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The month of February was filled with so many events and projects that I could hardly find time to get down and mess around in the kitchen for long. Firstly, there was the 15-days long Chinese New Year celebrations (lots of food and photos, I’ll get to posting them soon, hopefully!) and then, I had a couple of Valentine’s/Friendship Day celebrations with my dear friends (photos again, soon!). On top of that, I’m also tied down by a record amount of school projects and assignments in this final semester of college. That explains my absence from February’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge which I heard took 10 hours to complete! Great job you guys and gals!
It wasn’t till the week long mid-semester break last week, that I could find a little time off from all the slogging to bake this Banana Phydelity. The “break” came in time for me to catch up with and finish up some work and at the end of it, I felt like treating myself to some home-made desserts. SZ and I went on a dessert hunt the other day and tried the “Baked Banana in Phyllo Pastry” and signature dish, “Grand Marnier Soufflé” from Infuzi at Biopolis. The desserts were pricey and quite disappointing. The only saving point was the vanilla ice-cream that came with both desserts. It was really light and smooth, and I could see all the tiny vanilla seeds in it. We preferred the Baked Banana over the Soufflé, which we thought was too ‘egg-y’ for our liking and had only the slightest hint of Grand Marnier. You have to be really lucky to scoop out a spoonful of soufflé that had Grand Marnier in it.
Here’s a nice breakfast or tea time dish you can serve up in under 15 mins!
My cousin is having a BBQ birthday party tonight for her ‘lil boy! In my family, whenever someone holds a party, the rest of us will usually contribute a dish or two just like you do in a potluck. Nevermind that there is already enough food at the party, it has become a habit for everyone to turn up with something extra.
My mom asked me the other day to think of something to make so I can bring it to the party. I browsed through my collection of recipes and read all the food blogs I frequent to gather some ideas. I wanted to try a new recipe, something I’ve never made and have always wanted to. In the end, I picked apple strudel!
The apple strudel I had in mind was the layered version you find from Ritz Apple, served with creamy custard. Almost all the recipes I found online were that of the tradition German apple strudel where the apple filling is wrapped inside the pastry. I searched high and low for recommendations on the type of pastry to use - strudel, puff or phyllo; ways to make that creamy custard - think Ritz Apple and Beard Papa Cream Puffs, not tradition custard cream. After much research, I ended up using a combination of recipes and adjusting the methods to get what I had in mind.
I have frequent hunger bouts throughout the day so I need to come up with a quick fix that can last me a couple of weeks. The usual peanut butter and jam bread gets boring after a while. After some thought, I had the amazing idea to prepare a bottle of garlic spread to satisfy my savoury cravings!I adore anything with garlic! The fragrant aroma that exudes from the frying or baking of garlic is tantalising! Garlic is in my humble opinion, one of the best gifts nature has given to mankind in contribution to the culinary world. Who can resist a nicely toasted garlic bread to go with your soup or as an appetiser on its own?
Here’s a simple and easy to follow recipe for making a pretty good garlic spread.
It is not uncommon to find mango sago as the choice of dessert whenever my family visits a Chinese restaurant for dinner. My parents and sis are in love with this chilly and smooth dessert. My brother is fond of almost anything that has to do with mangoes. My aunts and uncles are also die-hard fans of this sweet dessert, even though half of my family and relatives are diabetics.
Last night, I went grocery shopping with XY and Mung in NTUC/Phoon Huat after our late lunch at Botak Jones. We saw this bottle of mango puree in Phoon Huat which sparked the idea to make some mango sago. With leftover pomelos from Mooncake Festival and hints from the hot weather these few days, it sounded like an awesome idea to make cold mango sago. We grabbed the other ingredients we needed from Phoon Huat and NTUC before returning home.
After much research on the net for tips on cooking sago and making the mango base, in addition to XY’s and Mung’s expertise, I tried my hands on this dessert this morning. Mhmmm…heavenly! My sis commented that it tastes just like those we had in the restaurants!
I’ve been wanting to try this easy recipe for a long time now, but I got tied down with school so I couldn’t find the chance to do some grocery shopping. On Tuesday, my group meeting ended earlier than expected and I was done with FYP for the day. Seeing as it was time for lunch and I was still in school, I asked XY if she wanted to meet for lunch. After lunch, I realised I had nothing else to do for the day (maybe some assignments and projects due in the week) so I coerced XY to dump her FYP and travel back home with me haha…
It was then that we decided to drop by Finest (that’s the NTUC that is classier that what you find in the neighbourhood towns) on our way home. Hurray! Figured this would be the best time to get what I need for the sausage rolls. We spent 2 hours in Finest browsing through the shelves and displays! This reminds me of when I spent about the same time shopping at Walmart in USA for the first time with Kailing! Ahh memories!
My first attempt at this cake was when I had to make a birthday cake for a colleague. The birthday girl is pretty health-conscious, so the usual Tiramisu, chocolate cakes and cheesecakes were out of the question. In the end, I settled for fruit based cakes (not those laden with cream and topped with fruits) such as blueberry coffee cake, carrot cake and the final decision - banana cake!
It was rather risky to use a recipe I’ve never tried before to present as a birthday cake. I had my fingers crossed and hoped for the best! The result - a moist and delicious banana cake which wasn’t too sweet. I toped the cake with some whipped cream and nuts, then drenched it with drizzles of chocolate sauce. Perfect!
