Blueberry muffin for the souls

This recipe is dedicated to my friend whom I've lost touch for 17 years. We met by chance on one fine evening (good if you are reading this) and we were both overwhelmed by our emotions. She cried, I teared. We caught up with each other again. In anticipation of our meeting once again after 17 years, I decided to bake her some blueberry muffins, hoping she and her family would enjoy.

Here's what you need:

A

375g plain flour (sifted)

1 tbsp baking powder (sifted with flour)

125g soft brown sugar

B
165g melted butter

2 eggs lightly beaten

250ml fresh milk

185g fresh bluberries (about one small tray)

1. Preheat oven to 210deg C.

2. Mix A and make a well in the centre.

3. Pour in the combined B items.

4. Fold in mixture but do not overmix. Batter should be lumpy.

5. Place blueberries into mixture and mix.
6. Pour into approx 12 muffin cups. Batter should fill up to 3/4 of the cup.

7. Bake for 20min.

Cool on wire rack.

Enjoy!

Soya Sauce Chicken

When time doesn't permit or I'm short of ingredients for a simple meal, I will have myself a plate of dark soya sauce chicken with plain rice. It is a relatively simple dish to prepare, which I must say only takes 20min of my time. I enjoy home cooked food, so this is a dish that I will occassionally prepare.



All I need are:

A
Few slices of ginger
4-6 chicken wings
4 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 1/2 cup of water
a clove of garlic

B

1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch
dash of salt and pepper
2 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp Hua Tiao wine


Pour A into pot and boil over small fire
Stir occassionally
Pour in B and mix well
Stir thoroughly to ensure chicken is well cooked
Cook for about 20min for all seasoning to reach the meat and dish is ready to serve

Tomato Sauce Pork Chop

Pork chop is one of my favourite dish since young. Especially those with the tomato sauce pork chop. My version here doesn't have fried potato slices. However, you may wish to add in fried sliced potato slices or strips together with the tomato gravy.

Here are the few simple steps to follow.
Have aside the following:

Meat
2 slices of pork chop, deboned
salt and pepper
2 tsp of sesame oil
2 tsp of Hua Tiao wine
1 egg
6 pieces of cream crackers/plain biscuits - crushed into fine crumbs

Sauce
5 tbsp of tomato sauce, mixed with 3 tbsp of sweet chili sauce and 3 tbsp water
1 tsp corn starch
2 small onions, cut
1 slice of canned pineapple, keeping 2 tbsp of syrup

Some oil for frying

After adding seasoning to meat, dip the meat into egg
After dipping into egg, place meat onto biscuit crumbs and ensure all parts of meat is covered


Heat oil in wok and start frying meat when oil is hot
Once meat is cooked, remove and drain away oil.
Cut into strips.
Prepare for sauce.

SAUCE PREPARATION
Mix the sauce together including pineapple syrup (except pineapple pieces)
Fry onion till lightly browned
Pour in the sauce and cook over heat
Add in pineapple pieces
After stirring for a few min, remove and pour over the meat
Dish is ready to serve

Pineapple pieces/cubes


Frying both sides to make sure meat is thoroughly cooked.



My version of pork chop is good to be eaten on its own too!

Enjoy the dish.

You may wish to add in lychee, cucumber or potato if desired.

One of my favourite cake

What's brown, yellow with swirls in it? No prize for guessing. It's Marble Cake.

Marble cake is one of my favourite cake. I've done a marble cake post before but this is an improved version with chocolate coating and strawberry decor.

We had a gathering over the National Day holiday to celebrate 4 of our friends' birthday. The folks came over to our place for a potluck session, so I thought why buy a birthday cake when I can bake one? I may not bake the most fantastic cake in the world (or Singapore), but I can attempt to do one :) Marble cake came to my mind because it is relatively simple and I guess palatable to most people.

  I like the swirls inside :)


Top it with a strawberry to make it more appetising. Chocolate + strawberry = pleasure!

Here's the recipe I got from Baking: A Commonsense Guide with slight modification.

1 tsp vanilla extract

185g unsalted butter, chopped
230g caster sugar (I had 210g)
3 eggs
280g self raising flour, sifted
185ml milk2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder mixed with 1.5 tbsp warm milk

1 Preheat oven to 200 deg C and lightly grease and line a round pan

2 Add vanilla extract to a bowl of butter and sugar, and use electric beaters to cream the mixture till light and fluffy.

3 Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition

4 Fold the flour into the mixture alternatively with the milk until combined

5 Divide the mixture into 2/3 and 1/3 (original from book is 1/2) into separate bowls

6 Combine the cocoa mixture into the smaller 1/3 portion and combine well

7 Spoon the 2 portions alternatively using a spoon into the pan

8 Use a metal skewer and cut through the mixture to create a marble effect (do not overdo it)

9 Bake for 50-60min and leave in the tin for 5 min before removing

To make the chocolate coating, double boil 125g of dark chocolate with 20g of butter

Stir well then cream the chocolate coating onto the cake when cake has cooled

Refrigerate it and it will be ready to serve after the coating has set in

Ngoh Hiang

This is one of my favourite dish but it's alot of hard work. You should dedicate your time to making this dish as there are several steps to follow. This version is from my mom who puts in alot of effort and I'm learning the ropes because it tastes so good that I have to try. I always tell myself there is no short cut to anything. I believe that if you want to truly enjoy good food, you have to be patient, and work towards perfecting it :D

Sorry folks, it's a sought after item in the house that I didn't manage to take close up and cross sectional shots :D

Ngoh Hiang is one of the Hokkein dish that is made up of mainly minced pork and water chestnut then wrapped in beancurd skin. Frying the skin gives the salty crispy texture.

Here is a guestimation of what I did for my family lunch for 6 today.

Some minced pork - roughly about 400g
Beancurd sheet - need to be wiped thoroughly as it contains alot of sodium
About 3-5 prawns - deshelled and deveined - chopped
3 Water chestnuts - washed, peeled and chopped
1/2 egg - beaten
Seasoning - sesame oil, pepper, salt, 5 spice powder
Oil for frying

1. Mix minced pork with chopped water chestnut and prawn

2. Add half an egg mixture to the meat (so the content becomes smooth and not crumbly). Mix.

3. Add seasoning and mix well

4. Cut the beancurd sheet into rectangle shapes and fill a tbsp of minced pork into the sheet

5. Line them in a row then row the sheet

6. Line the end of each roll with some egg so it sticks together well

7. Steam all the ngoh hiang till meat is cooked, and colour of beancurd sheet turns lighter

8. Dap dry before frying them in hot oil

9. Turn the sides to ensure they are thoroughly cooked

10. Serve when hot.

This goes well with sweet sauce or Thai sweet chilli sauce.

Our lunch on Sunday

The master of the house doesn't like messy and oily kitchen. He has spotted some ants around in the kitchen ever since we started cooking a month or two ago.. Ive always kept the kitchen really clean, at least to my standard and I'm quite a clean freak actually. But if you start cooking in the house, you can expect your friendly pests coming for a visit very soon.



Anyway here's our Sunday lunch with Broccoli and Mushrooms.

It is a relatively easy task to do and the result is quite satisfying for me

Stir Fry Broccoli with Mushrooms
Broccoli (one floret - to cut, wash and boiled in water for a short while)
1/2 tsp of minced garlic
Sliced Chinese dried mushroom (about 4-5)
(Chinese mushrooms must be washed and soaked for at least an hour to soften it. When soft, cut away stem and keep the water)
1-2 tbsp of oyster sauce mixed with 1 tsp of cornstarch and some water to dilute
Light soya sauce
Some cooking oil

1. Heat wok with a little oil
2. Fry garlic till semi brown
3. Fry mushroom for a while then add in boiled broccoli
4. Throw in the mushroom water then oyster sauce mix
5. Cover wok and let the dish simmer for a few min
6. Add salt and pepper and some soya sauce if required. (I add some sesame oil as well)
7. Serve.

About Broccoli

Broccoli is one of the healthiest vegetable. I used to hate broccoli alot because of its shape, texture and colour. It took me some 30 years to get over it and finally eat it because of its numerous health benefits. For a start, broccoli has numerous anti cancer, anti viral and anti bacterial properties, and is high Vitamin C and dietary fibre. It also contains beta carotene like carrots (seen from its rich colour) and reduces the risk of prostate cancer. However boiling it for too long reduces the benefits significantly. If possible, do not cook it for too long.

Enjoy!

My other pictures - totally unrelated :)

Hi folks.. here are some of my other pre wedding and wedding shots :)

Totally not related to my blog, but just want to share before I start on my culinary posts.