Crustless Salmon & Ham Quiche

This quiche is so good that Mr Redneck and I just couldn't help going back for seconds and even thirds ! We love quiche but making a quiche with pastry is a lot of work, plus it is not very healthy. More often than not, the pastry base ends up soggy. So, when I saw this while reading the latest issue of NZ Healthy Food Guide mag, I was quick to give it a try.

Nothing much to wash as everything is prepared using just one big bowl. Just stir everything together and bung it into the oven.


Ingredients
½ cup flour
¼ tsp baking powder

4 eggs, beaten
2 cups low fat milk
75g reduced-fat spread/butter, melted

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Mini Ham and Egg Tarts

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my family, friends and fellow bloggers !

May the year 2011 bring us everything we wish for. I don't know about you but I am sure glad to see the back of 2010 !

Little ham and egg tartlets are always a hit. In fact anything to do with pastry are crowd pullers. Every time I have pastry leftover from a pie, I keep it all together in the freezer in a ziplock bag. And once in a while to use it up, I make these little tarts. It is versatile in the sense, you can use whatever you have in your pantry, freezer or garden.

I would like to thank everyone for all their messages during my hiatus from blogging.

Ingredients :
Liquids (enough to make 20 small plus 1-11cm tart) :
3 large eggs
200ml milk
100 ml cream
black pepper
sprinkling of salt
dry mixed herbs

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Kueh Bahlu ~ Mini Chinese Sponge Cake

Chinese New Year is fast approaching. This year it falls on Valentine's Day 14th February. Kuih bahlu is one of the many traditional cakes served during the new year period.

We don't restrict ourselves to having kueh bahulu once a year but make it quite often throughout the year for our morning tea. The tiny cake is spongy and light. With not a trace of fat, butter or oil it is a dieter's dream.

Makes 16

Ingredients
1 large egg
30gm sugar
¼ tsp vanilla extract

30gm plain flour
1/8 tsp baking powder

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Bacon and Egg Pie

Mr Redneck is a bacon and egg pie fan and he has given this pie the thumbs up. The combination of potatoes, peas and bacon makes the filling light and moist.

This is my first time making a big pie from scratch and I found this recipe to be surprisingly simple to put together. To make things easy for myself, as I wanted to have the pie ready by lunch time, I made the pastry the day before and left it to chill in the fridge. The long hours relaxing in the fridge may have help to really relax the gluten as I didn't have to fight with it at all when rolling out. I didn't even break out in cold sweat !

Makes 1 double crust 20-23cm pie

Ingredients
Quick Flaky pastry
4 rashes bacon, lightly cooked and chopped
1 cup cooked peas
1 cup chopped cooked potatoes or kumara
5 large eggs

Method
1. Follow the steps on making the flaky pastry here. Roll out on a floured board to make 2 thin rounds to fit a 23cm pie plate.

2. Ease one lot of pastry into a lightly greased pie plate.

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Quick Flaky Pastry

I don't make pastry very often. In fact I have a phobia when it comes to pastry. So when I saw the recipe I thought to myself, this looks do-able ... I should try it. Truth be told, if it was not for the tempting photo in the cookbook I would not have given the recipe a second glance.

The dough was a breeze to roll thin and did not break or shrink. Flaky pastry is a quick and easy alternative to puff pastry. The pie crust turned out light and flaky. We loved it.

A real confidence booster especially for a non pastry person like me. No sweat to make and is much cheaper than buying readymade pastry from the shop. Do note that this dough uses milk instead of water for binding.

Makes 1 thinly rolled double crust 20-23cm pie

Ingredients
185gm flour
1 tsp baking powder
125gm very cold butter, cubed or grated

85ml - 100ml milk
1 tsp vinegar (add to milk)

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Honeycomb Biscuit~Kuih Loyang~Kuih Rose

A biscuit with many names. Some call it kuih loyang, kuih goyang, kuih rose, beehive or plain old honeycomb biscuit. This is a very popular cookie for Chinese New Year.

This recipe produces beehives that are light and crispy. Mr Redneck likes his with a sprinkling of icing sugar.

Makes about 16 biscuits

Ingredients
1 small egg (45g with shell, 40g without)
35g sugar
100ml coconut milk
60g plain flour
25g rice flour
1 tsp water

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Thousand Layers Spiral Mooncake

My last trial of this mooncake was back in 2006. Yes, it took me a good 2 years to get over the 'trauma' and give this another go. Not a mooncake for the fainthearted to attempt. What is tedious is sealing the dough without destroying the spiral pattern. But the end result is very rewarding. The pastry is very very crispy, crunchy and light.

Apparently the secret to getting the mooncake to bloom like a snail shell....'dunking it in very hot oil 3 times'.

The traditional filling for this is yam but there is nothing to stop you from putting your own spin into this by using a lotus or bean paste or whatever takes your fancy. Hence I am not putting a recipe here for the filling. Mr Redneck likes his with a savoury mung bean filling.

Makes 6 mooncakes

Ingredients
Water dough
75g plain flour
20g shortening
10g (fine) sugar
35g water + 2-3 drops white vinegar

Oil Dough
65g plain flour
40g shortening

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Dry Roasted Peanuts

Ever since I started making my own peanut butter, I have been using a lot of roasted peanuts. Hence it makes sense to have some available for instant use. To save time and electricity, I often roast a big batch and store them in the freezer.

The peanuts can be mixed with other nuts and dried fruits for a healthy snack.


1 kg raw peanuts

Method
1. Place the raw peanuts on top of a paper towel in a glass dish (the paper helps to absorb moisture during the process).

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Curry Beef Mince Pie

Pies are something to be enjoyed once in a blue moon. It can be quite fattening. My favourite has to be with a curry mince filling. Time and time again I have been disappointed by pies bought from the bakery. They are soggy and the filling has more goo in them than anything resembling meat. At least by making my own, I get to eat a pie with real meat in it.

I bake mine in the pie maker but it is just as easy to make mini size pies using muffin tins to mould the pastry. This pastry is very light and crispy and a bit healthier than ordinary short crust as it uses less fat.

Makes 4 or 5 , 5" size pies

Ingredients
260 gm flour
60 gm butter
40 gm shortening
¼ tsp salt
95-105 ml ice cold water
1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice (add to water)

curry mince filling

Method
1. Follow steps 1-4 on making the pastry dough here.

2. Roll pastry to required thickness of 2-4mm (I prefer a thickness of 4mm). Pasta machine can be used.

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Chargrilled Red Capsicum Hummus

Chips and hummus dip is our Friday treat and roasted red capsicum hummus has to be our favourite at the moment. Since I bought the Amazing Bullet, making hummus is a breeze. I have a ready stock of pre-cooked chickpeas in my freezer which can be defrosted in the microwave in half a tick.

Capsicums are very cheap at the moment...$1 for 5 big ones. In fact I have 30 stashed away in the freezer so I can make hummus during the off-season.

There is no hard and fast rule to making hummus. We prefer a coarse instead of creamy smooth texture and we don't like it oily so I don't pour oil on it when serving.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp sesame seed (toasted)
½ tsp sesame oil
¼ tsp sea salt

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Short Crust Pastry with 25% less fat

I have always been apprehensive about handling pastry and even more so making it. I have only ever attempted making short crust pastry once, more than a decade ago and that experience was enough to stop me dead in my tracks.

Here I am again, taking up the challenge, all because I bought myself a pie maker. It was on special for $10 and too good an offer to pass up.

Pastries are by nature quite fattening. I played around with trying to reduce the ratio of fat to flour as even a slight reduction in the fat content will help in the cholestrol and calorie count. In this recipe I have successfully reduced the fat used by 25 percent without affecting the flaky texture of the pie.

This short crust pastry was easy to handle and did not crumble . When baked the pastry was tender, flaky and crispy right through to the inside. I usually make a batch, pre-cut the pie tops and bottoms, and freeze them thus making the task of making the next lot of pies less tedious. We have used the pastry to make curry mince and bacon n' egg pies and they were delicious.

Makes 5 - 5" pies

Ingredients
260 gm flour
60 gm butter
40 gm shortening
¼ tsp salt
95-105 ml ice cold water
1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice (add to water)

Method
1. Add flour, salt, butter and shortening to food processor. Cube the butter and shortening. Pulse a few times until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Sprinkle the water over the flour mixture. Pulse until it starts to clump together (fig 2). Pinch a little of the mixture between your fingers, if the dough is too dry and crumbly, add a little more water and pulse for 1-2 seconds more. It is very important not to overprocess the dough. Do not allow the pastry to form a ball in the food processor. The dough should not be wet or sticky.

3. Transfer the mixture to a plastic wrap (fig 3). Gather the wrap round the dough and flatten the dough to form a square (fig 4). Do not knead the dough.

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Char Siew Pau ~ Steamed Barbecue Pork Bun

I have been searching for the illusive char siu pau recipe which is soft and fluffy without having to use expensive specialised pau or bleached flour or long preparation time of a few days. I am pleased to say I have found it.


A combination of plain and high grade flour is used for this recipe which does not require a long or complicated proving time after the pau is pleated.

I am not very good at the pleating which could explain why my buns 'loose' the pleat pattern after steaming. The buns turned out with only a slight tinge of yellow. They were delicious. I am all right with it not being pure white , the texture was what I was after.

For testing purposes I ate a cold char siu pau a few hours after it was steamed. It was still soft though normally I prefer my pau hot or at least warm and would zap them in the microwave to reheat.

You can rest assured you will not end up with rock hard buns with this recipe. The dough is very forgiving.

Makes 12 buns

Ingredients
150 gm plain flour
250 gm high grade/bread flour
50 gm sugar
30 gm milk powder
1 Tbsp shortening
2 tsp Surebake yeast
250 ml warm water (50C)
1 tsp Edmonds baking powder

char siu filling recipe

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Savoury Coated Peanuts

Another moreish temptation which I daresay is high in calories. Definitely not for one on a diet.

These savoury coated nuts was another nibble I used to make for Chinese New Year. A crunchy nut, the flavour of which is enhanced with 5-spice, pepper and garlic. They are not salty and if cooked right should not leave a greasy feel to the fingers.

Ingredients
300 gm raw peanuts
1 egg
3/4 - 1 tsp salt
1½ Tbsp sugar
1 tsp pepper
4 pip garlic, mashed
½ Tbsp five spice powder
75 gm flour

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Seremban Siew Pau ~ Crispy Bbq Pork Bun

Seremban, a town in Malaysia is famous for its siu pau . Seremban siu pau is a popular dim sum dish. The pau has a filling of barbecued pork wrapped in a pastry made up of an oil and water dough . The siew pau skin in this recipe is light and crispy with many flaky layers. However, don't look too closely at my pleating as I stink at it.


Makes 9 paus

Ingredients
Water dough
60g all purpose flour
60g bread/high grade flour
40g cooking oil
18g sugar
½ tsp golden syrup
60g water (minus 1 Tbsp)

Oil dough
62g all purpose flour
37g shortening

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Curry Puffs

I always like to have a batch of these curry puffs in the freezer for that unexpected guest or to satisfy the sudden craving for some savouries. 

The pastry in this recipe is quite easy to make, the dough bind together nicely, were easy to roll out and very crispy and flaky when fried. 

Instead of curry puffs, they can also be shaped into samosas. 

The filling is a delicious curry of beef and potato. They are very morish and you won't be able to stop at eating just one.

Makes 13 'large' curry puffs 

Ingredients for pastry

 

100gm flour 

¼ tsp salt 

2 Tbsp shortening 

4 Tbsp cold water 

Method 

1. In a food processor add the flour, salt and shortening. Pulse to blend the shortening into the flour mixture. Add water slowly till a dough is formed. 

2. Remove and rest dough in the fridge for ½ hour. 

3. Roll out thinly.(I prefer to use my pasta machine as it can churn out a very thin pastry without too much effort). 

4. Cut pastry into rounds, place on the curry puff mould, add the filling. Lightly brush one edge with water to help seal .

5. Deep fry the curry puffs until golden brown.

  Ingredients for Curry Puff Filling 

100 gm beef mince (meat of your choice) 

330 gm potato (boil and cube) 

¼ cup peas 

½ tsp garam masala 

1 tsp curry powder 

¼ tsp fennel seeds 

½ tsp chilli powder 

¼ tsp tumeric powder 

Method 

1. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a wok. Add mince and the rest of the 'filling' ingredients and fry till mince is cooked. 

2. Set aside and leave to cool before using.

  Tip : These curry puffs freeze well. Freeze them uncooked. When you want to eat them, toss them straight into the deep fryer without defrosting. There is no difference in texture or taste and are just as crispy.

Golden Raisins soaked in Gin

There is a belief that eating these gin soaked raisins can help relieve migraine, gout and some joint pain such as arthritis. Some may think it is all cock and bull or one of those fish wives tales. The first I heard about this was from kwa kwa at Ik. Needless to say I was sceptical but a quick search on the net did prove that there was such a thing.

We are eating these not because we have arthritis but more as a preventative measure for any future aches and pains and besides the raisins are really tasty with our after dinner nuts.


Ingredients
golden raisins
gin

Method
1. Place the raisins in a glass jar. Pour enough gin to completely cover the raisins. Cover with a lid.

2. Give it a stir or shake every 1-2 days.
3. Soak for 2 weeks, adding more gin if necessary.
4. Drain out any excess gin and place gin soaked raisins in a jar with a lid. I keep mine in the fridge.
5. Eat 7 to 9 raisins daily.

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Lum Heong Fah Sang ~ Fragrant Braised Peanuts

When you eat at a restaurant in Malaysia, you are usually served with some peanuts to nibble on while you wait for your food. It seems restaurants have caught on that serving oily fried salty peanuts are not healthy and have now changed to serving these lum heong fah sang (fragrant braised peanuts) instead. They do not taste salty but are quite aromatic from the spices and has a tinge of sweetness from the rock sugar.

It usually takes hours to boil peanuts but I have used my trusty old pressure cooker which only took me 40 minutes.


Ingredients
200g raw peanuts, rinse
1 piece mandarin peel
1 whole star anise
1 pcs 3" cinnamon stick
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 cup water

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Woo Kok ~ Crispy Yam Puff

The beehive web effect on the skin of the woo kok is eluding me. This is trial number 2. My first effort over a year ago was a disaster with the whole puff disintegrating before my eye when I lowered it into the oil.

This second effort is better. The taro puff stayed intact, has a nice crispy skin with creamy yam interior and the filling was good. Tasted like the authentic woo kok except without the oiliness.

I read somewhere the web effect can be created by lifting the yam puff out of the oil several times when frying. But obviously that was not the answer.

I wonder what the secret is ? But....I am not going to give up, I am sure I will get there eventually.

As I have not yet achieved what I am after I will not be posting the recipe.

Cumin & Coriander Hummus

Hummus is slowly gaining popularity as a healthy alternative to the traditional dip. It is not difficult to make and definitely cheaper than buying from the supermarket. We prefer our hummus to have a bit of grit instead of smooth and creamy. If you are not watching those calories, drizzle the hummus with olive oil before serving.

The consistency of your hummus will depend on whether you are using it as a spread or as a dip. I usually make it thick to start with and add water to mix if we want it as a dip for chips.



Ingredients
200gm cooked chickpeas
2 Tbsp homemade tahini
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp water from the cooked chickpea or plain water
dash of salt to taste

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Cooking Chickpeas with a pressure cooker

If I had not bought a pressure cooker recently I would never have tried cooking chickpeas or even venture into making hummus. With the pressure cooker it is so quick and easy to get the chickpeas cooked and be able to whip up a bowl of hummus within half an hour. The only forward thinking required will be the presoaking of the chickpeas.


Yield : 400gm cooked chickpeas

Ingredients
1 cup dry chickpeas
2½ cup water
1 tsp baking powder

Method
1. Soak chickpeas overnight topped with heaps of water as the chickpea will expand.

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