertainment so I started thinking about what I could cook for dinner tonight. Being a little tired doesn't help when you are trying to be creative. So, stuff it, I just want to cook up a nice dinner, something that didn't involve alot of cooking or washing up. That's where my rice cooker came in and did its job tonight.

What better way to cook a meal than to dump everything in a pot and let it cook itself? So that's what I let my rice cooker do for me tonight. When you hear that "click" sound coming from the rice cooker. it's telling you that "Yes, your food is ready & I'm keeping it warm for you".

I'm calling this my one pot wonder - my Chicken, Bok Choy & Mushroom Fragrant Rice. It looks a little like risotto...Chinese style :)

Here how it was made.


Chicken, Bok Choy & Mushroom Fragrant Rice
(serves 2)

1 cup jasmine rice
375ml chicken stock
200g chicken (breast or thigh), chopped into bite sized pieces
6 mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch of bok choy, chopped into small pieces
1 tsp minced ginger
1 handful basil leaves, chopped roughly
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese wine
Salt & Pepper to taste

- Marinade the chicken pieces with oyster sauce, light soy, dark soy and Chinese wine for half an hour
- Rinse the jasmine rice in the rice cooker
- Fill the rice cooker with chicken stock
- Add in the marinated chicken pieces, ginger, mushrooms and bok choy in the rice cooker
- Cook until the rice cooker signals that that rice is ready
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Add in the roughly chopped basil leaves. Stir into the rice and cover the lid for 5 mins so that the basil infuses throughout the rice.
- Serve immediately.

Chocolate Chips & Sultana Oats Cookies

It's time to refill our cookie jar again!


I adapted this recipe from a fellow blogger Little Corner of Mine. I've always wanted to make these cookies but for some reason, everything else I wanted to make took over and jumped the queue. However since I had a bit of alone time tonight and all the ingredients were in my pantry, I finally decided to bake these to fill up my cookie jar. I should've made these a long time ago. They turned out so well.

These cookies are healthy and delicious. They're crumbly in texture, the sultanas become a little caramel-y when cooked and who doesn't love chocolate chips?



Chocolate Chips & Sultana Oats Cookies
(makes 30)

(A)
1 egg, beaten
125ml olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 1/8 cup of sugar

(B)
1 1/4 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup oats (not quick oats)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup sultanas

- Mix (A) in a bowl. Then add in (B). Mix well.
- Roll the mixture into balls and place on parchment paper. Slightly press down the cookies.
- Bake at 180C for 15 mins.
- When ready, let the cookies cool in the pan for 5 mins before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store these in an air-tight container.

Tetsuya's - The Restaurant

Today marked the end to a long awaited dining experience at Tetsuya's. I made this booking 4 months ago and the earliest booking back then was for lunch in February; if we wanted to go there for dinner, the earliest booking back then was July! So I guess you would understand why I was so excited about this day. We finally made it to Tetsuya's :)

Tetsuya's is renowned for its 10 course degustation menu. The food was brilliant. The whole experience was worth every penny. Expect to pay a minimum of $195 per head (drinks not included) but the hefty price does not just go towards the fresh ingredients that were used but it also goes towards the creativity and the preparation work that go into making every one of the dishes. Last year, the restaurant was awarded the highest rating (Three Chef's Hats) in Australia and was also named Restaurant of the Year. It received many other awards and accolades, one of which ranked it as the 5th top restaurant in the world in 2007.

The restaurant is situated in the city on 529 Kent Street, in between Bathurst and Liverpool Street. It has a big gated entrance. The big gate is sensored and will automatically open when you approach. Stepping through the entrance, you are greeted by one waiter outside the door. When you step inside, you will be greeted by 4 other waiters. One of them will show you to your table. We were seated in one of the rooms with a big wine cellar and facing a Japanese pond. This particular dining room could and did fill around 12 tables of 2, 1 table of 6 and 1 table of 4. The tablecloths and plates are in white, and there is an big artistic ornament placed in the middle of the room. The service is attentive. After the waiter lays your dish down on the table, they will begin to tell you the name of the dish. Your plates will be cleared promptly when you are finished and glasses will always be filled with your choice of drinks. The dishes are perfectly timed so you will never feel like you're being rushed or you are waiting too long for the next dish to arrive.

The first thing they serve us was a choice between 2 types of warm toasted bread - white roll or brown organic sourdough. My husband and I both chose the sourdough. The bread was warm, freshly baked and crusty. It was perfect. Served with this was the most delicious black truffle salsa butter. I usually don't smother alot of butter on my rolls but this time..this time was different. The butter had the most luscious mushroom taste to it.

Warm Crusty Organic Sourdough Roll with Black Truffle Salsa Butter

Here are the courses, as they were served.

Cold Corn Soup with Saffron & Vanilla Ice Cream

Smoked Ocean Trout & Avruga Caviar

Leek & Crab Custard

Sashimi of Big Eye Tuna with Wasabi & Eschallot

Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Fennel
Seasonal Green Salad
(Tetsuya's Signature Dish)

Ravioli of Queensland Spanner Crab with Tomato & Basil Vinaigrette

Fillet of Barramundi with Braised Baby Fennel

Twice Cooked De-Boned Spatchcock with Olive & Caper Jus

Seared Fillet of Veal with Wasabi Butter

Comte with Lentils

Marinated Peach with Vodka & Peach Sorbet
Summer Pudding
(accompanied by Mini Lemon Madelines & Unseeded Grape Skewers)

Banana Mousse & Caramel Ice Cream

Chocolate Terrine with Mascarpone & Cognac Anglaise

Coffee or Tea (Flat White shown here)
&
Petit Four
(Almond Shortbread, Coconut Covered Peanut Biscuit,
Chocolate Macaroon with Lemon Buttermilk filling, Green Tea Marshmallow)

We sat there for 3 hours, eating. It was of pure enjoyment. We slowly savoured each dish, analysing what was in each dish and if we could taste the ingredients that were made known to us through their names.

Our favourite courses were:
- Smoked Ocean Trout & Avruga Caviar
- Sashimi of Big Eye Tuna with Wasabi & Eschallot
- Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Fennel
- Twice Cooked De-Boned Spatchcock with Olive & Caper Jus
- Marinated Peach with Vodka & Peach Sorbet, and Summer Pudding

Both Ocean Trout dishes were brilliant and we both raved on about the Summer Pudding. I think I might try and make this Summer Pudding in the next week or two. It will surely not taste as good but I'll give it a go. I surprised myself for liking this pudding more than the Chocolate Terrine given that I'm a die hard chocolate fan.

The whole experience was absolutely worth it. We were actually glad that we went there for lunch instead of dinner as we had enough time to digest the food for the rest of the day :) After Tetsuya's, we worked it off by playing a round of golf. What a great day.

I said to my husband that we should go to Tetsuya's for our wedding anniversary and make this a yearly thing. If that's the case, I might have to call up and make a booking soon for this coming December!

Tetsuya's Restaurant
529 KENT STREET
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Telephone: +612 9267 2900

Lunch: Saturday from 12 noon
Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm

Ten course degustation menu is $195 (GST inclusive) per person
Accompanying wine course is an additional $90 (GST inclusive) per person

Spinach and Mushroom Crepes

I didn't go to work on Friday because my stomach was playing up and I had to go see the doctor that morning. When I stepped into the doctor's office at 9am that morning, I learnt that there were already 8 people waiting in line to see her and there would be a 2 hour wait! Oh man...I was tossing up between (1) giving up on seeing her & just go to work, or (2) to go home & hang around for 2 hours before paying her a visit again. I chose the second option - it's a quiet period at work anyway and I've been meaning to see her for the past week now (ever since my stomach played up just over a week ago) - I guess it was an easy decision to make.

I'm ok. She says I have a mild gastric condition and had to take this tablet for 2 weeks. My doc also said that I didn't need to cut any food out from my diet...maybe just alcohol and coffee...but I haven't had these 2 things in ages so all is ok. I'm happy. I can still eat what I want.

After seeing doc and taken the stomach tablet, I was itching to go out and do something :P I'm not one to stay at home - maybe ok for a few hours but I can't stay home for more than a few hours without feeling extremely bored. So what did I do? I went shopping! :P I've been thinking about buying another pair of Lee jeans ever since I tried on a pair and bought one a few days ago. Yes, I bought a pair of Lee jeans a few days ago and I don't know about you, but I find it hard to find jeans that fit well...so if I find a pair that suits me, I get totally obsessed about them and will want to buy ANOTHER pair of exactly the same jeans to add to my collection. Sound crazy but I know some of you girls out there know what I'm talking about. You would not believe this but when I was at the shop, the EXACT same shop, I found out they were on further discount!! So, get this...5 days ago, these jeans were selling at $70...now $50!! What a bargain! I snapped them up immediately and grabbed the last pair of size 7s. Yay!! last pair...I felt really lucky. I also managed to run a few overdue errands that day too. What a fruitful day :) It's good to do all of that knowing that everyone else is at work..hehehehe. By the time I finished what I needed to do, 2.5 hours had gone by and it was already 5:30pm. OH man...I was tired by the time I got home.

Boy, am I glad I made a hearty vegetable soup at lunchtime. This meant my hubby and I could have this as part of dinner and all I needed to make was something light to go with the soup. I bought some mushrooms today at the supermarket, and since we had buttermilk and avocado in the fridge, I decided to make us Spinach and Mushroom Crepes for dinner.


Here's the recipe.

Spinach and Mushroom Crepes
(makes 4 crepes)

Crepes
1/2 cup plain flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/8 tsp salt

Filling
1 bunch of spinach leaves, chopped
6 mushrooms, sliced
1 avocado, mashed
1 handful of Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

1 handful parsley, chopped
extra Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
black pepper

- Toss spinach in a pot, add water and cook for several minutes until leaves are wilted. Set aside.
- Add olive oil, garlic and mushrooms to the pot. Cook until the mushrooms are tender.
- Add the cooked spinach back to the pot.
- Add in the mashed avocado, Parmesan cheese and buttermilk. Stir well to combine all of the ingredients together. Turn the heat down so the ingredients are simmering in the pot. Season with salt and pepper.
- Turn the heat off when done and cover with lid.
- In a saucepan on medium heat, spoon in 1/4 cup crepe batter; swirl the batter around the pan to make thin crepes. Cook until brown on one side then flip over to the other side.
- Fill half a crepe with the spinach/mushroom/avocado mixture. Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese in the crepe before folding the other side over. Add a little more sauce over the finished crepe and top it with chopped parsley and black pepper.

Valentine's Day

This year we didn't go out for dinner on Valentine's Day. Instead we opted for a seafood meal at home. Why? well...no point spending money on an expensive Valentine's dinner when we're going to one of the world's most famous restaurants Tetsuya's in 2 day's time! OMG, I can't wait. More about this in a later post.

Anyway, back to Valentine's Day. Hubby went to the Fish Market late in the afternoon and bought everything his wife ordered (hehe..) - 2 dozen oysters, 1 lobster and salmon & kingfish sashimi. I used some of the sashimi to make sushi rolls which included slices of avocado, cucumber and carrot. It was as lovely dinner - so light and refreshing. We've also moved our dining table to a different place that night so it didn't seem like it was an ordinary dinner at home. We haven't moved the table back to its original position since then. Looks good where it is now. I wonder why we didn't think about moving the dining table like this before.

Healthy Beef Sausage Rolls

Whoever invented puff pastry is a star. I love how puff pastry adds a whole new element to a dish. I defrosted around 250g of minced beef in the fridge and could have easily made a stir-fry with it for a fast and easy meal. However, another way of using a small amount of minced beef is to mix it up with your desired ingredients, wrap them up in puff pastry, then stick them in the oven for a deliciously baked roll or pie. When they're done, they smell sensational and there's nothing more deliciously tempting than something that comes directly from the oven and onto your plate. You'll want to dig in as soon as these are done.


Healthy Beef Sausage Rolls
(makes 4)

250g minced beef (premium quality; less fat)
1 carrot, grated
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp McCormick Season-All (all round seasoning for meat & vegetable)
black pepper (as little or as much as you like, depending on your taste)
1 egg, lightly beaten (for mince mixture)
1 egg, lightly beaten (to enclose and brush pastry)
2 pieces of low-fat puff pastry, thawed

- Combine mince, carrot, onion, parsley, egg and seasoning in a bowl. Use hands to combine.
- Cut a piece of puff pastry in half, then spoon the mince mixture onto the middle of the pastry half. Roll up and brush the last 2cm of the pastry with egg. Conceal and place on baking tray. Repeat for the remaining pastry.
- Brush the tops of the rolls with egg then pick the pastry top gently using a fork.
- Bake for 25-30mins or until golden.
- Serve with tomato sauce...BBQ sauce...sweet chilli sauce...mustard..whichever you prefer.

Oh, I put a thin slice of mozzarella on top of our sausage rolls just before taking them out of the oven coz I wanted a bit of cheese on ours to make it more interesting but that's just me. You don't have to do that. They're nice without the cheese on top too.

Seachange Cafe and Grill @ Dee Why

My husband and I headed up to the beach suburb of Dee Why on Saturday afternoon. We leisurely strolled around the beach and before we knew it, it was already 7pm. I wasn't really that hungry so I could settle for anything. My hubby, on the other hand, was getting hungry and was craving for good ole fish'n'chips. There are quite a number of restaurants and cafes facing the beach but none of them took our fancy except for one because, unlike the other restaurants on this strip, this one seemed alot more cosy and laid back than the rest.

This cafe is a small establishment, with tables set quite closely together. Good thing we didn't feel claustrophobic sitting so close to the other diners. The cafe is one that serves all-day-breakfast but we couldn't go past their wide selection of seafood main courses and salad variety. Although my hubby did want his fish'n'chips earlier on, his mind changed when he saw big pieces of succulent fish on the other diner's plates.

We ended up ordering an entree of Turkish Bread with lemon and herb to share. I ordered one of their warm salads which consisted of snow peas, roast capsicum and mixed leaves served with "BBQ'd blackened Salmon chunks with 4 thai king prawn cutlets, lemon myrtle 'n' chervil vinaigrette & pineapple salsa". Hubby ordered their "Chermoula rubbed Tuna Steak; buttermilk mash, honey & sesame wok fried baby greens, chilli plum saucee & BBQ'd lemon".

Lemon & Herb Turkish Bread

Not long after we ordered, our entree arrived. The turkish bread was delicious! It was warm and I loved the herb and butter taste. I couldn't taste any lemon though which was a shame. But I didn't care too much. The bread tasted so good! While we were eating our second slice of bread, the rest of the food arrived.

Snow peas, roast capsicum and mixed leaves served with BBQ'd blackened Salmon chunks with 4 thai king prawn cutlets, lemon myrtle 'n' chervil vinaigrette & pineapple salsa - $19.90

Oh my, take a look at the big pieces of marinated salmon on my salad leaves. On top of this laid 2 skewers of big prawns and on the side of the dish was a small spoonful of pineapple salsa. It didn't matter that the amount of salsa they give you is so little because the salmon and prawns were so well marinated, you didn't need any salsa to go with them. The pineapple salsa was just "there" and seemed a little out of place.

Chermoula rubbed Tuna Steak; buttermilk mash, honey & sesame wok fried baby greens, chilli plum saucee & BBQ'd lemon - $28.90

This was my hubby's dish. Our dishes both looked very similar. However his had a big tuna steak which was very meaty and cooked just right, with a tinge of rareness in the middle. Same as my dish, he also had 2 skewers of king prawns laid on top of his tuna. Beneath his tuna were the butternut pumpkin mash, a good number of asparagus and strings of beans.

Both dishes were quite similar in taste. The only major difference was the fish. Come to think of it, my hubby should've ordered the tuna & king prawn salad instead because the ingredients were the same as his main course. His main cost us $9 more and the only difference was that the main had the buttermilk mash, asparagus and beans instead of salad leaves. OH WELL! I feel jipped now but we'll learn next time. That said though, both dishes were very well made and enjoyable.

Seachange doesn't offer a wide selection of desserts. If I recall correctly, there were only 3 types of desserts on offer. I would've loved to finish off with something sweet but we were full to the brim after dinner and couldn't fit any more food in our stomaches.

Next time, I'll be back to try out their breakfast menu which I've read good reviews about.

Breakfast Menu

Seachange Cafe and Grill
The Strand, Dee Why NSW 2099
Phone (02) 9971 9692