Announcement

Recently a blogger posted a blog post about me stealing her recipes.  

Here is my explanation on what are the steps that I had taken to ensure that it is in line with her criteria of rephrasing recipes that were taken from her blog.

You can read about it from:

Rumbling Tummy

Warning to Kitchen Tigress - a cyber bully?

Kitchen Tigress, this is a 2nd warning to you

Remove my photos and your malicious remarks from your blog by today, 

12 May 2015.  

I am giving you up to 12am Singapore time to do so.  

If not, I will have you prosecuted.

Source: Media Literary Council

There is also the offence of criminal defamation under section 499 of the Penal Code. If you write or say something with the intention to harm, or have reason to believe that your words will cause harm to the reputation of the person, you have committed criminal defamation. There are exceptions however: it is not defamation if you are expressing an honest opinion about how the person is conducting his public functions, or about his character in relation to how he is carrying out his public functions. The penalty for criminal defamation is imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with a fine.

An ending

Update: I started blogging once again at Rumbling Tummy. Do visit me and drop by to say hello.



Happy New Year everyone!   I hope you are well rested and recharged to welcome the new year.

Decision time.  I will be shutting down this 7 years old blog of mine for good.  It was a tough decision as Precious Moments had been really close to my heart.  

Well in life, we just need to face it.

As mentioned, blogging is still part of me.  It allows me to keep connected with others as many friendship were formed through this journey.  Thus, I will still continue to blog but will be on another platform.

For those who supported this blog diligently, always letting me know that you are here and stood by me at when I am at my lowest, the comments meant a thousand hugs to me.    

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

I will be leaving this blog open till 23 Jan 2013.  After that it will be shut for good.

Hugs 
Edith

A break

Been working really hard for the past 10 odd months and it is time for me to take a break.  

I also have been thinking of re-looking into my objective for this blog as I am not sure whether from next year onward, I will omit all my parenting woes and write strictly on tried and tested recipes.

It is hard for me to talk just about food and not my parenting after 7 long years as this was how Precious Moments got started.  An outlet for me, as a parent to release bottled up frustration in dealing with the day to day responsibility.  I am also getting tired of being judged all the time by readers out there.  To understand exactly how I pull through each day, one has to be in my shoes to understand.

If the decision is to just talk about food, then Precious Moments will come to a closure. 

After all, be it good or bad, they are part of me and they are all, precious moments in my life.  It also represent me a mom and as a wife.

Blogging is still very part of me as it did help me in my learning curve, thus, if I take this route, then a new blog will be born. 

All these are just ideas brewing in my mind so I am taking this one month break to give myself some time to see a better and clearer picture moving forward.

In the meantime, have a great Thanksgiving.

Till then, Arriverdeci.

Ban Jiang Kueh

I am not sure whether I am allergy to something but ever since the weather turned cold, I kept having either a blocked nose or a running nose.  Some days, I will just keep on sneezing and some day it was okay.

This morning, I was woken up by a blocked nose.  Couldn't go back to sleep as my dearest next to me started snoring.

The first thought that came to mind after I woke up was Ban Jiang Kueh.  Crazy as it sounds, but there are mornings that I will crave for something to eat.  

Decided not to waste time trying to go back to sleep.  I got out of bed and went in search of a recipe.  I know I had one tucked away somewhere but I am not going to go through my huge pile of “to do” list early in the morning.

So this is what I found from Simply June.

The result was not what I expected though hubby said it was okay.  I also find that the batter was way too thick, thus I added in more water at the last minute.

Overall, this is not what I am looking. 

So friends, if you have more any good recipe that you know, hope you can share with me.  Thanks.

Have a great weekend.

For my reference, I am noting down the recipe.

What you need:

170g plain flour
100g rice flour
30g corn starch
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
200g water
80g sugar

Method:

Whisk everything together in a bowl.  Cling wrapped and chilled for 3 hours.

Grease pan and pour batter.

Cook till crisp on the side.

Cranberry Yogurt Chiffon Cake

I need much assurance and confidence when baking a chiffon or a sponge cake.  My success rate for such is generally quite low.  Thus though I love chiffon cakes, you can hardly see me baking it.  

But I told myself that this year I need to work on it and hopefully made some improvement.

The year is coming nearly to an end but yet I didn't practice as much as I should have.

With a lovely gift from 最爱的。。。, I found no more excuses for my lack of discipline.

Next year, I promise that you see more chiffon cakes coming out of this kitchen.

I don't know why the exterior is a little damp feel but luckily the texture is good.  

As I didn't want to damage the outlook of the cake, I was worried that 6 eggs batter couldn't fit into this and create 5 cupcakes out of it.  Will check with IY for the next attempt.

Thanks IY for your thoughtfulness.

Note: Sorry won't be able to share this as the recipe is still being taught.

Egg white cake

While packing my baking pan drawers, I found this bundt pan that my sister in law helped me to buy while they were back for a holiday two years ago.  You guess right, it has been a white elephant in my drawer for TWO WHOLE years!  Back then, the baking supply shop in Bt Timah that stock a wide variety of bundt pans wasn't in operation yet and that was why I asked her.  One thing for sure, it wasn't an impulsive purchase though.  

I just love the heavy feel of this baking pan and the sharp lines that it create speaks volume of a good quality pan.

Anyway, am trying to clear my pantry and fridge.  Had so much leftover egg white that I was wondering how else I can use them quickly besides baking macaroons which I am sure these will be super liked by son.

Found this on the cyberworld and it looks really pretty.  The crust contrasting with the inner texture of the cake.

It is soft but I think it is good if we pair it off with some fruit frosting.  

Source: Nami Nami

What you need:

180g egg whites
250g castor sugar (set aside 2 tbsp)
160g plain flour
27g potato starch
1 tsp baking powder
100g melted butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 deg.

Whisk the egg white till foamy and add in the 2 tbsp of sugar.  Whisk till stiff peak.

Sift plain flour, potato starch and baking powder.

Add the remaining sugar to the flour mixture.

Fold in the flour mixture into the egg white mixture. 

Lastly fold in the melted butter.

Pour batter into the greased mould and bake for 30 - 40 mins or till golden brown.

Otah Bun

I was craving for something savoury last week.  Chwee Kueh came to mind but I was just too lazy to either drive to our popular haunt to buy or even to prepare it myself.   Then I started to crave for Otah.  Yes, this is manageable as I got hubby to drive me to Jln Kayu (the parking there is a nightmare these days).  After trying so many manufacturers, this one is still our favourite.

I am beginning to think that this snack will be the best way to train my little girl in eating spicy food. 

With Otah Bun in mind with the remaining sticks, I went on to look for a straight forward bread recipe.  Too impatient to wait for double the proofing time thus this straight dough method will be the most ideal.

I have got this book for years but never really attempt on any of it.  So perfect opportunity now.

A little crazy to have Otah bread for breakfast as it is a little hard on the stomache in the early morning but what the heck, life is short. 


Source: The world of Bread

What you need:

A
480g bread flour
120g plain flour
110g sugar
10g salt
20g milk powder
15g instant yeast

B
1 egg
291g cold water

C
60g butter

1 egg, beaten (for glazing)

Method:

Combine A thoroughly and add in B.  Knead till full incorporated.

Add C and knead till elastic.

Proof for 45 min or double in volume.

Punch down and weight approx 60g of dough. 

Wrap the otah and let it proof for 10 mins.

Brush egg wash.

Baked at 180 deg for 10 - 15 mins.

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie

I doubt it is because of the rain that I am feeling cold in my own home.  The second half of the year is beginning to feel like autumn!

Both hubby and I are homebody people.  We dislike going to the malls.  In fact, we like to rot at home being a couch potatoes catching up on CSI, Criminal Minds and AFC.

One trailer from AFC was The Best Thing I Ever that Rocco DiSpirito was raving on and on about was the Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies from a reputable bakery in NY.  From the way the celebrity described it.  It will be a mistake not to eat it.

Perhaps you have read about my unpleasant trip to NY two years ago. Was stuck in a blizzard and didn't really have a chance to explore New York fully.  The only day trip that we had ended up really nasty that left me with a bad impression of New Yorkers and the place. 

Then again, I have many friends who enjoyed it and thus I would definitely want to go back again, perhaps not in Winter season.  Unfortunately hubby has far more interesting destination in mind and want to venture those in future. So I guess I won't have much chance going back again.

Since I won’t have a chance in this city in the near future, I decided to try my luck on the cyberworld and guess what I found.  A copycat recipe as what the author mentioned.   

These cookies came out just in time for son to come home from his Confirmation Camp. 

Thanks My Baking Addiction, my chocolate fans at home all gave a double thumbs up for it!  They couldn't resist biting it while still warm. 



What I find is that when eaten hot, it is still crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  The texture then changed after it is completely cooled so I am not really sure this is the closest to the original.  If you like intense chocolate cookies, these are definitely your type of tea.

Nevertheless, now I must find somewhere to hide it before it is all gone before the weekend ended.

What you need:

240g cold butter
200g castor sugar
2 eggs
45g dark cocoa powder
329g plain flour
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp baking powder
442g semi sweet chocolate chip

Method:

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Add in egg one at a time.

Mixed in the cocoa powder till well combined

Sift in plain flour, baking powder and salt.  Mixed to form a dough.

Add in chocolate chip and mixed thoroughly.

Using a big ice cream scoop, scoop the dough and space them 2 - 3 " apart.

Baked at 180 deg for 10 - 15 mins.

Devil Food Chocolate Cake

We left with two more months for 2012.  My girl was just commenting that this year passes by really quickly.  I guess when your days are jammed packed with activities, time goes by more quickly.

In a blink of an eye, we already lived here for 6 months.   Fast isn't it? 

Today I invited a bunch of mommies from my girl's kinder time to come by for breakfast as most of them haven’t been here before.  I can't believe that I had known them for 7 years already.  

Actually time isn't the factor for friendship.  I have learnt that chemistry does.  For some, even if you know them for a long time yet you feel that don't really know them truly.  For others, chemistry just hits in and it just fitted well as if you have been long time friend.  Am I confusing?

Anyway, I wanted to bake some cakes as well as some savoury items for our breakfast yak but as some couldn’t make it, I decided not to prepare too much.

Here are some new recipes that I attempted.

First on the list was Chocolate loaf cheesecake.   I chose this because it has lots of cheeses.  Unfortunately, the taste didn’t really come through well and the chocolate was weak as well.

Note: This cake surprisingly tasted so much better the next day.  Won't mind baking this again.

Next was a cake I had intended to bake for a long time.  It has a strange name and very interesting method of preparing for this one.  It is called Seckill Chocolate Cake.  Sounds cruel? I am always on a constant look out for new baking method.

I might have over baked on this one but what I like is that it yields a very nice tall cake.  In fact, this will be my tallest cake attempt.   I didn’t follow the ganache recipe as provided but used my own. 

I will retry this one once I have time.  I believe it will produce a nice texture if I haven’t over baked it. 

Overall, my guests love this. Perhaps the ganache saved the cake.

Last on the list was Devil Food Chocolate Cake.  I believe I had baked such cake before and it was good as well.

For this one, the texture was good but the height was disappointing as I didn't read her instruction properly.  I will definitely try again on this one but either double or triple the portion when I used a 7" pan.  I think using the recipe and bake it in a 6” pan will be good for a small family.

It definitely went well with the cream cheese frosting I must say.  I didn’t follow the recipe for the cream cheese as I used my discretion.

Overall, my mommy guests and little guests all enjoyed the cakes.

I just so love impromptu decision as it makes it more fun and exciting.  Last minute, we decided that we should go pick up our kids and have lunch at my place.   The kids had such great time that they decided to meet up again after church to have dinner together.

Boy, don’t I love last minute decision.  It makes it so exciting and fun.  Not only the mommies had a blast, I am sure those little ones too.

Thanks for a wonderful day. 

Chocolate Loaf Cheesecake
adapted from Cheesecake Mania by Kevin Chai

What you need:

150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cocoa powder
3 eggs
150g castor sugar
100g butter
200g cream cheese
30g chocolate
20g grated cheddar cheese

Method

Grease and lined a 4X8" loaf pan.  Preheat oven to 180 deg.

Melt butter, cream cheese and chocolate over a double boiler.  Beat till it is smooth.  Set aside to cool.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder together.  Set aside.

Whisk eggs and sugar well.

Add in sifted ingredients and mixed till well blended.

Add cream cheese mixture to the batter and blended till fully incorporated.

Pour into pan and sprinkle grated cheddar cheese over it. 

Bake for 40 mins or till golden brown.

****************************

Seckill Chocolate Cake
Source: 《美味糕点新主张》by 薛纪娟) and Simply Love 2 bake

What you need:

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

50g vegetable oil 
80g milk 
15g cocoa powder 
100g bittersweet chocolate 
90g egg yolk (approx 6 eggs @ 63g) 
180g egg white 
120g castor sugar
75g cake flour (sifted)


Chocolate Ganache


150g dairy whipping cream/ heavy cream 
120g bittersweet chocolate  
12g butter

Method:

Greased and lined 2 X 6” round baking pan.  Preheat oven to 150 ºC.

Bring oil and milk to a gentle boil, remove from heat and add in cocoa powder. Mix well and add chocolate and mix till chocolate melted.

Add egg yolks, one at a time, mix till well blended.

Beat egg white till foamy, add sugar in 3 additions, and beat till soft peak (70-80%) (7-8分发) (When lifted, the tip of the meringue has soft and small bend).

Take 1/3 of the meringue to mix with the chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula till 80% incorporated (need not mix till fully incorporated).  Fold in 1/3 of flour gently, mix till just incorporated. Fold in remaining meringue and flour alternatively to form even chocolate batter.

Divide batter into 2 pans.  Baked @ 150 ºC for 20 mins and @ 175C ºC for the last 10-15 mins.

Bang the cake on tabletop once it is out from the oven and invert to cool the cake. Loosen the side with a small knife and unmould after the cake has cool down completely.

Place cool cake on wire rack with a tray/bowl underneath and pour chocolate ganache on the centre of the cake, use both hands to hold the wire rack and swirl to let the ganache cover the whole cake.

Chill for at least 30 mins or until the ganache is set before serving. 

Chocolate ganache

Heat cream till bubbles at the side, remove and pour into chocolate.  Let it sit for a few mins and stir till chocolate melts. 

Add in butter and stir till it is glossy.

***********************

Devil Food Chocolate Cake
Source: Bisous A Toi

What you need:

135g plain flour

26g cocoa powder

¾ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

98g castor sugar

½ cup brown sugar

65g butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

¼ cup buttermilk

½ cup warm water

Method:

Sift plain flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

Cream sugars and butter till light and fluffy.

Add in egg.

Alternate flour and  buttermilk mixture into 3 and 2 portion respectively into the batter.

Divide into 2 portion and bake at 170 ºC for 30 mins.

Cream Cheese Frosting

200g cream cheese

100g butter

150g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

Sift icing sugar into the above ingredients and beat till light and fluffy.

Done by love

My little 10 years old is showing keen interest in the kitchen.  Few nights ago, she saw me watching a cooking demo on You Tube and she got really interested and spent the next few nights watching the whole series.  

In fact, last night she told me that she intend to cook for us today.  Thus we woke up early and went to the market and supermarket to put together this meal.

It took her ages to prepare and seeing her painstakingly and so intense in putting together this dinner, marvel us.

Despite a very late dinner, with her brother being her sous chef and helper as supervision, this meal was finally presented on the table.

She was a little over ambition and soon lost the patience as her brother was complaining that he is hungry but nevertheless, though incomplete but this meal is definitely far better than any 5 stars.

Don't you agree?

Source: Ochikeron

Omurice

Healthy Pan-Fried Minced Cutlet (Menchi Katsu)

Our love dinner done by my two little angels, this dinner was eaten with such pleasure and warm fuzzy feeling. 

We were so proud of these two kids, from now onwards, I no longer need to worry about putting food on the table.

Fish paste omelette roll

My mom used to complain that she is tired of thinking up the menu daily.  I can't blame her as she has to cook two main meals a day.

During her era she doesn't have the internet as inspiration.  I am blessed in a way that I have many friends who love to bake and cook and they are my inspiration!  Thanks gals!

I have tried buying fish paste at the supermarket before and I hated it.  When we were young, mom will travel all the way to Chinatown wet market to get 西刀鱼肉 which is my favourite.  I remembered those are really fresh and there is always a queue for it.  

While checking out my facebook, I saw someone posted this fish paste omelette roll and it looks yummy.  Since my kids love omelette, I decided to give this a try from the usual uninspiring recipe that we always used.  Thanks to AL who pointed out to me where I can get some decent fish paste. 

My girl had fun helping out frying the omelette and dicing the onions and chillies.  

Indeed a nice change from the boring omelette that I used to prepare for the family.

Next on the list was an impromptu decision to do a steam dish.   My family is not really tuned to eating much steamed food (only have to blame myself) but I am glad that they were happily lapping up this Steamed Pork Patties with pickle vegetable 冬菜 !

Sorry for the poor lighting as it was getting dark by the time I finished cooking.

Am really exciting as my little one will be done with her exam by tomorrow!  Yes, time to start planning fun activities to do.

Roti Prata

Though hubby was home this weekend but we were unable to really do something fun as a family as it is the last weekend that little one can spent the time doing last minute revision as well as getting composed.

Even though we spent time at home, we didn't really do full force revision as I didn't want her to be stressed out after all, there were lots of extra time from tuition this week as well.

Thus we rest and relax in between and doing things that were relaxing.  Like making Roti Prata and cooking Ipoh Hor Fun which my little girl has been requesting.

Actually I spent the last few nights watching YouTube on lots of How To.  One video caught my attention was How to flip a Roti Prata taken from ieatishootipost.  Dr Tay is really comprehensive and the instruction was detailed and with a video that I finds interesting.  Yes I am a visual person.  Words lost me most of the time.

So I went about gathering all the necessary ingredients.  Of course not the 25kg flour that he lugged home.  I substituted it with his recommendation.

Anyway, I don’t know what got into me but I somehow read the instruction wrongly.  Geesh, didn’t I say comprehensive and yet I made this blunder.  Of course I have to be blamed because I was way too eager to start off.  You see, my kiddos love Roti Prata!  I remembered my son ate this for the WHOLE year during his primary school days.

It is also this dish that he started picking up spicy food.

Now it is my girl’s turn.  She won’t touch anything spicy except those curries that come with Roti Prata.

Every Halloween, we will make a trip down to our favourite Roti Prata place after our trick or treat.  It is quite funny walking into the restaurant with those hideous make up and getting all the stares on my kiddos.  Anyway, this year, we won’t be able to do it as little one is having her tuition.  Pity but I guess we will have to move on from here.

So here I present you my home made Roti Prata with store bought Mutton Curry that is available near my place.  Actually I wasn't happy with the outcome last night and done another batch right after.   

Overall, I was able to achieve the crispy exterior except it is rather bland but once dipped with curry, it makes up for it.  After trying twice, my conclusion is that you got to stretch the dough really thin.   I was pretty clumsy with the flipping method and thus opted for the second recommendation that was the lay and stretch method.   Try to stretch it as much as possible and paying attention to the rim of the dough as tendency of leaving a thick "rim" if overlooked.  This will results in a dough like texture on the prata.   Personally I find that it helps with more oil so that it won't break that easily. 

Will I consider this a success?  Yes!  Next one I will try the tenderly version.  

Thanks Dr Tay for all your hard work in researching!

And as for dinner, we had Ipoh Hor Fun.  This dish definitely brought back fond memories of my childhood days living in the East.   Its sure been a long time since I last prepared this one dish meal.  The last time I cooked this was way back in 2005!   Gosh! that was long time ago.

Even though it is one of my favourite but I don't know why I hardly cooked this at home. 

I guess it must be good for my girl finished her dinner first!  (for she usually the last to finish).  Guess I should cook this more often from now on.  

Ipoh Hor Fun

What you need: 
Serve: 5

2 packet Hor Fun (rice noodle) 
4 chicken breast or tigh (steamed and shred) 
chicken broth  (I prepared it with two chicken breasts, four carcasses)

3/4 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soya sauce 
1 tbsp dark soya sauce 
1 tbsp fish sauce

pepper 
2 tbsp potato starch 
Chye Sim

Braised Mushroom

Method:

Steam your chicken. Keep the juice from the chicken.  (I find this more flavourful than cooking it in the broth) 

Bring chicken broth, fish sauce, soya sauce, the juice from the steaming and pepper to a boil. Adjust the flavour to your liking.   Depending on how dark you prefer, add your dark soya sauce accordingly.  (Reserve two ladles full of stock for braising the mushroom).

After getting the taste right, mix the potato starch with water and slowly pour into your sauce, stirring constantly. 

The broth will thickens. I didn't like mine to be so starchy, so tune accordingly. 

Cook your noodle, pour the sauce over it and add the shredded chicken and vegetable

Serve with a dash of sambal chilli if you prefer it hot. 

 

 Braised mushroom

2 ladles of chicken stock

10 mushrooms (soaked, and sliced thinly)

1 piece of pork skin

Light Soya sauce

Dark soya sauce

Oyster sauce

Pepper

Method:

Put the above into a pot.  Fill with another cup of water and bring it to a boil.

 Season with soya sauce, dark soya sauce and oyster sauce to your liking.  Add pepper.

Slowly simmer for ½ hour till mushroom is soft.

*****************************
Source: ieatishootipost (please refer to Dr Tay's site for full demo on flipping the prata and as well as comprehensive understanding on how to make a good prata)

Crispy Roti Prata

What you need:

600g Plain Flour

300ml Water

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp Oil

1 egg

Method:

Mix liquid and whisk them well together.

Add in dry ingredients and mixed well.

Sit for 20 mins.

Knead for 10 min with 5 min interval on speed 2 in KA.  Repeat cycle if you wanted a softer dough.

Divide dough into balls (100g) each, making sure there isn’t any crack or fold lines. 

Oil the dough generously before placing them into a container to proof for 8 hours or more.

After proofing, place balled dough into a well oiled table top.  Flatten with your palm and do the lay and pull stretch method until you reached a very fine membrane looking dough.   Oil generously throughout process, making sure the rim of the dough is thinned out.

Once you reached that texture, fold the dough. (pls see Dr Tay’s video).

Heat frying pan with oil and pan fry till crisp.

Serve with your favourite curry.