Got a craving for the chocolate mousse you had during the Great Orange Cookout 2006?
Here's an alternative choc mousse recipe that I picked up while watching Jamie Oliver's "The Naked Chef" on TV
Chocolate Mousse
200g Lindt 70% Cocoa (2 bars of 100g lindt chocolate)
1/2 block of butter (approx 150g)
2 eggs
2 tbsp honey
350ml pouring cream
1. melt choc with butter in a boiling water bath.
2. lightly beat egg and honey together in a bowl
3. whisk cream till it expands/raises a bit in another bowl
4. mix all the above mixtures together, then leave to chill in the refridgerator.
you can make some sesame snapps to go with the mousse
200ml sugar
4 tsp water
100g sesame seeds
1. add the sugar and water into a pot and caramelise the sugar
2. once almost done, add the sesame seed into the caramel solution
3. heat for 1-2 minutes more, then cool over metal surface. REMEMBER to grease/oil the surface so that you can remove the snapps easily when it is cooled.
4. Break snapps into large pieces to garnish the mousse.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
Broccoli with beurre blanc sauce
took this off Jamie oliver's book. thought it'll be a cool idea to try with other vegetables. He suggested a really simple way to prepare the beurre blanc sauce, a French sauce that usually goes with vegetables.
Beurre blanc sauce:
200ml good white wine, prefably Chablis.
170g cold unsalted butter, diced
1. Pour some boiling water into a thermos flask to preheat and clean it.
2. Pour the water away and sieve the flavoured wine into the thermos, adding all of the butter.
3. Put the lid on tightly, place a tea towel over the lid and shake the thermos for a few minutes.
4. Open it very carefully (in case of any hot steam escaping) and you should have a nice beurre blanc sauce. You can keep it in the flask to keep warm till you serve it with your broccoli.
As for this recipe, try to blanch the broccoli till they are slightly soft (Adjust accordingly) and then add some olive oil to a pan, heat it up and then grill/fry the broccoli for a one or two minutes just to 'extra'-flavour it. Will be good to experiment with other greens like asparagus...yumm..
Beurre blanc sauce:
200ml good white wine, prefably Chablis.
170g cold unsalted butter, diced
1. Pour some boiling water into a thermos flask to preheat and clean it.
2. Pour the water away and sieve the flavoured wine into the thermos, adding all of the butter.
3. Put the lid on tightly, place a tea towel over the lid and shake the thermos for a few minutes.
4. Open it very carefully (in case of any hot steam escaping) and you should have a nice beurre blanc sauce. You can keep it in the flask to keep warm till you serve it with your broccoli.
As for this recipe, try to blanch the broccoli till they are slightly soft (Adjust accordingly) and then add some olive oil to a pan, heat it up and then grill/fry the broccoli for a one or two minutes just to 'extra'-flavour it. Will be good to experiment with other greens like asparagus...yumm..
Monday, November 20, 2006
Watermelon delights
Watermelon lemonade
6 cups watermelon, cubed and seeded
1 cup raspberries
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice
1. Place watermelon, raspberries and water in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Push through a fine mesh strainer into a large jug.
3. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and mix until the sugar dissolves.
4. Refrigerate until chilled. Serves four.
Watermelon sorbet
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbs honey
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
drop of red food colouring (optional)
8 cups seedless watermelon, diced
1. In a medium saucepan, bring the water, sugar and honey to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Remove from the heat and let cool. Stir in the lemon juice and food colouring.
3. Place half of the watermelon chunks and half of the cooled syrup in a blender and puree until smooth.
4. Pour into a 23cm x 33cm baking dish and repeat the process with the remaining watermelon and syrup, adding all the pureed mixture to the baking dish.
5. Cover and freeze for about four hours, or until 2.5cm of the edge have frozen over.
6. Stir well to mix up the ice crystals.
7. Cover and freeze for six more hours, or until completely frozen.
8. Using an ice cream scoop, scrape the ice into mounds and serve. Mint springs may be used to decorate.
6 cups watermelon, cubed and seeded
1 cup raspberries
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice
1. Place watermelon, raspberries and water in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Push through a fine mesh strainer into a large jug.
3. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and mix until the sugar dissolves.
4. Refrigerate until chilled. Serves four.
Watermelon sorbet
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbs honey
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
drop of red food colouring (optional)
8 cups seedless watermelon, diced
1. In a medium saucepan, bring the water, sugar and honey to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Remove from the heat and let cool. Stir in the lemon juice and food colouring.
3. Place half of the watermelon chunks and half of the cooled syrup in a blender and puree until smooth.
4. Pour into a 23cm x 33cm baking dish and repeat the process with the remaining watermelon and syrup, adding all the pureed mixture to the baking dish.
5. Cover and freeze for about four hours, or until 2.5cm of the edge have frozen over.
6. Stir well to mix up the ice crystals.
7. Cover and freeze for six more hours, or until completely frozen.
8. Using an ice cream scoop, scrape the ice into mounds and serve. Mint springs may be used to decorate.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Lessons from the Kitchen
I bake, therefore I am.
Coming to Australia this year has really exposed me to a myriad of new flavours (and people). With so many places to cook like Fenner Hall, B&G and even in Bruce Hall’s South Kitchen (undoubtedly my favourite), it has been a really interesting learning experience – there’s just so much to learn just from the kitchen alone!
People usually marvel at those who can cook, and I mean those that prepare heavenly delicacies that are so good you’d think it is orgasmic. Well, I’d say that you don’t have to be a good cook to be able to do that. All you really need… is a really good recipe. And, of course, a little bit of practice to just correct little errors here and there to bring your dish to perfection. Voila! A masterpiece!
Now, do not think that you are plagiarizing someone else’s creation or masterpiece. We’re just following instructions in the recipe really, and if you are still not unhappy about the whole copying issue, modify the recipe to suite your own taste. Make it uniquely your recipe. Try something totally different, don’t let the phrase ‘usually done this way’ stop you. The kitchen is really a wonderful place to let your creative juices flow!
Timing is everything. Although I bake more than I cook, if there is one culinary lesson that I’d like to impart, it’d definitely be this one. Especially true in baking, that extra few minutes (or lack of) will determine whether your cake is overcooked or just baked to perfection. Planning ahead before starting to prepare your meal allows you to do multiple jobs within a given time frame.
While waiting for your food to be ready, I’d recommend investing those little bits of time into garnishing your food. They say first impressions matter, and I can’t help but agree. Looking good is just as important as tasting good. It’s all part of a package. Even simple things like the name of the dish can make a difference – imagine this: how would you react if I served you ‘crab ice cream’1, as compared to a similar item but named ‘frozen crab bisque’ instead?
inset:
Honeyed-ginger dumplings with honeyed-ginger and almond snack
The quality of the food that you prepare will at times be limited by the choice of ingredients used. For starters, if you are unfamiliar with how different ingredients complement each other, you could even try adjusting the recommended proportions of the ingredients listed in the recipes that you already have. They’re usually just suggestions, not rules.
All things said and done, I think the most important ingredient for any successful recipe… is love. It motivates the aspiring chef to give his best, and I believe that you can really taste the amount of effort a person added to his cooking, and that makes all the difference.
Bon appétit.
1Savoury ices were popular in Victorian times but have long since fallen out of fashion.
Coming to Australia this year has really exposed me to a myriad of new flavours (and people). With so many places to cook like Fenner Hall, B&G and even in Bruce Hall’s South Kitchen (undoubtedly my favourite), it has been a really interesting learning experience – there’s just so much to learn just from the kitchen alone!
People usually marvel at those who can cook, and I mean those that prepare heavenly delicacies that are so good you’d think it is orgasmic. Well, I’d say that you don’t have to be a good cook to be able to do that. All you really need… is a really good recipe. And, of course, a little bit of practice to just correct little errors here and there to bring your dish to perfection. Voila! A masterpiece!
Now, do not think that you are plagiarizing someone else’s creation or masterpiece. We’re just following instructions in the recipe really, and if you are still not unhappy about the whole copying issue, modify the recipe to suite your own taste. Make it uniquely your recipe. Try something totally different, don’t let the phrase ‘usually done this way’ stop you. The kitchen is really a wonderful place to let your creative juices flow!
Timing is everything. Although I bake more than I cook, if there is one culinary lesson that I’d like to impart, it’d definitely be this one. Especially true in baking, that extra few minutes (or lack of) will determine whether your cake is overcooked or just baked to perfection. Planning ahead before starting to prepare your meal allows you to do multiple jobs within a given time frame.
While waiting for your food to be ready, I’d recommend investing those little bits of time into garnishing your food. They say first impressions matter, and I can’t help but agree. Looking good is just as important as tasting good. It’s all part of a package. Even simple things like the name of the dish can make a difference – imagine this: how would you react if I served you ‘crab ice cream’1, as compared to a similar item but named ‘frozen crab bisque’ instead?
inset:
Honeyed-ginger dumplings with honeyed-ginger and almond snack
The quality of the food that you prepare will at times be limited by the choice of ingredients used. For starters, if you are unfamiliar with how different ingredients complement each other, you could even try adjusting the recommended proportions of the ingredients listed in the recipes that you already have. They’re usually just suggestions, not rules.
All things said and done, I think the most important ingredient for any successful recipe… is love. It motivates the aspiring chef to give his best, and I believe that you can really taste the amount of effort a person added to his cooking, and that makes all the difference.
Bon appétit.
1Savoury ices were popular in Victorian times but have long since fallen out of fashion.
Friday, September 29, 2006
ISD Hawker Night
Pakistani-style masala chicken
marinade: yoghurt, paprika spice, mixed herb, finely chopped ginger and garlic
have to try that modify the cooking method for this type of marinade, didn't turn out too well.. especially when the yoghurt gets in the way of frying the chicken most of the time.
anyway, there was an iron chef competition on that night. secret ingredient: cheese. we were to make dessert using the ingredients provided and incorporating cheese into our dish. the cheese that the ISD committee provided were those square slices that you add to your sandwich. other ingredients provided include yoghurt, fruits, biscuits, jellybeans, some nuts, just to name a few. they weren't the best around to make a dessert and to make it look pleasant at the same time.
so, i partnered net and we came up with the idea of making cheesecake. we crushed the biscuits and mixed it with the cheese we had to make the base of the cheesecake. i lined the base with strawberry slices like how i did for eli's cake, and the 'cake' was the yoghurt. i worked mainly on the decor part of the dish... didn't manage to do it properly given the time constraint (only 20 minutes), and the fruits provided were either oddly shaped or too small. i cut the straberries and put a slice of kiwi on it. also, i tried sprinkling some 'cadbury drinking chocolate' powder on the slices of orange, using a spoon to cover some parts to make the pattern.
wasn't too happy with what decoration, but we still tried our best. only after the 20 minutes that we realised that we could've just made cheese sandwich - use the cheese slices as the bread, and the fruits as the filling of the sandwich.
anyway, we called our dish "trinity", because it was cheese-biscuit-yoghurt, cheese-strawberry-kiwi, and cheese-orange-chocolate. judges thought ours actually tasted a lil' like cheesecake!
it was done all in the name of fun, but in the end, surprisingly, we won!
here's 'Trinity', the dish that earned me my 2nd Iron chef success!
marinade: yoghurt, paprika spice, mixed herb, finely chopped ginger and garlic
have to try that modify the cooking method for this type of marinade, didn't turn out too well.. especially when the yoghurt gets in the way of frying the chicken most of the time.
anyway, there was an iron chef competition on that night. secret ingredient: cheese. we were to make dessert using the ingredients provided and incorporating cheese into our dish. the cheese that the ISD committee provided were those square slices that you add to your sandwich. other ingredients provided include yoghurt, fruits, biscuits, jellybeans, some nuts, just to name a few. they weren't the best around to make a dessert and to make it look pleasant at the same time.
so, i partnered net and we came up with the idea of making cheesecake. we crushed the biscuits and mixed it with the cheese we had to make the base of the cheesecake. i lined the base with strawberry slices like how i did for eli's cake, and the 'cake' was the yoghurt. i worked mainly on the decor part of the dish... didn't manage to do it properly given the time constraint (only 20 minutes), and the fruits provided were either oddly shaped or too small. i cut the straberries and put a slice of kiwi on it. also, i tried sprinkling some 'cadbury drinking chocolate' powder on the slices of orange, using a spoon to cover some parts to make the pattern.
wasn't too happy with what decoration, but we still tried our best. only after the 20 minutes that we realised that we could've just made cheese sandwich - use the cheese slices as the bread, and the fruits as the filling of the sandwich.
anyway, we called our dish "trinity", because it was cheese-biscuit-yoghurt, cheese-strawberry-kiwi, and cheese-orange-chocolate. judges thought ours actually tasted a lil' like cheesecake!
it was done all in the name of fun, but in the end, surprisingly, we won!
here's 'Trinity', the dish that earned me my 2nd Iron chef success!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
spring blossoms
it was Bruce Hall's inaugural Malaysia High Table dinner today and i achieved my first milestone in my guitar career. my dean, diedre.pierce asked me to put up a short performance for the night, knowing that i played the guitar for Malam Kenduri. was initially going to play "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by DeathCabForCutie, employing a 2-guitar setup with elizabeth on vocals. then, eli fell ill, and i thought of playing the acoustic version "Tears" by X-Japan. spent the whole day worrying about my performance.... till..
3.30pm.. i caught a spark of genius, and asked eugene to get on the guitar and together we jammed on my favourite chillout 4-chord progression. we worked on it once, and bingo!, we just found a piece to play for the night.
i thought of the chord since mid last year at least, if not earlier, and i only found someone to just jam and play spontaneously that song when i came to ANU. i sat down for a while, laid down some directions for the song.. and voila! i just composed my first guitar song. thanks eugene.
it didnt have a name up till the time when we performed it during dinner. our performance was pretty impressive given that we only came up with that song TODAY! everyone seemed to have enjoyed the song, so i'm quite happy.
it's only tonight...a touch of magic once again... we found a name:
s
Spring Blossoms
very simple, very chillout
we might consider doing a song for every season. but hey, spring is still a great season and i'm looking forward to it!
Friday, August 11, 2006
bacon and cheese pie
hmm.. this is probably the first non-recipe and non-cooking related post. well, i've been working part time in the ANU campus bakery for over a month now and pies are among the things that i help to make.
today, just as any other day, i was helping to transfer the pies from the baking tray(pie moulds) onto the aluminium foil cup-like pie holders. [my boss calls this task 'stripping the pies', among other terms like 'give the floor a scare' which means 'sweep the floor' ]
anyway, pies like bacon&cheese pie has some cheese toppings on the top surface. sometimes, the cheese will melt in such a way that it flows till the side of the pie, and then when it hardens, it 'locks' the pie onto the mould, making it harder to remove the pie. there are 2 possibilities why it is hard to remove a pie:
1. the mould is not greased properly
2. the scenario mentioned above
it is quite irritating sometimes when you are trying to rush your work, and some of these abnormalities happen, slowing down your momentum when you just want to get the job done quick and go home.
so, one thought came across my mind.
"what is holding you back?"
(such that you cannot take off and fly, that you are still stuck in your current idle situation, that you cannot progress and move forward)
for a pie in that 'stuck' situation, it's the cheese holding it back from being removed easily
( as it should be) from the mould.
relate that scenario to our everyday lives..
what is holding us back from a positive change (of character, attitude)?
what is holding us back from taking that initiative to help others?
what is holding us back from executing that brilliant new idea that came across our mind?
what is holding us back from expressing our innermost emotions to another person?
what is holding us back?
not cheese, that i'm sure.
today, just as any other day, i was helping to transfer the pies from the baking tray(pie moulds) onto the aluminium foil cup-like pie holders. [my boss calls this task 'stripping the pies', among other terms like 'give the floor a scare' which means 'sweep the floor' ]
anyway, pies like bacon&cheese pie has some cheese toppings on the top surface. sometimes, the cheese will melt in such a way that it flows till the side of the pie, and then when it hardens, it 'locks' the pie onto the mould, making it harder to remove the pie. there are 2 possibilities why it is hard to remove a pie:
1. the mould is not greased properly
2. the scenario mentioned above
it is quite irritating sometimes when you are trying to rush your work, and some of these abnormalities happen, slowing down your momentum when you just want to get the job done quick and go home.
so, one thought came across my mind.
"what is holding you back?"
(such that you cannot take off and fly, that you are still stuck in your current idle situation, that you cannot progress and move forward)
for a pie in that 'stuck' situation, it's the cheese holding it back from being removed easily
( as it should be) from the mould.
relate that scenario to our everyday lives..
what is holding us back from a positive change (of character, attitude)?
what is holding us back from taking that initiative to help others?
what is holding us back from executing that brilliant new idea that came across our mind?
what is holding us back from expressing our innermost emotions to another person?
what is holding us back?
not cheese, that i'm sure.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
the great orange cookout - my creations
DARK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
(serves 6-8)
300g dark couverture chocolate, chopped ( i substituted this with Cadbury Dark Cooking Chocolate )
150g soft butter
6 eggs, separated
40g castor sugar
3 tbsp rum ( i used triple-sec instead..it's a type of orange liqueur, smells like mandarin oranges)
dark couverture chocolate and cocoa powder, to serve
1. melt chocolate in a large heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water - don't allow the bowl to touch the water. Remove chocolate from heat, stir in butter, egg yolks and rum and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. ( i only added the triple sec at the end of the whole process, ie. just before pouring into serving cups as i had a friend who cannot take alcohol ..non-halal ^_^)
2. use a hand-beater to whisk egg whites until soft peaks form.
3. Add sugar and whisk again until well-combined.
4. Pour cream into chocolate mixture and stir.
5. Gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture until smooth.
6. Pour into serving glasses. Cover and chil for a few hours or overnight. Serve with dark chocolate shavings and a good dusting of cocoa.
ORANGE BISCOTTI
(10 Servings)
125g self-raising flour
100g white sugar
2g salt
1 egg
1 egg white
50g chopped almonds
10g orange zest
1. Preheat oven to 175 C. Grease cookie sheet
2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in the egg and egg white, then mix in almonds and orange zest.
3. Knead dough by hand till mixture forms a smooth ball
4. Roll the dough into a log about 10cm wide, 5-7cm high, about 15 cm long ( actually doesnt matter...depends on personal preference)
5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes in preheated oven. After baking, cool on a rack. With a serrated knife, cut into 3-5mm slices. Place slices, cut slice down, back onto the baking sheet.
6. Return them to the oven for an additional 20-25 minutes ( till slightly browned and crisp). turning over halfway through the baking.
7. Place cookies on racks to cool.
Alternatives: cut the dough into thin slices before baking. Also, you might want to consider dipping the cooled biscotti in chocolate to give it a chocolate coating.
here's another experimental idea that i'm working on to improve it:
CARAMELISED ORANGE SLICES
1. cut orange into slices of 4.
2. coat pulp area with sugar ( i used brown sugar during this try)
3. bake in oven at about 200C till sugar has caramelised
(serves 6-8)
300g dark couverture chocolate, chopped ( i substituted this with Cadbury Dark Cooking Chocolate )
150g soft butter
6 eggs, separated
40g castor sugar
3 tbsp rum ( i used triple-sec instead..it's a type of orange liqueur, smells like mandarin oranges)
dark couverture chocolate and cocoa powder, to serve
1. melt chocolate in a large heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water - don't allow the bowl to touch the water. Remove chocolate from heat, stir in butter, egg yolks and rum and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. ( i only added the triple sec at the end of the whole process, ie. just before pouring into serving cups as i had a friend who cannot take alcohol ..non-halal ^_^)
2. use a hand-beater to whisk egg whites until soft peaks form.
3. Add sugar and whisk again until well-combined.
4. Pour cream into chocolate mixture and stir.
5. Gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture until smooth.
6. Pour into serving glasses. Cover and chil for a few hours or overnight. Serve with dark chocolate shavings and a good dusting of cocoa.
ORANGE BISCOTTI
(10 Servings)
125g self-raising flour
100g white sugar
2g salt
1 egg
1 egg white
50g chopped almonds
10g orange zest
1. Preheat oven to 175 C. Grease cookie sheet
2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in the egg and egg white, then mix in almonds and orange zest.
3. Knead dough by hand till mixture forms a smooth ball
4. Roll the dough into a log about 10cm wide, 5-7cm high, about 15 cm long ( actually doesnt matter...depends on personal preference)
5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes in preheated oven. After baking, cool on a rack. With a serrated knife, cut into 3-5mm slices. Place slices, cut slice down, back onto the baking sheet.
6. Return them to the oven for an additional 20-25 minutes ( till slightly browned and crisp). turning over halfway through the baking.
7. Place cookies on racks to cool.
Alternatives: cut the dough into thin slices before baking. Also, you might want to consider dipping the cooled biscotti in chocolate to give it a chocolate coating.
here's another experimental idea that i'm working on to improve it:
CARAMELISED ORANGE SLICES
1. cut orange into slices of 4.
2. coat pulp area with sugar ( i used brown sugar during this try)
3. bake in oven at about 200C till sugar has caramelised
the great orange cookout
"the world of cooking has immeasurable depths" - yakitate! japan ep62
the date was set, the menu prepared, chefs ( and kitchenhands) appointed, invitations sent, the shopping and venue bookings done.... all for the biggest cooking event i've ever organised.
Venue: Bruce Hall South Kitchen
Time: 1300 - 2000 (cooking), 2000 - 2130(dinner)
Theme: Orange! and anything else that reminds you of home
-Chef list-
Entree:
Eugene - baked orange-egg
Main course :
1.Ernest - "te ka"(hokkien for vinegared pork trotters)
2.Kelly Lee - curry chicken, 'fu-yong' egg, fried chicken with curry leaves, fried kangkung with belacan, crispy fried squid rings, steamed tofu with black soy sauce
3. Hong Yin - Ginger Chicken (cooked with a generous helping of cooking wine)
4. Aaron Ng - Asam Curry Fish
Dessert:
1. Veng Hoong - Dark Chocolate Mousse, Orange Biscotti
2. Ai Lin & Elizabeth - Kaya dip
3. Huda - Khir(Pakistani dessert...with an added twist using lots of coconut!)
-Invite List-
Kenny Chew, Adrian Wong, Net, SengBeng, Hazel, Phoebe, Felix, Will, Xinyi, LiChen, RachelLau, XinYi, XiaoJing, JonathanOh, ChiYao, AidanMorrison
i've actually had the idea of organising this event sometime back during the semester1 winter break, but then after discussion with eugene my co-organiser, we thought it'd be better to do it once, do it good, and especially when everyone's back from their holidays. originally, the idea was to have an orange-themed cookout where everything from starters to mains will have something to do from orange. why orange? well, i had the idea from Boys' Brigade Malaysia Pesta2003's Orange Bash Night, where everyone came dressed in orange. we relaxed the idea such that it only applies to myself and eugene, and so we got a few others to cook whatever they'd like to cook... and poof! comes all the delicious homestyle delicacies.
these
are pictures from our menu..both ingredients and the actual dishes themselves. quite fun to try to guess the name of each dish =)
the event was such a GREAT success thanks to everyone who came to cook, help, and most importantly EAT all the food! i felt really happy watching others just enjoying their food with the company of good friends.....the good ol' merry experience at the dining table! and i love the part where we dine like what asian families do...share the food on the table, as compared to the more western approach of having your own food on your own plate.
GREAT FOOD + GREAT COMPANY + GREAT MUSIC = pure bliss
the date was set, the menu prepared, chefs ( and kitchenhands) appointed, invitations sent, the shopping and venue bookings done.... all for the biggest cooking event i've ever organised.
Venue: Bruce Hall South Kitchen
Time: 1300 - 2000 (cooking), 2000 - 2130(dinner)
Theme: Orange! and anything else that reminds you of home
-Chef list-
Entree:
Eugene - baked orange-egg
Main course :
1.Ernest - "te ka"(hokkien for vinegared pork trotters)
2.Kelly Lee - curry chicken, 'fu-yong' egg, fried chicken with curry leaves, fried kangkung with belacan, crispy fried squid rings, steamed tofu with black soy sauce
3. Hong Yin - Ginger Chicken (cooked with a generous helping of cooking wine)
4. Aaron Ng - Asam Curry Fish
Dessert:
1. Veng Hoong - Dark Chocolate Mousse, Orange Biscotti
2. Ai Lin & Elizabeth - Kaya dip
3. Huda - Khir(Pakistani dessert...with an added twist using lots of coconut!)
-Invite List-
Kenny Chew, Adrian Wong, Net, SengBeng, Hazel, Phoebe, Felix, Will, Xinyi, LiChen, RachelLau, XinYi, XiaoJing, JonathanOh, ChiYao, AidanMorrison
i've actually had the idea of organising this event sometime back during the semester1 winter break, but then after discussion with eugene my co-organiser, we thought it'd be better to do it once, do it good, and especially when everyone's back from their holidays. originally, the idea was to have an orange-themed cookout where everything from starters to mains will have something to do from orange. why orange? well, i had the idea from Boys' Brigade Malaysia Pesta2003's Orange Bash Night, where everyone came dressed in orange. we relaxed the idea such that it only applies to myself and eugene, and so we got a few others to cook whatever they'd like to cook... and poof! comes all the delicious homestyle delicacies.
these
are pictures from our menu..both ingredients and the actual dishes themselves. quite fun to try to guess the name of each dish =)
the event was such a GREAT success thanks to everyone who came to cook, help, and most importantly EAT all the food! i felt really happy watching others just enjoying their food with the company of good friends.....the good ol' merry experience at the dining table! and i love the part where we dine like what asian families do...share the food on the table, as compared to the more western approach of having your own food on your own plate.GREAT FOOD + GREAT COMPANY + GREAT MUSIC = pure bliss
Monday, June 26, 2006
French Chocolate Macaroons
*darker looking cookies - french chocolate macaroons (by myself)
*lighter coloured cookies - chewy oat cookies (by karen zhang)
*acknowledgements: kelly lee, for helping with preparation, baking, and participating in the photo =)
Post-exam cookie baking session. held just before cocktail drinks session for some of us. really fun baking with friends - loads of endless laughter. and usually there's always something new to learn about baking, or just about your friends =)
French Chocolate Macaroons (makes 24)
3 egg whites25g Dutch cocoa
200g caster sugar
150g ground almonds
1 1/2 tbsp plain flour
1.Line biscuit tray with baking paper. Preheat oven 180 C.
2.Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add sugar, whisking well after each addition to dissolve sugar, until mixture is smooth and glossy.
3.Sift clour and cocoa together, then stir in ground almonds.
4.Gently stir flour mixture into egg white mixture until just combined.
5.Spoon tablespoonfuls of mixture on to tray and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until crisp on the outside but still soft in the centre.
6.Let the macaroons stand for 10 minutes before transferring on to a wire rack to cool.
*7. for the macaroons i made this time, i added some chocolate chips onto the cookies' surface as well as glazed the macaroons with egg-wash (egg yolk and water mixture... in roughly 1:1 or 2:1 proportion)
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
strawberry with basil
2 punnets strawberries, sliced
1/2 lemon juiced
2 tablespoons castor sugar
6 basil leaves, finely shredded
100ml balsamic vinegar
vanilla ice cream, to serve
slice strawberries lengthways
add lemon juice, sugar, basil leaves, balsamic vinegar. (you may want to heat it slightly)
set aside for 10 minutes
serve with ice cream... a mix of hot and cold per se?
1/2 lemon juiced
2 tablespoons castor sugar
6 basil leaves, finely shredded
100ml balsamic vinegar
vanilla ice cream, to serve
slice strawberries lengthways
add lemon juice, sugar, basil leaves, balsamic vinegar. (you may want to heat it slightly)
set aside for 10 minutes
serve with ice cream... a mix of hot and cold per se?
Thursday, June 15, 2006
delicious bread
"If you've created a truly delicious-looking bread, who's the first person you'd give it to?
Yourself.
Just because it looks delicious, doesn't mean it really is. In that case, you can't give it to people yet.
But, once you know that it's delicious, to whom would you give it to first?
Who do you think it is?
Obviously, when you know that the bread is truly delicious...
You first give a truly delicious bread to...
every person you'd want to eat it.
And in addition, you want every person who loves the bread to eat it."
Yourself.
Just because it looks delicious, doesn't mean it really is. In that case, you can't give it to people yet.
But, once you know that it's delicious, to whom would you give it to first?
Who do you think it is?
Obviously, when you know that the bread is truly delicious...
You first give a truly delicious bread to...
every person you'd want to eat it.
And in addition, you want every person who loves the bread to eat it."
- quoted from the anime 'Yakitate! Japan'.
...and you'd give that truly delicious bread to the one you love,
...for it is out of love, that you make a bread truly delicious...
for if not for love, there wouldn't be a truly delicious bread...
Monday, June 05, 2006
no noise during study and exam weeks (:
for your viewing pleasure!
(one's the actual notice.. the other.. just a pun on the real one. both notices ARE actually spread along corridors in my halls of residence ^_^ )
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Ignis Draconis article
"In an awe-inspiring display of their talents, each challenger celebrated the secret ingredients (honey and ginger) in a unique fashion. In a triumph for both presentation and taste, Eugene Hong and Veng Hoong Loh produced irresistable ginger and almond dumplings nestled within carved honeydew and rockmelon baskets, complemented with freshing honeyed ginger and melon juice. "
extracted from Bruce Hall's Ignis Draconis, May 2006 edition
Friday, May 05, 2006
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
iron chef!
Bruce Hall Iron Chef 2 competition
south wing kitchen
1300- 1700 hours
25 April 2006
Team Members: Veng Hoong, Loh; Eu Gene, Hong
Competition's Secret Ingredients: Honey and Ginger
Recipe Name: Ginger Honey Dumplings
well, actually was looking through recipe books trying to get ideas for the competition. thought that ginger will be a challenging ingredient to incorporate into a dessert. found recipes for common stuff like cakes, souffle' and other usual stuff... just itching to make something refreshing so in the end thought of making dumplings!
first, to make the dumplings.
you just need glutinous rice flour and candied ginger, and honey.
1. mix about 1 cup of flour to 0.5 cups of water... add more flour or water to achieve the desired consistency ( such that it is not too wet and sticky or too dry and breaks easily)
2. once the dumpling 'dough' is done, keep it aside. now, mix the honey and candied ginger(cut to appropriate dumpling-size) in another bowl so that you coat each of them with a layer of honey.
3. now, insert a piece or two of the honey-coated candied ginger into a small ball of dumpling dough. roll with your hands to make it into a round shape. make sure all open ends are closed so that the contents of the dumpling will not leak out when boiling.
4. place dumplings on a plate in preparation for boiling. (much easier and tidier this way)
5. now, put to boil a pot of water. include some chunks of fresh ginger ( and, if possible, some pandan leaves) to make the 'soup'
6. once the water is boiled, lower the temperature to mid-heat and carefully insert the dumplings to boil. DO NOT BOIL TOO MANY AT ONE GO. Also, you might want to check if there are no 'fractures' in the texture of the dumpling skin.
7. once the dumplings start to float - they're done!
8. transfer the dumplings into another bowl of water ( no preference if it's warm or cold) to store.
ginger drink
1. using the 'soup' from boiling the dumplings, add some honeydew and rockmelon and continue to boil for about 5-10 minutes. add some honey too.
2. serve chilled or warm.
honey-baked ginger and almonds
- this is mainly for garnish purposes but it makes a GREAT snack too.
1. finely chop fresh ginger into small strips
2. you'll also need almond flakes
3. cover the baking tray with baking paper, then spread evenly the cut ginger and almond flakes across the tray
4. drizzle honey all over the ginger and almonds. try to cover the entire tray. (the more generous you are with honey, the better)
5. put to bake in the over for about 160-180 C for 20-30 minutes. you might choose to bake longer for a different effect on taste and appearance.
serving instructions
1. drain dumplings of water and serve on a clean plate ( or on a fruit bowl, in the case of our competition)
2. drizzle honey over the dumplings and garnish with small pieces of the honey-baked ginger and almonds
3. serve with ginger drink
~bon appetit~
from top: 1. veng hoong and eu gene... the Iron Chefs, 2. top down view of our masterpiece 3. honey-baked ginger and almonds; 4. single photo of our masterpiece
south wing kitchen
1300- 1700 hours
25 April 2006
Team Members: Veng Hoong, Loh; Eu Gene, Hong
Competition's Secret Ingredients: Honey and Ginger
Recipe Name: Ginger Honey Dumplings
well, actually was looking through recipe books trying to get ideas for the competition. thought that ginger will be a challenging ingredient to incorporate into a dessert. found recipes for common stuff like cakes, souffle' and other usual stuff... just itching to make something refreshing so in the end thought of making dumplings!
first, to make the dumplings.
you just need glutinous rice flour and candied ginger, and honey.
1. mix about 1 cup of flour to 0.5 cups of water... add more flour or water to achieve the desired consistency ( such that it is not too wet and sticky or too dry and breaks easily)
2. once the dumpling 'dough' is done, keep it aside. now, mix the honey and candied ginger(cut to appropriate dumpling-size) in another bowl so that you coat each of them with a layer of honey.
3. now, insert a piece or two of the honey-coated candied ginger into a small ball of dumpling dough. roll with your hands to make it into a round shape. make sure all open ends are closed so that the contents of the dumpling will not leak out when boiling.
4. place dumplings on a plate in preparation for boiling. (much easier and tidier this way)
5. now, put to boil a pot of water. include some chunks of fresh ginger ( and, if possible, some pandan leaves) to make the 'soup'
6. once the water is boiled, lower the temperature to mid-heat and carefully insert the dumplings to boil. DO NOT BOIL TOO MANY AT ONE GO. Also, you might want to check if there are no 'fractures' in the texture of the dumpling skin.
7. once the dumplings start to float - they're done!
8. transfer the dumplings into another bowl of water ( no preference if it's warm or cold) to store.
ginger drink
1. using the 'soup' from boiling the dumplings, add some honeydew and rockmelon and continue to boil for about 5-10 minutes. add some honey too.
2. serve chilled or warm.
honey-baked ginger and almonds
- this is mainly for garnish purposes but it makes a GREAT snack too.
1. finely chop fresh ginger into small strips
2. you'll also need almond flakes
3. cover the baking tray with baking paper, then spread evenly the cut ginger and almond flakes across the tray
4. drizzle honey all over the ginger and almonds. try to cover the entire tray. (the more generous you are with honey, the better)
5. put to bake in the over for about 160-180 C for 20-30 minutes. you might choose to bake longer for a different effect on taste and appearance.
serving instructions
1. drain dumplings of water and serve on a clean plate ( or on a fruit bowl, in the case of our competition)
2. drizzle honey over the dumplings and garnish with small pieces of the honey-baked ginger and almonds
3. serve with ginger drink
~bon appetit~
from top: 1. veng hoong and eu gene... the Iron Chefs, 2. top down view of our masterpiece 3. honey-baked ginger and almonds; 4. single photo of our masterpiece
Friday, April 14, 2006
Carinya Alpine Village, Jindabyne
- OCF Canberra Camp 2006
- Theme: Clearing the Cobwebs, by Kel Willis
- OCF = Overseas Christian Fellowship
- Jindabyne, a place in NSW near the Snowy Mountains
- temperatures drop to as low as -5 C!
photo taken at the nearby stream...notice the 2 different shades of leaves.
Autumn is SO BEAUTIFUL!
Photo taken during nightwalk
Campfire
- Theme: Clearing the Cobwebs, by Kel Willis
- OCF = Overseas Christian Fellowship
- Jindabyne, a place in NSW near the Snowy Mountains
- temperatures drop to as low as -5 C!
photo taken at the nearby stream...notice the 2 different shades of leaves.
Autumn is SO BEAUTIFUL!
Photo taken during nightwalk
Campfire
Monday, April 03, 2006
more yummy pics
more pancake parlour goodness - post micro1 mid-sem treat with chiyao, abi, eli, eliza and x.jing.
cooking at xinyi's is soo fun! on the right is stir-fried chicken with oyster sauce! ( just remember to fry the garlic first, and use sesame oil if possible). my mum's recipe recreated successfully by me!
xinyi made the vege... haha..
=p
Sunday, March 19, 2006
pancake parlour
half of "IT"... a favourite at pancake parlour
p/s: x.jing really missed out on this one..haha! =p
chess... size doesn't matter (:
Sunday, March 05, 2006
PUB and fireworks
Lake Burley Griffin
So romantic (:
Lake Burley Griffin. this is just a 5-10 minute walk from my college( halls of residence). used the "cool" (as opposed to warm) colour function on my camera.
just thought that this would be those pictures one'd describe as arty ;p
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
CNY-eve at SUISS
unbaked danish pastry
blueberry danish
blueberry muffin
checkers - chicken tart pastry
tools you'll see in a bakery
choose me, i'm round [chocolate butter cake]
yet-to-be-wrapped vegetable curry puff filling with pastry
yolk-flower
a chilly escape [ inside a chiller in a hospital's kitchen] ;
a beautiful sunset after a long day's work...it's time to go home for CNY dinner!
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