Sticky Chilli and Mirin Chicken Wings

Sticky, spicy, sweet, salty and juicy chicken wings....if that doesn't get your taste buds moving, I don't know what will! We only recently discovered this absolutely finger licking good recipe from Sabrina Ghayour and it immediately became one of our fave recipes as we simply couldn't get enough of it!

Ingredients (Recipe from Sabrina Ghayour)
800g-1kg of free range chicken wings
150l of dark soy sauce
75ml of Mirin
4 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce
4 heaped tablespoons on caster sugar
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
2 red chillies
4 inches of peeled ginger
3 cloves of peeled garlic

Method
1) Preheat oven to 150 deg C.
2) Using a hand blender, pour all the ingredients (aside from your chicken wings) into the container that comes with your hand blender and blitz together all your ingredients until your reach a smooth liquid. Place your chicken wings into a large bowl and pour over the marinade and leave it for at least 2 hours.
3) Place the chicken wings in a baking tray.
4) Using a pastry brush, give the wings one last coating of sauce before placing them in the oven to cook for 25 minutes before giving it another brush of the marinade. 
5) Repeat this process another 3 times, marinating every 25 minutes and then allow them to cook for a final 25 mins (total cooking time of 1 hours and 40 mins) before serving. 

Aloo Gobi - Dry Cauliflower and Potato Curry

Sorry for being a little quiet recently. I've been feeling really tired as my long term-ish medication due to this is being a mighty pain! All I wanna do it just to lie on the sofa and do practically nothing which I feel is a waste of time but I've got not much choice at the moment.
Alright, ranting over......

I don't usually like eating cauliflower however, i simply love this dish! Maybe the spices make a difference? My hubby made this dish and I kinda had a hand in it too since I searched for the recipe, peeled the potatoes (he hates peeling them!) and showed him where some of the spices were so it was a joint effort right. ;)

Ingredients (Adapted slightly from Mamta's Kitchen)
• Approximately 500 grams of vegetables in total, as follows:
• 1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 1 large or a couple of medium potato, peeled and cut into bite size pieces 
• Handfull of frozen green peas
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 red chilli, chopped into thin slices
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp. chilli powder (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. Garam Masala powder
• 1 tablespoon coriander leaves, cleaned and chopped

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok.
2. Add the cumin seeds and wait until seeds splutter. Be careful not to let them burn.
3. Add ginger, garlic and red chillies. Stir-fry for 10 seconds or so, until lightly browned.
4. Add the cauliflower and potatoes and sprinkle the turmeric, coriander, chilli powder and salt on top.
5. Stir-fry well for 30 seconds or so and then lower the heat to almost minimum.
6. Cover, add peas after 10 mins and cook until the potatoes are cooked through, stirring from time to time. If the vegetables are fresh, no extra water needs to be added. Otherwise, sprinkle some water when it looks too dry, just enough to stop it from catching.
7. Sprinkle lemon juice, garam masala and two-third of the coriander leaves on top, stir and mix gently.
8. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with remaining chopped coriander leaves before serving.

Grilled Sweet Miso Aubergine

It should come as no surprise that I really love eating aubergine, in all kinds of ways judging from the various aubergine recipes I've posted such as Marinated aubergines, Panko crusted aubergine and Pasta Alla Norma. I really like its texture and it ability to take on flavours perfectly. Another one of my absolute favourite is the Grilled Sweet Miso aubergine. Initially, I thought that I could just buy sweet miso, plonk it on the sliced aubergine and throw it in the oven but no, it's easy but not that easy! This dish makes a great appetiser or a side dish. We had it with some grilled shio koji salmon recently and that went down really well!

Ingredients
1 Aubergine (sliced into rings of about 1 cm thickness)
1 Spring Onion (sliced)
1 tbsp Sweet Miso Paste
2 tbsp Mirin
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
Black Sesame Seeds
Light Olive Oil

Method
1) Preheat oven to 200 deg C.
2) Place sliced aubergine on a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush with olive oil.
3) Roast it for about 25 - 25 mins or until it's cooked.
4) In the meantime, mix the sweet miso paste, mirin and brown sugar until you get a smooth paste. Add a little water if it's too thick. (Please also note that measurements are only a guide as store bought miso has different degrees of saltiness so it's best to taste and adjust accordingly)
5) When aubergines are done, take it out of the oven, top each slice with some of the paste and spread it around evenly. 
6) Sprinkle some black sesame seeds on each slice and place it under the grill for 2-3 mins until the paste bubbles.
7) Once done, garnish with sliced spring onions and serve. 

Honey Granola

If only I knew it was so easy to make healthy, not so sweet granola at home, I would have started to make it long ago instead of getting the sugar laden commercial available ones. It's all thanks to Giulia of Mondomulia for pointing this out in her recent post. I will definitely be making this over and over again, throwing in whatever nuts or dried fruits I feel like eating at the moment......The possibilities are endless!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ingredients (Adapted from Mondomulia)
2 cups jumbo oats
1 cup pecans, chopped roughly
20g dried coconut flakes
50g dessicated coconut
1 tbsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup honey
100g mixed dried berries(I used Urban Fruits Superberry)

Method
1) Pre-heat oven to 150 °C.
2) Chop the pecans roughly and mix them with oats, dessicated coconut and coconut flakes. Add the cinnamon powder.
3) Add the wet ingredients, olive oil and honey, to the oat mixture. Stir until evenly coated, adding more honey if required.
4) Spread the granola out on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, stirring half way through, until golden.
5) Remove from the oven and let cool completely, until the granola has set. Stir in the dried berries.
6) Store in airtight containers.

Marinated Aubergine Inspired by Honey & Co

We've been on a middle eastern kinda kick recently, having first watched Ottolenghi's Mediterranean Feast. After catching it on TV, I immediately made a reservation at the highly recommended Honey & Co. Opened by the husband and wife team of Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer who have both been chefs in one of Ottelenghi's restaurant in London, they aim to bring childhood memories of home cooked food to the masses.This is what they've done with fresh, clean, well balanced, simple dishes that burst with flavours! The cakes are magnificent too! Even though we've only tried the very moist and moreish chestnut cake, i've heard rave reviews of some of the other items especially the Chocolate Krantz Cake.(search for it and I'm sure you'll be happy just looking at it!) We will definitely be going back soon to check out the rest of the menu.

Very Appetising Marinated aubergine that gets the tastebuds moving

Melt in the mouth Ox cheek sofrito with quince and bay leaves

Tender Pomegranate molasses chicken, served with a texture and flavour amazing cracked wheat salad with pistachios and barberries

Warm, moreish and moist Chestnut cake, salted caramel sauce, vanilla cream

My Lovely hubby then surprised me with Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi latest cookbook, Jerusalem but not before I tried making the marinated aubergines. Once I get some basic middle eastern ingredients such as Pomegranate molasses, barberries, sumac and zatar, I'll be so 'getting my hands dirty' cooking from this book!

Ingredients (From Delicious Days)

3 medium sized aubergine

olive oil for brushing

fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Marinade:

5 tbsp olive oil

5 tbsp lemon juice

1 small red chili

3-4 tbsp finely chopped coriander

1-2 garlic cloves

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 200°C (~390° Fahrenheit) and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Trim both ends of the aubergine, then cut each in two equal sized halves width-ways. Now cut each piece into six to eight wedges, depending on the aubergine's  initial size. Key is to obtain (almost) equally sized wedges.

2) Generously brush the wedges with olive oil, place on the tray (skin side down) and season with sea salt and black pepper. Bake in the oven (middle level) for 20 to 25 minutes or until the tips have turned brown and the wedges feel soft to the touch.

3) Meanwhile prepare the marinade: In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, chopped red chili, chopped coriander, chopped garlic, sea salt and black pepper. Set aside.

4) As soon as the aubergines are done, dump them into the bowl of marinade while still hot and carefully stir (the wedges should not be mashed!) until everything is well covered. Serve after an hour at room temperature, or keep in the fridge (in a container) for some days. Enjoy with bread.

Chap Chye (Mixed Vegetable Stew)

I'm so excited! Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop has just been delivered and I can't wait to start cooking from it! I've only heard nothing but rave reviews so it's definitely going to be fab!
I'll also be doing some recipe testing for the up and coming plussixfive cookbook due to be out some time at the end of the year if i'm not wrong so keep a lookout for that as I've tried their cooking and it sure is awesome!

Anyway, back to the Chap Chye recipe, a vegetable stew so flavourful that you won't believe it's vegetarian. It's made with mostly store cupboard essentials (alright... I should say Chinese store cupboard essentials) as well as Red fermented beancurd which adds a nice depth of flavour to the dish. If red fermented beancurd can't be found, just replace this with soy bean paste(taucheo) and it'll still be just as delicious!

Top - Beancurd sticks Middle - Black fungus,dried chinese mushrooms Bottom - Glass Noodles,dried lilybulbs

Ingredients (Adapted from Noob Cook)

(Serves 3-4)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 5 slices ginger
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 50g red fermented bean curd (aka ‘nam yee')
- 250g sweetheart cabbage, cut to smaller pieces
- 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
- 50g bean curd sticks
- 15g dried lily buds
- 40g Dried Chinese mushrooms
- 30g cellophane/glass noodles (aka ‘tang hoon’)
- 30g dried black (wood ear) fungus
-1 green chilli

Sauce (A)
- 2 tbsp vegetarian oyster-flavoured sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2/3 cup vegetable stock

Directions
1. Soak Chinese mushrooms, black fungus and lily buds in individual bowls of hot water. When softened, drain the water. Remove mushrooms stems, squeeze out excess water and cut to half. Remove the hard portion on the underside of the fungus. Then, cut the rest of the fungus into smaller pieces. For the lily buds, tie each bud in a knot (to prevent fraying).
2. Soak bean curd sticks and tang hoon in individual bowls of water till softened. When the beancurd sticks turn soft and paler shade, cut to smaller pieces.
3. Heat oil in wok. Stir fry chopped garlic & ginger till fragrant. Then add nam yee and mash/chop it to smaller pieces with the spatula.
4. Add cabbage and stir fry till softened (a few minutes).
5. Add Chinese mushrooms, black fungus, lily buds, beancurd sticks and green chilli along with the Sauce (A). Bring to a boil then cover with lid and let the vegetables simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Anytime the stock runs dry, top up with hot water.
6. When the vegetables are cooked and the stock is reduced, add tang hoon and stir the pot to allow the tang hoon to absorb the sauce. Serve with steamed rice.

Apple Cake - The Ugly one

I've a lovely colleague R who keeps feeding me in the office, chocolate, cakes, crisps etc and she also sometimes gives me fresh curry leaves or green chillies when she goes for her bi-weekly shop at a Sri Lanka Supermarket. Recently, she gave a big bag of cooking apples plucked straight from her garden and so I went searching for an apple recipe! The first recipe I came across was one that was approved by Paul Hollywood, a baking 'superstar' in the UK so if it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me. ;)
This is a very easy and tasty recipe though a little ugly looking. :P  When eaten on the day of baking, it has a lovely crusty biscuity top, when left overnight, the top will soften but the cake itself becomes even more moist and delicious, as the flavours starts to amalgamate. The demerara sugar adds an additional texture to the already lovely cake!

Ingredients (Adapted from here)

225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
110g soft brown sugar
Sprinkle of demerara sugar
2 eggs
130g light olive oil
400g cooking apple

Method
1) Put the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl.
2) Beat the eggs and stir this, along with olive oil, into the bowl.
3) Spread half in a greased cake tin, cover with apples, spinkle some sugar over the apples then cover with rest of mixture. Sprinkle more demerara sugar on top.
4) Bake at 150C for 1 hour or until nicely crusty.

Slow Braised Pork Ribs

Don't you just love a stew with a gravy that's so good that you'll be more than happy just to eat that with rice? With tender meat literally falling off the bone? If you answered YES and YES, this dish is made just for you!! ;)

It's easy to put together but it has a cooking time around 2 hours to allow the ribs to cooked till it's so so tender. Flavoured with warming spices such as ginger, cinnamon and star anise, it's definitely one that's well worth the wait!

Adapted from Cheat Eat

Ingredients(Serves 4)

800g pork ribs or soft bone (cut into 5cm pieces with fats trimmed off)

2 tbsp oil

40g galangal (cut into chunks)

40g ginger (cut into chunks)

1 tsp coriander seeds (pounded)

2 cinnamon sticks

2 star anise

1 tbsp bean paste

12 cloves garlic (leave skin intact and crushed)

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce
1tsp five spice powder

2 tsp sugar

water

2 tbsp corn flour

Method

1) Place pork ribs in a colander, pour boiling water over it and drain well. The purpose here is to clean the pork ribs and gets rid of any gaminess.

2)Heat up oil in a heavy bottom pot. Add the galangal, ginger, coriander powder, cinnamon, star anise and bean paste. Fry the aromatics over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Bring up the heat, add the pork ribs to the pot and continue frying for 5 more minutes. If it gets too dry and the spices are starting to blacken, sprinkle some water in the pot.   

3) Add garlic, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, five spice powder and sugar to the pot and mix well. Pour in enough water or stock to just cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to very low, cover and cook for about 2 hours until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. Remove any scum that might appear.

4) Mix corn flour with some water and stir it into a paste. Add this mixture into the pot and mix well. This helps thicken the gravy. Bring the gravy to a boil and add more dark soy sauce and/or sugar according to taste. Serve with rice and green vegetables.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Originating from Hainan, China, Hainanese Chicken Rice, a very popular dish, was brought over to Singapore by immigrants and have evolved to what we see being sold in almost every corner of Singapore! Tender, succulent chicken served with fragrant rice that has been cooked in chicken stock, accompanied with a soy, sesame oil dressing as well as a spicy homemade chilli sauce makes for a very, very satisfying meal. 

Chicken rice recipe adapted from I am a Feeder and Chilli sauce recipe adapted from Feast to the World

Ingredients (Serves 2)

For the chicken:

2 free-range whole chicken legs

Bunch of spring onions 

2 pandan leaves, tied into a knot

4″ knob of ginger, peeled and sliced

Water (see method)

Sea salt

Large bowl of ice water

For the rice:

1.5 cups of rice

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced

2-3″ knob of ginger, peeled and finely minced

2-3 tbsps vegetable oil

1-2 tbsps Sesame oil

1 pandan leaves, tied into a knot

For the chilli sauce:

6 large fresh red chillies

2 small clove garlic

5cm fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp sugar

To serve:

Half a cucumber, sliced

Garlic chilli sauce (above)

Sesame oil

Achar (Recipe here)

Method

1. Rub the chicken legs all over with the sea salt, then place into a large pot with the spring onions, pandan leaves, ginger and add enough water to cover the chicken legs completely. 

2. Bring the pot to the boil over a medium-high heat, then turn it right down to a simmer and skim off the scum that floats to the top. Don’t allow the stock to boil again or it’ll turn cloudy. Simmer for around 20-25 mins, removing any more scum from the top. When you chicken is cooked, remove immediately and plunge into the bowl of ice water. Strain the stock and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, in another saucepan, heat the vegetable oil over a medium heat, then add the finely minced ginger, garlic and fry until fragrant – be careful not to let the garlic burn. Add the washed rice and stir, making sure the rice is well coated, the ginger and garlic distributed and the grains are beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan. Add about 1-2 tbsps sesame oil and stir well until evenly distributed.

4. Pour the rice mixture into the rice cooker and cook it as per normal, using the chicken stock instead of water

4. To make the chilli sauce, put all ingredients into a blender and pulse into a paste. Season with salt to taste.

5. To serve, plate the rice, cold chicken, sliced cucumber, achar and garlic chilli sauce. Mix 1 tbsp of soy sauce and 1 tbsp of sesame oil and drizzle it over the chicken. 

Pickled Green Chillies

Pickled Green Chillies is a condiment that's an essential accompaniment for a lot of Asian noodle/rice dishes like wantan mee, fried rice or noodles or my recently posted Wat Dan Hor. You'll also see this placed prominently next to the chilli sauce and chilli oil in many Chinese restaurants too. It's spicy, sour nature is pretty appetising too!

Ingredients
6 green chillies (Sliced)
Chinese Rice Vinegar (Enough to cover the chillies)
2 - 3 teaspoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
Boiling water

Method
1) Pour boiling water over the chillies and let it stand for 10 mins.
2) Drain off the water and pour in vinegar, salt and suger and stir to combine.
3) Place them in clean jars and leave it in the fridge.
4) They'll be ready for use the next day.

Wat Dan Hor (Rice Noodles With Silky Smooth Egg Sauce)

I've been wanting to make Wat Dan Hor ever since Wendy of the Dish Piglets Duo mentioned this on twitter. It's a childhood favourite, one that I haven't had in ages!!! She even kindly emailed me the recipe since it wasn't up on their blog yet but did I make it then?? ...Nooo...Blame it on laziness on getting myself to Chinatown to get the fresh hor fun(rice noodles).  Wendy has been since put the recipe up on their blog and I've also finally gotten my lazy self to Chinatown. :)
Now my only regret it not making this sooner. Silky hor fun, coupled with the silky smooth sauce makes for a simply delicious, warming meal in this gloomy, wet, cold weather we are currently having in the UK. I'll definitely be making this more often!!

Recipe Adapted from Dish Piglets

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
400g Kuey teow/hor fun/flat rice noodles
2 chicken thighs (de-boned and sliced. The bones can be used to make the chicken stock)
150g fish cakes (sliced)
2 stalks of Cai Xin (Sawi/Chinese Mustard), sliced into 4 cm sections
3 cloves of garlic
Dark soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
White pepper

To make the egg sauce base:
1 egg lightly beaten
500ml Chicken Stock (Homemade would be the best!)
6 shiitake mushrooms
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
A pinch of white pepper
Water
1.5 tbsp Corn starch (mixed with water)

Method
1) Marinate the sliced chicken with 1 tbsp of light soy sauce and pepper.
2) Blanch the flat rice noodles in hot water to loosen the noodles up. Drain when ready.
3) Heat sunflower oil in wok and when the oil is hot, throw in the flat rice noodles and pour dark soy sauce  (just enough to coat all the rice noodles) and 1 tbsp of light soya sauce and lightly fry. Remove noodles and set aside.
4) Next, heat some sunflower oil in the heated wok, add the shiitake mushrooms, minced garlic and chicken. Stir fry the chicken until cooked. Add the chicken stock next. If you prefer more egg sauce on your noodles, use more chicken stock.
5) When the stock is boiling, add the fish cakes, cook for around 2 minutes before adding the vegetables (cai xin).
6) Add the corn starch slowly whilst stirring. The stock will slowly thicken. Stir in the lightly beaten egg.
7) Serve the flat rice noodles in bowls, then pour the ready egg sauce onto it. Serve with pickled green chillies. Recipe can be found here!

Kuih Dadar/ Ketayap or Pandan Crepe with sweet coconut filling

I love all kinds of kuih (bite size desserts found in Singapore and Malaysia) and thought that they were usually quite tedious to make. However, thanks to Lisa of From My Lemony Kitchen, I learn that the Kuih Dadar was pretty easy and straightforward. It was indeed easy but alas, I lacked the crepe making skill that was essential in this recipe as you can see, my crepes were a little thick. I didn't have palm sugar(gula melaka) so I replaced this with brown sugar hence the colour of the filling isn't as dark as it should have been. On the whole, it tasted good but could definitely be better! I will have to practise making crepes, get my hands on some gula melaka and am sure they'll look as perfect of Lisa's original version! Soon enough anyway, Practise makes perfect yah?? ;)

Recipe from 'From My Lemony Kitchen'



Pandan Juice:
5 pandan leaves
1/4 cup water
1. Process the pandan leaves and water in food pracessor.
2. Pass through siever and retain juice

Crepe Batter:
120g plain flour
1 egg
300ml coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pandan juice above
2-3 tablespoons of water as required.
1. Mix the above ingredients in a mixing bowl to a smooth batter
2. Heat a non stick frying pan (small size if you dont have crepe pan).
3. Spray with some oil.
4. Use a small ladle or 1/4 cup, scoop the batter and pour onto the center of the hot frying pan.
5. Using a swirl motion, quickly cover the surface and form a thin layer of crepe.
6. When the edges starts to come off the side of the pan... gently slide or using a flat wooden spatula, remove onto a plate. 



Sweet Coconut filling:
(measurement is just an indication... adjust to suit taste)
90g palm sugar
1 knotted pandan leaves
1-1 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1 teaspoon cornflour
50ml water
1. Melt the palm sugar in a pan with knotted pandan leaves. Add in dessicated coconut and stir until well coated.






Putting Crepe together: (Step by Step pictures can be found at From My Lemony Kitchen)
1. Using smooth side up
2. Place 1 tablespoon of the filling
3. Roll to cover filling
4. Fold in the two sides
5. Roll
6. Crepe is ready ...

Cashew Asparagus Stir fry

I love quick and easy stir-fries for lazy days. Here's one that I came across at With a Glass and Mummy I can cook to add to the ever growing list of lazy days dishes! The texture of cashews compliments the crunchiness of the sweet asparagus. I've used tau chu or fermented soy bean paste to add a touch of saltiness to the dish instead of soy sauce and oyster sauce as horrors of horrors!!! I ran out of oyster sauce!! 

Adapted from Mummy I can cook

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus

Handful of cashew nuts

Thumb size ginger, peeled and minced

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1 tsp of tau chu or fermented soy bean paste mixed with some water to loosen it up

1 tsp cornflour+ 1 tsp water to make a slurry

Method

1. Trim asparagus by snapping off the tough ends. Chop into index-finger lengths. 

2. Heat wok or pan over medium heat and dry-toast the cashews, stirring often till they're golden-brown and release their nutty aroma. Set aside.

3. Increase heat, add the oil, and when the oil is hot, add the ginger and garlic, stir-frying for about 5 seconds till aromatic. Add the asparagus, stir-fry for 2 min, or till almost tender and still bright green. 

4. Pour in the sauce ingredients i.e. everything else, and cook until sauce thickens. Return the cashews to the pan, give a final toss to coat, and serve immediately with rice. 

Beef Rendang (Slow cooked Beef curry)

I just came back from a wonderful holiday in beautiful Slovenia and what's the first thing I want to do?! Have a beef rendang! Typical isn't it? Beef rendang is one of my absolute fave dishes. Beef slow cooked with spices and coconut milk until it becomes meltingly tender, whose aroma just wets the taste-buds in anticipation. It's always a good idea to cook a bigger batch since it's so enticing and you will definitely want to have it for more than one meal. Keeping it overnight also intensifies it's flavours to make it all the more enjoyable!

This is not my first time cooking beef rendang, I've made it before with another recipe but something went wrong with that. However, the recipe I've used today is from Jason, author of Feast to the World. I've only recently discovered this blog but am absolutely loving it as he always cooks very good South east asian food. Have also found out that he may be starting a Singaporean Supper Club in London so oh yeah!! Will keep lookout for that as it's gonna be spectacular!! 

I've made tiny changes to his recipe as i didn't have all the ingredients on hand but it turned out extremely tasty too so thanks Jason for this wonderful recipe! It's a keeper!! I also serve it with cucumbers as that's how my hubby had it while growing up. ;)

Update (28/01/2013)
I cooked Beef Rendang again, this time using a combination of Feast to the World and Mummy I can cook rendang recipe and it turned out better than when I first made it! I was also very happy to have finally found candle nuts  and they definitely made a difference as the rendang was way creamier than the first time i made it.

Adapted from Feast to the World & Mummy I can Cook

Ingredients (Serves 2 to 4)

1kg stewing steak, cut into large 3cm chunks
400ml coconut milk
300ml water
1 1/2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
4 star anise
4 cloves
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Sunflower oil

For the Rempah (Spice Paste):
100g  desiccated coconut
4 large red chillies, deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 medium onion, chopped
6 lime leaves
6 candle nuts(or macademia nuts)
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh galangal
3 stem lemongrass, bruised and cut into 3 pieces

Method

1) To prepare the spice paste, fry the coconut in a dry frying pan over medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes, until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning. 

2) Put all the spice paste ingredients in a food processor, together with the toasted coconut and whizz into a smooth paste. Add a little of the oil if necessary to keep the mixture turning.

3) In a large heavy-based pot , heat up 2 tablespoon of the oil and stir-fry the paste over low-moderate heat for about 3 minutes, until fragrant and most of the moisture have evaporated. Add the beef along with the coconut milk, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and star anise. Bring slowly to the boil over medium heat. Cover and let it remain cooking in the oven for at least 4 hours at 150 deg C. Give it a stir every hour and top up with water if required.

4) The rendang is ready when the meat is tender and the sauce has almost dried up, leaving a thick consistency and is shiny with a thin layer of oil.

5) Season with salt/sugar to taste.
6) Serve hot with some steamed rice and sliced cucumbers.

Apple Speculoo/Biscoff Muffins

Firstly, if you haven't ever had speculoo spread, please try to get yourself some as t's really so yummy! Belgian Speculoo is a kind of caramelised, spiced biscuit. The spread has the consistency of peanut butter but instead of using peanuts, these biscuits are used instead! How great does that sound?! Another one of those spread where eating out of the jar is the best way of enjoying it! haha 

There is however one mighty big problem of getting my hands on some. The biscuits are easily available here in the UK but the spread hasn't made their way here yet. I've no idea why but the closest place to get it would be from France, Belgium or Holland. It's also available as Biscoff spread or cookie butter in the US, so I'll definitely buy myself a whole load when I next visit these countries.

 

Anyway, because I had limited supply of this delicious spread, i only made 6 of these very gorgeous crispy on the top, moist on the insides muffins. The addition of the spread gave the top this almost biscuity and crumbly texture. So this is a muffin, biscuit, crumble all rolled into one and makes for a great breakfast treat in the morning!

Ingredients(Adapted from the girl who ate everything)

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup + 2 tablespoon light olive oil

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

100g speculoo spread

1egg

1 big apple or 2 small ones (diced)

Method

1) Preheat oven to 180deg C/350 deg F. Line a 6 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

2) Sieve flour, baking powder and bicarb of soda into a bowl

3) In another bowl, cream sugar, 1/3 cup of olive oil and egg. Add Speculoo spread and mix until smooth. 

4) Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add this point, add more olive oil if the mixture is too dry. Note: The batter will be pretty thick.

5) Add apples and stir through.

6) Spoon into paper cases and bake for around 20 mins until a skewer comes out clean.

Bruschetta Al Pomodoro

It was just one of those mornings when I didn't feel like having my normal breakfast foods like cereal or peanut butter/jam sandwich so when I looked into the fridge, I found a box of very pretty and colourful red, yellow and orange plum/cherry tomatoes. It so happened that I also bought some lovely Pane Pugliese (Golden Durum Wheat Bread of Altamura) the previous night so the choice was clear! Bruschetta it would be! Light, healthy, simple, quick yet absolutely delicious! This is one of those easy dishes whereby fresh and tasty ingredients played a big part so be sure to get the best!

I wanted to quickly eat the beautiful Bruschetta before it gets soggy so the only photo I had was taken with my Iphone. ;)

Ingredients

1 big handful of Cherry or plum tomatoes(Sliced in half)

1 tablespoon of good balsamic vinegar (I used Belazu)

1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 clove of garlic (peeled)

A few leaves of Basil

1 slice of good bread( I used Pane Pugliese but sourdough would be great too!)

Method

1) Toast bread

2) Mix tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a bowl

3) Rub one side of the toasted bread with garlic

4) Place tomatoes and basil on the toast.

5) Done!

Vegan Chocolate Coffee Cake

Before I start on my actual post, I would like to share some exciting news with you! Recently I was asked to do some freelance food photography for Momowich, a South East Asian Cafe located in London. Their beef rendang it totally awesome and authentic so give it a visit when you are in the Liverpool Street area! I got the gig thanks to Wenlin, the founder of Edible Experiences who liked what she saw on my blog and referred Momowich to me. Thanks again Wenlin! For foodies in London and those who plan to come to London for a holiday, do check out her website for a whole host of food related experiences, be it supperclubs, walking tours, tasting, cooking classes etc. You won't have time to get bored once you get on the Edible experiences wagon!

It was a really fun experience to do some food photography other than for my blog so my hubby and I are now available for freelance photography assignments around London. Our portfolio can be found on the Eight Dot Photography facebook page. Do check it out and let us know what you think. There's not too much there at the moment but we'll definitely be building it up. :)

Alright back to my post. I've been trying to cut down on sugar and butter recently so I'm always on the lookout for healthy recipes. One of my fave blog to visit Love Food Eat which not only features healthy Indian food but also healthy baked goodies! Not knowing too much about vegan food, it's pretty interesting to see all the beautiful cakes and cookies usually made without dairy and eggs. Yes! It's possible!! I usually bake without the use of dairy but haven't done so without the use of egg so I was pretty intrigued when I came across this vegan coffee chocolate cake that's also made with wholemeal flour! How much more healthy can it get!!!?  In this recipe, vinegar was used to make the cake fluffy so that's another new thing I've learnt!
The texture of the cake was great and was not dry at all. Chocolate and coffee are of course a match made in heaven!!!! I love drinking coffee and it's perfect to have some coffee cake to go with it! Coffee overdose? I think not! 

Recipe adapted slightly from Love Food Eat.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
50g dark chocolate(chopped up)
1 cup strong black coffee
1/4 cup light olive oil
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp vanilla


Method
1) Preheat the oven at 170 deg C/330 deg F.
2) In a bowl combine all the wet ingredients. Combine all the dry ingredients and mix till everything is combined well.  Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients slowly stirring to mix everything well. Be careful not to over-mix.
3) Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake for around 25 mins . It's ready when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.