Episode 219 - Butter Jammed Cookies

Rich Butter Jammed Filled Cookies

Another recipe from Betty Saw's Cookies by Marshall Cavendish Cuisine mini cookbooks collection! I tried this one out and was so satisfied with the results. My sis's frens just couldn't stop munching on them when they came to the house for tea! The cookies are really buttery and taste extra good with the jam in the center!

Butter-Jammed Cookies

Ingredients:

270 g All-purpose/ Plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
240g Butter
90g Icing Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Essence
30 g sesame seeds (roasted)
Strawberry Jam or any other flavour Jam

Method:

Line baking trays with non stick baking paper. Sift together flour and baking powder. Mix butter, icing sugar, vanilla essence and sifted dry ingredients in an electric mixer. Beat on lowest speed for 10 seconds. Increase speed to medium and beat for 15 minutes until mixture is smooth and light.

Spoon mixture into a cookie press or an icing pipe fitted with a large star nozzle. Pipe 2.5-cm (1 inch) diameter circles onto prepared trays, starting from the centre and leaving a 0.5cm (1/4 inch) hollow in the centre. Fill each hollow with 1/4 tsp jam.

Bake in preheated oven 175 Degrees Celsius (345 Degrees Farenhiet) oven for 12-15 minutes or until light golden. Leave, cookies on trays for 2 minutes before transferring them to wire racks and cool.

*Tip*: This recipe can do without the Sesame seeds. I prefer the cookies to be a lil bit crunchier and more golden brown so I used around 180 - 190 Degrees celsius for around 20 minutes. Trial and error would be the best to bake cookies. Baking trays can be lightly greased with butter instead of baking papers.

Episode 218 - Cream of Mushroom Soup

This is one of my mum's favourites. Inspired by Jamie Oliver's Real Mushroom soup from Jamie's Dinner book, I whipped this up on my own and it taste rather yummy!

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

200g fresh Button Mushrooms, sliced

200g fresh Portobello Mushrooms, sliced

200g fresh Shitake Mushrooms, sliced

1 cup of Cream

2 tablespoons of Cream Cheese

1 litre of Chicken Stock

2 cloves of Garlic, peeled and chopped

1 Red onion, peeled & chopped

Olive oil

2 tablespoons of butter

A handful of fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon of dried thyme

Pepper and salt

Method:

In a pan, place a few tablespoons of Olive oil and butter then saute your mushrooms for abit and put in the garlic, onion and thyme (also, some pepper and salt to taste). Stir until mushroom is soft and broth starts to ooze out. Put a few large spoons of chicken stock and stir and let it boil for awhile. After that, put the whole lot into the blender and blend it till creamy.

Pour it back into the pan and pour in the cream and cheese, while stirring under medium low heat. At this moment, you also add the remaining chicken stock and let it boil. Add some more salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with toast and add a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of Olive oil with some parsley on top!

Serves: 5

*Tip* - To make Chicken stock:

Boil more than a litre of water with 600g of chicken bones or leftover Chicken roast with Carrots, Large Onion, pepper and salt. You can always make more Chicken stock and freeze it up and use it later for your dishes and soups!

Episode 217 - Home & Decor - July 2009

Hi guys! Sorry for the lack of update. But here's what I promised in the last post, a summary of my several favourite reads on the July 2009 issue of Home & Decor Magazine (Singapore). This magazine has pretty much everything about interior decor for the home. From furniture to artworks for your living room, kitchen and many more, you can find it in this magazine. It features anything modern and even anything classic for your home.

Here are the highlights for this month's issue of Home and Decor:

Pg 62 & 68 - "Open to the Sun" features a couple's home rebuilt, inspired by their trips to the Mediterranean. Their home is rebuilt with open decks with light coloured themes and alot of glass windows for lots of light and warmth. Check out Pg 64 with the idea of their kitchen utensils being displayed outside under a piece of classic yet modern art piece.

Bread Toaster and Bun Warmer by BrAun

Page 80 - features 5 cool toasters and bun warmers for your breakfast. From Electrolux to BrAun, these steel coated toasters look rather stylish and yet works like a charm for your bread and buns!

Page 84 - "tray with a twist", a great innovative yet simple design of trays which are both practical and have non-slip surfaces.

The 3-tier Serving stand from IKEA

Page 86 - "get a grip" of these serving dishes. You can choose from one-handled to two handled serving dishes. Check out the 3-tier serving dish from IKEA. Great for serving finger food at parties and your Festive biscuits and cakes for Hari Raya or Chinese New Year!

Dish Drainer, ASKER from IKEA

Page 108 - 110 - Organise and characterise your kitchen with these industrialised- looking shelves. Great for those who like easy-to-reach and open style shelves. Also, don't waste the space of your kitchen walls. Fill it up with stacking and hanging racks to put up your kitchen utensils and your lil bottles of herbs & spices.

Page 140 - I lurve the Kitchen's concept of using glossy balck cabinets and a contrast colour for the kitchen countertop. Sophisticated and elegant!

And the best pages are 170 - 175 - "Good Morning" , a guide to dressing up your breakfast with simple deco and ideas. Ideas for your breakfast on the : 1. setting, 2. the tableware and 3. the food!

Page 180 - Tips for eliminating odour of deep-frying in your kitchen to removing foul-smelling spills in the fridge!

Alright, so these are some things that you can look out for in the July's issue of Home & Decor. Make sure to get one and read up and enjoy the illustrations!

You can also visit http://www.homeanddecor.com.sg/

Till my next post, Cheerios! xo

Episode 216 - Kitchen Essentials : Cool Gadgets For Your Food

I came across some really cool stuff which compliments eating our food in a very cool and funny way! I was doing some research online and I came across a website called Paran.com which features innovative gadgets and appliances. These are what I found!

From Top to Bottom:

Motorised Ice-Cream Cone which can turn without you needing to turn the cone. You can just leave your tongue on it and let it turn by itself! *haha*

The very Innovative Twirling Spaghetti Fork, again, sweat no more while eating your spaghetti or Noodles, you can just let the fork twirl the noodles up for you!

This one is for those Cameramen/Women (which are very popular nowadays) - Camera Lens Coffee Cup. Drink your coffee stylishly with this camera lens looking cup.

And then there is the coolest toaster ever made. The Scanner Toaster by Electrolux. you can practically scan anything onto your toast, even pics and notes!

Last but not least, my favourite invention, the Butter - Stick Type! Isn't that just smart? You know your sticky glue in a stick, well, they used that idea and placed butter on a stick so you can just butter your bread mess-free! LOL

I hope you enjoyed these crazy but workable innovations. On my next post, I'm featuring some great stuff from the July Issue of Home&Decor.

Episode 215 - Asparagus with Fish Cake Strips

White Asparagus

SUNDAY - a pretty SUNny day. A good day to have asparagus for lunch. Usually, I'll just stir fry it with some garlic and salt but today I added some fishcakes.

Asparagus are delicious and sweet and can be cooked simply by just grilling it or steamed and served with butter. They can be cooked with all sorts of meat and still taste as good. There are a few types of asparagus, some are white, some are green and there is a wild one called "Bath " asparagus.

Wild or "Bath" Asparagus

Green Asparagus, shooting out from the ground

Some facts about ASPARAGUS:

- Only the young shoots are eaten.

- In the early times, asparagus are eaten as vegetables and are also used as medicine.

- It is low in calories.

- It contains no fat or cholesterol.

- It is very low in Sodium.

- It is a very good source of folic acid and potassium.

- It is also a good source of dietary fibre.

Asparagus with Fish Cake Strips

Ingredients:

150 g of Asparagus (peeled)

50 g of Fish cake (cut in strips)

2 cloves of Garlic

1 tbsp of Oyster Sauce

1/4 cup of Chicken Stock

Method:

In a non-stick pan, place a 1 1/2 tablespoon of corn oil and put in the garlic. Saute the garlic till light golden brown and put in the fish cakes. Stir fry for abit and dump in the Asparagus. When the asparagus turns into a brighter green, pour in the oyster sauce & chicken stock at once and give it a good stir. Transfer to a plate and serve.

Serves: 3

Episode 214 - Butter Almond Crispies

Butter Almond Crispies

I got this recipe from a mini cookbook series called "Cookies". It's by Betty Saw and it features 35 of the best and tastiest cookies ever. So, I tried them the other day and I must say I am very pleased with the outcome! They were spectacular as what she wrote saying....

"These simple cookies have a light, crisp texture..."

And they tasted exactly as she said. I'm posting this recipe up for you the readers to try it out. I had a lil problem making them though. I only had 1 plastic piping bag (thanks, babe M) and it kind of burst halfway through. So I had to use 2 teaspoons and spoon them onto the baking tray which I then flatten it a little with my finger Hehe. It kind of took me nearly 3 hours to finish the whole baking thing. By the end of the day I was exhausted but my family and friends found them really good and one even said that they're suitable for the elderly because they're light in texture.

Butter Almond Crispies

Ingredients:

2 tbsp Corn flour (Corn starch)

210 g (7.5 oz) Plain (all-purpose) flour

250 g (9 oz) Cold Butter, diced

100 g (3.5 oz) Icing Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

100 g (3.5 oz) Ground Almonds

Multi - coloured sugar balls

Method:

Line Baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Sift together corn flour and plain flour. With and electric mixer, cream butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Add sifted dry ingredients, then ground almonds, pulsing until evenly combined.

Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a medium 6-point star nozzle. Pipe S with the loops close together onto prepared trays. Sprinkle sugar balls over.

Bake in preheated 175 degrees Celsius (345 degrees Farrenheit) oven for 15 minutes, or until light golden. Remove and leave to cool on wire recks.

*Tip*: You can use other deco such as rainbow coloured rice or crushed bits of almonds. You can also pipe them into different shapes you like other than the S ones. Store your baked and cooled cookies in an air tight container to retain its crispiness. You can bake these for Celebrations like Hari Raya or Chinese New Year or Christmas or bake them and place in a jar tied with ribbon and present it as a gift for someone's B-day.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe. I will post the pic soon! Thanks for reading my first Cookie recipe!! XO

Episode 213 - Food for the Ill - Part 2 : Food you can eat during Sorethroat

Now, for Part 2 of Food for the Ill, I'm posting on some food that you can consume when having a sorethroat. I was having porridge for a few days till I got bored of it and resorted to other food. (Pic on the left is Fettucine Carbonara, Yes! you can have that!, pic from flickr.com)

These are some of the Food you can have!

1. cooked cereals or dry cereals soaked in milk pancakes, french toast, pasta dishes foods cooked or simmered in sauces or liquids soft fruits, mashed or cut up such as bananas, canned peaches, pears and fruit cocktail, baby foods e.g. vegetables and fruits add butter, margarine or sauces to vegetables.

2. foods cooked or simmered in liquids (e.g. stews with ground or finely chopped meats, hearty soups), soft casseroles, egg macaroni and cheese, egg dishes, meats that have been chopped, ground or blenderized meats served with gravy, sauces or soups, baby foods e.g. meats, cookies dipped in drinks, crackers or bread soaked in soup, add butter margarine, mayonnaise or salad dressing to moisten foods, pour cream or custard sauce over cakes, puddings, jello and custards.

3. milk, milkshakes and food supplements, juices (except orange, grapefruit and lemonade), fruit nectars, flat soft drinks and non-alcoholic beer, add water or milk to drinks if you find them too strong.

4. canned peaches, pears, fruit cocktail, applesauce, fruit flavoured drinks (e.g. koolaid) or nectars, sauces made with milk, cream or cheese.

5. warm beverages or soups (let hot foods cool off to a temperature that is best for you), puddings, milkshakes or melted ice cream.

6. garlic, onion or herb seasonings, cream or cheese sauces.

Thus, in other words, take something soft and easy to swallow. Mostly boiled food or food with light sauces. Do avoid all the food I listed in the last post and when you do, you'll be able to heal faster and enjoy any types of food better!!!

Text in red for both posts from HealthCastle.com

Episode 212 - Food for the Ill - Part 1: Food to avoid during Sorethroat

Sorethroat? Best to avoid Fast Food!

I have been having the worse sorethroat and cough for the last 3 weeks. Throughout those weeks I have tried so many types of medicines and avoided so many types of food which will make the sorethroat and cough slow to heal. There are a few types of food and drinks you should avoid when you are having a sorethroat. This is because food and drinks like this will make it hard for someone to swallow as well as hinders the healing process by worsening it or slowing it down.

If you have a sorethroat, AVOID:

1. Rough or Crunchy Foods: Like dry cereals, dry toast, popcorn, nuts, plain rice, fried foods, raw vegetables and hard fruits.

2. Dry Foods: E.g. baked or fried meats, chicken or fish, cookies, crackers, bread and buns and dry cakes.

3. Oily Foods: E.g. deep fried food, any types of dishes cooked in a lot of oil. (Sorry guys, you have to avoid the Char Kueh Tiaw and Fries)

4. Beverages: carbonated drinks and any type of alcoholic drinks.

5. Tart or Acidic Foods: foods made with citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, lemons and foods made with tomatoes ( e.g. juices and sauces).

6. Foods that are too Hot or too Cold: i.e. very hot beverages or soups and very cold beverages or foods.

7. Highly Seasoned Foods: E.g. Food with lots of pepper, curry, chili seasoned dishes, or salty snack foods.

It does sound like you can't eat anything at all right? You're wrong! In the next post, I'm putting up food you CAN EAT when you're having a sorethroat.

See you there!