Lurpack kitchen odyssey

An egg-cellent dramatisation of the omelette.

Simple oven frittata

Are you a fan of cold pizza? This crustless quiche tastes delicious hot or cold, making it a great lunchbox staple. And it's low-carb too!

Recipe for one 18x18cm pan

Ingredients: 

(This is a guide, feel free to mix and match with your favourte veggies e.g. capsicum, broccoli, zucchini,corn)

6-7 eggs, beaten

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup milk (I used soy)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs

1-2 tablespoons dijion mustard

3 sun-dried tomatoes, cut into small pieces

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters

200g white button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup spinach, chopped (I used frozen, after defrosting)

100g grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. In a 18x18cm deep dish pan, toss mushrooms, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and Italian herbs in olive oil. Spead into one layer and bake for 10 mins in preheated oven.

3. While waiting beat together eggs, dijion mustard, spinach, half the cheese and salt and pepper.

4. Remove pan from oven. Pour in egg mixture and mix everything well. Top with remaining cheese.

5. Bake for 30-40 mins until cheese is golden brown and eggs are firm. A skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean.

6. Slice into generous wedges and enjoy! The balance can be kept in the fridge for a yummy breakfast the next day.

Yong tau foo @ Hou Xiang, Taman Sea

I think the prices are slightly higher than most places, but the portion size and quality well makes up for it. And they have also have a wide range of different chee cheong fun plating options from different states.

Bonus find: Try the assam snow ice, it's awesome!

Address: No 47-1, Jalan SS23/15 Taman Sea, 47400 Petaling Jaya.

Tel: 03-74971253

Lunchbox

Spinach, mushroom, and scrambled egg wraps.

'Lap cheong' Chinese sausage omelette

The key to getting a nice fluffy omelette is beating the egg well to incorporate air bubbles. And not be tempted to flip the egg over multiple times or it'll dry out.

Anyone can fry an egg right? Well, just in case ;)

Makes 2 omelettes

Ingredients:

4 eggs

2 'lap cheong' Chinese sausage, skin removed and thinly sliced

Half an onion, thinly sliced and pieces separated (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a frying pan, fry half the sausage and onion till onion is lightly browned. No oil required as the sausage is already oily.

2. While the sausage is frying, beat the 5 eggs well with salt and pepper, the sausage is salty so add less salt than you usually would.

3. Pour half the egg mixture into pan over the sausage. 

4. Let cook until egg is no longer liquid, about 2 mins, then flip over to brown the other side.

5. Repeat steps for second omelette.

On a side note, I have yet to master the art of flipping eggs and pancakes without a spatula no matter how many YouTube videos I watch.

Want. Eggs. Now.

You will too after watching this video. Watch out for some of my favourite egg recipes really soon!

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/this-video-about-cooking-eggs-1623680947

My favorite Japanese restaurant, Hokano has moved

But it's still in the neighborhood, yay!

The place to go to for yummy, reasonably-priced, home-cooked Japanese food. The shop is small, so be prepared to wait during peak hours and weekends. 

Address: 67M(1stfloor), Jalan SS21/37 Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03-77295325 

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hokano-Japanese-Restaurant

Closed Tuesdays 

Lunchbox

This week's low-carb lunchbox prep - spinach & mushroom frittata, grilled teriyaki chicken & mushrooms (for salads and wraps), and lots of fresh fruit.

Best-ever brownies

Recipe link: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1223/bestever-brownies

Taste - best. Chocolate on chocolate on chocolate.

Texture - best. Crisp on top, and fudgy on the inside.

Ability to travel well - best. It's the go-to gift for parties, potlucks and house-warmings. Read tip below.

Feedback many, many taste testers - best. There have been many friendly fights over the last piece.

Recipe edits: Reduce sugar to 175g. Instead of using milk and white chocolate, I only used dark chocolate.

Recipe tip: I line the baking tray with a larger piece of aluminum foil. To pack, just lift the foil with uncut brownies inside, fold over the top to cover and tie with ribbon. Instant portable gift!

The evils in Pandora's Box were nothing compared to this.

Crispy, salty, savoury, deep fried chicken skin. Thank goodness it's from Penang, or I'd eat it every day.

Fantastic service at Kaffe Café, TTDI

Feeling full after a heavy dinner, we asked if we could split a large hot chocolate into three mugs. The barista made the effort to design three tiny coffee art portions. Three thumbs up!

Oh, and it was good hot chocolate. 

Address: 33 Lorong Rahim Kajai 13, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-7722 2237

Website: https://www.facebook.com/kaffecafettdi

Testing blogger app

Teriyaki chicken, fried baby tomatoes and tapao-ed stir fried asparagus #lunch #mostlyhomecooked #beeneecooks

Roasted whole garlic

Delicious mixed in mashed potatoes, to add some spice in pasta sauces, as a dip, or mix into butter for the most awesome garlic bread spread.

Ingredients:
2-3 Whole garlic bulbs
Olive oil
Dried/fresh herbs of your choice e.g. thyme, rosemary
Foil pieces each large enough to wrap one garlic bulb

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Chop of tops of garlic bulbs until garlic is showing, don't need to peel garlic.
3. Place one garlic bulb in each piece of foil cut side up.
4. Drizzle generously with olive oil, top with herbs, cover with foil.
5. Place foil packets on baking trays, bake for 30-45 mins until garlic is golden brown.
6. Wait for garlic to cool, separate from skin by sqeezing out the softened garlic segments.

Kenny Rogers Corn Muffins

Ingredients:
½ cup butter
²⁄₃ cup sugar
¼ cup honey
2 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup cornmeal
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup milk
¾ cup frozen corn (I used one can sweetcorn kernels)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.
2. Mix buter, sugar honey, eggs and salt into a large bowl.
3. Add flour, cornmeal and baking powder, blend throughly.
4. Add milk while mixing.
5. Add corn and mix in.
6. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.
7. Bake 20-25 mins until light golden brown.

Notes:
Quick, yummy, easy to make.

Almond Cookies

The only Chinese-ish cookies I had time to make this Chinese New Year.

Recipe from a friend, with my edits below:

Ingredients:
400g ground almond (I used 500g)
300g whole wheat flour
100g all-purpose flour
200g castor sugar (Or: 100g castor, 50g brown/cane)
1/8 tsp table salt or 1/4 tsp sea/mountain salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
100g cold butter, cubed
1 cup vegetable oil - rice bran oil if available
1 egg white, beaten, for glazing
Optional: 1/4 tsp cardamom (did not use this)

Directions:
1. Mix flours, sugars, salt, baking soda in mixing bowl. Rub in butter cubes until resembling bread crumbs (Shortcut: pulse in blender.). Mix in ground almond.
2. Drizzle 1/2 cup oil evenly, mix thoroughly. Add oil sparingly until just enough that mixture can hold its shape.
3. Stand for 10 minutes.
4. Shape mixture into desired shape and size. Brush lightly with egg white.
5. Line baking tray with baking sheet and bake at 150 C for 20-25 minutes.
6. Cool on rack and store in airtight container.

Notes:
Recipe rating: 4/5 A big hit at home, mainly because they taste pretty healthy.
Difficulty: Easy, but time consuming, about 3-4 hours per batch
Comments: Use less sugar next time, cookies were a bit too sweet

Pizza @ home

Before baking.

After baking.
Pasta sauce, musrooms, sundried tomatoes, bacon, olives, CHEEZEEEE...

Pizza dough recipe link

Total time: Approximately 1 hour
Comments: Roll dough as thinly as possible for crispy crust, it kind of springs back again. And as tempting as it is to do so, do not pile on too many toppings!!! Lesson learnt from soggy pizza the second time I made this recipe.

Profile description change.

When I first started my blog as a university student in 2004:

I love to bake, hate to cook. I insist that they are two entirely different things. But I hardly have time to bake now. Sigh.

October, 2011:

Still love to bake, am now discovering the joys of cooking. Wish I had the time to do more of both.

I've grown. *proud*

Walnut+Pecan Cookies

My last post was in 2008? Stating the obvious, it's been too long.

Saying that I stare at a monitor and write the whole day long, would just be an excuse. So instead I'll just carry on where I left off. Er, while trying a new, hopefully faster rating format.

Sooo... Walnut+Pecan cookies.

Recipe link

Total time: Approximately 2 hours
Comments: Filling is yummy, but cookie dough is hard to handle.

Notes:

- Texture of cookies: Soft

- Wasn't mentioned in the recipe, but I got about 50 cookies.

- The raw cookie dough was too soft and not as easy to shape into balls as I expected. And getting an imprint on it with my fingers was not easy at all. Might try refrigerating it next time.

- The filling was nowhere near enough. In the end I used:1 cup of chopped pecans, 1 cup of chopped walnuts, 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, 3/4 cup whipping cream and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.

Thank You...

for all the sweet comments and good luck wishes folks! So sorry I can't reply everyone individually. But thank you =)

Don't worry I'm still around and will be back blogging soon.

One more week!

Kisses.

I Must Be Getting Stressed.

Finals in less than two weeks. *SIGHS*

I'm quite sure I've mentioned this before, but stress gives me an irresistable urge to bake. Well pretty much any surge of emotion; excessive boredom, extreme anger or hyperness or happiness drives me to baking too. Any excuse to bake really. But right now I'm very very sure it's stress. Heh.

This was my Friday evening:
I suddenly felt a need for a chocolate fix and thus,

Dark Chocolate Brownies.

After that was done and cooling, my baking itch wasn't satisfied. And so I went on to make

Apple Crumb Cake (recipe here)

Sheesh. At least when I channel my stress other people get food.

Arrghhhhhhh!!!!!!