Classic Pomodoro

My husband and I always have problem on week-ends as to whether we should eat in or out. He'll say "no worries dear, anything is fine with me - eat out is easier, then you won't have to cook". But even with eating out, we can't decide where .... can be frustrating at times!

The beauty of pasta is that from such a simple dish, an infinite variety of meals can be made. It adapts as easily to quick sauces as it does to long-simmering, thick ragus. This week-end I decided on a simple tomato base recipe. I used penne for this recipe.

We had recently gone for a health screening test and my husband's results came back showing that his cholestral level was above the maximum range. This is not good. The doctor said he's got to watch his diet and do more exercise.

I tweeked the original recipe a bit by added 150gm diced bacon, an additional onion, slightly more garlic (both of us love garlic), a cupful of sliced button mushrooms and a cupful of green peppers. The original recipe is as below.

Ingredients:

60 mil (1/4 cup) olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 x 400g (14 oz) cans chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste (puree) - add more if desired

bouquet garni (or you could use mixed Italian dried herbs)

3 tableshpoon torn basil leaves

freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve (optional)

Method:

1) Heat oil in a deep frying pan and cook the onion over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds before adding the tomato, tomato paste, bouquet garni and some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce thickens, stirring occassionally. Add the basil and if the sauce is too tart, a pinch of salt. Remove the bouquet garni.

2) Toss through the pasta and serve with grated Parmesan, if desired.

Variation:

To make a tomato and cream sauce, stir in 125 ml (1/2 cup) cream after removing the bouquet garni and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Raspberry Swiss Roll

I was in a baking mood tonight!

I guess non-bakers will be surprised as to how I can gather enough energy after a full day's work in the office - 8am to 6pm, and then put in another hour or 2 in the kitchen. I even managed to include 30 minutes to walk my 2 doggies prior to baking. They were certainly happy that "mum" was in a upbeat mood tonight!

This evening I contemplated between doing cupcakes or something easier - with less cleaning after that. I hate washing up ... I really do! So I picked the 2nd option and decided to try a swiss roll. I've never done one before and didn't even know where to start. But then again I'm always up for a challenge.

I browsed the internet (what would we do without the internet!) when I got home to search for a raspberry swiss roll recipe ... don't forget I still have quite a bit of raspberries left over from my previous two baking escapades. All the recipes that I came across had similar ingredients and method of preparation.

I must say that I was very pleased with the outcome .. it was light and the raspberries went very well with the sponge cake. I'm certainly going to try variations of this in the future. For the filing, I used 1 cup frozen raspberries, added 1/2 cup sugar and brought it to a slow simmer until the sauce thicken a bit. I added about 1 teaspoon of cornstarch to further thicken the jam.




Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tspn vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose
1 tspn baking powder
1/4 tspn salt
Powdered Confectioner's sugar - for dusting
2/3 cup spreadable raspberry jelly/jam (or any other filling of your choice)

Method:

1) Heat oven to 375 deg F.

2) Line a baking pan, preferably (15 × 10 × 1) inches, with cooking parchment paper or aluminum foil. Spray with non-stick cooking spray or brush with melted butter.

3) Beat eggs in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed for about 5 minutes or until very thick and lemon colored.

4) Gradually beat in the granulated sugar.

5) Beat in water and vanilla on low speed.

6) Finally add the flour, baking powder and salt, beating just until batter is smooth.

7) Pour into the prepared pan, spreading out well to form a thin even layer. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (NOT MORE) until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

8) Spread a clean kitchen towel on the platform and sprinkle some powdered sugar on it. Now loosen the edges of the cake, then turn the whole pan upside down upon the towel. Carefully remove the paper from the top.

9) Trim off the hard edges of the cake, and while its hot, carefully roll cake lengthwise from one end to the other. Keep the roll as tight as possible, but apply very little pressure so as not to crack the cake a lot.

10) Refrigerate the rolled cake for about 30 minutes. Remove the cake from fridge and unroll it gently and remove the towel.

11) Beat the raspberry jelly/jam slightly to soften; it's better to use a spreadable jelly. Now spread it evenly over the cake. Do NOT use a lot of jelly as it would ooze out of the cake once you finish rolling it up again. Now again roll up the cake, which should be fairly easier this time.

12) Serve with a dusting of icing sugar. If not serving immediately, place roll in the refrigerator - dust with icing sugar only when ready to serve.

Check out below clip:

Gum Paste Roses

I'd realise that Singapore weather is really not friendly at all to fondant. The fondant roses that I had made previously started to melt the very next day. I guess it didn't help as well as end April - early May was reported to be the hottest days (33 Celsius) since beginning of the year. Furthermore we're not getting much reprieve until June, which also happens to the the hottest month in the year.

The alternative would be to use gum paste. Although gum paste does have sugar it's really not edible. But it was really easy to work with and mould the roses. Here's some pictures of the end result ... I thought it was so much better than my earlier attempt and will be trying my hand at other creations.

Homemade Black Coffee Jelly

My hubby and I are both coffee lovers. We can easily drink 2 to 3 cups each on week-ends and coffee is such a versatile ingredient used in desserts - cakes, ice-cream, jelly ......

I even tried using it as a potpurri in my wardrobe ... my clothes ended up having a faint coffee smell after a few days. I abandoned the idea after that ... haha!

Any way I decided to try my hand at dishing out a coffee jelly dessert - as if I have not had enough of cafine! I've not had this dessert for a long long time ... probably more than a year ago at Coffee Bean. I'm not even sure if it's still on their menu now.

It's so easy to put together and can be whiffed up within 15 minutes. Pair it off with a good vanilla ice-cream and you'll have an elegant dessert to serve up to your guests. I omitted adding the liquer.

Homemade Black Coffee Jelly

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

2 cups (500 ml) strong black coffee

1/4 cup sugar

4 tsp gelatine

1 tbsp rum or liqueur

Method:

1) Put the coffee, except for 2 tbsp and sugar into a saucepan, and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Cool.

2) Soften the gelatine in the reserved coffee in a small heatproof container.

3) Stand the container in a pan of hot water and stir until dissolved.

4) Add the rum or liqueur. Strain into a wetted mould and leave in fridge for 1-2 hours to set. When ready for serving, turn out on to a plate and decorate with whipped cream. Alternatively you can serve it with a good vanilla ice-cream.

Bittersweet Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cupcakes

I had more than 3/4 packet of frozen raspberries left which I had bought for an earlier cake for my Wilton class. Rather than let it continue sitting in my freezer, I decided to use some in a chocolate cupcake recipe.

What a great combination this would be .... imagine the sweet sourness of raspberries infused with bitter chocolate! It's a definite win-win combination!

And what a way to get my chocolate fix on a lazy Sunday afternoon!

Hmmm. also how convenient that I happened to have some left over buttercream icing which I coloured in a light pink colour for the topping, just the right colour to pair off with the dark chocolate and the redness of the raspberries. I decided to keep the icing simple as the main actors are after all the bittersweet chocolate and raspberries.

Bittersweet Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cupcakes
Makes/Serves: 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:

8 ounces 60% cocoa bittersweet chocolate, divided
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup Clover Honey*
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 pint raspberries

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350°F.

2) Cut 2 ounces of chocolate into 18 pieces; set aside.

3) Place 6 ounces of coarsely chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe dish. Microwave 30 seconds on high; stir well. Microwave 30 seconds more on high and stir until all lumps are gone. If more melting is necessary, microwave in 10-second increments and stir until all lumps are gone. Chocolate should not become too warm.

4) Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

5) In a mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Add honey and melted chocolate; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time.

6) Add half of the reserved dry ingredients to the butter mixture; mix on low until just combined.

7) With mixer running on low, slowly add the buttermilk. Add remaining dry ingredients until just combined.

8) Place a tablespoon of batter in the bottom of each paper-lined muffin tin. Add one piece of chocolate and 2 to 3 raspberries to each cup. Fill muffin tins two-thirds full with remaining batter.

9) Bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove to wire rack; cool. Frost with Bittersweet Chocolate Frosting, if desired.

Bittersweet Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Clover Honey*
8 ounces 60% cocoa bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam, optional

Directions:

1) Combine honey and chocolate in a medium bowl, set aside. In small, heavy pan, heat whipping cream over medium heat until bubbles just begin to form. Pour over honey-chocolate mixture and allow to stand for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth; cool. Refrigerate until chilled, 1 to 2 hours.

2) With an electric mixer, beat chocolate mixture until frosting is fluffy.

*Any mild-flavored honey such as Clover may be used.

Baked Donuts

Who doesn't like donuts .... not any one that I can think of.

Donuts seems to be latest craze in Singapore. I remember the very 1st donut shop which opened up in Singapore. It's called Donut Factory. Their donuts came with all sorts of toppings - they even had a wasabi donut. Who would have ever thought of adding this to a pastry!

Customers would line up for an average of one hour just to buy a dozen or two of these goodies. The queques put me off and I only managed to gather some patience to join a Q after more than a year .... by then other donut shops started popping up all over the island!

But just think, donuts are fried ... is this healthy?? Hmmmm .... I guess having 1 or 2 a week ain't that bad right??

So ever thought of having a baked version - it'll definitely be much healthier but will it taste good? So when I came across this recipe whilst browsing through Tartelette's blog - it looked yummy from the pictures -I decided I must give it a try. The donuts turned out more bread-like texture than actual fried donuts. It tasted pretty good fresh from the oven, especially with a sprinkling of sugar and lots of cinnamon!



Baked Donuts
(adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees (divided)
1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Method

1) Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer.

2) Stir in the yeast and sugar and set aside for five minutes or so to let it proof.

3) Stir the butter into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture.

4) With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt - just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. Adjust the dough texture by adding flour a few tablepsoons at a time or more milk. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth.

5) Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.

6) Transfer the dough to a buttered (or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place, and let rise for an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

7) Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. With a 2-3 inch cookie cutter, stamp out circles in the dough . Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. If you cut the inner holes out any earlier, they become distorted when you attempt to move them. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.

8) Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes - start checking around 8 mins.

9) While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

10) Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. Dip each one in the melted butter and a quick toss in the sugar bowl. Eat immediately if not sooner.Makes 1 1/2 - makes about 2 dozen medium doughnuts.

My New Oven

I am today the proud owner of a new 42L Delonghi table top oven. I've been contemplating over the last couple of months on getting a bigger oven to replace my 20L Tefal oven which is 5+ years already. My current oven is still in good running order except that it only allows me to bake a maximum of 6 cupcakes any one time ... so you can image how long it takes for me to churn out 2 dozen of these treats ....

Today I made the final decision of going out and getting it ... no more "let me think about it ... maybe next month .... maybe when we move house ....maybe, maybe, maybe!"

My hubby and I went to Courts this afternoon which is a big electrical store not far from my home. I've already checked out a few ovens and nothing comes close to Delonghi in terms of size and function - further more it has an "oven fan" function which helps to circulate the internal heat evenly. Most ovens, including my current one, is hotter on one side ... my cupcakes turn out more gloden one side compared to the other.

The oven cost me $599 (Singapore Dollars) less 8% discount ... I think it's going to be worth every cent. We lugged it back in the car and immediately started to take it out of the box. Even my shitzu Milo lent a hand ... ooops I meant paw!



My hubby helped to re-arrange my kitchen counter-top. Since the new oven is almost twice the size of my Tefal, it's going to take up even more space in my already miniscule kitchen ... But after moving some things around, it's really not too bad! Can't wait for weekend to try it out ....

Here's a pic of my new oven .....

And putting the old Tefal to rest ... (R.I.P.)