raving about my ravioli

So the hubs is suspected down with H1N1, unfortunately he came into contact with a student that is now in hospital with the virus. He's been down with fever since Friday and we can't go out as it is socially not the right thing to do. He's of course resting, sleeping most of the time and yes I am BORED to death haha! So what do I do...cook and blog! This is my attempt to make ravioli from scratch, ok not really. I cheated by using wanton skins instead of making the pasta dough. And dress it with creamy herb and bacon sauce. Was a big hit with the hubs. He said strangely it does not taste like Chinese wanton at all haha! Maybe it's the sauce...

Ingredients

Ravioli (makes 8 ravioli)

• 4 medium prawns, diced
• 20g crab meat
• 1 shitake mushroom, diced
• 1 teaspoon parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon cream or ricotta cheese
• Salt, pepper & dash of dried mixed herbs
• 16 ready-made wanton skins

Sauce

• 3 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic, diced
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoon parmesan cheese, finely grated
• olive oil, salt, pepper & dried mixed herbs

Method

1. Make the ravioli by mixing the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Lay out 8 wanton skins, spoon 1 teaspoon heap of the mix into the centre of the skin. Seal by lining with water and top with another skin.
2. Cook the ravioli in boiling salt water for about 8mins.
3. To make the sauce, saute the garlic and bacon in olive oil and turn off the fire.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and cheese till blended. Season and add to the bacon and mix thoroughly. Make sure to do this off the fire or you'll get scrambled eggs ;)
5. Dish 4 ravioli onto a plate, spoon the sauce over top with freshly cracked black pepper and serve. Enjoy!

my own chow chow-der

I'm very proud to say that I made this Seafood Chowder from scratch and it is more or less my own recipe as well. The hubs is down with fever today and don't really have an appetite. So I thought I'll make a tasty chowder for him. Was researching for a recipe and most of them I found either took too long or had too many ingredients. So I improvised and came up with my own and again we were both pleasantly surprised. This definitely wet the sick hubs' appetite and he slurped up every last drop of it! So I shall share the recipe of my simple Seafood Chowder recipe with you. Ingredients (serves 2)

• 50g frozen crab meat, defrosted
• 10-12pcs of medium prawns, peeled, de-veined and diced into small pieces (not too tiny tho)
• 2 slices of bacon, diced into small pieces
• 1 medium potato, diced into small cubes
• 1 carrot, diced into small cubes
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/8 bar of butter
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups prawn stock
• 2 tablespoon of pure cream
• seasoning: salt, pepper & dash of dried mixed herbs

Method

1. Make the prawn stock. Submerge prawn heads in a pot of water, bring to boil then simmer for about 30mins.
2. In a separate pot, heat butter with a dash of oil (adding a dash of oil will ensure butter will not be burnt) and sauteed the onions till translucent. Then add bacon and fry for about 2mins.
3. Add in carrots and potatoes, stir and coat in the butter, onion, bacon mix. Then pour in the wine, bring to boil and simmer to reduce till about half of the liquid remains.
4. Now add in the prawn stock and seasoning. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer for about 15mins or till carrots and potatoes are soft but not mashy.
5. Add in the seafood and simmer for about 10mins. Stir in cream, thicken with bit of cornstarch (optional), dish into bowls and serve hot with freshly cracked black pepper. Enjoy!

here fishie fishie

I'm sure all of us love our fish & chips but most of the time it's deep fried and oily, thus we avoid eating it unless and major craving hits. This week this recipe for oven-baked fish and chips kinda crossed my path twice so I just had to try it out. I went for the Parmesan-crumbled recipe and it was fantastic! Was pleasantly at how crispy the coating was despite not going anywhere near the pot of oil. Anyway, here's the recipe in case any of you have a craving and don't want the hassle of deep frying. Oh btw I didn't make the fries, it was frozen wedges which was heated in the oven too. But I made a wasabi mayo dip to go along with the fish.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1 cup breadcrumbs (you can be creative with this, I used this nutty walnut bread)
• 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• some finely grated lemon rind
• 120g melted butter
• 4pcs of any skinless white fish fillets
• 1 beaten egg
• plain flour for dusting
• lemon wedges to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Place breadcrumbs, cheese, lemon rind and 80g of the butter in a bowl and mix well.
2. Dust the fish in the flour, dip in egg and press in breadcrumb mix.
3. Place fish on baking tray lined with non-stick paper and bake for 15mins or till golden brown. Serve with lemon wedges, ketchup and wasabi mayo. Enjoy!

under my paella, ella, ella...

Watched this show on tv last xmas where celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey cooked a 3-course xmas special dinner. He made this seafood paella that looked soo yummy! The hubs then suggested I try to make this for our xmas eve dinner rather than the usual meats, since we'll be eating lots of it on xmas day. So I gave it a shot and despite not being able to find the right type of grain, I have to say the outcome was amazingly close to and even better than some of the ones we tried at some Spanish restaurants. Here's the simplified recipe. Ingredients

• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic clove, chopped
• 400g paella rice (Arborio)
• 125ml dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• pinch of saffron thread
• 1 ltr veg stock
• seafood selection of your choice - for me it was mussels, prawns, fish & scallops
• 1 lemon cut into wedges
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Method

1. Heat oil in large pan, add onion, cook briefly.
2. Add pepper, garlic, season with salt and pepper, cook till soften.
3. Sprinkle paprika and saffron, add in rice and stir well so that each grain is well coated.
4. Add wine and allow to evaporate before pouring in the hot stock.
5. Cover with lid and leave to simmer for 20mins. Stir occasionally to prevent rice from sticking.
6. 5 mins before end, add seafood, stir and replace lid.
7. Before serving, mix through and garnish with lemon wedges. Enjoy!

going bananas over piping

Bought this 8-pce piping kit set yesterday and am super eager to try it out. Also picked up this 130 simple cupcake recipes book a couple of days ago. So guessed what I did today? Bake!!

So here's my blueberry & macadamia cupcake with lemon cream cheese frosting. Like the cutesy flower frosting? Not easy to do was tired after 5pcs and gave up :(

Here's a simpler version of the blueberry one.

This is banana cinnamon with nutella frosting.

According to my official test-tester, the hubs, both taste yums! The blueberry is light and refreshing with the lemon cream cheese, while the banana is moist on the inside and compliment the nutella. So what do you think? Can I start a cupcake business hehe!

grandma alice's cutlets

This post is by special request from XLB. Grandma Alice is not my real grandma but my nanny when I was 4 till 7 yrs old. My bro and I are closer to her than our real grandparents. Grandma Alice is Eurasian, so needless to say she's a great cook and makes the best curry and stews. The 3 dishes I remember the most is her luncheon meat cutlets, this eggy prawn fritter and her famous bread & butter pudding. So one day I decided to try my hand in making her cutlets and rang her up for the recipe. I have to admit it's not easy to perfect it the way she does. As most of us know we usually dip the ball-mix into egg before frying it, as that helps hold the mix together and also gives that crispy outer layer. I tried it exactly according to her recipe and failed terribly, the whole thing fell apart when dropped into the oil. So I modified it slightly and here it goes.

Ingredients

• 1 can of luncheon meat
• 2 big potatoes
• 1/2 big onion
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• Pepper

Method

1. Boil the potatoes till soft, mash together with the luncheon meat.
2. Season with pepper, add flour, onion, 1 egg and mix well together.
3. Wet hands, scoop 1 flat tablespoon of the mix into palms, press and roll together quickly to form a ball and flatten it into a disc shape. Repeat with rest of mixture.
4. Heat oil in saucepan (I use saucepan so oil does not splatter everywhere). Make sure oil is hot enough, test by dipping a wooden chopstick in and if bubbles form around it means its hot.
5. Dip the cutlet balls into a bowl of beaten egg then shallow fry on one side first, then turn over to fry the other side till golden brown.
6. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with sweet Japanese mayonnaise. Enjoy :)

follow the shepard to the pie

Ok sorry for my punny titles, I just can't help it haha! So here's last night's dinner - the every so comforting Shepard's Pie.

Here's my quick and easy recipe to whip up for weekday dinners.

Ingredients

• 300g minced beef/lamb
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 4-5 medium potatoes
• 2-3 tablespoon butter
• grated cheddar or mozzarella cheese
• dashes of worcestershire sauce
• salt, pepper & dried mixed herbs

Method

1. Preheat oven at 200 degrees celsius.
2. Submerge the potatoes in a bowl of water and put in microwave on high for 8-10mins.
3. In the meantime, heat a pan with oil and sweat the onion till translucent then add the beef/lamb. Add the seasonings and carrots, then fry for about 5-6mins till meat is cooked or dark brown in colour.
4. Pierce potatoes with a fork to ensure they are soft in the centre. Drain and peel them, then mash and mix well with butter.
5. Assemble pie in a oven-proof dish. Dish the meat mixture into the base, then top with the mashed potatoes and flatten it out to a smooth top.
6. Sprinkle top of potato layer with generous portion of cheese, grate from fresh black pepper and place into oven for 25-30mins till cheese melts and bubbles.
7. Serve and enjoy :)

pasta al ferno

I love cooking pasta at home because not only is it fast to cook and good to eat, you can also include any ingredients you love, not forgetting loads of it!! I've made so many different types of pasta before but two of our all-time fav has to be aglio olio and carbonara. I usually look into our fridge and throw whatever ingredients I can find together for a quick and satisfying meal. Here's an aglio olio one I whipped up recently.

Squid-ink aglio olio pasta with tiger prawns & bacon

Aglio olio is easy-peasy but getting the right texture and consistency for carbonara did take me a few tries to achieve perfection. Tried Jamie Oliver's recipe but found it rather watery. Then 2 days ago, I flipped through a new Donna Hay cookbook xmas pressie from Fifi, and came across a recipe for carbonara that uses only the yolk instead of the whole egg. Ahhh!! That make sense - egg white is watery! So I gave it a shot and here's the result. It taste so much more deeelicious than it looks, trust me!

Chilli pasta carbonara with italian sausages & bacon

Here's a lil' tip for cooking pasta: a must in your fridge for any successful homemade pasta dish - bacon and ready-diced garlic - and you're ready to go!

good things come in small packages

So after the 1st successful bake-out and thanks to the encouragement from friends who had a bite of those cupcakes, I decided to bake again...yay! Was brain-storming flavours with the hubs one night and he came up with this one (all credit to him) - PB&J aka peanut butter & jam, which happens to be my fav sandwich btw. At the same time, I wanted to experiment making mini cupcakes. Love things in mini sizes. Somehow they just look so adorable and easy to pop into the mouth :) check it out, made a batch of big & minis and also tried pipping the frosting via a ziplock bag.

minis in the baking

mini strawberry & cream topped with mini hershey kisses

mini PB&J topped with vanilla frosting & jam centres

fern's strawberry & cream cupcake - artsy shots

fern's PB&J cupcake - artsy shots

cross-section view of PB&J - can you see the jam in the middle

just a couple of cupcakes

I've always adored looking at the pretty cupcakes at bakeries however sadly most of them are pretty to look at but dry on the inside. So one day or night rather, I thought I'll give it a shot at baking my own cupcakes. Ok before I proceed any further I must confess that I suck at baking. I've tried my hand at baking cakes before and was never successful. I recall back in secondary school, the rock buns I made at home econs class was so hard that they failed to break into pieces when thrown against the wall (trust me my bro & I really tried it)! Thus, ever since I thought better stay far away from baking. But with my new-found confidence in the kitchen kicked, and majorly due to boredom at home alone one night, as well as pushed by the fantastic cupcake cover issue of a Donna Hay mag starring at me from the coffee table - I gave it a shot and viola!! Here's the pics from my 1st cupcake bake-out...

looking good...batch of "naked" strawberry cupcakes with chopped almonds strawberry & cream cupcake (cream cheese) - recipe thanks to porkonyourfork batch of "naked" nutella cupcakes nutella cupcakes with chocolate frosting, topped with half of a real cherry

the start of tasty things to come...

So yet another new year is here and I was thinking what can I do to make this year different from the last one...hmm start a blog to document my newly-discovered passion for making yummilicous food!! Unfortunately, I suck at writing and with my lack of discipline (aka laziness), I know keeping up with it will be challenging. On the other hand, I seem to have started a cult-following from posting my food pics on facebook. So to these bunch of nice and ever-so-encouraging friends, I dedicate this photojournalistic blog - filled with lots of yummy photos, with minimal text! This way, it works out well for everyone. I don't have to write heaps yet get to share my culinary experiences with you, at the same time, brush up on my photography skills. And you my dearest friends can click, look, drool :) enjoy!