Jam tart rolls

I always think of jam tarts as my favourite Chinese New Year delicacy, since I only have them once a year. It's one of the must-haves for our home and also as a giveaway to the relatives. We normally bake these yummies in little basket-like forms, but this year mom and I got lazy and decided to make rolls instead. It was a family effort this time around with the brother pumping out strips of pastry, me filling them up with jam and rolling them up, mom popping them in and out of the oven, and the sister-in-law packing up the baked rolls.
What an awesome family fun-filled afternoon!

The beauty about jam tarts/rolls, is basically the melt-in-your-mouth pastries (the shorter they are, the more delicious) and the jam. Unfortunately cooking the jam is the most time-consuming because they need to be prepared beforehand. On the bright side, yummy jam rolls are always worth the effort. :)

Ingredients:
For the jam:
2 small pineapples, chopped up into small pieces
10 Tbsp caster sugar

For the pastry:
250g flour
225g butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
4 Tbsp icing sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 egg yolk and 1 Tbsp milk (beaten - used for egg wash)

Directions:

To make the jam:
1. Put the chopped pineapples into a food processor until everything is well crushed.
2. Add the mushed up pineapples into a wok. Add sugar and cook on medium heat until the liquid is well evaporated, stirring constantly so as not to burn the jam.
3. Let it cook until the jam has thickened, and leave to cool. If pre-preparing the jam, pop it into a airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

To make the pastry:
1. Sieve the flour, corn starch, salt and icing sugar. Then set aside.
2. Add in the butter in the flour mixture, cut into tiny pieces. Use fingers to rub in until mixture is fine and crumbly.
3. Add in egg yolks and lightly knead until well combined.
4. Put dough into pastry press, and pipe out the dough into long strips.
5. Place a teaspoon full of pineapple jam and roll up pastry until enough to enclose the jam filling. Line them on baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush the top with egg wash.
6. Preheat oven to 175 C and bake for 20 mins or until the surface turns golden brown.

Chinese New Year goodies

In anticipation for Chinese New Year, the biscotti frenzy has hit my kitchen again and I've been a busy baker making these to give away to the relatives. :) Biscotti isn't common and not very much appropriate but hey a change is good once in a while.

Chicken and mushroom quesadilla

Quesadillas make me think about Texas. A LOT.
Quesadillas are one of my favourite Tex-mex food of all time (I love them even more than baby back ribs and beef briskets), unrivalled only by crispy tacos. Thinking about them makes me miss my neighbourhood cafe in Austin - Magnolia cafe, which I think serves the best quesadillas around.

Today I had the honour of cooking lunch for my bestie who came to spend an afternoon with me. And since she likes anything cheese, eggs and mushroom, the thing that came to my mind was quesadillas. They are easy to prepare, healthy and nutritious, and they are super yummy. And I must add that it helped that I was craving some Tex-mex too.

Quesadillas (queso in Spanish means cheese) are essentially toasted tortillas with melted cheese inside. I added grilled chicken, sauteed onions and mushroom, and chopped tomatoes in mine. You can easily switch to whatever fillings to suit your taste or you can even use whatever ingredients that are available in your fridge. Ideally quesadillas taste best served with sour cream, guacamole or even salsa, but unfortunately I didn't have any at the moment.

Ingredients:
One pack flour tortillas
2 large onions, finely sliced
Sliced mushroom (I used 5 baby bellas)
1 fillet chicken breast meat
2 tomatoes, diced
Olive oil
Grated cheddar and mozzarella, but basically any type of cheese would taste just as good
Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Wash the chicken fillet well and blot dry with paper towels. Marinade with salt and pepper. Grill on medium heat until well cooked. Transfer the chicken to the cutting board and chop into tiny bite-sized cubes.
2. Saute the onions and mushrooms until the onions are somewhat caramelized and the mushroom is well cooked.

3. Heat up a frying pan to medium high heat and place one tortilla on the pan. Flip the tortilla over a few times until it is warm on both sides.
4. Sprinkle a handful of grated cheese over half of the tortilla, followed by the onions and mushroom, chicken pieces and tomatoes, and then sprinkle a little bit more grated cheese on top. Be careful not to layer too much ingredients too thickly because you don't want the filling to overflow.
5. Fold the tortilla into half, just like a sandwich. Use a frying pan to press the top of the folded tortilla flat. Flip it over to brown the other side. Be careful not too leave it too long on each side because the tortillas burn easily. 
6. Remove from pan and cut into wedges. Serve with sour cream, guacamole and salsa.

New York style cheesecake cupcakes

For a BBQ party that I'm attending tomorrow night, I was given the task of bringing dessert. I'm the designated dessert lady, so says my friend, so I find expectations running high and it's a little intimidating. That said, I'm so excited about this major food fest because there seems to be so many different types of yummy food on the menu!

I was cracking my head today about what dessert I should make, and it had to be something that I've tried and tested working. My choices were between a mousse, panna cotta or a cheesecake. The cheesecake obviously won because it is something that I'm most familiar with baking plus a simple cheesecake would be fast to bake. And with all the meat that I'm expecting, I thought that a little lemon would definitely be refreshing.

I made a New York style cheesecake based on an adaptation from the Joy of Baking website. I hope my decadent little cuppies are a hit!

Ingredients: (Yields about 12-15 cupcakes)
For the crust:
1 cup digestive crumbs
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
A handful of almond flakes, lightly toasted

For the filling:
2 packets of cream cheese (8oz x 2)
2/3 cups granulated white sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 160C. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. For the base, combine the biscuit crumbs, melted butter, almond and sugar. Stir together until well blended and all  the ingredients are moistened. Press about 1 Tbsp of the mixture into the bottom of the cupcake liner. Pop the tray into the refrigerator while preparing the filling.
3. For the filling, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until creamy and smooth. Add in the salt and sugar, and beat till combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4. Add in the lemon zest, vanilla extract and sour cream. Continue beating until incorporated.
5. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust, divide the filling among the muffin cups.
6. Bake at 150C until filling is set, for about 25 minutes. The cakes have to feel firm even though the centers may wobble a little. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let the cakes cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap or keep the cakes in a covered container and refrigerate overnight.
7. Serve cold with fresh fruits.

Hainanese chicken rice

I'm not the best cook around and I know many other people who are better cooks than I am (some are men to boot, which I have to admit makes me feel rather embarrassed). In the quest to be less of a klutz in the kitchen and also as my resolution this year, I'm going to learn how to cook proper dishes instead of the usual cakes that I like to bake - You know, the kind of food that makes a well-balanced meal instead of just being sweets and desserts.

I love a good chicken rice. Who doesn't, right? It's one of the first few dishes that come to my mind when I think of a one-dish rice meal.
The menu for Sunday dinner tonight was Hainanese chicken rice, served with soup. Okay I admit that I much prefer the roasted version instead of this one, but it's still good fun to cook and even more fun to see my family enjoying the food I cook. :)

Ingredients:
Preparing the chicken:
3 big drumsticks
1 tsp salt
Sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, and spring onions for garnishing
Soy sauce

Preparing the rice:
1 1/2 cups long-grained rice
2 Tbsp cooking oil
10g finely sliced young ginger
10g garlic, chopped
10g shallots, chopped
1/2 Tbsp salt
1/2 Tbsp chicken stock granule
Chicken stock
5 blades pandan leaf, knotted

Directions:
Preparing the chicken:
1. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Rub salt all over the chicken skin to season it. Let it marinade for about 15 minutes.
2. Put the chicken into a pot of boiling water, cover and bring to boil.
3. Remove the pot from heat and leave the chicken to soak in the water for about 45 minutes. Dish up the chicken and soak it in cool water immediately for about 20 minutes until cool. Plunging the chicken into cold water stops the cooking process immediately and it makes the chicken meat tighter and more firm.
Remember not to throw away the chicken stock because you will need it to cook the rice.
4. Remove and drain the chicken from the water, and chop up the chicken into pieces.
5. Garnish with cucumbers, tomatoes and spring onions. Add a dash of soy sauce for some taste.

Preparing the rice:
1. Rinse the rice and drain well.
2. Saute the garlic, ginger and shallots until fragrant. Add in the rice and the salt and chicken stock granule, continue stir-frying until the rice looks almost translucent.
3. Transfer the rice into the rice cooker. Add in the chicken stock (that was used to boil the chicken) and pandan leaves, cook until done.

I served my chicken rice with salted mustard leave (kiam chye) tofu soup. I like that the salty and sweet nature of this soup compliments any rice dish really well.

Fruit custard tartlet

For a new years' day potluck party for 15 people today, I made some fruit custard tartlets with a shortbread crust as my contribution. It's a no brainer for me to prepare what I prepare best (and that is dessert), and I wanted something that didn't require too much fuss to prepare yet will look good being arranged out on the table (for photography sake). Tartlets are the perfect little bite for the sweet tooth, and topped with fruits, it adds a little bit of nutritional value.

Ingredients:
The shortbread crust: (Yields about 35 tartlets)
4 oz flour
4 oz rice flour
2 oz caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
4 oz margarine

The filling: (Similar to the blanc mange recipe)
8 oz milk
2 Tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp essence
1 oz sugar

The topping:
Any type of fruits actually. There are no restrictions to the type of fruits to use and here, I used kiwi and grape, cut into small quarters. I chose the fruits mainly for the colours because the green and the maroon create a contrast with my custard yellow.

Directions:

To prepare the shortbread crust:
1. Add the margarine with the flour and sugar. Cut up the margarine into tiny little chunks.
2. Use fingers to rub in the mixture.
3. Once everything is rubbed in and looking like breadcrumbs, add in the vanilla essence and lightly knead until the dough holds together.
4. Flour table surface and roll the dough until it is a thin layer. Use a tart cutter to cut out shapes, press into molds.
5. Bake at 165C for about 45 minutes, or until the shortbread starts to brown and then remove from oven to cool. While cooling, prepare the custard mix.

To prepare the custard: (Similar to the blanc mange recipe)
1. Blend cornflour with a little milk. Place remainder of milk to heat.
2. Remove from fire and pour the heated milk over the blended cornflour. Remember to keep on stirring all the time.
3. Return to stove and stir over fire till boiling. Let the mixture boil for 3-5 minutes. Keep on stirring.
4. Add sugar and flavouring (if needed). Pour into the crust.
5. Assemble tartlets with cut fruits. Remember to move quickly to arrange the fruits because the custard solidifies really fast.

And here we are, perfect fruit tartlets for a new year's day party. I love how the festive colours brighten up the little tarts!