Green beans with Mushrooms and Shallots

This week is about making side dishes that we fancy. I thought of making a side dish that is healthy. Erm, not that Ellie's other dishes aren't healthy. I just happen to favour green beans :P

 

In any case, I added cauliflower too as I had a head of them waiting in the fridge for me. This recipe is from Ellie's The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 pound green beans

1 tbsp water

2 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup sliced shallots (about 2 medium)

3/4 pound assorted fresh mushrooms, (ie: button, baby bella, shiitake, oyster, chanterelle), sliced

salt

freshly ground pepper

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

 

Method:

1. Put green beans in a microwave-safe bowl with the water. Cover tightly and microwave on high for 4 minutes. Carefully remove the cover, drain in a colander, shaking off any excess water, and set aside. I boiled the green beans and cauliflower instead of using the microwave.
2. While the beans are cooking, heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet.
3. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until softened slightly, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until the water they release has evaporated and they begin to brown, about 10 minutes.
5. Add the green beans and cauliflower and stir to combine and rewarm.
6. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

 

I'm submitting this post to I Heart Cooking Clubs - sensational sides.

 

 

I'm also submitting this post to Cook-Your-Books#28 organized by Joyce of kitchenflavours.

 

 

I'm also submitting this post to Alphabakes November 2015 hosted by Caroline of Caroline Makes and Ros of The more than occasional baker.

 



Lemon Velvet Squares

Yes I have been missing for a while now. So many things going on at the same time in my life. Yes I bet it's the same for everyone too. February has just gone by too quickly for me. It has come where I had to make a decision in my career, something that I probably never quite expected to move from since it has been really really long since I last moved. Well, there is always going to be a start somewhere isn't it?

I have made my choice and yes I'm moving on. Hopefully by April, things will settle down and I can focus more on the things I really want to do in life :) We shall see, isn't it?

Still, it's the Lemon month remember?? At Little Thumbs Up, we are still baking or cooking with Lemon. I'm so encouraged by everyone who contributed and tried to do something with lemon. I see so many lemon entries that it just got me excited :) Now we already have 74 entries!! 

It's coming almost to the end of the month already and I want to submit mine too before it ends :)

This recipe is from Carole Walter's Great Cakes, a book that I incidentally am baking from with my fellow Cake Slice Bakers. This is another successful bake that I want to share with you. See my modifications in blue.

Ingredients:

225g sifted cake flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

113g unsalted butter

1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp freshly grated orange zest

300g 180g or 200g caster sugar (depending on how sweet your orange juice is)

3 large eggs

1/3 cup water

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 tbsp icing sugar for garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Position rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F 160 degrees celsius. Butter the cake pan.
2. Using a triple sifter, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Cut the butter into 1 inch pieces and place in the large bowl of electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Add the lemon and orange zest and soften on low speed. Increase the speed to medium-high and cream until smooth and light in colour, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
4. Add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time, taking about 6 to 8 minutes to blend well. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.
5. Add the eggs, 1 at a time at 1 minute intervals, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
6. Reduce mixer speed to low.
7. In a small bowl, combine the water, lemon juice and orange juice.
8. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the liquids, dividing the flour mixture into three parts and the liquid into two parts, starting and ending with the flour. Mix just until incorporated after each addition. Do not worry if the batter appears to curdle; it should smooth out after the floor is blended in. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 10 seconds longer.
9. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with the back of a tablespoon.
10. Center the pan on the rack and bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the cake is golden on top, springy to the touch and begins to come away from the sides of the pan.
11. Remove the pan from the oven and set the pan on the cake rack to cool. Just before serving, place the icing sugar in a fine-mesh strainer and dust the top of the cake. Cut into squares.
12. You may also choose to coat the cake with a thin Lemon glaze or warm lemon sauce.

Can you see how pretty the lemon velvet cake looks? Wait till I taste them. I'm going to see if it's really as velvety as the name claims it to be.

Honestly, I half expected to find this velvet cake dense but when I first cut it into squares and ate a square (by myself of course!! :)), the texture of this cake is so so soft! This is definitely unexpected. It could be that there is no other added ingredient to soften the cake like yoghurt or cream that made me have that impression. Then I figured it could be the acidic reaction from the lemon and orange juice that blended in well with the batter to give that soft velvety texture from this cake.

Overall, I would say I love this lemon velvet square and will definitely bake it again when I feel like having a tea cake or just something simple yet sweet for tea. Ah yes, you probably noticed that I omitted the lemon glaze once again. I'm not really a person who is all fond of icings, glazes etc. I very much prefer my cake as it is plain which allows me to fully taste the texture of the cake.

Of course, if you like such coatings, you can always use some simple lemon curd to coat the top or top it with some lemon glaze. The world's your limit :) I just like mine this way - simple and nice.

I'm going to submit this to The Cake Slice Bakers where this is our February bake for 2014.

I'm also linking this post to the event, Little Thumbs Up organized by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of my little favourite DIY which is hosted by me.

The Little Thumbs Up event begins every first Tuesday of the month until the last day of the month so you are just on time. Do join us! 

To join, simply cook or bake any recipe with the theme of LEMON for February 2014 and link up with us at this post anytime until 28 February 2014.

Do not forget to display your Thumbs Up picture or display the badge above. 

Your post should be:

1. a current post i.e. only for February 2014
2. Please mention 'Little Thumbs Up' in your label and post and link back to Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY or/and Grace of Life can be Simple. For more details, you may refer to this.

I'm also going to submit this post to Cook-Your-Books#9 hosted by Joyce of kitchenflavours.

I'm also submitting this post to Alphabakes hosted by Caroline of Caroline Makes and Ros of The more than occasional baker.

Lovelight Chocolate Chiffon Cake

When I first saw this recipe, I was thinking to myself, "Lovelight"?! What really is lovelight? Then I linked lovelight to chiffon cake and realised ah, that must be it. Anyhow, a short history on this since this is one of the recipes in Julie Richardson's "Vintage Cakes". Apparently, this lovelight cakes aka chiffon cakes were 'released' in America in 1948 and took America by storm as everyone was simply raving about how soft and light this cake was.

Although chiffon cakes aren't hard to make, the real skill in making it really lies in the techniques of how the egg whites are made and folded and treated. With this little tip, I hope I got you excited on this cake. If you are not, I am ;P

Before we begin, I must mention that this cake is posted a tad late because of a special reason which I hope I'll be forgiven for it =S It's for a co-worker's belated birthday. Technically, her birthday is today but because she has taken her special day off, it's going to be a belated birthday cake for her. The main reason why I chose this cake for her is because she loves chocolate and this cake is pretty light (no pun intended) on the palate. I hope she likes the cake though.

This recipe is from Julie Richardson's "Vintage Cakes".

Ingredients:

Chocolate Whipping Cream

226g semisweet chocolate, chopped or chips
720g heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

Cake

59g cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
109g canola oil
112g buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 egg yolks, room temperature
198g sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
250g brown sugar
7 egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
112g 150g caster granulated sugar

Method:

Make the chocolate whipping cream:

1. Place the chocolate in a heat-resistant bowl. Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to a simmer, then quickly remove the pan from the heat and pour the cream over the chocolate.
2. Let the bowl sit for a few minutes so the cream can melt the chocolate, then whisk to blend the cream and chocolate together.
3. Whisk in the vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. 
4. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until well chilled, about 3 hours or so.

Make the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees farenheit.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and boiling water until smooth. Blend in the oil, buttermilk and vanilla extract.
3. Whisk in the egg yolks.
4. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk, blend in the brown sugar, working out any large lumps. 
5. Stir in the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula and briskly stir until the mixture is just smooth. Do not overmix.
6. In a clean mixer bowl, whip the egg whites on medium speed until frothy.
7. Add the cream of tartar and gradually increase the speed to medium-high until the whites hold a soft peak. 
8. With the mixer on medium speed, add the caster sugar in a slow steady stream. Kick the mixer up to high speed and whip until the whites just hold firm, shiny peaks. 
9. Fold a third of the whites into the chocolate batter using as few strokes as possible.
10. Add the remaining whites, folding only until evenly incorporated.
11. Transfer the batter into the pan and tap the pan on the counter a few times to enable the air bubbles to settle properly in the batter before baking.
12. Bake for about 50 to 55 minutes, until the cake springs back when lightly touched.
13. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature (don't invert the cake before it cools and don't be surprised if it deflates slightly).
14. To unmould the cooled cake, insert a thin knife or metal spatula around the edge of the pan to free the cake from the sides and then invert the cake onto a plate.

For assembly:

1. To finish the chocolate whipping cream, place the bowl of the stand mixer in the freezer for a few minutes to chill. Place the chocolate cream in the cold bowl and whip until it is thick and spreadable. Do not overwhip as it will curdle. It's best to underwhip it as you may use the spatula or hand whisk to thicken it a bit.
2. To assemble the cake, slice the cake horizontally into thirds. 
3. Place the bottom third onto a serving plate and spread with a third of the cream.
4. Place the middle layer of cake on top of the cream and spread the next third of the cream over it.
5. Top with the final layer of cake and the remainder of the cream. 
6. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for 1 hour before serving.
7. This cake keeps up to 2 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Check out my cake!!

I'll update on whether she likes the taste of the cake. Psst, I've tasted the cake scraps, they taste light enough being a chiffon cake and the chocolate cream although soupy, it tastes divine. Till tomorrow!! Yay!! She is indeed pleasantly surprised and she absolutely hearts the cake!! :)

I'm also submitting this post to Cook-Your-Books#5 organised by Joyce of kitchenflavours.

I am submitting this post to AlphaBakes hosted by Ros of The more than occasional baker and Caroline from Caroline Makes.

Okayodon

Very often, we tend to eat out just for convenience to save the hassle of prepping ingredients, cooking and even cleaning up. However, we sacrifice all of that for msg-laden food as well as fast food which is unhealthy to eat often. 

Recently, I have eaten this long-forgotten comfort food that makes me think of home :) This dish is perfect for people who just want to cook something simple but yet have a nutritious meal. 

Oyakodon is literally translated from 親子丼 which also means "parent-and-child" donburi. The usual ingredients for these would be chicken which is the "parent" and egg which is the "child" and onions. All of these ingredients are cooked and simmered into a sauce which would then be served on top of a bowl of rice. 

The simmering sauce used to make this can vary according to the season, ingredients, region in Japan and taste. Typically, it would consist of dashi stock flavoured with soy sauce and mirin. Tsuji (1980)'s version recommends dashi flavoured with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar.

This fairly easy recipe is from Bill Granger's "Feed Me Now!". Incidentally, this dish is also one of Bill's all-time favourite dishes.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

400ml ready-made dashi stock

125ml soy sauce

4 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp sugar

1 onion, halves and thinly sliced

4 chicken thighs, boned, skinned and diced (or use 2-3 skinless chicken breast fillets)

4 medium eggs, lightly beaten

Method:

1. Pour the dashi into a medium saucepan and bring almost to the boil. 
2. Add the soy sauce, mirin and sugar and stir to combine.
3. Add the onion and chicken and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
4. Increase the heat, bring to the boil and gently pour in the beaten eggs. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 minutes.

To serve, divide the rice between 4 deep serving bowls. Spoon the chicken, broth and egg over evenly until the rice is moistened (you may have some broth left over).

Serve sprinkled with finely sliced spring onions or shredded nori.

It took quite a while to cook the chicken drumsticks thoroughly as they were pretty big in size. Hence, 1 big drumstick is big enough for each of us :) I love the meaning behind this donburi. It's so sweet that we are all having it together as family as well. Simple but yet meaningful and yummy :) I will definitely make this for my kid in future when I have one and hopefully, the tradition carries on ;) We all love this simple and flavourful dish for dinner.

I'm submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #1 Oct 2013: Japan, hosted by Alan from travelling foodies.

I'm also submitting this post to Cook-Your-Books#5 organised by Joyce of kitchenflavours.

I am submitting this post to AlphaBakes hosted by Ros of The more than occasional baker and Caroline from Caroline Makes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies #2

Do you remember this?

Source: mycutegraphics

Yes, this is part 2 of our chocolate chip cookie throwdown!! For this part, we are going to use the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip recipe which is featured here. My modifications are in blue below. For this throwdown, a few factors will remain the same so that comparison of tastes will be fair. Hence, no nuts will be used, quantity of sugar (brown and white) will remain the same for all recipes and all cookie batter will be refrigerated between 24 to 72 hours.

Ingredients:

281g all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

226g butter, softened

168g granulated sugar 50g caster sugar

150g brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

340g chocolate morsels

134g chopped nuts

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F 170 degrees celsius.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. 
3. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. 
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. 
6. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
7. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

I followed this recipe to a T except that I refrigerated the batter or rather froze the batter after rolling them into balls of same size. I refrigerated them for at least 72 hours.

After baking, this was how it turned out to be.

Honestly, although I followed this recipe to the T, I felt that maybe I could have baked them longer than 11 or 12 minutes but then again, would that make my cookie dry? I seriously wonder. Personal preference perhaps that this cookie is a fail for me since it turned out to be a tad soft and cakey. I never liked such cookies. I love my Famous Amos!! ;) Yes, I'm a Famous Amos gal, are you too? :)

Clearly, even Mr G didn't really like this one. Ok, sorry Tollhouse, you are going down. That means for now, NY Times aka Jacque Torres rules! Till the next cookie bake.

For now, I think we are pretty sick of cookies for now ;) Peeps are asking for cake!! cake!! cake!! No more cookies! @@ 

Nevertheless, I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #36: Choc-a-cookie (October 2013) hosted by Genie of Honeybee916 Food.

I am submitting this post to AlphaBakes hosted by Ros of The more than occasional baker and Caroline from Caroline Makes.

Japanese Cheesecake

Do you love cheesecake? I do but I prefer Japanese cheesecake a lot more. It's for the main reason that they are soft, light and at one seating, you can eat a few slices and not get grossed out from all that cheese. One of the first few Japanese cheesecakes I've eaten is one with a big cow logo on the box packaging. Do you know where that is from? :) Yes, it's from Fiesta Food :)

There have been many people trying out Japanese cheesecake recipes and giving very good reviews on them. One of which is from Diana's Desserts. The other one is from Just One Cookbook. I've literally compared both recipes and realised that Nami's adapted recipe has a tad more fat content but it would give a lighter and airy cheesecake which is termed and known in Japan as souffle cheesecake. If you have eaten souffles, you would know how light and airy souffles are. But if you haven't, try making this. You won't regret it for sure!

This recipe is adapted from Nami which was translated from Cookpad. My modifications are in blue.

Ingredients:

400g cream cheese
60g granulated caster sugar
60g unsalted butter
6 egg yolks
200ml heavy cream (use one that has at least 35% fat content)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp rum
80g all purpose flour
6 egg whites, refrigerated
100g granulated caster sugar
3 tbsp apricot jam with 1 tsp water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius. Start boiling water.
2. In stand mixer, beat cream cheese and 60g caster sugar until smooth.
3. Add and beat butter.
4. Beat egg yolk first and then add to the mixture. Then add heavy cream and combine all together.
5. Now, using a whisk, mix well after addition of lemon juice and rum until smooth.
6. Sift flour twice.
7. Add the flour all in at once and mix.
8. Put the well-mixed batter into another bowl.
9. In a clean mixer bowl, whip egg whites until frothy on low speed. Then add 1/3 sugar and increase the speed to medium.
10. Gradually add the sugar to the egg white mixture.
11. Once all the sugar has been added, increase the mixer speed to high to ensure the meringue doubles in volume and is stiff and glossy.
12. Mix 1/3 of the meringue into the egg yolk mixture and fold in well.
13. Then add all of the remaining meringue into the egg yolk mixture and fold to incorporate.
14. Cover your springform tin with baking paper after greasing it. Wrap the exterior of the tin with aluminium foil to prevent water from seeping through.
15. Pour the batter into the springform tin and tap it on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles in the batter.
16. Place the springform tin in a tray with boiling water.
17. Bake at 160 degrees celsius for 60 minutes or until lightly brown. 
18. Reduce baking temperature to 150 degrees celsius and continue to bake for 30 minutes.
19. When the skewer comes out clean, turn off the oven.
20. Take out the springform tin and allow to let cool.
21. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine apricot jam and water. Microwave it for 30-60 seconds until hot and spread the jam over the top of the cake.
22. Refrigerate the cake for a few hours before you serve.
23. Cut the cake with a fishing line or warm knife. Before each cut, run the knife over hot water and clean completely.

I was pretty proud of my finished pre-baked product. Yes, you could also tell that I haven't baked Japanese cheesecake in a long long time right? Hehe. I'm seriously getting rusty with this. I could definitely do better with more practice :) My cake did crack a tad badly which was what I suspected due to overbeating. The next time round, I will definitely use my spatula to fold the flour in instead of whisking it into the mixture :( Also, since my oven is pyrolytic and tends to be hotter than usual, I'll bake it at 150 degrees celsius first and then 140 degrees celsius.

After chilling overnight, my souffle cheesecake did look pretty okay. See a picture of the sliced one below.

I had a mouthful of the souffle cheesecake. It was pretty chilled and I think I did like the taste of the cheese in it. Tastewise, it is pretty awesome. I probably just need to improve on the look of the cake.

Nevertheless, I'm willing to try another one more souffle cheesecake soon. That one is getting me excited. Stay tuned for that soon.

Personal notes/tips on baking cheesecake:

• all ingredients including heavy cream must be room temperature before you start.
• before adding flour in step 6, ensure that your cheese mixture is smooth and has no lumps. If it has lumps, continue mixing until lumps disappear.
• To avoid overmixing your cheese mixture, fold in the flour in step 6.
• make sure your mixer and whisk is clean of any oil by pouring hot water over it and wipe clean before mixing your egg whites.
• When your cake is baked, do not remove it immediately from the oven. Allow your cake to stay in the oven for at least 15 minutes to 30 minutes with the oven door ajar to avoid extreme temperature differences. With such temperature differences, cheesecake will tend to collapse. Remove your cake when the oven is pretty much cooled. Let your cake cool before putting it in the refrigerator.
• This cheesecake is best served after it's chilled for a few hours.
• There are 3 main reasons for cheesecake cracks - overbeating, extreme temperature differences and baking at high temperature.
• The egg proteins in the cheesecake will tend to curdle from too much heat which eventually shrink when cooled, causing cracking usually in its center or tiny cracks all over its top. Hence, if you heat it up too fast or cool it down too fast, chances are you will also get cracks.

I'm submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #1 Oct 2013: Japan, hosted by Alan from travelling foodies.

I am submitting this post to AlphaBakes hosted by Ros of The more than occasional baker and Caroline from Caroline Makes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies #1

Did I even mention that October is going to be a fun month full of treats and birthdays? Yes, it is indeed my birthday month and so many friends I know have the same birthday month too. So that means double celebration!!

On top of that, it is Choc-a-cookie month at Aspiring Bakers. This means it's going to be cookies and chocolate in one. Oooh, that to me is chocolate chip cookie for sure! In view of this, I'm going to have a chocolate chip cookie throwdown! For this throwdown, I'm going to have 3 chocolate chip cookies from various sources where many people have acclaimed each of these cookies to be THE BEST. This throwdown is just for personal reference and also to note what the people who have tasted the cookies love most.

Source: mycutegraphics

For this 1st part of the chocolate chip cookie throwdown, I'm going to try the recipe from Jacque Torres which is also famously known as The NY Times cookie. See my modifications in blue.

Ingredients:

240g cake flour

240g bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

283g unsalted butter

283g 150g light brown sugar

226g 50g granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

566g bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (I used chocolate chunks)

Sea salt

Method:

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. 
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 
4. Stir in the vanilla. 
5. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. 
6. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. 
7. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be is best refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
8. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
9. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 14 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Do note that the recipe has been followed to a T for this chocolate chip cookie throwdown. If you note the highlighted portion above, do not skip this step. Refrigerating the cookie batter will allow the sugars in the cookie batter to blend and obtain a nice caramel flavour.

Mr G took one when it was almost out of the oven because of the incredible chocolate caramel flavour he smelt. I think it's normal  because I couldn't resist and snitched on one too which was barely out of the oven :P If you are the testers, what would you think about it?

Personal Notes:

• to freeze cookie batter, use a cookie scoop and place your cookie rounds into baking pans. Put the baking pans into the freezer for about 1/2 hour or so where they have hardened. To keep them easily, put them into freezer bags and label them accordingly.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #36: Choc-a-cookie (October 2013) hosted by Genie of Honeybee916 Food.

I am submitting this post to AlphaBakes hosted by Ros of The more than occasional baker and Caroline from Caroline Makes.