31 August 2013

Avocado with Poached Egg


With birds chirping I opened my eyes, the bright sunlight come in from the window. I decided not to wake Gabriel up and let him rest. He looks so sweet, soundly sleeping. Ok, I will make a good breakfast to begin the day! 

Today is the last day for Little Thumbs Up theme "egg", I decided to make this Avocado with Poached Egg... which is my favourite. As you know avocado contains carotenoids which is a key factor in the anti-inflammatory properties of this vegetable. The fat of avocado provides significant health benefits to us. You may read more about it here

This breakfast is simple, fast to prepare, yet yummy and nutritious. Gabriel thumbs up for this poached egg! 

30 August 2013

Egg Muffins


Recently saw Anncoo Journal making her beautiful egg muffins, as I have all the ingredients in hands, this evening I made this egg muffins as the snack for Gabriel after his piano lesson. It is really simple and fast to make.  

Thanks Ann for sharing her beautiful recipe, it really encourage my son to eat the meat, and I love seeing the yummy oozing egg yolk! 

Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice)


Last week, I cooked Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice) for WT and purposely elaborated a bit on the food setting ...hopefully he will miss my home cooking :) Initially, thinking it will be a fast one...but it end up took me 1.5 hours (from cutting to cooking and washing)...phew, but is worth it as Gabriel and WT love the food, and Gabriel version was just vegetable, egg, anchovies and I stir fry some honey garlic soy chicken for him. 

For this post, I just record the recipe for Sambal Tumis Prawns and the Coconut Rice. I'm submitting this post to the Little Thumbs Up as the theme of this month is egg. For the sunny-side up egg, I think you will know how to make one without any recipe! 


28 August 2013

Banoffee Pie in a Glass


Last weekend, we have our lunch together with friends at Stakehouse Cafe in St. Kilda. One of their dessert that captured my attention is Banoffee Pie. They didn't present it in the classic way of pie format but serve it in a wide cocktail glass! It really surprise me as the taste of the Banoffee Pie is just right, not too sweet. The sweetness of Dulce De Leche layer blends so well with the whipped cream layer. Another surprised is the biscuit base is not using biscuit fine crumble with butter, but using the loose biscuit fine chunk. I just love it!!

I tried to replicate this dessert yesterday, just in time for WT to taste it before his departure. I get the ingredients from the Stakehouse Cafe's menu and the quantities is really depends on the size of your serving glass. As for the Dulce De Leche, I'm using the store bought Nestle Top 'n' Fill caramel, this dessert can be prepared under 30 mins.

26 August 2013

Custard Tart


Finally squeeze out time to try on Vincent Gadan's recipe! He is a French born pastry chef with over 25 years experience. One of his biggest accolades was winning first place in the Ardennes-Eiffel Culinary Prize, at the age of 22! He is currently the Executive Chef and trainer extraordinaire at Patisse Cooking School.

I bought his recipe on Homemade Patisserie Pastry Made Easy sometime in July, wanting to try many of his pastry but didn't manage to do so...last week finally squeeze out a morning to do it!

I like his custard tart, the crust is crumbly and the custard filling is not so sweet just right for my family! His recipe instructions is simple and straight forward, this give me more confident to do more of his recipes in future.








Recipe from Homemade Patisserie Pastry Made Easy, page 42-46
Ingredients for pie dough:
180g unsalted butter, cold, diced in cubes
230g plain flour
2 pinches table salt
50ml water 

Method: 
1. In a bowl, rub the butter into the flour and salt until it forms a crumbly texture. There should still be partial chunks of butter in the dry mix.
2. Add water and mix till just combined. The butter should still be seen in the dough like a marble effect. Do not overwork the dough!
3. Flatten the dough into a rectangle approximately 1 cm thick, wrap it in plastic wrap and rest the dough in the refrigerator for 20 mins (important)
4. Prepare the tart mould by brushing inside with softened butter, dust with flour and shake off any excess.
5. Lightly flour a clean surface, take dough out from fridge, remove the plastic wrap and using a rolling pin, roll out to a 25cm diameter circle, lift up the dough from surface occasionally to relax it, re-flour if needed to ensure the dough is not sticking to the surface. 
6. Gently wrap the dough around the rolling pin, then slowly unwind dough over the mould. Starting from the centre, press in the dough lightly with fingers, working your way around the base and then up the sides. Take the rolling pin and roll over the top of the mould, this will cut the top edges, giving you a clean finish. Rest the dough in the fridge for 20 mins.
7. Preheat the oven to 170C. Prepare the tart base with baking weights. Bake the base for 20-25 mins.

Ingredients for custard filling:
400ml milk
100ml pouring cream
1 vanilla bean, scraped
5 egg yolks
100g superfine sugar
25g cornstarch/ cornflour

Method:
1. In a small saucepan, pour in the milk and cream. Cut the vanilla bean length ways and scrape out the seeds with a knife. Add the seeds and pod to the saucepan and bring to boil.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar, add cornflour. When milk mixture comes to the boil, pour into the egg mixture and continue whisking vigorously. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, place on the medium heat and continue whisking until the custard comes to boil. Continue to whisk and cook the custard for 1 min, remove the saucepan from heat and continue whisking for another 30 seconds. Remove the vanilla bean skins.

Assemble, Bake and Serve:
Pour the custard mixture into the pre-baked tart base. Bake at 175C for 25-30 mins. (depends on your oven). After complete cool down, set in the fridge for at least an hour. Serve chilled or at room temperature.



Last week, there was a morning full of sun and for the first time I walked from my house to the shopping centre near my place, a 15 mins walk which I think I should do it more often. On the way, I see this beautiful flowers... and I know Spring is here! 

22 August 2013

Tofu with Kimchi and Avocado 酪梨&韓式泡菜冷豆腐


Today busy accompanied WT shopping, he is leaving next week :( When we head back home it was time to prepare dinner. I glanced at my bookshelves where I keep my cookbooks, noticed there are two new books, still in the wrap...it was the one I bought in Singapore. 

I quickly unwrapped and flipped through the pages... Masa (山下胜)a Japanese chef who has more than 20 years of cooking experiences, now resided in Taiwan. This is his blog (Masa の料理ABC)

I'm using his recipe on Tofu with Kimchi and Avocado(I didn't follow how he presented the dish as doesn't want Gabriel to see the big chunk of avocado, Gabriel tofu is of course without kimchi) a simple yet flavourful cold dish, fast to prepare and thumbs up by my hubby and Gabriel, next time I will make double portion! Hmm...I should try his recipe earlier!!   


Recipe adapted from Masa
Ingredients:
1/2 box of tofu
50g kimchi
1/2 avocado (used 1 small avocado)
2 tsp soba tsuyu 
some chopped spring onion
a pinch of sesame seeds 

Method:
1. Cut the tofu into bite size cubes.
2. Chopped the kimchi into fine.
3. Cut the avocado and mash it if you like. 
4. Place the tofu cubes in a serving plate, top with kimchi, avocado and pour some soba tsuyu on it and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 



21 August 2013

Double Boil Chicken Essence 清燉鸡汁


Have you ever homemade chicken essence before? If you have not you should try at least once to make it, because it is really nutrition, is good for our body. When I was young, my mum always homemade the chicken essence using the metal double boiler pot burnt 10 hours under the charcoal. She has to watch the fire, added the charcoal to keep the fire burning. Lot of effort just for a bowl of nice chicken essence, the fragrant of the soup is very lovely, the soup is super nice! 

I cooked this chicken essence very often using a electric pot (slow cooker) since I discovered from a friend it can be done this way (it was six years ago) no need to take care of the fire. This post (I cooked this two weeks ago) is to record down how to double boil chicken essence, hope it can bring benefit to you too. 

The chicken use for chicken essence is usually the black chicken, as I didn't manage to buy the black chicken, I use the normal white chicken instead. A small one will do as the size is just right to fit into the slow cooker. You have to make sure you are using a big slow cooker which can put in a 22cm big bowl (this is the big bowl size I used for this cooking)

Ingredients:
a few pieces of chicken hearts (can omit if doesn't like)
a few pieces of chicken livers (can omit if doesn't like)
some cordyceps 冬虫夏草
some sliced ginseng 
a small chicken, remove skin, cut open the chest of the chicken, pound the chicken with heavy pound or using the back of the knife

a 22cm big bowl
a 16cm small bowl
a small plate
a big slow cooker

Note: can use different sizes of bowl but make sure after placing the chicken on top of the plate, the chicken didn't fall out of the boundary of the big bowl, as the purpose of the big bowl is to collect the dripping chicken essence. I yield 600ml of pure chicken essence after 7 hours of slow cooking.

Penang Hokkien Mee



I was very busy last week, WT is leaving for Qatar soon and our LG is giving him a farewell. I "made" this Penang Hokkien Mee using the prawn noodles paste bought from Madam Kwong's Kitchen at Box Hill, used 700g of paste for the 8.2 litre soup pot. Preparing the food to feed around 22 adults and plus their little one really is a big mission :) Luckily there were others dishes as well. 

Middle East, a place which is out from my imagination, out from our plan. God we surrender all this in your hands, send your angels a head of us and path the way. 






14 August 2013

7th Blog Anniversary and Giveaway Results!


Thank you all for participated in my 7th Blog Anniversary and Giveaway lucky draw, without you this event will not be a success! I have listed the participant in the below list. For the one didn't mention about gift I regard it as give away the chance to other. First time using this random.org, really headache for me. I used the "True random number generator" to generate the number, hopefully this is the right way to play this selecting game! 

谢谢你们的祝福与参予Awayofmind Bakery House七周年幸运抽奖,感恩近几年把blog变food blog后一路有你们同行。参予者名单如下:




Gift 1 Winner/第一组 赢奖者:  Lena 

Gift 2 Winner第二组 赢奖者: 鲸鱼   

Winners, please send me your email address so I can contact you, Thanks!

赢奖者请记得Email我你的联络地址!

12 August 2013

Thai Green Curry Chicken (Nigella Lawson)



I watched a lot of Nigella's cook show while I was still in Singapore, but never have time to tried on her recipes thinking her recipes are mostly on sweet treat! Alas, I was wrong. This month Cook Like A Star give me a good reason to look into Nigella's recipes. To my surprise, I discovered this ...suppose to be an express version of Curry in a hurry! I love Thai Green Curry, so there is no reason for me not to try it out!

Ok, I don't have chicken fillets and my family member (Hubby) doesn't like too much vegetables in his green curry so I have to change the ingredients a bit to suit my family taste buds, of course Gabriel is out of this :)

I used cherry tomatoes to replace most of the vegetables and 10 small chicken drumlets (as that is what I have in the fridge) which result in longer cooking time needed, but... with Thai Green Curry paste, this is a wonderful dish to go with rice! 

Note: My 7th blog Anniversary and Giveaway still open until 14 August 2013, Australia time 8 am. To participate please go here. Good Luck!



Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson  with minor modifications
  • Ingredients:
  • tablespoons wok oil
  • tablespoons finely chopped spring onions
  • 3 - tablespoons green Thai curry paste (I used 100g)
  • kilogram chicken thigh fillets (cut into strips about 4 x 2cm / 1½ x ¾ inches) (I used 10 pieces of chicken drumlets as that is what I have)
  • 400 ml can coconut milk
  • 250 ml water (used 500 ml)
  • chicken stock concentrate or cube (omitted)
  • tablespoon Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
  • 185 grams frozen peas (omitted)
  • 200 grams frozen soya beans (omitted)
  • 150 grams frozen fine green beans
  • tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
  • 1 lemongrass, cut into 1 inch length
  • 200g cherry tomatoes, cut into half  

Method:

  1. Heat the wok oil in a large saucepan that owns a lid, drop in the spring onions, cut lemongrass and cook, stirring for a minute or two, then add the green curry paste.
  2. Add the chicken drumlets and keep turning over heat for 2 minutes (I need 10 mins to make sure the chicken drumlets is cooked), before adding the coconut milk, water (i.e. the water plus stock concentrate or cube) and fish sauce, then the frozen peas and soya beans. green beans.
  3. Simmer for 10 minutes ( I simmer for 15 mins. as chicken drumlets need more time to cook than chicken pieces), then add the cheery tomatoes to the mix and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
  4. Serve with rice or noodles, sprinkling the coriander over as you do so. Put out a plate of lime wedges for people to squeeze over as they eat.
Additional information - for gluten free check that the stock cube or concentrate is one of the gluten free brands.




I'm linking this post to Cook like a Star, organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Anuja from Simple Baking

10 August 2013

Chawanmushi 茶碗蒸


It has been a very busy week for me, as there are many new family issues to deal with, sorry for not able to visit most of your blogs.

If you happened to dine in a Japanese restaurant, what is the 'must order' for your family? For me, it has to be the Chawanmushi 茶碗蒸. Gabriel can't go without it! Today, I'm making one for him using the recipe from Novum's Kitchen: cooking for kids cookbook with some modifications. 

Making Chawanmushi can be easy and simple if you are using the ready stock which can get from supermarket. You can choose to use the stock with salt reduced version to have better control on the taste. First time making this, the taste is good, but my Chawanmushi still has some small bubbles on the side of the bowl, not yet totally smooth. Need to better control the heat in future. Anyway, come back to the taste, it is smooth and soft to the tongue, my boy love it! If I'm eating this Chawanmushi, I will eat it with a few drops of lime juice, it is delicious! I'm submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up!

Note: The 7th blog Anniversary and Giveaway still open until 14 August 2013, Australia time 8 am. To participate please go here. Good Luck!





Recipe adapted from Novum's Kitchen: cooking for kids cookbook, page 31 with modifications
(make 4 cups)
Ingredients:
4 eggs (about 60g each)
8 gingko nuts
2 fresh Shitake mushrooms, sliced 
40g cooked chicken meat, cut into four small cubes
2 tsp mirin (add in after the egg surface solidified)

Stock:
400ml ready stock
2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
2 tsp mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)

Method:
1. Mix ingredients for stock in a bowl.
2. Beat eggs and add into the (1) to mix well.
3. Strain the egg mixture into a steaming bowl, place the chicken cubes into each of the steaming bowl, add gingko nuts. Place the bowl into heated-steamer and steam over medium low heat for 8 mins. (depends on your steamer)
4. Add sliced mushrooms into each bowl, add 1/2 tsp of mirin into each bowl. Continue to steam for another 5 mins then turn off the heat. Serve warm.






I am submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event organized by Bake for Happy Kidsmy little favourite DIY and hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out.

07 August 2013

7th Blog Anniversary and Giveaway!


Awayofmind Bakery House is turning 7th in another two weeks time. I would like to say thank you to you, without your support my blog will not be what it is today. To show my appreciation, I would like to have two little giveaway for Awayofmind Bakery House's readers.

再过倆个星期Awayofmind Bakery House将七岁了,谢谢你们一直以来的支持!为表示感谢,我将送出俩分小礼物以表心意。 




第一组: 22cm 花式布丁模

Gift 1: 22cm non-stick pudding pan




第二组: 菊花杯子蛋糕模
Gift 2: 12 cup daisy cupcake pan


What you need to do/你只需:

说明你要的是哪一组的礼物,关注(follow)Awayofmind Bakery House blog,再说出我的其中一份料理,记得留下你的联络,就可以咯。谢绝匿名,谢谢各位的参与 :)

You have to indicate your prefer gift, then "follow" Awayofmind Bakery House blog , and tell me one of my baking/cooking you like, leave your contact then it is done! Anonymous is not entitle for the giveaway, thanks for your participation! 

送礼活动今天开始, 截止日期是14/8/2013 早上8时(澳洲时间)
成绩揭晓是在一个星期后。

The Giveaway starts from today and ends on 14th August 2013, 8 am Australia time.
The result will be announced in a week time. 



02 August 2013

Kidney Beans Chiffon Roll 蜜红豆戚风卷


Do you know why in four seasons country people use dish washing machine? It is not because they are lazy, just because the water is too icy cold for the hands!! My rental place water heater chose to break down since last week...yes in the cold winter! We have to boil so many times of hot water whenever we need to take shower! But cooking and washing dishes becomes chaos...the water is super cold for the hands!!...anyway, Thank God! Today the land lord send a plumber and change the whole water heating system for us! 

Today is windy and rainy, not a good day for taking any photos :(  But the Kidney Beans Chiffon Roll is soft, fluffy and light!... please handle with care! Lol! Do you know why the kidney beans is not as much as in the original recipe? ...because this is the second bake, I under baked the first sponge (I think). It created a big well and cracked when I pulled the sponge out from the baking tray. So the only choice I have is to dig out the kidney beans and bake another sponge, so this is real, please Handle with care! Lol!  

I am using 孟老师's recipe for this roulade. 




Recipe from 孟老师的美味蛋糕卷, page 55
Ingredients:
egg yolk mixture:
4 egg yolks
20g fine sugar
40g salad oil
40g milk
80g cake flour

meringue:
4 egg whites
80g fine sugar
100g can kidney beans (used ~50g)

Filling:
80g unsalted butter (omitted)
20g sugar
50g whipping cream (used 150g)


Method:
1. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks with sugar. gradually add salad oil and milk into the egg yolk mixture. Hand whisk the mixture until well combined.
2. Add the sift cake flour into the egg yolk mixture, whisk until a smooth mixture.
3. In another bowl, add egg whites, beat until foamy. Add sugar in few batches. Beat until stiff peak foam. When upside down the mixing bowl, the meringue will stay in the bowl.
4. Add 1/3 of the meringue into egg yolk flour mixture. Mixed until well combined. Fold in remaining meringue in two batches. Fold in kidney beans. 
5. Pour the mixture into lined baking tray, level the mixture. Bake at 190C for 5 mins then turn the heat to 160C for 7 mins.
6. Remove sponge from baking tray once the cake is done. Let it cool on rack, then remove the parchment paper.
7. For the filling, whisk the whipping cream with sugar until fluffy. Spread the whipping cream on the sponge, roll it up Swiss roll style. Place it in the fridge overnight before cutting.



I am submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event organized by Bake for Happy Kidsmy little favourite DIY and hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out