Buttery Cajun Prawns

This super easy dish is surprisingly more scrumptious than I expected and it turned out to be a big hit in my family..:) Couldn't be happier to find such a simple yet wonderful dish that my loved ones enjoy eating it!


The recipe ( 2 servings )

Ingredients :

3-400 g  large prawns peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon cajun seasoning
80 g unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
a sqeeze of lemon juice to taste
1/3 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions :

Lightly season prawns with cajun seasoning. Heat about 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in skillet. Sauté for about 3-5 minutes until the prawns just cooked.
Add remaining butter, followed by garlic stir for about a minute or until fragrant.
Then add, paprika, thyme, oregano, lemon juice and chicken broth,
Bring it to a boil then simmer for about 2-3 minutes.
Toss in the prawns and cilantro , then adjust for salt and pepper. Serve with rice and  some vegetables.

Dr.Pepper Pulled Brisket

I've found this recipe somewhere on bloglovin and loved to give it a try since I had never played with Dr.Pepper on my cooking era and Saturday is the best time to serve the family such a lovely meal like this..:)

Dr Pepper pulled brisket

1 (2 pound) brisket, first cut
salt & black pepper to season
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/2 cup Dr. Pepper
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
2 teaspoons paprika

Sprinkle the brisket on both sides with salt and pepper, place in a roasting pan fat side up, and allow to come to room temperature.

To make the sauce, place in a blender or food processor the onion, garlic, chipotle chiles, 1/4 cup of the Dr Pepper, ketchup, mustard, molasses, Worcestershire, paprika. Puree until smooth, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Lift up the brisket and pour half the sauce into the bottom of the pan. Place the brisket, fat side up, on top of the sauce, pour in the remaining 1/4 cup of Dr Pepper, then pour the rest of the sauce over the brisket.

Cover the pan tightly with foil. Place the pan in the oven and cook 3-3.30 hours or one hour and fifteen minutes per pound. At this point, you’ll want to test it to see if it’s fork tender. To do this, remove the pan from the oven and carefully pull back the foil as a lot of steam will escape. If you can easily stick a fork into then it’s done. If not, continue to cook it covered until it is fork tender, checking it every 20 minutes.

Once done, remove the pan from the oven, peel back the foil, and gently lift the brisket out of the pan into a large mixing bowl or baking dish, so when you shred it you won’t lose any juices. Allow the brisket to rest for 30 minutes. Shred the brisket in the large bowl with two forks. Pour the sauce over the brisket and toss well to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the pulled brisket with warm tortillas and salsa for tacos. I also had some shredded iceberg and grated cheddar served along..

Strawberry & Almond Cheesecake Sponge

My attention was totally caught by the cover photo of the lastest issue of BBC Goodfood magazine and after looking through the recipe, I was determined to make it and of course, it must be sooner rather than later !

I'd recommend this one if you like cheesecake that is not too rich and dense. I could say the cake is a great combination of everything in it !


The recipe ( slightly adpated from the original in the magazine )

Ingredients :

175g soft butter

200g caster sugar ( the original calls for 250g )

4 large eggs

200g self-raising flour

50g ground almonds

75g full-fat natural yoghurt

2 tsp vanilla extract

250g strawberries, hulled and sliced

Handful flaked, toasted almonds

For the cheesecake blobs

200g full-fat cream cheese

20g caster sugar ( 25g for the original )

1 large egg

Method

Heat the oven to 180C and grease and line the base of a 23cm cake tin.

Begin by mixing the ingredients for the cheesecake ‘blobs’ in a bowl but be careful not to over mix as it will just become runny very quickly.

In a separate large mixing bowl, add your butter, sugar, eggs, flour, ground almonds, yoghurt, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Beat the mixture together until it has a smooth consistency.

Scrape half of this mixture into your cake tin and flatten out as best you can. Scatter with half your strawberries and then dollop on blobs of half of your cream cheese mixture.

Pour on the remaining cake mixture but try to be as careful as possibly not to disturb your strawberries or cream cheese.

Scatter on your remaining strawberries and dollop on the remaining cheesecake mixture before scattering on the top a handful of flaked almonds.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.

Cool for 20 minutes in the tin before turning out.

Delicious warm or cold.

Prawn & Farro Salad

I've seen a few recipes using farro and was so keen to give them a try but I couldn't find farro in any supermarkets I normally shop for food & groceries. Fortunately, I finally came across it in a wholesale shop where I happened to walk in to look around to kill my time before lunch..Bingo!

This is one of farro recipes I was determinded to try..not only it's easy to make but also it's such a healthy dish that can make you a beautiful meal for either lunch or dinner !

The recipe could be found here.

    

Harira..Moroccan Lamb & Lentil Soup

This dish is the winner for a Saturday dinner of the week chosen by my hubby and it totally didn't let us down !

The recipe could be found here ( I added  more spices into the stew than the recipe calls for and cooked it in the oven instead of stove-top )

HK Style Cake Wrapped in Paper Cups

It's been a while since my last post which it's not because I stopped or gave up on baking or cooking.. simple yet classic reason is that I just had been far too lazy to update or post them on my blog ! Now it's time to show something that is totally worth my time writing about it and share with you all here..

Let's start with this plain and easy cake which is one of signature Hong Kong baked goods that you can't find from anywhere else in the world ! I made it more delicious by serving along with slightly sweet whipped cream , strawberries and jam sauce..Haven !


The recipe ( adapted from here )

Ingredients:

5 eggs
50 grams canola oil
60 ml milk
100 grams cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
80 grams sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar


Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Separate the egg yolks and the egg whites. Mix the oil , egg yolks, milk, half of suger and vanilla in a bowl until combined.

2. In seperate bowl, sift the flour & salt, Add the egg yolk mixture into it and mix quickly and throughly until incorporated the set aside.  Use an electrical mixer to beat egg whites and cream of tartar until bubbles formed then add the remaining sugar one tablespoon at a time and mix until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into the flour mixture gently with a rubber spatula just until all ingredients are incorporated. Do not stir or beat. For a better result, fold in egg whites with small amount at a time for 3 times.

3. Pour the batter into cup cake molds that are already lined with baking paper. Bake at 180C for 20 to 25 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if the cakes are done. If the toothpick comes out of the cake clean, then they’re ready. Allow the cakes to cool for a minute or two in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with some lightly sweet whipped cream and strawberries.

Panettone Pudding

I've been buying Panettone for years during Christmas season for both giving away and eating by ourselves. This year, I did the same but for some reason, I couldn't manage to finish it all up while it's reaching the expiry date !

Luckily, there's an event that came in time to rescue me for not throwing it away!

The recipe could be found here.

Almond & Orange Madeleines

I bought madeleine mold a while ago and made it few times using different recipes but all of them are quite similar. This one is interesting to me cuz it uses a different method to prepare a batter...

Chocolate & Rum Cream Pie

I've spotted the original recipe which is called 'chocolate & whiskey cream pie'  on facebook and what convinced me to give it a try is , of course, the booze called for !

The thing is that I don't have any whiskey in hand but this problem was easily solved cuz I have other kinds of alcohol to substitute it and I ended up modifying the recipe a bit to make my own version. Good news is that this pie turned out to be a big hit among my victims..:)

The recipe :

Crust

137g Oreo cookies ( stuffing removed )
35g  Melted unsalted butter

Filling

100ml  Milk
65ml  Whipping cream
130g Dark chocolate (70% cocoa mass)
25g Brown sugar
20g Caster sugar
10g Corn flour/startch
25ml Dark rum
1 Egg yolk

Topping ( I used only 2/3 of it )

175ml Whipping cream
45g Plain yogurt
20g  Icing sugar
1tsp Vanilla extract
Shaved Dark chocolate to sprinkle on top


Method :

Place the Oreo cookies in the food processor and process until fine crumbs. Add the butter and mix throughly, then spread and press down on 18 cm tart pan ( removable bottom ), bake for 10-12 mins in the preheated oven ( 180c ). Leave to completely cool.

Whisk together the yolk, rum, corn flour, caster sugar and brown sugar in a medium bowl, heat the milk and the whipping cream in a saucepan until hot but not boiled , slowly pour the hot milk and cream mixture into the bowl, whisk all the time, until fully combine.
Transfer back to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to boil.

Take the saucepan out of the heat, pour the chocolate into the saucepan, whisk slowly until combine. Pour it onto the cooled crust and spread over evenly. Leave to cool outside before refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm. ( I left it overnight in the fridge. )

Whip the whipping cream, plain yogurt and icing sugar together until soft peaks formed.
Spoon over the filling and sprinkle with some shaved /grated dark chocolate , let it set in the fridge for few hours before slicing and serve.

Chocolate Orange Almond Biscotti

I've recently spotted this Italian cookie from a few blogs using different recipes and they kind of remind me how long it's been since my last try on making one!

The version I made this time is not from those recipes I've found on foodblogs. Instead, I picked it over the results from google search and what made it the winner is only the booze the recipe calls for! I am always convinced whenever there's alcohol involved..lol

The recipe could be found here.

Chocolate Oatmeal Scotchie Bars

I had few hours to kill the other day before meeting with my friends..so nothing is better than baking and bring along some of them to share!


I've recently found these bars on blogoving and honestly, I had a doubt if it's gonna be a good mixture between the three ( chocolate ,oatmeal and butterscotch chips ) ingredients..so I gave it a try and here's truth to be told..even though it's not the best bars I've ever made or eaten but it's far too good to be left behind !!


The recipe could be found here. ( Note : I used 9*9 square tin, the bars are, therefore, thicker than the original )

Indian Chicken Curry

I'd normally plan and choose a kind of meat/seafood to cook for a weekend meal ( especially on Saturday when I have more time to prepare and cook than weekdays ) , then make a decision what cuisine or recipe I'd go for !

This weekend, my choice was chicken and the winner recipe is this Indian curry that I've found in the latest issue of Bon Appetit magazine...It's a simple yet scrumptious dish that doesn't require anything but some cooking time !

The recipe could be found here.