Frozen Tofu

I had to freeze my tofu the other day because I couldn't finish it before it goes bad. This is my first time cooking frozen tofu(had to do so because I need to make more space in the fridge!!). Like fishballs, the texture of tofu changes when you freeze it because some moisture had escaped and it becomes more dense. It tastes like paneer minus the creaminess. Good if you want to substitute this to paneer if you're vegan. The texture is very nice....it's porous and springy . The best way to prepare it is to cook it with a lot sauce so that it sucks up all the flavor.

It's very easy to prepare, just soak it in water a few hours before cooking and strain out the excess water so that it will not dilute the sauce you intend to cook it in. Heat up enough oil and toss the tofu cubes in dry it up a little. Then remove them before u toss in the ingredients you want. I made Ma Po Tofu with these but only remember to take photos after it was almost all gone...hehehe......will post them when I make them again.

looks like sponge cake eh?

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Sweet Potato Bread

I know it's time to use my bread machine since it's been sitting around collecting dust and I can't recall when was the last time i used it. So i decided to make a few loaves after the last attempts to the bakeries and I didn't really like what they have. S and I kinda miss the breads we get in Germany but it seems like people dont bake breads like that in NZ....most of them make breads that are too airy and lack in taste. Anyway, I decided to use whatever I have in my pantry cupboard and there was a big bag of sweet potatoes. Using the bread machine is very convenient. I just have to add in all the ingredients whilst watching my TVB series...hehehe...nothing comes between my canto drama series and me. I then let it knead in the machine and that saves me some time to prepare other things for dinner. After kneading, I took it out and let rise in the warm oven and then sprinkle some rolled oats before baking for 25 mins. Comes out quite nice but not as sweet as I expected. Next time, I will add some brown sugar instead of just normal granulated sugar. The texture is pretty nice I would say.....very soft inside but has a nice thin crunchy crust. Would be nice with some butter and Nutella.

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Making Vanilla Sugar

During my last trip to Nosh , I bought a small sachet of grounded vanilla. I have used vanilla essence in my baking and i find the artificial vanilla flavour could be quite revolting. I chose the ground vanilla over scraping it from the vanilla bean because of convenience. It costs NZD 12.99 for a 20 gm sachet but I think it's worth it since you don't really use so much of it. Also, I made some vanilla sugar with the grounded vanilla bean. It's really simple. I just mixed some 300gm organic unrefined sugar, which has a dirty brown look, with 1/4 teaspoon of grounded vanilla and then store it in an airtight jar. This will be handy when you want to make some cakes, muffins etc....not very strong but just a light hint of vanilla for your baking or bevarages.


This is a rather convenient and cheaper way of having your own vanilla sugar because they are usually quite costly and only available in gourmet food stores.

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Black Cherry Cream Cheese Souffle in Filo Basket

I know I have been too lazy with updating my postings. Have been so occupied lately. Ok...i am going to share one of my rather successful invention this time. I had quite a difficult time to give this a name. What happened was I bought some filo pastries and then, using a muffin tray, I filled it up with a simple cheesecake mixture. I wanted a light and soft cheesecake base so I used the Philadelphia light cream cheese . I am not really a health freak/ compulsive dieter but I wanted to just try to make a cheesecake that doesn't weight you down after a piece or two.If anyone is interested I will post the recipe here later because I didn't really measure my ingredients ( as always!!). The filo pastry gives it a light and crunchy texture before your teeth sinks into the soft creamy cheesecake. I will try these again in summer when fresh cherries and other berries are abundant. This is a pretty easy recipe and takes only about 30 mins preparation time. The most tedious part is just to cut up those filmsy filo pastries and layering it nicely. Baking time is about 25-30 mins depending on your preference of the 'browness' of the filo basket. I have tried using egg tart trays to hold the filo and the cream cheesecake but it doesn't hold that well since but if you prefer it so, give it a try or with any other trays/ moulds that you have.

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Pan Mee at last . .

I'd always loved pan mee and only until lately that I have the courage to try making it myself at home.Turns out that it's not as difficult as I've thought because pan mee is a relatively 'forgiving' dish to make as it's not that difficult to make it taste above average. Time consuming? A little bit for first timers but after the second and third time it becomes easier. Instead of using the usual 'kow kei' vege I opted for choy sum instead simply because I like it better as such. The soup is very important to make a nice and tasty pan mee. What I did is to boil the noodles in a pot of hot water until they are semi cooked (approx 30 seconds) and then transfer it the pot of soup that I have prepared beforehand and boil it in the soup for another 30 seconds. I like my pan mee a little al dente instead of really thin and this way of making it is the best that I have tried. As for the chilli sauce, I just blend a couple of cili padis with a small amount of belacan ( shrimp paste) and lemon juice. Sorry that I can't give an exact recipe because I never had the habit of measuring my ingredients, I just go with my gut feeling.

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Grilled Portuguese Chicken with roasted kumaras and mediteranean rocket and mesclun salad with parmigiano, pear and red vine vinegar dressing

Woah...that was quite a mouthful to read out. But just wanted to share it out with everyone is interested to give this easy and yummy dish a go. I remember making a similar dish sometime ago with chicken breast. Somehow, I became more and more less fond of chicken breasts and decided to use the chicken thigh instead. If you're afraid of the extra fats, do trim off some skin, or just leave it on for the cooking process and remove skin when it's done. The skin is to protect the moisture and tenderness of the meat.

Recipe (serves 2):

2 Chicken thighs
Masterfood peri-peri sprinkle
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
small piece of ginger, chopped
2 bulbs of garlic , chopped
salt
ground black pepper
sesame oil
granulated sugar
extra virgin olive oil

3-4 pcs baby gold kumaras/sweet potatoes, halved

salad:

a handful of Wild Mediteranean Rocket and Mesclun
1/2 cup thinly sliced parmigiano cheese
5-6 thin slices of packham pears
3 tablespoons of italian red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper


Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients. Squeeze lemon to give the meat a little zest. Keep refrigerated for about 2 hours or longer before cooking.

Reheart oven at 180C for 10 mins. Line a nonstick pan with drizzles of olive oil and lay the chicken with skin facing upwards. Toss in kumaras. Grill at 200c for 40 mins. Take out and turn chicken around and brush kumaras with chicken fats and grills for another 20 mins.

As for the salad, combine all the ingredients and serve with the chicken and kumaras.

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The almost forgotten project....

The reason I have not started blogging until recently was because of the very same reasons I do not start doing something if I don't neccessarily have to i.e work, sleep, shower, eat, shop ( it's essential to maintain my endorphine count !!), read, surf the net, and talk. While writing this, it reminds me of my 2 pages full scrapbook which I have started since Xmas 06 and god forbid all the money I have spent on buying fancy papers, embellishments, stickers, et cetera.

Just noticed how long ago was my last entry kinda hinted me that I should have never started it but reading others' food blogs makes me want to keep this up. There's so much gorgeous food that I eat day in day out that it feels like sin not to share something that I love doing so dearly.

Maybe I feel unmotivated sometimes because I always have something new to excite me and believe me, the excitement doesn't last longer than a couple of weeks at most.

I have recently read a busy mommy's blog which she religiously updates all the yummy food she made and shares all the cute pictures of her baby and I start to wonder how she managed that being a first time mom and working fulltime. But she mentioned something that is very motivating that says that if you keep saying that you don't have time, you will never have any. Very well said.

I will go home after work today to upload some of my most recent food conquests before the next one is due ( tommorow). Also, I am pretty tempted to add in other events in my life on this blog. At first, I thought it is a little unrelevant but then again, food is related to your mood and it's part and parcel of one's everyday life. So, there be it.

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Egg Tarts !! Egg Tarts !!

My friend started making these egg tarts the other day and it came out really well for the fact it was her first try.......look at that nice hue of yellow !! No artificial colouring added. The texture was perfect and the crust was very satisfactory. The only complaint though......too few and too small . I am getting my egg tart trays as soon as my friend comes back from Hong Kong. Can't wait !! I am getting 36 of them . . .that will be my whole week's supply of egg tarts....heavenly.

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Shanghainese Food

I had my first try of Shanghainese food when i came back to NZ and loved it since. It has this unique blend of cantonese style and the food comes out pretty distinguished from cantonese or northern chinese food. Some dishes can be very mild like cantonese food and some could be very spicy and peppery like Sichuan food.

Amongst my favourite dishes are Water Cooked Prawns. The prawn have a very nice smooth texture and simply fried on high fire with some spring onions and served with Chungkiang
Vinegar....it's simply devine.


Another favorite dish of mine that I must order each time we manage to get a reservation to our favorite Shanghainese restaurant is Wonton Chicken....like the sound of the name....the broth is made with whole fresh chicken and some beancurd sticks and feshly made wontons and pieces of chinese cabbage swimming in the delightful soup, served in a seasoned huge claypot. This is the reason why we never to there on our own....my partner and I will never be able to finish it.

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