Merry Christmas!

KV is takingg a break from her kitchen! In the mean time, she'll leave you with these cool You Tube video clips

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Have a great break, be merry and sweet!

Christmas Lights....

Guitar Hero

Bread pudding

Trying to get rid of food in the kitchen before a holiday?
Stuck with a loaf of bread by yourself?
Got too much milk?
Got 3 eggs to spare?

I had to finish this in 3 days...hmmm

That is my dilemma at the moment...but I manage to dish out something that so happens combines all of the food above so that I can leave this place empty for 3 weeks. And what a great joy it is to actually make something and share it around.

As well as it's a food comfort dish too ;)

I give you my lovely Bread Pudding! Topped with custard to send you oozing down your spine.

Goes well with custard too

(Courtesy of suite101's recipe)

Makes a 2 litre dish

Ingredients

• 9 slices of wholemeal bread
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup caster or granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 tsp ground cinammon
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degC (325 degF). 
2. Butter a 2 litre casserole dish with unsalted butter and set aside. 
3. Cut bread into 1" cubes and place in large mixing bowl. 
4. In a medium bowl, combine milk, cream, eggs, sugars, and vanilla and beat well. Pour over bread cubes and stir; let stand for at least half an hour. (I kept mine overnight)
5. Stir in chocolate chips and raisins, then pour mixture into prepared casserole. 
6. Bake for 45-55 minutes until pudding is browned and set. 
7. Let cool for 20-30 minutes, then serve warm with ice cream, whipped cream, or a sweet sauce.

Pandan Swiss Roll

I was requested to post something about a Swiss Roll and am delighted to share to you my experience about it! I've only made 2 so far but I got it right the first time and was superbly pleased with what I did :). Swiss roll is also a type of sponge cake, but you do have fat in it. They call it Genoise because the whole eggs are whisked for much longer and over a water bath. The thing is I didn't do the water bath bit and it still works.

For this I dedicated to you Louisa!

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 80gm caster sugar
• 100gm plain flour
• 60gm melted butter/oil
• 1 tsp pandan essence (this is the only ingredient that differentiate this cake from a normal swiss roll. You can replace it with other flavourings)
  
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

For the filling

• 250ml fresh / whipping cream
• Icing sugar to taste
  

Method

1. Preheat oven at 190°C. Line 10"x 15" baking tray with grease paper, brush the base of the sides of the tin with melted butter and dust with floor. You may also use 10"x10" tray for thicker cake, adjust baking time to 12 minutes. (I did mine for 12 minutes for a cookie tray aligned with grease paper on top of aluminium foil).
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until pale and foamy, gradually add in sugar and beat until fluffy (takes around 10 minutes).(Optional to do it over water bath).
3. Fold in sifted flour 1/3 at a time-important to avoid lumps in batter), melted butter, pandan essence and vanilla essence, mix until just combined.
4. Pour the batter into baking tray and even the surface. Bake for 12 minutes or until the centre of the cake is slightly springy and the edges have shrunk a little from the sides of the tin.
5. Spread out a piece of greaseproof paper and sprinkle evenly with caster sugar (this stops roll from sticking to the paper).
6. Turn the Swiss roll tin onto the sugared greaseproof paper from the bottom of the cake. (Don't be afraid of doing it in one go, have to be brave =))
   
7. Place a slightly damp, clean tea towel over the cake while it cools, this will prevent it drying out and cracking when you roll it.
8. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Whip fresh cream until soft peak, add in icing sugar and whip until stiff peak forms. Cover and keep in the fridge before use.
9. When the cake is cooled (feels warmish), spread whipped cream on the top and roll it up with the help of the baking paper. Check out this video clip below to help you. (To maintain to shape of the swiss roll, I quickly wrap it in gladwrap paper so that even if it breaks or it doesn't turn out right, it's still in tact and still in shape). You can cut through the plastic to serve =)
   
10. Chill in the fridge before serving.

Pear Baked Cheesecake

As well as during the Xmas do that I had, I also baked a cheesecake as the birthday boy wanted a cake before he goes on holiday. I woke up early in the morning regardless of a late night at a hens do because I know that it is a special birthday worth making and he is such an absolute great friend. He's been so supportive from the moment I touch down London. This I dedicate to you ;). Happy happy birthday.

Suprisingly while making this, it was actually quite simple like a non-bake cheesecake. The main difference is that bake cheesecake uses eggs, and so it needs to be cooked before eating. Other than that, everything else is pretty much the same.

Curious? Click here for more...

KV's Simple Trifle

Instant, quick and easy as I didn't have time to make some ingredients from scratch. But hey, it does the works ;). I am also quite picky when it comes to grabbing instant ready made ingredients too and you can vary the amount if you want if you crave for it.

T'was for a Christmas lunch into dinner do when there was abundant of food! And I mean 3 whole chicken, lamb and beef, bread pudding, roast veges, sausage wrapped with bacon...it was endless.

First round....out of 5

My trifle hiding at the left corner

There are various types of trifle but they are made out of the same principal layers. I had a quick read on joyofbaking.com about what trifles are (the website explains it very well), and then pretty much pick the things I like. Yes, layers when combine must compliment each other (like you don't really want to add tiramisu flavour to tropical cocktail fruits). Lastly, it's best done the night before serving so that the layers infuses with each other :).

To be made one night before or at least 24 hours before serving.

Ingredients

• 500g custard (I love the brand Ambrosia)
• 250g marscapone cheese
  
• 250g or 2 pots of strawberry flavoured jelly (Brand: Hartleys)
  
• 3/4 can of tropical fruits made of pears, peaches, cherries and pineapples
• 1 can of strawberries
• 7" sponge cake (I used Golden Bake Flan base from Sainsburys and it fits perfectly)
• 3 tsp Kirsch cherry alcohol
• 2 tbsp cold water

Method

1. In a large Pyrex bowl (2 Litre capacity). Drain the tropical fruits with a seive and place it at the bottom of the bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, break the jelly into smaller pieces and add to the tropical fruits. Mix until fully incorporated.
3. Place the sponge cake and press firmly to release the air. Mix the alcohol and water together and sprinkle over the sponge cake.
4. Place the strawberries around the bowl. It is also optional to top up with another thin layer of jelly
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the custard and mascarpone cheese together until smooth. Pour this mixture into the middle of the bowl and with a spatula, spread the mix out to the sides.
6. Optional to serve with whip cream.
   

Shortbread Tarts with Cream Filling

Being me, I can't sit put and just bake only cakes...so I've started to explore into pastry tarts. Apparently there are a few kinds of pastry bases. But to simplify things, there are 5 main types (more info here). They vary from the hard crusts to the super nice and flaky ones and they all have different methods of making too.

And so I started off with the simplest form: Shortcrust pastry. Process didn't take that long but I forgot one vital step...poking the base of the pastry to allow air to escape if not the base will expand.

Pretty obvious eh? Thank goodness D was supportive to eat it when I topped it with custard and fruits..

And then I got ambitious further by making a shortbread tart which was indeed challenging especially when it comes to shaping this soft dough. There was alot of taking out of the oven and poking the base a few times just to make sure it doesn't rise too much. But it was worth all the efforts :). Tasted absolute yuuuuuummmm and of course it was a Hen's do that was behind the motivation. So I dedicated this to Min.

Curious? Click here for more...

Early Christmas Present

Goodness me, I don't know whether santa is really trying to prove he exists! I came home with a suprise again.

'We are delighted to tell you that you are the lucky winer of The Philadelphia Cookbook.'

OMG

O.O

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy. And you know what's funny? I don't remember at all participating the competition. LOL!

Thank you Kraft Philadelphia! You've made my Christmas season, and I've already picked out what I want to make this weekend!

Lasagna

This is also a great dish to make and can last you for a few days if you make it in large portions.I remembered that it took me 3 times before I actually manage to bake one that hold all the layers up, i.e not watery. Simple as it sounds, I just had to leave the lasagna to cool for 10minutes before cutting into it. Haha, can't believe that took 3 attempts :P

Anyhoo, this is my simple version of making a lasagna. Thanks to D, he loves lasagna so I get to keep practicing!

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped into fine pieces
• 1/4 onion, chopped into fine pieces
  
• 250g mince beef
• 250g Mozzarella
• 1 bowl grated Parmesan
• 170g - 1 packet dolmio brand tomato and basil sauce
• 150g baby button mushrooms
• Italian herb for spice
• Dried Basil for spice
• 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
  
• 1/2 tbsp Salt plus extra for taste
• 250g of Sainsbury white sauce / béchamel sauce mix with sprinkled parsley
• 3 Layers of lasagne sheets (ones that you don't need to dip in water)
  

Method

1. Cook the garlic and onions in a pot/pan together. Add the mushrooms and 2 tbsp of water and cook until the mushrooms shrink. 
2. Add the mince and fry until 3/4 cooked before adding the tomatoe sauces. This can be seen when the meat colour turne from red to brown.
3. Add seasoning to the mix and let it simmer for a bit. Add cornflour if mixture is too watery. Allow the mixture to cool.
   
4. Preheat oven to 200degC. Prep up a square 25cm x 25cm square pan.
5. Add dried parsley to the white / bechamel sauce and mix. Set aside.
6. Layers consist of (starting from the bottom): 

• 1/2 Beef and mushroom mixture
• Lasagna sheets (break it to cover the tin entirely. Don't overlap the sheets on top of each other.)
  
• 1/2 White sauce
• 1/2 Mozzarella & Parmesan cheese
• Lasagna sheets
• 1/2 Beef and mushroom mixture
• Lasagna sheets
  
• 1/2 White sauce
  
• 1/2 Mozzarella & Parmesan cheese (gives a nice chewy top)

Cover the tin with an aluminum foil and bake for 20 mins. Remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 mins or until the top layer browns to your suit.

Here's a nice video clip as well by Kraft if you're more of a visual person:

Cafe East

Yes I'm back! Holiday was ammmaaazziinnnggg but I must say I miss my baking a whole lot. But I gotta get the laundry and photos out of the way as soon as I can!

Anyway, the day before we left, we headed out to our favourite restaurant Cafe East. We were actually at the O2 Arena watching the ATP Tour, and if not for that we wouldn't be heading all the way there. Talk about convenience, heh.

This restaurant is by far the most reasonable Vietnamese restaurant I have been to, but alas their menu hasn't gotten enough variety as Song Que.

Instead of the normal summer or deep fried springrolls, we opted for a different dish. It's still a spring roll dish, which consist of mushrooms wrapped with rice flour, topped up with a type of luncheon meat, fried onions and raw bean sprouts. Of course, served with yummy fish oil. There were about 8 pieces at least enough as an appetiser for 2.

My main course for a change was spicy prawn rice noodle soup with the usual sides of lemon, raw mint, and bean sprouts to add. This dish really clears up your nose if you have a cold!

D's dish was a bit of a let down as he was expecting a bigger portion. He had rice and pork lemon grass, in which he couldn't really taste the lemon grass.

So in conclusion (sounding like some crazy scientist) we think that their soup is their specialty on top of the rest of the other dishes, and it's worth heading to if you crave for their yummy dessert drinks and wanting a nice warm meal for the winter at a really reasonable price :)

More information:

Surrey Quays Leisure Centre, 
100 Redriff Row, London, 
SE16 7LH, UK.
Tel: 020 7252 1212‎

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