OMG, gougeres!

These gorgeous.. I mean gougeres are OMG good!!! ^^

Gougeres (recipe from my favorite guy, david lebovitz ^^)
makes about 30-55 bite sized  puffs

1/2 cup/ 125ml water

3 tbsps/ 40g butter

1/4 tsp salt

big pinch of chili powder ^^, or ground black pepper

1/2 cup/ 70g flour

2 eggs

3/4 cup/ 90g grated cheese (I used 100g cheddar and more ^^ for topping ^^) 

2 tbsps grated parmesan cheese (I added this too.. keep a bit more for topping ^^)

12 chives, finely minced (or thyme) (I used a tsp of dried parsley and a tsp of oregano) 

1. Preheat oven to 425F/220C and line baking tin. Make sure all ingredients are measured and ready beforehand ^^

2. Heat water, butter, salt and chili powder in a saucepan till butter is melted.

3. Dump flour into saucepan and stir vigorously till mixture pulls away from the sides into a smooth ball. Remove from heat and rest for 2 minutes.

4. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring quickly so that eggs doesn't get "cook"-ed. Batter may appear lumpy at first, but will become smooth after a bit.

5. Add 3/4 grated cheese (I added everything, 100g of cheddar ^^ and 2 tbsps parmesan) and chives (or thyme or parsley/oregano ^^), and stir into batter till well-combined.

6. Place batter into pastry bag using a wide plain tip, and pipe dough into mounds the size of cherry tomato (The cherry tomato in my head is much smaller than david's.. as I managed to make 55 puffs instead of 30 ^^). Otherwise use a small ice cream scoop or 2 spoons to shape. Top with some grated cheese and parmesan ^^

7. Bake at 425F/220C for 10 minutes, then reduce to 375F/190C for another 20 minutes, or till golden brown. For extra-crispy puffs, david recommends poking the side of each puff with a sharp knife to release steam, 5 mins before they are done.. and return them to the oven to finish baking. ^^

8. Serve immediately from the oven! Yums!

When I brought it up to share with piggies, baby pig asked what these were.. I answered him, "OMG good!" ^^ Seriously, these french cheese puffs are AWESOME FABULOUS!!! ^^ Just trust me on this! ^^

I can't thank you enough, david! ^^ WE SOOOO LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE IT! ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^

p.s. this is a super-duper easy and delicious recipe I-don't-know-why-I-didn't-make-sooner???!! and why-didn't-I-double-the-recipe-today???!! aaargh..

p.p.s. this is perhaps my last bake for a while.. till I get rid of thunder thighs from too much merrymaking the last few weeks! ^^|| i seriously need to go on diet!!! wish me luck.. ^^ did i hear a snicker? no, wait.. that was me ^^

Easy popovers ^^

I love easy, straightforward recipes ^^.. especially when it involves dairy! And popovers seems just it! No baking powder, no long resting period! Aaaah.. my kind of baking ^^!

Popovers (recipe from thekitchn)
1 cup/ 8oz milk
2 eggs
3 tbsps unsalted butter, melted (less is fine ^^)
1 cup/ 5oz flour
a pinch of salt
grated cheddar cheese (optional)
grated parmesan cheese (optional)

1. In a food processor/blender or with a whisk+bowl, blend milk, eggs and 1 tbsp of melted butter till combined.

2. Add flour and beat till frothy and bubbly. Leave batter to rest while oven heats.

3. Preheat oven to 450F/230C. Put popover tin or muffin pan in the oven for 2 minutes. Remove tin and grease with remaining melted butter.

4. Beat batter till frothy again just before pouring into greased tins. Pour into tins till 3/4 full. Top with cheeses if preferred (top generously ^^!)

5. Bake at 450F/230C for 15 minutes. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR FOR 15 mins! Then reduce heat to 350F/180C and bake for another 15 minutes or till popovers turn golden brown, feel dry to the touch and sound hollow when tapped. I forgot to check and left the popovers baking for 30 minutes instead! But no harm done.. we love the very browned crusty popovers! ^^

* I managed to make 10 popovers.. 5 cheese and 5 plain ^^ Best served straight from the oven! ^^

These are YUUUMMMY!!! My piggies LOOOOOVVVE it!!! Especially the ones with cheese ^^! I love mine plain with butter and jam ^^ mmm, I think I like these more than I do scones with butter/clotted cream and jam! ^^

p.s. i've never heard of popovers till i read it in justonecookbook blog. thank you for sharing, nami ^^ 

Light lunch.. an embarassing situation.. and a little idea

You should know I haven't been cooking.. or baking much, lately ^^|| It's quite obvious ^^

Well, there's plenty of yummy food to choose from at the pasar ramadans.. and fatty hubby has been busy "buka puasa" (breaking fast) with his customers every other day (he eats more during ramadan than he does during chinese new year!!!).. so there's no point cooking for one! Besides, fatty hubby loves the food offered at the pasar ramadans as much as I do ^^ But mainly because I'm a lazy cook who avoids cooking whenever I can! ^^

Anyways, since I have some leftover rice courtesy of MIL, I decided to "cook" lunch.. fried rice with minced beef in japanese curry (from god knows when.. ok, I know when.. but you wouldn't want to know ^^||) and scrambled egg. Not the most balanced of meals.. no veg (forgot that I had frozen peas, etc).. but light enough, so I don't feel woozy after. An easy meal you don't even have to cook if you have a microwave to heat up the rice, curry and cook mix veg.. toss everything together.. and voila, you have a meal ready! (^^)

The other day, I read an interesting post in the little kitchen on her newly refurbished kitchen.. and I think it's amazing what small changes ie. replacing old kitchen appliances with new ones.. can do to make an old kitchen look sleek and brand new! But she had problems with organizing her open-space pantry.. and I could identify with her problem.. so I bravely left a comment. Today, since I wanted to share my thoughts on her pantry woes, I had a look at her post again. But I didn't see my comment.. so thinking that there may have been a tech-glitch, the comment didn't go through, blah blah.. I re-posted.. and THEN I SAW the earlier comment and also the same "new" comment! Aaargh.... so  embarassing! And there's no icon for "delete"!!! I wanted to die! Lesson learnt: Never re-post a comment again! Even if you were just trying to be helpful!!!

not perfect.. but definitely a little more organized ^^

Now back to organizing an open-space pantry. I want to share this little idea with you too ^^.. I find these kitchen racks really helpful, thanks to mama pig's tip. They are available at 100yen/RM5 a piece at Daiso.. otherwise, I suppose you could order them online at daiso japan. They have them in different sizes. You can stack them up further if your cabinet space is really high. I like that my open-space cabinets looks a bit neater and more organized now. (^^)


And if you lack drawers, or have more open shelves than you care for, like I do.. get plastic boxes in various sizes to organize your utensils and cutleries and what-ever-nots. I find the clear plastic shoe boxes a good deal for this purpose. Again I bought the plastic boxes cheap at daiso ^^. I like daiso.. I always end up poorer, yet happier (?!) after a visit! Shopaholics beware! (^^)

I hope you find the ideas helpful. Have a nice sun-shiny day! (^^)

p.s the blue flowers/patterned bowl/plate is also from daiso ^^ it's really pretty.. i noticed many bloggers have/like them too ^^ 

sunday brunch - baked beans, minced beef and eggs

Finally, the last of the cooked minced beef from the bibimbap dinner, many days ago!

Fatty hubby (little piggies too) likes breakfast, the full  works.. eggs, ham, bacon, sausages, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms.. So I decided to use up the minced beef and cook him a mix-mash of his favorite breakfast!

Here's my take on a healthy all-in-one breakfast/brunch - baked beans, minced beef and eggs. Low in fat and carbs (^^). All you need is just a can of baked beans in tomato sauce, cook it in a pan, mix in the minced beef and add eggs last. No oil or seasoning needed. So easy, right? (^^)

You can eat this on its own, or have it with toast. This can even be a dish for lunch/dinner, served with rice and veggies. Seriously, this is a DISH served in many malaysian family meals. Kids love this!

Yay! I've completed 4 meals with one dish - cooked minced beef. By the way, this was not intentional. I'm really not that clever to have planned this (^^||).. But this has been really fun.

And yes, I re-hash my food ALL THE TIME.. seriously (^^)

"leftovers" sushi

What do you do with leftovers?

You make sushi, of course!

This is what I made with the leftovers from my bibimbap dinner last night.. not the best tasting sushi because I didn't use short grain rice. But it was not too bad (^ ^).

Well, can't be helped.. I have only a mix of long grain brown and white rice. I try not to keep short grain japanese / korean rice at home because they are just too delicious - out-of-the-world DELICIOUS!!! I can even eat it PLAIN! And that's bad.. because rice is nothing but carbs! If only I was blessed with "I-can-eat-anything-and-not-put-on-weight" genes! (^ ^||)

Anyways, since I had some julienned cucumbers and carrots, and minced meat left, that went into my sushi. Now, I don't think it's usual to use meat in sushi.. fish and seafood, yes.. meat, I think not (^^||)! But since I have to finish it.. we're good!

Now that I think about it, I could have made bibimbap sushi or onigiri too! That should be nice (^^)

I wish I'm more creative when it comes to important stuff, but my little mind just works best when it comes to cutting corners, baking or cooking! (^^||)

Korean-japanese fusion sushi, anyone???

Not my karaage-day!

The day has come.. I made karaage today!

Do not be deceived by the looks.. it looks like karaage, but it tastes nothing like the karaage you get from japanese restaurants or food markets.. (><)

I'm not sure what I did wrong, but my karaage sure doesn't taste like it should. I followed the recipe from just hungry (check recipe here), except I used mirin instead of sake. It turned out nicely crisp on the outside, and succulent and juicy inside.. but the taste is not quite it.. I'm thinking if mirin could have changed the taste that much. Or could it be my use of the really "old" ginger that's been sitting in the fridge for 2 months??? I don't know (><||).

Sadly, I have to say that this is an unsuccessful attempt at making karaage.. However, this has been a slightly more successful attempt at deep-frying (^^). Guess all is not lost. Chicken's nice, though not as tasty as it should be. Fatty hubby's says it's still a good attempt. And the leftovers will be going into my japanese curry dinner tomorrow.. using ready-made paste, of course (^^)

Nice crispy, juicy fried chicken.. but not quite karaage. ^^

Easy fried rice with ham

Another cheat's dinner!

How easy can dinners get.. with fried rice? A bit more work than instant noodles because you'll have to have rice cooked first.. that's why you should always cook more rice than needed and save the leftovers in the fridge!

I ALWAYS cook extra rice. So I don't have to cook again the next day, or the next.. or the next (^^) lazy is as lazy does! More so, so that I can cheat a dinner cook out by making fried rice!

What's so easy about fried rice? It's basically adding whatever you want, but more importantly, whatever you have, to make a meal. No planning required! You can be as creative as you want. Add whatever seasoning or ingredients you fancy.. there's no right or wrong.

A fried rice is a fried rice even if you only add garlic or an egg (^^), and some seasoning.. Well, this is not the most balanced of meals, but it'll fill you up nicely. Here's what I found in the fridge for our dinner tonight.

Fried rice with lots of veggies and ham

2 bowls of cooked rice
1 bowl of frozen mixed veggies
1 slice of ham, sliced to small pieces
2 eggs
1 pip garlic, minced
3 shallots, sliced
2 tbsp soy sauce
Some chilli powder, optional
Pepper and salt, to taste
Some lettuce, finely sliced (optional)
Very little oil

* actually, everything is optional except rice and garlic or shallots, or eggs, and seasoning to make fried rice.

1. Saute garlic and shallots in a bit of oil till brown and fragrant. Push aside in the pan/wok, and fry eggs. Scramble when almost cooked.

2. Add frozen veggies and ham, and stir fry. Add rice and cook together. Mix in some lettuce if you like.

3. Season with soy sauce, chilli powder, salt and pepper.

4. Garnish with finely sliced lettuce for extra crunch.

I normally use non-stick pans for cooking, to avoid using too much oil. Feel free to saute garlic and shallots in more oil if you like. Professional cooks use quite a bit of oil to cook fried rice, so that each rice grain gets nicely coated and doesn't stick together. Since I'm not, and am only cooking to please myself, I shall cook it my way, with very little oil and definitely NO MSG! (^^)

I just realized I could have made a simpler dinner using the same ingredients! Better still a no-cook meal! Using staples like cooked rice, sliced/diced ham and finely sliced lettuce, and adding gochujang and sesame oil, I would have a cheat's BIBIMBAP! And top it with a sunnyside-up egg.. heavenly (^^)! Why didn't I think of it just now???

Not as tasty as the MSG-laden fried rice you get outside. Still it's simple, homey and nice, my fatty says so (^^)

Dinner for fatty hubby

Welcome back fatty!

Well, it's not like he's been away for that long. But I do kinda miss him when he's not around (^^).

Anyways, I still have lots of food to clear before our short holiday to Osaka. So I decided to make whatever's available and clear some space in the fridge and kitchen.

And this is what I came up with tonight ~ a weird combo of japanese, western and asian dishes for dinner. Here's my "cheat" dinner.

Japanese potato salad with boiled eggs (my version)

5 medium potatoes, boiled and mash or leave it cubed (according to own preference)

2 boiled eggs, mashed

Some carrot, minced or finely sliced (optional)

Some minced japanese cucumber, minced or finely sliced (optional)

Some sweet corn (from can, optional)

Salad cream to taste 

This is my cheat version of the japanese potato salad using salad cream. Just mix everything up and voila! you have japanese potato salad! I added boiled eggs because I like the thought of eggs in my salad like in caesar salad, and to make this salad creamier (not to mention higher in calories!). By the way, the salad cream and sweet corn's from the tuna pasta dinner.. yup, it's been sitting in the fridge and freezer that long!

Luncheon meat with yellow onions

Luncheon meat, diced
Yellow onions, sliced

A super easy dish. Just stir-fry eveything together till onions are soft and cooked. No need to add oil. Luncheon meat has lots of fat already!

Normally, you would not find luncheon meat in the house.. or instant noodles. Not that I don't enjoy them, but I'm trying REALLY hard not to eat so much processed meat, preservative and MSG-laced food. I think we get enough of those whenever we eat out as it is. So I avoid keeping them at home for fear of the "easy-way out" temptation. But these are really leftovers from my quiche bake a few days ago.. And luncheon meat with onions is really quite quite wonderful with rice! Luncheon meat is wonderful with anything, and on its own too.. sigh! STOP! I really can't have too much of it!

nicely balanced, sweet onions and salty luncheon meat

And my final piece de resistance ~ lightly boiled tomatoes (^^)

Well, this may not be the most balanced of meals. But I did what I could with the limited resources that I have in the kitchen. I wish I had some greens, but greens don't keep very well. And I was too lazy to go the the store to get some.. guess tomatoes will just have to do!

Does this look like breakfast with rice to you? I did say it was an "exotic" dinner, didn't I? (^^)

Cheat's dinner! Or breakfast, minus rice..

Dried oyster porridge

I've never been a fan of dried oysters! And shiitake mushrooms and radish!

They all smell so bad to me, I'd run a mile when someone cooks any of those stuff! But all 3 ingredients are ALWAYS cooked during Chinese New Year.. aaargh!

Anyways, during our trip home to Kuantan for the chinese new year last week, we stopped by a shop selling dried stuff like oysters, scallops, anchovies, fish maw, baby shrimps, and the very famous kuantan "ham yue" aka salted fish. We were not planning to buy much until I spotted, or rather 'smelled' some dried oysters. They were huge! And they looked really fresh and juicy! They still smell bad, though.

Dried oyster, otherwise known as "ho see" in chinese, has a very good connotation, especially so during chinese new year. "Ho see" means good things, an abundance of good things.. and to the chinese, this is very very good (^^)

As turned off as I was with the smell, the dried oysters looked so succulent, that I couldn't resist buying some for ourselves, MIL and fatty hubby's bosses. A good way to start the new year on the right foot with the bosses, don't you think? (^^)

Anyways, woke up real early today to cook dried oyster porridge with minced meat for fatty hubby, who loves dried oysters.. shiitake mushrooms and all!


Dried oyster porridge with minced meat

1 cup rice (used 2/3 brown rice and 1/3 normal rice)
8-10 cups water
6-10 pcs of dried oysters (depending on size and personal preference)
1cm of ginger, grated or minced finely
100g of minced pork
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
A bit of corn flour (optional)
Salt to taste
Sesame oil to taste
Spring onion, to garnish (optional)

1. Wash dried oysters. Soak dried oysters in hot/warm water for 30 minutes. Keep water and add to porridge later.

2. Marinate minced pork with soy sauce, oyster sauce and some corn flour for 30 minutes.

3. Boil rice and add dried oysters, minced ginger and minced pork till cooked. Season with salt.

4. Add some sesame oil and spring onion before serving.

So what did I do wrong? I soaked the dried oysters twice and threw away the water. They smell especially 'fishy' soaked in water (> <). Aunt says that I've washed the flavor away, doing that. And I should have added the water to the porridge.

No wonder I thought the taste of the porridge was quite nice (^ ^), no strong-fishy flavor. I thought the minced ginger took away the 'fishy-ness'. By the way, I think the koreans really got it right about the use of grated/minced ginger and ginger juice in their cooking. Beats sliced ginger anytime! Can't see, can't taste, can't feel.. really good! And best of all.. all dishes taste amazing!

Nice!

No cook creamy tuna pasta

Finally! I have my salad cream and I'm all set.

Another super duper easy dinner. No cooking required. Just throw the tuna chunks, sweet corn and salad cream together. And we are done! Oops, the pasta..

I like salad cream. Add lots.. oops! I mean enough. The mixture should be on the creamy side. Add to pasta. Season with some chilli flakes.. and tuck in!

I really like the simplicity of this pasta. It's light and sweet (corns), with a hint of tang (salad cream). And it's really refreshing especially served chilled on a hot day. For a balanced meal, add some salad greens.

This pasta is so easy, no recipe needed. Once you've tasted it, you'll remember for life and can make this anywhere, anytime. I know, because my chubby big brother made it for me once long, long time ago and it's stuck since.

Make extra, it's that good! (^^)

It's plate-licking good!