White Bread

If you like to read fiction, there's a good chance you would have come across people baking bread at home. And you'd have read about "the smell of fresh bread baking" and the "aroma of yeast permeating the kitchen" =p It always sounded delightful to me, and I've forever been wanting to try my hand at different breads.

This is a very basic recipe, and I halve it to make one loaf at a time. The crust come out very crunchy sometimes, and I'm still experimenting as to how to make it softer. I also increase the amount of sugar considerably. half cup water may be replaced by half cup milk.



4 1/2 tsp./1/2 oz./14g active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
6-7 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast and 1/2 cup warm water. Stir until dissolved. Add remaining warm water, butter, sugar and salt. Stir until mixed.

2. Add 6-7 cups of flour and mix until blended. Add enough of the remaining flour until dough forms a smooth ball that is slightly sticky to the touch.

3. Place dough in a large, greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

4. Punch dough down, divide in half, and shape into loaves. Place loaves into two 9 x 5-inch greased loaf pans and let rise until double in size, about an hour.

5. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 40 minutes.

Chocolate LoveStories!

Also Called a "Dirt Dessert" =D

Pineaaple No-bake Souffle

2 Tbsp plain flour
2 Cups milk
1 Cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 packet [250 ml] cream
2-3 Tbsp gelatin
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tin pineapple bits

Blend together the milk, flour, sugar and egg yolks.
Pour into a sauce pan and cook, stirring, until thickened.
Let cool slightly.
Meanwhile, dissolve the gelatin in 2-3 tbsp boiling water.
Pour gelatin paste into the custard, stirring constantly.
Whip the cream with the vanilla essence, until thickened, and mix into the custard.
Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form, and fold into the mousse mixture until just incorporated.

Sprinkle pineapple bits on the base of serving dish. Pour the mousse into the dish, and top with more pineapple bits, letting them sink into the dessert. Cool and let set.

This dessert will be served out of the dish.

If you want a denser mousse which may be turned out of a mold, increase flour to three tbsp, and gelatin to three and a half tbsp. oil the mold slightly before pouring the mousse in, and let sit over night in the refrigerator.

How food connects!

I came in contact with an old acquaintance after ages. And what did we talk about? Food!!! Here is one of the recipes he shared:

pinapple sauce kai liayai you'll need a can of pineapple chunks...you know.."malee" waghaira..a chunk of ginger 4 cloves of garlic a lil starch and mollasses and soy sauce

you can use honey instead of the mollasses

red pepper flakes is an optional

blend all the ingredients WITH the juice from the can

and then simmer it until it gets a lil thick over medium heat

I can't wait to try it out!! =D

Sponge Cake

4 Eggs
1/2 cup sifted, grounded white sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder

Separate the Eggs, beating the egg whites in a small bowl until absolutely stiff.

Add the yolks and beat to incorporate.

In a separate bowl, sift together the rest of the ingredients atleast five times to aerate and mix well.

Fold the dry ingredients into the eggs, until a thick batter is formed.

Pour into a greased tin that has been lined with paper (the cake is very soft). Bake at 180 for about 20 minutes or until done (skewer inserted in the center comes out dry).

To Assemble:

Split from the middle.

Drizzle juice from a fruit tin (pineapple or mixed fruit, or even peaches) over the bottom half. Spread whipped cream in a thin layer, and then sprinkle with fruit bits.

Put the top layer on, and drizzle juice on that as well. Then cover the complete cake with whipped cream, and decorate with fruit!

Gulab Jaman

2.5 cups sugar
6 cups water
6 cardamoms

1 cup tea whitener [Everyday]
1 cup dry milk [Nido]
2 Tbsp Oil
2 Tbsp Flour
2 Tsp Baking powder

2 beaten eggs
Oil for deep frying

1. In a wide deep pan, mix the sugar, water and cardamoms, and leave to boil.
2. In a bowl, mix the two milks, add the baking powder and flour, and mix with a whisk.
3. Rub in the oil.
4. Slowly add the egg, only enough to form a sticky dough, kneading.
5. Set the oil to heat.
6. Make small balls from the dough [they will swell when let into the sugar syrup], and deep fry until brown.
7. Take each out and add it to the sugar syrup. Let it cook for a little while, before turning off the heat and cover the pan with a lid. Let cool slightly before dishing out.
   

Serve warm!

Chicken Nuggets and Chicken Cheese Balls

[Recipe courtesy Naila Aunty]
So this recipe relies a lot on your own taste, for the seasoning at least...

1 cup day-old boiled rice
1 1/2 cups boneless chicken
Roughly, a 3.5 inch piece of ginger
6 green chillies
1-2 eggs

Seasoning:
Chinese salt
Salt
Black pepper
Vinegar [very little]

Options: [use sparingly because of the strong taste]
Coriander
Parsley
Oregano
Basil

1. In a food processor, grind the rice. Remove and set aside.

2. Process the chicken until it forms a paste.

3. Next, grind together the ginger and chillies.

4. Mix everything together in a bowl. Add seasonings to taste.

5. Knead with some egg, adding enough to form a sticky dough. Sprinkle lightly with corn flour/flour and knead well.

6. Keep in the refrigerator for half an hour [because of this heat!], before forming required shape.

You can make cheese balls by setting a small cube of cheddar or mozzarella in the middle of a ball of dough.

Dip in beaten egg, and coat in bread crumbs before deep frying. They may also be frozen in a single layer, after breading.

This is the size of the piece of ginger:


This is how the chillies and ginger would look:



The chicken and rice mixture would look like this: