Anzac Pancakes

April 25, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! Today (April 25) is Anzac Day, a national day of remembrance, commemorating Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. So to commemorate Anzac day, I decided to bake some home-made Anzac biscuits. They are made using rolled oats, flour, desiccated coconut, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda and boiling water, popular in Australia and New Zealand. It is said that Anzac biscuits were sent to the soldiers abroad by their wives, mainly because the ingredients used to make them did not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation. Today, Anzac biscuits are manufactured commercially for retail sale.

Initially, that was my plan, to bake some home-made Anzac biscuits. But I woke up today wanting to make some yummy pancakes. So I thought to myself, why not both?…In one? And thus for today’s recipe, Anzac Pancakes. I basically used a basic pancake mix and added a few extra ingredients from the Anzac biscuit.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 15-20 MINS | MAKES 6 PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS

1 cup plain flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup milk
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 tbsp honey & maple syrup blend by Capilano, plus extra for drizzling
1 tbsp vegetable oil, for cooking

METHOD

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, rolled oats, and desiccated coconut. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, egg, and honey & maple syrup blend. Add the dry ingredients to the milk mixture and whisk until well combined (do not overmix, a few small lumps are fine).
Heat a small pan (nonstick or cast-iron) over medium heat. Fold a sheet of paper towel in half, and moisten with the vegetable oil and carefully rub the pan with the oiled paper towel. Ladle the batter onto the pan, using the back of the ladle to spread the batter into a round shape. Cook until the surface of the pancake starts to bubble, about 2-3 minutes. Flip carefully with a spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, about 1-2 minutes more.
Continue with more oil and remaining batter (makes about 6 fairly large pancakes). Serve warm, with desired toppings.

It was quite a gloomy, rainy morning here in Sydney, so I decided to have a cup of Crème Brûlée flavoured black tea from T2 to go with my pancakes. What a great way to start a morning I reckon! Also, I actually really like my pancakes with a hint of cinnamon and vanilla. I just didn’t add these ingredients in because I really wanted this to be a true Anzac Pancake. But I think the pancakes definitely needed these extra two ingredients!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Smoked Salmon & Sour Cream Baked Eggs

April 23, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Every month Coles releases a magazine that makes the most of fresh seasonal produce, as well as featuring tasty everyday recipes that are quick, easy and something that whole family will love. Coles Magazine is like my Bible for food. I NEED to get a copy for myself every month, and the best thing about it is that it’s free! Pictured above is the March 2014 issue of Coles Magazine. I looked back to last month for today’s recipe: Smoked Salmon & Sour Cream Baked Eggs.

I followed the recipe and changed minor things for various reasons, firstly instead of dill, I used chives only because I didn’t want to buy a whole packet of dill (I barely use this herb), and secondly, I didn’t add green peas as the recipe stated only because I didn’t have any to use. Nonetheless, the recipe turned out really well and it’s definitely a keeper. Cheap, simple dish that serves 4 – the only thing that was relatively expensive was the smoked salmon.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 12-15 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup sour cream
1 & 1/2 tbsp chopped chives, plus extra to serve
1/4 small red onion, finely chopped
100g smoked salmon, roughly chopped
4 large free range eggs
Slices of Pane di Casa bread from Bakers Delight, toasted and buttered
1 bunch baby asparagus, woody ends snapped off
Olive oil
Ground salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease four ramekins (or in this case I used my mini cocotte pots) and place on a baking tray.
Combine the sour cream and chives in a small bowl, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Scatter the chopped onion evenly in each cocotte. Divide the salmon and half of the sour cream mixture among the cocottes and crack an egg into each. Top with the remaining sour cream mixture.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until eggs are just set. Meanwhile, grill the asparagus on a grill pan over high heat for about a minute per side or until tender. Turn the heat off and drizzle a bit of olive oil over the asparagus still in the pan and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving plate.
Set aside for a minute to settle. Top with extra chives, and (optional) a little bit of paprika.

BON APPÉTIT!

– Ally xx

Kangkung Belacan

April 22, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmen3 Comments

My mom used to make this dish all the time back home. Honestly, I’ve never made it for myself ever since being here in Sydney, except for today. On occasions though when I’d be eating out with friends in various Asian-Malaysian restaurants, I would come across this on their menu and MY GOODNESS were they overpriced! Like I get the whole profit making thing but honestly, it’s like more than a 500-600% profit for this simple dish! Mamak in Chinatown for example is priced at $14.00 while Delima Restaurant is priced at $17.95. I know Delima adds prawns to their kangkung, but seriously. Overall, if I totalled how much I spent for this dish, it would total to about $3.00 inclusive of all the ingredients, and naturally it’d be even cheaper back home. Here a bunch of kangkung averages to about $1.50 depending where you get it from, while back home you paid 99c for five bunches.

Kangkung, also known as ‘water spinach’, is a vegetable commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisines, mainly Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore where it is usually stir-fried in a chilli sauce. Kangkung is also evident in other Asian cuisines and I do recommend that you check out how else it can be used by going to wikipedia (I know, the whole conception of wikipedia not being a reliable source, but trust me). Belacan, or sambal belacan, basically consists of fresh red hot chillies, roasted Malaysian shrimp paste and lime, made into a paste or sauce to be used either as a condiment, or as an ingredient in cooking.

So for today’s recipe as titled: Kangkung Belacan (stir-fried water spinach with chillies and shrimp paste).

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 10 MINS | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 red bird’s eye chillies, sliced
1 & 1/2 tbsp sambal belacan*
1 bunch kangkung, washed, leaves separated from the stems, and stems cut into short lengths
Handfull of small-sized ikan bilis (dried anchovies)

*I used a store bought paste, but you can always follow a recipe make your own.

METHOD

Heat oil in a medium frying pan over high heat. Add the ikan bilis and fry until crisp. Set aside.
In the same pan, add the garlic and 1 of the sliced bird’s eye chilli and sauté until golden brown. Add in the onions and sauté until soft. Bring the heat down to low and then add in the sambal belacan, cooking the belacan over high heat will cause it to spit all over the stovetop and we don’t want to have a messy cooking area. Cover if needed. Sauté the belacan until fragrant.
Add the the kangkung leaves, stems and a little bit of water to dilute the belacan you think can’t handle the heat. Cover until the leaves start to wilt. Toss around the belacan to coat the leaves and stems evenly (kangkung literally takes only a minute to cook).
Transfer to a serving plate and top with the fried ikan bilis and fresh red chillies. Serve with hot rice.

BON APPÉTIT!

– Ally xx

Mushroom and Avocado Toastie

April 21, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

I remember when I was living in the suburbs of Cammeray in the Lower North Shore, my previous flatmate and myself would every month visit the farmers market and get our fresh produce from there. We got what we wanted from the same stalls each month and eventually made friends with the many farmers, one of which was Margin Mushrooms. They are very friendly and would always throw in an extra mushroom or two. I even got fresh curry leaves from them one time when I was in search for some that week – not to mention for free! Their mushrooms are the best indeed! I don’t live in the Lower North Shore anymore and the closet market that they participate in that’s relatively close to me is Bondi, but have have not been since!

I also remember that they gave out mini books by Power of Mushrooms, and I came across today’s featured recipe for this blog: Mushroom and Avocado Toastie. I whipped this up for breakfast one morning and it made me such a happy person! It’s an easy and quick fix to start your day off with a bang! I didn’t change anything from the recipe in particular as it was good as it was, the only thing I probably changed was the bread that I used and portion sizes. So please do check out the original recipe on their website.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 10-18 MINS | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

3-4 slices of Pane di Casa from Bakers Delight
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, and extra for drizzling
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
250g swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
1 lime, halved
2 sprigs of thyme
1 large ripe avocado, roughly mashed
Ground salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C. Drizzle both sides of the bread slices with oil and place on a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for about 5-8 minutes or until lightly toasted and golden. Set aside to cool.
Heat a large frying over high heat. Add the oil, ginger and mushrooms and cook, tossing often, for 5 minutes until mushrooms are light golden and tender. Remove from the heat and squeeze over the lime juice, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Spoon and spread the mashed avocado onto the toasted pane di casa bread slices and top with a spoonful of mushrooms. Garnish with thyme leaves.

BON APPÉTIT!

– Ally xx

Cranberry & Pistachio Cookies

April 20, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 ESV)

Happy Easter everyone! I spent my day eating, shopping, walking, and eating some more with my food buddy Jialing and her boyfriend Zargham. It started off with lunch at the newly opened Roadside Café in Kingsford, then we made our way to the city to do some unnecessary shopping. Most of the stores in Pitt Street and the Westfield were closed because of the Easter holidays but as you walked towards Market City, stores were opened and busy with insane sales. We made this conclusion: “Asians” not that we were being racist being Asians ourselves, just pointing out the obvious stereotypes.

Anyway, on our shopping trip, we stopped by a store called General Pants Co. along George Street. I met a saleslady and her name was Shannon (apologies if this isn’t how you spell your name). We talked about what we’re up to for the Easter long weekend, and she mentioned that she was wanting to do some baking today. I mentioned to her that I recently started a food blog and gave her my link. Shannon, if you’re reading this, hope you enjoy my blog! Feel free to share with your family and friends 🙂

We ended the night having dinner at Chinese Noodle House, and about $80 poorer from food and shopping today.

I wanted to make something special for Easter but I didn’t get around to being out all day. So nevertheless, I pulled out an old recipe as requested by one of my friends, Miss Yvonne Wang. She has had these cookies many times and always gave it a big thumbs up. So just for her, and of course everyone else, today’s recipe as titled: Cranberry & Pistachio Cookies

I originally followed this recipe and tweaked it a bit, so please do check out the original as well by the BBC GoodFood

PREP TIME 1 HOUR 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 12-15 MINS |
MAKES 2 DOZEN COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

For the cookie dough

175g unsalted butter, cut into chucks
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped

For the pistachio paste

1/4 cup pistachios
1 tbsp icing sugar
3 tbsp cold water

METHOD

Combine the pistachio paste ingredients in a blender and blend until pistachios are roughly chopped and combined (does not have to be smooth in texture). Set aside until needed.
Toss the butter, sugar and vanilla extract with a spoon. Add the flour, pistachios and cranberries into the mix and stir – you might need to use your hands at this stage to bring the mix together as a crumble mix. Add in the pistachio paste and stir it in to combine as a dough.
Half the dough and shape each half into a log. Cover in cling wrap and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour before baking, or alternatively, the dough can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Slice the logs into about 1cm thick rounds and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on the tray.

BON APPÉTIT!

– Ally xx

Kueh Ketayap (Pandan Crêpes with Coconut filling)

April 19, 2014December 27, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello everyone! And sorry for a very late post (1:27am Sydney time). I basically just finished cleaning up after a late dinner hosted by 3 other people and myself. It was a Malaysian-Asian themed dinner (excluding the peri-peri chicken we had as our menu evolved though out the night). I really wanted to make a dessert for the night, and I remember watching Uel and Shannelle from My Kitchen Rules whipping up this dessert and so I decided to have a go. Mind you that this was my first time ever making it and I was so glad on what a success it has been! Everyone loved it! I call it beginner’s luck 😛

I actually looked at two different recipes to make this dish so please do check out the original recipes below:

So here’s today’s recipe: Kueh Ketayap (Pandan Crêpes with Coconut filling)

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 45 MINS | SERVES 16 CRÊPES

INGREDIENTS

For the pandan extract:

12 pandan leaves, cut into short pieces
1/2 cup of water

For the crêpe batter:

4 eggs
2/3 cup pandan extract
1 1/3 cup of water
1 cup milk
2 cups plain flour
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

For the coconut filling:

3 cups shredded coconut
90g gula melaka (palm sugar), roughly chopped
3 tbsp water
1/3 tsp salt
1 tsp cornflour, mixed with 1 tbsp of water for thickening

METHOD

Place the pandan leaves and water into a blender. Blend until the leaves are chopped very finely. Pour contents through a fine sieve and press against it using a spoon to draw out any extra juice. Discard the leaves. Tip: if you keep the extract in a sealed bottle, you can keep it for up to one week in the fridge. Do not freeze though.
Mix all the batter ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl and cover with cling wrap. Let it rest for at least half an hour.
Meanwhile, cook the gula melaka and water in a saucepan until syrupy. Add in the shredded coconut and salt, and mix thoroughly. Add the cornflour water mixture and cook until thick. Set aside and leave to cool.
Warm up a crêpe skillet under low heat with 1/2 tsp of butter. Melt butter and swirl around the skillet to distribute it. Ladle the batter in the pan. Distribute the batter thinly by turning the skillet. Cook until set and remove from the pan. Repeat for the remaining batter (should make about 16 crêpes).
Put 1 tbsp of filling on the crêpe and roll tightly.