Ginger chicken & broccoli

Tonight's supper: very simple, but I figured I should take some good shots.

Flavouring consists of:

(black pepper, salt, garlic, sugar, sesame oil, ginger, flour, oyster sauce, soy sauce, green onions)

Curry Chicken

I make this a lot, I got a bit lazy, just wanted to take better photos.

-Chicken, onions, carrots, potatoes over rice.

Towa Sushi (Round 2) Jan 22/10

It has been a while since I have been back to Towa sushi. The reason being, Globefish. But I figured it would be nice to give it another try for our friend Vikki's goodbye dinner. We ordered so much, completely forgot that the size of these rolls are probably 1.5x the size of globefish sushi rolls. I enjoyed this selection. We had:

Towa tempura (Veggie and Shrimp tempura), Sunset Roll, Alaska Roll, Spider Roll, Hawaiian Roll, Spicy Tuna roll, Veggie Roll, Tuna sashimi and White tuna seared sashimi. My favourites would have to be the seared white tuna sashimi, Spider roll , and Hawaiian . I do adore the rolls that have fruit in them.

Service was pretty good, I felt like my tea and water were bottomless.

Sunset Roll (red tuna, salmon, white tuna, spicy wakame, cucumber)

Spider Roll (deep fried soft shell crab, cucumber, lettuce,mayonnaise, capelin roe, avocado)

Sunset with Spicy Tuna border

You can barely see the tuna sashimi to the top left, the pile of white is the deep fried vermicelli sitting atop the Alaska roll(salmon, cream cheese, cucumber, deep fried vermicelli).

The Hawaiian roll came last (shrimp, pineapple, avacado, cucumber and spicy sauce).

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Amaretti- the baking continues...

Definitely a tea biscuit. This reminds me of meringue but a bit thicker. Ah I'm out of eggs.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon AP flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup ground almonds
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 egg whites
1/4 cup icing sugar

Directions
1) Line baking trays with baking paper. Sift the flour, cornstarch and cinnamon and half the caster sugar into a large bowl, then add the ground almonds and lemon zest.

2) Beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl with electric beaters until firm peaks form. Gradually add the remaining caster sugar, beating constantly until the mixture is thick and glossy and all the sugar has dissolved. Using a metal spoon, fold the egg white mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until the ingredients are just combined.

3) Roll 2 level teaspoons of mixture at a time with oiled or wet hands into balls and arrange on the trays, allowing room for spreading. Set trays aside, uncovered for 1 hour.

4) Preheat oven to 350F. Sift the icing sugar liberally over the uncooked biscuits, then bake for 15-20 min, or until crisp and lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Devil's Food Cake with chocolate sauce: January 11

I'm used to putting dry ingredients into wet ingredients, this one went the other way around. The recipe called for buttermilk but I substituted yogurt instead. End result: rich and delicious. This cake is supposed to be cut in half and filled with whipped cream but I felt more like a chocolaty coating. Scroll down for recipe below.

Before:

After:

1 1/2 cups All purpose flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp bicarb of soda (baking soda)

1 cup sugar

1 cup buttermilk (I used plain yogurt as a substitute)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

4 1/2 oz unsalted butter, softened

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a deep 8 inch round cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Sift flour, cocoa and baking soda into a large bowl

2.  Add sugar to the bowl. Combine the buttermilk, eggs and utter in a separate bowl, then pour onto the dry ingredients. Using electric beaters, beat on low speed for 3 minutes, or until just combined.  Increase the speed to high and beat for another 3 minutes, or until the mixture is free of any lumps and increased in volume.

3.   Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth surface.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.  Leave the cake in the tin for at least 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.  

CHOCOLATE SAUCE

250g (9oz) dark chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup cream (I used half & half)

50g unsalted butter, chopped

1.  Place the chocolate, cream and butter in a saucepan.  Stir over low heat until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over the cake and serve. 

Lemon and Almond Slice: Jan 10/ 10

60g (1/2 cup) AP flour
40g (1/3 cup) self raising flour
2 tablespoons icing sugar
2 1/4 oz unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten

For the Almond cream:
3 eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup ground almonds
1 cup cream (coffee cream)


Directions
1) Preheat oven to 375F.  Lightly grease a 9 inch square shallow baking tin.


2)  Put th eflours, sugar, and butter in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Add the egg and process briefly, until the dough just comes together, adding a small amount of water if necessary.


3) Press the dough into the base of the prepared tin and prick well with a fork.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden.  Allow to cool.  Reduce the oven to 325F.


4) To make the almond cream, beat the eggs and sugar with a wooden spoon.  Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, ground almonds and cream.  Pour over the pastry and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until lightly set.  Leave to cool in the tin.  Slice into pieces and garnish with lemon zest. Serve with whipped cream. 

Caramel Peach Cake

So this is the 3rd recipe I have tried from the book my cousin gave me. I bought the right kind of flour! Probably could use a bit more brown sugar.

Preparation time: 25min +30 min standing |  Total Cooking Time: 1 hour 25 Minutes  |  Serves 8-10
Ingredients
-  250 g (9 oz) unsalted butter, softened
-  60 g (1/3 cup) lightly packed soft brown sugar
-  825 g tinned peach halves in natural juice, drained
-  1 cup caster sugar
-  3 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 2 2/3 cups self-raising flour, sifted
- 1 cup plain yogurt.


Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a deep 9 inch round cake tin and line the base with baking paper.  Melt 50 g of the butter and pour on the base of the tin.  Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar on top.  Drain the peaches, reserving 1 tablespoon of the liquid.  Arrange the peach halves cut side up over the sugar mixture.

2) Beat the caster sugar, lemon zest and remaining butter with electric beaters for 5-6 minutes, or until pale and creamy.   Add the egg a littlte at a time, beating well after each addition.  The mixture may look curdled but it will come together once the flour is added.

3)  Using a metal spoon, fold the flour alternately with the yogurt, in two batches, then the reserved peach liquid.  Spoon the mixture over the peaches in the tin and smooth the surface.  Bake for 1 hour 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.  Leave to cool in the tin for 30 minutes before carefully turning out onto a large serving plate.