Snowman Bun (dumpling)

Snowman Bun (dumpling)

Recipe source : Doris Choo


When I was young, I used to join in the Christmas revelry because one my friends, HS, was the grand daughter of a family which built and managed the only church in town. I used to joined her and other church members when they went Christmas carolling. I, too, joined in the fun and festivities when she and her family decorated their Christmas tree. Thinking of this brought back happy memories of my childhood and Christmas! Well, those were the days!

"Christmas" brings images of Santa Claus, reindeer, pine trees, the colours red and green, mistletoe, white snow, snowflakes and of course, the inevitable snowman! I remember seeing a picture of "snowman buns" somewhere. It was cute and like I said, somehow the snowman brings me connotations of Christmas cheer!

So, wanting to join in the Christmas festivity, I set out to make some snowman buns today. 

Here is my humble attempt at making snowman buns.

Ingredients for basic bun - makes 15 buns

500g pau flour
11g instant yeast
100g sugar
50g corn oil
250ml water ( add more if necessary )
2 3/4  tsp double action baking powder

Other ingredients

500g red bean paste
red food colouring
pieces of carrot for the snowman's nose (The carrot is to be stuck to the nose area when the buns are ready and is for decorative purposes only)
black beans ( for snowman's eyes. An alternative is to use red bean paste to make the eyes )
plain flour dough, stained pink for the snowman's scarf (The scarf is to be wrapped around the snowman's neck after the buns are ready and again is for decoration only)
15 pieces of grease-proof paper ( 12cm x 6 cm )

 Instructions

1.  Mix pau flour and yeast together.
2.  Dissolve sugar in the hot water.
3.  Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and knead dough with hands for 10 to 15            minutes or by electric mixer until it becomes smooth and extensible.
4.  Leave the dough in the bowl for about 1 hour to allow the dough to develop and rise. 
5.  Cover the bowl with cling film or a towel.
6.  After an hour, punch down the dough and divide it into 15 portions of 40g each and another 15 portions of 20g each.  
7.  Divide the red bean paste into 15 portions of 10g each and another 15 portions of 30g each.
8.  The 40g dough is for the snowman's body while the 20g dough is for the snowman's head.
9.  Roll out the 40g dough and wrap 30g of red bean paste to form an oval shape for the snowman's body. 
10.  Roll out the 20g dough and wrap 10g red bean paste to form a ball for the snowman's head.
11.  Stick the two pieces of wrapped dough together and place onto a piece of grease-proof paper.
12. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
13. Let it proof again for about 30 minutes. 
14. Place the buns into a steamer and steam for 15 minutes.
15. Decorate the steamed buns with eyes, nose, mouth and scarf to make the buns look like snowmen. 

The snowmen before steaming

I am submitting this to Baby Sumo's Christmas Recipes Collection 2013 event which is hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out

Chicken Drumsticks With Paprika & Garlic (Bill Granger)

Chicken Drumsticks With Paprika & Garlic (Bill Granger)

Recipe source :  Adapted from Bill Granger

Bill's chicken drumsticks with paprika and garlic is popular among my blogging friends. Many of them have already tried this dish. I could not resist not trying it out when they showcased photos which were so tempting and so irresistible!  

Here is my attempt and It is delicious!

Ingredients

3 whole chicken drumsticks
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp cummin (jintan putih)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chilli powder
5cm piece ginger, grated

Place the marinated chicken drumsticks in a baking tray lined with aluminium foil

Instructions

1.  Using a sharp knife, make a few slashes 0.5cm deep through the thick parts of the chicken drumsticks.
2.  Combine all the spice ingredients in a small bowl and using hands to rub the spice marinade over the chicken drumsticks. Cover and transfer to fridge and let marinate overnight.
3.  Preheat oven at 200degree C.
4.  Place chicken in a baking tray lined with aluminium foil and roast the chicken drumsticks for 20 minutes.
5.  After 20 minutes, turn the chicken pieces and roast the other sides until slightly charred.

I am linking this post to"Cook Like A Star"

 

Hosted by  Zoe from bake for Happy Kids and Yen from Eat Your Heart Out and Mich from Piece of Cake

Kuih Lapis 九层糕

Kuih Lapis 九层糕

Recipe source :  The Malaysian Cookbook....page 29


I made this kuih lapis to be offered among the foods which I have prepared as Thanksgiving at a Taoist temple. It is now fast approaching the end of the Chinese lunar calendar and it is time to offer prayers in gratitude for blessings from the deities for the entire year. 

This is my first attempt at making this kuih lapis which is a Malaysian delicacy using rice flour and coconut milk as the main ingredients. The santan or coconut milk and the pandan leaves made this kuih very fragrant.

The Chinese refer to it as 'nine-layered cake'. I love to eat this by peeling off layer by layer to savour the fragrance and its sweetness. 

Ingredients

185g rice flour
125g tapioca flour
450ml santan or coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
drops of food colouring

Syrup ingredients

280g coarse sugar
150ml water
4 pandan leaves (screw-pine)
 

Method

1.  Sift the two types of flour together. Add santan gradually to the sifted flour. Blend into a smooth batter.
2.  Boil syrup ingredients over moderate heat till sugar dissolves. Strain the syrup and add hot water ( if necessary ) to bring it to 225ml. Pour hot syrup into the blended flour mixture.
3.  Reserve about 160ml of batter and add red colouring ( this is for the top most layer ).
4.  Divide the remaining batter into two portion, one white and one pink. (if you prefer to have more layers of different colours, then reserve a portion of about 160ml each to mix in the colour of your choice)
5.  Boil water in a steamer.
6.  Lightly grease a round cake tin ( 18cm diameter x 5 cm height  ).
7.  Place the cake tin in the steamer.
8.  Pour in a white layer of batter and steam for 4 to 7 minutes till cooked.
9.  Once the white layer is cooked, add in the pink layer and steam the same way.
10. Repeat the process with the batter, alternating the colours, layer by layer. 
11.  Use dark red for the top most final layer.
12.  Cool cake completely (preferably overnight ) before cutting.

Tip :  

Make sure each layer is thoroughly cooked before adding the next layer. The batter will  become opaque once it is cooked.

Pears In Red Wine

Pears In Red Wine

Recipe source :  Ellice Handy Recipes ( Female Cookbook 1979 )


These pears in red wine are extremely delicious. My youngest son, YS and I like these pears very much. The cookbook recommended that we eat them with ice-cream. Ice-cream! This meant double bliss for both of us, to have chilled pears cooked in delicious red wine sauce topped-up  with ice-cream for dessert! This is definitely a treat , not an everyday treat!

We love the unique flavour of the stewed pears cooked with cloves, cinnamon and red wine. 

Yes, a very delicious treat for us!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups red wine
3 slices lemon
3 cloves
1/2 cup white sugar
5 cm piece cinnamon bark
6 firm pears

You will require :

 Lemon

Pears

Left :  cinnamon. Right : cloves

Red wine

Instructions

1.  Place wine, lemon slices, cloves, cinnamon and sugar into a saucepan.
2.  When boiling, add peeled pears and simmer for 10 minutes.
3.  Remove pears to a bowl and continue to boil the wine for 10 minutes to reduce the quantity.
4.  Pour hot wine over the pears and allow to stand until warm, turn fruits often.
5.  Serve with ice-cream
6.  Serves 4 to 6 people.

 The ice-cream melted pretty fast in our hot weather

A wine flavoured dessert. 
Unique!

I am submitting this post to Aspiring bakers #38 : Boozy-licious! (December 2013)

hosted by Jasline of Foodie baker 

I am linking this post to Cook-Your-Books  # 7

 

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Tricolor Fusilli With Ham and Fish Balls

Tricolor Fusilli With Ham and Fish Balls

Recipe source :  Doris Choo

My youngest son loves to eat pasta. I used to cook pasta with either tomato sauce or cheese. But today,  I wanted to cook it differently. Part of the reason was because my fridge was too congested. I needed to finish off  the many bottles of sauces, Japanese mirin and chilli flakes that were taking up space in my fridge. 

Personally, I would have opted for shrimps or seafood for pasta. However, my youngest son prefers ham and bacon. So we comprised by having ham and fish balls, together with some fresh buna shimeji mushrooms and parsley.

Well, I am pleased to share the end result which was delicious!

Ingredients

300g tricolor fusilli
20 pieces fish balls, cut into halves
2 pieces ham, cut into small pieces
150g buna shimeji mushrooms, removed the roots
2 sprig parsley, chopped
4 pips garlic, chopped
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp mirin                 (or white wine )
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp olive oil

Japanese mirin

 Tricolor fusilli

 Buna shimeji mushrooms

 Fish balls, cut into halves

Ham, cut into small pieces

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the fusilli and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, for about 8 to 11 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Alternatively , cook accordingly to the instructions mentioned in the package of pasta.
2.  Heat olive oil in a wok and add in chopped garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.
3.  Add in the buna shimeji mushrooms, fish balls and ham. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
4.  Add in mirin, oyster sauce, chilli flakes, salt, pepper, and sesame oil. Stir to mix well.
5.  Toss in the boiled fusilli together with 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid from boiling the fusilli.
6.  Continue to stir until the liquid is almost dry, then add in the chopped parsley.
7.  Toss to mix everything until well combined.
8.  Dish up and serve.

Yummy!

I am submitting this post to Aspiring bakers #38 : Boozy-licious! (December 2013)

hosted by Jasline of Foodie baker 

Cranberry Bread

Cranberry Bread

Recipe source :  Martha Stewart

The other day I bought a packet of fresh cranberries from the supermarket and it is not everyday that you can find fresh cranberries for sale, not even frozen ones. What's available in the supermarkets near my house are only dried and processed cranberries which I have been using to make cakes and cookies.

Little did I know that fresh cranberries tasted so sour and slightly bitter! I did not want to throw them away so I surfed food blogs for recipes that use fresh cranberries. Martha Stewart's cranberry bread caught my attention because her recipe uses the exact amount of fresh cranberries which I bought and partly because the picture in her food blog looked so delicious. 

I was sadly disappointed! Even after baking and with the addition of brown sugar, the cranberries were still sour. But of course it was much better than cranberry in its raw form. However, I am not too accustomed to the sourish taste. But it sure looked pretty, speckled with little red dots all over the bread!

Ingredients

4 tbsp butter, melted, plus more for greasing the loaf tin
2 cups plain flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1 tsp salt                 (I omitted salt because I used salted butter )
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup whole milk
12 oz fresh cranberries

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Grease a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf tin.
2.  In a large bowl, whisk together the plain flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3.  In a medium bowl, combine melted butter, egg and milk. Mix wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk to mix until well combined. Fold in the fresh cranberries.
4.  Pour batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 1 hour or until done.

Looks beautiful, speckled with red dots all over the bread. 

Note of caution though : The fresh cranberries were sour and slightly bitter.

Yemeni Chicken Soup

Yemeni Chicken Soup

Recipe source :  Queen of Sheba  ~ Yemeni Recipes


This is the first time I am cooking a dish from Yemen. As I blog around for recipes, I noticed that the foods of many  West Asian countries use plenty of spices which are very similar to our local Malaysian Indians and Malays. However, I have come across some ingredients which I am not familiar and I have no idea where to buy them. Thus I have to give them a skip even though they look very interesting.

This Yemeni chicken soup is very spicy, which is very different from the Chinese soup I used  to boil for my family.

Ingredients

1/2 onion, chopped                  (  I used 1 whole big onion ) 
1/2 green chili                           ( I used 2 red chilli padi or bird's eye chilli ) 
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground pepper
3 - 4 cardamons
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt                                    ( I used 1 1/4 tsp )
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 lbs chicken with bones          ( I used 3 whole chicken drumsticks )
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp canned tomato paste    ( I used 1 fresh tomato - cut into small cubes )
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into halves length-wise
5 cups water

Left: potatoes- Right: cilantro

Middle top: tomato- Middle bottom: Onion

Clockwise from top : cardamons, turmeric powder, cumin, pepper, ground coriander, red chilli padi. 

Centre : garlic

Chicken drumsticks

Instructions

1.  Saute onion, garlic, and green chili in oil until garlic is browned and onion translucent. Add cumin, pepper, cardamom, turmeric, coriander, and salt. Then mix thoroughly.
2. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes until the outsides are slightly browned. Add tomato cubes, cilantro, water, and potatoes. Cover and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour over medium heat, adding more water if necessary. 
3. NOTE: If you prefer potatoes firm, slow-cook chicken first then add potatoes at the end and cook for about 30 minutes. ( I added the potatoes and chicken together and simmer for 25 minutes only. The meat and potatoes were already tender after 25 minutes )  
4. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Notice that the turmeric powder gave a lovely yellowish tinge to the potatoes and chicken

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest : West Asia 

hosted by  Shannon of Just As Delish