French Macaron

This was done earlier this year, in May 2015. Looked  nothing like the real thing..haha. However, I just want to say , despite the crooked appearance, it tasted ok!

Cantonese Egg Tarts II 港式蛋挞

Over the years, I've made egg tarts on few occasions. The result mostly looked rough and rustic but this time these tarts look  like the real deal! That said, am still trying to achieve a melt in the mouth lighter crust. Mine have slight chewy tart shell. I'll have to work on my short crust pastry technique. However, the filling is exactly what I'm looking for.

Cantonese Egg Tarts

serves : 12-15 tarts

I have halved the recipe from Guai Shu Shu

Ingredients

For tart shells 

1 egg (lightly beaten) 

220 grams of plain flour (sifted) 

40 grams of icing sugar (sifted) 

100 grams of chilled butter (cut into cubes) 

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence (optional) 

For egg custard filling   

220 grams of fresh milk 

75 grams of castor sugar 

2 eggs 

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (optional) 

Pre-heat the oven to 180°c

In a big mixing bowl, put butter cubes and sifted plain flour together. Use the finger tips to rub the butter cubes and flours together until it become crumby. Add in sifted icing sugars and continue to rub until well mix.

Add lightly beaten eggs and vanilla essence, mix slowly until it become a dough. Put it in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes. Note that if you are able to handle soft dough, you can by pass this step. Take the dough from the fridge and use a rolling pin to roll it into a flat sheet with about 0.5 cm thickness.

Use a round cutter to cut about the size of the mould.  Note that this step is optional and will help you to roughly gauge the amount of dough required and you still need to adjust the quantity of dough as you progress.  Use your hand to press the dough against the sides and make it as even as possible. Use a knife or anything sharp to cut off the sides. If preferred, use a fork to lightly make some holes to let any trapped air to escape.  However, this step of making hole is optional. Set aside for later use.

For crispier crust, bake the tart shell in the pre-heated oven of 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. However, this step is also optional. 

For filling :-
In a microwavable bowl or mug, heat the milk until boiling hot (if you do not have a microwave oven, just heat the milk over the stove). Set aside for the next step. 

In a big mixing bowl, put egg, sugar and vanilla essence. Use a hand whisk to beat until well mixed. Pour the hot milk to the mixture and use a sift to sieve the custard mixture. 

Pour the custard mixture to the pre-baked tart shells. 
  
Bake the egg tarts in the pre-heated oven of 180˙c for 10-15 minutes. Once the tarts starts to puff up a bit, open the oven door, leave the door ajar and continue to bake the tarts for another 5 –8 minutes. A tart is considered as baked when a toothpick inserted in the centre of the tart, the toothpick stands upright. The tarts is best served warm when the custard is still soft and crust crispy.

Homemade Belgian Waffle

Not sure why it took me so long to invest in a waffle maker, when I love eating waffles?! Now that I finally bought one and that the first recipe came out exactly how I like it. It will definitely be used many Sundays ahead.
Homemade Belgian Waffles
adapted from casa de lindquist
serves : about 6 x 10x12cm waffles
Ingredients:
1 large egg or 2 medium-sized eggs, room temp.
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
about 207ml milk, room temp.
57gm butter, melted
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
Method:
1) Lightly grease waffle maker then switch it on to pre-heat.
2) Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. set aside.
3) In another bowl, whisk egg(s) and sugar until light and fluffy.
4) Pour in milk and melted butter, mix well. Finally add in the flour-mixture. Mix until lump-free. Don't over mix.
5) Spoon waffle batter onto pre-heated waffle maker. close it. and set timer to 5 minute.
6) Serve hot with any sweet or savoury condiments.

Spanakopita { Greek spinach pie } with homemade filo / phyllo pasty

When I have spinach and feta available, first thing that come to mind is spanakopita. It's an absolute favourite filling for filo /phyllo pastry for me. Never in my life that I would've imagined making filo / phyllo pastry  though! I gave it a go on and as usual it is not as scary or hard as I thought. What I did was prep. and knead the dough a day ahead and let it rest in the fridge over night. 

Homemade Phyllo Dough

via http://korenainthekitchen.com/2011/06/27/daring-bakers-baklava-with-homemade-phyllo-pastry/

Ingredients
Dry
1 1/3 cup flour (type “00” or pizza flour, if possible – all purpose flour will do, though)
1/8 tsp salt

Wet
1/2 cup less 1 tbsp water
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cider vinegar

Filling
spinach (frozen, with access water removed)
feta cheese
sautéd garlic
salt, to taste

Method
1) Mix together dry ingredients. In a small bowl combine wet ingredients. Then pour the wet mixture slowly into the flour.
2) Continue mixing stirring until it comes together in a soft dough with no dry flour bits left. You may need slightly less water, or slightly more (I had about 1 tbsp of water left over) – just add it slowly, bit by bit, to gauge how much you’ll need.
3) Knead the dough in mixing for about 20 minutes, until you have a soft, silky, smooth dough.
4) Then  remove from bowl, on floured surface knead another 2 minutes, whacking the dough down hard on the counter a few times during kneading.
5) Rub the dough with vegetable oil, wrap it in plastic, and let it rest for at least 2 hours – longer is better.

Rolling and stretching the dough

Divide the ball of dough in half, cut each half into thirds, and each third into thirds again, to end up with 18 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place them on a plate, covered with plastic wrap.

Flatten a ball out with your fingers and place on a well-floured surface. Roll out with a floured rolling pin or dowel until it’s about 9″x5″ (mine was twice as large), picking up the dough and re-flouring the surface underneath it every few strokes. Don’t be afraid of adding too much flour – keeping everything properly floured will make it much easier to roll, because if stuff starts to stick you’re in trouble! Let the dough rest for a minute or two if it starts getting difficult to roll out.

When the dough sheet is as thin as you can roll it, gently lift it and stretch it with your fingers from underneath. Do this very s-l-o-w-l-y and gently, using more of a stroking motion than a pulling motion, and letting the dough rest every so often. Don’t worry if you get some rips and holes – you only really need one perfect sheet for the top layer of your baklava (it took me until sheet number 14 to get a perfect one, and only about two out of 18 had no holes!).

When the dough is stretched thin enough to read through, place it on a floured baking sheet, and lightly sprinkle flour between each sheet to stop them from sticking together. The original recipe says that the sheets won’t dry out, but it took me forever to roll them out so I covered them lightly in plastic, just in case.

Chocolatre frosting with sour cream

The #1 reason that puts me off making any kind of cake frosting is the amount of sugar and butter used in a recipe. I know without these two ingredients I won't achieve any good and stable frosting. So, I'm constantly googling for frosting recipes that are not so caloric. My search brought me to this recipe over at Kwanster.
I'm re-posting the whole recipe below in order for me to note down any tweaking needed to suit my taste. In saying that, it is already great recipe and you shouldn't hesitate to try it! And go over to Kwanster's blog to thank him/her.
Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting (for 12-15 cupcakes) via : link above
Ingredients
170g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped ** used 60% cocoa content, find the taste to dominating..
64g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted ** didn't follow exactly, adjusting to taste as I whisk
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
Pinch of salt, sifted
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. sour cream , room temperature **20% fat ** added rum for extra flavour
Method:

1. Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Set aside to cool until just barely warm.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale.
3. Gradually mix in the sifted confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt, beat until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the melted and cooled chocolate and then the sour cream.
5. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth and well blended.
6. Frost your cake immediately.

My note = **

1) as I was going through the process, the buttercream already tasted good before the addition of chocolate. So, perhaps I'll try without the chocolate next time

2) 60% cocoa content was overpowering the sponge cake as a whole. Next time will use a lower cocoa content also lesser quantity, perhaps 100gm instead of 170gm.

Quiche Lorraine without crust base

Quiche Lorraine without pastry crust
source : Taste
Ingredients (serves 6)
1 tablespoon olive oil  1 brown onion, finely chopped  4 rashers bacon, rind removed, finely chopped  1 cup grated tasty cheese  3 eggs  1 teaspoon plain flour  300ml cream  1/2 cup milk
Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a fluted 3cm deep, 23cm (base), loose-base flan pan.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and bacon. Cook for 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Cool. Sprinkle over pastry. Top with cheese.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C. Whisk remaining ingredients and salt and pepper in a jug. Pour over bacon. Place onto tray. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until set. Stand for 5 minutes. Serve.

Chestnut puree Ice cream

Chestnust Puree Ice Cream with chocolate specks
makes about 450ml Ingredients
For chestnut puree custard
3 Egg yolks
1 sachet Vanilla sugar
1 Tbsp Flour
150ml milk
175gm ready-made chestnut puree
30-50gm powdered sugar, to taste
(if chestnut puree has been sweetened beforehand, then less sugar should be added)
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
200ml whipping cream (30% fat content)
1/2 tsp rum
Steps
1) In a sauce pan, put egg yolks, vanilla sugar, powdered sugar and flour. Mix-in a little bit of the milk and whisk until you get a smooth paste before pouring in the remaining milk. Mix well.
 2) Cook the mixture over low heat for a few minutes. Add in the chestnut puree and let it melt slowly while stirring constantly.
3) The custard is ready when the mixture thickens and coats the back of wooden spoon. You can stir in the cocoa powder. Set it aside to cool completely.
4) When custard is cooled, start whisking the whipping cream until soft peak. Add rum into whipped cream and whip a bit more. Then slowly mix in the whipped cream into custard.
5) Pour the cream mixture into a freezer-proof container and freeze for at least half a day.
6) Before serving let it sit in room temperature for at least 15 mins.

Rafaello Cake

Raffaello Cake
Ingredients
For the base
4 egg whites
pinch of salt
3-4 Tbsp sugar (incl. 1 sachet vanilla sugar)
100gm desiccated coconut
For the cream top
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp plain flour
250ml milk
1 sachet vanilla sugar / or vanilla extract
200ml whipping cream
3-4 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 Tbsp gelatine
For decoration
Toasted almond slices
Toasted desiccated coconut
Steps
1) Pre-heat oven at 160°c / Gas mark 3. Grease cake tin
2) In a bowl, pour in egg whites and pinch of salt. Beat egg whites until soft peak. Add in sugar gradually and continue to beat egg whites until stiff peak. Fold in desiccated coconut carefully.
3) Pour batter into cake tin and bake for 15 mins. or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
4) Set cake aside to cool.
5) In a sauce pan, mix together a little of milk with egg yolks and flour until smooth in texture. Then gradually add in remaining milk.
6) Cook mixture over low heat until thicken by stirring continuously.
7) Once thicken to the right consistency, remove from heat and cover the custard directly with cling film. Set aside to cool.
8) Once custard is cool, you can start soaking gelatine powder by sprinkling gelatine power over 60ml of cold water. Do not stir the mixture! Leave to soak for 5 mins. Then cook gelatine over double boiler until gelatine is fully dissolved. Do not boil the mixture. Set aside to cool.
9) In a mixing bowl, pour whipping cream and 3 - 4 Tbsp of powdered sugar until stiff.
10) Mix half of whipped cream into cool custard and whipped until well combined. Mix in a few table spoons of gelatine liquid into the custard mixture, combine well and pour this custard cream onto cake.
11) Mix remaining whipped cream with a couple of spoons of gelatine, combine well and pour whipped cream over custard cream.
12) sprinkle a little of the toasted desiccated coconut over cake. Let cake chill in fridge over night.
13) sprinkle toasted almond slices over cake when serving.

Pearl Barley Risotto

Hungarian style Pearl Barley Risotto 
serves 4 pax
 
Ingredients
150gm pearl barley
150gm smoked sausage
oil, if needed
1 Onion, finely chopped
ground smoked paprika, to taste
ground cumin, to taste
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp tomato puree
2 fresh tomatoes, peeled sliced or chopped finely
splash of white wine
1 hungarian pepper , sliced
1 carrot, chopped
1 bay leaf
300gm chicken stock
salt & pepper, to taste
sugar, to adjust the acidity if needed
parley, finely chopped, to sprinkle
 
Method
1) Heat sauce pan with little oil, and fry smoked sausage to render out some fat. Remove smoked sausage from sauce pan and set aside
2) Use this fat (remove excess if desire) to sauté onion until translucent. Put in the pearl barley and cook it for a bit. Remove sauce pan from heat and sprinkle to taste ground smoked paprika, ground cumin & chopped garic. Stir it and add a little bit of the chicken stock before putting back sauce pan to the heat. Let it boil.
3) Next add in chopped tomatoes,  tomato puree and splash of white wine. Cook off the alchohol.
4) Then pour in the rest of the chicken stock, followed by carrot, Hungarian pepper & bay leaf. Cook for 25 mins. but stir on and off to avoid sticking.
5) After 25 mins. stir in the parsley and smoked paprika, check for seasoning, remove from heat. It is ready to serve

Quick and Easy Donuts

Quick & Easy Donuts
Source : Ste/ A te recepted Sep 2011
Makes 12-16 donuts
Ingredients
150gm plain flour (changed to 130gm)
pinch of salt
1 sachet x 10gm baking powder (half baking powder + baking soda)
1 egg
150gm yoghurt, natural flavoured (changed to 1x130gm tub)
Oil for frying
To serve with dips
sweet option Good quality fruit preserves/jam or dust with powdered sugar,
savoury option sour cream and grated cheese
Method
1) Whisk together  egg and yoghurt, then mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until well combine. Let it rest for 10 mins. Meanwhile , heat oil in frying pan
2) Make sure oil is hot enough, or it will be too greasy. Use a spoon to scoop out batter and fry 1.5 mins. each side until golden brown. Drain fried donuts on kitchen paper.
3) Serve while still warm with preferred dipping sauces.

Aioli

Quick Herb Aioli
serves 2
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3746/open-swordfish-burgers-with-herb-aoli

Ingredients
4 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard (used regular mustard)
1 tbsp lemon juice
shallot, chopped (to taste)
garlic clove , crushed (to taste, I used a squirt of garlic paste)
3 tbsp tarragon, chives, parsley , use 1 or a mixture (used only 1 small bunch of parsley)

Method
Mix together all the ingredients for the herb aïoli in a small bowl and set aside. Serve at room temperature.

Simple sweet and sour salad dressing

Simple sweet and sour salad dressing

whisk together
2 Tbsp olive oil
1.5 - 2 Tbsp sugar (brown, white or palm)
5 - 6 dashes of white vinegar (or half - 1 lime, adjust to balance sweet and sour)
a pinch of salt
freshly ground pepper
few dashes of chilli flakes , to taste
1 spring onions, finely chopped - green part only
few leaves of parsley, finely chopped

Homemade vanilla Ice cream

Simply combine whipped cream (soft peak) with custard. Pour onto freezer proof container freeze for at lease half a day and that's it!!

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (without an ice cream maker)
makes about 300-350 ml

For vanilla custard
3 egg yolks
1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 Tbsp flour
150ml milk
60gm icing sugar

250ml Whipping cream (30% fat content)

Preparations

Mix together all custard ingredients well in a non-stick sauce pan, and cook it until it is thick custard like texture. Let it cool before adding into whipped cream (soft-peak)

Just pour the mixture into container and freeze for at least half a day.

Eclaire with pastry cream & caramelised sugar

I made a mistake in the photo as it should have read "profiterole". Anyway, majority of the choux dough I did piped the Éclair shape but not photographed.
 
Couldn't believe that this is only the second time I've baked them as last time I did was for my FIL's name day , five years ago! There are so easy to do as dessert and feels lighter especially in the summer heat.
 

Basic Éclair 
recipe from http://kitchenexperiments.net/2007/03/eclairs-cream-puffs-profiteroles-shucream-etc.html
 
Choux Pastry:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs

Method:
Preheat oven to 425˙F
1. Bring water and butter to a rolling boil and then throw (literally, but do it safely) your flour in. Turn the heat down.
2. Start stirring vigorously until a dough is form.
3. While the dough is still hot, beat in one egg at a time using a wooden spoon (it’s easier if you have a stand mixer), making sure that the dough and the egg is incorporated thoroughly.
4. Once that’s done, you will have a soft dough and that’s your choux pastry.
5. You can take a tablespoon and just scoop a dollop on a tray lined with baking sheets OR you can put it in a piping bag and pipe it into a nice round swirls or fingerlings.
6. Pop it into the oven for 25 minutes and voila, you have your creampuffs/eclairs.

 
Notes
Add a packet (1x10g) vanilla sugar to the orig. recipe
I did the dough few days in advance and freeze it in freeze-safe bag. Thaw the dough in the fridge a day ahead and leave in out in room-temperature 30 mins. - 1 hour before you want to bake them as per recipe above. It may be still cold but you can start piping the dough onto the baking dish.
Pastry cream - I've used left over instant pastry cream (the reason why I decided to bake this the first place)
Chocolate glaze - just melt chocolate with some milk in the microwave. I microwave for 30 seconds. Let it sit a bit in the micro. and take it out and mix until glossy.
Caramelised sugar - also microwave !! I used this method with success.
 (extracted in case, I loose the link later)

• Place 1 cup sugar in a 2-cup Pyrex glass bowl. Add ¼ cup water to the sugar and mix. Place the bowl in a microwave and set it on high/800watts/100%.

• The sugar will take approximately 50secs to 3mins to caramelize depending on how dark and brittle you want your caramel to be - the longer you cook the darker the caramel gets.

• A quick tip would be to check on the sugar after 30sec and again after every 20 secs. The caramel continues to cook even after removing from the microwave, hence remove the caramel from the microwave when the sugar is one shade lighter than the desired color. 

• Transfer the caramel to another bowl immediately to halt the cooking and prevent the caramel from burning and getting bitter.

Salsa Verde

Yummy recipe from here !

We spread it on roti, topped with ricotta cheese and dill.

Broccoli and Lemon chicken with toasted seseme

Bikini season is soon ; so, time for lighter foods!

Broccoli Lemon Chicken with Toasted sesame seeds
Inspired by BBC Good Food

Ingredients
1 tbsp groundnut oil or sunflower oil
340g pack of chicken breast fillets , sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves , sliced
1 tsp ground cumin
200g broccoli florets
200ml chicken stock
1 heaped tsp cornflour
1 tbsp clear honey or 2 tsp golden caster sugar
the zest of half a lemon and the juice of a whole one
a large handful of toasted sesame seeds


Method
Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the chicken and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden. Remove from the pan and add the garlic, ground cumin and broccoli. Stir fry for a minute or so then cover and cook for 2 minutes more, until almost tender.
Mix the stock, cornflour and honey or sugar well, then pour into the pan and stir until thickened. Tip the chicken back into the pan and let it heat through, then add the lemon zest and juice, and sesame seeds. Stir, then serve straight away with basmati rice or noodles.

Lemon Cottage Cheesecake

With lemon in season, I've been addicted with lemon curd since I made my first batch about a month ago. In fact, this batch is the third I've cooked consecutively!
Lemon cottage cheesecake source : credited respectively below as I was combining 3 recipes

Crust ~ adapted from Joy of Baking

100 gm crumbs of vanilla cream biscuits

57gm unsalted butter, melted

* sugar was eliminated as vanilla cream from biscuits should give enough sweetness. You can add sugar if you will.

Lemon curd ~ from Joy of BakingMakes 360 ml

3 large eggs

80 ml fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)

1 Tbsp finely shredded lemon zest

150 grams granulated white sugar

56 grams unsalted butter , at room temperature

Cottage cheese filling adapted from Not quite Nigella
250gm local cottage cheese
2 eggs
24 gm vanilla infused caster sugar

Method

Pre-heat oven at 180°c

For crust
In a bowl combine the biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For lemon curd

In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate for up to a week.

For cottage cheese filling

In a bowl, mix cottage cheese, eggs, , vanilla sugar until smooth using hand blender. Mix with 3/4 of lemon curd, set aside

Assembly (text as per http://homecookingrocks.com/coffee-cheesecake/)

Take the crust-lined springform pan out of the fridge. Place the pan in a larger pan. Pour the cheese mixture over the crust.

Pour enough hot water into the larger pan to reach halfway up the height of the pan. Bake the cheesecake for an hour and 45 minutes. The center should be jiggly. Leave the cake in the oven to cool completely. Decorate top of cake with remaining 1/4 of lemon curd. Then, chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Basic crepes

wow, these were really light (much lighter than the Hungarian type) and crispy on the edges. Like it a lot... definitely a keeper !
Stumbled upon recipe here

Basic Crepe

Ingredients

1/3 cup plain flour
2 free range eggs
¾ cup whole milk
pinch salt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil or melted butter (but in cold weather, these little globules will set hard and not do their job well)
1 tsp vanilla extract
soft butter to grease pan

Method

1. Pop non-stick crepe/frypan on low heat to begin warming.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, eggs, a quarter of cup of milk, salt, melted butter or oil and whisk till silky smooth. Add another half a cup of milk and whisk till nicely incorporated. The mixture should be quite watery. If you have the correct consistency, the batter will split into droplets when poured from the ladle in a slow stream. If it forms a smooth band of liquid as it is poured from the ladle, your crepes will end up too thick.
3. Heat a 20 to 23 centimeters non-stick frypan to medium. To test, ladle a droplet of batter into the pan. If it sizzles and instantly bubbly, it’s probably a bit too hot. Just grab the pan and making sure no one is around you, madly wave it around to cool it down a tad. Return to stove, and with some paper towel smear some butter onto the entire surface of pan. Start by ladling just enough (quarter cup should be perfect) of the batter into the pan to roll and cover the surface. You have to work quickly as it should begin to cook instantly. When the crepe is perfect, it will start to crisp up on the edges. At this point lift up an edge with a butter knife and with both hands, carefully pick up the crepe to swiftly flip it over. This only has to cook for literally a second on the other side and then you can flip it onto a plate. Repeat till all mixture is cooked. You should end up with crepes that are just under two millimetres thick; any thicker and you will lose that magic silkiness, which is what a good crepe is all about. This will mean that you are either pouring too much mixture into the pan and letting the excess settle instead of pouring it out, or that your batter needs thinning with more milk.

Orange Cake

Tasty recipe from Almost Bourdain
In view that the link above doesn't work anymore, I have included the whole recipe from the direct source.

What I did differently :-

Halved the recipe based on 2 eggs.  Baked using 18cm spring form.

Used plain flour (instead of self-raising) added in baking powder.

Verdict

Love it - Light and fluffy! A keeper but I'll add more orange zest the next time.

Sicilian orange cake
Serves about 8 
via:  The Guardian

Ingredients
250g lightly salted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
250g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
1½ teaspoons finely grated orange zest
250g self-raising flour
85ml freshly squeezed orange juice

For the icing:
125g icing sugar
5 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Method :-
Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3. Grease and line a 22cm clip-sided round cake tin with non-stick baking paper.
Using an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar together for 4-5 minutes until very pale. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each one, if necessary adding a spoonful of flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from curdling. Beat in the orange zest. Add the flour all at once and mix in well, then slowly mix in the orange juice. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean. If it starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of lightly buttered foil.
Leave the cake, in its tin, to cool on a wire rack, then carefully remove the sides and base of the tin and peel off the paper. Put it onto a serving plate.
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the orange juice until you have a spreadable consistency. Spread it over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides, and leave to set. Serve cut into slices.

Cottage cheese spread { Körözött }

Körözöt is something that my FIL whipped up whenever we return to visit on weekends. He has kindly written down the recipe recently as below. Now I can make them at home !

 
Cottage cheese spread 

Simply mix together the ingredients :-

100-150gm Cottage cheese (I think Ricotta cheese should be fine ,too)
165ml sour cream
3-4 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1-2 tsp sweet / spicy paprika powder
pinch of cumin, ground or whole
salt & pepper, to taste

At this point, you've already made a basic Körözöt ; however, my FIL makes it special by adding ...

Hungarian green pepper, chopped finely
1-2 hard boiled egg(s)
1-2 tsp mustard
Onion, finely chopped , to taste
cold cuts, chopped finely

Garnish with dill , parsley or paprika powder. I think a drizzle of olive oil would be nice, too :)

Note that sour cream and butter (or margerine) are crucial in this recipe ; while the rest of the additions can be to your taste.

Poppy seeds and walnuts slice

This was created by combining two recipes. The pastry recipe is my go-to recipe as it is foolproof (am not good working with pastry :( . Anyway, I've regularly used it to work with any filling that I have in mind, in this case poppy seed.

Poppy seed and walnut slice

For the pastry (recipe from here )

100 g butter, softened
85 g caster sugar - reduced and mixed in vanilla sugar
1 large egg
175 g plain flour
0.5 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt

Method

First, prepare the pastry. Cream butter and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients, then mix into the butter mixture together with egg. You should chill this for at least 30 minutes wrapped in cling film. However, I prepared this and set in fridge for overnight. Just leave the dough out in room temp. about 30-45 mins. before using it.

For the poppy seed filling

from here

250 grams ground poppy seeds (added ground walnut since i didn't have enough)
120 ml milk
50 grams superfine sugar
60 grams raisins
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp rum
5 tbsp honey (used only 25g , the rest compensate with apricot jam)
In a nut/spice or coffee grinder, finely grind poppy seeds.
Using a small saucepan, add the milk with the sugar. Bring to a boil and add the poppy seeds and raisins. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest, rum, and honey. Allow filling to cool for 10 minutes before using.

Method:

1) Pre-heat oven at 180°c. Grease baking tin (20x18cm) and set aside.2) Divide pastry in to two (top and bottom layers) . Roll out each portion of pastry to fit baking tin. For first layer, press the pastry onto the base and sides of a buttered baking tin.3) Next spread apricot jam evenly before putting the poppy seed filling onto pastry and finish off with another layer of pastry on top.

4) Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Israeli couscous {Tarhonya} w bacon and Peas

I had planned to make risotto one day , then changed my mind due to shortage of time. Since I still wanted to use peas and bacon as the complimentary ingredients, I thought that Tarhonya (a type of Hungarian granulated pasta ... almost similar to couscous) would make a very good substitute for risotto.

This dish can not be easier while the result is so satisfying!! - I just LOVE the nuttiness from the oven-toasted tarhonya :)

Tarhonya with bacon and peas

Ingredients
Oil , for sauteing
Bacon, about 2.5cm cube - sliced
1 onion, sliced into half ring
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp smoked paprika
Tahonya pasta , I didn't measure ... it was enough for 3-4 servings
peas, 2 handfuls
chicken / vege stock - double the measure of pasta (or according to liquid required per package's instructions)
salt, pepper - to taste
Ewe's cheese

Method
1) Brown tahonya pasta in pre-heated oven at medium heat for about 10 mins or until brown. Set aside.

2) Heat oil in pan , sauté bacon until slightly brown. Add in onion and cook until translucent. Lower heat and put in the minced garlic and smoked paprika. Stir until fragrant.

3) Pour in chicken / vege stock and bring it to a boil. Once stock is boiling, pour in the pasta and stir it couple of time while it is cooking. Cook until pasta is ready.

4) When pasta is ready, adjust seasoning at this point. Next pour in the peas, stir and switch off the heat, put on the lid and let it rest for a bit. Check for readiness of peas before serving with sprinkle of ewe's cheese.

Left-over Pumpkin Soup as pasta sauce

Horrible photo; but the sauce and pasta combination was so moreish, I had to restraint myself !
The recipe is as per the title, it starts from cooking a batch of pumpkin soup (recipe below) spiced with dashes of curry powder for extra kick. Then use the leftover as pasta sauce for next day's main - just cook and mix in your favourite pasta, some grated cheese, pieces of fried chorizo, and finally sprinkle with chopped parsley - seriously good!
Pumpkin soup

Taste.com.au

serves : 6

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, white part only, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tsp ground coriander (omitted - didn't have any in the pantry)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1kg peeled pumpkin, diced
1 large potato, peeled, diced
1L chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup (125ml) thin cream (omitted)
*added
curry powder, to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over low heat, add onion and leek and cook for 2-3 minutes, until softened but not coloured. Add garlic and spices and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add pumpkin, potato and stock and bring to the boil. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then blend in batches.
2. Return soup to pan, stir through cream and reheat gently. Season and add a little more nutmeg if desired.