donnowhat2cook

Kam Heong Chicken (Stir-fried chicken in dried prawn and curry leaf sauce)

2012-01-30T11:23:00.000Z

As promised for the last two weeks, Kam Heong Chicken for the home chef! I do not know how to translate it per se but the description would be Stir-fried chicken in a dried prawn and curry leaf sauce. Anyway, I was enchanted by the taste of it all from home and from the once famous Special Zone 1997 restaurant in London that now has phased out the ever famous dish that us Malaysians order when we head there. So researching for the perfect recipe was quite daunting as not many do know what goes into it. But I found one and loosely based on the recipe, I came up with my own version:

Ingredients:

The sauce:

200gms dried prawns - soaked in warm water

8 small shallots or 3 medium sized ones - skin removed

8 cloves of garlic - skin removed

1/2 bowl of curry leaves

6 bird's eye chillies - stems removed

3 tbsp oil

2 heaping tbsp curry powder

The chicken marinade:

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp cornflour

Method:

Firstly marinade the chicken and set aside for 30 minutes. The longer the better.
In a blender or a mini chopper, place the pre-soaked dried prawns with some water, shallots, garlic and chillies and blend into a rough a paste. That means not to a pulp but you can still see rough pieces of prawn, shallots, garlic and chillies.
Next heat up a small frying pan with the oil before adding the paste for frying. Add in the curry leaves and curry powder and continue stir-frying until oil comes out from the mixture and becomes fragrant. Switch off the fire and set aside.
Prepare some oil to deep fry the chicken. There won't be any crust of course when deep frying. Just enough to make sure the chicken is covered and can be cooked through.
Place on a kitchen towel to absorb excess oil and then slice into bite size pieces.
On a separate pan, heat up some of the sauce with oil and toss in the chicken. Stir until finely coated and combined.
Serve with piping hot rice and vegetables on the side.

This is how the sauce would look like!

Easy as can be! Next on the chopping board, Sausage Rolls ala Innovative Baker!

The Innovative Baker

Useful kitchen utensils: The Ice Cream Scoop

2012-01-25T09:12:00.002Z

When you're making cupcakes, you'd normally use two spoons - one to scoop out the batter from the mixing bowl, the other to slide the batter down from the first spoon into the cupcake cup right? Well, after watching one too many baking programs, one utensil stood out - the ice cream scoop. This was definitely THE tool to get when portioning your cupcakes to the perfect cupcake portion. Half a scoop for a smaller cupcake, full scoop for a big one! Do not worry when you're making mini cupcakes as there are smaller ice cream scoops too! Where can you buy them? Anywhere and everywhere actually. From Sainsbury's, Tesco's, your local sundry shop to even the specialist kitchen shops. They do not cost too much and would save you time and hassle when making your cupcakes. Naturally, it does not stop at cupcakes but perfect for portioning your muffins too!

The Innovative Baker looking for yet another tool!

Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes with Brandy and Chocolate Liquour Frosting

2012-01-24T09:18:00.002Z

When researching for a new taste, I always wondered whether wine would be a fitting choice of liquid in a cupcake. Then cupcake wars on the Food Network started and that sold me. Then I wondered whether red wine and chocolate in a cupcake go together and it sure did because the combination is no stranger in the US. While researching for a recipe I could loosely base my version on, I found a ton of blogs and recipe websites that have one version or the other. The closest was Rachel Ray's version. Then I figured why not amend my own recipe that I have and see where that takes me. And then voila, it gave birth to...Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes with Brandy and Chocolate Liquour Frosting.

The Ingredients:

300g self-raising flour - sifted

15g cocoa powder - sifted

1 tsp baking soda - sifted

2 eggs

100g butter - slightly melted

225g golden caster sugar

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup red wine (any kind)

100g dark chocolate - melted

Method:

Firstly crank up your oven to 180 Degrees Celcius. Then line your cupcake cups in a muffin tray.
Sift all three dry ingredients together into a bowl. Set aside. Melt the dark chocolate in a bain marie.
Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy before adding the eggs one by one.
Then pour in half the dry ingredients and the red wine, beat it until combined, before adding in the second half of the dry ingredients and the milk. Continue beating. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl to make sure all the dry ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Finally add in the melted dark chocolate. Stir until combined.
The using an ice cream scoop, scoop a portion into each cupcake cup. Pop into the oven for about 25 minutes depending on the size of your cupcake. If it is smaller, it would only need 20 minutes or so.
Take it out and leave it to cool while continuing the baking process for the rest of the cupcake batter.

Brandy and Chocolate Liquour Frosting Ingredients:

1x 300g cream cheese (philadelphia cream cheese was used)

1x 284ml double cream

1 tsp vanilla essence / syrup

100g icing sugar

1 tbsp brandy

1 tbsp chocolate liquour

100g butter melted with

200g dark chocolate

Method:

In the mixer, put everything in and whiz away!!! It will combine quite quickly.
Then add in the melted dark chocolate and butter and combine well. Put aside.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, poke a knife in the centre of each cupcake. Make sure it is deep enough. Then in a piping bag, add some of the frosting in and stick it into the cupcake to inject more frosting inside the cupcake. Then in a bigger piping bag and a nozzle of your choice, pipe the frosting on top of the cupcake. I used a normal circular nozzle. To add a more decorative touch, add a fresh raspberry (or as Rachael Ray would suggest half a grape) and a chocolate stick. Here I used chocolate fingers from cadbury.

The cake will have the taste of the red wine when eaten. But it isn't too overpowering that you can't taste the rest of the chocolate. But this was heavenly. Not too sweet either :)

Yes...I promised the Kam Heong Chicken recipe. And it will appear over the weekend. Figured something sweet would be nice!

The Innovative Baker on the go!

Curried Pork Belly without Coconut Milk

2012-01-12T13:14:00.004Z

Don't be daunted by that glint of oil you see floating at the top. It is actually a combination of the pork belly fat and tomato sauce. So it isn't actually oil to begin with. And a good curry must have some kind of oil floating on the top anyway. You can spoon it away after you've cooked. But getting on... I was not in the mood for cooking curry with coconut milk simply because I didn't fancy coconut milk. I read a recipe not too long ago for Indian curries that normally doesn't require coconut milk and thought I'd adapt that to suit the ingredients I had in my kitchen. So here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

400g sliced pork belly (leave skin on)

2 tsbp meat curry powder

1 tsp chili powder

A handful of curry leaves

6 Asian shallots or 2 Echalion shallots (chopped)

A handful of kaffir lime leaves (dried or fresh)

3 tbsp sunflower oil

1 x 390g carton of chopped tomatoes (I used the Sainsbury's brand)

100ml water

Salt to taste

Method:

Firstly, make sure to trim the pork belly off any hairs and rid of additional fat but keep the skin on as this would add to the oil. Leave aside.
Next heat up a pot big enough with oil and shallots. Stir until fragrant before adding in the curry leaves and kaffir lime leaves. Stir again to release the aromas of both the leaves and then add in the dried ingredients. Stir well to incorporate all the ingredients together. Let it be for a bit until you see some oil coming out from the spice mix.
Then add in your pork belly. Stir well until everything is coated. Let it be for a bit and then add in the chopped tomatoes. Stir again before adding in the water and salt. Stir once more and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat to simmer.
Stir every once in a while and you'll see the oil starting to appear on the top of the curry.
Continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or so and then switch off the heat.
Serve with rice and vegetables.

This curry was so simple and you didn't need that long to prepare it. Plus you don't have to run out to the nearby off license to buy a can coconut milk just to cook curry. How's that for a convenience?

Next on the line - Kam Heong Chicken (Chicken cooked in a spiced sauce)

The Innovative Baker on the rise!

Soft Coconut Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle

2012-01-07T16:38:00.000Z

Cookies to me are a delight to bake. So to start the new year, I figured a cookie recipe would be nice to start it off. I made these for Christmas along with a ton of other cookies and cakes but these remained my favourite. Coconut is somewhat exotic in this part of the world unlike Asia where most of the coconut comes fresh. Here I had to depend on dried desiccated coconut to give me the texture and taste but the taste remains fantastically yummy! The original recipe, courtesy of 'The Golden Book of Cookies', given by a good friend not too long ago was the basis of it and then jazzed up with additional trimmings, i.e. the chocolate drizzle. And trust me...it wasn't too difficult to make. So what went into it?

Ingredients:

150g self-raising flour - sifted

1tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt (or a pinch would do)

125g butter - melted or softened

100g granulated sugar

1 medium or large egg

125g desiccated coconut

For the chocolate drizzle:

1 x 200g bar of dark or milk chocolate

Method:

Firstly heat up the oven to 190 Degree Celcius. Lay baking paper on flat baking trays or any baking tray you have just so you don't have to run out and buy cookie trays.
Then prepare the cookie dough. Beat the butter and sugar in a mixer or a mixing bowl with a whisk until light and fluffy. I tend not to wait so I beat it until both sugar and butter are mixed well before adding the egg in. Then, add in all the dry ingredients and stir until well mixed.
Next, use two teaspoons. One to scoop out the cookie dough, the other to scrape it from the first teaspoon onto the baking tray. As the cookie dough dough spread a little, remember not to scoop too much out and space it accordingly. Once the baking tray is full, place in the oven to bake for no longer than 10 minutes or until bottom of cookie is lightly brown. Remove and repeat the process until cookie dough is finished.
Let the baked cookies rest on the baking tray before removing onto a cooling rack. (see image 2)
Let the cookies rest for a further hour or so on the cooling rack before laying them flat on a baking tray laid with baking paper.
Next make your chocolate drizzle. In a bowl, break your chocolate into pieces. Then heat up some water in a small saucepot before placing the bowl in the pot. This is the bain-marie method. Then carefully stirring, making sure the chocolate doesn't split. Make sure to always keep the gas at its lowest. Once fully melted, take it out of the pot and onto the table next to the cookie tray.
Drizzle the melted chocolate with a spatula or a spoon any which way you want. (see image 3). This You can also try dipping the cookie into the chocolate instead and place on the baking tray. Don't worry, the baking paper is there for a purpose. When the chocolate dries, and you peel away the cookies, the chocolate goes with it.
Then put all the cookies into a cookie tin or a cookie jar like what I did (see image 4), tie it with a ribbon and present it as a gift.

Image 2 - cookies on the cooling rack

Image 3 - cookies drizzled with melted chocolate

Image 4 - Cookies in a cookie jar

There you go! The cookies all good to go. This is also perfect for Chinese New Year. Chocolate is not a traditional flavour for Chinese New Year but you can still make the cookies nonetheless!

Happy baking peeps while I go try experimenting on red wine and chocolate cupcakes and Malaysian inspired shish kebab on a lemongrass stick!

Innovating once more,

The Innovative Baker

Winners of the Christmas Giveaway!

2012-01-05T16:38:00.002Z

Announcing the Winners of the Christmas Giveaway! In your various posting in various forms of social networking including twitter, facebook, direct comments on the blog and everything else... the people who won are... (DRUMROLL...)

1. Squiikivois

2. Genial

3. Harpreet

4. Anonymous person who wrote about their experience on eating tempoyak

5. Mikhail

6. Linda

7. G. Anuradha

8. Ms. Marie

9. Nic

10. Ricardo

Applause!!!!!!!! Please contact me via e-mail at donnowhat2cook@gmail.com by providing me your contact details including your address so that I can ship it you!

Happy New Year everyone!

The Innovative Baker

Donnowhat2cook on the list of 10000 very good recipe blogs!

2011-12-19T15:33:00.004Z

Hey ya all!

Now how's that for a Christmas surprise? Randomly checking who looks at my blog, I came across the list of 10000 very good recipe blogs and voila! donnowhat2cook appeared on number 9660!!! Yes... not exactly the highest ranking of food blogs but heck, making it into the list is success enough for me :) So the more you read my blog, the more my recipes are spread! Check out the link below for other useful blogs for recipes!

Very Good Recipes

wondering what else she can do,

The Innovative Baker

Christmas Giveaway - 10 lucky readers!

2011-12-08T09:53:00.001Z

Hey ya all!!!

Yes...the title says it all. 10 lucky readers will get a jar of cookies (not saying whether it is either of the two above for the content) from the Innovative Baker.

The spirit of Christmas is always a fantastic way of giving and sharing. And for my avid readers, I am grateful for the every growing readership and interest in what is featured and people asking what else can be made!

But there is a catch right? Not much...as long as you share with me your weirdest experiences on the weirdest Christmas favours, dishes and / or deserts you have tried, 10 random winners will be picked and you shall be contacted of course... Doesn't matter whether the comments come via blogger or facebook, you will be accounted for. So share share share!!!!!

The Innovative Baker is looking forward to your comments, so hurry!!!!

(Seeing that this brainiac idea did materialise a little too late for Christmas delivery, it will and should arrive your doorstep either hand delivered or posted should it be too far for me to leg it for the new year's!)

Ho ho ho...and OMG I have got a ton of baking to do!!!

Much love,

The Innovative Baker :)

Wedding cake mania!!!!

2011-12-07T23:05:00.001Z

Alright, I posted it on Facebook and am taking my time to publish it on my blog, but here you have it, the wedding cake.

It started when a really good friend asked if I could bake her wedding cake! I was of course excited! My first wedding cake! Then I realized... Oh boy! So as always, we discussed what the cake might be like and I conceptualized it with the basis of how the cake would look like first incorporating the favourite flavours of the couple. Pitched it to her, she discussed it with fiancé now husband and voila!

Then came stage 2: deciding what actually will be the cake. The flavours were pretty much decided for the cake itself - chocolate for the larger tier, vanilla for the smaller tier. The cream filling was then thoroughly discussed on what flavours and tastes to mix up and see whether it would turn out. Donor was decided that the chocolate cake would have caramelized orange skin in butter cream filling while the vanilla cake would be the recipient of a cinnamon infused home made strawberry jam. The frosting was cream cheese frosting. What about decorations? Well, fresh orchids was wholeheartedly agreed upon and silver pearls to add the finishing touch.

The end result is the picture you see. The happy couple was delighted! I threw in 2 dozen red velvet cupcakes as an added gift to the happy wedded couple.

It took me 3 days in total to get everything in order (only night shifts since I work full time). So technically 1 whole day to get all of it together!

Thank you Sara for asking. It was a great joy to have baked it for you and to see such happy smiling faces when eating it.

Now it is Christmas cookies time!!!!

Interesting Foods You May Want to Add to Your Grocery List

2011-11-25T14:02:00.001Z

Written by guest blogger Brett H, who writes on the subjects of healthy eating, living, and lifestyles

Sometimes we want to add an exotic orunusual touch to our meals without having to get dressed and drive to arestaurant. By visiting natural foodgrocers or taking time to peruse your regular grocery store, you may make someinteresting discoveries but not be sure as to how they can be utilized in yourtraditional recipes. Depending on your grocery list, youcan play it safe by making a minor change, or you can go all out with newspices and food products. Here are someinteresting and exotic ingredients you can try out:

Andouille Sausage

Andouille sausage –this spicy Cajun classic comes mostly in chicken and pork varieties. Thoughmostly in link form, some regions may carry it as a ground sausage. For those looking to watch their waistlines,a chicken or turkey version has much less oil than the traditional sausage. This sausage can bring a kick to ground meatdishes, pasta, and rice entrees.

Epazote

Epazote – this Mexican herb resembles filé incolor and texture but is made from a young weed that is aromatic and rich. It works best in dishes that are savory. Itis ideal for those who desire spice without the heat of cayenne powder. This works well with soups, stews and beandishes. This herb is also known tolocals as a digestive aid. If buying inleaf form, a word of caution: darker, older leaves should be used sparingly.

Lavash bread

Lavash or lavash bread – this type of breadis a large, somewhat bland flatbread with Middle-Eastern roots. Though normally served with kabobs, this foodhas become a popular bread substitute in the United States. Used mostly in sandwich wraps and pinwheelappetizers, this is becoming a popular choice for those who want cracker-stylepizza crust without the labor of making extra-thin dough.

Pickled Asparagus

Pickled asparagus/garlic cloves/mushrooms –These ingredients can be combined to make a great snack or a new way to top agreen salad. Found mostly in natural orgourmet food stores, these tasty, bite-sized treats are moderately priced butare a great way to reduce salad dressing usage. They can also be added to chicken or tuna salads.

Swai

Swai (rhymeswith “shy”) – this Vietnamese cousin of the catfish is catching on as the“it” fish for those looking to stretch their dollar. Slightly sweet with a flaky texture that issimilar to catfish, this is normally sold frozen in the U.S. Though it may be sold as Basa fish, thedifference is that Swai grows much faster and is not quite as sweet. Look for flesh that is beige or light pink incolor, and because of its mild flavor, it can be prepared in a variety of ways.

Tamarind Candy

Tamarind candy – this spicy-sweet andsometimes sour fruit has many origins, but the candy, which is mixed withspices and chili, is commonly found in international or Latin markets. Forthose looking to get accustomed to the taste, chop into bite-size pieces andadd to yogurt, butter pound cake or ice cream. Or for the holidays, add to spicy fruit cake recipes. Tamarind fruit also has medicinal purposesfor those who seek stomach relief.

The Innovative Baker gets featured in the Star newspapers in Malaysia

2011-07-12T14:52:00.000+01:00

I was recently asked by a friend who works for a local Malaysian newspaper to contribute to a piece she was writing on summer fruits. The article just got published. Here's the links for your reading pleasure!

Sunny Fruits in the Star

Sweet Creations

Thank you to Ms. Abby Lu of the Star newspaper for asking.

The Innovative Baker

Chicken Feta Cheese and Coriander Wantons

2011-07-02T22:03:00.000+01:00

Born from a thought while riding on the bus, I figured lets make some wantons. And since I had guests coming over over the weekend, what a great way to jazz up the wantons by adding feta cheese instead. So here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

Wanton skins

Filling:

1/2 block of a 200g feta cheese - diced finely

1 chicken breast - halfed length ways then diced finely

a handful of coriander - finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

A dash of salt

A good dash of freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Firstly combine diced ingredients into a bowl and add the chopped coriander before combining it with the oils, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
Next, take wanton skin and using a teaspoon, take enough to fill the middle portion of the skin. Then apply some water on the edges and fold over before gathering them into the centre of the wanton.
The recipe would make around 14 to 15 pieces even up to 20 if you're making smaller portions of the wantons.
Heat up a sizeable pan high enough for you add a good portion of oil for deep frying. Make sure to heat the oil up til its hot before plonking the wantons in for deep frying.
When oil is ready, then add wantons with enough space for you to turn them over to ensure overall cooking.
Dish them out on a plate covered with paper napkins.
Serve hot with some sweet chilli sauce on the side.

Voilà! Yummy to the core and it is basically using what you have in the fridge.

Soon to be featured: curried pork and potato parcels

The Innovative Baker

Sweet Chilli Sauce

2011-06-25T13:56:00.000+01:00

Sweet chilli sauce is somewhat a staple in take away Asian restaurants or even dining in especially with prawn crackers. I wanted to explore making it on my own and found it actually really easy. Using the basic ingredients I know should go in, I concocted my version of sweet chilli sauce and this was the product, a tangy, sweet chilli sauce with a slight kick to the end of it. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

10 red chillies

6 kaffir lime leaves

2 to 3 stalks of lemon grass

8 cloves of garlic

1/2 palm size ginger

2 cups caster sugar

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce / tamari soy sauce

Method:

Put red chillies, lemon grass, garlic and ginger into a mini chopper or blender and whiz til it becomes pulp like.
Next boil the sugar and water til melted and continue boiling till it browns or starts to caramelise. Then pour in the chilli pulp mixture and stir, bring to a boil again and then add the rice vinegar and soy sauce and stir.
Take off the heat and pour into a container or a sterilised jam jar large enough. It should make at least a large amount equivalent to a large soup bowl. Serve when necessary. Or use it to coat your meat before roasting / grilling.

Serve it along with fried wantons, fish cakes or anything in between. My flatmate tosses it over her salad and sometimes her fried noodles too.

Yums!!!!

The Innovative Baker

Goat's cheese and pomegranate parcels

2011-06-25T10:58:00.000+01:00

I was inspired by a recipe featured in the Stylist magazine that we get for free on the streets of London when I came up with this version. The original recipe called for vol-au-vents (see pic below)

but that would mean, more puff pastry, more money and of course more time. Though my version is not exactly the quickest but certainly a cheaper option. I opted to use pancake batter at its runniest (most fluid if you'd like to be more visual), and mould it in the oven using muffin moulds to create a cup-like mould and then voila, it gave birth to my version of Goat's cheese and pomegranate parcels:

Ingredients:

Pancake batter:

1 cup flour

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Filling:

2 packets pomegranate seeds or around 4 to 5 whole pomegranates

250gms goat's cheese

Decoration:

Greek Basil leaves

Method:

First, prepare your pancake batter. Add all ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Runny consistency means it literally runs of the whisk or spoon you are using to mix. If it is still sticky and thick, add more water.
Then heat up a pancake griddle or a flat frying pan (preferably non-stick). The oil in the pancake batter will help it not stick to the pan in any case. Spoon a small portion of the batter on to the hot griddle and use the back of the spoon to spread the mixture till medium sized. As a rough guide, use a medium soup bowl as your guide or the muffin mould depth to gauge how big your pancake mould should look like. The pancake should also be quite thin to make it easier to press into the muffin mould. Heat up the oven to 220 Degrees Celcius whilst making your pancakes.
The pancake batter should yield around 36 pancakes.
Place pancakes onto the muffin mould and press down to make it look like a muffin case. Place into heated oven for up to 3 minutes or so or until brown and hard. Remove and repeat the same process for all 36 pancakes. Let the pancake moulds rest once completed.
Then mix the goat's cheese and pomegranates together. If you only have whole pomegranates, slice the pomegranates in half, and use the rolling pin and knock the seeds out. The easiest way to get the seeds. When the mixture is done, set aside.
When ready to assemble, place a spoonful of the goat's cheese and pomegranate mixture into the pancake mould and add a few Greek Basil leaves for added touch and flavour.

There you go! It certainly tasted yummy and was a hit. It definitely adds colour and variety to a party table too. Next one up, curried pork and potato parcels.

The Innovative Baker

Business Cards have arrived!

2011-06-09T12:08:00.000+01:00

Thanks to a great friend, my business cards have arrived! Quirky aren't they? Well now that they're here, my business side of things will be taking off! I'm in the midst of finalising the menu and the prices and hopefully it'll be an easy reference should anyone fancy a cake or cupcake batches to order :)

Watch out!

The Innovative Baker

Elderflower Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Infused Elderflower Frosting and Pink Piping

2011-06-06T23:30:00.000+01:00

For my great friend and flatmate Marta, I wanted to create something special. So while reading up on my recipes and flipping through magazines, I spotted elderflower:

Of course...I didn't have to actually use the flower though it would have added a nice tough to the frosting but I was able to get hold of elderflower syrup. So that gave birth to this recipe:

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

175g unsalted butter - very soft

175g demarara sugar

3 medium eggs - beaten

1tsp elderflower syrup

175g self-raising flour - sifted

1/2tsp baking power

2tbsp milk

For the cream cheese frosting

300g cream cheese

150g icing sugar

1tsp elderflower syrup

For the pink cream:

100ml double cream

50g icing sugar

2 squirts of pink coloring

Method:

Firstly, crank up the oven to 180 Degrees Celcius and then line your muffin trays.
Next, beat sugar and butter till light and fluffy before beaten eggs into mixture. Add in the elderflower syrup, then a portion of the sifted flour and baking powder before finally adding in the milk.
Once fully combined, spoon into muffin trays and bake for 15 minutes.
While waiting, make the cream cheese icing by combining all the ingredients and whip into frosting. Place in fridge and proceed the same with the cream. Place in the fridge too.
Once cupcakes are baked, take out to completely cool down before frosting and piping.

It was perfect for a party, and the host loved it (or so I gather).

Next up, carrot cake...

The Innovative Baker

Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Blue Cream Piping

2011-06-03T09:48:00.000+01:00

I've finally found time!!!! Yay!!!! Ok...jubilation over... now to write...

So the inspiration for this came when I asked the birthday boy what he fancied for his birthday cake. He was toying with chocolate, coffee, and the sort before settling with Lemon Drizzle Cake. Well It is normally in a form of a cake but to make it more festive, I changed it up and made cupcakes instead. Mind you, it is for the sweet tooth as it does involve a load of sugar and in different forms: caster sugar and icing sugar. Anyway, so what went into it?

Ingredients:

The cupcake

200gm unsalted butter - softened or partially melted in the microwave

250gm caster sugar (you can use light brown sugar too)

3 medium eggs at room temperature and beaten

finely grated zest of 2 medium unwaxed lemons

250gm self-raising flour - sifted

1/2 tsp baking powder

100ml milk - cold or room temperature doesn't matter

The Drizzle:

Juice from 2 medium lemons

100gm caster sugar

The Cream Cheese Frosting:

300gm cream / soft cheese

400gm icing sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

The Blue Cream Piping:

1 cup double cream

1/2 icing sugar

2 squirts of blue coloring

1tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Firstly crank up the oven to 180 Degrees Celcius. Prepare the muffin trays with cupcake cups.
In your mixer, beat sugar, lemon zest and butter till light and fluffy before adding the eggs slowly. Then add in a portion of flour and the baking powder and a portion of milk and beat again before adding in the rest of the flour and milk. Once fully combined, spoon into lined muffin trays and bake for 15 minutes. Take out and leave to cool thoroughly.
While waiting for the cupcakes, squeeze the lemons for the juice and mix it with the sugar. The lemon juice will slightly melt the sugar. Set aside.
Beat the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla essence until slightly runny in consistency. To have a thicker consistency, reduce icing sugar measurement by at least half. Leave in fridge.
Beat double cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence until it thickens up. Then add in the blue coloring and fold it in to combine. Leave in fridge as well.
The cupcakes should still be warm when drizzling the lemon sugar syrup. Firstly poke holes into the cupcakes by either using a fork or a toothpick. I used toothpicks. Then using a brush, brush the drizzle onto the cupcakes enough to leave a shin on it. Then let it rest before continuing to cream.
Next pipe the cream cheese frosting to cover the tops and then pipe blue cream accordingly to what you'd like to have. Serve up! Or pack it in a nice box for a nice birthday treat :)

Here's what I did:

Evidently my piping needs work but steady hands goes a long way... This weekend I'll be making Elderflower inspired cakes...and a catering gig too! Watch out for mini quiche lorraines :)

The Innovative Baker

Sambal Belacan (Malaysian Chilli Paste)

2011-06-02T12:08:00.000+01:00

I know I promised recipes for the cupcakes but my catering weekend is coming up so I figured sambal belacan or Malaysian Chilli Paste would save me for now :) A staple condiment that most Malaysians and possibly other Asians too would have to accompany their dishes (either as a dip or as the grounds for a sauce in a stir-fry), I would say one cannot live without it. Unless of course, you don't fancy foul smelling foods or chill in general. There are many variations to this dipping sauce, watery to thick. I have made the thicker version that only has lime juice as its sole fluid aside from the fresh chillies of course. So what goes into it?

Ingredients:

15 stalks of red chillies

1 tbsp of belacan granules (toasted and pounded)

Juice from 1 lime

1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Cut the chillies into smaller portions and place in mini chopper or blender or mortar. If in mini chopper, add in the belacan granules, the lime juice and salt altogether before zapping it to make the paste. The same goes with the blender.
In a mortar, firstly pound the chillies first in bits and not the entire portion of the 15 stalks you have. When pounding and getting it to almost pulp like form, add in the belacan granules bit by bit with the lime juice and salt in moderation. Continue pounding until all ingredients have been firmly incorporated together. This normally take up to 20 to 30 minutes depending on the coarseness of your mortar.
Spoon into sterilised bottles and keep refrigerated or frozen.

Many prefer the second version as you can really taste the chilli and belacan together. For sake of convenience and time, the first version is quicker. The taste is not much different from the pounded version.

What exactly is belacan some of you might ask? Here's some photos:

These are normally raw and not toasted as yet. When toasting, it'll release a rather foul-smelling fragrance / aroma (that of course us Malaysians find delectable but horrifying to gwailos) that can stink the house. So be sure to cover all holes leading outwards of the kitchen should you decide to toaste your belacan. I however use Maggi Belacan Granules (can't seem to find a picture for this) as it is already toasted and in granule form...again convenience and puts off the toasting part as well.

For variations should you want to use sambal belacan as a sauce, then blend / pound it with pre-soaked dried shrimp and shallots.

(Dried Shrimp)

Following that, heat up a pan / wok with some vegetable oil and pour in the paste before adding your vegetables or meat.

Simple as 1, 2, 3... delicious as ever!

The promised lemon drizzle cupcakes coming up tonight!

The Innovative Baker

Fruit Tart with Chantilly Cream and Sweet Pastry

2011-05-23T14:25:00.000+01:00

The fruit tart in question was a request from a friend for her sister's birthday. The fruits are of course her favourite. I've never made one and having read the many blogs and recipe books that were available out there made it quite a daunting task to begin with. But I tend to find the quickest way possibly to make one so here's how I did it.

Ingredients:

Sweet Pastry:

250gm plain flour - sifted

100gm icing sugar

100gm butter - diced and slightly soft

2 medium sized eggs

Chantilly Cream

500ml double cream

50gm icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Fruits

Any seasonal fruit or canned fruit of your liking. Various colours would be good if not, just berries is good too!

Method:

Preparing the pastry in advance is helpful as it would quicken the process in making the tart. Even baking it a day before is also good. But on the day is also fine. So, in a food processor or in a mixing bowl, place in the sifted flour, icing sugar and diced butter. In a food processor pulse it to ensure butter gets incorporated into the flour and icing sugar looking like bread crumbs. If in a mixing bowl, use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour mixture until bread crumb like. Then add in the eggs one by own until it comes doughy like. In a food processor it may seem like it looks almost like a batter form but slightly thick. Don't worry about it. Just use your fingers to scrape out the pastry onto a floured surface.
Next knead the pastry for about 3 minutes or so before wrapping it in cling film for refrigeration. You can keep this overnight or for 1 to 2 hours. Alternatively, you can freeze it for up to a month.
When ready to bake, crank up the oven to 190 Degrees Celcius. Bring out your flan tin or ceramic pie dish. There is no need for greasing as the pastry is actually really nice and oily and doesn't stick to the pan nor dish. Work with a rolling pin to flatten the pastry until about 5mm thick. Wrap the rolling pin with the pastry before lifting it to be unwrapped over the flan tin / dish. Use your fingers then to press the pastry on to the tin to rid off any air pockets. Cut any excess pastry away from the edges. Using your thumb and index finger from your left hand and index finger of your right hand, press the edges of the pastry to shape it.
Prick the base of the pastry with a fork to allow air to escape.Line the pastry with grease proof paper and pour in baking beans before placing it in the oven to bake blind for 30 minutes. Take out the baking beans at the final 10 minutes of baking to allow the pastry base to dry and turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool thoroughly. Remove from flan tin / dish to quicken cooling process.
The Chantilly cream was actually the easiest to make. In a mixing bowl, pour all ingredients into it and beat with a steady rhythm until mixture thickens. When whisk is lifted, the cream should not be runny but holds it own. Vanilla extract with vanilla beans actually does make the cream look better but you can use the actually vanilla beans by scraping it out from a vanilla pod. It however is not cheap, so just be careful when purchasing it. Set aside the cream in the fridge.
The fruits what you may like can be sliced in many ways as long as you know how you want the fruits to shape up when decorating the tart.
Assemble the tart by first spreading the cream on the base of the pastry case and smoothen the surface with your spatula or palette knife. Then line your fruits accordingly and leave it in the fridge for a little while before serving or alternatively it can be served there and then.
You can add a jam glaze on top for added shiny effect. Other recipes call for a gelatine layer but I choose not to. For a jam glaze just use any kind of pre-made jam on place it in a sauce pan. Two tbsp should be enough. Heat it up and stir to let it melt. Then using a pastry brush, glaze the fruits with it.

This tart found its way to a pastry chef in a popular cafe / restaurant down in Balham, London. The restaurant staff also had a taste of it and enjoyed it tremendously. I even got tips on how to get the pastry case to be less brittle! That made my day for sure.

So if you ever want to make fruit tarts the easy way, this is the way to go.

Rustic oat loaf next.

The Innovative Baker

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Almond Cookies

2011-05-16T16:21:00.000+01:00

I received a huge cookie recipe book as a birthday gift two years ago and have underused it much to the dismay of my friend who gave it to me. But since I am on a roll to experiment in the kitchen I used it as a guidance to come up cookie recipes not entirely found in the book but plain old innovation happening right in my kitchen. So the original recipe was meant to be milk chocolate chip cookies. But I ended up doing something else altogether because of what I had in the kitchen. So here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 tub (340gms) smooth peanut butter (crunchy also adds further texture)

200gms butter - partially melted for 50 seconds in the microwave

300gms plain flour

1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

200gms firmly packed brown sugar

1 medium egg

1 tbsp vanilla essence

200gms dark chocolate chips

150gms almond flakes / diced almonds

Method:

Heat up the oven at 200 Degrees Celcius. Prepare your baking pans with greaseproof paper and set aside.
Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda together.
In a mixing bowl, toss in the sugar, peanut butter, and butter and beat till sugar is dissolved and fluffy. Add in the egg and the vanilla essence and continue beating before adding in the flour in 3 batches. Once combined, the mixture looks firm. Add in the chocolate chips and almond flakes.
Take a bit of the cookie mixture and roll into a ball. The size should be almost like a huge marble. Line it accordingly with at least 1 1/2 inches in between to allow for spreading to occur when baking.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes maximum and take out to cool. Repeat until mixture is finished.
The recipe should yield up to 40 cookies.

If you don't like Peanut butter then replace with nutella.

The consistency of the cookie is almost similar to famous amos cookies except it looks round rather than pinched.

The cookies have been cordoned off by the flatmates...yes, it tastes that good!

Cookie search continues,

The Innovative Baker

Chicken in a Bowl?

2011-05-10T10:14:00.000+01:00

Yup! That is what it is called! In certain Chinese restaurants in Malaysia, they have a dish where it is served with a plate and an overturned bowl. In that bowl, it has got a portion of a certain dish and rice. Usually quite saucy, the dish is immensely flavourful as it tends to seep into the rice making the dish an all round delight! I remember being taken to one such restaurant in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia by my parents and along with my siblings with have this dish quite a few times. So to reminisce, I decided to cook this:

Ingredients:

1 medium sized chicken breast or any cuts of the chicken if you prefer to have bones (should be about 200gm)

6 - 7 leaves of gem lettuce or any green vegetable you prefer

1 stalk of red chilli - jullienned or sliced side ways

1/2 cup chicken stock or 1/2 cube chicken stock cube mixed in hot water

2 cloves of garlic - minced

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water

pepper to taste

Pre-cooked white rice of your choice

Method:

First, slice the chicken breast thinly into bite size pieces. Marinade with the soy sauce. Set aside.
Heat up the wok and add some vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, toss in the minced garlic and stirfry until fragrant. Then add the chillies before adding in the marinated chicken and stir quickly. Once it is half cooked (slightly pinkish in the middle), then add in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
Bring to a simmering state and add in the vegetables. Stir slowly to allow the vegetables to cook in the broth before adding in the cornstarch mixture. The broth will thicken. Add in pepper to taste. If it is not salty enough then add a dash of soy sauce.
To assemble, place a medium sized bowl next to the wok. Scoop the chicken into the bowl til half full. Then add in the rice and cover it up to the brim of the bowl. Smoothen the rice surface. Next place a plate on top of the bowl. Using two hands, one holding the bowl, the other holding the plate, putting pressure in the middle of the plate, overturn it quickly. Take the bowl off and you have a nicely formed bowl of rice and chicken.
Serve with bowl or without is up to you. But it would be a nice surprise for guests!

The chicken is of course the most neutral of meats. You can opt for beef, pork, turkey, fish, seafood or just plain vegetables too. Want to make it spicier? Then before adding in the chicken, fry some chilli paste with the minced garlic. You can also use chilli flakes instead if you rather a less chilli like consistency.

Rump Steak with Sundried Tomatoes and Olives in a Red wine Reduction

2011-05-07T17:23:00.001+01:00

I always craved to make a good steak at home. Seeing that it is inexpensive to purchase a good slice of beef steak from the butchers, i figured lets give it a go. Naturally the sauce or condiments that went with it were what I had in the refrigerator so here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

500gms rump steak - matured for tenderness. Speak to the butcher for the right cut and maturity time

About 8 - 10 black and green olives soaked in olive oil - sliced in half

About 5 - 6 sun dried tomatoes

1/2 beef stock

2 tbsp red wine

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

First prepare the sun dried tomatoes and olives by slicing them into bite size portions. Use the olive oil that soaked the olives as your cooking oil. It tastes even better than regular olive oil.
Heat up a frying pan and add the sun dried tomatoes, olives and olive oil. Wait for it to sizzle and then add the pepper. While waiting for this to cook, heat up the grilling pan.
Reduce the heat on the frying pan with the tomatoes and olives, and rub olive oil onto the rump steak on both sides before seasoning with salt and pepper. When the grilling pan is hot enough, place the steak on it and let it sizzle. Wait about two minutes for one side to cook before turning it over. You will have the chargrilled lines across the meat. Wait the same duration with the other before fishing it out of the grilling pan.
When waiting for the steak to grill, add the beef stock to your tomato and olive mix and let it come to a boil. When it becomes bubbly add in the red wine to the sauce and boil to reduce.
Fish out the steak onto a plate. Pour the sauce onto the grilling pan where the steak was to get some meatiness into the sauce. It's kind of like making it infused with the steak flavour.
This will drastically reduce the sauce and then immediately pour over the steak.
Serve hot.

You can serve it with a nice condiment like a salad or some stir fried green beans on the side. A dollop of mash potatoes also adds to the flavouring as well.

(Why do you need to rub the olive oil onto the steak? Well, this I learnt watching a cooking show and also read it in many recipe books that steaks with grilling marks only appear when olive is rubbed onto the steak rather than the oil being dribbled on to the pan. Great tip i must say!)

Now that was a good steak.

The Innovative Baker

Jap Chae - Korean style glass noodles (MY VERSION AT LEAST)

2011-05-03T18:13:00.000+01:00

My affair with Korean food keeps growing with a desire to even make my own kimchi (pickled chinese cabbage with chilli). But with a kick and a thrust of ingredients at hand, I made Jap Chae instead. Well at least the way I pictured how it would be and how it eventually tasted like. This would be essentially the third time I've made it and it has proven to be successful once more!

Ingredients:

1 bundle of glass noodles (the packet should be separated by portions)

1 chicken breast - sliced thinly and marinated with soy sauce and a little sesame oil

2 birds eye chillies - finely diced

1 whole red onion - finely sliced in half rings

10 sprigs of asparagus - finely sliced diagonally

10 sprigs of french beans - finely sliced diagonally

1 chinese sausage - finely sliced diagonally

a handful of coriander - finely chopped

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp thick soy sauce

Method:

Firstly soak the glass noodles in hot water to soften them. It will become transculent when soaked through.
In the meantime, prepare all the ingredients ready for frying. Heat up a wok or a large enough frying pan with the vegetable oil. Toss in the red onions and birds eye chillies and let the onions sweat through before tossing in the chinese sausage. Let the sausage sort of burn a little on the sides before tossing in the chicken.
When the chicken is semi cooked (half pink), then toss in the asparagus, stems first before florettes and then the french beans. Then toss in the chilli flakes, stir a little before covering it to let simmer. The heat will cook through the vegetables and also complete in cooking the chicken.
After 1 minute or so, uncover the wok and toss in the glass noodles. Stir until well mixed before adding in the soy sauce and thick soy sauce. Stir until well coated. Lastly add in the sesame oil and stir before spreading the chopped coriander on top.
Switch off the gas, and serve hot!

The vegetables are interchangeable with other kinds like mushrooms, stem broccoli, kai lan and many others. If you wish to add more colour, then julienned carrots can also go in with finely sliced red chillies.

The meat is also optional if you're vegetarian. Just double up the vege portion and voila, a vegetarian glass noodle!

It only takes 30 minutes in total to cook and serve. Plus a great alternative to the usual fried rice noodle dishes we always have.

Bibimbap next on line perhaps.

The Innovative Baker

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing and hand piped Chocolate decorations

2011-05-02T17:33:00.000+01:00

I've always wanted to make red velvet cupcakes. My brain was on high gear for weeks leading up to the royal wedding weekend and was researching on what was most possibly the best combination of ingredients needed to make it. But instead of having to rely on a recipe, I came up with an adapted one from an existing cake recipe. The decorations were also inspired from photos I saw of other cupcake decorations. So here's what went in:

Ingredients:

Cake batter:

300gms self raising flour

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

15gms cocoa powder

250ml whole milk

1tbsp red wine vinegar

200gms golden caster sugar

100gms butter - softened

2 eggs

1 1/2 bottles of red food colouring

Icing:

300gms cream / soft cheese

400gms icing sugar

110gms unsalted butter

2tsps vanilla essence

Chocolate decoration:

100gms dark chocolate

200gms milk chocolate

Method:

Crank up your oven to 200 Degrees first to warm it up. Then prepare the cake batter.
Firstly pop into the microwave for 30 secs to soften the butter. While waiting for that, sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda together. Then mix the milk with the red wine vinegar together.
Beat the sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy before beating the eggs one by one. Then slowly add the flour mixture and milk mixture in batches til fully combined. Then stir in the red food colouring. It will turn the mixture burgundy like in colour.
In prepared muffin trays with muffin cups, spoon in the mixture and bake for 15 to 18 minutes depending. Reduce the oven to around 180 Degrees when baking the cupcakes. (The cake batter would make up to 27 cupcakes)
While waiting for the cakes to bake, prepare the icing. Firstly beat the butter and cream together before adding the icing sugar slowly to combine it. Lastly add in the vanilla essence. Beat a further 5 minutes to add air in. Then pour into an air tight container and stick it in the fridge.
When cupcakes are baked, let it rest and cool down. While waiting, prepare the chocolate deco. Firstly melt both chocolate types in a bain marie (small pot with water and a heatproof bowl on top). Be sure not to melt it for too long as then the chocolate would split from its oils and have a weird sheen to it. Not what you want.
Then let it cool down for about 30 to 45 minutes and you'll see it slowly firming up but still running. Then in a piping bag with a normal nozzle, pour in the chocolate mixture. Prepare a baking pan with a greaseproof paper to pipe the chocolate deco on. Then pipe whatever designs you can think off - buttons, hearts, crescents, stars, little dots...
When all three elements have cooled down - icing, chocolate decoration (hardened) and cupcakes are fully rested, then you can assemble! This is the fun part. The easiest to ice the cupcakes is to pipe the icing on the top. Then add some chocolate decoration with some semi-prepared sugar icing stars.

Here's some other views of the cupcakes:

The party i took the cupcakes to devoured it. And it wasn't as difficult as it looked to be! So have fun baking!

Jap Chae next,

The Innovative Baker

Spinach, Feta and Olive Quiche - A Sunday Afternoon Lunch too good to resist!

2011-04-17T16:23:00.000+01:00

Twas a Sunday afternoon and I decided lets make quiche. It isn't as difficult as one might think and the ingredients are easy to get. Naturally if you're in Malaysia, then it would cost you quite a bit. But the filling is normally what you can find in your kitchen so there is no fixed kind of filling. However, it isn't suitable for those allergic to eggs as the filling does contain quite a bit of it.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

2/3 cups milk

125gms unsalted butter - cubed

2 cups self-raising flour - sifted

Filling:

4 eggs

400ml double cream (whipping cream as an alternative)

at least 20 olives - doesn't matter the colour - sliced

400gms spinach leaves (two pre-washed packets from the grocery here in the UK)

250gms feta cheese - cubed

salt

pepper

100gms parmesan / cheddar cheese - grated

Method:

Firstly, prepare your pastry dough. You can either use a food processor to quicken the process or your cake mixer using a dough appliance (usually looks like a hook) or a wooden spoon and a mixing bowl. Melt the butter in the milk over low heat until melted. Pour into the sifted flour and mix well until dough forms. Roll onto floured surface to knead for a few second before putting into cling film and leaving it in the fridge for 15 minutes or so. Some recipes vary with asking for a longer resting period of up to an an hour.
Crank up your oven to 190 Degrees Celcius.
While waiting for the pastry dough to rest, prepare your filling. Firstly beat your eggs and cream in a bowl. Add in the grated cheese, salt and pepper. Leave one side.
Next sweat out your spinach. How do you do this? On a cooking pan, add a little oil to a medium heat. When heated, put in the spinach and cover it. Wait for about 15 seconds before turning it. Add a little water to help with the sweating process. Then cover, and let the leaves wilt for a further 5 minutes. The leaves should by then turn into a deep greenish colour. Remove from the heat and strain with a sieve to remove any unwanted juices. Set aside.
Slice your feta cheese and olives and set aside.
Next, take out your pastry dough and place onto a floured surface. Knead for a little before rolling it out. Take out your pie dish and have it ready for the rolled out pastry. Using your rolling pin and rough guidance of how big your pie dish is, roll out the pastry as wide as you can but keeping in mind that it should not be too thin. So keeping to at least 3mm thickness is good enough.
Now comes the not so easy part for the not so savvy pastry makers. I ain't that savvy either but it is always trial and error. When transfering your pastry to the pie dish, don't lift the pastry when it is flat as it would break. The easiest is to place your rolling pin on one end of the rolled out pastry, lift the end bit of the pastry on to the rolling pin and wrap the rolling pin up. Almost like how you would make a spring roll. Then place the pie dish in front of you and lift the rolled up pastry with the rolling pin and place it over the dish. Then unroll the pastry with the rolling pin. Voila! Pastry is now in pie dish! Next bit is to press the pastry onto the dish. Using your fingers, press to rid of any air that is stuck underneath. Don't worry if the pastry breaks a little, your fingers to mend it. or use any access pastry to cover it up. Using a butter knife, cut off any access pastry from the sides of the dish.
Next, using a fork, prick the dough all the way through at the base of pie dish all around the base. This is to allow some air to escape from the pastry. Next, place some grease proof paper on top and pour into baking beans. It can be any kind of bean. As long as it is still in its dried state. Bake blind for 15 minutes. This means to bake the pastry case without the filling for a duration to allow the pastry case to cook slightly before adding anything else to it. It is a common cooking method for any kind of pastry.
Take the dish out and remove the baking beans along with the grease proof paper. Next, distribute the spinach, olives and feta cheese even across the base before pouring in the egg mixture. Then pop it back into the oven for a further 40 minutes or until the centre is firm.
Take it out and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. It can also be eaten cold as some do prefer it that way.

Now I'm set for lunch tomorrow as well! A good vegetarian alternative too :)

Next in line - Mackerel and Watercress Fishcakes

Being all adventurous,

The Innovative Baker

Victorian Sandwich with Pineapple Jam and Cream Cheese Icing

2011-04-15T12:18:00.000+01:00

After much prodding, and a blackberry smartphone for a camera, this would be an official recipe post from yours truly.

Yes, yes, I have bought a new laptop, but the missing link to blogging and food is my camera. So for the time being, my blackberry will serve its purpose!

I have been meaning to bake a traditional Victorian Sandwich for a long time now. Seeing all the baking shows on telly and getting all jazzed up to make it. I've searched long and hard to find a recipe that would suit the tastebuds. But, lo and behold, I decided to innovate. The cake in general is largely a butter cake sandwiched with strawberry or raspberry jam and lightly dusted with icing sugar. I took it to another level and did my own version of it using home made pineapple jam and added frosting. So here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

250gms butter (normally unsalted is better but I use any butter)

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups caster sugar (light brown sugar is also fine)

2 cups flour - sifted

3/4 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tbsp hot water

For the jam:

2 whole pineapples - skinned, and grated. If you don't have fresh pineapples, then canned pineapples will be fine. Just as long you dice them fine.

200gms caster sugar (use the syrup from the canned pineapples if using canned pineapples)

Juice of 1 lemon

For the icing:

2x 250gms soft cheese / cream cheese

284ml double cream

3/4 cup icing sugar - sifted

Juice of 2 lemons

Method:

Heat up your oven to 180 Degrees Celcius. Prepare a cake tin by greasing it and adding in a sheet of greaseproof paper.
Next beat the butter and sugar until pale looking and fluffy. The way to know is when you see the sugar actually dissolving into the butter as you beat. Then add in the eggs one by one while continue beating it. When combined, add in half the flour portion and half the juice portion. Beat until well mixed before adding in the remainder of the flour and juice. Finally add in the hot water and beat until well combined before pouring into prepared cake tin.
Bake the cake at a reduced 160 Degrees for about 50 minutes before cranking it up to 180 Degrees for another 10 minutes or so. Take it out and cool thoroughly once baked.
While waiting for the cake to bake, make your jam. (I tend to make the jam a few days ahead or have a stash of it somewhere in the freezer). After skinning the pineapple and grating it (leaving the core out), be sure to run the pineapple through a sieve to rid of its juices. This is to avoid a longer cooking process and the juice can be drank or used in curries or other cakes. A quick an easy method is to grate the pineapple over a seive large enough or a colander with a big mixing bowl underneath so that the juice is automatically being drained. That saves you time.
Then add grated pineapple into a big enough pot and add the sugar or syrup that came with the canned pineapples. Crank up the heat to begin cooking the fruit. To know when the fruit is becoming jammy like is when you see the pineapples changing colour from light yellow to a darkish, golden tinge. This comes from the sugar that is turning syrupy. The process should take between 45 minutes to an hour at low heat. Don't rush the process. Add the lemon juice half way through the cooking process and stir to mix it into the jam. Once cooked, take it off the heat and let it sit for a bit. Alternatively, store bought jam is good enough. But be sure to heat it up in a saucepan before spreading on your cake.
The icing is the easiest. Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and beat. It will reach its creamy consistency when you notice it thickening and soft peaks start forming. Beat a little more and the cream will stiffen up.
When the cake is thoroughly cooled down, sliced it in half. Place top half on the bottom of the plate and begin spreading the warm pineapple jam. Once it covers the cake, spread a layer of cream cheese icing. Once that is done, cover it with the other half of the cake and ice with the remainder of the cream cheese icing. Place in the fridge to set before serving.
You can naturally serve it immediately without placing it in the fridge but otherwise be sure to keep it refrigerated as the weather does not permit it to be out too long and the cream will go bad when it is in a heated location for too long.
If you don't like pineapple or have an allergy towards it, a normal berry jam is also fine.

The cake is absolutely divine and half has been lapped up already. The other half is sitting in my refrigerator waiting to be devoured. Simple cakes are meant to be enjoyed over tea and trust me, this is one of them.

Truly enjoying the likes of English Tea,

The Innovative Baker

Modernist Cuisine - The ultimate book I'd buy!

2011-04-08T10:32:00.000+01:00

Whilst reading the Independent newspaper today, there was an article about the ultimate cookbook called the Modernist Cuisine. The price is a whopping £395 for a 5 book volume encased in a perspex case:

The coverage in the newspaper was visually mind blowing, and I must say I'd own this book in a heart beat if i could afford it (It is shy of £5 to match my monthly rent in London). But for serious foodies who would love to get a hand on it there are many ways of purchasing it. Amazon UK is offering discount Modernist Cuisine but it is temporarily out of stock. The official website provides alternative links for prospective buyers including an e-mail address for people who live in parts where the book is not available for sale online.

The three authors, who coincidentally are chefs in their own right have de-constructed and explained the art of cooking and the kitchen in this collection of books possibly allowing anyone to be able to gather and understand that cooking is in fact a science but at the same time not a science! Well, that's my own deduction anyway. As I have yet to really get into the book with more detail (as I have yet to purchase it), I would reserve my opinions on the book until some great samaritan would like to donate it! Hahahaha... After all, one can never have enough cookbooks at hand. Even if you're not a cook / chef, owning this collection would be a great mantelpiece and a conversational topic as well!!!!

So why not splurge a little since, if you can buy a Louis Vuitton, a Le Creuset, or Villeroy & Boch, you can buy this for sure...

Loving her cookbooks like Smeagol of LOTR,

The Innovative Baker

Food events for April 2011 in the UK

2011-04-06T10:56:00.000+01:00

Hi readers!

Whilst I may not have a camera in hand, I can however suggest what kind of foodie festivals / weeks that one should visit whilst in the UK. Am now an avid subscriber of the magazine, Delicious, their website informs us of the many varied food festivals that are organised to cater to the different tastes buds, locations and fancies of the general public. So the link below takes you to the featured events for this month:

Food events in the UK April 2011

I'd try to go for the London Coffee Festival that would be held at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, London between 8 to 10 April 2011. Tickets cost only £8.50 and that would reduce to £6.00 when more than 5 tickets are bought. But your tickets here. It is held in conjunction with UK Coffee Week and there are events lined up for the whole week. I know...a bit late in posting this as the event started on Monday already. But there's always room!!!!!

So venture to Brick Lane and see what coffee has to offer this time round for ya!

Smelling the aroma of coffee wifting in the air right now,
The Innovative Baker

Hiatus

2011-03-16T09:31:00.000Z

Dear foodie readers,

This space would temporarily have a backseat because my laptop was stolen in a recent break in and all my food photos along with it. Plus, I no longer have my trusty Canon Ixus Camera to take the food with which means, I need to get another camera...

So I ask for your kind understanding and hopefully Donnowhat2cook will be up and running soon.

Love,
The Innovative Baker!

Lemon Drizzle Cake with Coconut Icing

2011-02-27T17:17:00.000Z

I am avid fan of the Stylist Magazine that is distributed free for Londoners to take. Somewhere towards the end there is always a recipe that I find appealing. One such recipe was this cake. But of course, it is not all the time I keep limes in my fridge so substituting it with lemons kept the cake as yummy too!

Ingredients:

175g butter - softened

175g caster sugar (or even soft brown sugar)

175g self-raising flour - sifted

3 eggs

finely grated zest of 2 lemons / limes

75g icing sugar

freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons

175g cream cheese

5tsp coconut milk / cream

2tsp icing sugar

additional zest from 1 lemon

1 tbsp of desiccated coconut - toasted

Method:

Preheat the oven first at 180 Degree Celcius. Grease a cake tin and set aside.
Combine the softened butter, sugar and lime zest and beat till light and fluffy. Add in the flour slowly alternating with an egg each time and fully combined.
Pour mixture into cake tin and bake for 50 minutes or until springy to touch. My cake tin was slightly wider so the baking time was reduced to 40 minutes. Remove and let it cool.
Whilst the cake is being baked, make the drizzle by sifting the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the lemon juice before setting it aside.
When the cake is cooled for 5 minutes, poke holes with cocktail sticks, pour the drizzle over the cake covering every inch. Let it cool further.
Make the frosting next by beating the cream cheese, coconut milk / cream and icing sugar and then refrigerate it.
When the cake is fully cooled, cream the top of the cake with the icing. Then sprinkle the zest and toasted desiccated cononut over the cream.
Serve!

The cake finished naturally in one seating. Now to see whether it works with another kind of icing!

Thinking of a blueberry tart,

The Innovative Baker

Hot Chocolate with Chilli - SPICY!

2011-02-24T11:13:00.001Z

The heavens brought down a heavenly drink called....(drum roll)... HOT CHOCOLATE! But with a twist :) I had this version of hot chocolate with chilli when I was in Duesseldorf at a chocolaterie and trust me, you'd also faint when you try it the first time.

So, this morning, I decided to make it and it was done in 5 minutes!

Ingredients:

1 cup full fat milk

50 gms chocolate pieces - preferably dark chocolate

1/4 tsp chilli powder

Method:

In a small sauce pot, heat up the milk. When the milk begins to froth, place in chopped chocolate pieces.
Using a whisk, constantly beat the milk chocolate mixture until fully combined. Then whisk in the chilli powder.
Serve up piping hot with some biscuits on the side or better yet brioche!

My morning breakfast was definitely a fulfilling one :)

Must see whether lemon grass goes with hot chocolate....

The Innovative Baker

The ever favourite - Rendang (Malaysian Dry Curry)

2011-02-22T23:39:00.000Z

When I first discovered that rendang was not exactly that difficult to cook, I set out to make it. Given that this picture looks lighter than usual, the rendang did not cook for a long period of time but still tasted like it, looked like it and was done in no time! So what went into it?

Ingredients:

2 kg lamb - for braising / stewing (preferably the neck)

6 stalks of lemon grass - julienned

10 to 15 Bombay shallots (or 5 normal shallots)

8 cloves of garlic

A palm size of ginger (equivalent to 8 knobs of ginger)

A handful of kaffir lime leaves -julienned

2 tbsp of chilli boh (made of dried chilli boiled in water, drained and blended to a paste)

1 tbsp oil

2 kg of coconut milk

Salt to taste

Method:

Firstly make your chilli boh, by placing 1 cup of dried chilli into a mixing bowl, cutting them into smaller pieces and soaking in hot water. Drain it before blending it into a paste. Put it into a big pot.
Place skinned shallots and garlic in a food processor and pulse it. don't blend into a pulp form. You still want it a little rough.
Add shallots and garlic into the pot. Julien your ginger and lemon grass and add them into the pot. Next add the julienned lime leaves and the meat that has been washed.
Finally add in the coconut milk, salt and oil before bringing it to boil.
When it comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmering volume and let it sit on the stove for a minimum of 2 hours. At best 4 hours on very low heat as then you'll see the coconut milk reduce, turn colour and the oil from the coconut milk separating from the milk. Stir occasionally to avoid the bottom from burning.
From what it would look like a full pot, it will reduce to 1/3 of its contents as everything becomes to soak in its sauce.
Remove from the heat and serve hot with white rice or bread. Indian breads like naan, chapati, pratha and even dosai are perfect matches.

This was my third attempt at making rendang and I must say, the recipe truly does live up to its name. The original recipe called for turmeric leaves. So add that in instead of kaffir lime leaves if you have them. Otherwise the lime leaves will do just fine.

Already wanting to cook another round of rendang,

The Innovative Baker

Wantons, wantons and more wantons!

2011-02-22T00:18:00.003Z

Twas a cold and wintery day in London. My flatmates and I were in the mood for something warm and having heaps of it. So out came the wanton skins, meat and several other ingredients and tada!!!! Wanton soup :)

Ingredients:

1 packet of wanton skins

500 grams of pork / beef / chicken / lamb / turkey mince

1 large yellow onion - diced

1 egg

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp corn flour

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

soup stock ingredients:

1 large stalk of leek

1 large carrot

1 large yellow onion

whole white peppers

A handful of goji berries (kei chi)

1 tbsp of dried prawns

1 packet of dried anchovies (ikan billis)

oil

2 litres water

Condiment:

Chinese vegetables of your choice or spinach leaves.

Method:

First prepare your stock. Prepare your vegetables by slicing them in large cubes. Soak the dried prawns in some hot water and drain after 5 minutes. Prepare a large enough pot with some vegetable oil and lightly fry the yellow onion that has been skinned and cubed. Add in the pre-soaked prawns and continue stir frying. Then add in dried anchovies and fry til fragrant. Then add in the vegetables and pour in the water. Then add in the goji berries last before bringing up to boil. Once water is boiling, bring down to a simmer. Lastly add some salt and pepper to taste.
Then in a food processor, place all ingredients and blend til all of it is mixed through and finely combined. Prepare a bowl with some water and an empty plate to place the wrapped wantons in.
Take one wanton skin and place on the palm of your hand. Place a teaspoon full of filling into the middle. Using a finger, dip into the water and rub around the edge of the skin before folding and gathering it into a parcel. (The hawkers back home basically press the skin together with their palm and fingers), Place completed parcel onto the plate.
Once the filling is finished, the soup stock should be ready. Sift the stock and the soup that remains is brought to boil once more. When water is nearly coming to a boil, add in some wantons and cook them. You'll know they're cooked when you see them bopping up the surface of the soup. Spoon them out with some soup and some vegetables and serve.

The whole process is not tedious but time consuming. If you're not up to making small batches then make bigger batches and freeze them. If you want variety, add in some egg noodles and you have wanton noodles right in your kitchen!

Asian Ravioli perhaps the next time round!

The Innnovative Baker

Pie!!! Glorious Pie!!!! - in the form Curried Beef and Leek Pie

2011-02-20T12:20:00.000Z

Whilst watching a Jamie Oliver episode of wintery dishes, I was inspired. I haven't actually made a pie let alone looked for pastry to make pie. So taking inspiration from Jamie's version of turkey and leek pie, I decided to make an Asian version by infusing curry instead. Though no stranger any longer on the shores of England, curried pasties are usual. So my version of a pie wouldn't be strange either.

Ingredients:

1kg stewing steak or cuts of beef for stir fry

1 portion of curry paste (recipe below)

3 stalks of leek - finely sliced and washed

284ml single or double cream (which ever is available)

500 ml water

salt and pepper to taste

Instant puff pastry

Eggwash

Curry Paste Recipe:

6 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

a thumb size of ginger

2 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp water

2 fresh red chillies

Method:

Firstly make the curry paste. Skin the shallots, garlic and ginger, cut into smaller pieces and place into blender or food processor. Add in diced red chillies that have been deseeded, the curry powder, salt and water. Proceed to blend the ingredients together until it becomes a paste. Add a little water should it not be sufficient. Take out the frozen puff pastry and let it thaw.
Heat up a pot large enough with some vegetable oil. When hot, add in curry paste and stir til fragrant, and some oil comes out of the paste. Add in the beef and stir until fully covered with paste. Pour the water in and bring to boil.
Add in the leeks and stir. When water is boiling, reduce to a simmering state and let simmer til water has reduced. Then add in the cream, cook for 10 minutes before turning off the gas.
Crank up the oven to about 180 Degrees Celcius. Prepare the pastry by flouring a surface or a large cutting board. Roll out pastry and cut into strips. Set aside.
Ladle curry into a casserole dish before laying strips of pastry onto the the surface. Weave it if you can otherwise criss crossing is just fine. Baste pastry with egg wash (a beaten egg).
Bake for 15 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.
Dish out and serve hot!

My flatmates and I finished the pie in an instant! It definitely gave us a warm and fuzzy feeling afterwards.

Wondering if a chicken pot pie will surface soon enough,

The Innovative Baker

Savoury Muffins - the Cheese and Bacon way!

2011-02-19T12:48:00.000Z

Admittingly, I have been slow in updating my blog. Not all my culinary creations pan out but when they do, they do :) One such creation is actually baking savoury muffins. Naturally I cannot say that the recipe is my own but I have modified it to fit my needs instead. Also, fitting to my already bursting refrigerator, I had to rid myself of cheddar cheese, bacon and milk. So what more than coming up with Cheese and Bacon Muffins!

The recipe required:

250g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
50g (3 slices) bacon rashers
50g (1 cup) Cheddar cheese and more for topping
1tsp dried oregano
75g chilled butter
1 medium egg
175ml milk

Method:

Firstly crank up your oven to 200 Celcius to warm up. Then prepare your muffin tray by laying muffin cups. With that out of the way you can commence with making the batter.
Fry up your bacon rashers till crispy. Drain excess oil with kitchen towels and crumble them. Then grate your cheese. Which ever size is fine as long as it is grated.
Sift the flour into a large enough mixing bowl along with the baking powder. Then pour in crumbled bacon and toss in grated cheese. Next add in the dried oregano before grating in your chilled butter. However, you can also cut your butter into cubes and rub it into the flour as you toss all the ingredients together.
Next, beat the egg with the milk before adding to the flour mixture. Using a fork, just toss the mixture until most have been combined but lumpy. Don't worry about the mixture being lumpy as that allows muffins to retain airiness in them while baking and it doesn't become a weapon when you throw at people.
Spoon into muffin tray, top it with more grated cheese and bake for 20 mins.
Serve warm or cold.

I had a blast making them and it was a change to having sweet muffins all the time.

Have fun eating...I sure did.

Ricotta muffins perhaps?

The Innovative Baker

Home Made Flour Noodles - Pan Mee

2010-12-30T21:14:00.000Z

Now trust me you would love my version of the famous home made flour noodles. This was a dish that I took sometime to make as the amount of work put into it seriously got me intimidated. But rest assured, I bucked up and decided to make it and the results were fantastic!

The process however took me two days to cook as I prepared the stock the night before and precooked most of the ingredients before commencing on making the noodles. So what went into making this spectacle of a dish?

Ingredients:

Part 1:

Stock:

1 kg dried anchovies (equivalent to 4 packets of dried anchovies from the Asian Grocery Store) - peeled, heads removed.

1 litre water

Part 2:

Condiments 1:

500gms (1 packet) pork / chicken minced meat

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp dark soy sauce (sos kicap pekat)

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp cornflour

2 cloves of garlic

Condiments 2:

6 - 8 dried shiitake mushroms - finely sliced

2 medium sized dried morsels - finely sliced

2 tbsp Chinese Wine

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with some water

2 cloves of garlic

Condiment 3:

Dried Anchovies - from stock, dried in oven tossed with salt and oil and grilled in oven for about 30 minutes constantly stirred to avoid sticking to grill pan.

Spring Onions - finely chopped

Chinese Vegetables (Choy Sum, Kai Lan or Watercress Shoots) - washed and set aside.

Noodles:

250gms plain flour

250gms self-raising flour

1tsp salt

250ml water

Method:

Firstly make the stock before hand to avoid longer cooking time. So if you have time to make the stock the night before even better. Simply put water and dried anchovies into a pot and boil. Warning: dried anchovies does give out a fishy smell and may stink the house up but trust me the effort is worth it.
Drain anchovies from stock and store stock in fridge once cooled down.
Next prepare the anchovies for grilling. On a baking sheet, spread the anchovies and allow it to settle. Crank up the oven to about 200 Degrees C and put in the oven to start the drying process. After 15 minutes, you'll notice the anchovies turning dry. Remove them from the oven and sprinkle salt and oil. Toss them to ensure all the anchovies are fully covered in salt and oil before spreading them again for grilling. Put them back in the oven and let it sit for a further 15 minutes before stirring them to make sure the anchovies are fully grilled on all sides. Repeat the process and make sure to check the anchovies that they do not burn. Remove from the oven and let it sit in a plastic container and cool before covering.
Prepare the condiments separately. First the minced meat. Fry up some garlic and add in the minced meat and fry till almost cooked through. Add some water to ensure everything gets cooked. Add some seasoning, the sauces and cook till the sauce reduces. Remove from heat. Repeat the same with the mushrooms and morsels. Leave aside to cool.
Next prepare the dough for the noodles. In a big mixing bowl, mix both flours salt and water until it becomes sticky and combined. Roll out onto a floured surface and knead a little to ensure all loose pieces of dough sticks together and cover with cling film. Leave in the refrigerator for an hour. Take it out and knead for a little while. Cut a quarter of the dough and roll it out till it is 1mm thickness. To make noodles strands, you can use a pizza cutter or a knife and cut downwards. If you fancy tearing the dough instead then leave the dough as is.
Take the stock out of the fridge. Pour into a fresh pot and bring to boil. Once boiling, tear in the dough or noodles and constantly stir until it bounces up to the surface. Cook a little longer to ensure the noodles are cooked through. Then add in the washed vegetables and cook for a little bit more before dishing out onto a serving bowl. Add in a portion of morsels and mushrooms and a portion of minced meat before finally adding some grilled anchovies and fresh spring onions.
Serve with a freshly made batch of sambal belacan (shrimp chilli paste) or sliced chillies soaked in soy sauce.

The end result was a fantastic meal, and the portions above can served up to 4 people. I know it fed me 4 days...

The sambal belacan recipe waiting to be perfected, I leave you with this recipe to perhaps round up an exciting year of cooking (despite it not being as frequent as it should) to many wondrous other escapades from the kitchen of the Innovative Baker.

Here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year,

The Innovative Baker :)

Chicken cooked Chinese Wine - simply divine in super cold weather!

2010-12-29T14:33:00.000Z

In times of extreme cold, a nice hearty soup always does the trick. Living in the UK meant you'd have a variety of English soups. From chicken and parsnip, leek and potato, butternut squash to the traditional winter vegetables and mushroom variety. I however, miss the typical Asian soups that have a clear broth but packed with goodies to munch on. One such dish is Chicken cooked in Chinese Wine. Before my coming here, I've never actually had to venture out to buy Chinese cooking wine, but in my larder, trust me, I have every single sauce you can think of. Anyway getting on... what went into the dish?

Ingredients:

8 chicken legs chopped into bite size pieces with skin left on (equivalent to one packet from the local supermarket)

10 dried shiitake mushrooms - soaked in hot water

3 large pieces of morsels - soaked in hot water

2 large stalks of leek (optional) - chopped finely

10 to 15 whole black / white pepper

1 large bowl of water

1 cup of Chinese cooking wine

1 thumb sized ginger - skinned and julienned

Some cooking oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Firstly prepare your dried ingredients. Soak the mushrooms and morsels before putting on the pot on the stove. Whilst waiting for both ingredients to soak through before slicing them up, heat up a sizable pot and add in ginger into pan with the cooking oil. Stir fry for a bit before adding in the chicken. As you have kept the chicken skin on, the dish will have enough oil at the end.
After stir frying the chicken for a bit add in the water. Then add in the whole peppers and bring to boil. Now your dried ingredients would be soft enough to be sliced. There is no need to finely slice the mushrooms nor morsels. The bigger sized the better. Toss them all in including the water that was used to soak both the dried ingredients.
Bring to a boil, once boiling, reduce to a simmering temperature and add in the Chinese cooking wine. 1 cup is just to add flavour but I normally add in more to give it that extra zing. Continue simmering and add in salt and pepper when needed for extra flavouring.
Turn off the gas and serve piping hot with white rice and blanched Chinese Vegetables.

This dish warmed me up immediately! But in Malaysia, we eat it regardless of temperature. Hahahaha... enjoy it. No Chinese Wine? Then use normal white wine. It has the same effect :)

Next recipe to come devour coming up!

The Innovative Baker

Bramley Apple Cake - The Most Divine you'd ever have!

2010-12-16T20:33:00.000Z

Much apologies for the missing posts. I have been pretty caught up with many different projects one of which is write a Malaysian Recipe Cookbook using local ingredients from the UK and see how that grows. It is still in the beginning stages and I must say it is quite an exciting adventure as my culinary skills are put to the test.

As the Christmas festivities have already kicked off and I am somewhat late in actually posting up yummy Christmas goodies, I'd much prefer to take things into my own stride.

One of my favourite cakes is the Bromley Apple Cake. I was actually spurred on by a coursemate of mine from Denmark who requested a recipe with apples and I have finally gotten down to penning it.

The original recipe this apple cake is based on comes from Channel 4 but I've put my own tweek into it and the cake still turns out moist!

So what went into it?

Ingredients:

225g butter - partly melted in the microwave oven at medium heat for 50 seconds

3 medium sized Bramley Apples - it is about 450g. Once peeled, cored and diced, it will add up so don't worry

Lime zest from 2 limes and lime juice from one

200g sugar

3 medium sized eggs

225g self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

30g ground almonds (alternatively use fresh almonds and blitz them in the food processor)

some demerara sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 Degree Celcius. Grease a round 20' springform cake tin before lining it with grease proof paper. Set aside.
Next prepare the apples by peeling, coring and dicing them - no need for uniformity. In a bowl, pour the lime juice and grated lime zest from 1 lime and stir well. Leave for juices to mix with the apples.
Next combine semi-melted butter, sugar and remaining lime zest and beat till fluffy. Then add in one egg at a time whilst pouring in the sifted flour and baking powder bit by bit. Beat until batter becomes smooth and even.
Drain the juice from the apple mixture before pouring into batter. Then fold apples into batter until well mixed. Pour into cake tin and even the surface with a spatula. Then scatter some demerara sugar on the surface of the batter before popping it into the oven.
Bake for 1 hour. The surface of the cake will look lumpy but don't worry. It will turn golden brown. Then take it out of the oven and let it rest for a good 10 minutes before turning it out on the cooling rack. Let the cake sit and serve whilst still warm with a dollop of clotted cream or cold with ice cream.

When you read the recipe, notice that there is absolutely no milk nor water involved? But there's juice right? Well, even that is drained. Wouldn't that mean the cake would be dry? Trust me, the cake remains moist at any temperature and friends who have divulged in it have said that it is absolutely divine.

It doesn't take long to prepare so go out there and get those apples!

If you liked the recipe, then click on the paypal button on the right and donate an ingredient!

Coming up with another recipe soon,

The Innovative Baker.

Baked Rainbow Trout with herbs, spices and sesame oil.

2010-11-09T09:07:00.000Z

I realise how little fish I cook in the UK. One reason being, when I look at fish in the supermarket my face turns all odd. Only until Marks and Spencer started stocking rainbow trout did I really start purchasing fish. Hey, for GBP5 I get 2 packets that contains a whole fillet of fish each, why not? And mind you they keep well in the freezer too.

I will also admit that cooking fish is still relatively new to me as I have only ever attempted steamed fish and grilled fish. So why not I thought to myself attempt to bake the fish. So here's what went into it:

Ingredients:

1 packet of rainbow trout - contains two fillets

1 1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp thyme

a dash of salt

a dash of soy sauce

2 tbsp of olive oil or enough to coat fish

1 tbsp of sesame oil

30cm sleeve of aluminium foil

Method:

Heat your oven to 200 Degrees.
Next wash your fillets under running water to rid of any sediments. Then on kitchen towels, dab til dry before transfering onto aluminium foil.
Then carefully add all the marinade above before wrapping up fish. Even if it doesn't cover all the way is okay. As long as it does not leak from the sides. Bake for 15 minutes.
The fish meat will turn light pink and a little springy. That's when you know it is cooked. Don't overcook it, otherwise the fish will turn icky!!!
Dish out onto dinner plate, pour remaining juices onto fish and over condiments and serve hot.

This dish can be served up with buttered french beans, and mash potatoes, or in this case, I toasted up sweet brioche. But in any case you can always serve it with anything. Don't worry about the chilli flakes. That is always optional. That's just the spice in me! Notice there is no pepper? That's because the chilli flakes are already in it and that would keep the spiciness just right :)

Enjoying the delectable tastes of baked fish,

The Innovative Baker

Malaysian Spices - Kaffir Lime Leaves

2010-11-08T14:12:00.000Z

When you read a typical South East Asian recipe, especially Thai curries and Nyonya based dishes, the Kaffir Lime Leaf is actually quite essential. The fresh ones have a deep green colour to it and evokes a fresh lime essence when you smell it. Even dried, as is depicted in the picture still gives out the lime aroma and keeps longer when dried. However, when you do obtain them dried, you can freeze them. Be sure to wrap it in a layer of paper first to keep moisture out. A trick that my mother taught me, and it does work is use newsprint. Yes, actually newspaper sheets. So what you do is, place the fresh kaffir lime leaves into a zip log bag. Then wrap it with the newspaper sheet like you would a baby. Then carefully place them in the freezer.

I usually keep a bunch of kaffir lime leaves, dried in the larder, and frozen as well because of my preference for both. A die hard cook I am anyway because if you are in a hurry, having the dried ones are handy. Whilst frozen ones can be added directly to the dish whilst cooking though I prefer to defrost them first.

This is how the Kaffir Lime actually looks like and so far, I've only spotted it in Barcelona. The juice does taste slightly different but a normal lime is good enough whenever you're required to use limes in your cooking. However, I must admit that Kaffir Limes do give that added touch to a dish anytime.

So where can you buy Kaffir Lime Leaves? This is available seasonally fresh and more often dried in most major Asian grocery stores in London. I get my stash at:

New Loon Moon Supermarket

9A Gerrard Street

London W1D 5PN

Map to New Loon Moon Supermarket

See Woo Chinatown

18 - 20 Lisle Street

London WC2H 7BE

Map to See Woo Chinatown

Want to experiment already? Then here's my take on using kaffir lime leaves in a non curry based dish:

Stir Fried Chicken with Lemon Grass, Coriander, Lime Leaves and Chinese Wine

Trying to identify the next essential ingredient,

The Innovative Baker

Stir-Fried Chicken with Lemon grass, Coriander, Lime Leaves and Chinese Wine

2010-11-04T13:24:00.000Z

When concocting this particular recipe, I was having a recipe blockage. I stared into my fridge and found left over lemon grass, some lime leaves and freshly bought coriander. I did not want a heavily thick based soy sauce so I dug out my Chinese rice wine and I must say it turned out delicious.

So what went into the dish?

Ingredients:
2 whole chicken thighs - chopped into bite sized pieces then marinaded with 3 tbsps Chinese wine and 1 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves of garlic - julienned
1 thumb sized ginger - skinned and julienned
2 stalks lemon grass - julienned
5 - 6 lime leaves
5 - 6 stalks of coriander - finely chopped
2 medium sized green chillies - julienned
2 medium sized dried chillies
Additional 4 tbsp Chinese wine
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 cup of water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

Firstly prepare your chicken and make sure to marinade it for a couple of minutes.
Next heat up your pot and a deep enough pan with some cooking oil and throw in the garlic and ginger. Add a little salt here. Stir fry till fragrant before adding in green chillies and lemon grass. When cooking, the fragrant aroma of lemon grass will surface.
Then add in marinated chicken with the juices in the pot. Turn the chicken to make sure it is coated with the garlic, ginger, lemon grass and green chili mixture. Add the cup of water and additional Chinese wine before letting it come to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer.
Then add in the oyster sauce and dried chillies and stir to mix before letting it simmer again. Add in salt and pepper to taste. Before dishing it, add in coriander and stir.
Remove from heat and serve with piping hot rice and stir fried vegetables.

This recipe dispels the notion of lemon grass only being used in curries or in sauces. give it a try and tell me how it tastes! For those who don't like coriander, you can easily take it out. Alternatively replace it with flat leaf parsley.

Next attempt: Thai Fish Cakes....

The Innovative Baker

SCONES!!!!!!!!

2010-10-31T16:25:00.001Z

My apologies for going AWOL for 2 weeks. I have been pretty caught up with work and access to my photos of food delight had become a bit a tad difficult...

Anyway, my beloved god brother came a visiting from Australia and bunked on my couch a few nights. And as tradition, English scones was best made to savour typical English tea time! I made the scones for breakfast but it was totally well suited for the occasion anyway. Seriously easy to make and perfect with a dollop of butter. Of course the traditional way of eating it is accompanied by clotted cream and jam but I like it with melting butter...much like crumpets only better!

So what went into it?

Ingredients:

2 cups self-raising flour

2 tsp sugar

15g butter

250ml (1 Cup) milk

Method:

Heat up the oven to 240 Degrees Celsius. Place a baking tray complete with baking paper in the oven to heat it up.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl before adding in sugar.
Next rub in the butter until it looks like breadcrumbs. Seriously...not joking.
Next stir in the milk and use your hands to clump the mixture into a soft sticky dough.
Pour some flour onto a kitchen worktop. Then pour dough onto floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth. Add a little flour as you go along to avoid it sticking to the worktop.
Get any round surface that can cut through the dough and flour it. Next roll out the dough to about 5cm thick. Don't forget to flour the rolling pin so that it doesn't stick to the dough!
Next cut into the dough by pressing downwards but don't twist it. Remove cut out dough and place on hot baking tray. Brush the top with some milk and scatter some sugar if you want before placing in the oven.
Bake for 10 to 15 mins or until surface of scones is golden brown.
Roll them out and serve piping hot! That's the way I like them anyway.
Left over scones can be kept in an air tight container and reheated in the oven when you want to eat some later.

It only took me 10 minutes to make the dough and another 10 to 15 to bake...it was so easy, you'd want to make them every day!

Want to make them savoury? Add some parmesan, ricotta or even grated mozarella into the scones. Don't forget to add a little bit salt (1/2 tsp should do) and you have cheese scones. Can be eaten as is or together with your roast :) Much like the biscuits in South Carolina!

Enjoying a bite of scone,

The Innovative Baker

Risotto with Cherry Tomatoes, Pea Shoots, Brown Cap Mushrooms and Chicken Breast

2010-10-19T23:51:00.000+01:00

Ah yes, Italian rice. More fondly known as Risotto, many people I know tend to not like Risotto because of its starchy nature and somewhat uncooked texture. I am not a huge rice person despite being Asian but the Risotto has proven to remain a recurring dish on my Italian palette. I was taught by a fellow Italian friend who has since returned to Venice, Italy how to cook Risotto. Since then, I have made numerous versions of it for my liking.

This recipe was not much of an experiment but rather having had bips and bops in the fridge. And since I have not had Risotto for a while now, I figured why not. So what's the recipe?

Ingredients:

1 cup of Arborio Rice (can be bought at your local Tesco's, Sainsbury's, Asda, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer)

4 Brown Cup Mushroom - sliced

8 - 10 Cherry tomatoes - sliced in half

1 packet of pre-washed pea shoots

1 chicken breast - diced and marinated with salt and pepper

750ml vegetable or chicken stock

2 cloves of garlic or half a bulb of yellow onion

A dash of dried herbs - oregano and basil

A dash of olive oil

Method:

Firstly make your stock. If you have no idea what goes into a stock, then the simplest would be vegetable stock. At a local supermarket, there would be a packet of random vegetables tied together. This is what they use for vegetable stock. It would most likely consist of carrots, celery, a bouquet garni, some other root vegetables and so forth. I just use whatever vegetables I have in my fridge to make it. So roughly dice your vegetables including a bulb of yellow onion, place in 1 litre of water and just boil. Add some salt for taste but there is no need for it.
When stock is simmering, prepare a deep frying pan for the rice. There is no need to prewash the rice.
In the pan, dash in the olive oil and toss in the garlic or onions which ever you prefer. Stir till fragrant. Add a bit of salt and then toss in the chicken breast. Quickly fry them so that it looks cooked on all sides but still pink in the middle.
Now pour in the rice and stir to coat the rice with the oil, onions and chicken. Next add 2 scoops of vegetable stock into the rice pan and stir. Reduce the heat of the rice pan and let it simmer. Next add in your vegetables - the cherry tomatoes, pea shoots and brown cap mushrooms. Continue stirring.
When you notice that the stock seems to have reduce, add in another scoop of vegetable stock and stir into the rice mixture. Be alert as you don't want to see your rice sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Again when the stock has reduce and the rice seems to have fatten up, add another scoop of vegetable stock. This time add in your dry herbs, salt and pepper to taste and stir. Let it sit for about 2 to 3 minutes or until stock seems to have reduce even further. The rice will looks absolutely fat and stout! That's when you know the rice is fully cooked.
It'll look a little slimy but that is Risotto for you. Dish it out and serve hot!

I had a blast cooking it. And being me, I always add a dash of chilli flakes into it. But that is always optional. If you can't find pea shoots, then use rocket salad. This recipe can actually feed two people so if you can't finish at the first go, keep the remainder in the fridge, take it out add a little of vegetable stock in a pot and stir your rice until it has heated through. TADA!!!!

Going to explore more Italian dishes,

The Innovative Baker

Sirloin Steak with Red Wine and Whole Grain Mustard sauce - YUMS!

2010-10-14T17:17:00.000+01:00

Steaks are quite the specialty I suppose when you come to Europe. Yet, eating steak in a restaurant can be costly. And I'm sure at one point in time, you yourself wanted to know what goes into the sauce to make it look so good and taste so scrumptious!!! I had one of those cravings for steak but lacking the money. Knowing I hard a huge load of ingredients to make the perfect sauce (in my books that is), so I figured, lets cook steak!

So what is required?

Ingredients:

1 packet pre-sliced sirloin steaks from your local supermarket (contained 4, use 2 depending on size)

1 dollop / 1 1/2 tsp of whole grain mustard

1 slug / 2 tbsps of red wine (any kind)

1 tbsp of pancetta / diced bacon

4 to 5 mushrooms

2 garlic cloves - finely diced

whole red pepper

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Method:

prepare your steaks with the freshly ground black pepper and salt. Set aside.
Next heat up your griddle and add 2 tbsp of normal olive oil. When pan is hot enough, place steaks in. Cook each side around 2 to 3 minutes to allow for a pink middle but no blood running through.
Remove steaks from griddle and set aside. With left over juices from the steaks, add the pancetta and garlic and fry them up. The oil from the pancetta will add fragrance and taste to the sauce.
Quickly add in the mustard and red wine. Stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. When boiling, add in the whole red peppers (slightly crush them if you prefer them so), mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste.
Once sauce has reduced, remove from fire and pour over steaks. Serve with a side salad and some bread if you like.

You can also serve it with mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables or any side dish that you prefer. The sauce can taste a tad sour due to the red wine. So to counter the sourness, add a bid of honey and it'll sweeten the sauce to the right taste.

I had a fantastic lunch that's for sure. And having only spent a good 30 minutes including preparation in the kitchen, this is one dish that is sure to vet your appetite.

Having fun in the kitchen,

The Innovative Baker

Ingredients Series: Cornstarch / Cornflour

2010-09-28T13:05:00.000+01:00

Okay, so what is the deal with Cornflour / cornstarch? I know many people who have basic knowledge on thickening sauces and one of those things that we Asians love using to thicken anything is using cornstarch or cornflour as it is better known in the UK.

Cornstarch is actually a very versatile ingredient. It can be used in baking and in cooking. How you say? Like wheatflour, once you mix it with water it thickens up. Pour it into your sauce and stir a little to mix it up. Slowly the sauce will thicken up. In baking, it is used in cookies just to give it that extra oomph!

In the UK, it is easily obtainable in supermarkets as well as Asian grocery stores. The brand normally appearing in Asian grocery stores tends to look like pre-packed clear plastic bags with Chinese wordings on with that ubiquitous single English sentence in bold writing 'CORN STARCH' and at the same time stocking Maizena:

My family used this when I was back in KL. Here I just obtain housebrand versions of cornstarch like the one from Sainsbury's. Now you don't even need to search for thickening agents. Just use cornstarch!

Go discover a whole new world of cooking with cornstarch,

The Innovative Baker

Stir-Fried Scallops in Chilli, Red Peppers and Onions

2010-09-28T12:41:00.000+01:00

Seafood in the UK is quite pricey, so actually finding good quality seafood is a catch. I tend never to buy it in supermarkets as I can never see how good the quality is. But, Marks & Spencer here in the UK somehow lives up to its expectations. I was able to find scallops for a bargain. Not too bad considering how difficult it is to find good seafood here in London supermarkets.

I like my seafood simple and this recipe is just that.

Ingredients:

1 packet of fresh scallops (20 pcs or about 800grams)

Scallop marinade:

A dash of sesame oil

a tsp of freshly ground black pepper

a tsp of chilli flakes

A dash of soy sauce

1 whole red pepper - deseeded and julienned

1 whole yellow onion - sliced into rings

Salt and pepper to taste

additional sesame oil

Method:

Firstly marinade your scallops and set aside.
Next heat up your pan with some vegetable oil and a little bit of salt. Then add in the yellow onions and stir fry til fragrant and fully sweated.
Add in the scallops and quickly fry not letting the scallops stick to the pan. Allow to fry for about 2 minutes.
Next add in the red pepper and stir fry til slightly soft. Add a dash of pepper and salt to taste before finally adding in some sesame oil.
Dish out quickly and serve piping hot with white rice and a vegetable accompaniment.

This dish literally took less than 30 minutes. If you don't like scallops, replace it with fish cut into bite sized pieces or prawns. Not a seafood fan? Then chicken can also be used.

Looking for crabs now,

The Innovative Baker

Ingredients Series: Malaysian Spices - Assam Gelugor

2010-09-14T13:49:00.000+01:00

When reading recipes, sometimes you wonder what some of the speciality ingredients look like especially in the context of Asian cooking. If you are a fan of Malaysian cooking, you might have come across this particular ingredient / spice : Assam Gelugor. This particular ingredient is mainly used in Nyonya and Malay dishes. Originating from the plant called Garcinia atrovirdis (pic below is actual fruit before drying)

The fruit is then finely sliced before drying them in the sun. The effect would be as per the first picture. Used in various dishes, especially in sour based dishes like the Assam Laksa, this particular ingredient isn't exactly easily obtainable from any shop. In fact, it took me a while to find it until I discovered that it was sold in the Oriental Supermarket up at Bayswater, London.

Where is Oriental Supermarket?

26 Queensway

London W2 3RX

Oriental Supermarket Location

So just in case you're wondering what in the world is Assam Gelugor, here's the big big picture for you!!!

Discovering more ingredients everyday,

The Innovative Baker

Turmeric Glutinous Rice @ Nasi Kunyit ala Lyn

2010-09-14T13:30:00.001+01:00

In the effort of wanting to try something new, I set myself the task of making Nasi Kunyit. Now, I wasn't told in the beginning how long it would take to make this. Little did I know that it would take the better half of the day to produce the perfect sticky consistency that the dish is known for to be eaten with the perfect curry. So for those sticky rice / glutinous rice peeps who wants to know...here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

To soak together:

600 grams glutinous rice - washed and drained

enough water to soak glutinous rice in

2 - 3 pieces of assam gelugor

4 cm turmeric root - skinned and crushed

For steaming:

30 whole white peppercorns (or a handful really)

300 ml coconut cream

1/4 tsp salt

10 stalks of screwpine leaves / pandan leaves

Method:

Firstly, after having washed and drained the glutinous rice, place it in a deep enough bowl or pot. Place the assam gelugor amongst the rice before filling it up with water.
The turmeric root should be skinned and crushed in a pastel and mortar to get the yellow colouring. Place this crushed turmeric root into a stainless steel sieve (plastic ones with absorb the yellow colouring) and place it in the glutinous rice for the rice to absorb the colour. You can take up to 20 minutes and constantly stir the sieve round the glutinous rice mixture to ensure evenness in the colouring. It acts like a staining agent.
Soak the rice overnight (the best effect is at least 8 hours, if not 5 hours would do).
Prepare your steamer. You have several methods to do this: Option 1 - 1 large pot, an upside plate that can go into the base of the pot and fill it up with water. Option 2 - 1 large pot, a steaming stand and water. Option 3 - a bamboo steamer on top of a wok with water or Option 4 - an actual electric steamer. For Options 1 to 3, ensure the water is thoroughly boiling before placing the glutinous rice in for steaming. Option 4 will automatically boil the water when activated.
Drain the water from the rice and remove assam gelugor. Mix in the white peppercorns and spread in a large enough casserole dish or pan that has been layered with the screwpine leaves for rice to be steamed. The first stage of steaming is 20 minutes.
Whilst waiting for rice to be steamed, mix the coconut cream and salt together. Once the first stage is done, remove it from the steamer. In a mixing bowl, combine the steamed glutinous rice and coconut cream and mix thoroughly. Place it back into the casserole dish / pan for further 20 minutes of steaming. Top up the water should it have evaporated.
Remove from steamer and let it cool. Serve with chicken curry, beef rendang or anything spicy really.

Just in case you're wondering how to layer the bottom of the casserole dish with the screwpine leaves, do what I did - weave them. It holds the leaves together and ensures that the fragrance of the leaves gets absorbed into the rice as well. At best, do this in advance if you have the time.

For my first attempt, this was indeed a fantastic yummy rice dish. It finished and I had to make white rice because there wasn't enough to go round.

Anyone up for giving away first month baby gifts (traditionally Nyonya / Malaysian Chinese tradition), this would be the rice to be given away.

Now dreaming how to make Nasi Beryani,

The Innovative Baker

Flash-Fried Chilli Prawns and Mushrooms served with a Garden and Peach Salad

2010-09-02T16:34:00.000+01:00

From instant noodles, we now go to salads once again. Inspired by my visit to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Aunty Kathie told me that that part of the US was known for the huge harvest of peaches. Of course I didn't make this totally and immediately in the US but had the sudden bout of inspiration when I spotted peaches here. Despite the very unpredictable weather of the UK, salads are a great lunch getaways I think. So what did I put in it?

Ingredients:

1 whole peach - washed, pitted and cubed (you can also peel the skin if you wish, I left it on)

10 whole fresh prawns - marinated in soy sauce, chilli flakes and sesame oil

5 whole button mushrooms (white or chestnut) - sliced and put aside (1 portobello mushroom can also be used but cube the mushroom as it is extremely large)

1 whole green pepper - julienned

A bunch of baby lettuce

5 - 8 cherry tomatoes - depending on size, slice in half

1 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Vinaigrette

Juice of 1 lime

A dash of freshly ground black pepper

A dash of sea salt

Method:

Prepare your prawns by marinating them in soy sauce, chilli flakes and some sesame oil. Leave for about 10 minutes, while you prepare all the other ingredients.
Heat up a small skillet and add the olive oil. Immediately put in the prawns and flash fry it. Put in the sliced mushrooms and cook through. Remove from heat.
In a salad bowl, add in all salad ingredients. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime and add a dash of pepper and salt. Then finally add in the prawns and mushrooms including the oil that was used for frying up the prawns. This would replace the olive oil that would normally be used in the vinaigrette.
Toss the salad and serve up!

If you don't have mushrooms, you can replace it with leeks or other kinds of vegetables. If not, just the prawns is also fine. For an added kick, slice up some spring onions and toss it in as well.

The salad was total yums!!!

Enjoying the last days of summer,

The Innovative Baker

Instant Noodles with a Kick!

2010-09-01T20:13:00.000+01:00

Alright, I'm not supposed to encourage the use of instant noodles, but hey, it is very much a part of Asian Cuisine and is not specifically just Malaysian. Enter an Asian Grocery Store and you'll find yourself engulfed in the sea of Instant Noodle Packets from Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The most notable of them are Indomie and probably the Malaysian Maggi Mee Version. South Korea also has splendid flavours for Instant Noodles and so does Japan... Ok Ok...enough of that and on to the Recipe.

Now, sometimes you wonder whether just plain instant noodles is enough? Well, I tend to pack in more than I can chew in my instant noodle ventures. Here's one:

Ingredients:

1 Packet of Instant Noodles (flavouring to your liking) - I used Tom Yam Flavoured Instant Noodles from Maggi

3 Slices Unsmoked Back Bacon

1 Red Chilli - Deseeded and Julienned lengthwise (approx. 5cm)

1 sprout of Pak Choy - washed and individual steam torn from main stem

1 Egg

1 bowl of water

Method:

Firstly prepare a small frying pan for your bacon. There is no need to add any fat on to the pan as the bacon already has enough fat to fry it up! Slowly fry your bacon. Remove from heat but leave the bacon in the pan.
In a medium sized pot, boil up some water. When water is boiling, add in the instant noodles. This is to remove the initial layer that keeps the noodles nice and crunchy. Once noodles soften and are springy, drain noodles and keep aside. Run through cold water to make sure noodles stop cooking.
In the same pot, boil up more water. This time add in the instant flavour sachet. Bring it to a boil. Then add in the noodles again, the pak choy and the Chilli. Finally add in the egg and stir vigorously to break the egg up so you'd have an eggy soup. If not, just leave the egg be and let the soup poach the egg on its own.
Serve up once egg looks 3/4 cooked in a large soup bowl. Lay on the bacon and there you have it.

Seriously good for a midnight snack.

Warning: as instant noodles do contain MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), do not in whatsoever fashion indulge in it should you have an allergy to it. You can make your own soup and purchase ready made noodles without the flavouring. For an alternative soup base that is quick, use ready made chicken stock, add in a touch of soy sauce, pepper and perhaps a sprinkle of sesame oil and the effect is the same.

Happy snacking people!

A snack away,

The Innovative Baker

Warm Cold Salad with Grapes and Grilled Chicken

2010-07-22T11:18:00.000+01:00

In the spirit of Summer, a ton of new salad concoctions invariably appear everywhere. Despite being very Malaysian, I like my salad concoctions. After having had 3 weeks of ultimate feasting and weight gains, I have gone back to my simple (not!!!) dishes coupled with the extreme exercise regime to lose the pounds gained. I had a couple of left overs from the big cook outs we had at home, so what better way then to fix up a warm cold salad right?

What were the ingredients?

Sliced Savoy Cabbage

Sliced Green Asparagus

1 piece of grilled chicken with its juices (grilled with rosemary, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper)

Stir fried prawns (alternatively can be grilled as well)

a bunch of grapes (red or green doesn't matter - specific number of grapes - 20)

2 - 3 pieces of sundried tomatoes - sliced

8 - 10 green or black olives - whole or sliced

Fresh coriander - finely chopped

A dash of soy sauce / or a dash of salt

Finely ground black pepper

Juice of 1/2 a lime

Method:

Using the juices of the grilled chicken, stir fry the green asparagus and savoy cabbage. Once cooked, pour into salad bowl, heat up grilled chicken and prawns on the same pan.
While waiting for the chicken and prawns to be heated up, prepare other ingredients that require slicing (sundried tomatoes, coriander). Toss them into the salad bowl. Add all other ingredients in.
Remove chicken and prawns from the heat. Add the prawns without slicing and slice chicken into bite size pieces before adding to salad bowl.
Toss the salad, taste to see if it is salty enough and voila!

I made enough to feed an army. But kept some for lunch the next day. Still tastes yummy!!!! Some of you might find it odd to add a dash of soy sauce instead of salt. Well, in today's society where we are trying to reduce salt intake, soy sauce is a great alternative. Don't get conned though when you see fish sauce. Fish sauce is preferable with seafood and despite the dish having prawns in it, fish sauce still is predominantly better with Thai or Vietnamese related sauces. There are now different variations of soy sauces, so be sure to use the light and not the dark!

So, having a warm cold salad in the heat of this heatwave actually made my dining experience fantastic! Finishing it off with a glass of white wine (I'm not a wine drinker), or a glass of non-alcoholic bubbly, this would definitely perk your day :)

Summer Orange Salad - Perfect for London's crazy weather :)

2010-06-23T15:54:00.000+01:00

A request was made to come up with a summer salad that included oranges. I'm normally not that big a fan on salads seeing that us Asians are known to cook a lot of our vegetables. But this was a refreshing salad, with a tinge of warm feeling in it, perfect for any time of the day :)

Ingredients:

1 whole naval orange (sliced into bite size pieces)

8 cherry tomatoes (halved)

5 sprigs of fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped)

1 tbsp five spice powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 whole lime (for juice and rind)

A bunch of salad leaves (doesn't matter what you have)

3 slices sun dried tomatoes

8 - 10 pitted olives (both green and black)

A knob of butter (approx. 10gms)

A handful of toasted pine nuts (or sliced almonds)

2 slices of ham (any kind) - roughly chopped

freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Method:

In a heated pan, add in butter, when butter starts melting, add in sliced oranges.
Let it cook on high before adding in five spice powder and sugar. Continue stirring until oranges are cooked through. Let oranges cool on the side.
Assemble your salad with all the ingredients. Be sure to slice your sun dried tomatoes and olives into bite size pieces.
For the dressing, combine olive oil, pepper, salt and juice of one lime with some lime rind. Stir vigorously or place in a tupperware with a lid and shake shake shake!
Finally pour in cooked oranges and toss!
Voila, you have a fantastic salad for summer!
The ham is optional and can be replaced with precooked prawns or chicken slices.

I had a fantastic time devouring this gem of a meal, light and well balanced and giving you that tinge of sourness and sweetness altogether with peppery bits at the end!

Looking to indulge in more salads soon,

The Innovative Baker

Stir-Fried Chicken Strips with Vegetables in Wholemeal Wrap

2010-04-27T22:48:00.000+01:00

This feels like I am cheating on my thesis, but for the sake of food, it outranks a thesis anytime!

Okay, getting along. On a bid to stay healthy, I turned to a healthier carbo option: the wrap! Not just any wrap, it's a wholemeal wrap. Mind you, wholemeal isn't bland. In fact, with the right ingredients, you could have a great tasting dish using wholemeal.

So this dish is called Stir-Fried Chicken Strips with Vegetables in Wholemeal Wrap. Continuing the simple sandwiches series, this dish is a version of a sandwich only using a different kind of bread to sandwich the filling. And for those who want to watch their diet, this is possibly a good alternative to the usual white bread that you are used to.

So what are the ingredients:

1 wholemeal wrap

1 portion of chicken breast

10 to 15 French beans

1 medium sized carrot

1/2 medium sized yellow onions

2 red chillies

1 red bell pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Marinade for chicken breast:

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp cornstarch / cornflour

1 tsp soy sauce

a dash of finely ground black pepper

Method:

Firstly, slice your chicken breast into strips. Then in a bowl, mix the chicken breast with the marinade and leave for the marinade to sip into the meat.
Whilst waiting for the chicken to absorb the marinade, prepare your vegetables. Julienne all the vegetables into long strips measuring about 5 cm.
Prepare a frying pan over high heat and add in the onions and oil first. Stir until onions turn translucent and emits fragrance before adding salt and chicken. Reduce to medium heat before continuing to stir fry. When chicken is 3/4 cooked (this means you can see only lines of pink along the strips), add in the carrots and beans first as this take longer to cook. When it is just about turning colour, add in the bell peppers and continue stir frying. Lastly add some pepper for additional taste.
On a separate pan, heat it up with no oil. Next place the wrap just to give it a quick heat up before lining it on your cutting board. You can opt to spread some butter here but since the filling already contains oil, then there is no need. However, if you are like me who likes a huge spicy boost, I spread chilli sauce.
Next lay filling nearer to one edge of the wrap. Be careful when wrapping the filling as it needs to be tight in order for the filling to encased by the wrap and not for it to fall out. Like spring roll pastry, wrap it up by first lifting the edge to cover the filling and then tuck it underneath the filling. Next, bring it in ensuring that is no space for the filling to move. Then fold in the sides using your remaining fingers before continuing to roll it up. You can choose to hold the wrap with a toothpick or leave it as it is.
Now you have a perfectly good home made wrap!

For those who much prefer raw vegetables in your wrap rather than cooked ones, then no problem. Replace the vegetables with iceberg lettuce or rommaine lettuce. Be sure to slice the vegetables thinly. Alternatively, you can use the iceberg lettuce leaf as a liner as well for the wrap. How? After placing the wrap on the cutting board, add a lettuce leaf or two if it is not big enough on the wrap before spooning in your filling. If you want some sauce, then mayonnaise is great combo. After that spoon in the chicken and wrap it up!

A great meal for those who want a more fulfilling one yet not too big and at the same time you can do so much with the filling to make it even more delicious. Other kinds of filling can be deep fried chicken strips, salmon fillet, prawns and even pork or beef. Take it from me, this is certainly easy and there is no need to run out to the store to get ingredients. Just use what you have in the fridge! No wrap, use up your baguette.

Exploring more about the sandwich phenomenon,

The Innovative Baker

Chicken and Ham Sandwich with homemade Chilli Mayonnaise

2010-04-26T16:59:00.001+01:00

I am a fan of making my own mayonnaise and chilli is like a staple in my diet. So what better than to combine both into a sauce.

How did I make the sauce?

Ingredients:

3 whole red chillies - deseeded and sliced in large pieces

4 egg yolks (save the egg whites for a quick stir fry)

1 whole lime

whole black pepper (crushed with pastel and mortar) or in pepper mill

a pinch of sugar

a pinch of salt

50ml olive oil

Method:

Place deseeded chillies into blender. Add in egg yolks, crushed black pepper and pinch of sugar and salt. Add in some lime rind and the juice of one lime.
Start the blender and as it blends and combines the ingredients, dribble the olive oil in. You will get a light pink texture with bits of black pepper and chillies. If the mayonaisse doesn't look like it's thickening, add more olive oil but only until you see it thicken. That means the mixture takes on a denser form and looks spreadable rather than dribbling.
Pour into a glass jar and put in the fridge.

For the Sandwich, all you need is:

1 chicken breast - defrosted

2 thin slices of ham - to your liking

cucumber slices

bread rolls

butter

pepper and salt to taste

Method:

Boil a pot of water. When almost to the point of boiling, add in your chicken breast and reduce heat. Simmer until chicken breast is fully cooked. Poke through the breast to check whether it is cooked thoroughly. This would take about 10 minutes.
Let the chicken breast cool down. Next whip out your mayonnaise from the fridge, put some in a bowl. Cut your chicken into thinner slices or use your finger and tear the breast into long strips. Add the chicken into the mayonnaise. Add enough for 2 sandwiches. Stir to ensure chicken pieces are covered.
Slice your cucumber into rings. Say about 10 pieces should be enough.
Spread butter onto bread rolls, line cucumber pieces and place ham slices along each side of roll. Spoon in the chicken, add some pepper and salt and sandwich it.

There you have it! A perfect sandwich for the healthier you. If you do not like boiled chicken, you can opt to grill it instead. How much did this cost? Nothing...because everything was from my fridge :) No chillies, no worries, add a dollop of mustard into the mayonnaise and you will have a tangy mustard. You can replace the lime with lemons as well.

Have a happy sandwich!

The Innovative Baker

Simple Chilli and Garlic sauce

2010-04-10T10:49:00.000+01:00

I get tired of store bought sauces after a while, so using my past experiences of watching my mom cook, she came up with an ingenious way of innovating the Hainanese Chicken Rice Chilli and Garlic Sauce. No blender needed, only a knife!

Ingredients:

2 whole red chillies - diced and deseeded

2 cloves garlic - diced

1 whole lime - for the juice

1 tsp finely granulated sugar

a dash of salt

Method:

After dicing both the red chillies and garlic, place them in a bowl, juice the lime into the bowl withholding the pips, add the sugar and a dash of salt.
Let it sit while you prepare your chicken rice. Serve along with it.

It is as simple as ABC. Seriously! It tastes great as a condiment with your cold noodle salad too. More like a dressing to be exact. Replace the salt with fish sauce instead, and you have Vietnamese version of this sauce.

Seriously yummy and easy,

The Innovative Baker

Dry Egg Noodles with Button Mushrooms, Chicken Breast and Vegetables

2010-04-08T15:24:00.001+01:00

Tired of having fried noodles? Then this is actually a healthier version for you. Living in non-Asian countries means most noodles come in dried format. Very much like the instant noodles and pasta you find in major supermarkets. However in Asia, noodles are made fresh, delivered fresh and used fresh. But of course, I'm writing from a world away from Asia and that fresh noodles are difficult to get especially rice noodles and egg noodles. But not to fret, the cooking process is as easy as 123 and you'll have fun preparing this.

Ingredients:

For condiments:

150gms chicken breast - sliced and marinated with oyster sauce, black pepper, sesame oil

5 - 6 button mushrooms - sliced

1 portion mustard leaves or rommaine lettuce (as per the pic above) - washed and cleaned off of any sediments

1 bunch of dried egg noodles

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 small baby onion or shallot - sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Dressing for Tossing of noodles:

1 tbsp thick soy sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 puff or dash of white pepper

1 round of sesame oil

Method:

Prepare your condiments first. Marinade your chicken with the ingredients and leave aside. You can replace oyster sauce with soy sauce and add in chilli flakes if you wish.
First boil a pot of water, half filled. Add some vegetable oil and salt to ensure noodles remain crisp. When water is boiling, add in your noodles. Reduce the heat. Your noodles will soon loosen up. Keep it simmering for another 2 minutes or soft to the touch. How? Take a loose strand and pierce through with a fork, chopstick or your fingers. Remove from heat, drain and cool with cold water. Leave aside.
On a separate pan, heat up the vegetable oil. Add in the baby onion and stir till fragrant. Add in chicken and cook for a few minutes making sure the meat turns white in the centre before adding in mushrooms. Add some water to let chicken and mushroom simmer and soak up the juices. Add in salt and pepper to taste. Once cooked leave aside.
Remove noodles from original pot to boil another pot of water. When water is boiling, add in the vegetables to blanch them. It will turn a deep green when cooked. Remove from water.
Now, prepare the dressing for the noodle tossing. On a flat bowl or plate, pour the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, white pepper and sesame oil on the base. Place cooked noodles on top of it. Use the salad tosser or a pair of chopsticks and run the noodles with the dressing. Add in light soy sauce should it not be salty enough. Leave noodles on plate.
Place the chicken mushroom stir fry over the noodles and line it with your cooked vegetables.
Serve while its still warm!

There you go, a simply recipe for you. The noodles can be anything really. The condiments can also be replaced with sliced pork, beef or tofu if you are a vegetarian. If you cannot have eggs, then use rice noodles like vermicelli or flat rice noodles (kueh teow). You want it spicy? Then, add in a dash of chilli oil when tossing the noodles and sliced red chillies when cooking the chicken and mushrooms.

A serving of chinese noodles always take the cake!

The innovative Baker

Yummy Grainy Mustard Mashed Potatoes

2010-04-06T22:53:00.000+01:00

Yummy Mashed Potatoes are actually really straight forward. Though many still do find it difficult to make it. But what essentially makes the Mash that yummy? It's all that extra love you give to it :) I personally like my Mashed Potatoes with some potato lumps in them but it is to ones taste. Again, there is no need to go out and buy any ingredients really. Just what you have in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

2 - 3 large potatoes (look for those that indicate fluffy and easy to mash - it is normally stated on the packaging or ask your local grocer)

some black peppercorns (to be crushed with a pastel and mortar) or freshly grated black pepper.

50 ml double cream or full cream milk

1 tbsp grainy mustard of any kind (omit if you do not like mustard)

100 gm butter (cut into cubes for easy mashing into potatoes)

some salt to taste

Method:

First prepare a pot with water. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile clean your potatoes and cut into smaller chunks. Coarsely chopping it is fine. You can opt to keep the skin on or have it removed. I like it either way. When water is starting to boil, add in your potatoes. Bring to a boil and reduce fire to medium heat.
To know whether your potatoes are cooked through, take a fork or a thong and grab the potatoes. When it is easily inserted through and breaks when it is trying to be lifted, it is ready to be removed. Get a sieve and pour contents to remove all access water. Or, alternatively, use the lid of the pot to act as a strainer. Be careful however when pouring the water as it is hot!
With boiled potatoes in the same pot, begin mashing them with either a masher or a large fork. In the midst of mashing, add in your butter, pepper, cream or milk and mustard. If mustard is not your thing, you can add a bit of horse radish. If not, omit it all together. Only add in salt when it is not salty enough as the butter is already salted. Continue mashing until you get a creamy consistency. Voilà you have your own home made Mashed Potato. Plus there is no extra ingredient to be bought.

An alternative to your potato would be the sweet potato. This tastes super yummy as well and it is of course a much healthier version. However, as sweet potatoes are sweet, mustard may not go down as well as compared to the potato itself. So just be sure what your preference is.

If you want a herby mash then try adding a fresh portion of finely chopped basil or rosemary. This accentuates the mashy flavours for sure :)

Mash can be made in 30 minutes so it isn't exactly that long in the kitchen.

More easy recipes coming up!

The Innovative Baker

Sultana and Blueberry Dropped Scones

2010-02-27T11:59:00.000Z

When attempting to make scones, I was looking for a simple recipe that could at least take away the daunting task of making a dough and the long preparation time. I came across this recipe from BBC Good Food's website and ultimately found, when making it, that it resembled pancakes with fruits in it. Hence the word 'dropped'. Not baked but pan fried over the stove, this is an alternative recipe for people who are looking for scones but don't have the time for it. I have changed a little bit of the recipe to suit what was available in my kitchen larder.

Ingredients:

2 medium sized eggs - lightly beaten

125ml milk

75 - 80gms flour (any flour will do) - sieved

1 tsp baking powder

a handful of sultanas / raisins

a handful of blueberries

some butter for the pan

Method:

Whisk the eggs, milk, flour and baking powder into a batter. When raising your spoon, it drops smoothly off the spoon rather than sticky. Should your batter be sticky, add milk into batter to make it more runny but not too the consistency of water. Think double cream consistency... thick yet smooth.
Stir in the fruits (here you can even replace blueberries with chopped strawberries should you have no blueberries in your fridge, or omit altogether if you only have sultanas.
Melt the butter over a flat non-stick pan or a griddle if you have one. Make sure to coat the whole surface to avoid your batter from sticking to the pan. Use a paper towel to evenly spread the butter and to absorb excess oil. Next ladle in spoonfuls of batter on to pan and let it cook on one side till you see bubbles appearing. Use a flat spatula to flip your scones over. Cook for another minute or until you see it turns golden brown. Remove from pan and place on to plate. Continue to make about 5 dropped scones and then serve.
This recipe can make about 10 pieces of medium sized scones. That would be the size of a grape fruit's diameter. But don't worry if it looks out of shape, that the whole point of home cooking.

The original recipe called for butter scotch sauce to be served together, but I just go with what is available. So out comes the butter and sugar or honey and voila, you have a dish perfect for breakfast or tea.

If you are not a fan of sultanas, you can actually replace them with chocolate chips. Milk chocolate chips are better as then you can see the colour contrast of it. It only takes 5 minutes to make the batter and another 2 to 3 minutes to fry up your scones. So it is definitely a quick meal for the those on the go.

Being all English but in a different way,

The Innovative Baker

Pan Fried Cod Fillet on a Bed of Stir Fried Chinese Spinach

2010-02-23T11:17:00.000Z

Cooking simple recipes is what this blog is all about. This next recipe is in actual fact very simple. I had leftover cod fillet in my freezer and chinese spinach. This is of course not a typical Asian or Western dish rather a fusion of sorts. Thus giving birth to this dish aptly called Pan Fried Cod Fillet on a Bed of Stir Fried Chinese Spinach.

Ingredients:

1 packet / 250 gms cod fillet

Juice of 1 lime / lemon to rid fish of smell and slime

2 bunches Chinese spinach

1 clove of garlic

Marinade for fish:

a dash of salt

a tsp of freshly ground black pepper

a tsp of chilli flakes

a tsp of dried oregano / mixed herbs

a tbsp of cornflour or enough to coat the fish

Method:

First prepare your fish. Wash the fish fillet under running water. Then place fish on chopping board skin side up. Use the back of your knife to scrape any excess slime on the fish. Next squeeze the juice of 1 lime / lemon on to the fish and leave it for about 5 minutes. You will notice a layer of excess water coming out from the fish. Wash under cold water again to rid of this excess water. The reason for the lime / lemon is also to take away the smell of the fish. Place fish on kitchen towel to absorb any excess water from the fish.
Next, marinade your fish with the salt, black pepper, chilli flakes and dried herbs. After which, on a plate, scatter the cornflour and coat your fish. Shake off excess cornflour from the fish and place over a kitchen towel. The cornflour also acts as an agent to avoid your fish from sticking to the pan.
Heat up a non-stick pan, add some vegetable oil and wait till oil is hot enough. Place fish skin side down so as to make sure the fish doesn't stick to the pan. Fry on medium heat for about 3 minutes before turning over. Continue cooking for 3 minutes.
Whilst fish is cooking, prepare your vegetables. Discard any old / yellow leaves and slice into 5 cm length. Separate the leaves from the stem as leaves cook faster then the stem. Soak in a bowl of water to rid of any dirt and sand from the vegetables. Drain the water. Leave washed vegetables aside.
Heat up another pan with vegetable oil and toss in the chopped garlic, salt and maybe some pepper. Stir fry till garlic is fragrant and toss in the stems first. Stir for about 1 minute before adding in the leaves. Don't forget to check on your fish. Overcooked fish is hard and unedible!
One leaves have wilted, and the vegetables have turned into a deeper shade of green, switch off the gas and spoon onto a plate. Check on your fish. Once fish is cooked, you will see the flesh is white. Press down on the fish with your spatula and you will see it bounce back up. That's when you know it's cooked. Take it off the fire and dish on to the bed of spinach. Serve hot.
You can opt to serve it with rice or plain noodles but I eat it like that.

Where do you get Chinese Spinach? Most Oriental Supermarkets sell them. Go into the Chinese Vegetables section, it will be catalogued, and when not, ask the sales assistant. They'll be more than willing to help. If you don't fancy Chinese Spinach, you can always substitute it with any vegetables. Normal spinach, mustard leaves, Kai Lan, cabbage leaves or even french beans can be used. Even the fish can be replaced with Haddock, Salmon or even a dover sole. Dorade is also possible.

So if you're in the mood for fish, this is as simple as it can get.

Having savoured the flavours of the sea,

The Innovative Baker

One Sauce for Two Dishes - Thick Eggy Sauce

2010-02-18T11:30:00.000Z

When visiting a chinese restaurant, there is always one particular dish I tend to look for: Flat rice noodles with seafood served with a thick eggy sauce. In Cantonese we refer to it as Wa Tan Hor, or Kong Fu Chao. But, in certain restaurants, they also serve the same sauce with rice. This take on the dish is normally referred to as Man Fan (braised rice).

(Left to Right: Fried Flat Noodles with Seafood and thick eggy sauce, Rice with seafood and thick eggy sauce)

Ultimately this dish is simple to make. For the sauce you need:

Ingredients:

10 pieces of prawns

4 fishballs - sliced

2 cloves garlic - diced

A bunch of Mustard leaves (Choy Sum) or Pak Choy - sliced to bite size pieces (measuring probably 5cm)

An egg

1 tbsp cornstach - mixed with 1tbsp water

1/2 a bowl of water

Salt

Pepper

Method:

Prepare seafood ingredients by cleaning out the veins from the prawns and slicing the fishballs. Dice the garlic and wash away excess dirt from the vegetables.
Heat up a wok or a deep non stick pan with some vegetable oil and add in the diced garlic. Stir fry till fragrant before adding in seafood.
Add in your salt and pepper to taste. Then add in the water and let it boil. Reduce the heat when water begins to boil. Let it simmer to allow the seafood to be fully cooked.
Then add in your vegetables and stir it till you see the vegetables turn a deep green. When it becomes a dull green, means your vegetables are overcooked. Alternatively, when you see the leaves wilt, then you know it is halfway through the cooking process.
Next add in the cornstarch mixture and stir. You will notice the soup starts to thicken. When this happens, break an egg into your sauce. Stir so that the egg breaks up. Let it boil for about 20 seconds or until it bubbles and take it off the heat.
Serve it on a bed of fried flat noodles or rice.

To prepare the fried flat noodles, all you need is:

Ingredients:

100 grams dried flat rice noodles

a bowl of boiling water

2 rounds of dark soy sauce

Method:

First, cook the dried noodles by adding in a bowl of boiling water. The noodles will turn white and it soft to the touch. Drain and set aside.
Next heat up a wok or a flat non-stick pan. No need to add oil in as the noodles will emit some oil when being heated up.
Add in the noodles and dry fry it. Then add in the dark soy sauce by drizzling it all around the noodles.
Continue frying till you see the noodles are completed covered with the soy sauce. Take out and place on a plate.
Cook the eggy sauce, serve it on top of the noodles and serve piping hot!

The rice is an alternative for those who much prefer rice over noodles. Just cook the rice, scoop as much as you want on to your serving plate and scoop the eggy sauce on to it and voila!

If you want it with meat, you can replace the seafood with pork slices. Or if you are like the Chinese Malaysians, we serve the pork together with seafood along with deep fried pork fat. The deep fried pork fat can be used to replace the vegetable oil as this would emit oil for cooking. You can opt to use bacon bits or panchetta as it also provides salt for your sauce. You can also add in fish slices. At best, use fish fillet, as then it quickens the cooking process. You can even add in sliced calamari to add to the variety of the seafood.

You can also replace the flat noodles with egg noodles. There is no set rule to what noodle you should use. This sauce is capable in adapting to the type of noodle you use. You can even serve it with spaghetti if you run out of Asian noodles.

Fast, easy and not time consuming, this provides you singletons out there another dish to want to cook at home yet have a taste of Asia right by your doorstep. After all, us people in London are deprived of authentic Kong Fu Chao, so why not have it at home? I did.

Bringing a taste of home back into London,

The Innovative Baker

American Pancakes anyone?

2010-02-04T19:48:00.000Z

American Pancakes

Whilst Malaysia has plenty to offer in terms of yummy breakfast choices, I do crave for the westernised version of breakfast offerings. My mother taught me how to make these when I was about the age of 12 or 13 I think, right about the time I started baking with a passion. You'd actually find that in this particular recipe however, adapted from its orignal version, has no butter in it. Fluffy, light and definitely fulfilling, you'll find that it is probably one of the easiest ways to make fluffy American pancakes.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

Some vegetable oil or butter for frying.

Method:

Sift flour and baking powder before mixing in salt. Beat in eggs and gradually add in the milk. When you see the mixture is thick but not runny, it should be good enough. But I normally like it slightly runny so it's easier to handle.
Heat up the griddle or a flat non-stick frying pan with some vegetable oil. Then spoon in pancake batter. When you see bubbles appearing on the top, flip it over. You would see a nice golden brown colour when you flip the pancake over.
Stack cooked pancakes on top of each other and serve piping hot!

Normally you have butter and maple syrup with pancakes like these. But I just go with whatever is available in my pantry. This is where the Chinese side of me comes in. I have them with butter and caster sugar. I also, have them with peanut butter or nutella. So if you're looking to have it with jam, marmalade or even making it savoury like curry sauce (which I actually do sometimes), then go ahead. Trust me, it may be a weird combination, but it serves my taste buds.

As it is actually for the single people who have odds and ends in the kitchen, this way you save money without having to run out to buy maple syrup.

Loving her American Pancakes,

The Innovative Baker

Fish ball Noodles

2010-01-20T16:39:00.001Z

One of the more famous Malaysian hawker food dishes that seems to slip through the cracks would be Fish ball Noodles. You might find it strange and ask what fish balls really are. It is in actual fact, fish meat blended into a paste, mixed with some other ingredients and then formed into balls. A staple dish amongst the Chinese Hawkers in Malaysia, you would see different versions of this dish in various parts of Malaysia. Here is my version of it:

Ingredients:

8 whole fish balls

1 tbsp dried prawns - soaked in hot water

1 - 2 medium sized bunch of pak choy or mustard leaves

1/2 cube instant vegetable stock

1 serving crispy egg noodle - softened

1 round chilli oil

1 round soy sauce

a dash of white pepper

1 bowl water

Method:

Bring out a sizable soup pot. Place soaked dried prawns into pot and stir till water dries up. Then add in a tbsp of vegetable oil. Fry till fragrant before adding in the water. Bring to boil.
When water is reaching boiling point, add the instant vegetable stock cube. Make sure cube breaks down into water before adding in fish balls. Continue boiling. Bring to a simmer when water starts boiling.
In a separate pot, boil some water, add in some oil and salt. When water is boiling, add in portion of egg noodles to soften. Cook for about 2 - 3 minutes or until soft, remove and strain through a sieve. Wash under cold water to stop the cooking process. Place in bowl.
Wash vegetables to remove any excess dirt. Drain excess water. Then precook vegetables by blanching them in the soup. Remove and place on top of noodles.
Before serving, add in soy sauce, pepper and the chilli oil to add colour.
Ladle out fish balls onto noodles and then add soup to desired amount.
Serve with either sliced chillies in soy sauce or home made sambal belacan.

If you don't have fish balls, you can use sliced fish cake, precooked chicken breast or even sliced pork. The recipe is mighty flexible. If don't want to have the chilli oil, omit it. If you want it spicier, then add in the chilli during the frying process.

It served my soup craving as well as taking me back to having a hawker food back home,

The Innovative Baker

Goulash: The Asian Way

2010-01-17T16:08:00.000Z

I was asked by a friend, Chuang Yik, to experiment cooking Hungarian Goulash but with Asian ingredients. Needless to say, when I checked out what actually went in to cook a goulash, it was actually very similar to that of a tomato sauce based stew, but with Paprika... So I set off looking for what can be replaced in the goulash to make it more Asian. Here's my version of the Goulash:

Ingredients:

500 gms sliced beef for stewing (ask your local butcher which cuts are best for stews)

2 whole red peppers (sliced into large cubes)

2 yellow onions - sliced similar to the red peppers

1 can sliced tomatoes

1 - 1 1/2 tbsp mild chilli powder

salt

freshly ground black pepper

some corn starch (optional)

Marinade for beef:

1 1/2 tsp corn flour

1 round soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

Method:

Firstly, marinade the beef and set aside. Should beef slices be too big, then slice to smaller bite size pieces.
Heat up a pot, with some vegetable oil, some salt and wait till oil is heated up. Then add in the onions, stir until onions begin to turn colour and soft to the stir.
Next add in your beef and continue to stir. When beefs looks half cooked, add in the canned tomatoes including the juices. Using the can as a measurement, add in another can of water and bring to boil. When boiling, lower the heat, and let it simmer. After 10 minutes, add in the chilli powder, stir and let it simmer.
When water has reduced to 1/3 of the original portion, then add in the red peppers. Stir and continue to let it simmer. Check to make sure the bottom of the pot is not burnt.
After 15 minutes or so, check the thickness of the sauce. If you feel that it should be thickened further, then add in the cornstarch that has already been premixed with some water. The sauce will radically thicken. You should see a layer of red oil on top of the sauce. Almost similar to what a bolognese sauce may have. If you like a sauce that is slightly more watery, then forget about the cornstarch.
Serve with a portion of white rice (basmati or jasmine is fine). Alternatively, boil up some pasta and serve or freshly baked bread.

Relatively simple in terms of cooking. If you want to make it even more spicy, add in sliced red chillies. To make it mild, replace the chilli powder with paprika powder.

Feeling all Hungarian after a hearty meal,

The Innovative Baker

Vegetarian Parcels, an alternative to spring rolls!

2010-01-07T12:55:00.001Z

When having to cook for vegetarians, my mind works extra hard to make sure, I don't accidentally include meat into the dishes. I also was thinking of making spring rolls but lo and behold, the asian grocery stores were closed for the holidays. I had however romainne lettuce, a load of different mushrooms, morsels (wood ears) and of course paprikas. So, I came up with Vegetarian Parcels:

Ingredients:

250 gms white button mushrooms - diced

4 - 5 pieces dried shiitake mushrooms - soaked in hot water and then diced

4 - 5 pieces dried morsel (wood ears) - soaked in hot water and then diced

2 paprikas - red and yellow for colour - diced

1 stalk leek - washed and diced

1 whole romainne lettuce - leaves washed and set aside

2 rounds sesame oil

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 dashes dark soy sauce

2 dashes soy sauce

1/2 red onion - diced

1 tbsp cornstarch (with 1 1/2 tbsp water)

Pepper to taste

Method:

First prepare all the ingredients for chopping.
Heat up a medium pot, add in vegetable oil. Add in diced red onion and stir till fragrant. Then add in shiitake mushrooms and leek. Cook for about 2 minutes then add in morsels. Continue stirring. Pour in the mushroom water as stock. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer.
After 10 minutes, add in button mushrooms. When button mushrooms blend in with the rest, add in oyster sauce, dark and light soy sauce. Stir until mixture is covered with the sauces.
Finally add in paprikas. Continue stirring. Then add in cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce. Add in pepper to taste and finally sesame oil. Stir and switch off the gas. Let it seat.
Lay out romainne lettuce around the plate. Dish out vegetables on to the romainne lettuce. It can be eaten cold or warm.

If you want some kick, then, when cooking, add in diced red chillies. If you wish to serve with a dip, then pour a side of sweet chilli sauce for your guests to enjoy. I know I enjoyed it. My vege friends loved it!

Cooking for the vegetarian at heart,

The Innovative Baker

Stir fried pork belly with shallots, ginger and chilli

2010-01-05T12:03:00.001Z

Single people love simple food when it comes to cooking. When in Germany, I always looked for the simplest way to cook a dish. This time around I was at Hendrik's place for dinner and this time I made him cook the dish. We had leftover ingredients from the last party we had, so we whipped out all the leftover ingredients and thought what we could do with them. I brought pork belly from my fridge as I had to start getting rid of groceries by then. So this was what we came up with, Stir Fried pork belly with shallots, ginger and chilli.

Ingredients:

500 gms pork belly (sliced to bite sized pieces)

10 shallots - skin removed and sliced thinly

A thumb sized ginger - julienned

3 red chillies - seeds removed and julienned

Marinade:

A dollop of oyster sauce (that would be about 2 tbsps)

2 rounds of sesame oil

2 rounds of soy sauce

A dash of freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp flour (alternate with cornstarch if you have it)

Method:

Marinade pork belly with marinade and set aside for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, prepare ground ingredients (shallots, ginger and chilli).
Heat up wok, add some vegetable oil. When oil has heated up, not til the point where you see smoke coming out of the wok, then the oil is too hot, add in ground ingredients. Stir fry till fragrant. Then add in marinated pork including the juices together and continue stir frying. When pork is turning colour, add some water for it to simmer in.
Let pork simmer for about 5 minutes. On the side, prepare a tbsp of cornstarch / flour with water and stir. When you see pork is fully cooked, pour in flour mixture into wok to thicken the sauce. Stir the pork until you see the sauce has thickened. Dish out onto rice and serve piping hot!

Hendrik and I enjoyed the meal tremendously. Simple yet tasty. And it only took 1/2 hour to cook.

Simple dishes definitely goes a long way,

The Innovative Baker

Pho Bo - the quick way!

2009-12-30T11:32:00.000Z

I recently blogged about instant sauces not too long ago and decided to use one of it to try out a Vietnamese beef noodle dish called Pho. I first fell in love with the dish when having it for the first time in Kuala Lumpur at Sao Nam. Yes, yes, yes... I know the original tastes way better in Vietnam, but I have yet to fly there and actually try it. In any case, my cooking senses was up to my ears and thought, if I can't get the original, I might as well give it a go trying to cook it. As what I normally do with my ingredients, I dig out what is available in my fridge. So here's my version of Pho Bo.

The ingredients:

1 Sachet Instant Pho Sauce Mix (here I used Asian Food Gourmet)

1 Packet dried egg noodles (the original uses flat rice noodles or thin rice noodles)

500 gms minced beef - marinated with pepper, chilli oil, light soy sauce and some sesame oil

(original normally uses sliced beef)

1 bunch romainne lettuce - washed (the original uses bean sprouts, veitnamese basil and mint)

2 stalks spring onions - finely chopped

3 bulbs shallots - diced

2 large bowls water

pepper to taste

Method:

Heat up soup pot, add in vegetable oil. Then add in the shallots and stir fry till fragrant. Next, add in water and instant Pho Sauce Mix. Bring to boil.
When water is coming to a boil, spoon in small spoonfuls of minced beef. Alternatively you can roll them into balls and then add them in slowly in to the soup. Bring to a boil. When water is boiled, lower the temperature to a simmering consistency to allow beef to cook thoroughly and the marinade to mix with soup base.
In a separate pot, bring to boil a bowl of water, some oil and salt. Add in the egg noodles when water is boiling and allow to cook for about 3 minutes or when noodles becomes soft and easy to manage. Drain water and add in cold water to stop the cooking process. Spoon into bowls accordingly.
After noodles are cooked and separated into bowls, check your soup. This is when you can use your soup to cook the vegetables or rather blanch it. It is way easier than having to boil up another pot of water and blanch it separately. Place the vegetables into the soup. Once you see it turn a darker green, take it of and place it on the noodles.
Dish out the soup with enough meatballs or minced beef into the bowls, garnish with spring onions and serve.

Whilst the ingredients may not reflect that of the original Pho, it does provide you the taste. I enjoyed it tremendously and had the opportunity to have this version for 3 meals. Notice I did not add salt at all in the soup base. This is because your instant soup mix already has salt in it and the meat has been marinated with light soy sauce as well. The more salt you add, the saltier it gets. So, omit the salt where necessary. Just be aware of what you add in.

If you want the dish to look as authentic as it should be, then use these ingredients:

500 gms thinly sliced beef

A bunch of bean sprouts

2 sprigs Vietnamese basil leaves

2 sprigs Mint leaves

3 bird's eye chillies - thinly sliced

A sliver lime (lemon does not do justice here)

Savoured her craving for Vietnamese Pho Bo,

The Innovative Baker

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and many many happy returns of the DAY!!!!!!!!

2009-12-24T09:35:00.000Z

I would like to personally thank everyone who has followed the donnowhat2cook blog till today and for many more years to come. I must say that it has been a fruitful 3 months despite me not having to blog that many times this month. But as a treat for most of you who know of my Chocolate Fudge Cake, here is the recipe. Due credit is given to Channel 4 Food for helping me find the perfect Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe.

The ingredients are (please take note that I have adjusted the recipe from the original to make it smoother):

110gms spreadable butter

250ml whole milk (truly, it tastes best when you use whole milk and not semi skimmed)

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

100 - 120 gms plain / dark chocolate - melted

15 gms cocoa powder (here I used drinking chocolate) - sifted

300 gms self-raising flour - sifted

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda / baking powder - sifted

225 gms golden caster sugar

2 medium eggs

Chocolate Ganache Recipe: Chocolate Ganache

Method:

Heat up the oven to 180 Degree Celcius / fan 160 / gas 4. Grease a 20cm round cake tin or line with baking paper. Alternative you may use cupcake trays and line with cupcake cups.
Stir vinegar into milk, leave aside. Next beat butter and sugar till creamy (this means the butter looks pale almost like gold as the sugar dissolves into the butter. Add in eggs one by one and continue beating. This process is quickened with an electronic mixer but I prefer to do it by hand.
Next add in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder that has been sifted earlier in portions and not at one go. Slowly mix whilst adding the milk mixture alongside the flour.
Finally add in the melted chocolate. Don't use milk chocolate as the colour will not come out as dark as you would like it to be plus the additional milk in the milk chocolate only tends to fade the colour more.
Once combined, spoon out on to desired baking tin and bake for about 50 minutes for the cake and about 25 minutes for the cupcakes. As cupcakes are in smaller portions the baking time does not need to be that much. Stick a toothpick into the centre of the cake to check whether some cake batter is still sticking or comes out clean. The latter means it is nice and fluffy and bouncy whilst the former means you'll have a gooey centre which is not a problem either. But if you are planning to make a layered cake, then a cleaner toothpick is much prefered.
Decorate with chocolate ganache by using an icing pipe or simply using a spoon.

The beauty of this cake is that it is extremely flexible. Why? You can do it in many different shapes. So that it suits your taste.

So here is my Christmas gift to everyone. I hope you have a fun time trying it as I have had the joy of baking it many times :)

Here's wishing you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and Many Many Many Happy Returns of the Day.

In yuletide joy,

The Innovative Baker

Donnowhat2cook for a party 2

2009-12-16T10:11:00.001Z

Prawns in home made Mayo in Mini Pita

Following up on the party favours, we always try to find the easiest recipe to prepare for parties. Whilst in London, my flatmates and I decided to have a picnic at the park that ended up in our living room because of the misty weather we had one fine summer morning. Then again, it was good we had it indoors as we could make use of our crockery rather than take away packaging. Finger foods were probably the best bet so I made the Prawns in Home Made Mayo in Mini Pita. What went in?

Ingredients:

1 packet or 500 grams medium sized prawns (pre-cooked)

1 packet or a dozen of mini pita bread

Home Made Mayo:

A dollop of whole grain mustard (up to your liking rather)

Two egg yolks

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 sprigs of fresh basil

a dash of dried oregano

half a bottle of olive oil

(Mayonnaise is not for the light hearted)

Method:

First prepare the mayo. Add all ingredients into a mixer except the olive oil. Start blitzing all the ingredients whilst dribbling in the olive oil. When mayo thickens, stop adding in olive oil. Continue mixing for another minute and then set aside.
Wash prawns and pre boil. Drain, and remove shells. Even better when you find pre-cooked prawns and it was save you time.
Combine prawns and mayo together and refrigerate.
Toast mini pita bread in oven or toaster. When guests start arriving, fill mini pita with prawn filling. Serve accordingly.

This recipe is as simple as can be. And tastes great too! Plus, you can also make your own mayo. Fantastic right? If you do not like mustard, then you can take it out. You can add chilli flakes to make it asian tasting. The dish disappeared in one seating, so be sure to make more. The prawns can be alternated with chicken breasts.

Having fun preparing for a party,

The Innovative Baker

Donnowhat2cook for a party?

2009-12-11T16:04:00.000Z

It has been a while since I have posted something up eh? Workload has been quite busy so hence the missing blogposts. Anyway, whilst sending my thank you messages to my fans on facebook, thank you again!!! Audrey mentioned she does not know what to cook for a pot lucky party for 30 people. I was recently asked to cook for a party here in Duesseldorf that would have been 20 if all came. The menu was predominantly Asian of course although the guests were actually German. The easiest of the dishes was the tossed chinese noodles in heated sesame oil and stir fried vegetables.

Tossed chinese noodles in heated sesame oil stir fried vegetables.

This dish proved to be a hit as it was easy to eat, different and quick to prepare. So what do you need?

Ingredients:

1 large packet chinese noodles (egg noodles like the ones you get for wanton noodles)

5 medium sized carrots - julienned (cut into long thin strips preferably 5cm long but no need to be

exact)

1 medium sized zucchini - julienned like the carrots

1 large packet french beans - ends cut off and cut into half.

4 cloves garlic - finely chopped

2 to 3 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp vegetable oil

salt and pepper to taste

water to cook noodles

Method:

First prepare the noodles. In a pot, boil water with some oil and salt. When water is brought to boil, end in the noodles. You will see the noodles start to soften, normally after 3 to 4 minutes, the noodles would have turned soft. Remove from heat, drain of water and run through cold water to stop the cooking process. Add in some oil to ensure the noodles do not end up sticking to each other. Put aside.
Heat up wok, add in vegetable oil and garlic. Then the salt and stir fry till garlic is fragrant, then add it the vegetables that takes the longest to cook first. That would be the carrots first. After two minutes, add in the french beans, wait another two minutes and then add in the zucchini last. Continue stir frying. Add in pepper and more salt to taste. Transfer to serving bowl.
In the same wok, heat up the sesame oil. Once oil is heated up, pour in a portion of the noodles. There is no need to put in the whole portion as the noodles once tossed will coat the rest of the noodles. Transfer tossed noodles into the serving bowl together with the vegetables and toss like you would a salad. Add in remaining noodles into serving bowl and continue tossing until all ingredients are well mixed. Serve like a salad or immediately.

If you want it to be slightly spicy, then add in some julienned red chillies (seeds removed) when stir frying the vegetables. Or alternatively, add in sambal belacan when stir frying the garlic to bring out the spiciness and then add in the vegetables.

Another alternative tossed noodle version would spaghetti with rocket leaves and pine nuts. Of which you also carry out the same method substituting the sesame oil with olive oil. Another beautiful dish!

Fit for a party,

The Innovative Baker

Cookie Recipes to be TESTED!

2009-12-10T15:20:00.000Z

Hello hello fellow foodies,

as a test run, I am trying to gather some fellow bakers in my side of town, London to group bake. I was at a group bake session in Cologne last, this week would be in Düsseldorf and when I get back I would be hoping to do group baking in London as well. So if you have cravings for cookies and would like to have your favourite cookie baked but have no idea how and what ingredients to use, just send me the names of your favourite cookies, and we shall embark on a journey to find the best cookie dough recipe ever!!!

This Sunday's menu is:

Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies
Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vanilla Lemon Cookies

There will also be some German cookie recipes that would be tested this Sunday so hopefully we would get to bake all of it!!!! Pictures will be taken. Click on the side show that I have on my blog to check out the cookies we baked last Saturday in Cologne. Otherwise, look out for further cookie pictures after the Sunday Bake Off. Or check out Cookie Bake Off for the pictures in Flickr!

Cookie Crowd Sourcing,
the Innovative Baker