Pear Almond Pie

I have a weakness for desserts made from ground almonds. When I am in the mood to make something a little more elaborate, I like to add a frangipane to my usual fruit tart recipe which I will post another time.

The Frangipane Layer

4/3 cup ground almonds

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

200g sugar

200g unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs till well incorporated. Mix in flour and ground almonds till well combined.

2. Bake the assembled pie (store bought puff pastry, frangipane and pear slices) at 180deg C for about 55 mins or till done. Enjoy!

Dumplings in Spicy Sauce

As you would have guessed by now, I am a huge fan of quick, no-fuss and yummy recipes. Apart from 3-minute instant noodles - which my mom says I am not supposed to have too often - here's something satisfying and almost as simple that I cook every now and then - Meat and Vege Dumplings in Spicy Sauce.

My favourite combo would have to be minced pork and chinese chives. Mix them up with some soy sauce, 5 spice powder, rice wine, sesame seed oil and cornstarch. Wrap in wanton wrappers. Boil till done and serve in a sauce of dried chili oil, light soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, sugar and fried shallots (lots of it).

Favourite Food Blogs

I have added to this page a list of the food blogs that I visit often. There are tonnes of food blogs out there but these are my favourites. They are a great source of recipes (mostly south-east asian) and a good help when I am out of ideas on what to do with that huge bunch of avocados that has been sitting in the fridge all week. Do check them out and have fun cooking.

Fried Rice Paradise

I don't like to throw away perfectly good food. When I have leftovers, I make fried rice. I like to start with a base of lots of minced garlic and ginger and round it all up with a good splash of light soy sauce, white pepper and a large tablespoon of sambal chili if available, and if not, a few drops of sesame seed oil. Here, I have used leftover celery, zucchini and bacon. So easy to do and yet a complete meal in itself... my kind of recipe!

Ginger Cookies To Die For

I received rave reviews for these babies when I had friends over for tea one sunny afternoon. They go perfectly with Earl Grey.

Here's the recipe (unfortunately, I don't remember which website I got it from as that was a long time ago, my apologies to whom it belongs):

Ginger Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups self raising flour

2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground ginger (* 3 teaspoons if you love ginger like I do *)

Garnish: 1 cup coarse white or brown sugar (for rolling the cookie balls in before baking).

1. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

2. Add the honey, egg and vanilla extract and mix till well incorporated.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and spices. Add to the butter mixture and mix until well combined. Chill for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Place about 1 cup of coarse white sugar in a medium sized bowl. When the dough has chilled sufficiently, roll into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls of cookie dough in the sugar, coating them thoroughly. Place on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cookies feel dry and firm on top. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.