little red cape

Helloooooooo :D

Friday was a very long but enjoyable day. Had a test first thing in the morning (was alright) and then bummed around uni until work. Bailleau library has reopened and there are tai chi/yoga/pilates classes going on upstairs too... LOL but i really like the cute study booths within the book cases and the random tv study lounges strewn across the floor... 

Farn picked me up from work and we went to Knox to eat at some japanese restaurant named Sakura Place. 

We ordered Pork Belly as an entree (not shown in pictures), Naruto Ramen (has chicken in it) and Japanese Seafood Omelette Rice. 

:D 

We both really really enjoyed the Omelette Rice but liked Ajisen Ramen's Ramen more haha. Maybe we should try Volcano Ramen next time.... EXPLOSIONNNN 

But before our late dinner we visited Myer :D 

I got this red cape from Princess Highway (Dangerfield) 50% off and now look like little red riding hood :DDD

Farn also bought this blue casual shirt and i really like the zip on the front pocket. No picture unfortunately.... But from St Lenny from Dangerfield too. 

My sister says that Farn and I eat too much when we get together (which is only once a week.... wth) so we are dispelling this fact by exercising next week if the weather holds LOL..... 1000 steps in Dandenong? Only if we get to eat at the cafes there after xD

crunchy eating

Today i wagged my (9am) only class to spend the day with Farn :) We cooked Marion Grasby's Deep Fried Eggs with Bacon Mash (bacon is cheaper than the suggested smoked eel) and Jamie Oliver's Eggy Crumpets with Chilli and Honey Bacon. 

The recipe for the eggy crumpets is here and is unbelievably simple. It calls for one thinly sliced red chilli but we decided to use leftover Extra Extra Hot Peri Peri Sauce. 

...it had no effect unlike a real chilli pepper but it still tasted good! 

I can't find Marion Grasby's recipe online because Farn gave me the actual cook book but i can explain the cooking process briefly! 

Smoked Eel/Bacon Mash: 

1. Wash, peel and quarter a few floury potatoes (sebago/coliban/spunta) and cook them over medium heat for 15-20minutes in cold salted water. Drain well and mash with the smoked eel/cooked bacon. 

2. Combine pouring cream, extra virgin olive oil, one peeled and bruised garlic, thyme, cracked pepper and salt into a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer. After tasting and adjusting, take it off the heat and let the flavours continue to infuse.

3. Strain the cream mixture through a sieve and gradually add to the mash while mixing to help the emulsification.

Deep Fried Egg:

1. Bring water in a deep saucepan to a medium heat and pour two table spoons of white vinegar in. Wait for small bubbles to rise from the bottom to the surface and do not let them bubble furiously. 

2. To poach the eggs, swirl the bubbling water around and carefully slide the cracked egg into the middle of the created whirlpool. This is the trick to a good poached egg!

Cook them for ~4 minutes. 

3. Drain the poached eggs and then roll them in plain flour, beaten egg and then Japanese Panko breadcrumbs in that order. 

4. Test to see if the (vegetable) oil is hot enough by poking a wooden chopstick in and seeing if furious bubbles appear around it. Gently ladle one crumbed egg into the oil and baste it for 20 to 30 seconds until golden brown on both sides. Voila! 

I also highly recommend drizzling some honey over your bacon the next time you eat it. After eating and cleaning up we went to get KFC and watched the dying sunset at Ruffey Lake Park :) 

Hope you learned something from this post but now it's time for me to study some anatomy.... 

opposite weeks

an accidental shot - yet the main dish remains focused in a blur of food.  

Saturday: Today i woke up to an extra snuggly bed and lots of yummy food. I also ran up a hill today... which made me crave for the Kalamata Olive Dip again :D

Friday: Had work and then sushi train for dinner in Box Hill (whitehorse road) 

Thursday: I spent the day with Farn at Scienceworks (i like the Bodyworks section), ate lunch at Footscray and enjoyed hot jam doughnuts and fob rolls while watching Bridesmaids at Crown.

He also bought me Marion Grasby's cook book for our two year anniversary present :DDDDDDDD SO EXCITED TO COOK EVERYTHING IN THERE.

Wednesday: 

I made Spaghetti Marmite with Walnuts for lunch and saved some for Laura after i picked her up from school. 

It's one of Nigella Lawson's recipes and even if you don't like marmite/vegemite i promise you the salty flavour is very subtle underneath the creaminess of the butter and shaved cheese. 

Katherine, you would eat this right??????

I promise you it's really good and EASY TO MAKE :D

I also went op shopping before i picked Laura up but only had 15 minutes to look through the shop.... i need at least 30 minutes damnit !!!

However, i did find this Sportsgirl top for only $4 and not only is it in great condition and the perfect size but it also feels nice... 

For those who know me, i think we have all realized how much stuff i own that is nice to touch (jacket, satchel, knee o.O etc...) rofl.. 

Tuesday: I did nothing but eat Gelare Waffles with Praline n' Cream Icecream at 10pm....?

Monday: Went to Kitchen Workshop at Crown with Melbourne Uni group :) I also unsuccessfully dyed my hair at home and my hair stank like hair dye for three days.... Unsuccessful as in the colour (deep brown with slight tinge of red) did not show very well.

poached woached

As promised, here are the Poached Pears in Red Wine with Sabayon. 

Damn, I was going to write up the recipe but I can't remember how to make the two most important bits - the sauce for the pears to stew in and the sabayon.

I'm also braindead after my exam today and my hand hurts. In fact, why am i even on the computer on my "break". If anything, my eyes and brain are probably hurting from the screen light and information.

But don't worry, i remember some bits..........

like 1. Peel four pears, leaving the stems on. LOL

...and then i forget how to make the sauce LOL. But it does include orange peels, red wine, sugar, star anise, rose water, something something.... @.@ where is the recipe damnit

ceebs asking Laura too.

But you basically poach the four pears in the said ingredients over the stove for ten minutes. Then place the dish in a baking tray and cover it with aluminium foil.

Poach for 50minutes - 1 hour and your pears should have a lovely red tinge to them along with the most incredible aroma (due to the rosewater) !!!!

To make the sabayon, you whisk 3 egg yolks and caster sugar and then cook it over a bain marie (water bath). I would have liked it thicker but i guess we just wanted to eat it straight away....

I can't wait to go shopping after exams :) So many things to buy yayyyyyyyyyy

Listening to the "Next to Normal" soundtrack is quite soothing actually. It blocks out Laura's high pitched violin next door omg why did she pick something so high pitched....

okay time to go :) byeeee

moop moo

Bruschetta 

I hate biochemistry. 

Nutmeg Omelette with Mushrooms, Tuna, Spinach & Zucchini 

On the other hand, these grapes are huge. I am so over studying. 

raining umbrellas

Hello :)

I'm trying to avoid studying glomerular filtration and animal toxicity and malnutrition so... i'm blogging instead? But since i haven't come up with anything to answer Day Three of the blogging challenge, you'll have to feast your eyes on something more visually pleasing instead xD

 

Anyway, I invited Farn over to cook dinner with me during Easter and we made Spaghetti Bolognaise and a Cinnamon Apple Pie :)

I don't think i'll the post the recipes tonight but i did a mash up between Jamie Oliver's and Taste.com.au's Apple Pie recipes..... 

HAHA this pic makes me laugh because i'm not sure if i told him to kiss the pie or not but he did.... oh well rofl

This was the second time i made apple pie (using a slightly different method for the filling) but i think i prefer the first method because the filling was a lot juicier last time but that's also because a lot of the juice trickled out this time... LOL

Still tasted nice though :) Good with icecream/cream/custard and WHEN HOT.

Is it just my computer or... do these pictures seem really pixelated =\

Anyway, the spaghetti bolognaise took like 15 minutes max to cook and it was yummy but i didn't cook enough pasta.... Also wished i had mushrooms, brocolli etc because by the end of the holidays i had run out of food....



Ooh... i also had my first churro yesterday! Except it was not that exciting........ i thought it would be extraordinarily fluffy on the inside instead of fried and crunchy all the way through. I ate something even more exciting today though - a fish fillet sushi! yum :)

Pumpkin & Mushroom Risotto (recipe)

Hey guys :) 

Today, I went to Langham Hotel with Farn and his family for a lunch buffet - it was really really good! But more on that later... Because I'm teaching you guys how to make Pumpkin & Mushroom Risotto tonight :D 

To serve two very hungry/three normal people:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

2. Chop up a quarter of a pumpkin, lots of mushrooms and broccoli 

3. Dice 1.5 large/2 small onions and place in a separate bowl. 

4. Place the chopped pumpkin and mushroom on a tray and season them with salt, pepper, herbs (eg - thyme, rosemary) and olive oil. Roast for about 20 minutes until golden and tender but make sure it does not turn soft and mushy because you will be cooking it again with the risotto in the end. 

5. To prepare the actual risotto, heat up ~750mL of vegetable stock (and water) in a saucepan until it boils. Make sure you keep this warm throughout the entire process and you can always heat up more as you go. 

6.  Meanwhile, pour some oil and a knob of butter in a large pot. Sweat the diced onions in it and then add a few sploshes of good quality red or white wine and keep stirring until you cook the alcohol off (optional).

7. Now pour one cup of arborio rice and coat it in the oil for 30 seconds before adding one ladle of heated stock. 

 

Notice how grainy the rice appears at first in the picture above. Let the mixture simmer on low heat and make sure you always stir it.



When the rice has absorbed the stock and water, pour in another ladle and repeat this for around 25 minutes until you can see and feel the rice getting plumper and all the starch oozing out.

 

8. Taste the risotto as you go and season with salt if needed. When the rice grains are nearly cooked, add the chopped broccoli in. 

We also added in some lemon zest and juice to lift up the risotto but this is optional (don't let any lemon seeds fall in...yuck)

9. Keep adding stock if needed and now add in the roasted pumpkin and mushrooms.    

10. Grate some parmesan cheese and serve up the risotto immediately :)

If you have any questions, just ask Laura or me :) 

Enjoy :)  

dark pools of gold

Happy Chinese New Year :)

I made Dan Tart (egg tart) today... and although they may not be the prettiest (nor flakiest in terms of pastry) things in the world, they still tasted pretty good for a first attempt! So if you want to learn how to make them then let us venture into the world of baking..... 

I couldn't find any mini metal tart tins because the supermarkets/asian grocer i went to didn't have any, had sold out or were too expensive to buy in bulk at specialty cooking stores.

So to celebrate CNY at its cheapest  best i just bought aluminium patty cases from the $2 shop LOL... and used two for each egg tart for extra support.   

aluminium patty cases with paper lining...

 1. Set aside the eggs and (unsalted) butter at room temperature for a while.

2. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees fanforced. 

3.  Sieve 200g of plain flour (~1.5 cups) and 50g of icing sugar (0.4 cups) into a large mixing bowl.

4. Add 100g of diced unsalted butter to the bowl and lift the butter and flour up high above bowl as you rub them together with your fingertips to incorporate air and therefore ensure a light pastry. You should end up with a coarse breadcrumb texture. 

kneaded dough about to be gladwrapped and refrigerated

5. Make a well in the middle and pour in one beaten egg. While gently working the dough together with your hands, add in one tablespoon of cold water. 

6. Lightly flour the bench and tip your dough onto it. Finish kneading the dough but try not to overwork it to avoid a tough pastry. Add more flour/beaten egg if necessary. 

7. Gladwrap your kneaded dough and refrigerate it for 15 minutes. 

the egg filling before being sieved

 8. After dissolving 60g of icing sugar (~0.5 cups) into 100mL of hot water, add in 100mL of milk to a measuring jug or bowl. Mix well. 

9. Beat in three eggs one by one to the mixture. 

10. Pass the liquid through a sieve into a measuring jug (yes the picture on the right confirms my stupidity...) for pouring into the egg tart moulds later on.  

prick the base of each tart mould

11. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll small pieces of it into balls. 

12. Using your two thumbs, press each ball into a mould and trim off any excess dough. Due to my fake tart tins, I had to mould the dough in the muffin tray in order to maintain the crimped shape of each tart.

13. Prick the base of each tart mould to allow steam to escape while baking.  

14. Carefully pour the egg filling into each tart mould. Do not fill to the top. 

15. Bake for 20-25min. Let them cool on a wire rack and eat them while they're still warm :)

 Okay.. you may have noticed a few caramel tinges on a few of my dan tarts... either the sugar hadn't fully dissolved and dispersed through the mixture (and therefore had more chance of burning) and/or the oven temperature was too high. Since some of the dan tarts were still uncooked (runny) i had to cover the tray with aluminium foil and lower the oven temperature for a few more minutes. Luckily most of them stayed completely yellow. 

Also, if you want a flakier pastry, Laura says to add in a LOT more butter (room temperature) and fold it through the flour and sugar instead of crumbing it. Except this takes a lot...more....time....... 

my tummy is talking to me

Okay, I have finally decided to teach you guys how to make White Radish Cake (Lo bak gou) on the eve of Chinese New Year. If i procrastinated any longer it would become embarrassing and also set back what else I have in mind to blog.

lightly panfried

I'm sorry if my recipe sucks... because i actually don't have one HAHA oh dear. My mum and i just read through many online recipes like this one and went by taste and past knowledge of the ingredients. 

...picking at the steamed radish cake ><

1. Peel and then coarsely grate around 3 or more large white radishes. You can choose to squeeze out the excess moisture using a muslin cloth but we left it so that less water would be added later on while it cooks. 

2.  Let the grated radish simmer by itself in a large pot for 5 minutes with the lid on. Then stir and check if any more (hot) water is still needed. You want it moist - not too dry but not swimming in its own...juices xD

resting on a wire rack after steaming for an hour

3. Slice some chinese sausage (lap cheung), dried shrimps, spring onion, mushrooms... basically whatever you want to put inside. I can't remember anymore but chinese sausage is essential!

4. Stir those ingredients into the pot as well and let it simmer for a few minutes longer. Add more water and/or season with salt/chicken powder if necessary.

5. When it is well mixed and you can start to smell the aromas of each ingredient coming together, take it off the heat. 

6. Okay, this is the most vague part... The recipe said 225g of rice flour (from asian groceries) but i think we only used half of that. Slowly add the sieved rice flour to the mixture while stirring until it becomes sticky but neither runny nor too solid.. It comes with experimenting i suppose.

7. Lightly grease a casserole dish with vegetable oil and scoop the mixture into it. Spread the batter evenly across the dish with a spatula.

8. Steam for 40min - 1 hour in a large steamer/wok. Insert a skewer into the mixture and if it comes out clean then it's ready. Let it rest on a wire rack to cool.

9. You can eat it steamed or panfried. After cooling, slice the cake into rectangles and you can coat them with corn flour for extra crispiness before panfrying.

Enjoy :) 

P.S- Next up... New Year Cake, Dan Tart... who knowssss wheeeeeeeee

GRRRR

omggggggg don't you hate it when you write up something but then it doesn't save/fails to send and you have to write it again??????/ BECAUSE I AM IN THIS SITUATION NOW. goddamnit. 

here we go again...  

Alfafa, Tomato and Cucumber on Garlic Toast 

Interviewer: "What got you through the 3rd set?"

Li Na: "Prize money"

LOLOLLLLL omg... i don't know whether to laugh with or without shame for being asian LOL

Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Apples and Honey

So.. we have this 1m x 1m hole in our living room ceiling right now... and inside is a 10cm diameter circle that is open to the sky. The reason behind this is poor tiling on the balcony... poor carpentry skills basically. So when it rained the water didn't run off or whatever but instead traveled down and soiled the floorboards and ultimately the living room ceiling below it... and when the builders dug up the tiles in order to plaster the surface or whatever first (and THEN put the tiles on....) the commotion caused the ceiling below to suddenly collapse LOL. 

And then we got a free sky window.... hurray... LOL

But never fear... (like any of you are... unlike my mum who couldn't sleep that night in fear that the entire ceiling would collapse with it), the carpenters are coming tomorrow to fix both problems.... rofl 

  
Lemon & Poppyseed Cupcakes

Anyway, stay tuned for the next post which will focus on how to make some Chinese New Year delicacies such as White Radish Cake!!!! 

moroccan rose

Today's post is dedicated to another cooking adventure...


Thai Chicken Noodle Broth. 

yay! (...but looks so unasian... blame the vegetables lol)

We followed a recipe in some Women's Weekly Soups mini booklet but a very similar recipe can be found online here .  The only differences between these recipes and our version are that we substituted chicken lovely legs for breast fillets and one heaped teaspoon of chilli paste instead of red chillis. (And i just realised why our version looks slightly unasian... there are no asian vegetables and the chilli paste meant a clear broth was out of the question.... but we'll get back to that!) Oh, and shaved palm sugar was essential to help sweeten the soup but this is not stated in the online version!

Since our fridge lacked any kind of asian vegetable (Disgraceful yes... - but at least we had palm sugar okay??... Not every Asian has palm sugar in their pantry!!!!!! ... or do they LOL), we decided to throw in celery and mushroom instead of the desired bok choy. Oh, and if you're using dried vermicelli remember to soak it before adding to the pot. 

And now it is Cino's turn to shineeeeeeeeeee..... or perhaps sleep with his head sandwiched between two pillows for the camera. LOL