Cauliflowers with Mince Pork

Ingredients
4 cups Cauliflowers
1/2 cups Pork Mince
2 Clove Garlic finely chopped





Seasonings
1 tsp Sesame seed oil
1 tsp Chicken essence powder
1 tbsp Oyster sauce
1 tsp Light soya sauce
1/2 cupWater
1tbsp Olive oil for frying

Heat a little olive oil in a non stick wok on medium heat. Add garlic and fry till frangrant. Add mince pork and fry till redness is gone and add in sesame seed oil, chicken essence, oyster sauce, light soya sauce and water. Allow to mix well then add the cauliflower. Cook till vegetable is cooked but not soggy. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Sizzling Beef

When it comes to dinner, I cook everyday. Problem is, I keep forgetting to take some pictures and post them in my blog. Making use of my new sizzling hotplate has reminded me to do so tonight. There you go, we have sizzling beef, home made Ham Tan, and cauliflowers with mince pork. I was stufffed like a fat lady's socks.

Sizzling Beef
500 g fresh beef thinly sliced
1 large red Onion sliced
Few slices fresh ginger
1 clove garlic crushed

Seasonings
Dark soya sauce
3 tbsp chinese rice wine
Oyster Sauce
Chilli powder
Pepper
Corn starch
Sesame oil
olive oil for frying

In a wok, heat olive oil till medium hot. Add in ginger, red onion and garlic. Stir fry until fragrant. Put in beef and fry until redness is gone. Add chinese rice wine and simmer to reduce. Add dark soya sauce, oyster sauce, chilli powder, pepper and a dash of sesame oil. Mix well and add one cup of water and let to reduced to half. Add in corn starch mixed with little amount of water to thicken the sauce. When gravy appears thickened, remove from heat and place aside.

Before serving, heat hotplate on stove. Place hotplate on the wooden base and pour the beef gently onto the plate. Take extra careful not to stand too near to the plate as it really sizzlers.

Lime Mmmm

As spring is on its way, my lovely lime tree in the back garden yielded plenty of ripe juicy lime. Like the previous year, I tend to cook more dishes with lime than the rest of th year for making use of home grown stuff. I still remembered the first year it started to bear fruits, it was only a handful of it. Now, it is producing more and more. As a result, I will harvest them at the lastest date possible but also remember to leave few here and there on the tree so as the tree will not look too "botak" or bare.

What I have harvested, I rinse them clean, halves them and squeeeezee them. Goodness me, it was a long and squeezing task! My poor hands are all wrinkly by the end. Worth it! I got two one litre bottle of fresh lime which I freeze them for future cooking.

Salami Pineapple Pizza

Salami Pineapple Pizza makes a appetizing after school snacks. My kid is in the crazy growing age and she is constantly crying hungry. This pizza is just ideal to keep her tum tum satisfied until dinner time. As salami is generally high in fat but we love them the most, I fry them in the nonstick frying pan until the fat melted away. I then pad the salami with towels to remove access fat. As a result, it dont only taste yummy, it is also a tiny bit healthier too.

This is the journey of my tofu con't

Gypsum Tofu Take Two! And Success!
This is the Second round making gypsum tofu. The result is really remarkable! I am pleased with the outcome of the experiment. To my opinion, I have cracked it! (To my preference lah! Hee) Same ingredient quantity but I used one table spoon of gypsum this time.

Top Secret Experiment. OpsomTofu. Take One!

This is the Opsom method. The tofu has small pockets of holezies in between. Texture wise is much much more firmer/denser than the other two. Press time is somehow the least compared to the other two. Thickness is slightly less than gypsum tofu.

Top Secret Experiment. NigariTofu. Take One!

This is the Nigari method. The tofu is soft and silky but somehow it is much much thinner than the other two. I uses the liquid Nigari which is the only type I came across so far. I started with adding one tbsp of nigari but the milk was still very milky so I added another and then another. 3 tbsp I have used.





Experiments Result
I don’t know if my creations are correct but I will certainly have a go again with all the three coagulants until I came up with the best way I can make with each of the stuff.
When it comes to the taste of the three tofus, they tasted and smelled pretty delicious!

Gypsum tofu: Tasted very silky and soft. Need to toughen up a little bit more.
Opsom tofu: Tough guy, tasting firm and good. Need to soften up much more to perfect it.
Nigari tofu: Tasted soft and silky but don’t know why abit on the skinny side. Maybe I need to make more quantity to yield a decent size?!

The Journey of my Tofu making con't

This is the curd which Epsom and Nigari yield. Unlike gypsum curd, which most of us call tofu fa, is more a giant silky piece.

This is the curd/tofu fa using gypsum powder. Initially it is in one piece jelly mass. It has been scoped into the pressing mould.


All three types of tofu use this same press to remove access water.


Same weight was also used for the three types of tofu.

Top Secret Experiment. GypsumToFu.Take One!

For gypsum, because the coagulant is premix in a big bowl and follow by pouring down the Soya bean milk like waterfall at a go, the result of the curd or tofu fa is in one big mass. Hence the quantity of the curd is much larger than the other two. Pressing also takes longer but the result is really pleasing. The tofu is thicker and silkier

Journey of my Tofu making

Fascinating Tofu Journey of mine!

This is the journal of my tofu making. I did intensive surfing on the net trying to find out if I can find other alternative ways of making tofu with the different kind of coagulants. Finally I don’t only get to purchase one; I bought three types of tofu coagulants. They are Nigari (Japanese), Opsom Salt (US), and the humble Gypsum Powder (Chinese). As I have always used gypsum powder previously. I was actually forced to find other ingredients when in recent weeks, gypsum powder seemed to be vanished off the oriental market shelves.

As a result, I tried making tofu using these three precious powder/liquid. The steps are pretty much the same. First Soya bean milk is created, the only variation I noticed is the quantity of beans and water. Nevertheless, it all started with Soya bean milk. Here goes…

Nigari or “Hai Ching” as it said on the package. Have to get an oriental owner (friend) to purchase it from supplier of Japanese stuff. Around 6 bucks.

Epsom Salt is more common in the US according to what I learned in the web. Got this from health food store in Perth. Around 4 bucks.

Gypsum Powder. I don’t really know what is the difference between cooked and raw. The previous package I bought was different from this and it didn’t mention cooked as this has. I supposed it is serving the same purpose/result for tofu. Around 4 bucks.

1. Made Soya bean milk, all cooked and ready to go.

For Nigari and Epsom coagulants, the mixture of 1-3 tbs of the stuff is the same as well as the fluffy looking curd (above). Epsom curd is much springier than Nigari. It is also very easy to separate the curd from the whey

Banana Bread with Dried Apricot and Raisin

My first square loaf of bread!


Soo excited to open the lid and see the square bread for the first time!


This is the sliced bread itself. I made Banana bread with dried apricot and raisin. Such a hot sell to my loyal eaters at home? LoL

Banana Bread with Dried Apricot and Raisin

Ingredients
4 cups Bread Flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter milk
3 tbsp honey
1 egg
1tsp salt
12g yeast sachet
1tsp bread improver
1tbsp milk powder
3 mashed bananas

Heat the milk in micro slightly warm and add in yeast. Stir and let to sit for 5 to 7 minutes before use. In a bread machine, put in all dry ingredients first and follow by the wet ingredients. Set the machine to dough mode and let the machine to work its full cycle. When machine stopped, remove dough from the machine and punch it down on a floured surface. Lay grease baking paper inside the tin and put dough in (roll it to a longish shape, according to the size of your tin). Put the tin lid or towels over it and place in a warm place to prove for another 60 minutes or until twice in size. Bake in a preheated 200 c oven for 50 minutes. Remove from oven when done and set aside until cool before handling.

For hand kneading, same sequence is applied except dough has to be kneaded to a elastic dough, cover with damp cloth and prove for around 30 minutes. Follow by punching and knead to tin shape and prove for another 60 minutes.

Note: Baking tin with lid tends to take longer time to bake than open tin. 40 minutes for open tin

My New toys

I got these special delivery from my sister last night. I am soo over the moon! It has got cover too. Stuff like these is hard to get in Perth. If there is, it is quite pricy. My sis gave hers to me and all the way from Brunei, have to come up with a good recipe to show it to her soon, hee!

Together, Kerrie also gave me her hot plate, really excited to have all the new toys. Can't wait to try out my sizzling tofu now!.... Thanks sis.

Fried Whole Meal Pasta with Ham and Pork Mince

Whole meal pasta is very high in fibre. It is supposed to be more healthy than the normal pasta. I find it abit less chewy than normal ones and the taste is something that we have adjusted to over a period of time. Nevertheless, it is still tasty and fun to eat!

Ingredients

500g Whole Meal Pasta(any shape and sizes can do)

1 big Onion sliced

3 crushed garlic

1/2 cup Ham cubes or sliced Ham

1/2 cup Mince pork

1 tbsp Oyster sauce

1 tbsp Sweet Soya sauce

1 tbsp Dark Soya sauce

1 tsp dried chilli powder

dash of pepper

1 tsp Sesame seed oil

Olive oil for frying

Use a pasta pan to boil enough water for cooking the pasta. Put pasta into the boiling water and simmer until it is soft. Add abit of olive oil and salt into the water will stop the pasta from sticking to each other. Pour directly into a sieve to drain and set aside for frying.

In a big wok, heat olive oil. Add in Onion and garlic. Fry till soft and fragrant. Add sesame seed oil, ham and mince. Fry till mince is thoroughly cooked. Add in oyster sauce, pepper, and dried chili powder. Stir in until all ingredient well and add pasta. Stir it a little and add sweet soya sauce and dark soya sauce. Fry till all ingredient are well mixed. Remove from heat and serve.

Note: I love to put a dash or two of my home made lime juice into the pasta which make it even more appetizing

Spicy Tofu

Made some tofu today, and so spicy tofu is already planned on my mind for dinner tonite!

Nothing taste more better than self made tofu. Maybe its because when I am just beginning to enjoy the harvest of hard labour of cooking (have just cracked the tofu recipe), it somehow made the dish more appetizing!

Ingredients


1 piece fresh tofu


1/2 cup of frozen mix veges


1/3 cup pork mince


1/3 cup tin meat cubes


1 red onion(finely chopped)


2 gloves garlic(finely chopped)


1 cup water


1 tbsp spicy sauce(any type preferred)


1 tsp sesame oil


1 tbsp oyster sauce


salt and pepper to taste


olive oil for frying


corn starch for thickening

Heat a small sauce pan, put olive oil and fry the tofu until slightly golden brown on each side. In a wok, heat olive oil, put onion and garlic into the wok and fry until fragrant. Add in spice sauce and stir fry the sauce evenly. Add pork mince and meat cubes. Fry until slightly cook and add veges. Add sesame oil, oyster sauce and salt/pepper follow by water. Reduce the liquids in half and then add in corn starch( mixed with a little water) to thicken the gravy.

Put tofu onto serving plate and pour the spicy sauce over it. serve hot.

Baguettes

Made some stew today and also made some baguettes to go with it. It goes down extremely well with the portions size of this recipe for four person. Especially when it just came out of the oven and straingt onto the dinner table! Extra satisfying when looking at the faces of my contented customers.







Ingredients

2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 egg yolk
1 cup water

Put all ingredients into the bread machine. Set machine into dough mode and let it finish its cycle.

Remove from machine and divide dough into 8 portions. Roll it out into a long oblong shape. Place on baking tray and leave to double in size in warm places.

Use scissors, snip diagonally twice on the top of each baguette. Egg washes the baguettes and bake in a preheated 375 c oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove and cool a little before serving.

Bloggers

Surfing through the net, I seen so many beautiful blogs that seems to have sooo many interesting and cute stuff I can click on. REally wish to learn from them how they modify their blogs that well.

My sis suggest I should change blog site. I think it should not be the case. I like my little blog, but it kind of looking plain. There are things which I tried to add into my blog also doesnt seem to work.

Try harder next time!

Ham and Cheese Pizza Pockets

Ham and Cheese Pizza Pockets



Ingredients
2 3/4 cup bread flour

1 cup plain flour

1 Tbsp. milk powder

1 tsp. bread improver
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. bread softener
12g instant yeast sachet

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg
1/3 cup Melted butter
100 ml Butter Milk

250ml cold water

Egg washes (one egg and milk)
Sesame seeds for sprinkle on top

Fillings

Sandwich Ham cut into small squares

Cheese slices

Hand knead: Dissolve the yeast from the portion of water; approx 60ml of water. (Pre warm water slightly in micro). Let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Combine all dry ingredients first and wet ingredients in two separate bowls. Add in wet ingredients into dry ingredient bowls and knead it into dough. Cover and leave to double in size for 30-45 minutes.

Bread Machine: Set machine in dough mode and put all ingredients into the machine. Take note that butter is cool before placing into machine. Let the machine do the work.

After double in size/ (bread machine beep), remove and punch the dough on a floured surface. Cut into 75g dough pieces. Roll out each dough into a round shape and put ham and shredded cheese (I use cheddar) in the middle. Pinch up the sides and roll into a ball. Place on baking trays lined with baking paper. Cover and let it double in size in a warm environment for 45minutes. Egg washes the buns and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in a 190 c oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving or putting in cake tin.

Note: I have a small family. As this recipe will yield good 16 or so buns. I freeze those extras in the freezer. This has to be done right after; when the buns are completely at room temperature and I packed them in freezer bags. When needed, I simply remove and heated up in the microwave oven. Reheat will be better using conventional micro.

Little Ginger Man

Ginger Bread Man


Ingredients

3 cup whole meal plain flour
½ cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp cocoa
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp warmed milk
½ cup melted butter
½ cup warmed treacle

Dissolve bicarbonate of soda in the warm milk and set aside. Cream butter and sugar; add bicarbonate of soda follow by milk and treacle. Add in flour, ginger, and cinnamon, cocoa and salt. Knead it into firm dough. May add little flour if abit sticky.

Divide dough into four portions. Roll dough in-between two grease paper with a rolling pin. Cut out biscuits with cookie cutter. Put on baking trays and bake in 180 c oven for 7 minutes. Remove and cool before placing in cookie tin.