Masterchef Tip on Bread Storage

I am back since a week ago but only just managed to start on my routine this week. Most students are away on holidays but I will continue to post recipes to share.

In one of the Masterchef episodes that we were catching up, an artisan (hand made) baker Michael Klausen shared with Marion and Aaron that bread should not be stored in the fridge. The cool air in the fridge would dry out the bread. You may store it in its original packaging in room temperature if you are consuming it within 2 to 3 days. Otherwise, the freezer is the best place to store bread for a longer lifespan. Leave the frozen bread in room temperature for a couple of minutes and heat it in the oven.

I toast my frozen bread slices and have them for brekky (with kaya and butter). How do you like your toast?

Ngoh Hiang

This is what it looks like before it goes into the steamer. (I forgot to take a photo after I pan-fried them)

Ngoh Hiang (五香) is a unique Teochew/Hokkien dish served as an entree in Singapore and Malaysia. My mum is a Teochew (her ancestors were from Chao Zhou, a city in the Guandong province of China) and I got some tips off her. Some know this as prawn rolls, others know it as pork rolls.

I kinda missed this dish which my mum used to make in large quantities during Chinese New Year. Upon my request, my mum made these when she visited me last year. I froze some so that I could eat them some time later (see recipe below).

I have seen quite a number of recipes online and have also obtained my mum's. With my mum's blessings, I decided to adapt from those recipes and make my own. The difference lies in the ingredients and seasoning.

Dried beancurd skin

1kg minced pork (fatty ones)
300g water chestnuts (I bought frozen ones from Asian grocery store. I reckon you could use canned ones too)
12 medium size prawns, shelled and deveined
1 large sheet of beancurd skin*
1 egg
2 tsp Massel chicken stock powder
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
generous dash of white pepper
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp five-spice powder
2 Tbsp fried onions/shallots (I used store-bought ones)
2 french shallots, finely chopped (available from Woolies)

*I could not locate beancurd skin from Yuen's. The one I used was brought over from Singapore. But I reckon you could search for them at other Asian grocery stores. There would be different types of beancurd skins available. Enquire from the store if those can be used to wrap minced meat.

Place all ingredients (except for the beancurd skin) into a large bowl and stir to combine well. For best results, cover the bowl with cling wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour (or overnight) to allow all the seasoning to infuse.

Remove the meat mixture from the fridge and allow it to come up to room temperature. Gently run a moist clean cloth on the beancurd skin to remove excess salt. Using food scissors, cut the skin to 15-20cm square pieces. Place enough meat mixture (around 2-3 Tbsp, so that you may obtain a roll of around 2.5cm thick) on the end of the square sheet of beancurd skin closer to you. Begin to roll, starting with the end of the sheet closer to you, like how you would wrap a sushi roll. Make sure that the pork roll is tight but also take care not to break the skin. Dab some water on the last bit of the skin so that the roll can be sealed. Do not worry about the ends as they will 'wilt' when steamed.

Steam the rolls for 10 mins and allow to cool. At this point, you may store the rolls in takeaway containers and freeze them for future consumption. When you are ready to eat, pan fry the rolls with cooking oil until they turn golden brown on both sides. You may deep fry them if you like but I chose to pan fry them for health reasons.

To serve, slice the rolls into 1.5-2cm thick pieces. You may slice them at an angle too. Serve with sweet chilli sauce or sweet dark soy sauce like kecap manis.

Simple & Perfect Scones

These are the best and fluffiest scones that I have eaten and this was at "Tea and Niceties". I recalled that 'RM' (a lovely old lady that I know from work) makes really nice scones and so I asked her for her recipe when I got the chance to speak with her on the phone.

To my big surprise, there are only 3 ingredients to her recipe! I finally had a chance to give it a try with 'E' and 'G' today when they came over for afternoon tea. These scones and the recipe are rather different from the ones that I have tried or those that you typically find.

1 cup cream (or light thickened cream)
1 cup lemonade
3 cups self-raising flour

Sieve flour into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add lemonade and cream. Fold in the flour gently until the mixture is just combined. The mixture will be quite sticky and moist. I tried to put the batter onto a lightly floured benchtop but it was too moist for me to knead. Instead of using a round cutter to cut out the scone, I placed about 1 heaped teaspoon of batter into mini muffin trays. Alternatively I think you could scoop 1 Tbsp of batter and place it on a tray lined with baking paper or put the batter into lightly greased muffin trays. This recipe makes about 20 mini-muffin-sized scones.

Bake at 230C (or 210C fan forced oven) for 10-12 mins. Serve warm. Dust with icing sugar (optional). Serve with strawberry jam and whipped cream (whip thickened cream until light and fluffy). Have it with your favourite tea. Hmm.... that is an afternoon tea to enjoy!

Apparently the secret to fluffy scones is lemonade (I have been advised that Schweppes brand is preferred but I have Kirks in my pantry)! These scones are quite close in taste and texture to the ones we ate at T&N. The exterior of this scone has just a slight crust and the interior is soft. Break it into 2 and have it with strawberry jam and whipped cream. It almost melts in your mouth... yum yum!

'RM' also shared that you could add some chopped pitted dried dates and add ginger ale instead of lemonade.

I don't know about you but I cannot get enough of this and I shall make another batch tomorrow!

I think these scones will freeze well too. If you decide to make some ahead of time, you may freeze them in zip-lock bags. Just ensure that the scones are not squashed before they are frozen so that they can be frozen 'whole'. To enjoy, simply warm it up in the microwave.

Traditional Pancakes

Pancakes with butter and maple syrup

My father-in-law bought a pancake maker some weeks ago. Seeing that he (or my MIL) have not used it, I borrowed it to make some pancakes for ourselves. I think a pancake maker is not necessary as you can easily cook it in a frying pan. Anyhow, I did not mind being lazy just this once... ;)

(from Taste)
2 cups self-raising flour
2 eggs
2 cups milk
60g melted butter
pinch of salt

Sieve flour and salt into a large bowl. Whisk eggs and milk in a separate bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the egg mixture. Whisk until the batter is smooth.

In a non-stick fry pan over medium heat, brush with extra butter to lightly grease. Pour 1/3 cup of batter into pan to form a 15-cm diameter disc (or a size that you desire). Cook for 2-3 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface and pancake is golden underneath. Turn and cook for a further 1-2 minutes or until golden. Continue with the rest of the batter. Makes about 10 pancakes.

Serve warm with butter, maple syrup and hulled strawberries.


If you want to make pikelets (a smaller version of the pancake, about 6cm in diameter) you can use this same recipe. Put about 1 Tbsp of batter into the fry pan.

These pancakes freeze well. You cannot finish an entire batch in one go unless you share them with your friends. Pack them in individual portions (depending on how much you eat for breakfast) in freezer zipper bags.

Cheese & Tomato Savoury Muffins

Some weeks ago, some girls and I went to 'Tea and Niceties' for a high tea to celebrate with 'F', our bride-to-be. The food and ambience were both great. The two items that impressed me were a little savoury muffin and the little fluffy scones. They were the best that I have ever had!

I thought of trying to duplicate the savoury muffin, which everyone guessed had sun-dried tomatoes, and found this recipe from Taste. It looked good and I gave it a try. It worked out really well and best of all, it was very simple to make :)

(makes 36 mini muffins)

2.5 cups self raising flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 and 1/4 cups milk

90g butter, melted (or 3 Tbsp olive oil)

1 cup grated tasty cheese (use light low-fat variety if you like)

1/2 cup marinated sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped

Place flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre and add egg, milk and melted butter. Using a large metal spoon, stir until just combined. Add tomatoes and cheese and mix well.

Spoon about 2 tsp of batter into each hole of a lightly greased mini muffin tray. Bake at 180C for 15 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream (thickened cream whipped into soft peaks).

You may add basil pesto and/or defrosted frozen spinach (drained after thawing) into the batter for variety.

These muffins freeze well. I baked a batch yesterday and another today. Now I have 2 bags (40 altogether) in the freezer, in storage for future consumption :) To eat, simply thaw them in the fridge or on your kitchen bench then heat them up in the microwave oven.

Try not to overcook it otherwise the exterior of the muffin will be golden brown and hard while the inside of the muffin is soft. You want the entire muffin to be soft and moist. I overcooked my last 12 muffins and they were not the texture that I wanted.

'F' had a try tonight and confirmed that these (the soft ones) taste and look like the ones we had at 'Tea and Niceties'! Yum!

Platter of savouries at high tea. I was trying to copy the muffin on the right

Lebanese Bread & Pizzas

"Made from unbleached flour, this circular-shaped flatbread is typically used to wrap hot kebabs but also makes the ideal cheat's base for homemade pizza." Donna Hay Magazine Jun/Jul 2009

Before I read the above, I have already been using lebanese bread as my cheat pizza base at home. I love thin crust pizzas and this is a good, almost-near substitute for it. I will only pay at most A$2 for a pack of 5 wholemeal ones. When they are really cheap (sometimes at Cocos at Market Square), you may find them for close to A$1 for that same pack of 5.

Buy them when they are cheap and either:

1. freeze them with a paper towel in between each piece; or
2. make up 5 pizzas (or however many bread you buy), bake/cook them. Allow them to cool before freezing the entire pizza or pack into single portions (depending how much you eat each meal) in freezer bags and freeze them. You can take them out when you want an instant meal. Pizzas can be heated up from frozen(preferably in the oven as microwaving them will make the base soggy) and you will be able to have a meal in minutes!

We made our own pizzas last Tuesday night (this is probably cheaper and healthier than cheap Dominos pizzas on Tuesdays). I decided to make 2 different toppings on 1 pizza (lebanese bread). The left (in photo) was tomato paste, ham (from the deli) and cheese (I omitted the pineapple) and the right was (homemade) basil pesto, (leftover from the night before) chicken shreds, cherry tomatoes (from my garden), (leftover from some time ago) fetta cheese. For such pizzas, it only took 10 mins in my oven at about 180C.

Use any leftover meats, etc, that you have. Be creative! If you like thin crust pizza, using lebanese bread to make your own pizza would be a winner!

Healthy Mixed Berries and Yoghurt Muffins

Shteppi shared that she was making these muffins. I recalled that I have some near-expiring greek yoghurt in the fridge. Hence I asked Shteppi for this recipe to use up my greek yoghurt in my fridge.

Greek yoghurt tends to be a little more sour so I compensated it by adding a tad more sugar. Anyway if the end result is not sweet enough (like Shteppi said of hers because she usually tend to put in lesser amount of sugar than require), you may have the muffins with your favourite jam.

I have all of these ready in my pantry/freezer already:

1.5 cups self raising flour (I used wholemeal ones for a healthier version)
3/4 firmly packed or 1 cup loosely packed brown sugar (I reckon 3/4 cup white sugar can be used instead)
1/3 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup plain yoghurt
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
100g frozen mixed berries (I used frozen blueberries which I bought when they were on sale)
3 eggs

In a mixing bowl, mix well flour, sugar, rolled oats and hazelnut. Then add eggs, oil and yoghurt and whisk them in. Lastly fold in the berries. Place them into prepared muffin trays and bake 180C for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

I haven't tried if mine were sweet enough or tasty but they looked really good. The portions above yields 12 standard muffins. I froze them in 3 packets of 4 for Quop and my breakfasts. This is an easy and really healthy option for a quick snack or brekky!

Homemade Beef Burger

We had this for dinner last night. Actually this is considered leftovers... from my birthday party in November! Quop made the beef patties from scratch and pre-cooked most of them (to speed up cooking at the bbq the next day). There were 6 patties left uncooked which we packed them up nicely with a baking paper in between each patty and freezed them in 2 packs of 3. We have since ate up 1 pack (me, Quop and our boarder) and last night, we finally ate up our 2nd pack.

The soy and linseed burger bread was also freezed 2 months ago. I just took them out of the freezer and into the fridge 2 nights ago and they need not be heated up to thaw. They just thaw nicely (not soggy) by itself. Along with some baby cos lettuce, sliced up cherry tomatoes (from our garden :)), steak sauce, beef patty, caramelised onions, sliced cheese and butter spread on the inside of the bread, we piled up our own burger (the burger looks small in the photo above but it is not! I could not take a full bite!)

I think hubby used this recipe to make beef patties but without adding mustard. We used 1kg of beef mince then (since we had a bbq party). We cheated by using store-bought breadcrumbs (easily get a 500g bag cheapily from major supermarkets). This other recipe is quite similar which I thought you might want to try it if you are keen. DO NOT use lean beef mince, otherwise it will be too dry. Feel free to use whatever ingredients you might have in your fridge. Be creative!

I am certain this would be a much healthier (possibly cheaper) version of the beef patties you buy from the supermarkets. At least you won't use artificial flavouring. Have a look at the list of ingredients on the beef patty pack before you think of buying one.

To caramelise onions, simply slice up 2 small onions (enough to feed 3), stir fry them in fry pan with olive oil until it becomes brown. 'Sweep' the onions to the side of the pan and continue to cook it. In the meantime, cook the patties for about 2-3 mins each side. The onions should be soft, reduced in size and brown. If Quop can cook this, you can definitely do this! :)

Pikelets

What is a pikelet? You may ask... It is a small pancake. In northern England, Australia and New Zealand, they are know as piklets and are served with jam and cream (like a scone) or just with butter. You may also top it with some fruits and maple syrup.

There is a very simple recipe here. However, this was the one I used was for maple mini pancakes:

2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups milk

2 tbsp maple syrup (sometimes I don't add this. Pikelets end up less sweet but I add maple syrup to cooked pikelets anyway)

1 tsp vanilla extract

50g melted butter (most times I replace this with about 50ml olive oil)

Place everything in a bowl and whisk to combine. Put 1 tbsp of batter into hot fry pan. When it you see bubbles, turn piklet over and cook another 1 min. Serve with extra maple syrup.

I make a batch of this which gives me about 25-30 pikelets. I will freeze them in bags of 5 in each bag. Quop and I have 3 and 2 pikelets respectively for brekky. Simply pull a bag out of the freezer and leave it in your fridge. In the morning, place them on a microwaveable plate and warm it up slightly. My favourite? Just a simple butter melting over the warm pikelets with some maple syrup, or just smear it with some strawberry jam (or any homemade jam I made).

Storage and Freezing Tips

(Reprinted from here with permission.)

I picked up a free copy of Coles Autumn recipe book today. One of the advertorial, was a recipe to use Glad oven bag to roast lamb. I thought I will go to Glad website to have a look as they apparently had more recipe tips. To my pleasant surprise, I found a great deal of household tips and of course, all using Glad products. I was so excited when I read that you could freeze ginger in a lock bag. This followed by some googling on "how to freeze ginger" and I am glad to share this with you :)

1. Glad household tips
2. Glad recipes
3. How to freeze ginger

I am rather excited at the idea of freezing ginger. I never knew that I could freeze them (and galangal too, which I have some of its plants growing). Ginger is one thing which I do not use a lot in cooking and each time, I would only buy a small piece and store it in the fridge, which after a while, it will dry up and not able to be used. I shall be cutting up the ginger that I just got yesterday (grown and freshly harvested from my in-law's garden) into slices, wrap up in clear wrap and into a lock bag and freeze it. This is perfect since I mostly only use fresh ginger slices for steaming fish. I have a bottle of grated ginger that I bought ages ago and I am only about half way through.

A few months back, I read that I could freeze chillies in a paste form and I tried it for myself. It was really successful. I could reduce the volume of red chillies into a small pack of chilli, ready to be used whenever. This is such a handy way!

You may have realised by now, that I have a fairly new bar freezer. By now, it is already about 85% full. But my freezer (with fridge) is about 90% full (used to be 100%). Here are some articles that you might be keen in...

1. How to freeze food + How to freeze food 2
2. How to freeze veggies
3. Freezer-friendly recipes
4. Tip on how to make individual portions in freezer bags
5. A different way of doing freezer inventory as compared to mine. This is really innovative idea!

Hope this info helps you! They certainly have got me all hyped up!

Beef & Mushroom Casserole

Got this recipe off masterchef website but it is no longer there now. Anyway I manage to find it on Campbells website. Here is the recipe.

This is my 2nd time trying this. However this time I have added more veggies into the casserole - potatoes and green capsicum. If you like, you may also add frozen green peas, zucchini, etc. This recipe also uses one of the handy pantry item - tomato paste.

As for mixed herbs, I didn't have them and hence I put in a cocktail of dried thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley (yes I do have those herbs individually in my pantry). I used beef rump steak (on sale this week for A$9/kg at Coles) and sliced/diced them up (I reckon this cut of beef is inexpensive and good enough for stews, casseroles, rendang, curries. If you want to eat it whole, use it on bbq or fry it up as a steak). Instead of the real beef stock (if on sale, you can buy it A$2.50/L for Campbells brand), I used Massel stock powder to make up some beef stock, which is a much cheaper option than real stock or stock cubes. One jar can make you many litres of stock! (I bought it on sale at Woolies, A$2.47).

This is best served with rice (as in photo above) or with potato mash. Please also do a taste test. The version I made last night was a little low on salt and hence a bit more blend... but it is healthier though :)

This is freezeable for future meals. If you want to freeze, do not add potatoes as they do not thaw well.

Stir-Fry Chicken with Veggies and Cashew Nuts

First try on cooking this dish and turned out quite good! You may make a bigger batch and freeze them away for future meals when you are lazy to cook. I had some leftovers to go with some noodles for my lunch today :)

Recipe is found here.

Braised Soy Chicken

This recipe is available on cyberspot's old blog. Her recipes are not difficult to follow :)

Try this braised soy chicken. I am sure you can cook extra and freeze for future meals.

See more of cyberspot's collection of recipes here.

Mini Quiches

Smoked salmon mini quiche

I just made 60 little quiches like these yesterday. However I did not use smoked salmon. I had some shoulder bacon (leaner version of normal bacon. I bought it for under A$7 for 1kg from Aldi) and heaps of cherry tomatoes from my in-law's garden and decided to make these to freeze away for future use.

The simplified recipe I used yesterday:

2 pieces of shoulder bacon (long piece), cut into small squares

30 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves

3 frozen puff pastry sheets, defrosted

~50g light cream cheese (substitute this with other cheese if you like)

3 eggs

200ml light thickened cream

The method is exactly the same as the original smoked salmon quiche. You may add some herbs like chives or parsley if you like. I was just lazy :p

When they all cooled down, I stored them them into freezer bags with about 20+ in each bag (A friend popped by yesterday and we ate some while chatting :p). Should I need to dish out some nibbles for guests (or myself), just remove a bag from the freezer and immediately put them in the oven to warm and crisp up the tarts. You do not need to defrost :)

Grilled & Yummy Chicken Wings

I know there are many ways to marinade chicken wings to grill or bbq them. This is one really yummy recipe that I got from my cousin G and has since been a success each time I make them. Made this last night and was such a crowd pleaser :)

I usually use my turbo broiler to cook them. But to save time and cook all of them at a go, I used my oven and it was as good too! I reckon cooking in the oven makes it juicer (read: OIL) as the wings are soaked in the marinade the whole time. Whilst using the turbo broiler means they are put on a rack and the juices/oil are drained. Only the marinade on the chicken would stay. That means that is slightly drier but healthier! :)

However this time I don't have ground garlic and I decided to use ground ginger. It worked out well too! Maybe has a slightly different taste but like I say, everyone was happy!

See recipe here. If you have lots of chicken wings to spare, you may marinade all of them, place the extras in a holeproof zipper plastic bag. Place the bag in the freezer and ready to be defrosted for the next year. Wooo... by then the flavours would be so rich and tasty!

Basic Chicken Soup/Stock

(Donna Hay Jun/Jul 2009)

This is the recipe for basic chicken soup. You can use this basic recipe to come up with other soups.

Stock
1.5kg whole chicken
1 brown onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
4 bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns
2.5L water or enough to cover

2 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 cup small pasta
salt and papper
chopped flat-leaf parsley to serve

Place chicken, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, bay leaves, peppercorns and water in a large saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through*. Occasionally skim foam from the surface*. Remove chicken from stock and allow to cool slightly. Remove skin and discard. Shred chicken meat from the bones and set aside. Stain the stock, discarding veggies.

Return stock to the pan with celery, carrot, pasta, shredded chicken and salt and pepper. Cook over high heat for 10-15 mins or until veggies are tender. Top with parsley to serve. Serves 6.

*Skimming the foam from the surface removes impurities so it will have a cleaner, sweeter flavour and look clear instead of cloudy.
To check if chicken is cooked through, remove chicken from pot and insert a small knife in between the leg and breast. If juices run clear, then chicken is ready.

Tips
1. Freezer the strained chicken stock for up to 6 months and use in soups. Make sure you cool the stock completely before you place in the freezer.
2. Measure out the stock to exact quantities for freezing so all you need to do is defrost and use. Freeze any leftover amount in ice-cube trays and use to thicken sauces and flavour stir-fries.
3. Freeze the stock with shredded chicken meat up to 2 months. Just defrost, heat up and add veggies for an instant comforting dinner.
4. For an Asian flavour, add white peppercorns instead of black, a knob of peeled ginger and washed coriander root, parsely stalks and omit the bay leaves when making the stock.


This may seem a bit tedious with quite a few ingredients but the result is worth it! Real stock cooked from scratch is so different to those store-bought ones.