Rhubarb Crumble

Freshly-picked rhubard from our garden and order from the big boss = rhubarb crumble for him. He is THE only one savouring this dessert. The rest of us crinch our noses! ;)

Freshly-picked beauties 

So sour!

All for you, boss of the house.

Ingredients
6-8 'sticks' of rhubarb
150g of butter
200g of flour
300g of instant oats
1 tsp of baking powder
80g of sugar

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
2. Greased a baking dish.
3. Melt butter in a pot.
4. Clean and cut the rhubard into desired sizes and lay them at the bottom of the dish.
5. Stir in sugar, flour, oats and baking powder till mixed and sugar is melted.
6. Pour mixture over rhubarb.
7. Bake at 200 degrees for about 20-25 mins or till golden brown.
8. Serve warm with some ice-cream or whipped cream at the side.

Banana and Nutella Muffins

Yes, another batch of muffins. In conjunction with Muffinsdagen (Muffin Day) in Sweden, I set off to make some baked goodies with ripe bananas and nutella while my boyfriend is (still) snoring away. 
Yup, we have 'food-celebrated' days over here. We have 'Waffle Day', 'Cinnamon Bun Day' and etc. All of us love to eat! :D :D

A dollop in the center 

Swirl around with a skewer 

Not very nice-looking but acceptable?

Are you tempted?

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas - mashed

113g of butter -melted and cooled for about 10 mins

230g of flour

80g of sugar

2 large eggs - lightly beaten

1 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp of salt

1 tsp of vanilla extract

4 tbsps of nutella (melted)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
2. Line your muffin tray with muffin liners or cupcake liners.
3. Use a large bowl and whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Use another large bowl and whisk eggs, bananas, vanilla extract together.
5. Lightly fold the WET ingredients and butter into the DRY ingredients until they are combined and chunky in texture.
6. Do not over mix the batter as it will yield a tough and 'rubbery' texture.
7. Scoop the batter into the prepared tray. 3/4 full is good enough.
8. 'Drop' a dollop of nutella into each muffin and swirl briefly with a skewer.
9. Bake for 18-20 mins or till golden brown, or till a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the muffins.
10. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
11. Indulge! 

40 min Bread Rolls

I was itching to bake some bread today while my boy was taking his afternoon nap. I saw this recipe and thought, wow! 40 minutes? Perfect timing! Just as the rolls were left to rise for the 2nd round, my little boyfriend woke up. ;)

Bubbling well!

All glazed and ready

Lovely colour

Ooooooo-la-la

Ingredients

475g of flour

80ml of vegetable oil

12g of instant yeast

280ml of warm water

50g of sugar

1 tsp of salt

1 egg

Egg Glaze- 1/2 of an egg (beaten well)

Method

1. Greased a baking pan with oil.
2. Mix water, yeast, sugar and oil, cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rise for 15 mins.
3. Use a mixer ( I have used my trusted KA- dough hook) mix in flour, salt and egg.
4. Whisk till the dough is soft and smooth. It takes about a few minutes.
5. Transfer them onto the greased pan.
6. Rub some oil into your hands and knead the dough a few times.
7. Divide the dough into 12 pieces. About 70-75g per piece. Arrange them on the baking pan.
8. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and leave to rise for the second time-10 minutes.
9. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
10. Glaze your rolls with some egg wash.
11. Bake the rolls for 12-18 mins or till golden brown. 
12. Transfer out on a wire rack and leave to cool.
13. Enjoy!

Note: Recipe is taken and adapted from http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com.

Baked Yoghurt Curry-Flavoured Chicken

I dislike frying chicken or anything that needs deep-frying. It makes a HUGE mess and I use tons and tons of kitchen papers. Very stressful. That's why I resort to baking whenever I can. Haha! These baked ones were so yummy that my princess had 2 big drumsticks. However, her brother thought otherwise. Not even half a drumstick. 

Marinate them well!

Use a piece of foil underneath to collect the drips 

Looks not too bad, aren't they?

Ingredients

100ml of plain yoghurt

2 cloves of garlic

1 piece of 2 cm ginger

1 tbsp of curry powder (I have used one that has turmeric)

1 tsp of paprika

2 tbsps of Babas meat curry powder 

1 tsp of salt

1 tbsp of soya sauce

2 tsps of sugar

Method

1. Crush garlic and ginger into a paste or you can use the blender.
2. Mix all the spices and yoghurt to form a paste.
3. Marinate the chicken well with the ingredients.
4. Leave overnight or for at least 4 hours.
5. Bake them at the lowest rack, at 200 degrees for about 40-50 minutes, depending on the cuts/sizes of your chicken pieces.
6. Serve them with rice or other main courses. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Muffins are very easy to make and my munchkins love them. But only with some chocolate ingredients in them. >_< I bake these whenever I need a quick fix for tea time. You don't need much, really. Have a go and you'll be happy with what you get. Mix and match of ingredients would be a good experiment to try out different flavours and fillings.

Some of them are sprinkled with cinnamon 

Yummy!

Ingredients
2 large eggs
113g of butter
160ml of milk
260g of flour
80g of sugar
1 1/2 tsps of vanilla extract
2 1/2 tbsps of baking powder
50g of chocolate chips
1/4 tsp of salt (optional)

Topping
1 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of sugar - mix well

Method

1. Preheat your oven at 180 degrees. 
2. Melt butter in a saucepan and leave to cool for about 15 minutes.
3. Line your muffin tray with muffin liners or cupcake liners.
4. Use a large bowl and whisk eggs, milk and vanilla extract.
5. Use another large bowl and whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
6. Stir in chocolate chips into the dry ingredients.
7. Use a spatula, fold in WET ingredients and butter into the DRY ingredients.
8. Do not fold till smooth but till everything is mixed. You don't want a smooth batter as that will make the muffins feels 'rubbery'.
9. Scoop into prepared muffins tins.
10. Sprinkle some cinnamon topping if you fancy.
11. Bake at 18-20 minutes, golden brown or till a skewer that is inserted, comes out clean.
12. Enjoy!

Chocolate Bread

It's a public holiday over here. I have done some house chores, cooked lunch, submitted my assignment and read a little. The clock says 1.30 in the afternoon. What is the next best thing to do? I'm pretty sure you could guess what happens next. ;)

Rising in action 

Shaped into a loaf

Looks good!

Not bad looking, eh?

Ingredients

450g of flour and some extra for dusting 
1 tsp of salt
20g cocoa powder
12g of instant yeast
2tbsps of light brown sugar
300ml of warm water
1 tsbp of oil 
1 tbsp of butter for greasing the pan 

Method

1. Grease a loaf pan.
2. Sift flour, salt, cocoa powder and sugar in a big bowl.
3. Whisk in instant yeast and make a well in the centre.
4. Add the oil and warm water and fold well to form a dough.
5. Knead the dough on a lightly-floured work surface for about 10 mins or till smooth. I have used my assistant (KA) to do this. I can't knead for 10 minutes. It's too tiring. :D
6. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap. 
7. Leave to rise for 1 hour.
8. Take the dough out again and knead lightly for 1 minute.
9. Shape into a loaf and transfer it to the greased pan.
10. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise again for another 30 minutes.
11. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and bake the loaf for about 25-30 minutes or till it sounds hollow when you tap on the base.
12. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
13. Cut into slices and serve with butter. It has quite a good chocolate flavour and fluffy with a crispy top. 

Focaccia

Happy dough!

Spread evenly into the baking pan

Cover and leave to rise for another 30 minutes

Yippee!

Drizzle the oil and sprinkle the herbs

Smells so good!

Looks good

Hubby: Good! (Haha!)

I wanted to try making focaccia for the longest time ever and finally, I did it. I bought a tiny pot of organic rosemary plant and set my baking mode on. The result was good. Yummy and fragrant! 

Ingredients

A rectangle baking pan of size 10 X 15 inch (greased the pan liberally with olive oil)

480g flour

1/4 tsp of salt

5 tbsp of olive oil

15g of instant yeast

400ml of warm water

1 pinch of thyme

1 sprig of fresh rosemary (chopped)

Garnishing

3 tbsps of olive oil

1 small pinch of thyme

1 small sprig of fresh rosemary (chopped)

Method

1. Whisk salt and flour in a large bowl.
2. Pour in olive oil and rub the oil into the flour and salt. It sounds weird but it works very well and the oil doesn't stick. Make sure all the oil is distributed evenly and well- absorbed into the flour.
3. Sprinkle the chopped herbs and mix with a fork.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the yeast into the warm water and then use a spatula and stir in the yeast mixture into the flour.
5. Stir and mix well and make sure the yeast and flour is combined.
6. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and let it rise for 1 hour or at least double in size.
7. Once the dough is risen, scrap it off the bowl and scoop it over into the prepared pan. 
8. Try to spread the dough evenly in the pan with a spatula.
9. Cover the dough with an oiled cling wrap and let it rise for another 30 mins.
10. Set the oven at 210 degrees.
11. Use your index finger and make a 'dimple' on the dough.
12. Drizzle the garnishing oil and sprinkle the herbs. 
13. Bake the focaccia (at the lowest rack) for about 30 mins or till golden brown.
14. Take it out and check if the bottom is brown as well before lifting it out and leave to cool for 15 mins before slicing them into squares.
15. Voila!

Mackerel and Potatoes Sambal

Surprisingly, it is a very appetizing dish!

I was wondering what to cook for dinner and a friend mentioned she was going to get some potatoes from the shop. I asked if curry chicken was for dinner but she said nope and showed me a picture of her dish. I was so intrigued with it and did a similar dish with different ingredients. It turned out to be really a delish! Thanks Julia Lim! :)

Ingredients
4 medium-sized potatoes (cut into quarters or smaller pieces, if you wish)
a handful of ikan bilis (dried anchovies-rinsed well and dried)
2 cans of mackerel with tomato sauce
2 stalks of curry leaves (only the leaves are to be used)
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 onion (cut into quarters)
1-2 tbsps of chilli powder
1-2 tbsps of curry powder
2 fresh bird's eye chilies (cut into small pieces or 3 parts if you fancy to see them in your dish and do not want to bite into them)
Oil for frying

Method

1. Heat up enough oil in a frying pan and fry potatoes till golden brown, dish out and set aside.
2. Fry dried anchovies till golden brown, dish out and set aside.
3. Next, fry onions till almost cooked and add in minced garlic, curry leaves and chillies.
4. Fry them till fragrant and add in potatoes and dried anchovies. Continue to fry for about 3-5 minutes. 
5. Add in mackerel (without the tomato sauce first) and fry all for about 5 mins. 
6. Add in chilli powder and curry powder, mix well and fry for another 2 mins. 
7. Add in the tomato sauce from mackerel and switch off your heat. 
8. Continue frying the ingredients, mix well and till the sauce is quite dried up.
9. Dish up and serve warm with rice or fried noodles.  
10. Enjoy another spicy dish. ;)

Stir-fried Spicy Thai Holy Basil* Minced Pork

Get yourself a big glass of water

I like spicy food. I guess it is in the genes of many Asians. I have been cooking spicy dishes lately and my husband is 'suffering' (the day after); if you know what I mean. Haha! Try this if you fancy a perk-me-up dish in your meals.

Ingredients
300g of minced pork (you can replace with beef or chicken)
2 packets of store-bought Holy Basil seasoning sauce (I got them from the Asian store)
2 pcs of fresh bird's eye chillies (you can replace with the regular chillies if you fancy a less spicy version)
2-3 tsps of chilli flakes
A handful of fresh Thai basil* (I bought the Italian type from local ICA but you can always get the Thai basil from an Asian store)
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 tbsp of oil

Method

1. Heat up oil in a frying pan.
2. Fry garlic and fresh bird's eye chillies till fragrant. 
3. Add in minced pork and fry till cooked.
4. Add in chilli flakes and fry for a minute.
5. Add in the 2 sachets of ready made sauce and fry for another 8-10 minutes.
6. Dish up and garnish with fresh basil.
7. Serve warm with rice. 

Note: This is the ready-made sauce in sachet form.
Image is taken from templeofthai.com

Fluffy and Soft 'No Knead Dough' Bread

Like what I have mentioned in one of my previous posts, I rarely bake bread. I'm a jinx when it comes to yeast. But I was so eager to try this out. The link was given by a mummy in one of my FB groups. Thank you, mummy Zarah Al' Khadri. Very fluffy and soft inside and yet crispy on the outside. I salvaged 2 pieces immediately when I sliced the bread. Slabbed with a generous amount of butter, the bread was in my tummy, in no time. 

I hope my munchkins will like them. :D

Almost a perfect dome

The bottom crust

Oh my! Oh my!

Ingredients

485g of flour

2 tsps of sugar

1 tsp of salt

12g of instant yeast

472g of lukewarm water (about 38-40 degrees)

2 tbsps of butter (at room temperature)

1 large oven proof bowl (I have used my large Pyrex bowl)

Method

1. Put flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl. 
2. Whisk them well.
3. Add in lukewarm water and fold the dough till all is mixed and combined well.
4. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rest for 1 hour. Try to leave it at a warm place so that the yeast can work out/activate.
5. Grease 1 large oven proof bowl. 
6. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
7. Use 2 forks ( I have used dessert forks) and punch down the dough while scraping the sides down. 
8. Try to turn the dough up (like folding method) and let the dough come out loose from the bowl.
9. The dough is very sticky and clingy. 
10. Scoop up the dough and plop it into the oven proof bowl.
11. Let it rise again for another 20-30 minutes or till the dough is slightly below the edge of the bowl.
12. Bake for 15 minutes.
13. Reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes.
14. Remove the bowl from the oven and turn over the loaf onto a cooling rack. 
15. The loaf should be golden brown in colour and slightly firm to touch. Let it cool down for about 15-20 minutes before slicing it up. 
16. Enjoy your freshly baked bread!

Note: 

Recipe is taken and adapted from http://www.alexandracooks.com/2012/11/07/my-mothers-peasant-bread-the-best-easiest-bread-you-will-ever-make

There are other variations to making this bread if you fancy a more flavourful type. :)