What's Cooking (in Yvonne's Kitchen)?

2011-12-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

The Making of Christmas Gingerbread Men

When I was taking the Children Literature class, I am always fascinated by the story of Gingerbread Men, even though the story has a tragic end but it's always fun to read, especially for young children.

Since then, I always think of the making of gingerbread men cookies a Christmas tradition. And I read it somewhere that in UK, gingerbread men are traditionally given to single ladies in hope that they will find decent men to marry in the coming year.

This Christmas, I have decided to give the gingerbread cookies a try and the next chore is to choose the recipe that is simple and yields the best results. So I have started browsing for recipes from various sites and cookbooks, and the ingredients they have in common are molasses and mixture of spice such as ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice and clove, one recipe's spice ratio varies from another, and everyone's spice tolerance/acceptance differ.

So, I have decided to combine a few recipe from Martha, Epicurious and my collection of cookbooks to make the gingy.

Essential tools for making these cookies--cookie cutter, baking trays, rolling pin and etc.

Oh, before I forget, before you make these cookies, be sure to have a few essential tools such as baking tray, rolling pin and gingy cooking cutter. I have to warn you that you need quite a bit of patience with this recipe because it can be time-consuming because the rolling of the dough and cutting the cookies into shape you desire.

So, without further a do, here's the recipe, enjoy making, baking and eating them!

Gingerbreadmen Cookies
(makes 20 - 30 cookies, depends on your cutter size)

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup or 125 g unsalted butter
½ cup loose brown sugar
3 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoons ground cloves
½ teaspoon finely ground pepper
½ teaspoons coarse salt
1 large egg
¼ cup unsulfured molasses, widely available at organic stores

Directions

1. Sift all the dry ingredients such as flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl, set aside.

2. Cream butter and brown sugar in the bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 – 8 minutes. With a lower speed, mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Add flour mixture in 4 batches and mix until just combined. Tip: The dough consistency should be of dry play-dough but still plyable.

3. Divide dough into halves, flatten like a disc and wrap each in plastic, refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour or overnight to 3 nights (in a container).

4. Preheat oven to 180°C, roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to about ½ cm thick. Cut into cookies with a floured gingerbread men-shape cookie cutter. Space 2 inches apart on baking trays lined with parchment paper.

5. Bake cookies until golden, 10 to 12 minutes (if you like chewy cookies), 12 – 15 minutes (if you like crispy cookies).

6. Let cool on sheets on wire racks before piping the icing.

7. Pipe your favorite icing, royal icing preferrably. Let icing set completely at room temperature, about 1 hour. Tip: For lazy people like myself, I used readymade white decoration frosting (but it doesn’t dry as well as royal icing)

Everybody loves piping frosting onto the cookies.

All cookies piped, dried and ready to be sent for Christmas gifts.

2011-05-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Deep Fried Tempeh Slices

I have tried the crispiest and most tasty fried tempeh at Vivan's when I first moved to JB and since then I have been hooked.

It's not that I have never had tempeh before this, but the wholesomeness in frying your own tempeh is fulfilling in the sense that you get to control the amount of oil in the tempeh and pair these crunchy babies with dip of your own.

When my kitchen was renovated, the contractors advised me not to cook as much, if possible, if I want my white cabinet doors to stay pristine, but that would be a torture for a gourmand like myself who usually cook up a storm on weekends. But one thing I have absolutely refrained from doing is deep frying.

I am a total sucker when it comes to deep fried food. Yes, yes, I am aware that deep fried food are heaty, packed with calories and blah blah blah... but like my favorite culinary guru, Michael Smith says "everything in moderation". It's not like

Besides, it is an amazing way to christen the kitchen with the aroma of deep fried goodness. So, here you go, the recipe of deep fried tempeh. I hope you enjoy eating tempeh as much as I do. And if you are not a fan of tempeh, you might consider a convert after sampling this.

In the mean time, I am wondering... what's the next deep friend? Onion rings, perhaps?

Deep Fried Tempeh Slices Recipe
This recipe serves 4

5 pcs tempeh (preferably those wrapped with banana leaf and newspaper)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup Kentucky Fried Chicken seasoning powder
pinch salt to season
2 cups vegetable oil

Dipping sauce
2 red chili (if you love spicy food, go for the bird-eye chili, cili padi)
2 clove garlic
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp soy sauce

1. Slice each piece of tempeh into 3 thin slices, if you like it thick, 2 will do
2. Pour the beaten egg into a wide shallow dish, season with salt (I used seasoned salt)
3. Pour the KFC season powder into another wide shallow dish
4. With one hand dipping the tempeh into the egg mix, followed by another hand mixing it into the season powder.
5. Season each tempeh slice one by one
6. Heat the wok at high fire and when you see the fume, the tempeh slices will be ready for a deep-frying session. Deep fried until the tempeh turn golden on both sides (about 1 ~ 2 minutes depends on your wok)
7. Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce to serve together with deep fried tempeh.

Deep fried tempeh served best with dipping sauce.

2011-05-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

No-bake Oreo Cheesecake

The first time I made this super easy no-bake cheesecake was about four years ago, when I had been asked to prepare a dessert for the church fellowship dinner.

After referring to recipes from different cookbooks and websites, I have tweaked and adjusted the recipe to fit the cake pan size as well as the preference (usually much less in sugar than the recipe had called for). It is not that I don't love sweet desserts, but the large portion of sugar in food could easily over-power or mask the natural flavour of other ingredients. Not to mention the health-related risks it brings.

Thanks to the encouragements from my friends and church members who constantly ask me for the recipe, I have put this recipe in the "keeper" recipe box. And so a few weeks ago, I took out this recipe and remake this cake to fix my sudden cheesecake craving.

One good trick that I include in the recipe is the fact that I used three dairy products to give the cake different layers of texture--cream cheese, yoghurt and whipping cream. The trio is a fantastic combination of flavours and it saves the cost by a slant.

Another reason this recipe has been so popular is the mere fact that this is one of those gelatine-set cheesecakes that does not require an oven at all. All you need is the few main ingredients, springform cake pan (the one that the base can be de-attached and some fridge space. Once you have mastered the basic of this no-bake cheesecake, you are on your way to experiment it with other flavours like vanilla strawberry, orange cranberry and banana chocolate, the possibilities are... endless.

This recipe yields 12 slices of cheesecake in a 9" or 23 cm round cake pan.

Ingredients
base:

200 g digestive biscuits crumbs (I used a rolling pin to crush the biscuits in a Ziploc bag into fine crumbs)

100 g melted butter

filling:
250 g cream cheese (I used Philadelphia), room temperature
300 g natural yoghurt (I used Nestle), fridge temperature
80 g icing sugar or all the sugary cream filling from the oreo cookies
2 tbsp vanilla essence or 1 pod of vanilla beans
16 oreo cookies (coarsly chopped)
8 oreo cookies (finely chopped)
200 ml whipping cream (I used Emborg), fridge temperature
2 tbsp gelatine powder
15 ml lemon juice (from half a lemon)
6 tbsp boiling water

method:
Mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly onto the base of springform cake tin with the back of a spoon. Let chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Beat wam with electric beaters until 70% stiff or until mousse-like.

Double-boil* gelatine, lemon juice & boiling water until totally dissolved, keep warm. (*to double-boil, heat a pot filled with water and place another bowl inside the pot & gelatine, lemon juice & boiling water into the bowl).

Beat cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth & creamy, fold in the yoghurt in three portions until just combined, blend in cooled gelatine solution.

Blend in the whipping cream with cream cheese mixture.

Pour 1/2 the cheese mixture onto the base, let chill for another 15 minutes.

Stir in finely chopped cookies into the other 1/2 of the mixture, mix well.

Sprinkle coarsely chopped cookies on top of the first half of cheese mixture, then pour in the other half of the cheese mixture.

Chill for 4 to 5 hours before serving and decorate the cake as desired.

To serve the cake, dip a serrated knife in hot water before each cut. Serves 12 slices of scrumptious cheesecake.

The oreo cheesecake this good deserves to be savoured till the very last bite.

2009-08-08T00:43:00.001-07:00

Lemon and Dragon Fruit Cupcakes

For dragon fruit lovers who happened to love zesty, non-heavy cupcakes, this cupcake will be a treat!

The batter looked like strawberry sorbet before it's baked.

This is how they looked after being baked.

This recipe makes 8 cupcakes

120 g butter, room temperature

80 g brown sugar

120 g eggs (about 2 medium-sized eggs), lightly beaten

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

140 g self-raising flour, sifted

1 tbsp lemon zest

2 tbsp lemon juice

120 g dragon fruit, coarsely grated with juice

1. Preheat the oven @ 180 degree Celsius

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in eggs one bit at a time and then add in the vanilla extract and mix until smooth.

4. Add flour and beat until all ingredients combined

5. Mix in lemon zest and juice

6. Pour the batter equally into 8 cupcake liners (about ¾ full)

7. Spoon the dragon fruit with juice onto the cupcake batter and use a toothpick to swirl each cupcake.

8. Bake for 20 ~ 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Serve with whipped cream or eat on its own. Yummy!

2008-08-16T02:38:00.000-07:00

Organic Russian Borscht

The first time I've ever seen and tried this soup in US, I was thinking: boy, is this soup red or what??? But once I had my first sip, I fell in love with this Russian beauty. It's full of earthy flavour of root vegetables and packed with beautiful hues of red and magenta colours.

Typically, this soup is prepared in Russia in the winter due to the availability of the winter root vegetables such as carrots, beets, purple cabbage and potatoes. But luckily in Malaysia, we have them all year round, so sourcing for the ingredients is not a problem.

This is the first time I have ever made Russian Borscht, so I really wanted to make it nice. To give the soup extra flavour and nutrition, I used all organic produce. As I was seasoning the soup, I was reminiscing the original taste when I first tried it 8 years ago (Wow... it has been this long, huh?).

The borscht is SO GOOD that I can have it EVERYDAY!!!

Turned out, it was exactly as how it tasted! I was pretty satisfied with my first attempt and will definitely make it again and again.

Dill sprigs and generous dullops of sour cream were served with the borscht. To my very very own surprise, even Adrian (who was initially intimidated by the colour of the soup) loved it and asked for more!

So, here's my organic Russian borscht recipe for you readers out there who would like to try this exotic soup:

Ingredients:

1L water

500 mL vegetable or chicken stock

1 organic carrot, finely chopped

1 organic red bell pepper, deseeded, finely chopped

2 stalks organic celery, cut cross section

1 large organic beet, finely chopped

6 organic tomatoes, finely chopped

3 organic potatoes, skin peeled, finely chopped

1 organic yellow onion, finely chopped

½ organic purple cabbage, julienned or shredded

½ cup olive oil (hearty) or melted butter (sinful)

1 tub sour cream

8 sprigs fresh dill weed

ground black pepper to season

sea salt to season

Procedure:

1. In a large pot, add water and stock with finely chopped carrot, bell pepper, celery, beet, tomatoes and potatoes. Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat to medium.

2. In a frying pan, sauté onion and purple cabbage shreds with melted butter (hehe… I am sinful when it comes to food) until the cabbage is slightly cooked (about 5 minutes), then turn to medium low heat.

3. Then, pour some stock from the large pot to the frying pan, let the stock cook the cabbage for another 10 minutes.

4. Return cooked cabbage in the stock in the frying pan back to the pot and simmer the soup for another 30 to 45 minutes.

5. It is ready when your kitchen is filled with great smell of the hearty vegetable soup.

6. Season the soup with pepper and salt

Serve it with fresh dill weed and generous dollops of sour cream (it’s even better if crème fraiche is available in your area, substitute it with sour cream)

This borscht pairs perfectly with Sour Cream, Chive, Cheddar Cheese Bread

2008-05-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

Sour Cream, Chive & Cheddar Cheese Bread

To say I love cheese is an understatement. I don't know since when I've fallen in love with formage and this relationship is definitely not going anywhere but getting stronger.

I often have eyebrow-raising facial expression whenever I come across a good, wholesome recipe that uses generous amount of cheese in bread, like this one.

I've modified the recipe to satisfy the palatte of cheesemania such as myself. So I quickly shop for the finest and freshest ingredients I can get on hands to bake this sour cream, chive abd cheddar cheese bread. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 packet (11 g) dry yeast
2 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup hot water
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup organic wholemeal bread flour
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 cup or 200g premium cheddar cheese (I love Cracker Barrel or Emborg), cubed
2 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
2 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup permasen cheese, grated (to coat the crust)

Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven at 170 degree Celsius.
2. In a heat-proof glass, stir in the the honey with hot water, then mix the dry yeast. Let stand for 2 minutes to foam.
3. In a mixing bowl, add sour cream, eggs, salt and 1/2 cup of all purpose flour and beat until combined.
4. Stir in the remaining flour (both wholemeal and all purpose flours) and slowly mix until the dough comes to a moist and sticky consistency.
5. Add the cheese cubes and fresh chives into the dough until they are evenly mixed. Then, stir in the pepper.
6. Slowly pour the dough into a greased 10-inch round bread pan and let the it rise till it doubles in size (about one hour).
7. Use beaten egg or melted butter to coat the top with permasen shreds.
8. Bake for 25 ~ 30 minutes or until the crust turns golden in colour.
9. Cool for 15 minutes before removing the bread from the pan to the rack.

One of the greatest perks of baking is that the aroma always permeates the room... this one will linger for hours.

I love using fresh and premium quality ingredients to cook. Yes, they can hike up the costs by a landslide, but the end result worths every single penny you pay.
Love the permasen coated crust, it's so sinfully good!!!

After taking the photos of this bread, I just couldn't wait to sample the first bite of this freshly-baked babe. I tell you... it was a WOW moment!After taking the photos of the full loaf, I can't wait to showcase the "inner beauty" of this bread. Did you see the mouth-watering cheddar cheese pockets? Hmmm... there are no words.

This is one of those super delicious and cheesy bread specially designed for cheese lovers. Did I mention that this is a super easy no-knead bread?

2008-05-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

Ultra-Moist Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins

I always feel that my weekend is not complete without any form of baking. And fortunately, I found this unique pumpkin zucchini bread recipe which I modified and turned into a wholesome muffin recipe.

They are perfect breakfast muffins to feast the hungry tummy in the morning. It yields 18 medium size ultra-moist muffins! This is also a perfect way of sneaking veggies into the diet of picky-eating toddlers and adults.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup organic pumpkin, mashed
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups self-rising flour, sifted
1/2 cup bran
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup dried black currants
1 cup fresh zucchini, shredded
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven at 170 degrees C.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar.
3. Add pumpkin, butter and vanilla extract.
4. Combine dry ingredients and spices, then add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
5. Fold in zucchini, dried black currants and nuts.
6. Fill the batter into souffle cups and bake for 25-30 minutes or until test done.
7. Let cool and remove the muffins to a wire rack.

When you try this recipe, be sure to sit back and enjoy the tantalizing aroma of the freshly-baked muffins. Frankly, it's quite addictive!

I baked these muffins yesterday, and 2/3 of them are already GONE...

2008-05-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

Angel Hair Pasta with Italian Tomato Sauce

Yes, I admit. Once in a while I do crave for Italian food. So, besides risotto, I also made some pasta this long weekend. I love angel hair pasta because it is finer than spaghetti without compromising the elasticity. Due to its larger surface-area-mass ratio, angel hair can absorb more pasta sauce and thus more flavourful.

So, here's my Italian tomato sauce recipe that serves 4 ~ 6 :

Ingredients:

8 medium size organic tomatoes (cubed)

1 carrot (finely diced or shredded)

4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

1 cup leek (cut length-wise)

1 large red onion (finely chopped)

1 cup minced chicken or beef

2 cups fresh or canned button mushroom (sliced into 1/2 cm thick)

1 cup black olives (pitted and finely sliced)

1 tbsp red pepper flakes

4 sprigs of fresh thyme (this is the bomb and a must in this sauce)

4 tbsp olive oil

pinch salt

pinch freshly ground black pepper

4 servings of angel hair pasta

generous serving of freshly-grated parmesan cheese

Procedure:

1. In a heavy sauce pot, saute onion and garlic with olive oil at medium heat

2. Add leek and carrot saute for 5 minutes

3. Add chicken and mushroom, saute for another 5 minutes or until the meat is cooked.

4. Add tomatoes, olives and thyme and cook until tomatoes are all mashed and soft.

5.Season with red pepper flakes, pepper and salt and bring the sauce to a boil.

6.Let cool and serve it with cooked to al dante angel hair pasta

7.Top the pasta and sauce with generous amount of parmesan cheese

Most people refrain from using fresh tomatoes because they tend to be sour. So, some option includes stewed tomatoes and puree. Since I am not a canned food fan and I hate adding sugar to the sauce, I balance the sourness in tomatoes with ketchup (shhh... don't judge me).

If you have pesto sauce, add it just before serving.

I love eating this pasta with a mountain full of parmesan cheese shreds and fresh ground pepper... lovely.

2008-05-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

Viva Risotto!

This long weekend, I finally found some time to spend with the kitchen. So, I managed to whip up one of Adrian's favorite dishes--Risotto.

In the last Italian feast with friends, I cooked a basic risotto. This time, I challenged myself with a slightly gourmet version of it--Risotto with Leeks, Shiitake Mushrooms and Truffles from Epicurious.com(which I then improvised with asparagus).

Rissoto is an Italian creamy rice that is cooked slowly with cream, broth and fresh ingredients like chicken, mushroom, truffle (which is expensively impossible to find in Malaysia), pumpkin, peas and cured meat.

To make good risotto, one needs a lot of patience because the procedure and temparature have to be right. Imagine stirring the rice for 20 minutes non-stop in order to let the rice sloly absorbs the broth batch by batch. Not to mention that the broth has to be hot. Other ingredients have to be cooked separately before mixing into well-flavoured and cooked risotto.

Yes, it is quite labour intensive but when you see the sense of satisfaction and happiness on the face your loved one after savouring the dish-- the reward is, priceless!

Who would imagine 1 cup of arborio short-grain rice will yield four servings of scrumptious risotto?

Creamy risotto with flavourful textures--leek with cream, shiitake mushroom with fresh thyme, asparagus with garlic . Don't forget to add fresh ground peppercorns to give it a kick!!!

Let's risotto tonight!

2008-04-19T19:24:00.001-07:00

CIMP Charity Food Fair

Yet another highlights of CIMP activities -- CIMP Charity Food Fair!

Thanks to the constant hard work and dedication of Ms Evelyn Wong, Dr. Sharlene Lee and Ms Janie Chan, CIMP parents, students and teachers are doing their bits of the community service by channeling their culinary interests into humanitarian work.

This has always been my favorite event of the semester not because of the spectacular spread of food featured, but more of the fact that charity unites people.

Indeed, in our ever so busy life that we tend to ignore the dire need of the unprevileged but focus on life's littlest flaws.

My first visit to the Taman Megah Handicapped and Disabled Children's Home was simply surreal. First, little boy opened the gate and welcomed me with a smile and slight shyness and then some of the children walked towards me wanting some companionship and attention.

There was a sudden emotion surge in my heart as I pondered why these children that had so little to be thankful for but have so much love and joy to cherish. It triggered my water works when the stories of these children's unfolded.

I left the Center with a lesson that we have so much more be thankful for if we could overlook some of the slightest imperfection in each of us.

CIMP Charity Food Fair benefits the Taman Megah Handicapped and Disabled Children's Home as the Center expands its capacity to shelter more underpriviledged children.

This charity event will be held at Sunway University College Cafeteria on 23rd and 24th April 2008, please share your bit of social philantrophy with us.

2007-10-21T07:17:00.001-07:00

CIMP Bake Sale

This week, I managed to go through my collection of recipes to decide what I might be baking for the CIMP bake sale from Nov 12 to 16 (Monday to Friday).

The bake sale aims to raise fund for children with AIDS, it's something I have been meaning to do ever since the AIDS awareness walk. It's a very meaningful cause and I hope everyone can support this event.

The booth will be set up at the cafeteria throughout the week. Do drop by to check us out!!!! So, here's the "finalists" in my repertoire that I would prioritise in my to-bake list. If the pictures of the sweets below whet your appetite, then don't forget to drop by and support us :D.
Oreo cheesecake is always a crowd-pleaser

Vanilla cupcake with strawberry rainbow rice icing (I imitated this from Delish) Marshmallow chocolate fudge might make a come-back by popular demands.

2007-08-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

Tiny Chocolate Chip Cookies

I secretly call these gems the better-than-Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies because they are so adorably tiny and did I mention how delicious they are... be careful... they are quite addictive.

This recipe is originally from epicurious but I did some modification. It takes about 2 hours to make 240 tiny cookies, premium butter and high quality chocolate morsels are the keys to this recipe's success.

These cookies are so fabulous that they can make you famous... like Amos.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened or at room temperature

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar (but if you are conservative about sugar intake, cut it to 1/2 cup)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla essence
1 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups imported semisweet tiny chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 400°F or 175°C.
2. Beat together butter and sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy, then beat in egg and vanilla
3. Add flour and mix until just combined and then fold in chocolate chips
4. Place parchment paper on a tray
5. Use a measuring spoon to scoop up 1/2 teaspoons of dough and use a chopstick to roll out the dough, place them about 4 cm apart
6. Bake in batches in middle of oven until golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes
7. Transfer cookies as baked to a rack to cool.

For afternoon snack, dunk these cookies in milk... it's simply heavenly!!!

2007-08-16T07:15:00.001-07:00

Marshmallow Walnut Chocolate Fudge

I submitted this recipe to the Malaysia Women's Weekly magazine awhile ago, so when I found out that it was published as the reader's recipe in July's issue, I was thrilled!!!

This is a super easy and sinfully rich chocolate dessert that can satisfy any sweet tooth. To make the presentation of the fudge more appealing, I poured the mixture into cupcake liners instead of the usual square cake tray. They turned out to be kawaii (cute in Japanese) cupcake-sized individual fudge that can melt anybody's heart.

I have made this dessert a million times and all my friends and students rave about it.

The tiny little marshmallows on the fudge give a homemade touch to this extremely rich but super yummy sugar-rush!!!

Children always love a smiley face on this dessert. It's a perfect pick-me-up for children and adults.

This recipe was published in the Malaysia Women's Weekly July 2007 but I have made slight changes to improve the taste and the fudge's presentation.

And here's the recipe:

Ingredients
250 g cooking chocolate (preferably dark chocolate), chopped into small chunks
50 g butter
250 g condensed milk
200 g walnut, chopped
100 g miniature marshmallows
pinch ground cinnamon (optional)
Extra miniature marshmallows for decoration

1. Combine chocolate, butter, condensed milk, walnut and ground cinnamon (if you like the kick of spice) in a microwave-proof bowl.
2. Microwave the ingredients in the bowl at high power for 2 minutes. Stir to mix well.
3. Line and grease a 18 cm square baking pan. Sprinkle the mini marshmallows over.
4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the muffin tray that has been lined with cupcake liner and allow to cool for 10 minutes
5. Decorate the individual cupcake fudge with extra mini marshmallows
6. Leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours to harden.

This recipe yields 6 - 10 serving

For more sinful fudge, replace walnut with pecan and add 50 g of maple syrup (ohhh... so gooood) or add blueberries, raisins or craisins for the extra fruit touch in the fudge.

2007-06-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

Guacamole (Mexican Avocado Dip)

This is my all-time favorite Mexican dip that I make from time to time (or whenever I can buy good Haas avocados). It is a perfect complement to chips and quesadilla (qua-se-dia). Since Australian avocados are in season now and I got four for RM10 at the night market so I decided to make guacamole.

Key ingredients for the dip--Haas avocados, lime, garlic, shallot and green chilli. I cannot get serano or jalepeno chillies in Malaysia, I decided to substitute with green chillies.

Did I mention how super easy it is to make this dip?

Ingredients:

2 riped Haas avocados (cubed)

3 cloves of minced garlic

1 minced shallot

1 jalapeno or green chili (de-seeded and chopped finely)

1 tbsp lime juice

some salt

½ tsp lime zest (for the extra kick)

some coriander leaves (chopped finely)

1. Mix the garlic, shallot, chili, lime juice and lime rind together in a bowl.

2. Stir in the avocado cubes and mix well

3. Season with salt and toss the coriander leaves

2007-06-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

Refreshing Summer Salad

Beat the heat of summer with this salad... a truly refreshing treat. For sinful indulgence, toss in avocado cubes or chopped pecans.

Ingredients
2 heads baby romaine lettuce (torn into pieces)
8 cherry tomatoes (cut into halves)
1 oranges (cut into wedges)
1/4 cup craisin or dried cranberry

Cranberry orange vinaigrette
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp balsamaic vinegar
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp cranberry jam
1 tsp orange juice
1 tsp orange rind (for the extra kick)

1. Toss the first four ingredients in a large salad bowl

2. The vinaigrette can be prepared one day ahead, just whisk together the Dijon mustard, vinegar, cranberry jam and orange juice until blended. Slowly drizzle in oil and mix until emulsified and add in the orange rind just before serving.

This recipes yields 4 servings

2007-06-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

To the gourmands around the world...

Here’s a tribute to the gourmands in the world—an all new blog of my recipe collection. This is just a fraction of my repertoire and I am still in the process of exploring culinary world.

I love food, love cooking, love reading cookbooks and love entertaining people with my culinary adventure. Recently, I also love taking pictures of the food I’ve prepared… though I am still a beginner.

If you do not know me just yet, maybe the following comments from my family members and friends will give you a glimpse of who I am and the type of epicurean I am.

Adrian: HUH??? You mean you have been collecting recipes from newspapers and magazines since you were 14 years old???

Yean Mei: Ms Woi, I love your chocolate fudge, could you please share the recipe with me?

PG: You are the ONE person that I know of who has the most number of cookbooks.

Tara: Make sure you keep the “Tara’s Famous Chilli” recipe to yourself, it’s a family secret… LOL!

Rani: Wow Yvonne, your Christmas fruit cake is divine!!!! Can you just marry me???

Sister: Don’t cut out that recipe from today’s newspaper, I haven’t read it yet??!!!

淑琴：你好像古代的女人哦！每天我回来时，你都在厨房准备食物。

Brother: Most ladies shop for clothes and cosmetic, you spend most of your money on pots and pans???!!!

Sheila: When are you going to make apple pie again? It’s simply scrumptious!!!

Anu: My kids just LOVE your chocolate almond, do you take order???

Chin Yin: When are we going to have a cookout again?

Lisa: Hey, your kim chi is awesome! I am having it with rice now.

Beth: Your pesto sauce is GREAT!!! It gives extra kick to just about anything…

MPH info: No, miss, Vogue Entertaining + Living and Delicious are not here yet, you have to wait till the end of the month.

Wai Kiat: Miss, can I have the recipe for that vanilla ice cream with strawberry jello you made the other day?

Paule: Here’s my mum’s apple pie recipe, Yvonne. Let me know how it turns out.

Please feel free to comment on the recipe and share your gastronomic experience with me. Until the next recipe post, bon appetite!