Pork and Chickpea Curry

Recently, I've intendedly cooked something that can be frozen and stocked in hand to be used as an emergency meal or whenever I don't feel like cooking and this pork curry happened to be the case.Although it needs some time to be done but it's very easy to make, yet provides a fabulous outcome...if you have time, then it's really worth your try!

The recipe could be found here.

Earl Grey French Blue Pound Cake

While my (English) husband can't live without tea, I , on the other hand,  rarely drink or fancy any kind of it but the Mariage Freres's earl grey french blue is an exception! I unintendedly tried it for the first time at a luxury coffee shop in Bangkok a few years ago and both of my husband and me have surprisingly been falling in love and raving about it ever since !

Luckily, one of my best and eldest friends, who is always nice and thoughtful, happened to know that the tea is our favorite, so she has been supplying us the tea all year round and when I saw the cake on this site, I immediately wanted to give it a try using my favorite earl grey french blue!

The recipe could be found here.

Apple Sharlotka

It's been a school break during Chinese New Year and we didn't go away as usual since my husband has been recovering from his ankle operation...Honestly, it's a bit boring to stay in without doing much of fun things but at least I have more time to keep myself entertained with cooking and baking!

This apple cake simply attracted me with its lovely name and even more when I finished reading the whole post...the only effort I had to make for this cake is driving out to buy some apples!!

The recipe could be found here.

Roasted Garlic Biscuits

The local bakery shop where I always buy garlic bread from is closed due to Chinese New Year and I didn't realise that until this morning when I saw the door completely shut along with the message written in Chinese which I guessed telling they were closed!

Back home without a piece of garlic bread,  I then had to look for something to make to serve my husband along with a soup for his lunch as planned and finally ended up with this biscuit !

I made only half of the recipe and got five pieces of biscuit out of the dough which four of them was gone into my hubby's tummy...so you can easily guess how good the biscuit is!..:)

The recipe is from here.   

Angel Biscuits

Don't let the title post fool you! This biscuit is certainly not representative of me ..neither pretty as angel nor yummy as biscuit..lol. The name is just what it's called for some reason that I didn't really bother to find out why...what made me interested is that it calls for yeast as one of leavening agents apart from baking powder and baking soda which is different from other normal biscuits do!

Kung Poa Prawn

I've seen lots of kung pao dishes posted here and there but given all recipes contain either peanut or cashew nut that my husband who's the one that eats most of my cooked food doesn't like any kind of nut,so I didn't really bother to make it on purpose!

Anyway, I've recently cooked more often than I'd done in the past because I wanna try cooking something new and interesting to myself..so I decided to make it and intendedly ignored my husband's fondness..knowing he has no choice but eat it! What a good wife I am! LOL

The recipe I've used is from here.

   

Cornmeal and Black Peppercorn Crackers

I like crackers but those store-bought ones are not what I really fancy ,so the best solution I've found is to make them by myself whenever I feel like eating or baking something plain..easy and quick! Thanks google for finding everything I look for..:)

This cracker contains cornmeal, one of my favorite ingredients that I don't have much chance to use it for cooking or baking. The original recipe calls for green peppercorn which I don't have in hand , so I used black pepper as a substitute and what I've got is mildly spicy and chewy ( from cornmeal ), yet crispy cracker that is perfectly fitted my perference!!

The recipe could be found here.

Roasted Red Curry Chicken

Since the new year has started, I've been cooking different kinds of dishes using and trying new recipes which makes me have a lot of fun and excited to get response and comments from my tasters!

This chicken dish is very easy to make but it needs time for marinating. Honestly speaking, when I prepared the dish,I didn't really think or expect that it would be a satisfying meal but it surprisingly turned out so good..in fact, truly scrumptious!

This is what I've done :

5 boneless chicken legs, skin on
3 garlic cloves, crushed
a tbsp grated ginger
a pack of Thai red curry paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
3-4 tsp light muscovado sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 fennel bulbs, sliced into wedges
half red onion, sliced into wedges
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into thick slices
a few tbsp olive oil

Method:

Combine the 2-6 ingredients and rub the paste on the chicken pieces then let it marinated in the fridge for overnight.

Heat oven to 190 c. Put the marinated chicken , fennel, onion and pepper into a roasting tin. Pour over olive oil and toss everything to be coated with the oil and marinate. Roast uncovered for 35-40 minutes. Serve the chicken with the veg and rice... enjoy!!

  

Granola Cookies

I love oat but don't eat much of granola neither as a breakfast or snack because it's far too sweet  for my own preference. Anyway, when I've found this gorgeous cookie on here, I was so tempted to think that it would be a great way and chance to enjoy eating granola..it's not just that the recipe is from Dorie Greenspan, one of my favourite chefs but even better because it's made along with a few of other ingredients I fancy!

Btw, I made a few changes to the recipe and fortunately, I still got a wonderful outcome which I dare to say that this is one of the best and healthiest cookies I've ever made!!!

Here is my version..

3 1/2 cups granola with raisin and almond
1/4 cup raisins
½ cup cashew nuts
½ scant cup sliced almonds
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup flaxseed powder
14 tablespoons (7 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 scant cup mixture of light brown sugar + caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats; set aside.

2. Put the granola in a large bowl and break up any clumps with your fingers. Add the raisins, cashew nuts, almonds, coconut and flaxseed powder and mix together.

3. With an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until creamy. Add the egg, vanilla and salt and beat until well blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated, then steadily add the granola mixture. Stop the mixer when most of the granola mixture is blended into the batter and finish the job with a sturdy rubber spatula, making sure to get up any bits of dry ingredients left in the bottom of the bowl.

4. Scoop out about two tablespoonfuls of dough, pack the scoops between your palms and arrange the mounds on the baking sheets. Flatten the mounds lightly with your fingertips.

5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies should be golden brown but not firm. Allow them to rest on the sheets for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool to room temperature. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.