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.