・Spaghetti Basil Sauce ・

Another of my "Home alone" breakfast that I would like to introduce is "Spaghetti Basil Sauce".
I tend to cook many of spaghetti dishes because it is quick and easy.
Especially when I have this book - Pasta Pasta. That I already introduced here.



As I said, most of the recipes in this book require only a bowl and microwave.
And what I like most is it does not ask for many ingredients for each dish and because of less seasoning, so the taste and aroma will reflect the quality of ingredients that you use.

Let's get started.

・Spaghetti Basil Sauce ・

1 servings

Ingredients

Spaghetti 100 grams
Boiling water 1.5 Liter
Salt 1 tablespoon
(Synthesis salt 2/3 tablespoon)

Basil sauce
Basil 1 pack (20 grams)
Sliced garlic 2 cloves
Sliced red chili 1
Olive oil 1 tablespoon
Grinned white sesame 1 tablespoon
Salt 1/4 teaspoon
(Synthesis salt - use a pinch)
Pepper to taste


1. Divide basil, chop and leave some for decoration.
2. Put salt in boiling water, break half of spaghetti and put it in the pot.
Boil as long as suggested .
3. Prepare heatproof bowl mix basil, garlic, red chili, olive oil.
Wrap with a little open at the edge. Bring to microwave (600 watts) for 1.30 min.
4. Take the bowl out of the microwave, open (BE CAREFUL OF THE HEAT!!),
add grinned white sesame, salt, and pepper. Stir.
5. Mix sauce mixture with cooked spaghetti. Decorate with basil.




Enjoy :)

・Sophie Dahl's Omelette Arnold Bennett ・

Hi! everyone.

Since this week I'm alone in the house.
So I don't have pre-packed breakfast from my mom and I have to make it myself.
Sometimes I quite jealous those who can drink only coffee and count that as their breakfast.
It looks so easy, compare to me that have to eat a big meal breakfast.

But once you start eating a real meal on your breakfast, you can't turn back to your "coffee only" breakfast again.
You will be super starving and won't have any energy to do things.
(Am I too dramatize ? ;b)

Another shameful reason is that my stomach is a super grumpy one. If you don't feed it on time, it will rumbling like it says "Feed me... feed meeee......". LOL LOL
It's sound is super loud and will increasing the volume until I feed it.

And because I have to take care of everything before I leave the house, feeding cats, dogs, and fish, I have to choose less complicated and quickly prepared recipe.

And I found this,

What I love about the recipe is all ingredients are basic ingredients that most kitchens already has plus the procedure that is quick and easy.
I did adjust a little by adding cooked rice to help me survive until noon. (As I said, I need a BIG meal breakfast. :) )
And because I didn't have creme fraishe so I made it up by adding yogurt into whipping cream. Here is the direction. (Thanks to khun Pook from Dailydelicious. :) )

Now... my failure's turn, see .. even the easiest recipe, I still made mistake.
How incredible I am. LOL LOL

I bring the omelette out of the oven too soon and the egg still raw. - -'

But it is easy to fix, I just put it back in the oven. Haha..
And I garuntee that the taste is still good.
I think this is a great combination like Miss Dahl said; Parmesan, eggs, and fish these ingredients brings a spectacular taste and aroma. Ummm... :9


And this is Lamewliving's version of Omeltte Arnold Bennett.


Tada !!

Yum. :)

The Daring Cooks November, 2010 Challenge: RISE AND SHINE!

Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.

I chose chocolate souffle for this month's challenge.
It is quite exciting to watch souffle risen in the oven.
It dramatically rose in my oven and also fall in light speed. Haha..
So I agree with Dave and Linda that the hardest part of this challenge is taking photo, you should prepare the set before hand and get ready to take photo as soon as souffle is out of the oven.

As you can see from my picture that some of my souffles are already fall. :b

Ingredients

FOR THE DISHES

2 Tbsp (30 ml) 1 oz (30g) unsalted butter, for greasing
Cocoa powder or finely grated chocolate

FOR THE CREME PATISSERIE

2 tbsp (30 ml) (18 gm) (2/3 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 tsp (10 gm) (0.35 oz) caster (superfine) sugar (regular sugar is OK)
½ tsp (4½ gm) (0.15 oz) corn starch (aka cornflour)
1 medium egg yolk
1 medium whole egg
4 Tbsp (60 ml) milk

5 Tbsp (75 ml) heavy cream (or double cream)
3 oz (90gm) good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70+% cocoa solids, broken in pieces
2 Tbsp (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
Optional: 2 tsp orange zest or 2 tsp minced chipotle chile en adobo or 1 tsp chipotle chile powder. (I used chile version but mine is Hungary paprika)

Optional: powdered sugar for dusting

FOR THE EGG WHITES

6 medium egg whites

6½ Tbsp (95 ml) 3 oz (90g) superfine/caster sugar (if you don’t have it, regular sugar is OK)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to moderate 375 ˚F/190 ˚C/gas mark 5.
2. Take four 1 cup/~240ml soufflé dishes and brush them completely with softened butter. Tip a little cocoa powder or grated chocolate into each dish, roll the dish around tilting it as you do so it is evenly lined all round.

3. For the crème patisserie, mix the flour, sugar and corn starch into a small bowl. Put egg yolk and whole egg into a medium sized bowl, beat lightly, then beat in half of the flour mixture to give a smooth paste. Tip in the rest of the flour mixture and cocoa powder and mix well.
4. To make the ganache, pour the milk and cream into a pan and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat. Add the chocolate and beat until it is melted and smooth with no lumps.
5. Gradually stir hot chocolate ganache into the paste from step 3, and add the orange zest or chile if using. This is your crème patisserie.
6. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks with an electric whisk. Sprinkle in the sugar as you are mixing. Keep whisking to give stiff, firm peaks to give volume to the soufflés.
7. Stir about 2 tbsp (30 ml) of the beaten egg whites into the crème patisserie. Carefully fold in a third of the rest, cutting through the mixture. Fold in another third (take care not to lose the volume), then fold in the rest.
8. Spoon the mixture into the dishes. Run a spoon across the top of each dish so the mixture is completely flat. Take a little time to wipe any splashes off the outside of each dish, or they will burn on while cooking.
9. Bake the soufflés for 15-17 minutes.
10. The soufflés should have risen by about two thirds of their original height and jiggle when moved, but be set on top.

Taste is good, not so sweet, and a bit of paprika aroma makes it more special.

Anyways, thank you Dave and Linda for this amuse challenge and couldn't agree more with the words of James Beard: "The only thing that will make a soufflé fall is if it knows you are afraid of it". :)

NOVEMBER 2010 DARING BAKER CHALLENGE: CROSTATA!

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

And all I have to say is thank you Simona, you introduce me a delicious sweet with a good and easy recipe.

But even the recipe is good and easy, I still make some mistake. - -'
I choose fresh raspberry to be crostata filling but I forgot to think that there will be too much moisture after bake and I didn't taste the raspberry first and the result is that I got a super sour crostata. Maybe I should call it a "Wake me up crostata". Haha...

Super sour raspberry crostata!

But as I say, the recipe is great and the pasta frolla is so good. So I did it again, this time I change the filling to blackberry jam and another one is filled with nutella and topped with slice almond. And the result is great. Let's take a look :)

Better blackberry crostatine.

Yum nutella almond crostatine.

Making pasta frolla - I choose to make it by hand.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. minus 1 tablespoon [105 ml, 100 g, 3 ½ oz] superfine sugar (see Note 1) or a scant 3/4 cup [180ml, 90g, 3 oz] of powdered sugar
• 1 and 3/4 cup [420 ml, 235 g, 8 1/4 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour
• a pinch of salt
• 1 stick [8 tablespoons / 4 oz. / 115 g] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• grated zest of half a lemon
• 1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Making pasta frolla by hand:

1. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.
3. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).
4. Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.
5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Assembling and baking the crostata di marmellata:

1. Heat the oven to 375ºF [190ºC/gas mark 5].
2. Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and cut away ¼ of the dough. Reserve this dough to make the lattice top of the crostata. Refrigerate this dough while you work on the tart base.
3. To help roll the crostata dough, keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap that you had it wrapped in. This can help rolling the dough and can also help when transferring the dough to your pan. You can also use parchment paper for this. However, you can also roll the dough directly on a work surface if you prefer.
4. Lightly dust the top of the dough and your work surface (if you’re rolling directly on a work surface) with flour. Keep some flour handy to dust the dough as you go along.
5. If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin's width each time; turn the dough 180 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling.
6. Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick.
7. If you used the plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface, flip dough over the pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the plastic wrap.
8. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.
9. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork in several places.
10. Take out of the fridge the reserved pasta frolla you had cut away earlier. Roll it with your pin and cut into strips or use cookie cutters to make small shapes (this is not traditional, but it looks cute); or roll with your hands into ropes.
11. Spread the jam or fruit preserves evenly over the bottom of the crostata.
12. Use the prepared strips or rolls of dough to make a lattice over the surface, or decorate with the cut shapes. (Note: You can use dough scraps to make cookies: see the Additional Information section for some pointers)
13. Brush the border and strips of dough with the reserved beaten eggs. You can add a drop or two of water to the beaten eggs if you don’t have enough liquid.
14. Put the tart in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
15. After 25 minutes, check the tart and continue baking until the tart is of a nice golden hue. (Note: Every oven is different. In my oven it took 34 minutes to bake the tart until golden.)
16. When done, remove the tart from the oven and let cool. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, then release the tart base from the fluted tart ring. Make sure the tart is completely cool before slicing and serving.

I think we should make pasta frolla ahead and freeze it, so we will have crostata at anytime we want because it is good with many style fillings.
Next time I think I will try making a savory crostata.

Thanks again Simona. :)

・Project Cookbook ・Banana Streusel Muffins

This is difference from our Thai traditional banana cakes those are quite wet and having a sticky surface.
I love the crunchy texture that comes from walnuts and streusel on top. And the softness that develops from adding buttermilk in the batter.

This recipe is from The Sono Baking Company Cookbook.

・Banana Streusel Muffins ・
Makes 12 muffins

Streusel Topping
・1/4 cup all -purpose flour
・1/2 cup light brown sugar
・1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
・1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
・1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Muffin
・2 cups all-purpose flour
・1 teaspoon baking powder
・1 teaspoon baking soda
・1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
・1 cup granulated sugar
・1 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
・2 large eggs, at room temperature
・2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
・3 very ripe bananas
・1/2 cup buttermilk, sour cream, or whole-milk yogurt
・1 1/2 cup whole walnuts, chopped (optional)


To make the streusel topping
・In a medium bowl, use a fork to stir together the flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add the cubes of butter, and using your fingertips, work it into the dry ingredients until pea-size crumbs form: set aside in the refrigerator.

・Set the oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit. Spray a standard 12-cup muffin pan with non stick oil cooking spray, or generously butter with soften butter; set aside.


To make the muffin
・ In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

・In the bowl of a standing mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and salt on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl halfway through. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Then add in and beat the vanilla and the bananas.

・With the mixture on low speed, add the dry ingredients, beating until the flour absorbed. Beat in the buttermilk. Fold in the walnuts, if using.

・Use a 2-inch (1/4 cup) ice cream scoop to divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the muffin, pressing some of the mixture into pea-size clumps with your fingertips, for adding texture.

・Bake, rotating the pan about two-thirds of the way through the baking time, until the top of the muffins spring back when touched and a caked tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 18-22 minutes.

・Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Use a small offset spatula or a table knife to gently lift and turn the muffins on their sides in the muffin cups. Let cool completely in the pan.

:)

・Project Cookbook ・Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

I recommend you to use a removable bottom pan.
And be careful when you pouring the sauce not to get too close to the edge because the sauce is very sticky and it's become pain in the ass when you try to get the cake of the tin and finally you will get a destroyed cake like me.
But about the taste is so good and tender.
Recipe is from this book, again.
So.. let's try.

・Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes ・
Makes 10-12 cupcakes

Ingredients
・70 grams digestive biscuit
・15 grams unsalted butter
・1 eggs (size 0 or 1, 65-75 grams each)
・175 grams sugar
・75 grams raspberry
・400 grams creamcheese (I think we should decrease the amount of this ingredient because I have so much left over T . T)
・little salt
・1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Direction
・Preheat your oven at 160 degree celcius put cupcake cups in 12-holes muffin pan.

・Combine crushed digestive biscuit with melted butter. Scoop in muffin pan, 1 tablespoon at a time. Press tight.

・Bake for 5 minutes, leave it to cool.

・Blending raspberry until smooth. Sieve through strainer. Add 2 tablespoon sugar in raspberry sauce. Stir.

・Beat creamcheese untill smooth add remaining sugar beat until well blended. Add egg, salt and vanilla beat together.

・Divide into each muffin pan. Drop each with 2-3 teaspoons raspberry sauce. Use toothpick or fork to make swirl.

・Bake until stable about 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool in the pan. Put in fridge about 1 hour before serve.

:)

・Project Cookbook ・Pasta Lasagna

When I though of pasta, I always end up with this book.



Because of its easy to make recipe (almost all recipes use only microwave to cook - except boiling pasta) and most of them taste good. (But some are taste too light for me.)
I've try this recipe before but the result is not quite impressive because I produce too much sauce and make the pasta too wet even I already baked it.
So, this time I reduce milk from the recipe and now it's to dry. Haha...
But overall taste is good so I think I should post this one.

Pasta Lasagna
1 Serving

Ingredients
・50 grams pipette
・1.5 liter boiling water
・1 tablespoon coarse salt

Tomato sauce with bacon
・50 grams tomato sauce
・1 piece bacon
・1 tablespoon fine chopped onion

White sauce
・1 tablespoon bread flour
・1 tablespoon butter
・150 ml. milk
・1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
・little pepper

・1/2 teaspoon grated Parmigiano
・little parsley

Direction
・Add salt in boiling water adding pipette, boil in specify time.
・Cut bacon into 1 cm length. Put it in heat proof bowl with tomato sauce and onion. Close with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in microwave about 1.30 min. Stir.
・Making white sauce by adding bread flour and butter in heatproof bowl size 22 c.m. diameter. Close lid or use film wrap with a little open at the edge Put in microwave (600 watts) about 1.30 min stir with whisk. Adding milk little by little until the texture become like cream, add salt and pepper. Close lid or use film wrap with a little open at the edge Put in microwave (600 watts) again about 2 min. Stir and then put in microwave for another 1 min. Stir.
・Brush butter in the heatproof plate. Pour half of white sauce then add first half of boiled pipette. Pour tomato sauce in with another half of pipette following with remaining white cream. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley.
・Baking in 230 degree Celsius oven about 10-12 min or until top surface of lasagna got light brown color.

Enjoy. :)