Spicy Stir-fried Pumpkin with Thai Basil

It irritates me everytime I want to buy some food ( that I feel like eating ) from a shop and they happen to cook it in the way I don't like and I can't do anything but reluctantly except ! So, my simple solution is to cook it by myself..this way, I can do whatever I like and can add anything as much as I want..That's a reason why I prefer a homemade food to a store-bought one.

This pumpkin dish is the case...I'd been looking for a shop/restaurant that makes it to fit my preference but nowhere to be found, so the best way is to cook it by myself.. In my version, I use only few things to season it and the most important thing is to make sure it's spicy !  Now let's see how I normally cook the dish..

Ingredients :

Pumpkin ( I always use Japanese one cuz it's nicely sweet )

Hot / bird Thai chilies , smashed and chopped into pieces, divided

Few garlic cloves, crushed and coarsely chopped

A handful of Thai Basil ( horapa leaves )

Fish sauce, Soy sauce and Oyster sauce to season and taste

oil for frying

You may need some sugar to season if pumpkin is not that sweet

Method :

1. Heat oil in the frying pan. Add the garlic and some of the chilies to the pan and cook until fragant.

2. Add in the pumpkin along with some water and stir through. Put the lid on and leave until the pumpkin cooked ( and reached your fondness ) . Keep checking and stirring every few minutes and add more water if needed, make sure the water is not dry up and the pumpkin becomes burned.

3. When the pumpkin is cooked, season with fish sauce, soy sauce and oyster sauce to your taste. Finally, throw in the basil and the remaining chilies. Stir everything through quickly and off the heat and serve..

    


             

Triple Chocolate Bread Loaf

I made 6 attempts to bake a hot milk sponge cake within last two days but unfortunately, all failed to be successful and no doubt, I was really shaken by the result !!

Consequently, I felt I need to do something to regain a self-confidence in my baking skill, so I decided to make a bread which is one of things in my comfort zone and given there would be much much less chance to fail than making a cake!

Now speaking of this chocolate bread, what inspired me to make it is David Lebovitz's chocolate bread posted on his site. In the first place, I actually intended to give his recipe a try but when I read through the recipe and found out that the dough seems too wet to deal with hands (cuz it suggests to use a dough hook or spatula ). But because I prefer making a bread with hand kneading involved ( that's why you haven't seen any no-knead bread on my blog!) which that way I could feel and tell whether the dough is ready or not.

On second thought, I decided to make it in my own way which I again used water roux method ( like I did to make my cinnamon and raisin loft ) for the bread and picked some tips from what David has provided. And a verdict?? It came out beautifully and flawlessly as expected. The bread is lightly sweet, soft..chewy and chocolatey!! A bite with chocolate bits couldn't be more perfect to me while the bread alone itself is also lovely.. Anyway, it might be too strong for kids ( my daughter has not eaten it yet while I am writing this post ) or someone who fancies sweetness, so I think that adding either more sugar or chocolate chunks would be ideal! Toast it and smear with some butter is a fabulous way to enjoy eating.. Bon appetit !

Here is my version :

285 g white strong bread flour

4 tbsp cocoa powder ( I used hershey's )

65 g caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

80 g dark chocolate ( 70% cocoa , lindt's), melted

7 g package of instant yeast

84 g water roux stater

90 ml lukewarm milk

35 g beaten egg

35 g butter at room temperature

85 g semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Method

1. Mix all ingredients except the butter and chocolate chunks in the bowl and using a dough hook on low speed to form a ball. Add the butter bit by bit and mix until incorporated. Increase to a low-medium speed and knead the dough unitl smooth and elastic about 15-20 minutes. ( I kneaded the dough by hands a few minutes before it's ready. ) Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for 1.5 - 2 hours or until doubled in volume.

2. Turn out the dough onto a working surface, gradually mix in the chocolate chunks until evenly distributed.
3. Shape the dough into the loaf. Place into a prepared loaf tin and let it rise again for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 180c', brush the top of the dough with egg wash and bake for about 30 minutes until it's done ( the bottom should sound hollow when tapped ). Turn out onto a wire rack to cool before slicing.
 

Ps. this bread has been posted to yeastspotting hosted by Susan of Wildyeast.

Toffee Cake

From my memory, toffee cake was (and might be still!) one of the most popular cakes among Thai people apart from brownies or basic things like banana and carrot cakes.. Back then when I was young and not interested in ( or in fact, not capable of..) making any baked goods by myself, this cake was always one of sweet things that I would fork out on..

The recipe I've been using for making this classic cake seems well-proven by lots of Thai food bloggers. Thus, needless to say how wonderful it is..

Toffee cake ( adapted from here )


Cake:

94 g self raising flour

1.5 tbsps coffee powder

1.5 tbsps Cocoa powder

110 g caster sugar

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

110 g butter, melted

3 large eggs

1/ 4 teaspoon salt

Topping :

150 g butter

60 g evaporated milk

110 g sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp coffee powder

3.5 tbsps self raising flour

170 g salted ( roasted ) cashew nuts

Method :

Make the cake : Preheat the oven to 180c. Lightly grease 8 inches square cake tin and line with parchment paper. Sift together the flour+baking powder+salt+cocoa powder+coffee powder into a bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat/whisk the eggs on high speed until well risen. Then gradually add the sugar ( a tablespoon at a time ) while the machine is still running on high speed and continue beating for about 10-15 minutes until the batter reaches the ribbon stage.

Fold in the flour mixture. Mix gently with spatula until incorpaerated. Add lukewarm melted butter and fold gently to mix everything until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes and turn the cake out onto wire rack and let it cool to room temperature ( or you can leave it cool in the tin without turning out if the bottom is not overbaked like mine ) .

When the cake is cool, put it back into the tin with parchment paper , make the topping : Mix all ingredients except the flour and nuts in a medium bowl and let them melt over low heat on the stove top. Add the flour and keep whisking until the flour cooked and the mixture smooth. Add in the nuts and mix throughly. Off the heat , and spread the the topping over the cake. Bake in the preheated oven ( 200c ) for 15-20 minutes until the topping is dry and nicely brown..Let it cool in the tin before turning onto the cutting board ( with the top facing down ) and slice into pieces.


                          

Carrot Cupcakes

I'd made a number of carrot cakes using a few different recipes but surprisingly, none of them appeared to be my favorite! Thus, everytime when I found or came accross an interesting recipe of carrot cake, I would undoubtedly give it a try and hope it could become my prime!

And finally I found the one.. The one that I am truly fond of.. The one that I know I could rely on..the one that is the one I'd been looking for and it's simply just the one for me!!

And here is the one ( adapted from here )

Ingredient (make 12 cupcakes):

1 cup plus 2 tbsps self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 scant tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 extra large eggs ,at room temperature
80 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup canola oil
1.5 cups grated carrot
1/2 cup raisin
1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple (lightly drained)

Method :

1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cups. Sift together the first five ingredients and set aside. In a small bowl, mix the raisin and pineapple and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until reaches the ribbon stage about 7-8 minutes. Add in the oil and mix, still on high speed, until well combined for 2 minutes. Fold the flour mixture into the batter using spatula and gently mix until just incoperated. Then stir in the carrot, raisin and pineapple. Divide the batter into 12 cups and bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center come out clean. Let cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes before transfer to cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the cream cheese frosting :

1 tbsp butter, soften
1 tbsp icing sugar
145 g cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp whipping cream
1 tsp grated orange zest

Beat the butter and icing until light and fluffy. Gradually add cream cheese and beat well after each addition until smooth. Add the zest and mix until well blended then mix in the cream ..make sure you don'tovermix the cream otherwise it might be curdled. Spread on top of cool cupcakes.

Kentucky Burgoo Stew

One of things I love about food blogs is that there are always new things that I can learn about..things that I have never heard or perceived before ..it kind of enlightens me and makes me thrilled and enjoy getting to know about something I am not aware of !

This stew is the case..when I saw it posted on simplyrecipes, I was really attracted by the photos..and having looked through the recipe and having done some search to know more about it, I was so determined to make the dish !

Typically, I mixed and matched 2 looking-good-to-me recipes to make my version and I served the stew along with southern buttermilk biscuits which I've found the recipe on recipezaars ...As for a verdict, given that I have no experience about it at any rate, I, therefore, couldn't say anything to judge it but from what I ( and the rest of family) tasted, it's really worth your (long) cooking time..Bon appetit !!

Burgoo Stew ( adapted from here  and here )

Ingredients

500 g  pork shank

a pound chuck beef

2 chicken whole legs

1 large onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, half inch sliced and quartered

2 celery ribs, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups beef broth

2 cups water

1 14.5-ounce can of chopped tomatoes

200 g frozen corn

250 g frozen lima beans 

Salt and pepper

3-5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Method :

Place the pork, beef and chicken in the chicken and beef stock in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Remove the meats and allow to cool. Remove the skin and bones from the chicken, and use two forks to tear the meats apart.

Return the shredded meats to the large stockpot, and add the bean, onion, celery, carrot, tomato, corn. Bring to simmer and reduce the heat and simmer gently for 3-4 hours. Add salt, pepper and the worcestershire sauce to taste. Served.