Popovers

Can you believe the end of the year is already here? It has gone by so quickly, with a blink of an eye, a few pinches of this, a handful of that and lots of sprinkles with  garnished passion, this year has gone by under my nose, but a new year of hope and prosperity awaits.  A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR to all family and friends.

I find that making POPOVERS at the end of the year is appropriate, POP the old year and bring OVER the goodness to the new year to come.

The popover is an American version of Yorkshire pudding in England. These impressive popovers have only a few humble ingredients - eggs, milk, flour, salt and butter and they make your meal special.  Made well they should have large crowns, lightly crisp. golden brown exteriors and tender, moist, airy interiors crisscrossed with custardy webs of dough.  This recipe is adapted from America's Test Kitchen and unlike most popover batters, this one is smooth, not lumpy.  HIGH HEAT is crucial to the speedy, high rise of these popovers. 

Pumpkin Cinnamon Christmas Tree Bread

I got up early on Christmas Eve to make this bread so that i can post the recipe and wish all family and friends a very Merry Christmas but i had a problem with my computer and am not able to do so until now.  Sorry about the late wishes but the bread turned out so well and the fragrance of Christmas filled the whole house and woke everyone up earlier than usual.  I am sharing how this bread is shaped and to WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Pumpkin Tang Yuan/Tong Yuen With Dried Persimmon in Cinnamon and Ginger Sweet Soup

Winter may just be getting started, but those looking forward to a bit more daylight have not much longer to wait. This Saturday that is today is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and it will experience the shortest daytime and longest nighttime. After the Winter Solstice, days will become longer and longer. As ancient Chinese thought, the yang, or muscular, positive things will become stronger and stronger after this day, so it should be celebrated.  So to keep up with traditions, i have made Pumpkin Tang Yuan/Tong Yuen and served with a sweet soup that has Korean influence Cinnamon And Ginger With Persimmon (Soojunggwa).

With this recipe i would like to wish all family and friends HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE

Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Revisited

Thanksgiving is about being thankful for everything—but i am extra-thankful for all my family and friends who will be enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner with us.  I know they love the High Roast Turkey which has never failed to please and traditionally the Sweet Potato Pecan Pie.  This time around, i have changed the method but not the recipe to this Sweet Potato Pecan Pie and used a Tart mold instead of the Pie dish.  Before i share the new method, I would like to wish all my readers and their family a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Indonesian Mee Soto Ayam

 

When i was working with a Government Board in Malaysia, I have many friends who were of Javanese descent and they have introduced me to their favorite Mee Soto Ayam. Although they called it Mee, it was actually Chicken soup with glass noodles(suon) and i have been served the alternative to glass noodle(suon) which was with rice cake(nasi impit).

The soup is very fragrant from the spices used and tumeric is responsible for the beautiful yellow hue of the chicken soup. Besides remembering the fragrant chicken soup, the begedil served together was to die for, my friends will always repeat this like a broken record - no begedil, no mee soto ayam.

Orange Chiffon Cake

I am always happy to find people who, like myself, share the same passion for food,  or are passionate about cooking and baking with the same intensity but am happiest when my daughter, told me to look at her pictures in facebook.  Before i could log in to facebook, i thought that it would be pretty pictures of my grand daughter, but no, they were pictures of her bakings and cookings.  I was so proud of her, her butter marble cake was so well baked.  Now, i know we are in the same page, i have promised to teach her how to make Chiffon Cakes and for a start, i have to post this recipe which i have depended on to produce the best chiffon cakes ever.  My cousin, Audrey, who i have shared this recipe with, has been making so many successful chiffon cakes, more than i can count.

Square Balls, Siew Cheong a.k.a. Roasted Sausages Sar Hor Fun

What i really missed eating is a bowl of silky soft kway teow/sar hor fun with Square Pork Balls and Siew Cheong a.k.a. Roasted Sausages.  For all the years that i have been here, i have not been able to get hold of these silky, soft kway teow/sar hor fun, fresh or dried.  The closest to this would be a packet of instant rice noodle/pho with artificial chicken or beef by OH RICEY or Pho Bo/Ga by VIFUN..  Strangely this noodles are not available in large packets with no seasonings and i have bought so many packets hoping that the next packet would be the one i prefer but to no success so far.  The ones that are available are not as silky and they are thicker but it has to be it when there is a craving for a good bowl of hot soup noodle.  If anyone reading this post, find these large packets of thin, silky rice noodles please do share.

Square Pork Balls

If you are older or as old as i am, it is better not to make promises, either you forget to keep it or multi-tasking is harder and chores are taking too much time to complete.  Anyway, i did try posting it sometime back and somehow it was so frustrating as the whole post just vanished without a trace, all my effort for nothing but frustration.  This is not an excuse, a promise is a promise and it has to be kept however or whatever and here is how to make these Square Pork Balls.  I do not mean to confuse the name of this recipe, it is so strange, balls are always round or olive-shaped but these are square, so, since these are to eaten and not to play with, it is fine to be square, agreed?????

Chung/Rice Dumpling Special

This year the chung/rice dumpling festival falls on June 12th and this recipe has to be shared before it is too late.  I am noted to be late as the chinese saying goes 'Kor How Chui Peng'.  If this recipe is not shared now, we will be chasing the solders after the war(Rice Dumpling Festival).  So, as i promised to continue with the Square Ball Soup recipe  i guess i would have to put that on hold until the next posting.

This chung/rice dumpling is special as this is how my mother in law made them and we have not tasted this kind since she passed away in 1991.  This kind of filling is not available for sale and the family has been dying to taste it again.  Asking around the older relatives for recipe is no good, most of them are gone and those who are alive do not have a clue as to what i am looking for.  So, have to close my eyes and try to imagine how this filling tasted and when i opened my eyes, went into action and came up with this recipe.   My daughter, Sandra commented that it is not the Mccoy but she liked it and it tasted good.

Siew Cheong a.k.a. Roasted Sausages

Ah posting!!!!!, I am sure that you all realsied that my postings are crawling, I know, you know.  I need to feel passionate about what I post but i am in a bit of a slump.   It is easy to post a slumpy one but who wants to read it.  Well slumpy or not, this posting might not be worth the reading but the recipes that follow have been in my mind to share for the longest ever. 

I have been wanting to eat these Siew Cheong/Roasted Sausages and not being able to get them here in the States, have to copycat and make some.  It has been so long that i have tasted these sausages and can only recall that they are delicious.  Strangely, i have not eaten these sausages on its own but always come as an accompliment to a large bowl of soup sa hor fun with pork square balls.  Craving for this bowl of soup sa hor fun can only be satisfied by first, making some siew cheong, second, is to make The Square Pork Balls, of which i will share 'How To' in my next posting, then lastly will share how to put them all together, for the most craved bowl of soup sa hor fun.  The siew cheong turned out pretty similar to the real mccoy in taste but no so in size, the sausage casings that i have are for chinese lap cheong, so they are very much thinner.

Shark Fin Soup With Crab Meat

 

According to Wiki, Shark fin soup dates back to Ming Dynasty, China and is considered by Chinese as one of the eight treasured foods from the sea.  This delicacy was coveted by emperors because it was rare, delicious, and required elaborate preparation - i can relate to this cos i just had the chore of preparing a box of dried Shark Fins which costed $134,00 usd. Holding both culinary and symbolic significance, this dish is a staple of gourmet Chinese cuisine which symbolizes wealth, power, prestige and honor. 

Our dearest friend, Belinda celebrated her birthday last weekend and to show respect and honor, i prepared this Shark Fin Soup With Crab Meat for her and her guests as an appreciation to our dear friendship. 

Luckily this soup is not a staple food and only served on important occasions otherwise i will be going around with pruney fingers.  I had to blanch the dried shark fins in hot water  and this process was repeated 3 times.  Then the blanched shark fins had to be soaked,  of which the soaking water was changed several times a day for a whole week.  After soaking the translucent gelatin needles have to be separated from all impurities - this was so laborious and where pruney fingers were possible, i spend more than 4 hours doing this process.

Deco Roll

My apologies to all my readers who keep on coming and visiting my blogs and finding no new postings - sorry!!!!!  no excuses.  Year 2013 has been busy, spring is over and summer is upon us, yard work is not done.  So much eating but did not share anything interesting.  I hope you all will find this Deco Roll interesting as it is so appealing and so fun to bake.  The best part is that the cake is so light and healthy, so acceptable.  You can use any design of your choice and this particular design that i chose had a strange way of sticky to me.  It was a recycled plastic bag which i used when i was packing my bags for my trip home from Malaysia. When i was home, I recycled it again and put in some dvds for my dear friend, Peng.  She was coming to collect them and i had to leave them on the bench outide the house as i was not going to be home.  Peng did come and collected her dvds but she left me a gift(3 lovely bittergourds) and she left her gift in the same recycled bag.  I just don't seem to rid of this bag and when i decided to bake this Deco Roll, I used the design, it was so lovely.  Thank you Peng for the gift and the bag which refuse to leave me.

Pineapple Pork

Pineapple is a remarkable delicious tropical fruit,  it is not only sweet, it also offers many benefits to our health.  It may be one of the most healthful foods available today, valuable for easing indigestion, arthritis or sinustis.  One of the juiciest fruits that is absolutely a delight to eat and the best part is that it is loaded with nutrients and beneficial enzymes, which ensures that you not only have a healthy body but also a glowing complexion.

Cooking with fruit is a great way to make sure your family gets their recommended daily requirement and this dish is one of them.  The family licked the platter clean and if the pineapple skin could be eaten it would have been devoured too.

To all my family and friends,

Wishing you a Very Happy Chinese New Year - Gong Xi Fa Chai

Shitake Dongpo With Mui Choy

Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner is the most luxurious meal of the entire year and is about Family and good wishes for the coming year.  The new year spirit is of renewal, new beginnings and is a rich fabric of symbols weaved into the Chinese New Year traditions. The traditions are a mix of belief, folklore and custom with the intention to influence the future, encouraging happiness and wealth into their lives.  Since auspicious food is about sustenance, health, abundance, home, family, wealth, sharing and preparing for the future, it has a subtle yet strong presence to represent positive things in life that give you energy, warmth and hope.  This dish that i am sharing is abundantly prepared with the best Shitake, the most evenly layered of lean and fat piece of belly pork and the sweet mui choy.  This is a spin-off from Dongpo Pagoda With Mui Choy 

Napa Delight

Chinese New Year is around the corner and i have been trying to put up the menu for the Reunion Dinner and found this delicious and easy dish. Napa cabbage, also known as Chinese cabbage, has crunchy leaves that are more elegant and delicate than regular firm-headed green cabbage.  The Napa Cabbage is a sign of prosperity in China and this dish will certainly adorn your reunion dinner table with richness.  

Beef Stroganoff

Renee, my grand-daughter, loves pasta in any shapes or form and she loves eating beef like in slices or in a piece of steak, but she will not eat a beef burger.  I thought that she does not like ground beef but she will eat ground beef in the Bolognese Sauce.  So, it must be the burger that is not appealing to her cos she will not have a chicken burger too. 

I know that she will enjoy this dish, Beef Stroganoff and it did.

According to  Wiki, Beef Stroganoff or Beef Stroganov (in Russian: Бефстроганов Befstróganov) is a Russian dish of sautéed pieces of beef served in a sauce with smetana or sour cream. From its origins in 19th-century Russia, it has become popular around the world, with considerable variation from the original recipe.