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.

Food Galore

Quelles couleurs!

Had a party last night... geat company and good food, what better way to spend a Saturday evening? The centre piece was a huge platter of maki. For me, the simple and elegant shitake maki took the prize - it is just amazing how a lone chunk of juicy marinated shitake can infuse so much flavour... less is indeed more. The spicy tuna ones with that subtle hint of nutty sesame came in a close second.

Fried Tang Hoon (Fried Glass Noodles) - A No-Brainer

Such a versatile dish, much like fried rice. Throw in anything you fancy or leftovers (zuchini, onions, roast pork and eggs in the above case) with lots of garlic, a good amount of fish sauce, and a tiny bit of tamarind, sugar and tomato ketchup for balance. Voila... a complete meal in itself. So simple and yet so good...



On a different note, why are my photos so dark? It seems bright enough by the window on a sunny day, yet... Any advice, anyone?

The Beauty Of Very Ordinary Things

My First Char Siew Ever

Now doesn't that look good? The idea of making Char Siew at home has always been intimidating... getting that perfectly charred surface while maintaining a moist and juicy interior is quite an art.

I pulled a recipe off one of the food blogs that I frequent. The Char Siew was flavourful but needed a tad more sugar. It also needed to be more charred (I didn't char it sufficiently this time for fear of drying out the meat).

It is wonderful with steaming hot fragrant rice.

Oh-So-Good Beer Bread

I finally got new lenses for close-up shots, yay! I am testing it out on this freshly baked super yummy beer bread with dried figs. It is best served warm with a thick spread of salted butter and a huge dollop of chunky apricot jam. I have to add that this bread goes really well with cheese too - crusty on the outside, soft inside and that subtle hint of Hoegaarden beer... heavenly.