Bruschetta with Tomatoes & Basil

Christmas is over and now we are all gearing up for the new year. I love Christmas. I can't quite say the same about new year.   New year always makes me wonder where the year went to.  It makes me wonder if I spent the time well and whether the coming year will be a better one.  (Pray for me that it will be!)

We had a wonderful Christmas.  A rather tiring one though, as we are in the midst of doing up our apartment.  So the long weekend was spent cleaning, fixing up shelves, tables and moving all our stuff from one room to another, which explains why I didn't have much time to post during the Christmas holidays.  Hopefully we can get our apartment fully furnished by the Lunar New Year. 

We had quite a bit of baguette leftover from our Christmas dinner and I decided to make a simple and healthy (I think!) lunch for myself yesterday.  This makes a wonderful appetiser for dinner parties. 

Brushchetta with Tomatoes & Basil

makes 12 appetiser servings

6 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced

3 cloves garlic, mince 2 cloves, leave 1 whole

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup fresh basil, stems removed, julienned

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 French baguette

olive oil for grilling baguette

Directions

- In a large bowl, combine the roma tomatoes, minced garlic, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt, and pepper. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.               
- Cut the baguette into 3/4-inch slices. Drizzle the baguette slices (both sides) with olive oil and place them on a heated frying pan and grill them till the underside turn golden brown on one side.  Flip them over and grill them on the other side. Rub the clove of garlic on one side of each baguette slice.
- Divide the tomato mixture evenly over the baguette slices.

Grilled Nectarines with Honey

I have been seeing nectarines and peaches in every supermarket I patronise in the past few weeks.  So I couldn't resist getting a few of these pretty fruits for myself.  I wanted to have them with ice-cream, but thinking of my burgeoning waistline (sigh.. this always happens during the festive season!), I decided to have them grilled with honey instead.  Easy, healthy treat in just a few minutes - quarter the nectarines and place them on the grill.  I grilled them on all sides till the grill mark appears.  Serve hot with a drizzle of honey.  Don't they look like a perfect summer time treat?? 

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

The sun is finally out today!  It has been dark and rainy in Singapore the past 2 days.  I happened to be surfing through PinInterest and chanced upon this recipe from sweet paul.  It made a hearty, sunny lunch... The only thing I would change in the recipe would be reducing the amount of cream.  Other than that, it was a great recipe!  Thanks, Paul!  :)

Creamy Mushroom Pasta (adapted from sweet paul)
serves 4

225g of mushrooms, chopped 
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock
1-1/2 cup cream
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
4 servings of pasta
shaved parmesan cheese

Directions
- Heat up a pan and saute mushrooms, onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons olive oil until the mushroom starts - to golden and the onion is soft.
- Add 1/2 cup chicken stock, 1 1/2 cup cream and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill.
- Let it simmer for 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper
- Cook up enough pasta for 4 people, remember to ad salt to the water.Boil until al dente.
- Strain and place in a bowl. Add the sauce, mix and serve with shaved parmesan on top.

Dark Chocolate Rum Truffles

I am joining in the holiday cheer with rich and dark chocolate truffles!  I found out from joyofbaking.com that they are called truffles as they are supposed to look like the real truffle fungus, so I didn't make mine very round and pretty.  The cocoa powder is also meant to simulate the real 'dirt' that truffles grow in.  I love the richness of truffles..and I think they make good gifts from the kitchen!

Dark Chocolate Rum Truffles (Recipe adapted from joyofbaking.com)
makes 30 small truffles (I made 25)

227g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), cut into small pieces
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream (double cream) (35-40% butterfat)

2 tbsp (28 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 tbsp rum (optional)

Cocoa powder, sifted, for coating truffles

Directions

- Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized heatproof bowl. Set aside. 

- Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil.

- Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for a minute or two. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. (If the chocolate doesn't melt completely, place in the microwave for about 20 seconds, or over a saucepan of simmering water, just until melted.) 

- If desired, add the liqueur. Cover and place in the refrigerator until the truffle mixture is firm (this will take several hours or overnight).

- Place your cocoa powder for the truffles on a plate. Remove the truffle mixture from the refrigerator. With your hands, a small ice cream scoop, a melon baller, or a small spoon form the chocolate into round or mis-shaped bite-sized balls. Immediately roll the truffle in the coating and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or tray. 

- Cover and place in the refrigerator until firm. 

- Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Chocolate Meringues with Raspberries and Caramel Sauce

I think I chose the wrong day to make meringue cos I was an absolute klutz yesterday!  Having said that, I'm glad that my third attempt at meringues turned out fine.  My 1st attempt burned, my 2nd bled. They are such fragile little things that 2 of them cracked while I was handling them for the photos (Klutz Attack I), so I had to be extremely gentle as I had only 4 meringues to 'play' with.   

Klutz Attack II - After I layered my whipped cream on to the meringues and placed the raspberries on the top, i knocked my cup of caramel on the floor!  I was totally bummed! Firstly cos I just cleaned the floor the day before, and secondly because I had to mop up the floor quickly, which prevented me from taking photos immediately.  (These meringues have slightly chewy centres, they collapse under the weight of the cream and raspberries after a few minutes.. if you are making them, serve them immediately after placing the toppings!) So you can imagine how frantic I was. 

Anyway, I'm thrilled that my meringues were successful. However, I prefer a crisper meringue, so for my next try, I shall leave them in the oven a while more.  I've also found rather good instructions from this website on making meringues.. happy reading!

 

Chocolate Meringues with Raspberries and Caramel Sauce
(adapted from Delicious Magazine)
makes 6 meringues

Meringues:
4 eggwhites, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups caster sugar (I reduced it to 1-1/4 cups but I still found it too sweet.  Suggest reducing it to 1 cup)
a pinch of salt
1 tbs cocoa, sifted
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp corn flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g raspberries

Whipped Cream:
150 ml thickened cream
2 tbs icing sugar, plus extra to dust (I didn't mix the icing sugar into the cream as I thought the whole dessert would be too sweet)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Caramel:
(I made only half of the quantities stated below and it was more than enough for drizzling over 6 meringues)
1 firmly packed cup brown sugar
110g unsalted butter
1/4 cup pure (thin) cream


Directions
- Preheat oven to 150*C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
- Whisk eggwhites in the bowl of an electric mixer with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.  Add caster sugar, 1 tbs at a time, whisking until thick and glossy.
- Fold in cocoa, vinegar, cornflour and 1 tsp vanilla until well combined.
- Dollop 6 rounds of the mixture onto the line tray.  Use the back of a spoon, make a slight indent in the top of each one.
- Place in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 120*C. Bake for 45 minutes then turn the oven off and leave the meringues in the oven to cool completely.  (This meringue as a soft centre, if you want a crisper meringue, suggest baking for 1 hr.  Cooling should take about 3-4 hrs.  I took mine out after 2 hrs and they were still slightly warm)

- Meanwhile whisk thickened cream and sifted icing sugar with 1/2 tsp vanilla.  Cover and chill until ready to use.

- Place brown sugar, butter, pure (thin) cream and 1 tsp vanilla in a pan over low heat.  Stir until butter has melted, then simmer for 2 minutes or until a golden caramel.  Remove from heat then set aside to thicken and cool.

- To serve, top each meringue with whipped cream and raspberries.  Drizzle with caramel and dust with icing sugar.

Homemade Pizza - my 2nd attempt!

It's my 2nd attempt at making pizza. My first (a couple of weeks back) was a complete disaster.  So this time around, I decided to go for something safer - following Donna Hay's recipe and making a simple, classic pizza.  Tasted rather good served with chilli flakes!

Here's a question to all  - Is pizza dough supposed to be sticky?  My dough was rather sticky and I had to add slightly more than 2 tablespoonfuls of extra flour in it. 

And I realised that I should have followed the recipe in rolling out the dough to 26cm in diameter.  I rolled it to about 19cm only, and my pizza base turned out a little too thick!  The good news... I made one pizza only, so I have leftover dough for another try tomorrow!

Basic Pizza Dough (adapted from Donna Hay)

makes 2x26cm large pizzas or up to 8 mini pizzas

1 tsp dried yeast (I used rapid-rise yeast and reduced it to slightly more than 3/4 tsp)

1/4 tsp caster sugar

3/4 cup (180ml) luke warm water

1-1/2 cups (225g) plain flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions- Place the yeast, sugar and water in a bowl and mix to combine.  Set aside in a warm place for 10 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. (I skipped this step as I used rapid-rise yeast. I mixed everything in the step below)

- Place the flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre.  Add the yeast mixture and mix together with a wooden spoon to form a dough. 

- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 4-5 minutes or until smooth and elastic. (I used my kitchenaid instead!)

- Place the dough in a large bowl, cover with a clean, damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for 25-30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.  (I had to wait for an hour)

Classic Margherita (adapted from Donna Hay)

serves 4

1 x quantity basic pizza dough (as above)

1/3 cup (80ml) tomato puree

2 cups (200g) Pizza cheese

250g cherry tomatoes, halved

sea salt and cracked black pepper

1/2 cup basil leaves

olive oil for brushing and drizzling

Directions

- Preheat oven to 220*C.  Divide the dough into 2 balls and roll out on a lightly floured surface to 26cm rounds. 

- Place the rounds on 2 lightly greased baking trays.

- Spread the bases with the tomato puree leaving a 1cm border and sprinkle with pizza cheese.

- Add the tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the topping is golden and the base is crisp. (I baked for 15 mins and my cheese was burnt, so bake at 12 mins and check constantly if you add more baking time)

- Top with basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil to serve.

Back from Penang





View from Penang Hill.  That's the Penang Bridge.



I just came home from a weekend trip with my mum, elder sister and her family in Penang.  We spent three wonderful days in the bustling little Malaysian state touring, eating and shopping. 

It was my second trip to Penang.  The first was a couple of years back with my hubby before we were married.  It was a different Penang I experience this time around.  The first trip, my hubby and I went a lot around Georgetown exploring on foot looking at the old shophouses.  At that time, I hadn't picked up photography yet, so while my hubby was going around with his camera, I just stood around waiting for him. 

 

This trip, I went armed with my camera.  However, as this trip involved a whole group of us (mum, bro-in-law, sis, little nephew and niece), it was more of a touristy trip instead of a exploratory one.  It was tough taking pictures due to our tight schedule and I found that half the time was spent trying to keep up with my family who were walking ahead of me as I went around taking photos, and the other half was spent looking out for my little nephew and niece ensuring that they were safe.  Yes, even though I'm not their parent, I make a pretty good over-anxious aunt!   

Mid-way through the trip, I gave up taking photos.  I was rather upset with myself initially, but after a while, I reasoned that some things just cannot be rushed.  So I decided to give myself a break, enjoy the moments spent with my family instead and soak in the hustle and bustle of Penang.   

The other part of the trip I loved.... The food and the shopping! I found quite a lot of props from this shop called Material and spent a good fifteen minutes wow-ing at almost everything I saw in the store.  Oh the joy of retail therapy... falalalalallalaaa...