Annual Affairs

I can't really remember how long we have been doing this but my college classmates always meet up for a reunion during Lunar New Year.

It is only the last two years, we attempted to have more than one gathering. Other than that, it is an annual affair.

Now that our kids are easier to handle as we don't have to babysit. We begin to enjoy more and more of such gatherings. The adults are left to chat while the kids entertain themselves as their age group is really close and there is a good balance between the girls and boys.

Witnessing the kids growing up, somehow also reflected how we have aged. It is funny to watch my male classmates from lean young men to pot bellied daddies. (yes I am the only girl in this group and doesn't share the same dialect) and because my dear hubby is "one of them", it somehow brought them closer too. LOLz.

Initially this year's gathering was supposed to be held at my place but due to medical reason, the host went to LS.

I took me a long while to plan what I am going to bake. The usual me, always wanted to experience with new recipe yet but with yesterday's crazy schedule, I was once again feeling horrible.

The pain bothers me so much that I simply couldn't get up from my day bed. A promise is a promise, so no choice. The mind just have to overcome the body.

Moist Brownies is relatively an easy recipe. I managed to complete the whole process in just an hour.


Come to think about it, I haven't done any brownies for the longest time. This definitely live up to the moist and rich brownie that Alice Medrich describes.

You got to try it because I've got many thumbs up for it.

What you need:

8oz 70% bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3 large eggs 200g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp plain flour

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius and greased and lined an 8" square pan.

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Stir till it is smooth. Set aside.

Beat eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla essence till thick and light (2 mins).

Whisk in warm chocolate. Fold in the flour.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25 - 30 mins.

Cool in the pan on rack.

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As for lunch, We are (if not I am) getting bored with my helper's creation. Perhaps it needs passion and interest to cook. If not, the taste is the same for every dish that lay on the table. That is my personal experience.

I have gotten some nice beef fillet and meant to stir fry it with onion but I changed my mind as I do have celery in the fridge. So for a change, I think Beef with Celery should be nice.

I am glad I made the switch because my kids love it soooo much.



(recipe adapted from The Best of Singapore Cooking)

What you need:

Marinade

1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp vinegar
1 egg white, beaten lightly

Gravy (mix together)

2 tsp corn flour
6 tsp water
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp sherry
1 tbsp oyster sauce
455g beef fillet, slice thinnly
6 stalks of celery, cut diagonally
6 slices of ginger
1 tbsp garlic
2 stalks of spring onion, cut into 1" length (I omitted this coz we don't like)

Method

Marinate beef with ingredients for marinade. Let it stand for 1 hour.

With a little oil on high heat, stir fry celery and add a sprinkle of water. Sautee lightly. Remove. (takes about 3 mins)

Heat wok. Add oil. When oil is hot, put in the beef. Stir fry briefly. DO NOT OVER COOK them. Remove.

In a clean wok, heat oil.

Add ginger and garlic, fry till fragrant.

Add celery and fry for 1/2 min. Add in beef.

Stir in gravy till thickens. Serve hot.

Never can take the spirit out of us

Since I discovered facebook late last year, I started to locate all my long lost secondary school mates. Yah, since we left school back in the 80s, I haven't seen most of them for a good 27 years. To be honest, the day I found out that my yearbook went missing, I felt a sense of lost as memories within that 4 grey walls left a deep deep impression of many wonderful moments for me and it was slipping away. I am so proud of my school and I bet all of us felt the same way. The spirit among us is simply awesome. We had so many happy and hilarious moments that even now, when we talked about it, always left us laughing and smiling. JWM and FML were back for the festive period. Yeap, they couldn't make it for the reunion late next month so we decided to have a little tea time chat on 2nd day of Lunar New Year. We had such a blast, GL whom I known since primary school still looks the same. JWM still as cool as before and FML, love that bubbly personality!!! Couldn't believe how time flies. It was so fun catching up and reminising the good old days. Anyway, FML is leaving this weekend, thus she arranged for another get together at her place. Not bad, despite her tight schedule, she is providing dinner for all of us. This time round, we managed to gather CLC and VC. Since the time I heard about French Pear Tart and its gotten really good review (Baking from my home to yours), what better way than to share it with good old friends. Unfortunately, I got a feel that I burnt the crust. I was rushing through the baking process as son's teacher just rang to update me on his progress. Well, what news do you think I received? So in the midst of baking and finding all his lost worksheets and also to prepare the second stage of the pie. I overlooked the temperature. Darn... too late. Personally I find that I over handled the dough and I will reduce the sugar the next round. The presentation to create that lovely pear fan was a clumsy and failed experience for me. Actually the presentation didn't do justice to the taste. It was good and knowing that the girls love it, puts a smile on my face.

A pot of goodness

Instead of mom cooking out a storm this year. I offer to contribute my share to the table.

Not that we are tired of mommy's cooking. In actual fact, we always yearn for mom's cooking especially on special occasions.

The table is always filled with great varieties of her home cooked food. Every dish tastes simply great. Though she had imparted some of her knowledge, somehow it is never the same. Guess we need to cook that long to be able to reach her standard. LOLz.

Anyway, this year, I wanted to do Pen Cai. This dish has many many versions and many stories. Guess we will never ever know which is the original. but I do know that Pen Cai is loaded with lots of good stuff.

The ingredients are also subjective to your budget.



I chose this recipe as it was published in an OCBC magazine and came from a reputable chef. Partly also I enjoyed those ingredients listed by him.

Since mommy was down at my house last week, I decided to "make use" of her expertise in 海味 and drove down to Rochor with her to buy the stuff for Pen Cai.

True enough, if I were to do it alone. I reckon I will get the wrong stuff or different quality. Mom patronised this stall for years. Thus we were able to get really special service despite the crowd. If not I bet I will be in for a long wait and everyone will ignore me too.

Auntie Lan was so helpful, she even gave me her mobile number just in case I forgotten her instruction how to presoak and prepare the dried stuff.

Despite the long process of preparing this dish. I think we should called this a pot of love as the preparation is really time consuming.

I can't wait to show off this at tonight's reunion dinner. Let's hope my family will enjoy it.

Am taking this opportunity to wish all my supporters of this humble blog.

新年快乐, 身体健康, 万事如意

May the year of the ox brings you good health and good luck.

What you need:

10 whole baby abalone (I strongly recommend using fresh abalone as the dried ones takes extremely long hours to soften)
150g fish maw, soak for about 6 hours or until soft
10 pcs whole dried scallop, rinse and soak, keep liquid for later use when putting together the pen cai.
10 pcs sea cucumber, about 5cm by 3cm in size
10 pcs dried flower mushroom, soak for 2 hours or until soft, discard the stalks
10 pcs dried oyster (large size), soak for 1 hour, discard the hard shells if any
300g streaky pork, rinsed and sliced into 10 pcs
200g white chinese radish, cubed into 3 cm cubes
500g white chinese cabbage, sliced into 6cm long pcs
10g black fungus, soak for 30mins and rinse
10g black moss, soak for 20mins and rinse
8 slices ginger
40g spring onion
fermented tofu, oyster sauce, sugar, rock sugar, salt, cooking oil, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce.

Method:

Fish Maw:
In a pot, boil 2 litres of water, scald fish maw for 5 mins, then turn off heat, leaving fish maw to soak for 5 hours.

Rinse fish maw in cool water for 30 mins. Repeat process if fish maw is not soft enough. Cut soften fish maw into 10 pcs, set aside.

Abalone:
In a pot, scald abalone in boiling water for about 5 mins, then drain water.

Add more fresh water to the pot with 10g rock sugar, 2 tsp light soya sauce, 2 slices of ginger, 10g spring onion and continue simmering for 4 hours until soft and tender (you may have to extend the hours).

Using our fingers to test for tenderness. When abalone is tender, set aside with the sauce for use when putting together the pen cai.

Pork:
In a large pot, add pork slices, 2 slices of giner, 10g spring onion, 1/2 a piece of fermented tofu, 1/2 tsp sugar and some extra dark soy sauce to taste.

Add enough water to cover pork. Cook over high heat till water boils, then lower heat and simmer, keeping pot covered.

After 1 hour, remove from heat and set aside.

Sea cucumber:
In a pot, add 1 litre of water, 2 slices ginger and 10g spring onion.

Bring to a boil and scald the sea cucumber for about 10mins. REmove sea cucumber and set aside.

Discard ginger and spring onion.

Cabbage:
Boil 1 litre of water and add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 2 tbsp cooking oil to a rapid boil.

Scald cabbage leaves for 3 min, remove and drip dry.

Method of seasoning:

2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce, light soy sauce
2 tbsp hua diao cooking wine

Method for serving:

In a large claypot, layer the ingredients and any of its accompanying sauces in this order:

Cabbage, radish, pork slices, black fungus, flower mushroom, sea cucumber, scallop, baby abalone and sauce and dried oyster.

Add in pen cai seasoning and allow the gravy to cover all the ingredients.

On high heat, bring the filled claypot to boil for 5 mins, then reduce to medium heat and simmer for 30 mins.

Then add in fish maw and black moss, simmer on low heat for 30 mins till done.

note: keep an eye to ensure water content in the claypot to make sure it does not dry up.

Give me more stamina

Earlier on, I gave nearly all my cookies to my mom as this year, we are expecting the whole clan at their new place. Leaving so little for my family, I felt really bad and decided to have another go at the cookies.

I am also a sucker for new recipe and especially for pineapple tart. LOLz. Even though the previous one was good, the curiousity to search for better ones over ruled.

So here I am with last week's Sunday Times published recipe. Initially I was really happy because the dough was so easy to handle (I didn't even need to chill it - perhaps this was the trick).

The disappointment came after, the final product lacks the taste. It has this "wet" and crumbly feel to it while handling and it sticks to your mouth. I ended having to wash it down with tea.

Now I am thinking whether my dear family will eat these. Haiz what a waste for good quality butter.

I am going to publish this recipe so that next time, I can make a comparison with what works and what don't.



What you need:
Tart Base

250g butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg yolk
440g plain flour
1 tbsp milk powder pineapple jam (I am not going to provide this)
1 egg, beaten for glazing

Method

Preheat oven to 165˚C.

Cream the butter with vanilla essence on medium speed for about 10 mins.

Add the egg yolk and continue mixing for 2 mins until well incorporated.

Sift flour and milk powder into the mixture. Mix on low speed for 2 mins before increasing to 3 mins to attain a coarse, crumbly texture forms.

Place the mixture into a large bowl and knead it for about 5 mins until a smooth dough is formed.

Set the dough to chill for 20 mins (clingwrapped it).

Remove dough and shape your tart as desired. (the author made closed face tart)

Brush egg wash and bake for about 15 mins or till tarts turn golden.

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Next on the list is a Cornmeal Cookies. I was taken in by the word as it sounded healthy. They also have raisins in it and I do love raisin. mmm....

This cookie has a crunchy texture and yet light. I used polenta but I think next round I will use a finer ones. It has an nice aroma to it because of the lemon extract that I used.

Overall, I like this because it is different and it is good.

Do visit Angie's forum, she has many tried and tested recipes which work really well.

I recalled the Hokkaido Bread that she first posted. It was my first successful bread making dated back in 2006.

I was delighted with the result. Later on, it started a rave in Singapore blogs and had received many positive comments.



What you need:

110g butter
1 tsp baking powder
140g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
110g plain flour
1 tsp lemon extract (use good quality ones)
1/2 cup raisins
65g cornmeal (fine)

Method:

Beat the butter and sugar till creamy.

Mix in the egg and lemon extract. Blend well.

In separate bowl, combine cornmeal, baking powder, salt and flour.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well.

Stir in the raisins.

Drop batter by teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet

Baked at 190˚C for 10 - 12 mins until bottom of cookies are browned.

Cool cookies on tray for a min before lifting them onto a cooling rack.

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Lastly, wanted something chocolatey for my chocoholic family. Chocolate Chip Cookie was shared by AK again.

I am sure my family will like it especially dear hubby who is a nuts lover.

This cookies is light and because of the walnuts give it a nice bite and aroma to it.



Verdict: Another definite recipe to keep.

Now, let's see whether I have the stamina to bake cakes.

When it gets started

I remembered when I was young, spring cleaning is such a big event in our household. Mom will get so stressed up to ensure that our house is spick and span. Sometime I wonder why we have to go to this extent to clean up the house.

Afterall, she is a PERFECT wife who keeps her house neat and tidy and to certain extent spotless. She will always nag at us for our messy rooms. After dinner, all dishes will be wiped dry and stored away. Basin will be "polished" and floor swept and mopped. Luckily there were three of us to rotate our duties. LOLz.

Anyway, I am glad that this year, she doesn't have to do any. Afterall, they just moved into their new home not too long ago. The smell of a new home is still there. LOLz. She was even asking me whether she should wash her curtain.

Gosh!!!!!! can't believe it. Anyway, mom's age is catching up and she is looking more frail and tiny these days. Her lungs haven't been getting stronger since the day she caught bronchitis and that is many years ago.

Poor lady. Thus, for the past two years, I have been baking cookies for her. As I am still supposed to "bed rest". My sister advised me to refrain from baking. Somehow, I just couldn't resist the temptation to do it as I read so many blogs loaded with delicious bakes.

Store bought goodies never tempt me. They all look "dried up" and lack the lustre of the mouth watering feel. Guess I trust homemade cookies much more.

I have been pondering over many recipes and couldn't decide whether to can the idea of baking for CNY. Against my sister and mom's advice and having 32 medical leave stress that I should be resting couldn't mellow down the craving for home made cookies. So I started planning what to add to the list.

I also break the baking process. Like I will prepare the dough first and bake them in batches. First on the list must be the Pineapple Tart.

It is like a die die MUST HAVE in every household. Perhaps of its meaningful symbol of wealth especially during the Lunar New Year. Since my dear Cousin EL stopped her "little factory" the year before last.

We all missed her melt in the mouth pineapple so much. Last year, I attempted it but I should say I did such a bad job. This year, I am going to try it once again but not with her recipe. I decided to use Lekker's instead. It did pass the taste test. JY likes it alot.

Now let's see whether those fussy eaters in my family do. I bought a little cheap toy to play with this year. It is more time consuming that the open face ones though.


The more traditional one but I minus the fanciful dress up because by the end of it, I was getting tired.



Verdict: This is a keeper.

Source: Lekker's

What you need:

340g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp icing sugar
250g butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
25ml cold water
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 beaten egg, glazing

Method:

Sift flour, salt and mix sugar into a mixing bowl.

Rub in butter till mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Beat in the egg yolk and add cold water and essence. Mix well to form a dough.

Place in plastic bag and chill for 30 mins.

Roll pastry out on a lightly floured tablestop and cut out with tart cutters.

Fill each piece with the pineapple jam.

Glaze with beaten egg.

Bake at 180 degree celcius for 15 mins.

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No 2 will be a Butter Crunch Cookies that I took from Feed My World. This had received many good reviews.

I like anything with cornflakes and not forgetting my favourite nut, Pecan. Last year I had one that was really good but I decided to try something new this round.



Mine didn't turn out as nice as hers but the taste is definitely what I am looking for. Simply divine.

This is another good one.

Pass VN and JY's taste test.

AK shared another wonderful recipe.

This friend of mine is really a good dear friend. Alway sharing good stuff with me. How can I live without her.

Yet another good Butter Cookie recipe for keep.


Last on the list is one that I wanted to try donkey years ago. It was such a rave during that time. I really got to find out how it taste like as my nephew is crazy over the Famous Amos ones.

It is definitely much cheaper making than buying them. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectation. Now I have to wait for my nephew's verdict.



Well am I not getting adventurous? Perhaps, and I know tomorrow when mommy comes for a visit, I will have an earful.

Not that she doesn't appreciate but she is more concern about me not resting. Now I really have to rest as I am feeling the strain.

See ya.

My first bake for the year

Since today I felt much better after bed resting for the whole of yesterday. I decided to bake something nice. Partly to warm up my oven and partly to kill my boredom.

In actual fact, I have been reading up alot of recipes and the list of to do has been piling high but I wasn't up to it to bake.

Last weekend, I attended a bread making class that was for charity. Yes, I shouldn't have but it was an appointment that I made way before and I felt bad to cancel it, afterall, it was meant for charity. Against all odds, I went. I did pay my dues after the lesson as I was really suffering throughout the three hours class. The class size was overwhelming and the room was jammed packed. Thus I could not really walk around to relax my tensed muscles.

Anyway, I decided to practise what I had learnt for the Focaccia bread. Unfortunately, I wasn't really successful. Somehow, the kneading and the proofing do not match what the instructor had demonstrated. Haiz.... it looks more like naan than focaccia.

Even the texture some how gone astray. So here is my copy of the Focaccia Bread. I definitely needed more practise on this.



Next on my list was a Condensed Milk Pound Cake that I saw on Simply Anne's blog. The thought of condensed milk indicate to me a SUGAR high cake but the review was really good and thus my curiousity is up to find out how this will turned out. Sara Lee's Pound cake used to be my favourite.

Next time, I will further lower down the sugar level as I based it on All that Matter's weightage.



This cake is indeed delicious. It is dense and yet light, pretty close to Sara Lee's pound cake. I really like it and hope my family does too. Thanks for sharing Anne and Rei.

A rather late greeting but I reckon it is better to be late than never.

Happy New Year everyone and May the year filled with good health, joy and peace. I thank all my readers for another year of support and friendship.

What you need:

120g good quality butter
45g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup condensed milk
120g cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degree celcius. Grease a 8X3.5" loaf pan.

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in salt, vanilla essence and condensed milk. Whisk till incorporated.

Add flour and mix till batter is smooth.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, mix well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour.

Another year

This year will prove to be a very challenging year as my first born will be sitting for his first National Examination. To many Singaporean parents, this year is very very critical. It is somehow like all work and no play scenario which I really hope I don't have to resort to.

We have done our pep talk with son and hopefully he understands the importance of this examination. As much as we wanted to encourage him as well as to coax him to spent more time on his studies. At the end of the day, the effort must come from him.

I am also glad that we are now living in the central area, thus I will spent less time travelling when ferrying the kids. Having my princess being in the afternoon session means lesser time for myself but at least I can focus on one kid at a time.

For this brand new year, I haven't been in the kitchen as I am still resting after my surgery. Though my family is putting up with my helper's cooking, I do feel bad that I couldn't cook personally.

Yesterday, I was trying to act hero and started doing some errands. It proves that it is a bad decision because by night fall, I was feeling really shitty. The wound was hurting badly as well as the numbness of my toes were intensifying. The pain extended to my hip. Guess it is not ready to take the stress.

So today, I was a good little gal. I bed rest nearly the whole day.

By evening, I felt much better and decided to cook a dish that my mom reminded me of a few days' ago.

Stew chicken with onion is my favourite when I was little. Though not as nice as mommy dearest but I think my family will enjoy it.