Saturday, May 25, 2013

Mushroom Quiche

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I always wanted to bake quiche. Looking at Kitchen Flavours Mushroom and Shallots Quiche, I wait no more! Straight away I start making the crust in the morning and having my 1st mushroom quiche as dinner in the evening. I had reduced the amount of cheese used as my family prefer lighter filling. I omit bacon as I'm fine with vegetarian version of quiche. I'm using king oyster mushroom that I have in my fridge. 

After several hours of chilling my pie dough is very hard and impossible to roll straight away. I remember Joyce mentioned need to work the dough very QUICKLY! Therefore I wait patiently and check every 3-5 minutes. Once workable I wait no more. Advise to roll out dough in between cling film. This is not only helping easy dough transfer it also minimize the cleaning tasks too (as the dough won't stick to your working board). 
Overall I'm happy with the result. The pie crust is beautifully bake and no soggy base like my previous pre-bake pie. The amount of cheese in filling is just right for my family liking. The great thing is my kids eating the mushroom! Normally, they won't touch the mushroom if I having them in stir fry dishes. I definitely will bake this mushroom quiche again.

Adapted and modified from Kitchen Flavours
Mushroom Quiche
Ingredients:
~Crust
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt (omitted if using salted butter)
½ teaspoon sugar

½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (I only used 100g)
¼ to ½ cup ice water (I used 4 tablespoons ice water in total)

Methods:
1. Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor (or whisk together by hand in a bowl). Add butter. Pulse (or quickly cut in with a pastry blender of your fingertips) until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some larger pieces remaining. Drizzle ¼ cup water over mixture. Pulse (or mix with a fork) until mixture just begins to hold together. If dough is too dry, adding more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse (or mix with a fork).

2. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and press into a disk using a rolling pin (omit; I only gather into a ball and wrapped). Refrigerate until firm, 1 hour or up to 1 day. (Dough can be frozen up to 3 months; thaw in refrigerator before using).

3. Remove crust dough from fridge, it will be hard to work on. Wait till soft enough to roll out (Check every 3-5 minutes). Cover the dough with other cling film, roll out dough to a 14-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Fit it into a 10-inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, gently pressing dough to fit. With a small knife or rolling pin, trim excess dough flush with rim. Pierce bottom of shell all over with a fork. Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 375F. Line shell with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until crust is beginning to brown at edges, about 30 minutes. Remove parchment and weights; bake until bottom of crust is dry but not yet golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes more. Transfer shell to a wire rack to cool slightly.

5. Meanwhile, make the mushroom filling (refer recipe below) then prepare the custard (recipe below).

6. Place tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over bottom of crust. Sprinkle with filling then top with remaining cheese. Carefully pour custard over cheese. Bake until just set in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.


~Mushroom Filling
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (replace with vegetable oil)
2 shallots, thinly sliced (replace with 2 onions, diced)
1 pound white button mushrooms, quartered (I use king oyster mushroom, only ½ pound, about 200g)
150g chopped ham (omit)
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Methods:
Heat oil in a large skillet over high. Cook onion and stir constantly until translucent, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms (and ham bits, if using) and season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir frequently until mushrooms are fragrant. (Mushrooms will release liquid at first; cook until it has evaporated, adjusting heat as necessary). Transfer to a bowl, and let cool slightly.


~Custard
Ingredients:
½ (125g) cup milk
½ (125g) cup heavy cream
2 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk (I did not use the extra egg yolk)
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1½ cups grated Gruyere cheese (I use ¾ cup Cheddar)

Methods:
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, eggs, and yolk until combined, then whisk in nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.
*I have extra custard. Next time will reduce to 100g each for both milk and heavy cream.

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen for my little favourite D.I.Y., and hosted by Joyce, kitchen flavours.

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I will off for holiday the next two weeks. I will visit my mum in Penang.

Here I like to wish all parents and students
Happy School Holidays!
See you all in two more weeks!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Stir fried White Shimeji Mushroom, Chives with Braised Tofu

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I used to stock my fridge with fresh mushrooms. It is very versatile as easy to cook and go pretty much with lots of flavour. My family love fried tofu therefore I serving the braised tofu with fresh white Shimeji (新鲜白玉菇). Along with the mushroom I added chives as part of my family meals’ green. Simple stir fried dish and yet satisfying ^^

Stir-fried White Shimeji Mushroom, Chives with Braised Tofu
Ingredients:
(A)
2 firm tofu
1 onion
1 packet fresh white Shimeji mushroom
10 stalks chives

(B)
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
75g water
salt to taste

Methods:
~Preparation
1. Cut firm tofu into equal 4 strips.

2. Slice onion thinly.

3. For Shimeji mushroom, trim away root. Leave in small clusters or break into individual stems. Wash by placing under flowing tap water.
*only wash when about to use.

4. Cut the washed chives. Separate white part with the green.

~Cooking
1. Heat up wok. Add in 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil. Gently arrange tofu slices (with chopsticks) in the hot oil. Fry at high heat till one side turn golden brown. By that time it should be easily turned without sticking on the wok surface. Fry till golden brown. Remove from hot oil and set aside.

2. Retain about a teaspoon of oil in wok. Add in onion and cook till translucent. Follow by Shimeji mushroom and white part of chives. Quick stir for 1-2 minutes till fragrant. Add in green part of chives. Quick stir for few seconds and dish out.

3. Braising tofu; with the same wok (without heat) add in oyster sauce, soya sauce, sugar and water. Turn heat on, add in fried tofu and cook till most of water being absorbed. Taste for seasoning. Add salt if needed.

4. Serving by placing braised tofu on serving plate. Top with cooked Shimeji mushroom. Enjoy!

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen for my little favourite D.I.Y., and hosted by Joyce, kitchen flavours.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Chicken Fillet in Burger Meal

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My elder son requests me to prepare burger with chicken fillets. Without any delay I prepare this chicken burger meal for that day dinner. As usual I use homemade burger buns and this time is spinach buns. Together with chicken fillets, I serve with lettuce (生菜), cheddar cheese and fried egg. Not forget mayonnaise and tomato/ chili sauce^^

You can spread butter on buns and pan fry on hot pan for more flavour. This time I omit. Nevertheless this chicken burger turns out great! This is light and yet satisfying meal.

Chicken Fillet in Burger Meal
Ingredients:
8 pieces chicken breast fillet
*from 1 chicken. Cut diagonally into ½ cm thickness, about ½ palm size.

~Seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ egg white from an egg

~Coating
½ cup breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried oregano

~Serving with
Spinach buns
Lettuce (
生菜)
Fried egg
Cheddar cheese 


Methods:
1. Add seasoning into fillets and set aside for 15 minutes.



2. Mix breadcrumbs and oregano in a plate. Coat each fillet with breadcrumbs mixture. 


3. Heat up wok, add in 2-3 tablespoons oil. Arrange fillets inside and fry till golden brown.
*do not cook at high heat as breadcrumbs easy to get burn.



4. Assemble burger by cutting the bun into half. Arrange lettuce, cheddar cheese, fried egg and fillet. Spread mayonnaise and tomato/ chili sauce. Cover with the other half bun. Chicken burger bun is good to go! Enjoy!


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Friday, May 17, 2013

Stir Fried King Oyster Mushroom with Tofu in 3 cups Chicken(三杯雞) Style

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Three cups chicken is actually famous dish in Taiwan. "Three cups" derives its name from the three cups of sauces required. For each chicken, a cup each of soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil are added. Some are added sugar, ginger and basil too. Being inspired by this dish I used oyster mushroom and tofu instead of chicken.

I'm using my 1st harvest basil leaves for this dish. This is all I have. Hoping my basil plant can stay healthy and more productive in future :D

It is quite a small portion as I cook mainly for one person. My hubby not appreciate the taste of basil :P

Stir Fried Oyster Mushroom with Tofu in 3 cups Chicken(三杯雞) Style
Ingredients:
(A)
1 firm tofu
1 egg
1 king oyster mushroom (
菇)
Few stalks basil

(B)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 garlics
3 slices ginger
3 dried chilies (can replace with fresh big chilies)

(C)
1 tablespoon light soya sauce
tablespoon rice wine
75g water
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper

Methods:

~Preparation
1. Slice firm tofu into 4 equal strips.
2. Slice oyster mushroom diagonally into slices.
3. Wash basil leaves. Remove hard stem and keep the leaves.
4. Crushed garlic with knife. Roughly cut.
5. Cut dried chilies into half and remove seeds.

~Cooking
1. Add in 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Gently arrange tofu slices (with chopsticks) in the hot oil. Fry at high heat till one side turn golden brown. By that time it should be easily turned without sticking on the wok surface. Fry till golden brown. Remove from hot oil and set aside.

2. For fragrant fried egg; Crack an egg into a bowl. Beat well with fork/ chopsticks. Heat up the remaining oil in wok with high heat. Slowly pour in beaten egg into hot wok and stir vigorously. Once beaten egg mixture finish continue cook till brown and fragrant. Dish out.

3. Heat up wok again on high heat. Without adding any oil, add in mushroom slices in wok. Cook till slightly brown and fragrant. Remove and set aside.

*this will enhance the mushroom flavour.

4. Add sesame oil into wok. Stir fry garlic, ginger and dried chilies till fragrant.

5. Add in soya sauce, wine and water. Follow by sugar, salt and fried tofu. Cook till most of sauces being absorbed. Taste and adjust accordingly.

6. Add in cooked oyster mushroom, fried egg and basil leaves. Quick stir for few seconds. Finish off with dash of pepper. Serve!

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen for my little favourite D.I.Y., and hosted by Joyce, kitchen flavours.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Spicy Crabs Songkhla Style

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When I was kids my mum used to cook sweet sour crab. And I love it! I can finish big bowl of rice with the eggy gravy. If you prefer hot and spicy crabs I recommend this spicy crab Songkhla style (Songkhla, is a city in the Songkhla Province of southern Thailand). I have been cooking it for many times and still love it! Ooo…thinking of cooking it again… :D


Adapted and slightly modified from SAMBAL cookbook
Spicy Crabs Songkhla Style
Ingredients:
(A)
3 flower crabs
Some corn flour for coating

(B)
5 shallots
3 pieces bird chilies (cili padi)
3 pieces big red chilies
2 stalks lemongrass
3cm ginger

(C)
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon chili paste
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon chili sauce

(D)
1 tablespoon tamarind paste (asam jawa)
*pour in 50ml hot water, mix and set aside for few minutes before squeezing the juice)
250ml water
*you might need less if you prefer less sauce
Salt and sugar to taste

1 egg, lightly beaten


Methods:

~Preparation
1. Clean and wash the crabs. Cut each crab into 6 pieces. Coat the cut surface with some cornflour (only coat when about to fry).

2. Mill ingredients (B) till fine paste.

~Cooking
1. Heat wok, add in 2-3 tablespoons cooking oil. Arrange crab pieces in wok (facing the coated surface directly in hot oil). Fry till turn golden brown. Dish up and set aside.
*Instead of deep fry in hot oil (which used a lot of oil!), we can choose pan fry to seal the meat. 

Coat the exposed surface with cornflour

Facing the coated surface directly in hot oil

Browned and the meat is sealed!

2. Add 1 tablespoon oil in wok. Together with the remaining oil in wok sauté the milled ingredients on medium heat until the oil separate. Follow by ingredients (C) and continue sauté until fragrant.


3. Add tamarind juice together with water. Taste the seasoning.


4. Return crab pieces into wok. Toss well, cover with lid and cook for few minutes (the shell will change orangey) till cooked. Add in beaten egg. Once the sauce thicken dish up and serve while hot. Enjoy! 

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Strawberry Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes/草莓北海道牛奶蛋糕

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First of all I like to wish Happy Birthday to Bake-Along! It has been fun and great to bake along with baking ‘kaki’:D Thanks to LenaJoyce and Zoe and the other bakers for making this event get going. Here come my cupcakes to celebrate for the special day :)

I choose Strawberry Hokkaido Cupcakes because I have some frozen strawberries and strawberry (red) piping jelly which I wanted to clear. This time I added some baking powder to minimize shrinkage. I also take extra step by turning my baked cupcakes upside down after removing from oven. I would say it helps.  

Recipe adapted with changes from Nasi Lemak Lover
*Make 11 cupcakes
Strawberry Hokkaido chiffon cupcakes 草莓北海道牛奶蛋糕
Ingredients:
~Chiffon cake
(A)
4 egg yolks (use egg weight about 58g each)
20g sugar

35g corn oil
60g milk
25g strawberry (red) piping jelly (or fresh strawberry puree)

(B)
70g cake flour
15g rice flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
*sift and set aside

(C)
4 egg whites
30g sugar
¼ teaspoon white vinegar (or lemon juice)

Methods:
1. Whisk yolks and sugar till well combine. Add in oil, milk and piping jelly. Mix well.

2. Add in the sifted flour and whisk to combine.

3. In other bowl beat the whites till foamy. Add in ½ the sugar and vinegar. Continue beat till glossy. Add in the rest of castor sugar and beat till soft peak.

4. Spoon 1/3 of the whites into yolks batter. Fold to combine. Pour the yolk mixture into the remaining whites bowl. Fold till well combine.

5. Scoop batter into paper liners to slightly more than ¾ cup full. Bake in preheated oven 170C for about 20- 25 minutes (depending on the size).

6. When done, remove from the baking tray. Turn upside down and cool on wire rack.
*the cake will shrink a bit after being removed from the oven.


~Strawberry Cream
100g dairy whipping cream
30g red piping jelly (or replace with sugar)
60g fresh strawberry puree
*The cream is more than I need. Next time shall reduce to 80g of whipping cream.

Some icing sugar, for dusting
Some cherry for deco

Methods:
1. Beat whipping cream with sugar till firm and stiff.

2. Add in strawberry puree and fold till well mixed.

3. Pipe strawberry cream into cool cupcakes. Decorate with cherry and dust with icing sugar. Refrigerated before consume.



I am submitting my cupcakes to celebrate Bake-Along 2nd Anniversary hosted by LenaJoyce and Zoe.



Friday, May 3, 2013

Roselle Cheesecake

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The process of making this cheesecake is similar with Japanese Cotton Cheesecake. It requires melting the cream cheese instead of creaming. After seeing this recipe from 茄子,袅袅烘焙香 remind me of not baking cheesecake with this method for quite sometimes. It yields finer cake texture compare with creaming method. Whoever likes Japanese Cotton Cheesecake you going to love this one too ^^
Ever since I make pickled roselle and roselle jam I wanted to use in decorate cheesecake. Being inspired by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover here come my Roselle Cheesecake.


Cheesecake recipe reference from 茄子,袅袅烘焙香 
Cake deco inspired by Nasi Lemak Lover
Roselle Cheesecake 
Ingredients:
~cheesecake
(A)
300g cream cheese
200g whipping cream(dairy)
40g corn flour(shifted)
4 egg yolks

(B)
4 egg white
80g sugar
½ teaspoon white vinegar (or lemon juice)

Methods:
~Cheesecake
1. Line the bottom and side of 7" round baking pan. Set aside.

2.Double-boil cream cheese and whipping cream until smooth. Remove from heat. 

3. After a minute off the heat add in yolks. Whisk to combine.
*Make sure the cheese mixture is not too hot. Hot cream will COOK the yolks. If the bowl not hot to touch, the temperature should be right.

4. Then add in sifted flour and whisk to combine. Set aside.

5. In another clean bowl beat egg whites until foamy. Divide the sugar into 2 equal portions. Add in 1st portion and beat till no longer foamy. Add in vinegar and 2nd portion of sugar. Continue beat until it reaches soft peak form. (soft peak is reached when the beaters are pulled out of the whites and the peaks that form droop)

6. Scoop 1/3 of the egg whites into cream mixture. Use hand whisk to mix it evenly into cheese batter.

7. Next pour the cheese mixture into remaining whites. Whisk to combine. Once most of whites incorporate switch to spatula. Scraping remaining whites at the sides bowl and gently fold till well combined.

8. Pour batter into lined pan. Steam baked in preheated oven at 120C for about 1 hour 10 minutes. 
* Do adjust your oven accordingly.
* I used steam baked method. I place the hot water pan in the lower rack and the pan at the middle rack. Therefore not need to worry about the water sipping inside my cake. Save wrapping too. Do find out here how I place my pan.

9. After the baking time is over, slightly open the oven door and let the cake cool completely inside the oven. Once cool. Keep in fridge for several hours or overnight.

~Assemble
(A) Roselle filling
80g Roselle jam, recipe here
50g water 
1 teaspoon cornflour
*A bit runny. Next time will increase to 2 teaspoons 

Mix cornflour and water in a saucepan. Add in roselle jam and mix well. Cook over low heat and stir occasionally till thicken. Set aside to cool.

(B) Pistachio nuts
*Place in plastic bag and crush with rolling pin

(C)Pickled Roselle, recipe here

(D) Whipped cream

Methods:
1. Spread Roselle filling on top of the cake.

2. Then frost the sides of the cake with whipped cream.

3. Pat the sides with crushed pistachio nuts.

4. Arrange pickled Roselle on top.

Why not bake this Roselle Cheesecake for the coming Mothers' Day? I'm sure mothers will happy to receive this edible flower cake :)

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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Homemade Roselle Jam (洛神花酱)

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I had been making roselle jam for several times. For the previous batches I didn't blend roselle calyx which end up course roselle jam. I don't mind having bits of calyx in my jam but not my son. In order to please him I blend the calyx into fine purée before cook. And the end results not only make my son happy, me too! It has spreadable consistency texture which like commercial jam. The amount of sugar I used in this recipe just right. It is not overly sweet with tangy taste. 

Maybe you might thinking trouble of making own jam as you might need to stir the jam frequently as you cook. From my few batches of roselle jam making experience I found roselle jam is much easier compare with other jam (from what I read using other fruits in jam making). Roselle jam does not require much attention, only stir occasionally. With the amount of roselle calyx and water I used I can get the jam done within 30 minutes (cooking time). During the cooking process I put the lid on and check about every 5-10 minutes. If you like sweet, tangy jam, try roselle jam!  Mostly you will love it! From now on I will stick to this recipe.  

Homemade Roselle Jam (洛神花酱)

yield about 400g jam
Ingredients : 
4 cups fresh roselle calyx, about 200g (after separate from the central seedpod. Refer here on how to remove the seedpod)
½ cup of water
1½ cups sugar

There are 2 types of roselle flowers. For making pickled roselle, I prefer the one with long calyx. Prettier ^^

4 cups of fresh calyx (without seedpod) cost RM2. After the cooking give me about 400g homemade jam. Economy right?
Methods :
1. Wash the red fleshy calyx till clean. Tear into small size. Blend roselle together with water till fine.
* I work in 2 batches.

2. Pour the blended roselle into wok/ pot. Add in sugar and cook at medium low heat till roselle mixture become thick.
*Stir occasionally especially during end of process.
*It tooks about 25 minutes for it to thicken


Add roselle purree and sugar in wok/pot

Stir the mixture to combine

Mixture start boiling. Small bubbles seen. 

Half way cooking, start thicken.

Almost done. 'Volcano' kind of bubbles seen.

Check by 'drawing' a line in the center. The 'line' can stay for few seconds before disappear. Looks a bit runny as jam but it will thicken further after chilled. 

Add the hot jam into jar. Turn jar upside down till cool. This can help proper sealing.

Spread generously on bread and enjoy!
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