Victoria Sandwich with a Twist | Raspberry and Cream Brown Sugar Victoria Sandwich

One happy and sunny Tuesday, I decided to make a cake to celebrate! Something simple that is yummy and effortless. I have to say it was a little experimental, as with most of my cooking.

On my way home, I bought some double cream and fresh raspberries, not knowing exactly what I was going to make. I flipped through fancy cookbooks, with cake or biscuit bases of genoise, sable and even dacquoise.

I finally settled on the simple and straightforward Victoria Sponge recipe by Mary Berry. I have adapted her recipe, swapping with a few ingredients. See below for the recipe.

Brown Sugar Victoria Sandwich Recipe

Recipe adapted from Mary Berry's Perfect Victoria Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 4 free range eggs,
• 225g dark brown sugar
• 225g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate soda
• 225g soft butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Please click here for methods of making the sponge cake.

Raspberry and Cream Recipe:

• Raspberry jam
• 400g Fresh raspberries

• 300ml double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp icing sugar

Method:

1.  Make the 2 layers of sponge cake as instructed in the link above.
2.  Mix double cream, vanilla extract and icing sugar and whip until soft peak. Set aside.

3.  Spread a generous amount of raspberry jam and whipped cream then arrange a layer of fresh raspberries on a layer of the cooled sponge cake.
4.  Cover the cake with the remaining whipped cream.
5.  Decorate with some fresh raspberries, mint leaves and chocolate.

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Pork Chop with Cumin & Coriander

From Tom Kerridge’s Barnsley Chop to my adapted version of Pork Chop. For those of you who like me did not know what Barnsley Chop is, it is as its name suggest, originates from Barnsley. It is a double sided lamb chop cut right across the loin as explained on this website. As much as I wanted to make Barnsley Chop the way Tom does it, I was only able to get the Pork Chop where I was. I must say, it tastes just as good. I even served it with some spicy couscous, salad and orange pork sauce. It was quick and tasty. Believe or not, I made that on a weekday after work.

This is a book I know that will be well used. I will probably make more recipes from this book during my two weeks off work for Christmas and New Year.

Happy Holidays, to all of you! I shall see you in the new year. 

If you have not bought his book yet and would like to make this yummy Barnsley Chop, there's brief recipe here.

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Cup Julienne (Pie Tee)

Traditionally, this recipe is to make Pie Tee (top hats). The ingredients usually calls for Yam bean but I have altered the recipe with ingredients that are easily available in the supermarket here. So yam bean has been substituted with swede. Of course, you can use the original ingredient of Yam bean if you can get it at your nearest supermarket.

Photo via Hanamemories

The traditional case can be easily bought in Malaysia but there isn't any available here so instead of making the traditional cups from scratch which I deem tedious, I have created an alternative way of making a cup / top hat to stuff the fillings. Wonton skin was used and it only takes a couple of minutes to make it so nothing as complicated as making mixture and deep frying each and every case.

Cup Julienne / Pie Tee Recipe

serves 6

Ingredients:

• Vegetable oil
• 20 wonton skin / wrapper
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 300g yam bean / jicamma (julienne) *I used swede
• 2 large carrots (julienne)
• 1/2 caup water
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce to taste
• ground white pepper to taste

• spring onion (thinly sliced)
• fried shallots

Methods:

1.  Preheat oven at 180^oC. Brush some oil on a mini cupcake tray. Place a square piece of wonton skin. wrapper in each cupcake mould. Brush with more oil over the wanton skin so it takes the shape of the cup. Place the tray in the preheated oven and bake for a few minutes until golden brown. Repeat. Be careful not to bake for too long as it turns golden really quickly. When the cups are ready, remove the wonton skin cups and place on a wire rack to cool.

2.  Heat some oil on the wok and sauté garlic, then add yam bean and carrots, and fry for 1 minute. Add water and cook until water is reduced and absorbed. Then add soy sauce to taste. Cook until moisture is reduced so it will not make the casing soggy when assembled.

3.  Scoop a spoonful of cooked yam bean and carrots into the baked wonton skin cup. Make sure to squeeze out any moisture if any. Serve with some sprinkling of spring onions and fried shallots.

Tips:

• Yam bean / jicama is a little difficult to get in London so if you are unable to get it near you, substitute with swede. It tastes as good.
• Wonton skin can also be substituted with filo pastry. 

    

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Beef Rendang

A French man once asked me where I was from. I told him I'm Malaysian. One of the first things he told me was that he had one of the best Malaysian food in Australia called Beef Rendang! I wasn't sure how to react to that; surprised for knowing Beef Rendang as a delicious Malaysian dish, or that the best Rendang he had was in Australia. We became good friends since then and I am still amused by that comment till this day. I've a feeling we're good friends because of this rendang.

So here's the Rendang Recipe that I like. It does take quite a few hours and patience to make this dish but it is well worth your time. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

If you would like to learn more about Rendang and its origins, here's an explanation on Wikipedia.

Beef rendang served with rice

Beef Rendang

recipe from No Recipe

serves 5

Ingredients:

For spice paste:

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground coriander seed
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 2.5 cm fresh ginger (roughly chopped)
• 4 large cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
• 200g shallots (4 large shallots roughly chopped)
• 3 tbs chilli pepper flakes (or to taste)

For the beef:

• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 900g casserole / braising beef (chuck/blade), cut into large cubes
• 2 stalks lemongrass (white part only, smashed)
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 2.5 cm galangal (sliced)
• 1 can quality coconut milk
• 1 tbs palm sugar (or brown sugar)

Methods:

Please refer to the original site I got the recipe from, for the methods. Marc explains it really well with pictures to help you along the way.

 

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Coffee Caramel Pork Belly

This dish has always been a success. It is so packed full of flavour, and is really easy to cook. You just have to be patient while it poaches in low heat for hours. Enjoy! 

Coffee Caramel Braised Pork Belly

adapted from Simply Delicious

serves 2-4

Poaching Liquid:

• 500 g pork belly
• 600 ml water
• 1 cube chicken / vegetable bouillon
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup oyster sauce
• 1 tbs fish sauce
• 1 onions, quartered
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 inch ginger (bruised)
• 1 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 dried chillies
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder

Method:

1. Wash the pork with vinegar and water before cooking. This will rid of the porky smell.
2. Bring the poaching liquid to boil. Reduce to medium heat and place pork into the liquid. Simmer gently and poach for about 2-3 hours until the pork is soft but does not fall apart.
3. Cut the pork belly into bite sized cubes.
4. It is best eaten with rice with accompanying vegetables.

Tip:

• The leftover actually tastes better the next day.
• If you have leftovers (which is unlikely), you can refrigerate it for the next day and stir fry with noodles and vegetables for a quick and different meal all together. Recipe will be posted next week.

    

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Apple Tarte Tatin

With the excess of organically grown apples from the garden, they don't keep that long so what better way to use them than in making dessert? French apples for french dessert, C'est parfait!

These are the organically grown apples from the garden used for this tarte tatin. 

P's parents gave us so many fruits and vegetables from the garden that if anyone took a peek into our car, they would have thought we were fruit sellers. We had quetsch, pears, apples, cabbage, beetroots and more! Who cares if we looked like fruits and vegetable vendors. I was well happy to have so many ingredients to cook with. What was most satisfying was the fact that I helped pick them out from the garden.

Giant sunflowers the size of a dinosaur

This is quetsch, a variety of plum if you have never seen these, like me.

When i told P I was about to attempt tarte tatin for the second time in my life, he looked impress that I was even trying to make one. Then he made sure to google some pictures and said mine should look like this and not like that. Great! He was setting expectations already!

So I carefully prepared everything to make sure it will come out perfect so the Tarte Tatin made by a Malaysian me would impress the French.

Conclusion, my French man and friends loved it! SUCCESS with a big fat smile.

Apple Tarte Tatin

adapted from Mustard with Mutton
Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 5 - 6 apples
• 3/4 cup golden caster sugar
• 3 tbs apple press (or water)
• 60g butter
• 1 vanilla pod
• 1 store bought ready rolled puff pastry

Methods:

1.  Split the vanilla pod into two, lengthwise. Scrape the vanilla seeds out with the tip of a knife and place them in an 8 inch heavy based stainless steel pan (or any other oven proof pan). Place the split vanilla pod criss crossed on the pan.
2.  Combine sugar and apple press, and bring to boil then lower the heat to medium and cook until sugar melts, thicken and turn into deep amber colour.

3.  Make sure to just swirl the pan and not stir. Otherwise the sugar will crystallise.
4.  Remove from heat and add butter.
5.  Peel, deseed and quarter the apples. Arrange the apples neatly around the edges and the centre of the pan on top of the caramelised sugar.
6.  As the pan will be inverted when the tart is ready, make sure the apples are arranged in a presentable manner.
7.  Return pan to the stove and cook on low heat for an hour. Make sure the heat is low enough to not burn the sugar and apples.
8.  Remove the pan from heat and let cool to room temperature.
9.  Preheat the oven to 180C.
10. Place the ready rolled pastry on top of the apples and trim the sides.
11. Tuck the edges in neatly into a rim and seal it against the pan. Then prick some holes with a knife or fork to let steam out while in the oven.
12. Bake the tart for about 30-35 minutes in the oven until pastry is golden brown.
13. Once ready, remove from oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes.
14. Loosen the edges of the tarte with knife. Place a serving dish over the pan and invert the pan quickly.
15. Cut into slices and serve with vanilla ice cream.

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Crab apple avocado salad stack

Summer in London this year must have been the best we've had for the longest time. So much so that I have not been checking the weather forecast. I just expect the next day to be warm and sunny and continue being like this the day after. I'm getting used to wearing skirts, shorts and no jackets or tights. What a bliss. 

With this weather, comes simple and tasty cool food that does not make you sweat. One that is easy to prepare as well. This recipe is so pretty yet easy to make, it is perfect for a quick summer dinner after work. Even though it is weekday after work in London, having this salad on the balcony just makes it feel like holiday by the beach. Enjoy!

Crab salad served on lettuce gem leaves. This is a good way to serve the salad at a party. It's easy to pop into the mouth.

Crab, Apple and Avocado Salad Stack

serves 2

Ingredients: 

• 120g crab meat (can)
• 1 red chillies (diced)
• 1 granny smith apple (cubed)
• 120g baby plum tomatoes (quartered)
• 1 nectarine (deseeded & cubed)
• 1 large lime
• 1 avocado (cubed)
• salt and pepper to taste
• lettuce gems
• handful of fresh mint leaves
• extra virgin olive oil
• a few drops of balsamic to taste (on tomato)

Methods:

1.  Remove crab meat from can and drain. Place into a bowl then add the diced chillies and apple cubes.

2.  Squeeze the juice of one lime into the bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix the crab well with some sliced mint leaves. 

3.  On a different bowl, place the quartered plum tomatoes and season with salt, pepper, 2 drops of balsamic vinegar and a little extra virgin olive oil. Set aside.

4.  To assemble, place a food ring on a serving plate. 

5.  Carefully place the avocado in the ring. Top it up with the cubed nectarines followed by the tomatoes.

6.  Gently press downwards with the back of spoon to compress the stack of avocado, nectarines and tomatoes.

7.  Top up with a generous amount of the prepared crab and decorate with mint leaves.

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Sun-dried tomato pesto Spätzle

Someone's crazy over spätzle!! And yes, he's Alsacienne. Even though I've eaten spätzle before, this was my first attempt which turned out surprisingly well. I had an approved stamp from the Alsacienne so this must be a good standard. For those of you not familiar with spätzle, I would say that it is like a thinner version of the Italian gnocchi. The texture is pretty similar.

This is definitely a fusion version or my take to the traditional spätzle that is usually made with some cheesy white sauce. As you can see, my version has sausage meatballs and tomato. It's even slightly spicy which P mentioned, will be slightly too spicy for the Alsaciennes. On my taste buds, it was just the tiniest spice to excite a plate of pasta. So if you do not like spicy pasta, just omit the spicy ingredients.

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Spätzle

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 250g spatzle (or pasta of your choice if you can't get spatzle)
• 4 sausage (remove casing and roll into balls)
• 1 leek (sliced)
• 1 courgette (cubed)
• 150g baby plum tomatoes (halved)
• 1 tsp sun-dried tomato pesto
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 3 tbsp water
• 2 drops of tabasco (optional)
• 2 triangle of La Vache Qui Rit cheese (30g)
• salt and black pepper to taste
• extra virgin olive oil to serve
• chilli flakes to serve (optional)

Method:

1. Boil the pasta in salty water until al dente following the instructions on the pack. This will depend on the type of pasta you use. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat the olive oil on a pan and cook the sausage meat balls until they are coloured and cooked.

3. Then add the leeks and courgette. Cook for about 3 minutes then toss in the plum tomatoes, followed by the paparika, ketchup, tomato pasta and some water.
4. Let the ingredients simmer and add sun-dried tomato pesto.
5. Season with tabaso, salt and pepper. Then add in the cheese, stir till melt and well combined.
6. Pour in the spatzle and toss until the pasta is covered in the sauce.
7. Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some chilli flakes. 

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Salad with tomatoes from the garden

Just as we left P's home in France, his parents gave us a whole box of fruits and vegetables from their garden. Fresh prunes, apricots, nectarines, courgettes, lavender and tomatoes. They gave us too much that we had to freeze some of those fruits up for when we make smoothies. 

So here we are, back in London with overload of fruits and tomatoes. I love it that I know who grew these babies. As these are such good tomatoes, they are best eaten just as, or slightly enhanced with a little sprinkle of sea salt and extra virgin olive oil. With some black pepper if you like. It's really up to you but keep them as close to its original state as possible.

Tomato salad

You won't believe how tomatoes organically grown on the garden differs from those mass produced for supermarkets. It is meaty in flesh and is packed with all its original flavour and juiciness. This is when you realise that supermarket tomatoes won't cut it. 

Maybe it is time to be living in a space with garden. Do you grown your own tomatoes? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
  

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Currys in the Kitchen and Pear Soufflé

Photo credit to Green Light

I was invited to a blogger event hosted by Currys at the Underground Cookery School a few weeks ago. As a food fanatic and my first such event, it was all too exciting! I even left work on the dot to get to the event on time. 

We were greeted with canapés, fresh juice and Prosecco to start the evening while everyone get to know each other. As most people were armed with their very professional looking cameras, I thought I will join in the fun with my semi-pro micro four thirds. I was gutted that the air-headed me left the memory card at work. Oh well, disappointed but lucky there’s such thing as camera phone these days. It won’t be the sharpest of photos but at least it still captures some of the fun moments. 

Have you seen so many people queuing eagerly to wash their hands? We all were too keen to get our hands dirty again.

The evening consists of some curry and pear soufflé making, along with some knife skills and separating of egg whites. Since there were more than 20 of us, we were divided into two groups. My group started off with making pear soufflé which most of us were dreading. Soufflé is one of those light, sweet and fluffy dessert with a reputation for kitchen disaster. Luckily chef Anthony explained everything there is to know about soufflé and what could go wrong so we could avoid any deflating misfortune. 

Recipe of this souffle is at the end of this post. I have added a tip section below it to highlight what to lookout for.

Everyone had their own ways of separating egg yolks from the white

Folding the mixture very gently

Smooth off excess mixture from ramekin

Chef, happy with his student's work

We then moved along to our second session, curry making! We were shown how to de-bone a chicken thigh properly. Then cook the chicken and curry paste with vegetables and some coconut milk. It would have been great to be shown how to make the curry paste but I guess they prepared it ahead to save the little time we had. Our curry turned out well, so we were all happy.

Carlos showed us how to make Caipirinha and Pina Colada on the Kenwood kmix blender

After the learning and cooking sessions, our tummies were growling. It was so nice to finally be able to sit down for the curry dinner we made with some wine to relax. 

The soufflé that has beautifully risen

It was a very fun and enjoyable night cooking and getting to know fellow bloggers with similar interests. All more than 20 of us bloggers were busy taking shots from our cameras and phones the whole evening that there will never be lack of photos that night. Instead of being out of place, this was the first time I felt very comfortable taking pictures of food without being rude to my fellow diners. It was definitely a successful evening for Currys.

Before ending the night, Currys had some Kenwood kitchen appliances to giveaway to make some bloggers really happy. Congratulations to all the well deserved winners! Do checkout Currys writeup for the evening or search for #currysinthekitchen on Instagram or Twitter to learn more. 

Photo credit to Green Light

Pear Soufflé Recipe

as per Underground Cookery School (there's also a video via the link)

Ingredients:

• 6 pears juiced
• 125g sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 4 egg whites
• juice of 1 lemon
• pinch of salt

Method:

1.  Butter the ramekins, and dust with 25g of sugar, put in the fridge.

2.  Make pear juice with 6 pears and 50g of sugar.

3.  Add water to 1tsp of cornflour and put mix into heated pear stock. Now add the juice of half a lemon. Reduce down over the hob. The mix should be the consistency of wallpaper paste.

4.  Whisk egg whites into a ribbon whilst mixing in 50g of caster sugar. Add a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of salt as you go along.

5.  Put one spoonful per soufflé into a bowl and fold in 1/3 of the egg whites to the paste. Then fold in the balance. 

6.  Scoop mixture into ramekins, smooth over and run finger round the circumference of the ramekin.

·        Scoop the meringue mixture into a ramekin

·        Knock the ramekin on a flat surface to make sure mixture fills the whole ramekin

·        Smooth off excess with a palette knife

·        Turn the ramekin to run a finger around the circumference

·        Lick what is left off your finger for a taste test or just because you like it

7.  Put in the oven for 8 minutes in 160C.

Tips:

• Make sure the puree is dried out like a paste. 
• When mixing the puree with meringue, scoop out about a third of the meringue into the puree and mix until well combined. This step is needed to make sure the other 2/3 of the meringue keeps it lightness and air.
• Fold the meringue gently until just combined, be careful not to over mix it. 

Hope these tips help.

**Am I now confident at making my own soufflé at home? I think I am definitely more convinced so, stay tuned for a post on my soufflé attempt soon!

Underground Cookery School

The school offers fun cookery classes for team building events, private parties and hen parties.

201/203 City Road

EC1V 1JN
London, UK.

Tel: +44 (0)20 7251 6298

Nearest station: Old Street (northern line)

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Rick Stein's Turmeric-Marinated Chicken Wrapped in Lime Leaves

The appetising look of this dish caught my eye while flipping through Rick Stein's cookbook. I really like how this recipe has made use of the very fragrant kaffir lime leaves to wrap the chicken to keep moist and from burning. This is a dish made by a Frenchman who lives in Hanoi since the mid-1980s, so he is pretty much local. He made this dish for Rick Stein during his visit in Vietnam.

This recipe is best cooked on a barbecue but cooking on a pan or grill on the stove will still taste as amazing, only without the smokiness from the charcoal barbecue. 

Turmeric-marinated Chicken Wrapped in Lime Leaves

Adapted from Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1kg skinned boneless chicken thighs
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice (about 1 lime)
• 3 bird's eye chilli, finely chopped
• 2 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 40 double-lobed kaffir lime leaves
• Vegetable oil
• Bamboo skewers

• Vietnamese dipping sauce (Nuoc Cham) - recipe below

Method:

1.  Cut the chicken thighs to about 2.5cm cubes.

2.  Mix the turmeric, fish sauce, lime juice, chopped chilli, shallots and white pepper in a bowl.

3.  Add chicken into the bowl and stir well.

4.  Cover and leave to marinate for about 2 hours or more.

5.  Meanwhile, soak the bamboo skewers in cold water and prepare the dipping sauce (recipe below).

6.  When the marinated chicken is ready, wrap each piece of chicken with lime leaf and thread through the bamboo skewers.

7.  Brush the skewered chicken with some oil and barbeque or grill for about 3 minutes on each side until just cooked. Careful not to burn them.

8.  Place the cooked chicken skewers on a plate and serve with Nuoc Cham dipping sauce. 

Nuoc Cham:

Recipe (doubled) from Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp lime juice (about 2 lime)
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp palm sugar
• 2 tsp chopped ginger
• 2  bird's eye chilli, finely sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 tbs water

Method:

1.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl and divide into dipping saucers before serving.

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