Pavlova

Pavlova is a true devil in disguise.  Innocently healthy, displaying lots of fruits but under these fruits are tons of unhealthy calories.  But who cares, we often tell ourselves we don't eat this everyday.  Indulgence once in awhile is acceptable (wink). I am one of these people...ha..ha..ha.. 

My maiden pavlova turn out better than I expected.  Besides a little sweet for my taste, the other set back of this recipe is the baking time.  Though the recipe stated the baking time as 1 hour, I had to bake mine for almost 2 1/2 hours to get the right colour and texture.  Will reduce the sugar to 1 cup the next time I bake this, otherwise, this is PERFECT as a dessert after a good meal or as a replacement for birthday cake as what my colleague and I did.  The birthday girl was pleasantly surprised coz' we noticed she was grinning from ear to ear.

To the birthday girl.....Happy Birthday, Hami.  We enjoy your company as much as you enjoy this pavlova.

Ingredients

4 egg whites

1 cup of castor sugar

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp corn flour

1.  Preheat oven to 180C.

2.  Whisk egg white until stiff.

3.  Then  gradually add in sugar; a tablespoon at a time and beat well after each addition.

4.  Whisk for 10 minutes after adding all the castor sugar.

5.  In a small bowl mix corn flour with vinegar, vanilla essence and 1 tablespoon of egg white mixture.

6.  Add mixture to remaining egg white mixture and beat for 5 minutes.

7.  Place mixture on a tray covered with baking paper, spreading mixture into desired shape.

8.  Place tray in the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 100C.

9.  Bake for approx 2 1/2 hours.

Topping

Whipped cream and fruit of your choice.

This is what the pavlova look like before dressing up.

Popovers

It is amazing how a flat pancake batter can puffed up so high under tremendous high temperature.  This is the science of cooking which I find difficult to comprehend. 

Popovers are but a pancake batter baked on high heat. The high heat forced the batter to puff up and that's when you get popovers.

Popovers are usually served with the cordiment served with pancakes such as butter, honey and jam.  But that doesn't mean you can serve them with a stew or even curry. 

Popovers
(recipe adapted from Julia Child)

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1 cup full cream milk
½ tsp salt
3 eggs
2 tbsp corn oil 


1.  Sift dry ingredient into a mixing bowl.
2.  Make a well in the centre and pour in milk, egg and oil.
3.  Mix all the ingredients together using a whisk.
4.  Strain the batter if it is lumpy.
5.  Pour batter half full into lightly greased muffin pan or paper cups.
6.  Bake in oven pre-heated to 220C for 15 to 20 minutes until the popovers are puffed.
7.  Reduce oven tempreture to 180C and continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes.
8.  Serve immediately or risk loosing their puffinest.

Note
1.  Do not open the oven door until popovers are puffed up.
2.  Popovers are at their puffiest and tasted best right out of the oven.

Croque Madame

I came to know about Croque Madame from a friend who is back from a tour to France. Out of curiosity, I did some googling and found out that it is basically an open sandwich with the usual stuff like ham, cheese and egg but with an unusual name.

This is how Wikipedia define Croque Madame - A croque-monsieur served with a fried egg or poached egg on top is known as a croque-madame.

A croque-monsieur is a hot ham and cheese (typically emmental or gruyere) grilled sandwich. It originated in France as a fast-food snack served in cafes and bars. More elaborate versions come coated in a Mornay or Bechamel sauce. The emergence of the croque-monsieur (and variations) is mirrored by growth in popular fast-foods in other countries.
The name is based on the verb croquer ("to crunch") and the word monsieur ("mister")—the reason behind the combination of the two words is unclear—and is colloquially shortened to croque. While the origins of the croque-monsieur are unknown, there are many speculations on how it was first originated. The croque-monsieur's first recorded appearance on a Parisian cafe menu was in 1910. Its earliest published use has been traced back to volume two of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (Ala recherche du temps perdu) (1918)."

This is my version of Croque Madame.

Ingredients for Bechamel Sauce

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp plain flour

1 cup milk

2 tsp mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a sauce pot. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in milk and bring to bubble, then reduce the heat. Add in mustard, salt and pepper. Stir till well combine and slightly thicken.

Ingredients for 2 sets of Open Sandwiches

2 slices of white bread

2 tbsp butter

4 slices of ham, shredded

2 slices of Gouda cheese

2 eggs

1. Apply butter on one side of the bread and set aside.

2. Heat a non-stick pan and fry the 2 eggs separately.

3. Remove eggs from pan and transfer bread with buttered side on non-stick pan.

4. Top with a slice of cheese, shredded ham, bechamel sauce and egg.

5. Cover and let sandwich heat through till cheese has melted.

6. Serve hot with more bechamel sauce if required.

Creme Brulee

When it comes to bringing food for potluck; or pot bless as we Christians call it, my usual take is to bring desserts. In comparison to main course or dishes that can only be prepared just before serving to ensure food quality is maintained, cold desserts on the other hand can be prepared in advance. Like the Creme Brulee I prepared recently for a get together, not only can they be made in advance but only required a minimum of 5 ingredients. However, the challenge is in ensuring that the custard is not overly baked. The trick is to remove the custard while it is still wobbly.

In the case of Creme Brulee, you can even put on a show by up playing the caramelising of the Creme Brulee in the presence of the host and guests. Like for instance torching them with your eyes blind folded???

Below are some Creme Brulee waiting to be torched.

To caramelised the Creme Brulee, you don't really need an expensive professional blow torch. Any blow torch will do as long as it is handy and save. You don't want to blow up your host's home, right? In the absence of a blow torch, an oven toaster is the next appliance that you can used.

This is the blow torch that I used and it cost only RM25. As to how save this thing is, the host's place was still in tack when I left. Whatever happen after that is not my fault.

Creme Brulee ready to be served.
Ingredients

4 egg yolks
1/4 cup castor sugar
500ml thick cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
brown sugar

1. Scald the cream and vanilla extract over low heat until steaming.
2. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until well blended.
3. Whisk in 1/3 of the cream quickly to avoid curdling, then whisk in the balance of cream until well mixed.
4. Run the mixture through a sieve to remove any residue.
5. Pour mixture into oven-safe ramekins and place them in a baking pan.
6. Pour boiling water into the pan about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. (this method is known as water bath or bain-marie)
7. Bake in oven pre-heated to 150 for between 25 to 35 min. Custard is cook when the centre is still wobbly. Chill custard for at least 2 hours before serving.


Topping
1. Sprinkle the top of custard with a thin even layer of brown sugar.
2. Burn the sugar with a blow torch until it begins to caramelise.

Note : If you do not have a blow torch, you can grill it in the oven or oven toaster.

Soft Baked Eggs

On days that I do not work, I love to have a good breakfast at home with my newspaper next to me. When it comes to breakfast I think I am one person who is easy to please. All I need is soft boiled or baked eggs, toasted bread and a good cup of coffee. With a simple breakfast like this, I will be smilling from ear to ear for the entire day.

This is one of the easiest breakfast that I love to prepare. It is called Soft Baked Egg.

To prepare this breakfast, what you need is a ramekin, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of cream, 2 tablespoon of grated cheese of your choice and pepper to taste. No salt is required as the cheese is salty enough. You can either bake this in the oven or oven toaster. I prefer oven toaster as no pre-heating is required. This is what it looks like before going into the oven toaster.

Besides having eggs for breakfast, I also add them to my instant noodles. That is another story all together for another post. But for now, I would like to share this Soft Baked Eggs that I had this morning for breakfast. With a little planning I managed to cook the eggs, ate it and still be in time for work. This is how I did it.

7.10am - get out of bed, brush teeth and shower.

7.30am - prepare the eggs and pop it into the oven toaster set for 7 minutes. Change into working clothes.

7.40am - remove baked eggs from the oven toaster and pop in 2 slices of bread. Put on make-up

7.45am - remove bread from oven toaster. Continue with make-up

7.50am - sliced bread into fingers and make a 3 in 1 coffee. Enjoy breakfast.

8.10am - leave for work

See what I mean when I say this is one of the easiest and now it has been proven to be one of the fastest breakfast as well.