I WANT THIS....

Isn't it gorgeous?? *gazes over it lovingly*
I love it that it's red and that little heart shape fondue set that comes with it is soooooo cute.

Next time in my open space kitchen, I am going to have a complete set of cast iron cookware! Just. Like. This. I don't care if it bores a hole down my thigh! Unfortunately, I just do not have the the space for it right now, dammit! But I will tell you what, I am going to move. Yes, move! Move to a place where I can have a bigger space, with a bigger kitchen and a dog! My stupid landlord does not allow dogs :( Let's just cross our fingers that he doesn't read blogs, shall we? He doesn't even speak much English!

*Sigh*...i so want that set! I don't think it's Le Creuset's, but it doesn't matter much right now..I just want that *points* "Je le veux! Je le veux! Je le veux!", says the rabid pseudo-french kitchen geek.

Oooh Ooh! Christmas is just 3 months away! *rubs hands*

P.S. you can get one of these lovely sets from Cookware-Depot.

One tray roasted potato salad

It's indeed true when I say you can make delicious roasted potato salad all in one tray. Just cut, season, roast and serve all in one tray. Of course, you can even roll them out into a bowl if you want. But this potato salad is so easy, it's garlic "dressing" is made together with the potatoes right in the oven. And it is delicious!

Here is what you will need:
A roasting pan, heating in the oven at 400F or 200 C.

4 russet potatoes, cut into chunks/wedges with skin on (or without, up to you)
2 tomatoes, halved
1 bulb of garlic, halved lengthwise
2 pickles, chopped
2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup of olive oil (approx. 4 tablespoons of oil)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of dried herbs, rosemary and thyme works but put no more than two variety of your fav. herbs in as you not want to overpower your salad.

Method:
1. Put your potatoes in a large bowl and season with paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder, chopped pickles and olive oil. Coat well.
2. Take out the extremely hot pan, carefully, and dunk your potatoes in (the hot pan prevents the potatoes from sticking on it). Make sure the potatoes do not over lap each other. After that, arrange your tomatoes and garlic on the same pan, cut side up. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on them with a quick drizzle of olive oil.
3. Pop the tray back into the oven and roast for 40-45 minutes. After it's done, transfer the beautifully roasted tomatoes into a large serving bowl first. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin into the bowl and mash it together with the tomatoes to form a paste. It might be a bit hot to handle so use a paper towel to hold the roasted garlic while you squeeze it out of its pockets.
4. Pour the roasted potatoes, basically everything from the pan - oil, bits and pieces of goodness, into bowl and mix well.
5. Serve the potatoes, with your favorite protein, hot or room temperature.

Pucker.

The Key Lime Pie

It's not A key lime pie, it's THE key lime pie that made my partner question my cooking abilities when he came to visit me for the first time in NZ. BUT, let me just say this, he was the only one who thought the key lime pie was horrid. The rest of my flat mates loved it and finished it.

No. I don't think they were being nice.

Anyway, to prove that my key lime is not horrible I made it again and this time, he loved it. *Shrugs* Beats me, maybe he had a dead roach on his tongue the other time (euuu...). Lemon meringue pie is his favorite dessert, so I thought I should make key lime pie to see how he'd like it.
Oh well, what matters is I've hit home run this time. And i would like to share the recipe with you because it's EASY as hell to make and so simple to make it look pretty. Use store bought pie crusts because it's so much easier.

All you need is for the filling:
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup of lime juice
3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoon of grated lime zest (about 2 limes worth)


Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C.

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until they become pale and fluffy. It would take you about 3 minutes on an electric mixer.
2. As you're mixing, add your condensed milk in and beat until you have a nice fluffy mixture. You're look at 5 minutes or so, of beating with an electric mixer.
3. After that, you can start adding your lime zest and lime juice in. Mix well until the filling is well incorporated.
4. Pour your filling into the pie crust and bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the top set. You should not see any browning and 15 minute is the MAX time u should bake your key lime pie.

5. Take it off the oven and let it cool to room temperature. Chill in the fridge and serve with some whipped cream and fruits :)

This dessert is light and fluffy. Every bite melts in your mouth as soon as it touches your tongue. And i think key lime pie has more character than lemon meringue pies with respect to taste :)

Manicotti Farcito with Fagiolini

Or stuffed manicotti pasta with green beans. Manicotti is basically a large tube like pasta that you can stuff with any yummy things you can think of. You can stuff it with meat, veggies or cheeses but this dish is inspired by my man, Jamie Oliver. In his recipe, he stuffed the manicottis with creamed broccoli and cauliflower with parmesan cheese. I decided to make use of that leftover canned red beans in my fridge and some creamed cauliflower instead, the results were pretty good actually. I did make Jamie's version prior but the pictures did not do the dish justice. So, I'm just going to put this one up instead :)

You would be really surprise to see how cauliflower can give so much texture and flavor. You need to give this dish a try by pairing cauliflower with any ingredients as your stuffing for your manicottis.

Here's how I made my manicotti farcito:

6 tubes of manicotti, uncooked
2 cups of marinara sauce (you can make your own or use a store bought one)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

For the stuffing:
1 cup of cauliflower florets
1/2 cup canned red beans, drained well
1 medium sized onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
100 ml water
salt&pepper to taste
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.
1. Chop cauliflower florets until relatively minced, you want to cook it down so the smaller your cauliflower the easier it'll cook down. Do the same with your red beans, just run your knife through it.

2. Heat pan with olive oil and saute onion and garlic until translucent and aromatic. Add your cauliflower and red beans in and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes. Add 100ml water and let it cook down until most of the water dissipates. Lower your heat.

3. Add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Cook under low heat for another 15 mins, take off the stove and let it cool a bit before you start piping it into your pasta.

4. While stuffing is cooling off, in a baking dish, fill it with 1 cup of marinara sauce first.

5. Once stuffing is cooled enough, fill it in a zip lock bag, cut one corner off and use that to pipe the filling into the pasta. Place the pasta into the baking dish filled with marinara sauce and repeat until all 6 is done. Cover the stuffed manicotti with the rest of the marina sauce, top it with parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the crust is browned on top.

Serve with a side of steamed green beans seasoned with some garlic salt and you have a complete meal.

Easy peasy lamb curry

I love curries and cannot live without having it at least once every week. This lamb curry recipe was cooked to go with my nasi kunyit (turmeric rice) instead of the usual chicken curry. And this lamb curry is so delicious, you couldn't help having seconds after. The key is to let it cook under slow heat for a few hours..:)

Anyhow, let's get down to it shall we?

What you need:
500g stewing lamb (Marinade lamb with 1tsp turmeric powder, 1teaspoon ginger powder, salt and pepper)
1 tsp cumin
5 pods of cardamom
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon garaam masala
1/4 cup red curry powder
1 tablespoon paprika powder
2 large juicy tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of cubed aubergines (optional)
2 tablespoons oil

To blend:
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon turmeric powder

Method:
1. Heat pan with oil on medium and saute the star anise, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cumin for 1 minute or until the cumin starts popping. Add the blended ingredients in and start sauteing until the ingredients is fragrant (approx. 3-4 minutes).2. Add your curry powder, garaam masala, and paprika. The ingredients will come to a paste so continue stirring and sauteing for a minute so it doesn't stick to the pan. Now, dump your tomatoes in, the juices will start to disperse the thick paste making it more liquid like. If it's still too thick, add 100ml of water in.3. You can now add your lamb in. Cook until the curry comes to a simmer and then put heat to low. Add aubergines, cover and cook for a few hours, stirring occasionally, until the lamb is tender.
Serve with your favorite rice!

What's easy about this is that prep and cooking takes about 30 minutes and the rest is just waiting until it done. Perfect for dinner time :)

My Cuisinart food process cum blender

Random photo of my newly acquired Cuisinart blender/food processor. What you see is just the blender intact, i didn't take a picture with the food processor on. Oh well, just thought i'd camwhore my gadget (and my kitchen towel, part of my electric kettle and random yellow plastic of something) before i head off doing misc but important stuff for the week. Meh..:/

Nasi Kunyit (Turmeric Rice)

Nasi Kunyit is rice dish that transcends two cultures in Malaysia; Chinese and Malay. For the Chinese, Nasi Kunyit is part and parcel of baby's full moon. It's a Chinese custom to celebrate your child's 1 month anniversary since it's birth; sort of a celebration of life. My mom used to tell me that baby's one month celebration signified that the child had crossed the danger period of his/her life. Old wives' tale but during full moon celebration, nasi kunyit, red hard boiled eggs and chicken curry are distributed amongst friends and family. Apart from this, nasi kunyit is also a favorite tea time/breakfast accompaniment. The Malays usually cook Nasi Kunyit during their festive season like during the month of Ramadhan, Aidfiltri, Aidiladha, and during weddings and kenduris (feasts).

There are many ways to cook Nasi Kunyit and one of its key ingredients is turmeric. It's what gives the rice dish a yellow color. Glutinous rice is used instead of the normal long grain rice. The high starch content make Nasi Kunyit a sticky affair but delicious when eaten together with curries.

uncooked.

I made Nasi Kunyit the other day using the traditional method, which is soaking the glutinous rice in turmeric and other spices over night before steaming it for a few hours. As it turns out, it was delightful and not at all soggy..:)

Here's what you will need:
1 3/4 cup glutinous rice
1 piece of dried tamarind skin (asam gelugor)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
500ml coconut milk (get fresh if you can)
100ml water
1/2 tsp white peppercorns
2 pandan (screwpine) leaves, knotted (optional but encouraged)
4-6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick

Method:
1. Wash glutinous rice thoroughly and transfer it to a big bowl.
2. On a pan, roast white peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon stick for about 2 minutes or until fragrant. You want to activate the oils in these herbs :)
3. Put the roasted ingredients in the bowl with the rice and throw everything else, except the pandan leaves, into the bowl and let it sit overnight or at least 6 hours.
4. Scoop the rice out with a sieve and transfer the rice and all the other ingredients (throw away the tamarind rinds) into a steamer with the pandan leaves and steam for 2 hours or until rice is done.
5. Serve it with your favorite curry :)

I ate mine with lamb curry. Recipe for the lamb curry will be up soon!

O' Sweet Orange Cake

Syrupy, sweet and sticky. A little tinge of sour goodness to excite the taste buds and a balmy orange fragrance expires throughout. The soft moist cake drenched in orange syrup melts warmly in your mouth; down it with a glass of milk and your midnight cravings are satiated. Mmm..this is a true red carpet treatment for your senses :)

I am talking about an orange cake that I baked out of whim. I was never one who enjoyed orange cake but after being coaxed by a friend into trying the recipe from Chubby Hubby's blog on Damien Pignolet's Serious Orange Cake recipe, I was converted. I would blame my lack of enthusiasm, initially, to a bad experience. I had an orange cake when I was a little girl and it overwhelmed my taste buds with bitterness I stayed away from any type of orange cake since then, till a few months ago.

This is definitely a cake recipe everyone should seriously consider keeping in their books because it is so delicious.

You can check out the recipe at Chubby Hubby's blog because I followed it precisely. But for convenience sake, here it is:

For the cake:
1 orange, weighing around 150g, washed well and diced, pips removed
200g sugar
3 eggs
150g self-raising flour, sifted
a small pinch of salt
180g butter, melted and cooled a little

For the orange syrup:
60ml orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1-2 tablespoons Cointreau

Preheat oven to 340 F or 170C. I used a loaf pan but you can use a 9" cake pan for this recipe, line the pan with parchment paper.
But basically, you will need 1 medium sized orange, diced and make sure you take out all the pips because if not, you are going to end up with a bitter cake. Put your diced oranges into a food processor along with 200grams of sugar and process until it is silky smooth. After that you can add the eggs in one at a time until all is well mixed.

Add your flour and salt in and let the machine run until all is combined and then you pour down your melted butter until the mixture is amalgamated into a beautiful creamy batter.

Pour the delightfully fragrant cake mixture into your pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. Or until the skewers comes out clean.



For the orange syrup:

While your cake is baking, put the orange juice, lemon juice and sugar into a saucepan. Let it come to a simmer for 2 minutes. If you are using cointreau, add it in now and let it continue simmering for another 1 minute. Pour off the pan and let it sit until your cake is done.

When your cake is done let it rest for 10 minutes before poking holes all round it with a skewer or a fork so that the orange syrupy goodness is absorbed into the cake.
Let it cool completely before serving. As you can see, I just couldn't wait till it was completely cooled off hence the crumbs :)