• Jul
  • 23
  • 2013

{in my kitchen} beef black pepper

I love a quick and easy stir fry for a mid week dinner! Being at work-at-home-mum to a mother of 2 under 3, leaves me very little time for everything else. You might plan ahead what you had in mind for dinner, but things happen and now you’re left with under an hour to prepare dinner? Just put on a pot of rice and make this simply beef black pepper stir fry. All done in about 30 minutes!

 

RECIPE FOR CHINESE BEEF BLACK PEPPER

Adapted from Rasa Malaysia with slight modifications

Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 20 mins

 

Ingredients

250 g beef tenderloin or flank steak, cut into thin pieces
2 ½ tablespoons cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2.5 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1/2 carrot, sliced diagonally
½ small green capsicum, cut into pieces
½ small red capsicum, cut into pieces
1 small onion, cut into quarters
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt, to taste

 

Sauces to marinade

1 tsp vegetable stock powder
½ teaspoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon sugar (optional)

 

 

Method

1. Marinate the beef with all the sauce ingredients, about 15 minutes ( I didn’t let it sit to marinate because it was a last minute decision to make this & it still turned out tasty!)

2. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Stir-fry the beef until the beef has just turned brown, then add the garlic and ginger. Stir fry until aromatic.

3. Add the capsicums, carrots, onions and black pepper. Stir-fry for 5 minutes until the vegetables soften (but make sure it doesn’t go soggy)

4. Transfer the beef back into the wok or skillet. Stir-fry until the beef is cooked through and the center of the meat is no longer pink, about 1-2 minutes. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.

5. Serve immediately with warm rice.


  • Oct
  • 27
  • 2012

{eid} chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream

I swear every Eid is a rush. For some reason, all my raya(eid) grocery shopping, cooking and decorating happens the night before. Its strange considering I am quite an organised person. Must be all the excitement I guess. And as a Malay, I follow the way we celebrate Eid. We don’t only bake various cookies, we do a whole feast. Lontong, rendang, chicken curry etc… though I have to admit, this time I didnt do the whole shebang. One: I just don’t have much time with a 3 month old and a 2 year old and two: my aunty brought us heaps of raya cookies all the way from Malaysia. Yayness!

So it was around 10pm the eve of Eid that I went searching for a chocolate cupcake recipe online and found this. Its pretty similar to the ones I’ve made before and it tasted good. Suffice to say I slept at 3am after all the cooking and baking. But  it was such a rewarding feeling knowing that you’ll be celebrating a beautiful occasion with your loved ones.

The tags are also DIY. And yes, I was up designing, printing, cutting and gluing these tags for the cupcakes and goodie bags. You can find them here, printable DIY cupcake flags and gift tags. For these specific ones (in this post), you’ll need to wait until I find time to upload them ;)

These cupcakes are for Aliya’s class. We celebrated with her little friends at Kinda. Oh it was so cute seeing them eat in mess.

RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATE CUPAKES
Adapted from My Baking Addiction with slight modifications

Yields: 24 cupcakes
Prep time: 20 mins
Bake time: 20 mins approx

Ingredients

1  3/4 cups plain flour
2 cups caster sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees fan forced. Line 2 standard dozen muffin trays with paper liners; set aside.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Fold in slowly the dry ingredients into the wet. Then add in the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

3. Using a large scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin cases, filling each up to 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack and cool completely.

 

 

RECIPE FOR VANILLA BUTTERCREAM ICING/FROSTING
Adapted from Sweetapolita  with slight modifications

Makes: Enough to decorate 24 cupcakes
Prep time: 5 mins

Ingredients

340 grams unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
600 grams icing sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip butter for 5 minutes on medium speed. Butter will become very pale & creamy.

2. Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 5 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.

3. Use to decorate right away before it hardens.


  • Jun
  • 03
  • 2012

profiteroles

Profiteroles

Profiteroles or also known as cream puffs are not that hard to make but just requires time especially if you have 3 different fillings to make. I’ve made a cream chantilly, vanilla custard and chocolate mousse for this round of batch. And to me, the chocolate mousse wins hands down! I used Nigella Lawson’s Instant Chocolate Mousse recipe as I had no time to chill it overnight and needed something fairly quick, and her recipe is oh-so-yum. I’ll definitely be using it again and pouring them into glass cups to indulge on its own!

Profiteroles

The choux pasty is so soft yet still holds its form and is super light which really compliments the ‘a bit heavy’ chocolate mousse. You can put whatever fillings you want really, some put ice cream and custard with fruits, then top it off with a dusting of icing sugar or chocolate ganache.

Profiteroles

I have come across so many choux pastry recipes and have found the best. Not eggy or hard. The trick is not to use milk but water instead.

RECIPE FOR PROFITEROLES / CREAM PUFFS
Adapted from Graces Sweet Life

Serves: 18
Prep time: 20 mins
Bake time: 25-30 mins
Chill time: 30 mins to an hour (with filling inside)

Ingredients

140 g (1 cup + 2 tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour
237 ml (1 cup) water
113 g (½ cup) unsalted butter, cut into 16 equal pieces
2 tsp caster sugar
½ tsp salt
4 medium eggs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220° C.  Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick baking paper.

2. In a medium saucepan bring water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil over medium heat, stirring gently with a wooden spoon.

3. When mixture begins to boil, add sifted flour all at once and stir vigorously until paste reaches pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a big ball, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

4. Allow paste to cool, stirring a couple of times, wait 3-5 minutes to cool.

5. Add the eggs one-at-a-time, stirring vigorously after each addition making sure each egg is well incorporated before adding the next.

6. Transfer choux pastry to a large pastry bag fitted with large plain tip (i.e. Wilton 1A). Pipe 4-cm high mounds, spacing 5-cm apart, on prepared baking sheets.

7. To prevent tops from burning, use your finger tip and dip in a little water and then lightly touch the ends of each puff.

8. Immediately place in the oven to bake (water will help to create steam which helps create volume in the puffs while baking). Bake until tops and sides are golden, 25 to 30 minutes.  Turn off oven and allow puffs to rest in the oven for 5 minutes.

9. Remove from oven; poke each puff in the side with a small paring knife to allow steam to escape.  Transfer to wire rack and allow puffs to cool completely before adding the fillings.

____________________________________________________________________________

RECIPE FOR  CREAM CHANTILLY
Adapted from Graces Sweet Life with slight modifications

Ingredients

1/2 vanilla essence
300ml thickened cream
1 1/2 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

Method

1. Add the heavy cream, vanilla essence and icing sugar into bowl. Whisk together using an electric mixer/beater until soft peaks form or stiff peaks form

2. Refrigerate until ready to use.
____________________________________________________________________________

RECIPE FOR VANILLA CUSTARD
Adapted from Taste with slight modifications ( I halved the recipe)

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup thickened cream
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 egg yolks
1/2 tbsp cornflour
2 1/2 tbsp caster sugar

Method

1. Combine milk, vanilla essence and cream in a small saucepan.  Place over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until hot (do not allow to boil). Remove saucepan from heat.

2. Whisk egg yolks, cornflour and sugar in a heatproof bowl until well combined. Pour hot milk mixture over egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.

3. Return mixture to saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 15 to 20 minutes or until custard thickens and coats the back of a metal spoon (do not allow custard to boil, as it might curdle).

4. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes before adding into each profiterole.

__________________________________________________________________________

 RECIPE FOR INSTANT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
Adapted from Nigella Lawson with slight modifications ( I halved the recipe)

Ingredients

75g mini marshmallows
25g soft butter
125g good dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), chopped into small pieces
30ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
1 x 140ml thickened cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I use 1 tsp essence)

Method

1. Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan.

2. Put the saucepan over low-medium heat, to melt the contents, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.

3. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture.

4. Allow to cool in the frige before adding into each profiterole. Mixture will start to thickened a bit.

 

 

 


  • May
  • 18
  • 2012

oreo cheesecake

I had a packet of Oreo’s from a while back when Coles had them on special for $1, so I thought why not make something a little classy yet cute? I went on a hunt to find the perfect oreo cheesecake recipe and this did me proud!

What I liked about this recipe is that its not too dense or too light. Its just perfect. I love the creaminess and smoothness of the mixture, combined with the biscuit crunch…it certainly makes for a crowd pleasing dessert for the young and old.

 

RECIPE FOR OREO CHEESECAKE
Adapted from Gourmet Getaways with slight modifications

Serves: 12
Prep time: 20 mins
Chill time: 6 hours (min)

Ingredients

Base
80gm butter, melted
250gm Oreo biscuits

Cheesecake
200gm white chocolate
250ml pouring cream (regular unthickened)
375gm Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup boiling water
3 tsp gelatine

Top decoration
Whipped cream
12 halved oreo cookies

Method

1. Place the biscuit base ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it reaches a fine breadcrumb stage.

2. Press crumbs into a 12 cupcake base and refrigerate.

3. Combine water and gelatine and stir until fully dissolved.

4. Warm the cream and white chocolate in a double boiler and stir until smooth. Allow to cool until room temp.

5. Combine the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar in a food processor until the mixture is smooth and the sugar is dissolved. Add the white chocolate mixture to the food processor and combine. Pour the gelatin into the food processor and continue to mix the cheesecake filling until smooth.

6. Pour the filling into the prepared biscuit base.

7. In a piping bag, pipe out the whipped cream for the top decoration and finally put an oreo on top. Chill until set for at least 6 hours.

Note: I use cupcake cases first then before serving, take them out and place onto plate.


  • May
  • 03
  • 2012

spaghetti bolognese

 

RECIPE FOR SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE WITH MINCE BEEF

Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients

400g dried thin spaghetti
500g beef mince
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots, diced
300g sliced mushrooms (or 400g can sliced champignons)
1 tsp oregano (or to your taste)
4 tbsp thick tomato paste
1 x 425g can peeled tomatoes
3 cups beef stock (i use vegetable stock or just water)
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
fresh shaved parmesan and/or powder parmesan to garnish

 

Method

1. Heat olive oil and saute onions and garlic in a medium pot.

2. Add mince beef and stir until evenly brown until lumps are broken.

3. Add carrots, stock/water, mushrooms, oregano, tomato paste and canned tomatoes. Stir for a bit and bring to a boil. Then simmer for 45 minutes until liquid has greatly reduced.

3. Add salt and pepper and stir.

4. Boil spaghetti with a bit of oil and salt, then drain under cold running water.

5. Serve immediately with hot bolognese sauce topped with cheese.

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