notes from my food diary

Dita, you sent me a tag around Father’s Day,  it was about top 10 foodie pictures.  Thank you again for giving me this tag, these pictures reminded me that baking and cooking are such a joy in my life!  So here they are, these were fun to be made, fun to be eaten!

The fifth challenge from Klub Berani Baking is Banoffee Pie. I usually make a regular crust for my pie/tart, but this one requires me to make a rich pie crust using egg yolks. I prefer the regular crust to the rich crust because I hate having leftover egg whites! I don’t have any obstacles making this pie, but there’s a few steps that I didn’t pay attention, that was letting the crust rest in the fridge after being formed to the pan, the crust was rolled too thick, although my tart pan was already quite big in size, and a rectangular tart pan was used instead of a round pie pan. Hello??? I felt like I was lost in translation though the recipe was in English. Thus, I couldn’t say that this is a true Banoffee Pie because it’s misleading, it should be called Banoffee Tart. A few things that I liked to point out was that I didn’t care about the caramel-dulce-le-leche-like sauce (or toffee) for the filling. I didn’t like the taste at all and it’s quite sweet; I didn’t pour all the sauce into the tart, instead I drizzled it when it’s time to eat the tart. Next time, a butterscotch sauce might be a better substitution.  But I like having bananas in tart shell with whipped cream.  One addition to the recipe was that I added lemon juice to my bananas to prevent them from getting brown (just in case). Banoffee Pie

Makes one 20-22 cm pie or tart

Pastry

300g all-purpose flour

150g unsalted butter, diced

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 egg yolks

3 tablespoons cold water

Combine the flour, butter and sugar in the food processor and process until well mixed. Then mix in the egg yolks and process in small bursts until the mixture appears crumbly. Add the water a little at a time. As the crumbs get larger, turn the motor off and check that the pastry will come together when pressed between your fingers. Turn the mixture on to a clean board or bench and work very gently into a ball. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough to line 20-22cm flan or loose-bottomed tart tin, prick the base of the pastry with fork several times. Set aside for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the base of the pastry with baking paper and beans, bake blind for 12-15 minutes or until the pastry turns golden brown. Remove the paper and beans. (Return the pastry base into the oven for 5 minutes or until the base becomes dry.)

Filling

75g butter

50g brown sugar

3 tablespoons milk

300g sweetened condensed milk

2 firm bananas

300ml heavy cream

Toasted slivered almonds, optional

Place the butter and sugar in a non-stick pan and heat gently until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and simmer for one minute, stirring continuously using a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and add the milk and condensed milk. Return to the heat and bring to the boil. Allow to gently bubble for 5-6 minutes, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens and turns a light golden brown. Cool slightly.

Cut the bananas and put them on the base of the pastry. Pour in the caramel mixture. Leave to cool then chill for at least 2 hours. Serve topped with the whipped cream, spooned or spread over the caramel, and toasted slivered almonds, if using.

Source: Foodtown Magazine, October-November 2007; Cuisine Magazine, November 2002 (with adjustments of pastry making and filling)

This dish is actually one of my favorites back when I was a wee girl. If my parents and my brother and me went to a Chinese restaurant, I was secretly hoping my parents would order this dish. Why secretly? I don’t have the explanation, I think it’s because I was still a wee girl, I was pretty ignorant of what’s going on with the menu selection. That didn’t mean I didn’t like to eat, though. Now that I’m much older, I’m trying to compensate what I lacked before by making an enormous selection of dishes for my family

I was going to do beef chow fun for Rita’s party, the Chinese Take-Out Party, that’s another favorite, but due to time limit of having to go to a 20 minute-drive to a decent Asian grocery to buy fresh chow fun, I forgo the beef chow fun. Chinese barbecued pork could now be found on my local Safeway, so it’s only a breezy 5-minute drive. Everything else was in my fridge or my pantry, well, except small shrimps. I only had medium-sized shrimps which I chopped into two here. Be sure to use Madras curry powder because the flavor is definitely much more superior (triple superlatives!) to a regular curry powder found in the herb/spice section in your local grocer. I upped the amount of the curry because I liked it stronger, because I felt 2 teaspoons didn’t do much to dish.

So, Rita darlin’, here’s my contribution to your party!

Singapore Rice Noodles
Serves 4 to 6 as part of a multicourse meal

4 Chinese dried mushrooms
8 ounces rice vermicelli (mai fun)
2 tablespoons thin soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shao Hsing rice cooking wine
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 ounces medium shrimp, shelled, deveined and halved in two
1/2 cup finely shredded scallions
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1 1/4 tablespoons Madras curry powder
3/4 cup homemade chicken broth or water
4 ounces Chinese barbecued pork, cut into juliene strips

In a medium bowl, soak the mushrooms in 1/4 cup cold water for 30 minutes, or until softened. Drain and squeeze dry, reserving soaking liquid. Cut off and discard stems and thinly slice the caps.

In a large bowl, soak the rice noodles in enough cold water to cover for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the noodles are limp and softened. Drain in a colander and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, and salt. Set aside.

Heat a large wok or skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and the shrimp, and stir-fry 10 seconds. Add the scallions and stir-fry 30 seconds, or until shrimp have just turned orange but are not cooked through. Transfer the shrimp mixture to a plate and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, celery, and sliced mushrooms, and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add the curry powder and stir-fry 10 seconds, or until fragrant. Restir soy sauce mixture and swirl it into the wok. Add the chicken broth or water, reserved mushroom soaking liquid and 1/3 cup cold water, and bring to a boil over high heat.

Add the drained rice noodles and return to a boil, stirring noodles to completely coat in curry mixture. Cover and cook over medium-high heat 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until noodles are just tender. Add the shrimp and barbecued pork, and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes, or until shrimp are just cooked through and liquid has been absorbed by the noodles. Serve immediately.

Source: adapted from The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young.

Party on!

Yes, you read it right. My picture of mango in my post “Find your inner self” was awarded for the most drool-worthy category in Click: Au Naturel (Spring 2008) event. Thank you for all of you who has given me support and votes for this award!

Now, I could put this badge on my blog:

I don’t remember when I started but I’m not a big breakfast eater anymore. Usually my breakfast consists of milk, juice and banana during the weekdays, days which I don’t want to think “big” in the morning. Weekends are different. These are the days I could plan ahead, a day that I could be a little creative with my or actually, my family’s breakfast. All my breakfast choices that I’ve written in this blog are mostly comfort foods, foods such as pancakes, waffles, sticky buns, or quick breads. I love those and fortunately my family members feel the same too.

This next recipe that I’m going to share is something that I’ve never thought would be good for breakfast item. But actually it fitted in the theme quite nicely. The recipe is called finger pies, which uses pie crust as the skin that would be cut into small rounds and filled with preserves and chocolate chips. The end result looked similarly like empanadas. Later it would be rolled in confectioners’ sugar, just like cookies! I like the size of the pies especially, that way I could nibble on it while reading my comics in Sunday morning.

The recipe suggested that this type of pie is something that you could do with your kids. The size of the pie and simple ingredients really help. I enlisted my son to help me scatter the chocolate chips after I dropped the preserves in the pastry. It was really fun activity! Because this was a success, I’m sending this for Waiter There Is Something In My… that’s hosted by Johanna from The Passionate Cook. The theme for April is breakfast favorite. It has become a new favorite in my family, so hopefully it’ll be one for you too.

Now that I knew how to make this in a snap, I want to try it with different preserves. I was thinking of making pineapple preserves just like the one I usually use to make Pineapple cookies (Nanas tart) and fill the pie with that. This pie needs a preserves that’s thick and substantial. Time to go get the pineapples! Yay…

Little Preserves and Chocolate Finger Pies

Tender Cream Cheese Pastry
Yields 1 single crust, 9-inch standard pie

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces 1/3-less fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Combine the butter, cream cheese, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater attachment. Blend for 30 to 45 seconds on medium-low speed. Stop once or twice, if necessary, to scrape the build-up from the beater. Stopping the machine before each addition, first add the confectioners’ sugar and 1/2 cup of the flour. With the mixer on low, blend until the flour is incorporated. Add another 1/2 cup of the flour and blend. Add the remaining flour. When all of the flour has been added and the dough starts to ball up around the beater, stop the machine. Remove the bowl and scarpe the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.

Gently knead 2 or 3 times. Divide the dough into 2 pieces of the same size. Knead each piece into a ball, then flatten it into a disk about 3/4 inch thick. Wrap the disk in plastic and refrigerated for at least an hour, preferable longer, until firm enough to roll but not too solid.

Filling

Raspberry, strawberry, or other fruit preserves
Handful of semisweet chocolate chips

Garnish

Confectioners’ sugar

On a lightly floured work area, roll the dough slightly less than 1/8 inch thick with a floured rolling pin. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cutter, cut the pastry into circles. Remove the scraps, leaving the rounds in place.

Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the preserves into the center of each circle. Scatter a few chocolate chips around the preserves. Moisten the entire edge of the pastry with a wet fingertip or pastry brush, then fold the circle in half and press the edge together to seal. Roll the edge up slightly, forming a sort of rope edge. As you work, transfer each pie to the prepared baking sheet, leaving a little room between them. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 ^oF.

Using a paring knife, poke 1 or 2 small steam vents in the top of each pie. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Transfer the hot pies to a wire rack. As soon as they’re cool enough to handle, put some confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Roll each pie in the confectioners’ sugar, coating it heavily, and return it to the rack. Serve warm or let cool to room temperature before serving.

Source: adapted from Pie by Ken Haedrich