A couple of days ago, my mind decided that of all the random things it could possibly nag me to remember, it had to be a certain Eid goodie. The most amazing thing about this memory however is the distinct visual I had but no recollection of the taste. I know I have a photographic memory but I didn’t know that it could haunt my days and nights. And so finally I gave in and wrote a desperate plea for help on my status update in FB. It read: need some help…What’s the name of this Eid goody? In small cups, it is white, solid but melts in your mouth. Looks more like little rocks - not very pretty but super yummy.

Thank God for FB and even more for the FB friends who suggested that I was looking for something called Renchoco Macaroons. Renchoco is a type of chocolate which is no where to be found here. So I substituted it for milk chocolates  and  just baked a whole batch of these. The result tasted heavenly. My conclusion regarding these random memory jogs? I would welcome more of such delicious recollections.  Hmmm…and I’ll prob bake another batch because I don’t think this batch will last till Eid.

Ingredients:
whites from 3 large eggs
210 g granulated sugar - blended to powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
220g milk chocolate chips
120g cornflakes - crushed lightly

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 325F.
2. Whisk egg whites until foamy and soft peaks form.



3. Add the salt and 1- 2 tbsp of sugar at a time. Continue to whisk until all the sugar is used and stiff peaks form.



4. Add the cream of tartar and vanilla essence. Whisk to combine well.



5. Add the milk chocolate chips.



6. Add the cornflakes.



7. Fold into the meringue. Avoid overmixing or stirring.



8. Scoop teaspoonful of the mixture and drop them into baking cups.



9. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until the meringue firms up and the cornflakes are crunchy.

Tips:

• The cream of tartar is optional. It helps in giving a crispy texture.
• Add more chocolate chips or chocolate of your choice. You can even omit this.
• Add nuts if you like.
• Depending on the oven, if you find the insides not crunchy, stick the tray back into the oven for a few more minutes.
• Don’t leave the macaroons in the oven for too long or they will turn brown.
• When beating egg whites, remember that all equipment used (bowl, whisk) should be extremely clean in order for the eggs whites to successfully form stiff peaks.
• Completely cool before storing in an airtight container.

Finally…Finallyyy…FinaallllYYYY….it’s here!! My beautiful camera! It’s going to take me a while before I figure exactly how to maximize the camera’s potential but for now, just enjoying the feel of the camera in my hands and snapping random pics will suffice. So if some of the pics look like I could have done better, I totally agree with you.

I decided to kick start the blog and get myself back to cooking, snapping and posting with this easy yummy toast recipe. Famously known as Roti John, legend has it that it was a dish named after an English man who used to like his toast (Roti) prepared for him in this way. Unfortunately, nobody knew his real name and the stall owner merrily picked a most common English name to name the anonymous man - John. I’m just glad it’s not called Roti John Doe!

Ingredients:
2 cups - minced beef - washed and drained
1 tbsp meat curry powder
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
5 eggs - beaten
1/8 cup milk (optional)
1 onion - diced
handful of cilantro - chopped
2 stalks of spring onion - chopped
1 red chili - sliced thinly slantwise
1 green chili - sliced thinly slantwise
salt to taste
oil
french loaf/baguette
butter

Method:

1. Pan fry the meat for 5 minutes. The liquid will start to ooze out and the meat will start to brown.



2. Add the curry powder, pepper and salt. Continue to cook the meat on medium high heat, stirring from time to time, until the liquid dries up and the meat is quite dry.



3. Leave the meat aside to cool.



4. In another bowl, beat eggs and add milk, onion, cilantro, spring onions, chilies and salt. Mix well.



5. Add the cooled meat into the egg mixture and mix well.



6. Slice the baguette into half length-wise. Then cut each half into 4 equal parts.

1. Spread a little butter onto each slice and place the bread onto a hot pan/griddle until slightly brown.



2. Remove from pan and dip the buttered side of the bread into the egg mixture. Use a fork to scoop the meat, onion etc onto the bread.



3. Heat about a tsp of oil on the griddle and quickly place the bread with egg and etc side of the bread onto the hot pan. Leave it to cook for 2 minutes before using a potato mashed to press onto the bread to help it cook well.
4. Flip the bread over and cook the other side a few minutes to make it crispy. Flip it over once again and make sure that the spread is well cooked before serving.



5. Serve hot with mayonnaise, tomato and chili sauce.

I keep taking things for granted like the fingers on my hand, my car keys, my alarm clock, my husband (ooppss..! but I don’t think I’m the only one. Admit it *looking at you*) and I suddenly realize how integral these everyday items are to  me. Of course the husband is not an item but he’s a very integral part in my life. I find the simplest thing like holding your toothbrush can be absolutely awkward with an injured finger. I go absolutely berserk when I dig through my bag and can’t find my keys when I need to hurry off and be somewhere like NOW! And if my alarm clock doesn’t buzz…well, I wouldn’t mind sleeping in, if not for the other people who depend on me to wake them up on time for their appointments. And who would I go on and on and on about the days’ events if not for my very patient husband with very good listening skills (if only to humor me!)? But I just figured last week that my camera has made it to this list of taken-for-granted-absolutely-integral-item.

I have never felt so grumpy, inadequate and handicapped all at the same time. A terrible mishap befell my darling precious camera. It took a nosedive from the kitchen counter to the floor with a heart stopping thud thud crash kaboom. That is exactly how I felt my heart thump as I heard the crash. Oh my poor poooor baby! It will not function any more. Even the microSD card is damaged. Every time I insert it into my laptop, it keeps asking if I want to reformat my disc. Of course not! I have photos to upload and recipes to go along with it. And home videos of my kids fooling around - the knight saving the princess from a fire breathing dragon. And I have to get another before my life can resume to function normally again. While I sorely feel the loss of my old camera, I am dying to shop for a new one. It’s about time that I got something better to play with.

So for now, here’s a yummy brownie recipe which I’m sure you’ll do just fine without step-by-step photos to accompany. But I promise to take pics and upload it here when I get my new toy. Ahhh….I can’t wait!

Ingredients: (adapted from http://ayankeeinasouthernkitchen.com/2008/09/19/georgia-pecan-brownies)

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup + 1/8cup Hershey’s Cocoa
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
3 oz semi-sweet choc - chopped into bits
1 oz semi-sweet choc chips
1/2 cup pecans - lightly toasted

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8in baking pan (I used a circular one) with butter and lightly dust with flour.
2. In a pan, melt butter and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Leave the butter mixture to cool slightly.
3. In a bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder with a whisk.
4. Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture, and mix well with a spoon.
5. In a smaller bowl, lightly beat the eggs and add the vanilla extract to the eggs. Stir to mix well.
6. Pour the egg mixture into the flour-butter mixture. Stir to mix well.
7. Add the chocolate bits and choc chips. Stir well. Some of the chocolate bits won’t combine well but it’s ok.
8. Add the pecan and mix well. It will be very thick.
9. Pour into the greased baking pan. Spread the batter and smooth it with the back of a spoon.
10. Bake for abt 15- 20min. At 15 min insert a toothpick. It should have a slight trail of wetness. Remove and cool. It will start to firm up a little more.
11. Serve on its own or with vanilla ice cream. Warm or cooled.

Tips:

• Don’t bake until the toothpick comes out clean. It’ll probably become too hard and dry by then.
• The bits or chocolate that don’t combine well will appear as melted chocolate when you cut into the brownie. Simply delightful~!
• You can crush the pecans but I like them chunky.
• Toasting the pecans give them an added flavor.
• You can substitute bittersweet choc if you like. Or add more choc bits. But this was just the right amount for me.

Watching cooking shows are seriously a dangerous past time for me. It is totally scary that I develop cravings after watching these shows and even scarier when I thought I wasn’t watching but letting it just drone on in the background as I go about doing my daily chores. So this meal was inspired by Rachel Ray’s Pho. Watching her cooking made easy method, it inspired me to find out how pho would originally be cooked.

First, I found out that pho is pronounced as “fuh” like in “fir” with an ‘h’ sound at the end. And it’s called pho because you use pho noodles which can be easily bought from Asian stores. I got mine from Uwajimaya. It’s probably one of the easiest and tastiest noodle soup recipes I’ve ever tried. The only thing that some might like and others not about the recipe is that you’ll need to remember that it takes 3hours to get the stock simmered right. For me, this is perfect. It means while the broth is simmering, I can get on with my housework, the e-mail, the facebook, a bath, some TV time and then back to the kitchen to start preparing the condiments for the dish. And finally to enjoy lunch with the family and have fun with the mix-and-match condiments spread. This is one fun dish to try out if you’ve never done it before.

Ingredients:

2.5 lb of beef bones - leg or knuckles or whatever part that your butcher has available
1lb beef - eye rounds or whatever cut is available and sliced thinly against the grain
1 packet of banh pho noodles - dried or fresh - follow the instructions on the package
1 large onion - peeled and cut in half
4in ginger - peeled and sliced in half lengthwise
2 tbsp sugar candy or a large piece of rock sugar
1 cinnamon stick
salt to taste

Roasting spices:

5 star anise
1 cardamom pod
1 tbsp of coriander seeds
1 tbsp of fennel seeds
1 tsp cloves

Condiments:

Hoisin Sauce
Sriracha Sauce
Thai Fish Sauce
Basil Leaves - washed and shredded
Serano chili - washed sliced
Bird’s eye chili - washed
Lemon - sliced into wedges
Bean Sprouts - washed

Method:

1. How to Parboil the bones : Wash bones then put the bones in a big pot and fill it up with water up to 3 inch above the bones. Remove the bones, set aside and bring the water to a boil. Then return the bones to the boiling water carefully. Boil the bones for 10 minutes. Then throw away the water and set the bones aside. (While parboiling the bones, char the ginger and onion and pan fry the spices.)



2. Rinse the pot and fill with clean water. Add the bones to the water. The water should be twice the height of the bones in the pot. A little more or less won’t really hurt. It really depends on how much  beef stock you want.
3. How to char the ingredients: Place the ginger and onion on a baking tray. Place it in the oven on broil. Broil the onion and ginger for about 10 minutes or until it starts to char partially. See picture.



4. How to pan roast the spices: Place the spices in a small pan and put it on the stove at medium-low heat. Keep stirring or swirling the spices until it starts to smell aromatic and starts to turn a slight shade darker. Do not burn the spices. Place the roasted spices in a spice bag (homemade or store bought) or a spice infuser mesh ball.
5. Add the charred ingredients, spice bag, sugar, cinnamon, salt into the pot with the bones. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover the pot and continue to boil for 3 hours. Check once in a while for scum that rises to the surface and remove it. There should be very little scum if the parboil was done right.



6. After 3 hours, correct the seasoning of the stock by adding more sugar and/or salt.
7. Prepare the noodles according to instructions on the package.



8. Put some noodles in a bowl, top with thinly sliced raw beef and ladle BOILING hot broth onto the beef. This should cook the beef.
9. Then serve with the condiments.

Alternatively, if you’re worried about serving raw meat especially if you have little kids eating this dish, ladle the boiling broth into a small saucepan, add the thinly sliced raw beef a few pieces at a time and give it a stir so that the pieces do not clump together. Add more pieces of meat until desired amount. Then bring the broth to a simmer on the stove and cook the meat till done. Then add to the noodles. Serve.

Tips:

• Parboiling is an important step if you don’t want to keep removing scum from the broth throughout the 3 hours boiling period. It also gives you a clearer broth.
• It is important to get good beef bones for a delicious broth. If you get a rancid smell while parboiling and the water turns green, it means that the bones are not fresh and the broth is better thrown.
• You can make your own spice bag using cheesecloth. Find out how here.
• Some people add the Thai Fish Sauce into the broth. But I prefer serving it as a condiment because not everyone likes the fishy smell or taste of the sauce in my family.
• While the meat is partially thawed, use a very sharp knife to slice the beef to get very thin cuts.

We bought a cupcake frosting toy for my daughter for her birthday. It’s one of those toys which makes toy land start to cross over and become real. And since I won’t allow her to eat those instant cupcake and frosting mixes that came with the toy, she’s been asking me to make cupcakes and frosting. She’s not a cupcake die hard, but  she is a die hard fan of that frosting toy. Well with summer in and the sun out, some  chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting looked like just the thing to make everyone happy. My daughter put her toy to good use,  I got some extra frosting in the fridge and everyone loved the cupcakes. My review of the toy : It squirted, it spun and was loads of fun for the kids to use but it was really a messy affair. The frosting didn’t always gets squirted directly on top of the cake but nothing a little soap and water can’t get rid off.:) Hmmm, I think I’ll have to take a look at that toy manual again just to be sure that the fault was not ours. But what’s summer without a little mess in the kitchen? We had frosting on our clothes, on the floor, on the counter, but that’s summer. Time to get messy, get playful and enjoy being young (even better - being young at heart) and let out a whoop in the air. Wheee hoooo…! Hope you have just as much fun with this frosting recipe!

Ingredients:

8oz package Philly Cream Cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 - 3 cups confectioner’s sugar (depending on consistency and sweetness) - sifted

Method:

1. Let the cream cheese and butter come to almost room temperature. It should be soft enough to leave your finger marks easily but not too soft that it’s squishy.



2. Cut the butter and cheese into cubes



3. Then, with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter to combine.



4. Add the vanilla and beat for a few minutes until well combined.



5. Add half the sugar and beat to mix well.



6. Then add the other half until well combined.



7. Spread on cakes or cupcakes.

Tips:

• Don’t over beat the cream cheese or it will separate.
• Adjust the amount of sugar depending on the consistency you need as well as how sweet you want it to be.
• If the cream cheese is too soft, add a bit more sugar.
• Or you can leave it in the fridge to firm up a little if you want to pipe it.
• If the cream cheese is too stiff, add a little milk.
• To store, keep it in a air tight container in the fridge for about a week. Or in the freezer for about a month.