MKR Challenge 1

Inspired to cook 3 course meals at home from watching one too many MyKitchenRules, Zetland (Clement and I) and Sydney City (Tsenwei and Gloria) kick started our own version. No scoring took place but all the trashtalking before the actual day built up enough pressure to plan for a great evening. What to cook? What to cook?

After searching for recipes for a good mix of experiments and knowhows, this was what we came up with: Stripey Tart, Ocean Trout with Funky Fennel Salad and Cauliflower Puree, and a More-Than-a-Mousse Mousse.

Entree: Stripey Tart
I love grilled eggplants and capsicum and I have been wanting to make Strawberry Tarts with Creme Patissiere (one of my favourites). Tart eggplants capsicum... Wouldn't it be nice to have a tartful of my favourite roasted vegetables! Brilliant! I have never made shortcrust pastry from scratch before. My first trial was okay but not great. So I made a new batch and it must have been the amount of water I added that made a whole lot of difference. Proud to say that the tart was a success! :) Here, the tart was layered with pecorino cheese, grilled eggplant, semi-dried tomatoes and lastly strips of roasted capsicum and bonconcini laid artfully on the top creating a stripey tart haha. The assembled tart was then put in the oven for a few minutes for the cheese to melt. Artful tartful ;)


Experiment: Shortcrust pastry
Knowhow: Grilled eggplant and capsicum

Main: Ocean Trout with Funky Fennel Salad and Cauliflower Puree
Clement was in charge of main and he's pretty good at frying fish fillets after a previous success with salmon fillets. Fennel has never been bought nor cooked before, so that was a challenge. The fennel salad recipe was very good with a mix of fresh fennel and roasted fennel, avocado, rocket, parsley and capers tossed in lime dressing. We wanted to add a sauce to the dish and picked a cauliflower puree for its milder flavour. So here it is, crispy skin ocean trout with funky fennel salad and a sweep of cauliflower puree.

Experiment: Anything fennel
Knowhow: Panfrying fish fillets

Dessert: More-than-a-mousse Mousse
What is a More-than-a-mousse Mousse? We've used 1/2 an eggwhite more than intended, so that makes it abit more than a mousse. haha. It wasn't as fluffy as a normal mousse but it still tasted good. Great dessert to make for a dinner party since it can be prepared well ahead of time. We served it with pistachio dust and slivers of strawberries.


Experiment: Mousse
Knowhow: Blitzing pistachios

It was a fun night with great company! :) Now, I'm looking forward to your entree of an opened can of whoop ass, Sydney City! :) For more photos check it out here.

Curry Laksa

A1 instant curry paste is the best! It is full of flavour, very affordable and very versatile. Cheryl, one of my ex-flatmates used to cook with this about 9 years ago and it has been a staple in my pantry ever since. For a super quick yummy meal, you can use the A1 paste to make a very tasty curry laksa.


1 A1 instant curry sauce (meat)
4 chicken thighs, cut into large strips
1 packet of tofu puffs
1 packet of noodles of choice
1 packet beans sprout
140ml coconut milk
750ml water

Fry the curry paste in a bit of oil until the oil separates (pecah minyak). Add in the chicken thigh pieces and stir fry until chicken is cooked. Add water and simmer until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Turn heat down and add coconut milk and tofu puffs. Turn off heat once the soup starts to boil. Blanch bean sprouts and cook noodles in boiling water separately. Portion into bowl accordingly. Add in curry laksa soup with chicken and tofu puff. Eat! :)

Orange Butter Cake

Dad used to pester Mum and I to make this cake when I was little. So rich in butter and zesty with an orange twang! Mum used to make them in a square tin and I remember fighting with my siblings for the corners! Yummy! I think the original recipe has an icing but I like mine without any. Great with a cuppa coffee!

250g soft butter
rind of 1 large orange
4 eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup castor sugar
2 cups self-rasing flour sifted
pinch of salt
juice of 1 large orange

Preheat oven to 180 deg Celsius. Cream butter with orange zest until very smooth and gradually beat in sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat eggs in a separate bowl until well blended and gradually beat into the creamed mixture. Beat thoroughly in between each egg to avoid curdling. Sift flour with salt and using a metal spoon, fold flour into creamed mixture alternating with orange juice. Turn mixture into a greased and lightly floured tin. Bake in oven for 45mins. Use a wooden skewer to check if the cake has been cooked through. If the skewer comes out clean, or with dry-ish crumbs on them, it is done! :) Stand the cake for 5 minutes in the tin and turn it out to cool.

Light Tiramisu Recipe (Cheat's version)

This is by far the most favoured dessert recipe I have stumbled upon in my years of flipping through cheap supermarket monthly cookbooks. I've made them for many parties at home and to bring to parties. It is so very easy to make. Make them overnight for the flavours to really kick in! The alcohol and coffee make it a great party favourite! Once I read the recipe wrongly and used twice the amount of alcohol. Everyone who had some definitely were a happy bunch after their second slice! :)


1 cup brewed coffee (I use instant Moccona coffee)
1/2 cup Kahlua or Tia Maria
250g sponge fingers
500g light cream cheese (I use Philadelphia Light)
1/4 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup low fat prepared custard
1/2 cup reduced fat cream
1/2 tsp chocolate drinking powder


Beat cream cheese, sugar and 1/4 cup kahlua together until well combined. Fold in custard and cream. Set aside. Combine coffee and 1/4 cup kahlua in bowl. Dip 1/3 of sponge fingers into coffee mixture and arrange into the bottom of a dish. Spread 1/3 of cream cheese mixture on top of sponge fingers. Repeat Step 3 twice to create 3 layers of sponge topping off with the cream mixture last. Dust with chocolate powder and refridgerate overnight.

Delicious!! :)

Pumpkin Quiche

This is my first attempt at making a pumpkin quiche. I have no idea where I have eaten one from before but this is just my recreation of what I imagine a pumpkin quiche should taste like. Great to have for dinner and to bring to work for lunch the next day :)

Ready rolled frozen shortcrust pastry
½ small butternut pumpkin (diced ½ cm)
3 slices of bacon rashers (diced)
½ medium onion (diced)
4 eggs
½ tub thickened cream
½ cup of shredded cheese, and some extras
pepper
salt
1 small knob of butter
olive oil


Prepare quiche dish with frozen shortcrust pastry. Blind bake at 180°C for 10mins. Set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 160°C. Fry onions till soft in butter and olive oil, add bacon and fry till fragrant. Add pumpkin and cook till pumpkin is fairly soft. Add pepper and salt to taste. Pour into quiche dish with prepared pastry. Beat eggs and cream until well mixed, then add cheese. Pour mixture over the other ingredients in the dish. Sprinkle cheese over the top and bake for 30mins. If quiche has not set, bake for a further 5-10mins. To test, put a knife into the centre of the quiche. If uncooked egg leaks out, it is not quite ready.

First post.

I often feel as hungry as a bear... ROAR! Maybe most times we don't roar when we are hungry, but it certainly does not feel comfortable. Low in sugar, lost of focus, quick to anger and then ROAR! Okay we don't say it out load, but roaring feels like the next best thing to do. Not a fabulous feeling to have but unavoidable at times.

With so many food blogs out there, I have neither the intentions for competition nor for money-making, although it would be great if everyone donated some money to me out of love *grin* *wishful thinking*. This will be my space for an occassional spill to share on some yummy food and perhaps some events with yummy food, which have one way or another relieved me from being as hungry as a bear... So welcome! :)