French Pear Tart (II)

Baked a pear tart for Good Friday. This time, I've arranged the pears the proper way. To quote Dorrie Greenspan: 'Thinly slice each pear half crosswise. Lift each half on a spatula, press down on the pear to fan it slightly and place it over the almond cream, wide end toward the edge of the crust. The 6 halves will form spokes'. (Although, I think I've sliced them abit too finely). Recipe here.

Hope you had a great Easter weekend x

Soy happy!

In the past, this is how I make soy milk at home. It's messy, and time consuming as you have to blend the soaked beans, stand in front of the stove to cook the milk, and I haven't mentioned the amount of washing up after! I love soy milk, but this is much too fussy.

One day, after hearing me out, my colleague who's from China suggested: 'Why don't you get a Jo Young soy milk machine? Everyone in China has one! And everyone drinks fresh soy milk everyday!!!'. I did my research online and was intrigued- all you need to do is add soaked beans and water, and the machine will work its magic. Wow! I wanted it, but it was expensive and I can only buy it online.

Fast forward 3 years later, I took the plunge and 'invested' in a soy milk maker (mainly because someone imports the product to Melbourne now and I can see it in person, and plus.... I have a soft spot for kitchen gadgets)!

The machine looks good and doesn't take up much space on my kitchen benchtop. All you need to do to get soy milk is:

Ingredients
1000ml water
1 cup of soy beans, soaked overnight

(1) soak a cup of soy beans overnight in the fridge
(2) add soaked beans and water to machine, press 'soy milk', then 'soaked beans'. Wait 20 minutes, and voila, fresh soy milk!

I experimented a little last night, by mixing in the following:
 
Ingredients:
5 Tbsp black sesame
1/2 rice bowl of white rice
1 Tbsp white sesame
4 Tbsp caster sugar
900ml water

(1) Press 'rice paste', wait 20 minutes, and voila, instant smooth and velvety black sesame pudding!!!

Boy was I pleased, and soy happy! :D

BBQ Honey chicken wings

OK - these are heavenly! This is probably THE dish to bossman's heart (via the tummy). He hehe! It tastes better than KFC, in fact it's so easy to make that it's easier than going out to buy KFC. The cooking time is 20 minutes, the prep time is 5 minutes. can it be easier than that?

Ingredients
2kg chicken wings/wingettes/drumettes
4 T oyster sauce
4 T fish sauce
dash of black pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
thumb size ginger, chopped finely
4 T honey
2 T olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and let marinade overnight.
2  Bake in 200°C preheated oven for 20 minutes until golden brown, turning once.

Nian Gao with Coconut 椰丝年糕

I am not a fan of Nian Gao, and if you are not too, you're going to be left with a pile of Nian Gao after Chinese New Year. What to do with them? I decided to prettify it to make it at least abit more appetising to the eyes. So I coat the steamed sticky sweet rice cakes in desiccated coconut for a simple dessert to go with dinner. The result was a yummy dessert which tastes alot like  'Nyonya Kuihs'. The recipe below, as you can see, is incredibly simple.

Ingredients

1 round block of 'Nian Gao', cut in to 2 cm x 2cm pieces

Some desiccated coconut + pinch of salt

1. Steam desiccated coconut for 10 minutes to rehydrate.

2. At the same time, steam Nian Gao pieces for 10 minutes as well.

2. Toss in desiccated coconut. Serve warm.