blueberry muffins

chocolate muffins

chicken floss chiffon cake

step 1: get all the ingredients


step 2: sieve the flour







step 3: seperate the eggs


step 4: beat the yolks







step 5: beat the whites


step 6: mix the yolks and whites







step 7: pour 1 layer of the batter into the pan


step 8: layer the chicken floss







step 9: smoothen the top and send for baking







step 10: voila!


chicken floss chiffon cake

little nonya

this is again a long story which began from a supposedly dinner appointment with my aunt yesterday. she smsed me on thursday night to cancel it because she had a last minute engagement. since i was on leave i thought i might as well still have dinner with my parents and i shall cook up a full peranakan dinner.

so i flipped through my cookbooks and selected the dinner menu:
1. sayor lodeh
2. ngo hiang
3. itek sio
4. papaya titek
5. pulut hitam

i went a few places for grocery shopping after lunch with my darlin and started seasoning the minced pork for the ngo hiang the moment i got home. next, i had to cut up the the itek (duck), which was as fat as i am and marinated it with chopped shallots, asam juice and corriander powder. the pulut hitam had to be soaked overnight. all these had to be done 1 day before cooking.

on saturday after returning from breakfast, i took out the pork and started to roll the ngo hiang one by one. cooking the itek was next and followed by the pulut hitam. then i cut the sayor into strips. then i had to peel all onions, garlic and shallots. followed by grinding them into rempah (paste) together with lemon grass, buah keras and blachan in order to cook the sayor lodeh. as for the papaya titek, i had to cut the papaya, grind the salted fish, hae bi and blachan. after all the grinding is done, i cooked the sayor lodeh and the papaya titek. by the time i was done with the soup, it was already 5pm and i decided i do not have sufficient time to fry the ngo hiang. before that, i sent the the meat loaf for my babies into the oven and packed the dishes. i washed up all the unused pots and utencils before i showerd.

it was indeed tiring and time consuming affair but the results are satisfying. so i went home for dinner with my parents and they loved it. i chatted with them about this and that and i returned home at about 10pm to have the pulut hitam. things were okay until after i finished the dessert, i heard this: "i dont know what you want to do with the food so i left them there." and when i turned on the kitchen lights, the pots of itek sio and sayor lodeh are still there, the pot for the pulut hitam is soaked with water in the sink. so the little nonya had to do the finishing touch and clear everything. i went striaght to bed after shower.

silent treatment.

a few days ago i watched singapore dreaming. its about this typical singaporen, hdb-staying chinese family who are trying very hard to live a better life, fighting to achieve the 5Cs. i felt tremendously for the mother character when she said this:

"i got 1st in a singing competition before i married him (her husband). and eversince marrying him, i find myself waking up early everyday to sweep the floor, mop the floor, wash clothes, go to the market, cook and make herbal tea. i've never sing a song anymore, its as if i cant sing at all."

deep down i saw wat my own mother had done for us. and im doing exactly the same things she has been doing. moo moo often say i should spend more time for myself. i did what he said for the past 2 days. i did no cleaning up, no cooking, i even went out for lunch with darlin (which really made me very happy). and i thought, eversince that day i had to clean up the house even though i was so sick, only to be reciprocated with someone feeding the babies with apples on the floor the very next day, i have decided to stop all these.

this is already the 3rd week since i last cleaned the house and it havent been cleaned since then. last night was probably one of the last time im cooking. its a shame that cant be the last because the ngo hiang are still steaming to be frozen and deep fried another time. darn!

my belated bloody halloween

a morning accident while i was slicing the cucumber to make a simple cheese sandwich. the supposedly vegetarian sandwich now comes with a slice of my flesh.


how my thumb looks now without the slice of flesh.

selamat hari raya aidilfitri

burb!

peach on vanilla panna cotta

1.5 cups (12fl oz) water
0.5 cup sugar
3 peaches, halved and stoned
1 tbsp powdered gelatine

panna cotta
2 tbsp powdered gelatine
1/3 cup (2.5 fl oz) water
3.75 cups (30 fl oz) cream
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

place the water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. add the peaches and allow to simmer for 3 - 5 minutes or until soft. remove the peaches (reserving the poaching liquid), slip off the skins and set the fruit aside.

place 1/4 cup of the peach liquid in a bowl, sprinkle over the gelatine and set aside for 5 minutes. add the gelatine mixture to the remaining liquid in the saucepan, stir through and simmer for 2 minutes or until dissolved.

place the peach halves, cut-side up, in a well greased 26cm x 8cm x 7.5cm (10 in x 3.75 in x 3 in) loaf tin and pour over the liquid. refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.

to make the panna cotta, sprinkle the gelatine over the water and set aside for 5 minutes. place the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat and stir. add the gelatine mixture and simmer over low heat for 4 minutes or until dissolved. allow to cool to room temperature then pour the mixture over the set jelly and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight. serves 6 - 8