Home-made Beancurd June 3, 2011

I first came across this recipe in Flavours magazine a few years ago and have always wanted to try it out.  Before I could, work and baby consumed my life.  And now that I have some time on my hand, I decided to give this a go.  This recipe is part of an entire tofu feature on Flavours magazine – how soy milk is made, with recipes for various tofu dishes.

The recipe in the magazine calls for 1.5 litres of fresh soy milk, but I cut it down to 1 litre.  Also, it would be great if you had a soy milk machine to make your own soy milk.  I contemplated making my own, but just couldn’t be bothered.  I got my fresh soy milk from the wet market, without any sweetener of course.

This tofu is not as flavoursome as the ones that they serve at “sze char” stalls, as I suspect they add seasoning (i.e MSG/stock powder) into the mixture.  You can add seasoning if you plan to serve the tofu on its own with a side of dip.  But you are making up a gravy, just give it a little more seasoning than you normally would, so that the tofu absorbs all that lovely flavour.

Home-made Tofu

Ingredients

• 1 litre fresh soy milk
• 10 fresh eggs
• 100g spinach leaves, shredded

Method

1. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add soy milk and mix well.
2. Pour mixture, through a sieve, into another large bowl, to remove any air bubbles.
3. Line 2 x 8″ square baking trays.
4. Pour mixture into baking trays and steam for 30 mins, or until set. (To tell if it is done, there should not be any excess liquid on the top).
5. Remove from steamer and set aside to cool.

Leek, Potato & Chicken Soup May 26, 2011

I used to like chicken soup cooked with onion, potatoes & carrots, just how my mum made it growing up.  But when I was on “confinement”, she cooked a variation that was so good that it whipped her other chicken soup’s ass.

Leek, potatoes & chicken – items that you will always find in my freezer.  Leek is just lovely, especially when it has been sweating in the pan for a while, and it is all sweet and luscious.

Potatoes – who doesn’t love them?

Chicken – Another essential in my freezer.  I like having frozen chicken thighs on hand, as I can use them for soups, stews or stir-fries.

Here’s the recipe for my Leek, Potato & Chicken soup, that whips up in no time at all.

Leek, Potato & Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 2 potatoes, cubed into bite sized pieces
• 3 large chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 large leek, sliced
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1.5 litres boiling water
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Dash of fish sauce

Method

1. Heat oil in large pot. Add onion and saute for 2 mins. Add in leek. Saute until soft but not browned
2. Throw in chicken thigh pieces and let it brown a little in the pot.  Add in potatoes & boiling water.
3. Season with salt & pepper and fish sauce (Yes, you heard me right. Fish sauce gives the soup just a little bit more ooomph!)
4. Serve hot!

Date and Walnut Loaf March 23, 2010

I realized that my last few postings on Facebook were mainly about food. I can’t help it, I need something to occupy me during the day while I await the arrival of the bubba.

I’ve been keeping busy trying to re-organize my load of recipe magazines. Scanning, tagging, filing. However, the more I look through them, the more I find myself wanting to experiment.

I found this recipe this morning and thought I’d give it a go, since I have all the ingredients on hand.

• 250g pitted dates, roughly chopped
• 1 cup (250ml) boiling water
• 90g butter, melted
• 3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups (225g) self raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1/2 cup (60g) chopped walnuts, plus 2 tbsp extra for topping

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius (or 160 fan). Grease and line a 21cm x 11cm loaf pan
2. Soak dates in water, cover and stand for 5 mins, until dates soften.
3. Cream melted butter and sugar until well combined. Stir in vanilla and egg.
4. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice with a pinch of salt. Fold into date mixture, then fold through walnut.  Spoon mixture into prepared pan and scatter over extra walnut. Bake for 45 mins, until skewer comes out clean.
5. Cool in pan for 5 mins, then turn out onto wire rack to cool. Slice and serve with butter, if desired.

After the taste test by my husband, this recipe is definitely a keeper!

Home Made Pizza March 21, 2010

So, I adapted my recipe from Jamie Oliver’s website, but I had to halve the recipe as there was only 2 of us for dinner. Still, this produced 4 medium sized pizzas.

For 4 medium pizzas:

• 400g Tipo ‘OO’ flour. (I found this flour at Culina in Dempsey Hill, Singapore)
• 100g semolina flour
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 tablespoon caster sugar
• 7g dried yeast
• 350 ml lukewarm water

1. In a jug, mix yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes. (You know the yeast is still active if you see bubbles forming after a few minutes).
2. Sieve flours and salt onto clean work surface and make a well in the middle. Pour mixture into well. Using a large fork, bring the flour in by swirling it into the liquid.  When it all comes together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean flour-dusted hands until you form a smooth, springy dough. Alternatively, you could through it all into the mixing bowl of your trusty Kitchenaid, put on the dough hook and let it do the work.
3. Place ball of dough into large flour-dusted bowl and dust some flour on top of it. Cover with damp cloth and place in warm room for about 1 hr, or until dough has doubled in size.  (To create a warm place, you can put a mug of water in the microwave and turn on HIGH for 2 minutes. Place mug in the corner of microwave and put your bowl of dough in.)
4. Remove dough onto a flour-dusted surface and knead it around to punch air out. At this stage, you can use it immediately or keep it wrapped in clingfilm, in fridge/freezer, until ready to use.
5. Divide dough into 4 equal portions, roll out and top with whatever you like!
6. Bake in oven at 250 degrees celcius for 15 – 20 mins, or until topping is cooked.

anchovies, onion and cheese

salami, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, red peppers, cheese

Buffalo mozzarella, bacon, spinach and cheese

I did have a little trouble with my attempt. My yeast was AS DEAD AS A DODO. I was trying to figure out why it didn’t rise after 1 hr. I added more yeast and waited some more. NOTHING happened.  I then took out the yeast, added sugar and water into a small jug and waited to see what happened. Zzzz. NOTHING. This was when I realized the yeast was truly dead.  (I didn’t wait for the bubbles/frothing to appear when I was making the actual dough you see.)

I went ahead and made the pizzas anyway and they turned out fine. Tasted a little yeast-y, but the texture was still pretty good.  Had the yeast been active… the pizzas would have been to die for.

But, do try out this recipe anyway.  It is still very much worth the trouble, despite my half-successful attempt. I finished 3 pizzas, can’t be all that bad.

Banana Sour Cream Cake March 16, 2010

It is Day 2 of my “maternity leave”. Well, I’m not due for another 9 days, but I had annual leave to clear, so here I am, at home, trying my hardest to keep myself occupied.

Here’s the recipe for the cake:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup bananas; mashed
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar with mixer, adding 1 egg at a time.
2. Add vanilla. Sift flour and mix dry ingredients. Add sour cream, bananas and pecans.  Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 45 mins, or until skewer comes out clean.