Swiss Roll with Custard and Jelly

This would be one of those cooling desserts I would make when it is blistering hot out there. Jellies are so nice to eat, and my favourite flavour is none other than strawberry. Mango, Raspberry and Grape taste nice too :-)
When I said I'd make some dessert for a BBQ event last Sunday, I had in mind Panna Cotta - but didn't get there due to some events I had to attend to. Swiss rolls are easily found at bakeries, and so I decided to make this instead. They're cheap, soft, with a little bit of cream - it tastes nice with some jelly.

It's easy to prepare this, and the only time you need to be patient, is when you refrigerate the dessert to let the jelly set!
:: Swiss Roll with Custard and Jelly Recipe ::
serves about 6

1 packet Strawberry Jelly mixture
2 tablespoon custard powder
about 500ml milk
2 tablespoon sugar
1 Strawberry flavoured Swiss roll (or Apricot, Raspberry)
1 large bowl for serving or 6 small glasses (individual serving)

Cut the Swiss roll to about 1 inch and place them on the bottom of the bowl/glass, just 1 layer of the cake is sufficient.

Cook the custard according to the label/instructions. Basically, just mix the custard powder with sugar and about 1/2 cup of the milk. Mix well. Heat up the remaining milk in a pot over medium heat, and when almost boiling, pour in the custard mixture and stir, while cooking until thickens.

Pour the custard over the layer of cake, about 1 cm of custard layer and spread well, covering all the cake. Refrigerate this while you prepare the jelly. The custard will be set after about 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the layer. We do this so that when you add the hot jelly mixture, the jelly and custard will not mix and become cloudy.

Cook the jelly according to instructions, and when ready, pour slowly over the layer of custard and refrigerate to set it, about 1 hour or more.

Serve cold, fresh from the fridge.

Spicy Thai Beef Salad

Still on my Thai food mood, really. Tab tim grob was fabulous! I ate so much, that I gained weight from the coconut milk - despite the low fat version of it. I am so so glad to be off on a beautiful Monday, had time to work out at the gym ( which I have been giving myself tonnes of reason for not going) and a very relaxing, rejuvenating time at the sauna as well.

What more way to give my tummy a break from fatty, oily food after gym?! Ofcourse, I had Chicken Panini instead of what is shown in this blog post, but writing about salad - especially my favourite salad, is bliss...

Who would like to eat dry salad without any dressing? Some dressing claims they're fat free or 99% fat free, but... you can't run away from those hidden calories. Lemon juice is good, but some people, may not be able to take it on its own...

I came up with my own version of Thai Beef Salad, with lots of fresh coriander, crunchy cucumber, hint of onions, and, bird's eye chilis added to spice the salad up and perk you up instantly!
The star of this salad has got to be the thai dressing itself. It is simple and quick to make. Very tasty, fresh, smells great, and makes the greens really appetixing to eat even if you don't normally like salads.

Some people add spring onions, but I personally prefer coriander only to make this salad. I stick to the basic greens and add a little tomato, onions, and capsicum sometimes. It goes very well wih grilled beef, but you can't go wrong with chicken either.

Serve as an appetizer, or wih your main course, or if you're eating light, you can just eat it on its own, still tastes great!

:: Spicy Thai Beef Salad Recipe :
for 2

1/2 Iceberg lettuce or Roman Lettuce
4 Cherry Tomatoes, halved (normal tomato is good too)
1/2 green capsicum (bell pepper), thinly sliced
1/4 small green onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon freshly chopped Coriander

200gm beef strips, grilled with a dash of pepper

For Salad dressing
1 small bird's eye chili, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
juice of 1 lemon or lime
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
a dash of olive oil (optional)

Firsly, grill the beef and place aside. Prepare salad in a bowl but don't add the beef as yet. The beef would still be warm if you had just cooked it, and wouldn't want to wilt the greens too much.

For salad dresing, add all ingredients together and stir to combine. Preferably, start with the lemon juice, fish sauce, sugar, and lastly flaked chilis. The dressing should be ready when the sugar has melted with the lemon juice. Add little by little the flaked chilis, less thean half a teaspoon for less spiciness, and more for you daring spicy food lovers out there. I took half a teaspoon only. Remember there's also freshly chopped bird's eye chili (optional).

Arrange the grilled beef on the salad, nicely on top of the greens. When ready to be served, pour the salad dressing all over the Thai Beef Salad and now, quickly grab a fork and eat away! Enjoy! :-)

Tab Tim Grob (Rubies in Coconut Milk)

The first time I had tab tim grob was about 3 years ago. Back then, it was at a Thai restaurant. They served this dessert in a small (really small) bowl, with a few thinly sliced nangka (jack fruit).

The special thing about tab tim grob is it's bright ruby colour - that resembles just like rubies. It is made from water chestnuts - hence once you eat it, it is lightly chewy on the outside, but light and crunchy inside. Then mixed with the sweetened coconut milk and ice - is a taste you will just melt with in the hot hot summer weather.

I didn't know what the dessert was made of initially, but now I know. I bought a small bag of water chestnuts and used some for making wantan last week. Such a waste it will be if I don't use the rest.. and suddenly tab tim grob came to my mind! I made some research on how to make it. Since this is my first time making this, it was a bit tedious for me. I had to learn step by step from scratch but it turned out to be really simple. Even a little kiddo can help you along the way!
:: Tab Tim Grob (Rubies in Coconut Milk) Recipe ::
Serves 2

8 pieces fresh water chestnuts
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup sugar
few drops red food coloring
1/3 cup coconut milk (I used low fat)
pinch of salt
ice cubes, for serving
Before anything, trim off the water chestnut skin and clean the w.chestnuts. Cut them to cmall cubes, about less than 1cm cubes.

In a separate bowl, place the red colouring drops and add 2 tablespoon of water. Pour the w.chestnut cubes in and mix well. You can also make some in greens or whatever colour you wish. A healthier choice would be to use beet juice or other natural colouring. Strain the water away. Now you have rubies.

In another separate bowl, pour the tapioca flour and throw in the 'rubies'. Using your fingers, gently coat each of the rubies with a light layer of flour, dust off any excess flour before you cook them in a pot of boiling water. Place the tapioca flour coated rubies, one by one, into the boiling water (on low heat). The rubies will float once it is cooked (about 2-3 minutes) and scoop them up and put in a bowl of ice water until ready for serving.

Make sugar syrup by heating up sugar in some water. Let cool.
In a small serving bowl or glass, place 1/2 cup coconut milk, add a pinch of salt and about 1 tablespoon of sugar syrup. Pour in about 3 heaped tablespoon of the cooked rubies, and place some ice cubes (or shaved ice) and serve immediately. Best for desserts anytime of the day.

Char Kuey Teow

I’ve this strong urge for some Char Kuey Teow (CKT) last Saturday. I know it is oily and sounds unhealthy, but I also strongly believe that you can eat anything – in moderation. Besides, I believe I haven’t eaten CKT for sometime now… Sometimes, I avoid fried kuey teow because it is drenched in oil during the frying process. However, as a food lover and a Penangnite, what’s life without a plate of delicious Char Kuey Teow once in a while? (Agree, agree!).

Though you can eat CKT at almost every corner of the streets in Penang, but for the love of cooking, I decided to learn the steps to making a decent plate of CKT. Mum always make CKT at home but is it just not the same as those that you eat out in the streets. I must confess, mine does not really taste the same either, but it tastes good enough to share with you. Hubby said it was nice and it DID tasted like the hawker’s CKT… so wokay! I marginally passed the taste test. Next time, I will make sure I pass with distinction :-P

Flat white noodles are used to cook up CKT. Freshly made ones can be found at most fresh markets whilst the dried packet versions are sold in Asian groceries and supermarkets. The fresh one is a better choice due to its super soft and silky texture. Prawns and cockles are popular to add in CKT along with Chinese sausages/lard.

Char Kuey Teow is best prepared one serving at a time, so if you’re cooking for 2, double up on the below ingredients. This is also the dry CKT; if you prefer it with a little gravy, add just a little bit of water along the cooking process. I might try the gravy(ier) version one of these days, which is popularly known as the Malay CKT. And, to achieve a tasty gravy, the prawn shells are kept intact!

:: Char Kuey Teow Recipe ::
Serves 1

1 cup flat white noodles (kuey teow)
5 medium-sized fresh prawns
6 cockles (don't worry if you don't have any)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Small handful of fresh chives, cut to 1-inch lengths
A handful of fresh crunchy bean sprouts
1 egg
1 tablespoon chili paste (see A below, and reduce to half a tablespoon for less spicy taste)
1 tablespoon soy sauce mixture (see B below)
2 tablespoon cooking oil

Fresh Chives for CKT

The chili paste I made

A. Chili Paste
(Prepared in advance, and can be stored for future use)

200gm (roughly 2 cups) dried red chilies
1 fresh red chili, remove seeds and sliced
2 shallots, roughly sliced
1/3 cup water (to assist blending)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cooking oil (for frying)

Using scissors, cut the dried chilies in halves then soak them in warm water for 10 minutes. This is to separate the seeds (we want the chilies and not the handful of seeds) to clean it. Drain the chilies; discard as many seeds as you can. Place chilies in a food processor along with water, fresh red chili, shallots and salt. Blend well. Makes about 1 cuppa.

Heat up a small pan with oil, and fry the blended chili paste until slightly thickened and place in a small container.

B. Soy Sauce Mixture
(Prepared in advance)

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (high caramel content)
3 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon sweet dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon white sugar
3 dash of white pepper
1 teaspoon fish sauce

Mix all of the above in a small container until well combined.

After preparing A, B and the rest of the ingredients, place them beside your stove, because you may need to be a Char Kuey Teow chef now. It would help if the ingredients were all ready and reachable!

You would need a wok for this. A flat pan would be a bit messy for this.. but doable :-P Now, if you're a pro, you probably won't even be ready the steps here to cook up CKT. But if you have never fried kuey teow, the heads up is, you will need to be fast. The wok needs to be hot, but not necessarily smoking hot unless you're a pro! You might end up burning the garlic even before frying the noodles (Confession: I almost did that...)

So here goes!

Heat up the wok on medium-high heat and pour cooking oil. When it's very hot, throw in garlic, prawns and cockles. Roughly stir. When the garlic is aromatic and prawns start changing colour, add the kuey teow.

Stir to loosen up the kuey teow and pour soy sauce mixture and chili paste. Quickly stir to combine and even out the soy sauce and chili with the kuey teow (about 30 seconds) and then add chives and bean sprouts.

Make a space at the bottom of the wok and crack open an egg and throw it in. Cover the egg with the noodles for about 10 seconds or so (still on high-medium heat), then quickly stir everything and immediately scoop up the Char Kuey Teow on to a serving plate. To add that 'street food' feel - place a freshly cut banana leaf on to the plate and place the Char Kuey Teow on it. Repeat again to make another serving.

Note:
1. If you're allergic to seafood, you can substitute prawns with thinly sliced beef or chicken.
2. I use olive oil or canola oil for a healthier choice (I do not like my char kuey teow too oily).
3. Dried flat noodles can be used if no fresh flat noodles are available, just soak them in warm water for about 20 minutes or until soften, and drain them. One packet normally serves about 4-6. CKT tastes best when small amount of noodles (1 cup) to cook at any one time for the reason that the soy sauce and chili paste blends easier in the shortest time.

Toong Tong (Golden Money Bags )

One of the food I learned to prepare during a previous part time job as a waitress in a fine dining Thai restaurant was toong tong. From not knowing anything about wrapping curry puffs, using wantan skins, making pad thai to delicious desserts - I now can proudly cook up some Thai food, one of my favourite Asian food.

Fridays - a day each week I always day dreamed about what to cook when Saturday comes, because weekends are the only days during the week that I get to go to the morning fresh market nearby my house, and cook up something nice for hubby and I to enjoy at home. Deep fried wantan came up to my mind. And so I thought, "Wantan it is for tomorrow!"

Come Saturday morning, I suddenly remembered the beautiful Golden Money Bags (called Toong Tong in Thai) that my ex-boss used to make me learn and prepare. Gosh, remembering her... very persistent and smart restaurateur she is. Anyways, I shall refer to her as Parn. Parn thought me a lot of things - I never had any food or restaurant experience prior to working woth her as a waitress. But she trained me well, my only regret was that I lost contact with her after I came back to Malaysia.

Time flies and 5 years has passed by. I still remember all the resipes I learned from Parn and Kitti, our very nice, skillful, funny chef. He would sneak some delicious food from the kitchen to us staffs when Parn's not looking! :-) (Parn, if you come accross this, please forgive us for the nawty things we did, am sure you won't reall mind now!)

Toong Tong was one of the favourite entre people ordered. It's wantan skins wrapped like a bag with chives, and delicious minced meat inside. Ofcourse, commonly people use pork mince to make these. Since I do not eat pork, I use chicken, prawns, or any other delicious monce meat as substitute. Never tried with fish tho. It will be like deep fried fish balls. Hmm.

They may look difficult to make but are not. A great idea if you have guests coming to your house for lunch or dinner, and you want to make something special :-) Try it, cos everyone woill love these gorgeous money bags!

:: Toong Tong (Golden Money Bags ) Recipe ::

Ingredients (serves 4)
1 cup vegetable oil (for frying)
200g lean chicken meat
50g fresh prawns, shelled
2 water chestnut, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander

10 chives, halved and blanched in hot water
20 wanton (gow gee) wrappers

Salt and pepper to taste

Sweet chilli sauce, to serve

The purpose of blanching the chives is to soften them, making it easy to tie the money bags. Just blanch for 10 seconds in hot water and set aside.

Mince chicken meat and prawn, add a dash of salt and pepper. Add the chopped corianced and water chestnut, mix well.

Place 1 wantan skin on a clean flat surface. Spoon 1 heaped teaspoon mince mixture in centre of the skin. Fold up sides to form a pouch. Pinch to enclose filling. Tie with a chive to secure. Open up the top sleeves of the skin to form a "flower", making it look nice after frying. Cut off the extra chives after wrapping the money bags. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Heat 1 cup of oil in small pot over medium-high heat. Cook money bags for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Note:
You could use other mince meat instead.

Grilled Chicken & Sausage, Curried Potatoes & Broccoli

Recently I got excited about grilling. Need some Western food after all the pasta, tom yum and the usual dishes I always prepare. Don't you just run out of ideas of what to cook sometimes? I know I do. It's normal. But it can be annoying...

Been wanting a grill pan for quite some time, but those really good ones costs over RM300 (+/- USD88). I got a Tefal grill pan for RM135 at Parkson's - it is not as heavy as the usual grill pans, but it'll do for now. I'm having fun with it :-)

The first thing I made was this grilled chicken. Also tried salmon, but it's not in the picture (are you thinking that I messed up the salmon?? I actually did :-P) I am still not really used to grilling the meat - like chicken breast, salmon, steaks... I like my meat cooked. No red meat. Not me. I know many out there who likes it rare or medium rare... but not me...
Anyways. Self note is to learn and practice how to grill to perfection. Meanwhile, I successfully made this diner to share with you readers!

Chicken breasts are good for grilling - it's fuss free and very easy to prepare. Healthy lean meat too, so you know you are eating good food. Oh, except for that piece of sausage I added... so happened I wanted to grill some sausages but once in a while sausages are nice to eat. Vegetables - broccoli and carrots are simply either steamed or lighted stir fried with a little bit of butter. And potatoes - a little carb will make our tummy happy... good carb. Not too much. Simply marinated them with a dash of curry powder and pop it in the oven... tastes really good.

I added some mozzarella cheese on top of the chicken after grilling, but I would not frequently o this as cheese does add those calories. I can never really eat too much cheese on meats, it just does not go with me. I love cheese with pasta tho! :-)
:: Grilled Chicken & Sausage, Curried Potatoes & Broccoli ::
Serves 2

2 chicken breasts
2 sausages
salt & freshly grounded pepper
Worcestershire sauce (optional)

Marinate these with a dash of salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce and put aside while you prepare the below. After you've prepared and cook the veges and potatoes, then grill the chicken and sausages until cooked or as preferred. This is to serve them while they're warm and nice. Add some mozzarella cheese on the chicken to add a cheesy topping.

Broccoli & Carrots
Cut these veges as you like, small or big sizes, then steam or stir fry them with a little bit of butter, or alternatively with olive oil. It's ok if you don't want to use any oil as they cook easily. Then place them nicely on one corner of a serving dish.

Curried Potatoes
1 large potato, cleaned and cut into wedges. Keep the skin with the potato.
Marinate with some olive oil and sprinkle generous amount of curry powder. I added some chili powder to spice it up a little. Wrap in a foil and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked. Open the foil and bake for 5-10 minutes until skin is crispy. Arrange next to the veges on the serving plate.

Once you've cooked the veges and potatoes, grill the chicken and sausages until cooked and serve warm. Enjoy! :-) Perfect for those weekdays dinner time..