Garlic Bread Says "Cheese"

Wake up to bright and sunny weekend with this yummylicious Cheesy Garlic Bread.

Last weekend, we went to Resort World Sentosa Singapore for a "staycation" i.e. short holiday without leaving the country. I made this quick Cheesy Garlic Bread for our breakfast before  departing to the resort.

 

Cheesy Garlic Bread

Ingredients

• 1/2 Loaf of French Bread (I used 2 round French Petites brought from local bakery)
• 3 tbsp salted butter
• 3-4 cloves Garlic, chopped finely
• 3/4 cup Shredded Mozzarella/Cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp mixed dried herb (salt-free)

Method

1. Pre-heat oven oven to 175ºC.
2. Place butter in a small oven-proof bowl. Melt the butter in the oven at 150ºC. Once melted, add in the minced garlic and dried herd. Stir to combine. Continue heating it in the oven for another 5 minutes.
3. Slice the bread into half length-wise and brush the soft open top with generous amount of the butter mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and more herb.
4. Toast in the oven for 10-12 min or till top is golden and cheese has melted.

Serve while it is hot and crispy.

Adapted from USmasala

Banana Crumb Muffins

Breakfast for today was these airy and tasty Banana Crumb Muffins that I baked last night.

Having baked banana bread/cake in loaf tin for countless times, I decided to try on this recipe from  The Galleygourmet last night as it uses oats to make the crumby toppings, which my girls like.

 

Banana Crumb Muffins

(The ingredients supposed to yield 12 standard muffins but I only got 9)

 

For the Crumb Topping:

• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp (14g) cold unsalted butter, cut into little cubes

 

For the Muffins:

• 1 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 large bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/2 cup soft brown sugar)
• 1 extra large egg
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted (I used about 70g)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar

Baking Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF (I set my oven to 180ºC). Line the muffin pan with muffin cups. To prepare the topping, place the dry ingredients in a bowl and cut in the butter to form a crumby mixture. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl stir together the mashed bananas, sugar, egg, butter, vanilla, and vinegar.
3. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined. (Do not over mix else the muffin will not be airy but hard).
4. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then remove to a wire rack to cool. 

Oven-Baked Coffee Pork Ribs

My elder daughter is suffering from a bad cough. As the cough syrup does not seemed to work, we turned to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and was advised to avoid eating chicken until she recover. Hence, we had pork ribs for our Sunday dinner.

We enjoyed the coffee pork ribs that are commonly served among the local zhi-cha stores but they usually deep fried the ribs and with overly sweet seasoning. I re-created the Coffee Pork Ribs in the oven as I do not do deep-frying. These oven-baked ribs turned out to be very tender, with a mild coffee flavour that we enjoyed very much. Really fingers licking good!

  

Oven-Baked Coffee Pork Ribs

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsps honey
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp paprika chili powder
• 1/2 tsp grounded peppercorns
• 1 tsp coffee granules (I used Nescafe)
• 1/4 cup red wine (I used one with berry flavour)
• 1/2 kg meaty pork ribs (about 5 pieces)

Methods:

1. Mix the marinates in a bowl and pour over the ribs.
2. Marinate the ribs for at least an hour and preferably overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 180 degree C.
4. Place the ribs in a roasting Pan. Do not stack them.
5. Roast for 40 - 60 minutes, turning them about every 20 minutes. They are ready when a skewer can be inserted into the thickest part of the meat easily.

 Along with the pork-ribs, we also had tofu steamed with minced prawns, alongside with stir fried greens and soups for a balance home-cooked meal.

Strawberry Shortcake

I made this cake for my daughter's friend as she spent her birthday with us due to her parents' work commitment.

I baked a peach buttermilk cake and frosted the top with cream cheese frosting, 'fenced-up' the cake with lady-fingers and top it with big red strawberries.

Peach Buttermilk Cake

Adapted from forkspoonnknife's Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

• 1 cup flour 
• 65g butter, softened 
• 1/3 cup sugar + 2 T sugar for the meringue 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence 
• 2 egg yolks 
• 1 egg white 
• 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 pieces of peach halves in syrup, discard the syrup and chop the peaches into small cubes

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Butter and line a 8 inch round cake pan (I used a smaller 6-inch pan with removable base as I wanted a taller cake).
2. Mix the dry ingredients together. Cream together butter and 1/3 cup of sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. 
3. Add the egg yolks and beat well. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, mixing until just combined. Set aside.
4. Beat the egg whites till frothy. Gently drizzle in the sugar and continue beating until the meringue holds stiff peaks.
5. Fold about a 1/3 of the meringue into the batter to loosen it. Gently fold the remaining whites just until you no longer see any white streaks. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. 
6. Scatter peach pieces over the top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes (mine took much longer, about 45 minutes), until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Leave the cake to cool down completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from http://www.taste.com.au/

• 60g cream cheese, softened (I used low fat)
• 30g unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup icing sugar

Place the cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Using a electric mixer, beat until pale. Gradually add in the icing sugar, beating until combined.

To assemble the Strawberry Shortcake:

Frost the top of the cake with cream cheese frosting. Spread the side with a thin layer of the frosting too so as to allow the lady fingers to stick to the cake.Surround the cake with lady fingers then place strawberries in the centre. Leave it in the fridge until ready to serve.

Easy, right? :) Have a nice weekend!

  

Chinese Pan-Fried Dumplings (锅貼）

It has been a long while since I last made potstickers. My two girls like the Chinese pan-fried dumplings with meat and Chinese Chive filling a lot but I do not make for them often enough as it is a time-consuming process to make the dumpling skins from scratch.

I finally made the dumplings for them over the weekend to satisfy their cravings. The recipe that I am sharing below is taken from a chinese cook book that I borrowed from the library many years ago. I jotted down the ingredients required for the wrappers. As for the fillings, I simply mix  up minced meat and chive and season it to my preference.

Chinese Pan-Fried Dumplings / Potstickers (锅貼)

Making Dumpling Wrappers from scratch

• 250g plain flour
• 70g boiling water
• 30g water at room temperature

1. Add boiling water to the flour
2. Mix with a pair chopsticks to combine
3. Add in the cold water
4. Knead into a dough and let it rest for at least 15 minutes before use (cover dough with wet cloth)
5. Pinch a small ball of dough, flatten it on a floured surface.
6. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a thin round wrapper about 3 inch in diameter. Repeat the same until all the dough are used up.

 

Making the dumplings

Ingredients for dumpling fillings:

• minced pork
• a bunch of chive, thinly sliced
• Salt, pepper, light soy sauce, sesame oil for seasoning 

 

Sauce for pan frying dumplings:

• 1 tablespoon of black vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce

1. Mix the minced pork and chives together, season with salt, pepper, sesame oil and light soy sauce.
2. Combine the pan frying sauce together. Set aside.
3. To make dumplings, place a teaspoonful of the meat fillings on the center of the skin. Dab a little water with your index finger and go around the edge of the wrapper. Fold up the wrapper and pleat into dumpling shape. Repeat the same for the rest.
4. To pan fry the dumpling, heat up a little oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Place the dumplings on the frying pan and then turn the heat to high. Pan fry the dumplings until the bottoms turn golden brown and crisp. Add about 2 teaspoon of the vinegar sauce over the dumplings and cover the frying pan with its lid immediately. Cook until sauce has evaporated and turn the heat to low. Remove the lid and cook the dumplings for another 2 minutes, dish out. 

 Serve hot with Chinese black vinegar and thinly sliced ginger.

 I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #19: Dim Sum Affair (May 2012) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker.

Oatbake with Blueberries and Chocolate Chips

This recipe caught my attention as rolled oats are used in the baking. Any recipe with rolled oats must be healthy, isn’t it?

This is truly a healthy and yummy loaf of baked rolled oats with honey and fresh fruits. I added some chocolate chips as my younger girl does not really fancy blueberries. Another good option for home-baked breakfast.

Oatbake with Blueberries and Chocolate Chips

Adapted from Nordic Bakery Cookbook by Milsa Mink

Ingredients

• 100g rolled oats
• 300ml hot milk
• 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 60g caster sugar (I reduced to 35g)
• 50ml runny honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 125g plain flour
• 150g blueberries (I used one punnet)
• 150g raspberries (I replaced this with mini chocolate chips, at about the same quantity as the blueberries)

 Methods

1. Grease a 900-g loaf tin. Preheat oven to 180 degree C.
2. Heat up the hot milk in a small pot. Once it started to boil, off the gas. Pour in the rolled oats and set aside to allow the oats to absorb the liquid and cool down slightly.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Stir in the honey and vanilla extract. Gradually add in the beaten egg, a little at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then fold into the butter mixture. Drain any remaining milk from the oats, then stir the oats into the mixing bowl.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and sprinkle the blueberries and chocolate chips evenly on top.
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 50-60 minutes, until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clear. (Mine was done at 175 degree C for 45 minutes. I used a foil to cover the top of the tin after 35 minutes to prevent over-browning the top.
7. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Crepes with Cameralised Bananas, Ice-cream and Granola

I made some crepes on Saturday for our afternoon tea time treat. the warm crepe filled with sweet caramelised bananas, topped with a ball of cold yummy vanilla-chocolate ice-cream and sprinkled with home-made granola, this is the best dessert to us in a hot afternoon.

The crepes recipe below yield about 12 pieces of thin crepes. We finished up half of them on Saturday. I store the remaining half in the fridge (wrapped with cling film) and had another round of crepes dessert on Sunday afternoon, this time with fresh strawberries added too :).  







Home-made Crepes Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk (I used soya milk)
• 1/2 cup water
• 45g unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 tsp salt

Methods:

1. Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl, whisk until smooth (if there are small little flour lumps in the batter, use a sieve to filter them away)
2. Heat a lightly buttered non-stick pan over medium heat.
3. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter into the centre of the pan. Lightly move the pan in circular movement to let the batter spread evenly over the pan to form a thin layer of crepe.
4. Cook for a few minutes until the crepe is set and can be flip over without breaking. Flip over and cook until both sides are lightly browned.
5. Stack cooked crepes over each other on a plate .

Caramelised Bananas

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas, peel off the skin and cut into slices
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of caster sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Methods:

1. In a small pot, melt the butter over low heat.
2. Add in the bananas and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the bananas
3. Stir lightly to allow the bananas to be coated evenly with the caramel.

To assemble:

Place a piece of the crepe on a serving plate, fill about one tablespoon of caramelised bananas over the crepe, fold up 2 sides of the crepes. Top with one scoop of ice-cream and sprinkle crispy granola over it. Enjoy!

To heat up the crepes:

1. Heat up a non-stick pan on low heat.
2. Please one piece of cold crepe into the pan to warm it up. Flip to the other side once the first side is warmed up. Be careful not to burn the crepes.