Vanilla Ice Cream with Red Beans~

Nice and creamy home made ice cream that doesn't require any eggs or an ice cream maker!

~* Vanilla Ice Cream with Red Beans*~

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 400 ml Sweetened Non-Diary Whipping Cream


• 1.5 Tbs Custard Powder (Bird's brand - A substitute for egg yolk custard)


• 350 ml Evaporated Full Cream Milk


• 1 Cup Azuki Beans (from a pre-packed can/boiled with water, sugar and cooled)


• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method

1. Dissolve custard powder with 2 tablespoons of evaporated full cream milk.


2. Bring the remaining evaporated full cream milk close to a boil on medium heat.


3. Remove from heat and pour the dissolved custard into the hot milk, stirring constantly for about 1 minute, leave it to cool to room temperature.


4. Add vanilla extract to whipping cream and whisk (Be careful not to overwhisk).


5. Fold in the custard-milk mixture and the azuki beans. Pour into a plastic container and refrigerate for at least 4 to 5 hours before serving. Enjoy!

Rosemount Semillon Chardonnay 2006~

A fine tasting wine to compliment a wonderful crepe lunch~

~*Rosemount Semillon Chardonnay 2006 (Australian)*~

The taste was as described on the label: It displays an aroma of lively citrus fruit from Semillon, complemented by peach & honey aromas from chardonnay. The palate is crisp with ripe tropical and melon flavours leading to a creamy, mouthfilling finish.

~*Crepe Lunch*~

Fresh buttercups and japanese cucumbers, button mushrooms, scrambled eggs and tuna chunks, topped with mustard sauce.

Rice Roll & Porridge @ Killiney Road~

A simple dinner...

~*Chee Cheong Fun with Prawn Filling*~

Fresh prawns wrapped in rice roll with fragrant and tasty sauce.

~*Fresh Fish Porridge with Century Egg*~

i was not very impressed, the thick congee was alittle blend with a few pieces of sliced fish and century egg. Well, when it comes to porridge, i would still prefer the watery teochew-style porridge over the thick cantonese version.
~*Grean Tea Glutinous Rice Balls in Peanut Soup*~
Apart from the slightly oily peanut soup, the glutinous rice balls were nicely done with a generous amount of green tea filling wrapped in a thin layer glutinous rice flour.

Rice Roll & Porridge
75 Killiney Road
S(239529)

Coffee Club @ Ngee Ann City~

A cosy get together and dinner session with J & M at Coffee club (Ngee Ann City).

~*Tomato Soup*~

The soup of the day that J had.. rich and tasty tomato soup served with toast.

~*Classic Caesar Salad with Smoked Salmon*~

A well presented salad with moderately dressed fresh romaine and salmon slices in a cheese biscuit basket.

~*Open-Face Prawn Salad Sandwich*~

Fresh poached prawns with romaine and onions. The prawns were poached with perfection they were juicy and not overly done. However i'd prefer if they could reduce the dressing by half, it was alittle too creamy...

~*Alfredo*~

Pasta with ham and mushrooms in rich creamy cheese sauce.

Red Bean Ohagi~

This was inspired by the yummie-licious red bean Ohagi i had last saturday at Isetan supermarket. Ohagi basically means sweet rice ball, which is a delicious japanese dessert that is usually filled with sesame or red bean paste.

i made a couple of modifications to make a healthier version of the Ohagi. i don't have short grain japanese rice at home, so i replaced it with a mixture of brown and white rice and reduced the sugar content in the red bean paste.

~*Red Bean Ohagi*~

A nice combination of flavours from the sweetness of the red bean paste and the salty sesame coating.

Recipe (Makes 2 rolls/12 pieces)

Ingredients

• 200 g Red beans
• 600 ml Water
• 2 Tbs Maple syrup/Honey
• 3 Tbs Equal sweetener
• 1/2 Cup Black sesame seeds
• 1 tsp Fine salt
• 1 tsp Ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1 1/2 Cup Brown/white rice grains

Method

1. Cook/steam the rice grains in water. Leave aside to cool to room temperature.

Red Bean Paste

1. Boil the red beans in water till soft.
2. Drain the water and mash the red beans .
3. Add the maple syrup/honey, sweetener and mix well.

Black Sesame Coating

1. Ground the black sesame seeds till fine. (Be careful do not to over grind, you don't wanna end up with black sesame paste instead.)
2. Mix in the ground cinnamon and salt and leave aside.

Assembly

1. Lay a piece of cling wrap above a bamboo mat. Place the rice at the center (about 3/5 of the bamboo mat area) of the cling wrap and spread them out evenly.
2. Spread a layer of red bean paste on top of the rice (at the center about 3/5 the area of the rice).
3. With the aid of the bamboo mat and the cling wrap roll up to form a firm and cylindrical rice roll.
4. Wet the surface of the knife and cut the rice roll into 6 pieces.
5. Coat each piece with ground black sesame.
6. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cookies~

I intended to bake peanut butter and chocolate checker board cookies but ended up with chocolate cross peanut butter cookies instead. The cookie shaping process felt like a playdough session, i had a fun time playing with different shapes and designs before i decided on this. Hmmm... don't you think they resemble the X-men logo?

~*Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cookies*~

Crispy Peanut Butter Snack~

Just fresh from the oven... Crispy and light peanut butter snack, anyone? These are really easy to make!

~*Crispy Peanut Butter Snack*~

Peanut butter flavoured super crispy baked "spring rolls". Warning: Once you start, you can't stop!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs Peanut butter
• 11 pieces of Spring Roll Pastry Skin (125 x 125 mm)

Method

1. Preheat oven at 180 degree celsius.
2. Cut the 125 x 125 mm spring roll pastry skin into 4 smaller squares pieces.
3. Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on 1 side of the pastry skin and roll it up loosely from one pointed end to another.
4. Place them on a metal tray and bake at 180 degree celsius for 10 to 12 minutes.
5. Serve hot or leave it to cool and store in an air tight container.

Peanut Pancake II~

Adapted from Yochana's Cake Delight - Mi Jian Kueh Recipe.

These were way better than my first peanut pancake attempt. Tah dah~

~*Peanut Pancake*~

Oops! They look alittle over done right? But nonetheless, they were crispy on the outside, moist on the inside with rich peanut butter and ground peanut filling~

Mini Fruit Tarts~

My first batch of mini fruit tarts! Ain't they pretty? i made these for a tea session that was held after a 4 division meeting this afternoon and they were really well received~ phew :p

~*Mini Fruit Tarts*~

Slightly crunchy pastry (tart shell) with refreshing mango flavoured custard topped with kiwi and seedless grape. Yum! :p~

Recipe (Adapted from Imperial Kitchen - Fruit Tartlets) (Makes 35 mini fruit tarts)

Ingredients

Pastry:

• 1.5 Cup Plain flour
• 1 Cup Cake flour/Hong Kong flour
• 2/3 Cup Icing sugar
• 200 g Cold butter
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 medium size Egg

Custard/Topping:

• 2 Tbs Custard powder (Bird's brand)
• 550 ml Fresh milk
• 1.5 Tbs Sugar
• 1 tsp Mango extract
• Some fresh cut kiwis and seedless grapes
• 1 tsp Gelatine powder
• 3 tbs Water

Method

Pastry:

1. Sift the plain flour, cake flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl and mix well.
2. Cut the cold butter into little cubes and rub into the flour till they resemble bread crumbs (A).
3. Briefly beat the egg and vanilla extract together and pour it into (A), mix well till a non-sticky dough is formed.
4. Mould them into mini aluminium tart cups and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven at 180 degree celsius. Remove tart cups from the refrigerator and bake them at 180 degree celsius for 20 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack before using.

Custard:

1. Dissolve custard powder, sugar and mango extract in 50 mL of fresh milk.
2. Pour the remaining fresh milk in a small pot and warm it over low heat . Pour the custard mixture into the warm milk and stir till thicken (about 3-5 minutes) over low heat.
3. Mix well and cool before use.

Glaze:

1. Microwave for 20-30 seconds to dissolve gelatine powder in water. Leave it aside to cool before use.

Assembly:

1. Pipe custard into tart shell.
2. Place a piece of kiwi and grape on the custard.
3. Glaze a layer of gelatine on top of the fruits with a brush.
4. Chill the mini fruit tarts for at least 45 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Rosemount Chardonnay 2006~

We had this lovely Chardonnay to go along with the Japanese lunch-in. Oh, do not be mistaken, this Rosemount Chardonnay (2006) is not the same as the previous Rosemount Show Reserve Chardonnay (2006). Not only is the packaging slightly different, the taste varied alittle too.

~*Rosemount Estate Chardonnay 2006 (Australian)*~

According to the label: Peachy tropical fruit and melon characters, with a hint of citrus freshness and judiciour use of oak, ending with a long and satisfying finish. i personally prefer the Show reserve, it had a more lustrous taste and smoother feel :p

Take-away Japanese Lunch II~

Shopping for lunch @ Isetan supermarket~

They're currently having a Hokkaido fair at Isetan Scotts supermarket basement and my goodness, the place was really crowded with eager shoppers in the late morning.

Clockwise from top-left hand corner: Tamago sushi and inari set, maki, pickled cucumbers and seaweed, boiled spinach with white sesame, maguro sashimi and king salmon sashimi, seasoned jellyfish and kimchi~ There were more vegetables in today's lunch-in compared to the previous~ Hurrr~ what a wonderful and satisfying japanese lunch-in~

p.s. In case you're wondering how did i managed to keep the food fresh and chilled. Well, i brought an icooler box along and kept the food on ice while i transported them home :p

Yoghurt Ice Cream~

A little yoghurt ice cream experiment...

~*Reduced fat, low sugar, Yoghurt Ice Cream*~

Hmmm... icy sorbet-like texture with a combination of a variety of flavours: a hint of cream liquor, cinnamon, mango, lemon and sweetness from the dried mixed fruits. You've got to be adventurous to try this~

Recipe

Ingredients

• 800 ml Plain non-fat yoghurt
• 1 Can of Nestle cream (170ml)
• 8 Tbs Equal sweetener
• 2 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 3 Tbs Vodka
• 2 Tbs Bailey's Mint Irish Cream
• 1 tsp Mango extract
• 1 tsp Lemon extract
• 1/2 Cup Mixed dried fruits

Method

1. Whisk the yoghurt, cream and sweetener for 10 minutes on high speed.
2. Add the cinnamon, vodka, irish cream, extracts and continue to whisk for another 5 minutes.
3. Add the dried fruits into the yoghurt and mix well with a spoon.
4. Pour the mixture into a 1 litre plastic ice cream container, cover it and leave it in the freezer for 90 minutes.
5. Remove the container from the freezer, using a fork, stir the semi frozen yoghurt ice cream to break up the ice crystals. Return it to the freezer for another 1 hour.
6. Remove the container from the freezer once more and stir the yoghurt ice cream.
7. Return yoghurt ice cream to the freezer and refrigerate for at least another 4 hours before serving. Enjoy~

Candied Mixed Fruits Yoghurt Cupcakes~

i bought a tub of plain yoghurt from the supermarket this morning to make yoghurt ice cream. There were some yoghurt remaining, so i decided to make some yoghurt cupcakes...

~*Candied Mixed Fruits Yoghurt Cupcakes*~

Soft, moist and delicious! Tea, anyone? :p

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Plain flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 3 Tbs Butter (melted)
• 1/2 Cup Equal sugar
• 1/2 Cup Brown sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 200 ml Plain non-fat yoghurt
• 3/4 Cup Candied dried fruits

Method

1. Preheat oven at 180 degree celsius.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, equal sweetener and brown sugar together till creamy, add in eggs (one at a time) till well incorporated followed by the yoghurt.
4. Add in the candied dried fruits and mix well with a spoon. Then fold in the flour mixture.
5. Pour batter into muffin tray lined with muffin paper cups till 90% full.
6. Bake at 180 degree celsius for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and allow cupcakes to cool in the tray before serving. Enjoy!

Savory Sesame Seed Cookies~

Fresh from the oven this morning, cute little tasty sesame seed cookies! They make pretty good tv-snacks :p

~*Savory Sesame Seed Cookies*~

Mini bite-size, sugar-free cookies with a light savory flavour and soft crunch :p

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cup Plain flour
• 1/4 tsp Bicarbonate soda
• 1/4 tsp Active yeast
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Mixed spice powder
• 1/4 tsp Ground black pepper
• 2 tsp Corn flour
• 2/3 Sachet Instant noodle seasoning of your choice (i used Indo mee goreng brand)
• 2 tbs Black sesame seeds
• 2 tbs White sesame seeds
• 2 1/2 tbs Shortening/Cold butter
• 80-100ml Water

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.
2. Add in the shortening/butter, gradually pour in the water and knead to form a dough. Leave it to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven at 170 degree celsius.
4. Roll out the dough, using a cookie cutter, cut out desired shapes and placed them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
5. Bake at 170 degree celsius for 15 to 18 minutes till cookies are light brown in colour.
6. Remove baking tray from the oven and cool cookies on a metal rack before serving. Enjoy~

Coffee Butter Cake~

This was something i baked late this morning before we went out for lunch. A quick mix of the batter and into the oven it went~

~*Coffee Butter Cake*~

Hee... it looks kinda pale right? The top of the cake wasn't as brown as i hoped for it to be, thus, i baked the cake for an additional 5 minutes. Which was not a good idea as it became overbaked which resulted in the cracked top and a slightly dry cake...

Recipe

Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup Cake flour
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 3 nos Eggs
• 2 tsp Coffee emulco
• 1/2 Cup Fresh milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degree celsius.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and mix well.
3. In separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, eggs, sugar and coffee emulco till well mixed, about 10 minutes.
4. Mix the flour and milk into the egg mixture, in three additions, alternating between the two.
5. Pour the batter into a 7 inch baking tin lined with baking paper and bake at 180 degree celsius for 20 minutes or till toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool cake in baking tin for 15 minutes before removing from tin. Enjoy!

TCC @ Peranakan Place~

Father's day lunch at TCC~ Check out what mum and dad had~

~*Banana Salmon Exotic (New!)*~

Well-done salmon served with mashed potatoes, asparagus stalks and thick banana-curry gravy~ The sweetness from the banana and the spicy curry created a rich and wholesome flavour and was simply lovely together with the cooked salmon~ Yum!

~*tcc Kahlua Salmon*~

Well-done salmon with mashed potatoes, asparagus and special kahlua (coffee) sauce~ The taste was very different from the banana salmon exotica, this was lighter on the palette with a hint of coffee flavour in the special sauce~

i had a Wild Garden Salad. Click here for more pictures of TCC.

Shokudo IV~

Dinner feast at Shokudo! It was only 6pm and yet there was already a long queue at the entrance. The 7 of us had to split oursleves to 2 tables...

~*Assorted Sides*~

For starters... Anti-clockwise: Seasoned wakame, boiled seaweed & octopus in vinegar, kim-chi.

~*Rosti with Sausage*~

Pan fried potatoes and grilled sausage served with sour cream and tomato sauce. i still prefer the way they prepare it at The Vil'age :(

~*Gyoza*~

~*Mushroom & Cheese Omelette*~

~*Vegetable Mushroom Ramen*~

~*Chicken Cutlet*~

~*Omelette Rice with Chicken*~

~*Omelette Rice with Salmon*~

Besides these, some of us also had sashimi, mushroom tempura, waffle with ice cream and sake. But i didn't manage to take a picture of them :x

Parkway Parade Kopitiam~

Saturday lunch-out at Parkway Parade Kopitiam~

~*Yong Tau Foo*~

7 pieces of yong tau foo @ $0.50 per piece. Hee~ looks like a green forest right? That's how i like it, greens greens and more greens in my YTF soup :p

~*Mee Rebus*~

A huge serving of egg noodles in thick and rich mee rebus gravy, garnished with fried tofu cubes, fried shallots, spring onions, hard boiled egg and a lime. This was from one of the more popular stalls at the food court. There was a never ending queue of patrons. Do try out their glass jelly too!

Just Acia~

Just Acia @ Dhoby Exchange is pretty much similar to Just Noodles at Suntec city fountain terrace. The set lunch/dinner comes with free flow of drinks and ice cream.

~*Herbal Chicken Soup Set*~
~*Kimchi Soup (Ala-carte)*~

Eskimo~

Finally! Decent tasting and fine shaved ice dessert~

Eskimo is a new taiwanese dessert stall in Dhoby Exchange, besides desserts such as shaved ice, waffle with ice cream, they also serve bubble tea, specially brewed fruit teas, smoothies, hot/cold coffee and sandwich sets.

They're currently having a promotion, enjoy $1 off shaved ice desserts (excluding Chewy Shaved Ice).

~*Strawberry Shaved Ice*~

It's way better than Ice monster! The finely shaved ice, with sweet milk, topped with homemade strawberry sauce, fresh strawberry slices and sweet potato balls @ 5.80 ($4.80 + $1). Add $1 extra for each addition toppings, yam (yu4 yuan2)/sweet potato balls/glutinous/pearls.

~*Chewy Shaved Ice*~

It was not as sweet as the strawberry shaved ice. i liked the chewy feel of the yam, pearls, sweet potato and QQ balls.

~*Rainbow Shaved Ice*~

The sweetened milk and mango flavoured syrup was well incorporated into the finely shaved ice. The sweetness of the mango puree, fresh diced mangoes, canned peaches in heavy syrup and the sourness of the fresh strawberries were a perfect combination.

Eskimo

Cafe & Fruit Dessert Bar

Dhoby Ghaut MRT Exit B, B1-41

Cinnamon Coffee Biscotti~

Adapted from Epicurious - Cinnamon Raisin Biscotti.

Crunchy Biscotti, anyone?

i made some modifications by replacing the (1) brandy with peach flavoured vodka, (2) raisins with mixed fruits, (3) vanilla extract with coffee emulco and (4) almonds with grams.

~*Cinnamon Coffee Biscotti*~

These are low fat as no oil or butter were included in the recipe.

Banana Crumb Muffins~

Adapted from Allrecipes - Banana Crumb Muffins.

This recipe was awarded 5 stars by more than 2000 reviewers on Allrecipes.com, a definite must try for muffin lovers!

~*Banana Crumb Muffins*~

Soft and moist muffins with sweet and crumbly top~ Delicious! But it was alittle too sweet for me, i'd probably reduce the sugar the next time i bake them.

Dorayaki~

Adapted from Baking Mum - Dorayaki recipe.

Aother recipe to try out on the non-stick pan~ hehe...

~*Plain Dorayaki*~

These japanese pancakes were simply wonderful soft and sweet~ So good that i could have them on their own, without the redbean paste fillings.

Gelare~

It's tuesday!!! Ring! Ring! Ring! It's freshly baked waffles 1/2 price at Gelare's day!

~*Waffle with Tropical Mango Ice cream*~

Yummy-licious crispy waffle topped with smooth-"chewy" tropical ice cream and maple syrup (minus the fresh cream) :p~ mmm~... The texture of the tropical mango was marvelous and the interesting thing was although the waffle was freshly baked and warm, the ice cream didn't melt very much!

p.s. The plain waffles are serve with optional fresh cream with maple syrup or chocolate sauce.

Subway Salads~

Light salads for dinner~

~*Turkey Breast Salad*~

Fresh iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, green pepper, cheese and turkey breast ham with pepper and honey mustard dressing.

~*Veggie Delight*~

Fresh iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber, green pepper, jalapeno, olive, pickle and cheese with mustard dressing.