Baileys Cake (As easy as ABC)

When I brother came a few weeks ago, he asked me what do I want from the duty free place. So I said I want Baileys. Baileys + Ice Cream = Fantastic. However,this morning I was craving for cakes. Any cakes. So, I decided to try baking Baileys cake. Then, I went to the kitchen scrape whatever cake baking ingredient I have in the pantry and to my delight I manage to scrape enough ingredient to bake a cake. Yeay!!!!

This is a very easy and straightforward recipe and very suitable for lazy Sunday baking.

Ingredients:

125g butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup Baileys
2 cup self raising flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder (That's all I have left in my pantry. Feel free to add more. Add some milk or more baileys if your cake mixture appears to be thick)


Methods:

1.  Preheat oven at 180 degree.

2. Melt butter in saucepan large enough to mix all ingredients.

3. Remove from heat and add sugar. Mix well and add eggs. Make sure the saucepan is cool enough before you add in the eggs because you don't want to cook the eggs.Mix to combine then stir in Baileys.

4. Sift flour and cocoa powder into mixture and fold in.

5. Line the bottom of a 20cm cake tin with baking paper and pour in the mixture.

6. Bake at 180 degree for 45 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean.

7. Cool in tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto the cooling rack.

8. Feel free to sprinkle icing sugar or butter cream or ganache or coffee cream - (1 tbsp instant coffee, 1 tbsp hot water, 2 tbsp baileys and fold in 300ml whipped cream)

The Spice Of Life

It's going to be max 38 degree today. Part of me wants to go out and enjoy the Sun before the arrival of Autumn but another side of me telling myself to stay home and do what ever I need to do. For instance updating this blog. So. here I am. I have been meaning to share the benefits of spices that I often used to enhance the flavour of the food I cooked but due to time constraint the plan has to be postponed.

Spices that I am going to talk about may seen ordinary but they have amazing health benefits. Spice can come in buds such as cloves, bark (cinnamon), roots (ginger), berries (peppercorns), aromatic seeds (cumin) and even stigma of flower (saffron).





1. Chilli Peppers can range from  mild to fiery. For this spice, the hotter the better when it comes to its anti-oxidant properties. Chilli is thought to help prevent and treat diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin have the potential to lower glucose and insulin level and reduce the formation of fatty plaques on the artery walls and prevent blood clots. 15g a day of chilli peppers will be able to improve your sleep which will benefit your cardiovascular system.

2. Ginger: 1g ginger powder per day keeps the nausea away.Ginger may alleviate symptoms of nausea such as morning sickness from pregnancy, surgery or chemotherapy or even motion sickness. It's anti-nausea effects of ginger or ginger tea that are probably the best recognised. Ginger also inhibits inflammation. Patients with arthritic knee pain found relief from ginger extract.

3. Black Pepper: Natural chemical piperine in black pepper is the component that is responsible for possible health benefits. There is suggestive evidence that black pepper can improve digestion, help the nervous system increase energy expenditure.









4. Cinnamon give us warm and fuzzy feeling.  Cinnamon contains health-promoting anti oxidants such as cinnamaldehyde which could help blood flow. The most promising benefit of this spice is that it is able to lower the blood sugar levels.

5. Turmeric usually sold as dry powder. it adds much more colour and flavour to your curries. Abundant in vitamins and minerals, it is the phytochemical curcumin that offers anti-oxidant properties and anti inflammatory. The phenolic compounds in turmeric has shown to reduce the risk of cancer.

6. Cloves are packed with wonderful compound. In fact, cloves have the highest anti-oxidant activity compared with other herbs and spices. Eugenol, the primary component of clove's oil functions as an anti-inflammatory substance. Studies shows that it is able reduce inflammatory symptoms by 15-30 percent. Cloves can be used in both sweet and savoury recipes.

Braised Pork with Mushroom

The name of this dish may sound common. But you will be blown away by the smell and flavour of this dish.

Ingredients:

• 500g pork belly, cut into bite size
• 15 dried shitake mushroom, soaked overnight and stemmed. Reserve the mushroom soaked liquid.
• 8 cloves garlics, crushed
• 2 cm ginger, sliced
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 3/4 tsp dark soy sauce
• 3 cups water (I use 1 1/2 cups of liquid reserve from mushroom soaked and 1 1/2 cups water)
• 3/4 tsp sugar or to taste
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine (or any Chinese cooking wine)
• salt to taste
• ground white pepper to taste
• 2 tsp cornflour + 1 tbsp water to thicken
• brocolli or bok choy or any other vegetables you prefer

Steps:

1. Heat oil in wok at medium high heat, add in ginger and garlic. Saute until fragrant. Then, add in mushroom and stir fry. 
2. Add in pork belly and stir fry until it is slightly brown.
3. Add in oyster sauce, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Mix well, add in water and sugar. Bring to boil and let in cook for 3 minutes.
4. Cover with lid, reduce to medium low heat and let it simmer for 45 minutes or until the meat are tender and the mushroom is soft. Check occasionally so that the water does not dries up.
5. Meanwhile, while waiting for the meat to cook till it's preferred texture,  bring a pot of water to boil. Add in some salt and blanch the broccoli for 2 minutes. Drain and put aside.
6. Once the meat is ready, add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and mix in cornflour mixture. Then, bring to boil again. So that it thickens. 
7. Turn off heat and drizzle with sesame oil and shaoxing wine.
8. Dish out with the blanch broccoli. 

Rustic Russian Salad

What shall I say about this salad. This salad has a very appealing colour and you can expect the same for the taste (Sweet and short introduction isn't it?)

Ingredients:

• 8 medium potatoes
• 4 carrots, cut into 2-3cm chunks
• 300g green peas
• 1 tsp mustard (or to taste)
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise (or to taste)
• salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Placed unpeeled POTATOES  into a large pot of cold water, bring to boil, cook potatoes for 8 to 10 minutes, then add the CARROTS and cook for further 5 minutes or until both potatoes and carrots are just cooked. Drain and cool. Once cool enough to handle, cut potatoes into 2-3cm chunks. 
2. Place GREEN PEAS into a large bowl, pour boiling water over and allow to blanch for 2-3 minutes, drain and refresh under cold water. 
3. Mix mayonaise, mustard, salt and pepper together until well combined. 
4. Put all the vegetables together in a bowl and fold through the dressing until combined. 
5. Season more with salt and pepper as desire and serve.

Meatballs (Pork) Congee

On a busy day, easy, simple, hot and delicious meal is something I'm looking for, especially when the wheather is cold. 

Ingredients:

• 250g minced pork (marinade with 1 1/2 light soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp corn starch and a dash of white pepper for 10 minutes)
• 1 cup rice, rinse and drain
• 13 cups water
• 2 tbsp dried shrimp
• 2 tbsp anchovies
• 5 red dates
• 7 dried scallops
• light soy sauce to taste
• a pinch of sugar or to taste
• salt and white pepper to taste
• century egg (garnish)
• spring onion (garnish)
• salted egg (garnish)

Method:

1. Put together rice, dried shrimps, anchovies, red dates, dries scallops and water, to pot. Bring to boil. Once boil, leave the lid partially open and reduce heat to medium. Let it boil for 30 minutes. Remember to stir the bottom of the pot occasionally to avoid the rice from sticking to the base.Add in hot water if it is too dry.
2. In the meantime, take 1/2 tbsp of marinated minced pork and mould into ball/round shape. 
3. When the congee has cooked to your preferred consistency, add in light soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir well.
4. Then, put meatballs into congee and increase heat. Allow meatball to cook for 3 minutes. 
5. Add more seasoning if require.
6. Serve hot and garnish with spring onion and century egg. If you are serving your congee with salted egg, go easy with the salt during seasoning.

Scotch Eggs

So, I have to say I really like the scotch eggs. I am an egg lovers, anything got to do with eggs gets my vote. I wouldn't categorise this recipe as hard/difficult. It may be a bit tedious but no way this recipe will fail you. Another thing that I like about this recipe is the fresh white breadcrumbs used. It is so crispy and oil free.

In short this is a simple delicious meal with some everyday ingredients

In order to put this scotch eggs together, you will need:

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 rashers rindless bacon, finely chopped (I use 150g diced bacon)
• 500g pork mince
• 1-2 tbsp dried flakes parsley or 1/3 cup continental parsley, chopped
• Salt
• Ground Black Pepper
• 4 hard boiled eggs, peeled
• 1/3 cup plain flour
• 1 egg, whisked
• 1 1/2 cup fresh white breadcrumbs (For DIY fresh white breadcrumbs CLICK HERE)
• Olive oil spray

Steps:

1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and bacon. Cook for 3 minutes or until onion is soft. Transfer to a bowl and cool. 
2. Then, add in mince, parsley, salt and ground black pepper. Mix until well combined.
3. Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Divide mince mixture into 4 portions. Shape a portion of mince around each hard boiled egg and place a plate.
4. Lightly coat with flour, egg (whisked) and breadcrumbs. 
5. Put onto prepared tray. Spray with olive oil. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until firm to touch and mince is cooked through.
6. Serve with salad. For this mreal I served with Rustic Russian Salad. 

DIY Fresh White Breadcrumbs

I have never make my own breadcrumbs before and I have no idea how to make them. However when I was about to make the Scotch Eggs I realised I was short of breadcrumbs and I was too lazy to go out to get breadcrumbs. Luckily, I did have a loaf of white bread at that time and I decided to google if I could find something. To my delight, wikiHow have an article of 'How to make fresh breadcrumbs'.

So here, I am sharing with you the easy method of making breadcrumbs.

In order to make fresh breadcrumbs you will need:

• slices of bread of your choice
• Freezer bag or plastic bag or cling wrap
• Freezer 
• Bread knife
• Metal grater

Steps:

1. Trim of the crust first.
2. Put the bread slices in freezer bag and put into freezer until frozen.
3. Remove from freezer. Grate the frozen slices one by one on a metal grater.

Things will be easier if you have blender or food processor because you will only need to pick the bread of your choice remove the crust and pop them into blender or food processor.


Things get harder if you have none of the above. However, worry not because you still can produce your own fresh breadcrumbs by picking bread of you choice (slices). Let it sit on the counter till the bread dried out a bit then take bread knife to cut it into crumbs.Try to cut it as fine as posibble.


TIPS: 4 slices of bread equivalent to 1 cup of breadcrumbs