No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

I'm a big fan of beancurd, be it beancurd puffs or beancurd sheets cooked in any manner.  Here, I'm sharing with you a very simple vegetarian dish which you can serve on the first day of  the 'Lunar New Year' which will fall on Monday, the 8th of February 2016. Recipe for Braised Beancurd Sheets ~  香菇焖豆卜 Ingredients 1 packet wet beancurd sheets 1 red capsicum - sliced 4 Shitake mushrooms, soaked and cut 6 waterchesnuts, peeled and cut small piece of ginger, sliced 1 Tbsp black bean sauce 2 tsp vegetarian oyster sauce Light soya sauce, salt and sugar to taste Sesame oil to drizzle Cornflour + water to thicken Method Lightly pan-fry the beancurd sheets and cut a strip into 3 pieces In the same pan, add some oil and saute the ginger slices with the black beans and mushrooms Add in water to simmer till the mushrooms are cooked Add in the beancurd sheets, capsicum and waterchestnuts Simmer and  test for taste Add cornflour mixt...

These cookies are very lemony both in fragrance and flavour with crispy edges and a soft, chewy cakey centre.   Together with the delicate aroma of icing sugar, they were just irresistible after the first bite.  A word of caution though -  it was just impossible to roll the dough into balls even after I'd just taken it out of the refridgerator as due to our hot weather, the dough turned soft very quickly and it became very sticky.  So what I did was to pinch some dough and toss it into the icing or powdered sugar to coat.  Hence my cookies were not so uniform both in shape and in size! These cookies are really yummy, something different from the normal CNY cookies, so why not add this to your CNY baking list too......... Recipe for Lemon Crinkle Cookies ~   柠檬裂纹曲奇     (adapted from 'here'  ) Ingredients 250 gm plain flour 1.1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 200 gm caster sugar Zest from 2 lemons 113 gm u...

Melting Moments make a perfect gift not only for X'mas but for other festive occasions as well. They can come in many variations.  Some are piped out into rosettes and a cherry is placed on top, some are sandwiched with cream of various flavours while some are just plain or with lemon zest and served with a dusting of icing sugar. I took the easy way out and opted for the latter :) True to its name, these cookies really crumble and melt in your mouth, so why not give it another name ... 'Crumbling Moments'! Recipe for Melting Moments -   (adapted from 'here' ) Ingredients 195 gm plain flour 60 gm cornflour 1/4 tsp salt 30 gm icing sugar 227 gm unsalted butter (if salted butter is used, omit the salt) 1 tsp vanilla Icing or powdered sugar for dusting  Method Sift or whisk the flour and cornflour, set aside. Beat the butter till creamy. Add in the icing sugar and vanilla, beat till incorporated. Add in the dry ingredients...

To kick-start 2016, I'm sharing with you a sweet and delectable chocolate slice.  Adding some fizzy cola to this chocolatey slice not only makes it soft and moist and with the nutty topping, it's just impossible not to go for a second helping. Recipe for Coca Cola Chocolate Slice ~   可乐巧克力片 Ingredients 115 gm plain flour     70 gm caster sugar 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 large egg, whisked 1/4 cup buttermilk  (milk + 1/4 Tbsp of lemon juice/vinegar to make up 1/4 cup) 3/4 tsp vanilla 57 gm butter 15 gm cocoa powder 1/4 cup canola/sunflower oil 1/2 cup coca cola pinch of salt                          Frosting 70 gm icing sugar, sifted 57 gm butter, melted 10 gm cocoa powder 2 Tbsp coca cola 3/4 tsp vanilla 50 gm toasted nibbed almonds Method Pour melted butter into sifted icing sugar, whisk well. Method Whisk flour, sugar, ...

Winter Solstice or Dongzhi festival is here again and it's time to make tang yuan.  This time I tweaked it a bit by stuffing the glutinous rice ball with some black sesame paste and cooked Osmanthus syrup to pair with it.   This year the Winter Solstice festival falls on Tuesday, 22nd December. Recipe for Black Sesame Osmanthus Tang Yuan ~ 桂花黑芝麻汤圆 Ingredients 150 gm glutinous rice flour 125 ml water, approximate 100 gm black sesame paste 1.1/2 Tbsp dried Osmanthus flowers Rock sugar or Brown piece sugar to taste A piece of ginger, smashed Method Mix the glutinous rice flour and water to form a dough, cover with clingwrap and refrigerate overnight.  (You may need a little more or a little less water). Knead lightly, form into balls of dough and put in the black sesame filling in each of the balls of dough. Meanwhile, make the syrup by boiling water and adding in the smashed ginger.  Add in the Osmanthus flowers, sugar to taste, set...

This is a relatively simple sugar reduced cookie recipe, full of peanut butter flavour with added oats and choc chips. Decorated with a sugary top, these will make a lovely gift for your relatives and friends during this X'mas season!    Recipe for Chocolate Peanut Cookies - 巧克 力 花 生 曲奇 餅 (adapted from 'Baking - 200 Moreish & Comforting Recipes' with modification) Ingredients 250 gm chunky or creamy peanut butter 1/4 cup canola oil 70 gm dark brown sugar 70 gm caster sugar 2 large eggs 3 Tbsp plain yoghurt 2 tsp vanilla 150 gm plain flour 20 gm cocoa powder 40 gm rolled oats 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/4 tsp salt 50 gm choc chips 50 gm raw sugar Method Whisk or sieve flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl, add in rolled oats and mix well, set aside. Beat peanut butter, oil and sugar in a large mixing bowl.   Add in eggs, yoghurt and vanilla till just combined. Mix in the flour mixture and add i...

The month of December is both the holiday and fete season which makes it the perfect time to enlist your kids to help in making these Fairy Cupcakes.  I'm sure these will be a crowd pleaser especially with kids at your X'mas get together. Recipe for Fairy Cupcakes ~   仙女纸杯蛋糕 Ingredients 4 oz butter 3 oz caster sugar 6 oz self-raising flour 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 2 Tbsp milk Marmalade Snow powder Method Beat the butter and sugar till light and creamy. Add in the eggs, one @ a time, mix well. Sift in the flour, mix well. Add in the vanilla. Put the batter into cupcake liners using an ice cream scoop. Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 deg.C for 20 mins.  Test with a skewer till it comes out clean. Let cool in the pan before removing to cool on a wire rack. Using a sharp knife, cut a cone shaped piece from the top of the each cupcake, about 4cm wide and 1.5cm deep.  Cut each cone-shaped piece of cake in half.  Fill up th...

Panettone , a traditional Italian Christmas bread is suitable for breakfast, tea or as a dessert.  This recipe reminds me of   Kugelhopf , a southern German, Austrian and Swiss term for bundt  or marble cake which also consists of a soft yeast dough with raisins and nuts.   Making a Panettone is a long, long process as it takes many hours of proving in a warm place and after all my efforts, I was a bit disappointed that my Panettone didn't rise to a dome shape, instead it was a bit flat.  But the consolation was that it tasted soft and fluffy, when served warm.  As I couldn't find any Panettone paper moulds, I used an 8 inch springform cake pan and lined it with parchment paper with higher sides to give more room for the Panettone to rise. Combine warm water and warm milk, sprinkle yeast over and let sit for 5 mins, or more. Add 4 Tablespoons flour and 1 Tablespoon sugar to the yeast mixture, combine till thick, cover with clingwrap and let it s...