Corned Beef, Onion and Potatoes

I don't know if any of you remember Maggie and Jiggs from the comic strip Bringing up Father, if you don't, go have a look atWiki. I can understand Jiggs's love for Corned Beef and Cabbage cos my family too love Corned beef from the can. It is a must in our pantry as it is so versatile to cook with.

Ingredients:

1 can Corned beef

1 small onion - sliced

2 potatoes - peeled and diced

1/4 tsp pepper

oil for frying the potatoes

chopped spring onions for garnishing


Method:

Heat oil and fry the diced potatoes until light brown.

Remove and set aside.

Remove all the oil and heat wok/skillet again.

When heated, add in 1 tbsp oil and sweat the sliced onions.

Add in the corned beef and saute until fragrant.

Add in the fried potatoes and saute to combine.

Add pepper, dish out and garnish with spring onions before serving.


Serves

Kuih Bakar

Kuih Bakar is also known to be called Kuih Kemboja and this malay kuih is like eating kaya(egg custard) in a slice, it is sweet but not as rich. It should be baked in a flower shaped mould which is made with bronze but unfortunately i do not own one, so i have to bake it in a 6 inch cast-iron skillet/pan. It tasted just as delicious only without the signature shape.



Ingredients:

3 large eggs

400 ml (1 can) coconut cream

50 ml water

1/2 tsp pandan paste

4 ozs all-purpose flour

4 ozs fine granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Sesame seeds

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 f. and put in cast-iron pan for heating.

Beat eggs and sugar till sugar dissolves and not fluffy.

Mix pandan paste and water to coconut cream.

Add in flour and coconut cream mixture alternately to the egg and sugar mixture.

Microwave batter until it thickens slightly.

Brush heated pan with a little oil and pour batter , sprinkle with sesame seeds and put to bake for 45 - 55 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool before serving.

Serves

Madeleine Recipe

After so many recipes, i finally am satisfied with the result of this recipe. To me, this could be the true Madeleine, as it has a knob on it's back, a slightly crispy crust, and a huge buttery flavor. Strangely, i thought that almond flour would make a heavy textured cake but instead it added flavor and lightness to this madeleine.



Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp salt

4 ozs/1 stick unsalted butter - softened

1/2 cup fine granulated sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp orange paste

4 large eggs

1 tsp orange zest

Method:

Triple-sift the flours, baking powder and salt.

Beat butter on high speed until soft and creamy. Slowly add in the sugar, 1 tbsp at aa time, beating continuously on high speed. The mixture should be light, fluffy, and a creamy white color. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Beat in honey, vanilla, orange paste and the orange zest. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the eggs, one at a time, be sure each egg is completely incorporated and scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding the next one.

Add the flour mixture to the batter in thirds, beating on low speed until just incorporated.

Cover the batter and chill it for at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375f. Adjust the rack to the center of the oven.

Brush the madeleine moulds with melted butter, then dust them lightly with flour.

Spoon the chilled batter into the madeleine pan, filling each shell three-quarters full.

Bake for 10 minutes for mini madeleines or for about 15 minutes for santard-size or until they are golden brown and firm to the touch.

Repeat until all the batter has been used., brushing the pans with butter if needed.

The madelienes are best served warm from the oven but can be stored, wrapped airtight, at room temperature for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.

Variations:

Lemon - Replace the orange paste with lemon paste/oil and orange zest with lemon zest. If desired, add a drop of yellow food color.

Chocolate: Replace 1/4 cup all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.

Pistachio: Replace 1/4 cup all purpose flour with 1/4 cup pistachio flour.(Pistachio flour can be made by finely grinding pistachios)

Serves

Chinese Pinwheel

It is difficult to find a recipe if we don't even know what it is called. When i made the 'Cow's Ear Biscuit', my vietneamese friend, Lan dropped by and i offered her some and she told me that it is called 'Banh Tai'. So, i googled and found some recipes and have it translated. By looking at the translation, it is still not quite like the ones we have in Malaysia. So, i just combined the recipes and came up with this which is close enough.

Ingredients:

A

1 piece nam yee (red fermented bean curd)

1/4 tsp pepper

3 small shallots

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

2 egg yolks

5 tbsp condensed milk

1 tbsp oil

4 ozs all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp 5 spice powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black soya sauce

B

2 egg whites

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp oil

4 ozs all-purpose flour

Method:

Chop shallots, garlic, sesame seeds in the food processor or chopper until fine, then add in nam yee, pepper, 5 spice powder and salt, pulse to combine.

Add in egg yolks, condensed milk, oil and oil. Continue to pulse. Then add in flour and pulse until it comes to a dough.

Remove dough into a ziploc bag and leave to rest in the fridge for 1/2 hr.

Now, prepare B: Put the flour in the food processor, then add in the sugar and salt. Pulse a few times to mix the ingredients. Then add in the oil and egg whites and pulse until a dough is formed.

Remove to a ziploc bag and rest in the fridge for 1/2 hr.

Prepare the first dough by putting dough onto clingwrap and roll it out thinly into a rectangle(5 inch x 10 inch) and leave in the fridge while you prepare the white dough.

Roll the white dough between clingwrap into the same size rectangle as the first.

Take the flavored rectangle and place it on top of the white dough.

Roll dough up like a swiss roll from long side and wrap tightly.

Leave the rolled dough in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

Heat oil to moderately hot.

Slice the dough into thin slices. and fry them in moderately hot oil until golden brown.

Serves

Cow's Ear Biscuit

When i saw this posting from Florence's Blog . I knew i had to give this recipe a try. I have always liked this biscuit but does not know what it is called. This biscuit is very delicious and since we do not know what the name is, my family used to call it 'scrappings from the chopping board'.

Thank you Florence for sharing this recipe but this is not the type that i like - the white part of the biscuit is right but not the flavored part. Anyway, this is very good as a snack and thank you again, Florence.


Ingredients:

(A)75g plain flour

40g water

(B)

30g water

30g sugar

0.25 tsp baking soda

0.75 tsp salt

1.5 tsp fermented yam

2 tsp corn oil

100g plain flour

Method:

1. Mix (A) till a smooth dough is formed.

2. Mix everything in (B) till well blended. Add in the flour and knead till a smooth dough is formed.

3. Roll dough (A) into a rectangular flat sheet.

4. Roll dough (B) into a rectangular flat sheet.

5. Apply some water to the surface of dough (A)

6. Stick dough (B) on to the top of dough (A).

7. Roll it up swiss roll style and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

8. Slice the dough as thin as possible.9. Fry in oil till biscuit is cooked.




Serves