A close shave

I have been extremely busy. After baking the first round of cookies for my mom, I didn't get a chance to bake the second round till the eve of Lunar New Year.

I was busy throwing or giving stuff away the last couple of days before Lunar New Year.

Things were all over the place and the system that I set down was all messed up. Barbies and their accessories were all messed up. Lego were all over the place. Board games' parts were misplaced. All were conveniently being packed and stored, ready for the move. I was freaking out!

Unused toys finally found new owners and I am glad that it brought smiles.

.... okay enough of toys drama .... let’s move on to my bake...

as I mentioned earlier, I only found time to bake on the eve of Lunar New Year.

As I still have pineapple jam left and already I had given away the first round of tart making, a good excuse to experiment with more recipes.

For this one, I had chosen Zu's Pineapple Tart (Closed tart with clove). I believe I had made these before but somehow I can't recall which year.



Verdict: Hubby and JY love this version. For me, I find it a little sweet. I must remember to omit the icing sugar the next round.

Next was supposedly to be Dragon cookies. I had baked these before but thinking that this year will be Dragon year, it might be a good idea to have these as Lunar New Year goodies. Unfortunately, things didn't work out.



I had the same problem as last time even though I used another recipe. Piping is near impossible. As I was getting really tired, I decided just to roll them into balls and flatten it.

Verdict: Taste wise, freshly baked, it tasted like Kueh Bangkit without the fragrant of coconut. As it matured, it tasted better. I will attempt this cookie until I find a recipe that allows easy piping.

Didn't had a chance to post or rather too lazy to take any pictures earlier on till now ....

as I wanted to pen down my feelings for today.

As I was checking on my emails, I heard a loud scream. Didn't give much thought to it as this place is popular for school kids to do their adventure treasure hunt or orientation events as it is near Kallang River.

About half hour or less, my helper informed me that there are many people downstairs and the police had cordoned off the car park.

The tape was circle round with my car parked inside. Out of curiosity, I walked to the other end of the corridor and looked down, saw a red patch just 2 feet away from my car. Yes, directly behind my car boot!

Luckily today I decided to park a little away from the curb!

I hesitated for a moment, for I don't know whether I should move my car or not. Also the fear of seeing blood (I have blood phobia).

Finally I summed up my courage, went down stair, gave my particular to the police and without even checking my car, I drove off and parked in the furthest lot that I can find.

The feeling is really creepy.

Undeniable, a sigh of relief as there wasn't a body bag there so she might not be dead, a further sigh of relief that she didn't land on my car!

I seriously hope she is not badly hurt. Will I get nightmares tonight I really don't know but knowing it was that close, bring shudders.

Update: Was told that her face was injured. I pray she will pull through.

Dragon Cookies
Source: Baking Made Easy (Agnes Chang)

What you need:

120g butter
120g castor sugar
3 egg yolks
360g corn flour
a little red colouring(for the eyes)
5 tbsp milk (I added this)

Method

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Add egg yolks and beat till incorporated.

Fold in cornflour and mixed till dough is formed.

Pipe into dragon shape with a star tip.

Dot eyes with red colouring.

Baked at 180 degrees till light brown.

*************
Pineapple Closed Tart with clove

What you need:

500g butter, softened
700g plain flour
100g milk powder
100g icing sugar (next time i will omit this)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
2 yolks
cloves for decorating

Method

Cream butter and eggs till creamy and light

Add flour, salt and milk powder into butter mixture, mix it till all the ingredients are well incorporated

Shape dough into a big ball, wrap and let it rest for 15min or more in the refrigerator

Shape the dough to your liking and top or fill with pineapple jam

Bake in a preheated oven at 170C for about 10-15mins or till the sides turn golden brown

Revisit

Actually I have been slowly cleaning up my blog for the past weeks. I realised that many of my old blog posts were all misaligned.

As you know, I lost my data twice within these 6 years of blogging and thus my recipe index was not in proper order. I guess it is also time for me to revisit some recipes that I enjoyed.

Since we are in the midst of Lunar New Year celebration, I decided to prepare my mom's braised mushrooms. Mom's does it so well that even my new brother in law is using it as a bench mark for his new wife. Tough.

So if you are a mushroom lover, I guarantee you that you will definitely love this dish.



With the heavy diet we had the last few days, I think 斋菜 will be a good change for our palette.



Okay now let’s continue to enjoy the bonding time with family and friends.

I am submitting the above to Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) hosted by Wen of Wen's Delight.


Mom's Braised Mushrooms
What you need

400g mushroom (wash and remove steam, soak over night in hot water)
dried oyster (soak about 10 mins and clean)
4 X 5 inches spare ribs
4 tbsp cornflour
8 - 9 tbsp ginger juice
4 tbsp oil
1 1/2 litre of water
1 tsp light soya sauce
Oyster sauce to taste

Method

Marinate mushrooms with cornflour, ginger juice, oil. Set aside for 10 mins

Put mushrooms and water and boil for 1 hour.

Marinate oysters with light soya sauce and a few drops of oil.

When the mushroom has softened, add oysters and spare ribs to mushroom stew after it has been cooked for 1/2 hour.

Turned down heat to low and slowly simmer for an hour till spare rib has soften.

Seasoned with oyster sauce and salt.

Note: you can put in Fatt Choy only the last 5 mins of cooking.

新年快乐，恭喜发财

祝大家 新年快乐, 万事如意.

Due to all our hectic schedules, it is tough to see one another often. Take for example my uncles and aunties and first cousins. I only get a chance to see them during special occassions. Thus I looked forward to Lunar New Year because we finally get to catch up.

For friends too, like my college classmates, we only meet up once a year. Actually we tried to meet other times but with kids' school, tuitions, and extra cirrculum, getting together is really tough.

Ever since my paternal grandma passed on, my dad and uncles take turn to host the gathering.

This year, it is my 4th uncle's turn. The last we were there was two years ago when my first cousin got married.

Though ours is not a huge family, having pot luck becomes the norm now since all of us had grown up and have our own family. This idea eased the burden of the elders having to cook up a storm for the whole entire clan.

Thus for my contribution, this year, I had Fried Nian Gao Rolls, something that I longed to do and finally done it. Was pleased to know that it was a big hit at the party.



Next I also tried Fruit Spring Rolls. It is something special. I think next time I will get pineapple instead of replacing it with blue jam, for I got injured and got a burnt on my finger due the oil splattering.



Yes what a day to have my finger burnt. BTW, I am submitting the above to Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) hosted by Wen of Wen's Delight.

I also prepared Roast Pork. as well. The taste was good this time round but because of the huge slab of meat. I didn’t manage to crisp it. I will take the advice from my uncle for my next attempt. (sorry no picture)

Thanks to hubby for lugging back a bigger Happy Call Pan for me. You are an angel! Smuack.

I celebrate my 46th birthday today as well. A special treat from my little 10 years old. She actually baked me muffins for my birthday! I was totally amazed by her capability.



The muffins turned out awesome, soft and fluffy. Definitely warmed my heart by her effort.

Thank you baby!

Fruits Spring Roll
Source: Auspicious Delicacies of CNY by Squall Chin

What you need:

8 pcs spring roll skin
4 small bananas sliced into half lengthwise
pineapple (chopped)
Marshmallows (I used mini ones)

Method

Set banana, pineapples and marshmallow in the centre of the spring roll skin.

Roll up as in popiah method.

Heat oil and deep fry till golden brown.

****************
Fried Nian Gao Roll

What you need:

Yam, cut into lengthwise strip. Steam.
Sweet Potatoes, cut into lengthwise strip. Steam.
Nian gao, cut into lengthwise strip
Spring Roll Skin (small)

Method

Set the yam, sweet potato and nian gao.

Wrap tight with the spring roll skin.

Deep fried till golden brown.

Serve.

Taking over

Since I took over the kitchen, cooking three meals a day, I found that I am practically getting surprises every single day. Expired food that are waiting to be thrown out. Food that left in less than one single portion, also waiting to get thrown out. Frozen food that are kept in mini portions but don't know how long ago.

Geesh, I have been throwing food away and I felt so sinful.

Also thinking that I lack dish cloths, I brought more and guess what, I have 5 dish cloths hanging around and yet today I found that my helper "open" a new one again.

Haiz.... I think from today onwards, I better take over the responsibility in the kitchen.

Okay I have to be happy and these are what I churned out these past few days.

Sweet and Sour Prawns

I hardly buy prawns because somehow my helper can't cook prawns well. She is always deep frying prawns fritters. If she attempts others, the prawns always tasted as if it is not fresh, even if I buy it in the morning and have it cook in the night.

I always wonder why because her dad is a fisherman, so cooking seafood should not be an issue, right?

This dish reminded of my mom's cooking. Stir fry pork fillet with assorted mushrooms. I love straw mushrooms!

Hubby bought me a bigger size Happy call pan while he was in Korea. He wasn't able to buy the Ocher Deeper Pan as it was out of stock but he got me this version which is pretty similar to the brown one, only 5mm difference in dept.

I am happy because it matches the colour of the smaller one!

and this is what I churned out. Marmite Chicken Wings. I will definitely cooked this again!

Okay, I had been packing and my baking taken a back seat. I got to start the last round no matter what by tomorrow.

So stay tuned.

Source: Audrey Tan

What you need:

12 chicken wings
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp Marmite or Bovril
3 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

Method:

Heat pan. Set to low heat.

Add chicken wings.

Cook for 3 mins, flip over and continue 3 mins. Turning it often to avoid burnt.