Broccoli Quiche

I have not been as active like before in updating my blog post here for the past few years.   But if you see any new post is updated, the dishes or bakes are the one that I love to eat and I have been cooking it numerous times; its a keeper recipe for me! 😘.

You may like to try those recipes I recently updated and see if your taste buds are same like mine 🤣🤣.

BROCCOLI QUICHE

Shortcrust pastry
Adapted from Recipetineats with slight changes

Ingredients
185gm all purpose flour or /plain flour
100gm cold butter, cut into 1cm cubes
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp dried thyme (chopped fine)
2½-3 tbsp cold water

Method
Using your food processor equipment, place in the all purpose flour, thyme, butter and salt .

Pulse and blitz until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
With the motor still running on lowest speed, add in 2½ tbsp icy cold water through the tube feeder.

Continue to blitz for 20secs till it turn into a ball dough. (Do not blitz for more than 30secs).  Remove out and if there are still some crumble bits gather it together and form into a disc snd wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 - 3 hours.

Start preheating your oven to 180°C.

Sprinkle some flour on your table top and roll out the pastry to fit to your 9" tart/pie mould or into 4 pcs 4" diameter tart mould (as I'm using here).

Refrigerate the pastry cases for 15 to 30 mins.

Line pastry cases with baking parchment paper and fill in with ceramic baking beans to stop the pastry from rising up during cooking.

Bake the tart shells for 15 minutes .
Remove the paper and baking beans and continue to bake another 5 - 8 minutes.


Filling Ingredients 
25 gm butter
1 large onion, thinly slices
Few slices smoked bacon or ham, chopped small
1 cup (or abt 200gm) chopped broccoli florets
2 large eggs *
1 cup full cream milk /whole milk *
60gm grated cheddar cheese

Method
Fry the chopped bacon till fragrant and dish out.
Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add in the onion, stir fry till light brown add in the broccoli florets. Fry till about 2 - 3 mins.  Season with salt and pepper. Dish out.

Whisk eggs and full cream milk till well combined. (Add pinch of salt if necessary).

Arrange the broccoli in the blind baked pie crust, top with bacon bits, sprinkle in the grated cheese all over and pour in the egg milk mixture.

Bake the quiche for about 30 minutes (20 mins for small tart mould) until golden top brown.  Remove from oven and let the quiche cool in the baking pan for 5 - 10 minutes.

Serve warm !

Note:
* The ratio between eggs and milk is dependable on individual.
Some would prefer 3 eggs to ¼ cup milk
Or 1 egg to ¼ cup milk. (I prefer my quiche not too  to be eggy and rubbery in taste).

* Broccoli - you may either stir fry it or lightly steamed it.
The fillings in the quiches are quite versatile; you can add in anything that you like to eat.

With the added of dried thyme in the pastry, it does bring out fragrant flavour after it was well baked !

Pineapple Sambal (Sambal Nenas)

Sambal is a popular condiment in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.  It is a hot spicy sauce made from chilli, spices, herbs, plus some other combination of onion, garlic, ginger etc.

In sambal recipes, some used fresh chilli, or dried chilli or store bought chilli paste (chilli boh).

Today my post of Sambal Nenas, I used my own grind chilli paste.

PINEAPPLE SAMBAL 

Ingredients

1 medium size medium ripe pineapple

Blended Spice Paste
20gm dried prawn
10pcs shallots
4 cloves garlic
1" knob belacan
2-3 tbsp chilli boh (dried chilli grind to paste)

½ tsp salt (or accordingly to taste)
1 tsp sugar

Method

Peel pineapple and cut into bite size pieces.

Blend the spice paste ingredients finely.

Heat about 5 to 6 tbsp oil in a wok and add in the blended spices paste. Stir fry till it fragrant (about 5 minutes); till oil separated.

Pour in the pineapples and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes.  Add in few tablespoon water and add in salt and sugar and mix well.

Delicious!!! 😘

This is a very delicious sambal dish and ... addictive too. If you are inviting your friends over for dinner,  I guarantee they will give you 2 thumbs up!  😅 And do cook extra rice too !


Note:
You may substitute with anchovies (ikan bilis) with dried prawns.

You can buy the store bought packet chilli boh instead of grinding the dried chilli yourself.

Cream Cheese Brownies

Two days ago, our Prime Minister has announced to further lock down to another 2 more weeks till 28th April! I know there are a lot home cooks out there dreaded to hear this news as cooking for 3 meals a day for their family has been a tiring chores.  And I believe these words are getting common for them ..."what to cook?" Or "what to eat". 😂.

Today post is this yummiest Cream Cheese Brownies. This is my 

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES
Recipe sourced from Bake For Happy Kids
Makes one 20 cm / 8 inches square

For the cream cheese swirl:
250g cream cheese, softened at room temperature
50g caster sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

For the brownies:
250g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), coarsely chopped
100g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
35g cornflour
25g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS 

For the cream cheese swirl:
Spoon mix the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until combined. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until mixture is smooth. Set aside.

For the brownies:
Preheat oven to 180°C.  Line baking pan with 2 overlapping layers of baking paper, leaving an inch overhang on all sides.

Whisk combined cornflour, cocoa powder and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.

Place the coarsely chopped chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionaly until the chocolate butter are melted and smooth . (You may do this in your microwave if you have one).

Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla. Then, mix in the eggs, one at a time. Sift in cornflour, cocoa powder into the mixture and use a spoon to mix until just combined and batter is smooth. (Do not over-mix.)

Pour chocolate batter into your pan. Dollop half the cream cheese mixture over batter, using your butter knife or small spatula to create swirls in the batter. Then, dollop the remaining cream cheese mixture over batter to create more swirls in the batter.

Bake the brownies for 30 minutes until the top is just set (do not over baked it). It is alright if the center still looks jiggly. 

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cook for 15 to 20 minutes.  Lift the overhang parchment paper, to cool further on the wire rack before cutting the brownies.

NOTE

Do not cut down the 200g sugar, as we are using a dark chocolate with 70% cocoa , the brownies turn out just the right sweetness .

Any left over, store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. 

I love chocolates, and this brownies absolutely so yumm. My kind of desserts... hahaha

Wish I can share a piece with you  😘

Coconut Buns

As we are in the lockdown because of Covid-19,  we have to stay home stay safe from 18th March till April 14th.

So no where to go and stucked at home, other than eat, watched TV, browse online, I spend my time cooking and baking away. Before the lockdown, I have stocked up different types of flour knowing that I will have to bake bread for my breakfast.  Im sharing here one of my favourite buns that is, coconut buns.

COCONUT BUNS

INGREDIENTS

Fillings
180gm-200gm fresh grated coconuts
60gm dark brown sugar (黑糖) or palm sugar
1 tbsp water
(Note: Save some fresh grated coconut for later use to sprinkle on the buns before putting into the oven to bake)

Cook the brown sugar and water till dissolved. Add in the grated coconut and stir constantly to cook till it almost dry up. 
Set aside.

Dough *
260gm bread flour
3g instant yeast
160gm Egg + Fresh Milk (use XL egg )
30gm sugar
2gm salt
30gm butter

Method
Place all the ingredients into your mixer (except Butter) and using your hook, knead till to a silky and elastic dough.
Add in the butter and knead till window pane stage (a must!)

Let the dough proof till double in size (about an hour) .

Punch out the air and divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll round and let rest for 10 minutes before shaping.

Grease the baking tin / pan and preheat the oven to 180C.

Flatten the dough and fill it with coconut filling (20-25g). Place all the buns on a greased baking sheet, and let rise for 30mins.

Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle some grated coconut on it. Then bake in the oven for 30mins or until golden brown.

* This dough recipe is the famous killer toast from Victoria Bakes with slight adjustment to it. 


**  You can send the buns straight to oven to bake after the 30mins (2nd proof) ....  I didnt do egg wash the buns and sprinkle grated coconut on top and it look great after baked! 

Baked Tapioca Cake

Baked Tapioca Cake or Bingka Ubi Kayu is a traditional snack dessert which I'm preferred it to be called kuih.

If you love this dessert cake or kuih, and like to make it often , it is good to invest an electrical grater or food chopper, else you be like me having a sore arms the next day. Or if you can find store bought frozen grated tapioca or cassava at the frozen section (that would be life saver to you! )

I have made this Tapioca Cake back in year 2011 using the same recipe / Table for 2...or more

Baked Tapioca Cake / Bingka Ubi Kayu

Ingredients
1.2kg Tapioca  (after peeled and grated, it weigh about 900gm more or less)
200gm sugar
200ml coconut cream
200ml water
2 eggs
40gm butter

Method
Peel and grate the tapioca. Set aside.

Slightly beat the eggs in a bowl and  mix in the coconut cream together. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan, boil the 200ml water and sugar till dissolved and melt in the butter.
Immediately pour this hot solution into the grated tapioca and stir to combine. It should thicken slightly.

Pour the coconut milk/eggs mixture  into grated tapioca mixture and stir well to combine.

Pour batter into a lined grease proof paper into a 7" or 8" inch square baking pan and bake in a preheated oven at 170/180C for 1 hour or  until golden brown.

                          Golden brown 

The Best Sambal Belacan Dipping Sauce

Sambal is a popular condiment in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.  

It is usually made from chillies, spices, herbs and belacan (shrimp paste).  Sambal belacan is made either for frying process or dipping sauce.

Today I would like to share with you my new found love, my best sambal belacan dipping sauce.  If you like chilli dipping sauce which is sweet and tangy taste, you really got to try this. 

Best Sambal Belacan Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

5-6 fresh chilli

10 green bird's eye chilli

4 medium size onions (cut to halves)

2 clove garlic

1" belacan (shrimp paste)

10 limes (squeeze out juice)

 (save 3-4 lime skins to blend in later)

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp vinegar

Method

Place the onions and belacan in a frying pan. Toast the belacan till fragrant and the onions till lightly char.

In a blender, add in the lightly char onions, garlic, toasted belacan, sugar, brown sugar, salt, lime juice and vinegar. 

Blend about 15 seconds; then add in all the chillies and lime skins. Continue to blend till to the paste texture you like.

(You may grate more lime skins in if you like).

Store the chilli paste sauce in a glass container.

* This sambal chilli sauce will taste much better the longer it is kept.

Store in the fridge up to 2 weeks.

This dipping sauce is good to go with any fried fish, fish cakes or slice some cucumber and dip in it. Yum .... drooling 🤤🤤

Basque Burnt Cheesecake

If you have not heard of Basque Burnt Cheesecake before, at a glance at my post you might have thought I have a disaster baking day and burnt my cake!!

The first time when I came across this burnt cheesecake on the social media,  my instinct  looking at it is "that cake is over burnt on top and yet they still want to post it out!" 😂😂😂.

But most of those who have baked it or tasted this burnt cheesecake, they only  obsessively raving how delicious this cheesecake is!

Basque Burnt Cheesecake

Recipe reference from PhongHong Bakes

Ingredients 

500g cream cheese (at room temperature)

170g caster sugar

250 ml double cream or whipping cream

3 large eggs

18g flour

Method

Line an 8" round springform pan with baking paper ensuring that the paper extends about 2 inches above the rim of the pan (the cake will rise above the rim in the oven).

With your stand mixer, add the cream cheese and sugar into the bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well  (about 15 seconds on each egg and scraping down the sides of the bowl on each addition).

Pour in double cream and beat until well incorporated. 

Turn the mixer off and sift in the flour over cream cheese mixture. Beat on low speed until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue to beat until batter is very smooth, homogenous, and silky

Pour batter into prepared pan, tap a few times to release air bubbles.

Baked the cheesecake at 200°C (please adjust according to your oven) for 60 - 65 minutes) till deep dark brown top but still jiggly in the center.

Let the cheesecake cool slightly (about 10 - 15 minutes.)  The cheesecake will "collapse" slightly and then unmould the springform.
Let it cool completely and thereafter carefully peel the parchment away.  Cut into wedges and serve 

Unfinished cheesecakes can be store in an airtight container and keep in the fridge.

Dried Agar Agar Candy

Today post is my first post for 2019 😊😊.
How sweet could it be posting my first post is sweet jelly candies. Hopefully for the rest of the year my life would be sweet sweet.

Dried Agar Agar candies .... I once tasted this dried agar agar is when Im a teenager time going visiting a Malay friend during Hari Raya. My first bite of this candy and Im absolutely love it. When I asked my friend how it was made, she told me that the agar agar had to be sundried for days.  What??? For days?? Oh not me, Im not going to do this ridiculous hardwork to sundried these candies for days before I can eat it!!

And after 30 over years, here I am making this sweet candies to enjoy 😁😁.

Dried Agar Agar Candy
Recipe adapted from Table for 2 .... or more

Ingredients

100gm agar-agar strips (you can use scissor to snip it shorter)

3 litre water (12 cups)

800gm rock sugar

600gm caster sugar

2 tsp of rose flavouring & few drop of red or pink colouring

2 tsp lychee flavour (no colouring required)

2 tsp apple flavouring & few drops of green colouring

2 tsp orange flavouring (no colouring required)

Method 

In a heavy based big pot, put the agar agar strips and pour the 3 litres water in. 

Bring to a boil and turn to low heat, boil until all agar strips have dissolved; stirring occasionally.

Prepare 4 square or rectangle baking pans.  Add in the flavourings and colourings into each of the pan. Set aside.

Add in the rock sugar and caster sugar.  Cook till everything dissolves. The texture should be thick once the sugar and agar agar has dissolved.

Pour the agar agar mixture evenly into the four pans and stir to mix the flavouring and colouring.

Once the agar agar has turned solidified, cut out  with serrated knife. (do cut out into small pieces).

Arrange the cut pieces, serrated side down on a large tray lined with non stick baking paper.

Sun dry until a whitish crunchy crust appears. Turn jelly pieces every other day for proper exposure to the sun. 

After cutting the agar agar and lay out nicely on the trays only I realise it is a little too big in size. I have to take it out again to cut it half each of every piece.  Well, being a first timer 😄

Smaller sizes can cut short the drying time.

Will I make this again? Bringing in and out these trays of gems for 3 to 4 days to sundry and depending on the weather? Yes, definitely will make this again but I think I will get a food dehydrator to do the drying for me 😆. 

(I have to keep a watchful eyes on it in case bird's dropping ... or flies landed on my gems).

In the beginning when I was going through reading the recipe, the amount of rock sugar and sugar used in it really scares me off. 

But believe me, it is really not that overly sweet in taste. I find it just perfect !! 

 
Here I would like to wish all my Chinese readers Happy Chinese New Year in advance!

Gong Xi Fa Cai and have a prosperous year ahead !

Kumquat Almond Teacakes

Kumquat is one of my favourite fruits for baking desserts. I love their tangy fragrant sweet taste after they are cooked in sugar syrup.  You can blend it to become jam or make kumquat juice.  The jam are good on toast.

Today I am posting again my Kumquat Almond teacakes. The first time I baked this teacakes is in 2012 and eversince then I will bake this every year once I could get hold the kumquats at the supermarkets.

KUMQUAT ALMOND TEACAKES 

Ingredients 

35gm all purpose flour

50gm ground almond

1/2 tsp baking powder 

60g butter

50gm caster sugar

2 eggs (Grade B)

60gm kumquat puree (refer recipe below)

18 pcs poached kumquat halves (refer recipe below).

Prepare 18 2 inch tart tins or 12 3 inch tins. Grease the tins with butter. Preheat oven at 150(fan)/170C.

Sift flour and baking powder. Mix with ground almond, set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.  Add in the almond flour mixture Put in 2 additions, mixing well after each. Mix in kumquat puree.

Scoop the batter equally into prepared moulds and top with a kumquat half.

Bake for 12 mins (2 inch) or longer for larger tins

Kumquat compote

20 kumquats

Sugar

Water

Weigh kumquats and prepare equal amount of water (in weight) and half amount of sugar (ratio: 2:2:1, kumquat:water:sugar, eg : 200gm:200gm:100gm).

(* Based on my experience, I suggest to use less water for making this compote jam... as once the sugar diluted it will be more watery. )

Half the kumquats or thickly sliced into 4 slices and remove seeds. Put the kumquats, sugar and water into a saucepan and cook (on med heat)until the kumquat looks glossy and soft. Remove 18 pcs of halves and puree the rest with some of the syrup. Unused puree can be spread on toast. 

You don't need to push the kumquat slightly in to the batter as it will sunk down as they bake in half way 😋. Just place it on top of it.

                                                   Yummy yummy YUMMY !!!

Steamed Tofu With Mince Meat & Mushroom

Seriously I think being a food blogger is not easy but I do admire and salute those bloggers (including myself 😂) for their time painstakingly .... prepare, cooked, taking pictures, editing and post to the blog. 

And now, you would have to rewrite your own recipe as some food bloggers or editors wouldn't allowed you to copy and paste the exact same word by word of their recipe! 

This few days I have been hardworking posting my food recipes ... well these few posting are my favourite food which I have been cooking and baking for umpteenth times.  Instead of scrolling looking thru my handphone gallery for the recipes, I thought I should post and update it to my blog for my convenient search in the future.

Today, this Steamed Tofu with mince meat is an easy and homey comfort dish.  I have cooked this for .... countless times.

STEAMED TOFU WITH MINCE MEAT 

Ingredients
1 pack silky smooth tofu (300gm)
100gm mince meat
2 medium size dried mushroom (soaked and chopped into small sizes)
1 small shallot
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp corn flour & some water (for  thickening)
4 tbsp water

Marinade 
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp premium oyster sauce
1 tbsp kecap manis 

To garnish
Spring onion
Coriander
Chopped chilli


METHOD

Place the tofu on to the steaming plate and drain off the water. (You may let the tofu sit on the plate for another 5 minutes to drain well excess water ).
Slice the tofu into 1cm thick. 

Steamed the tofu for 8 minutes on medium heat.

Place the mince meat in a medium bowl and add in the marinade sauce to marinade for 5 minutes.

Heat up a frying pan with 1 tbsp oil.  Add in the chopped shallot and garlic and fry till fragrant.  Add in the marinated mince meat and chopped mushrooms.  (With your spatula, break up the mince meat as you stir fry). 
Pour in the 4 tbsp water and stir fry for another minute. Add in the corn flour mixture and give it a well mix. 

Take the steamed tofu out from the steamer and drain off the excess water.  

Pour in the mince meat on top of the tofu and garnish with spring onion, coriander and chilli.

Serve hot ! 

Bon appetit ! Yum! 😋😋