Child-Approved Choc Chip Cookies

Since lemon cheesecakes are not always "child friendly", I wanted to bake something else for Quikong's 3 ½ year old niece, J, who was going to be at the birthday party last Saturday night. I decided to make the classic choc chip cookies.

I'm pleased to reported that these cookies got J's approval. It also got two thumbs up from Quikong, who said that "these are seriously good". This is a big deal because he can be quite a harsh critic of my baking and cooking. I thought the cookies were a little sweet for me. It's probably because I prefer to use dark choc in my cookies and I used milk choc for these ones since kids tend to prefer plain/milk choc bits. The texture is perfect though - crispy on the outside but slightly chewy towards the middle.

I placed the cookies in this pretty plastic Chinese take-away box (4 for $2) and it was cute to see J carrying the box around. I bought the little blue dinosaur for J's adorable little 2 months old brother, W.

"Child-Approved" Choc Chip Cookies
from Bill Granger's Sydney Food

125g unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups brown sugar, tightly packed
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups plain flour
a pinch of salt
1 ½ cups chocolate bits/chips

1
Preheat oven to 180°C. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and stir to combine. Stir in the sifted flour, baking powder and salt till just combined. Fold through chocolate chips.

2
Place spoonfuls of cookie mixture on a greased and lined baking tray, allowing room for spreading. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until they turn pale gold (tip: DO NOT bake longer than that, unless you want very crispy cookies).

3
Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray before transferring cookies on a wire rack to cool further.

Makes about 24 cookies

TIP: I froze half of the cookie dough for another time. Roll the dough into a log and keep in a plastic wrap and foil in the freezer. To bake, thaw slightly and slice into 1 cm think before baking.

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni with Pumpkin Tomato Sauce

I love spinach and ricotta cannelloni but I find the ones typically served at restuarants are too rich for me. I decided to make my own using low-fat ricotta cheese as well as some chopped walnuts for some added texture. For a change, I also added mashed pumkin in the tomato sauce.

This will be my submission for this week's Pasta Presto Night hosted by Ruth.

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni with Pumpkin Tomato Sauce
Serves 2

8 instant dried cannelloni tubes
120g frozen spinach, cooked in the microwave
200g low-fat ricotta cheese
handful of chopped walnuts
freshly ground nutmeg
salt & pepper

Sauce:
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small can of diced tomato
2 tbsp tomato paste
a pinch of dried herb (e.g. oregano, basil, sage)
250g butternut pumpkin, steamed
salt & pepper

To serve:
Grated parmesan
Chopped walnuts

1

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly coat an ovenproof dish with olive oil .

2

The sauce: Sauté the garlic and onion in a little olive oil till golden and translucent. Add the can of tomatoes, tomato paste and herb. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Purée the sauce together with the cooked pumpkin till smooth and season. Set aside.

3

The filling: Place the ricotta in a large bowl. Use a fork to mash until smooth. Add the spinach, nutmeg (to taste), chopped walnuts and stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Use a teaspoon to spoon the mixture evenly among the cannelloni tubes. Alternatively, spoon the ricotta mixture into a piping bag and pipe the mixture into the cannelloni tubes.

4

To assemble: Spoon half of the sauce over the base of the prepared dish. Arrange the cannelloni tubes, in a single layer, over the sauce. Spoon over the remaining sauce over the cannelloni tubes.

5

Bake: Cover loosely with foil and bake in oven for 40 minutes or until the cannelloni is tender.

To serve:
Sprinkle grated parmesan and some walnuts over the cannelloni

Best Ever Baked Cheesecake

Yes, that is a pretty bold statement to make. But i can't help it. This cheesecake recipe is so good - creamy, fluffy, yet not "heavy" It is good even when I've made it with low-fat cream cheese and low-fat sour cream. My family is crazy about cheesecakes so I've tried many recipes and so far this has been the favourite and I frequently get requests from friends to make this cheesecake for parties. Of course it helps that this recipe is from Tyler from Food 911. I used to rush home from classes when I was studying in Michigan, just so I could see Tyler in action. The Food Network was one of my favourite channels then :-)

I've done many versions of this for e.g. using blueberries, oreo cookies, espresso, marbled. I've also made a plain cheesecake but varied the biscuit crust/base e.g. using oreo, choc chip, or gingernut cookies. (Tip: You will need to crush 18-20 cookies with roughly 1 metled tbspn of butter).

I made this cheesecake for Quikong's sister's birthday dinner tonite. She likes simple cheesecakes like lemon cheesecake. So, I decided to make a lemon cheesecake but to make it more interesting, I used Arnott's Kingston biscuits for the crust because Quikong and his brother loves these biscuits and I hope that his sister does too. Then I had to really think hard about how i could make this cheesecake more special because it looked too boring for an occasion such as birthday. Looking through my supplies, I got excited when I saw the kumquats that I bought a few days ago with the intention of making preserves.


For the Lemon Cheesecake:
- See this Crack Proof Cheesecake recipe by Tyler
- I followed Tyler's instructions exactly, but added in the juice of half a lemon together with the sour cream
- For the crust, I used a packet of Kingston biscuits crushed with 1 tbspn melted unsalted butter

And the piece de la resistance...
Caramelised Kumquat Glaze

10 oz kumquats
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
pinch of salt
2 tbspn lime juice (optional)

Slice kumquat about 1/4 cm in width, remove any seeds. Over medium heat, boil sugar and water till sugar dissolves and liquid thickens. Lower heat and add kumquat slices. Stir kumquats occasionally and cook for about 15-20 minutes (till kumquat rind becomes tender). Carefully coat the top of cheesecake immediately. I didn't use all of it for the cheesecake, so I added some rasberries to the remainder and will use it on my toast tomorrow (yummm).

Hot Stuff - Chickpea and Spinach Curry

Brrr..... it's such a cold, wet and windy day in Sydney. Fortunately, I am able to work from home today. Funny thing about winter is that I don't feel like exercising as much but I feel hungry all the time. Not such a good combination for the waistline....That's when a recipe like this comes in handy because it can satisfy my craving for wholesome food without the guilt and it's perfect for a cold day like today. Plus, since Quikong is not home for lunch, I can make it EXTRA spicy. This will also be my first submission for the Weekend Herb Blogging which was created by Kalyn, and hosted by Ulrike this week. Susan reminded me of how lucky I am that Quikong has planted a herb garden for me. So I have decided to blog about each herb from the garden, one at a time. I think that Quikong will actually appreciate this because it means that I will stop hassling him about "which one is the oregano again?". My excuse for not recognising the herbs is that I've only used dried forms of some herbs (e.g. thyme). Plus, I am used to calling herbs by their local names back in Singapore.

To me, curry is not complete without some coriander (or cilantro) thrown. My grandmother and mom used to add in extra coriander in their curries just for me. We don't tend to chop the leaves but throw them in stalks and all (with roots removed). All parts of the coriander is edible (including the roots). However, the fresh leaves and dried seeds are the most commonly used parts for cooking. You can learn more about coriander here.

(Hot) Chickpea and Spinach Curry

1 tspn oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 heaped tbspn of "special" curry powder*
1 tspn brown sugar
1 can chickpea, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 large carrot, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
250g frozen spinach
as many chopped dried or fresh chillies as you like :-)
Salt flakes
Some hot water or vegetable stock
A bunch of coriander, roots removed

Over medium heat, fry the garlic and onion in the oil in a non-stick pot till soft and slightly golden. Add curry powder and continue to stir everything around till the spices have released their fragrance (about 5 minutes). Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer till carrots are tender. Add enough hot water/stock for the desired consistency. Season with salt. Throw in the coriander at the very last, just before serving.

Serve with:
- Brown rice, basmati rice or naan.
- Pappadams (pictured in the background of the photo)
- Yougurt

* Try to use better quality curry powder from a specialty shop(not commercial brands). My mom sent me a packet of curry powder from Singapore and it is a blend of the following ingredients: Coriander seeds, cumin, tumeric, fennel seeds, chilli, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and cloves.

Orechiette With Grilled Vegetables, Feta and Roasted Garlic Pesto

Believe it or not, I don't just eat desserts and cakes. But I do seem to blog much more about desserts and cakes so I thought I should balance things out a bit. This is a pasta dish that is simple to throw together because the oven does most of the work. I served the pasta with Janet's soft breadsticks, which were so quick and easy to make (thanks, Janet!).

Making your own pesto is worth the time because the freshness of the basil comes through. Fortunately, Quikong started a herb garden for me. This way, we always have a fresh supply of basil, which we use quite often in our cooking. I've used walnuts instead of pinenuts in the pesto for a change, and I was pleased with the result.

I enjoyed this so much that I will submit it to Ruth at Once Upon a Feast, who started the weekly food blogging event, Presto Pasta Nights.

Orechiette With Grilled Vegetables, Feta and Roasted Garlic Pesto

Fresh Orechiette

Vegetables suitable for grilling/roasting (e.g. pumpkin, eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers)

Roasted garlic pesto (recipe below)

Feta Cheese, cubed

To serve:

Roasted balsamic red onion (recipe below)

Feta Cheese, crumbled

Walnuts, chopped

1

Brush/spray sliced vegetables with a little olive oil to prevent them from drying out. Grill or roast vegetables till they are tender.

2

When the vegetables are almost ready, cook the pasta until it is al dente.

3

To assemble: Firstly, toss the drained pasta with the feta and pesto. Secondly, add the vegetables and take care not to stir too much because the pumpkin might get mushy.

4

Serve pasta topped with the quartered balsamic red onion, chopped walnuts, extra crumbed feta cheese and a few basil leaves.

Roasted Garlic Pesto
(Serves 4)

2 cups fresh basil

¼ cup walnuts, lightly toasted

½ cup freshly grated parmesan

1 head of roasted garlic

Place all ingredients, except oil, in a mortar and pound it till it forms a smooth paste. You can use a food processor of course but be careful not to overprocess (the basil will get bruised). Slowly add the oil until it is well combined. This can be stored up to a week in the fridge. You can replace walnuts with toasted pine nuts and omit the garlic for a more traditional pesto.

Balsamic-Roasted Red Onions

From Donna Hay's "Off the shelf: Cooking from the pantry

4 red onions

Balsamic vinegar

Sugar

Olive oil

Place 4 halved red onions, cut side up, on a lined baking tray. Loosen the onion layers with your fingers. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar so that it gets between the onion layers. Sprinkle with sugar (I used brown sugar) and a little olive oil. Cover and bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees C for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake a further 20 minutes or until slightly caramelised & golden. (these are yummy as a pizza topping).

Topsy-Turvy Cinnamon Cake with Caramelised Pineapple

top·sy-tur·vy (tŏp'sē-tûr'vē) :
adv. With the top downward and the bottom up; upside-down.


Ever since I won the charity cake auction for the caramelised upside-down banana cake last month, I have been obsessed about making it myself. But when I had a very ripe pineapple sitting in the fruit basket, I decided to use the pineapple instead.

Pineapple was one of my favourite fruits as a kid and we ate and cooked with fresh pineapple all year round in Singapore. For festive occasions, my mom makes the BEST bite-sized pineapple tarts. They are a labour of love not just because of the size (imagine trying to fill tiny tart shells without messing up & also decorate the top with extra short crust pastry!) but also because the pineapple filling has to be cooked on the stove top for hours (to thicken the filling and get a caramelised flavour). My wonderful mom always has a container of these tarts freshly baked for me whenever I return to Singapore.

Anyway, I digress...To recreate the taste of my mom's pineapple tart filling, I decided to use caramelised pineapple for my upside-down cake.
.

"topping"
(own creation)

50g unsalted butter
half of a large ripe pineapple, rind and core removed, then cut into 1cm slices
1/4 cup golden syrup
1/2 cup caster sugar (or less if pineapple is very ripe)
1 tbspn lemon juice
1 tspn vanilla essence

To make the "topping":

1

Place the butter in a non-stick pan over medium heat and melt. Add pineapple and lemon juice into the pan. Cook the pineapples till it is slightly tender, stirring craefully.

2

Add golden syrup, sugar and vanilla essence and cook till pineapple is tender.

3

Remove pineapples carefully with a slotted spoon and arrange in the bottom of a greased 23cm spring-form cake tin. (The juices tend to leak from my tin, so I line it with foil)

4

Increase heat and boil remaining liquid in the pan for 5 minutes or more until a rich caramel forms. DO NOT be tempted to tasted the caramel at this stage because it is VERY HOT.

5

Pour caramel over the pineapples in the base of the tin.

Cinnamon Cake
(from "Sydney Food" by Bill Granger)

1oog unsalted butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
4 eggs, seperated, room temperature
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 1/4 cp plain flour
2 tspn baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 tspn ground cinnamon

1

Preheat oven to 180 degress C (350 degrees F).

2

Place butter and sugar in a bowl and cream til light and fluffy.

3

Add vanilla and egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition.

4

Gently fold in the sifted flour, baking powder, salt and cinammon. The cake mixture will be quite stiff and dry.

5

In a small, clean, dry bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.

6

Gently fold egg whites through the cake mixture with a large metal spoon.

7

Spoon the batter evenly over the pinapples and caramel. Smooth with a spatula.

8

Bake for 50 minutes or until a skwer inserted to the centre of the cake comes out clean.

9

Remove the cake from the oven and leave in the tin for 5 minutes. Remove the sides from the cake tin and place a large serving plate on top of the cake. Turn cake over onto serving plate. Remove foil (if used) and base.

10

Serve warm, with pouring cream if desired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tasting notes:The cake was also delicious at room temperature the next day.
Quikong liked it as much as I did, even though he was initially disappointed that I didn't make the banana version.
Verdict: This recipe is a keeper. Next time, I will try making it with caramelised bananas, pears or apples (that was Bill's original recipe).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Food Photo Riddle #1

Can you guess what is the main ingredient that I will be using for my cake.....


Do you need another clue?


That was too easy, huh.....


But can you answer this Photo Food Riddle:

What kind of cake will I be baking today?