(recipe from Raymond Blanc)
Ingredients: (serve 6-8 persons)
For poaching the meringue:
1.25 lites (2 and 1/4 pints) of full cream milk
2 vanilla pods, split length wise
For the meringue:
8 medium free range egg whites
275g (10oz) caster sugar
For the vanilla custard:
8 medium free range egg yolks
75g (3oz) caster sugar
milk used for poaching the meringue
For the caramel:
50ml (2 fl oz) water
150g (5oz) caster sugar
How to Make:
1. Infusing the Milk
Pour the milk into a large and shallow pan and bring to simmering point. Scarpe the vanilla seeds into the milk and use a whisk to disperse them; add the split vanilla pods too. Bring to boil and reduce the heat to a slow simmer for 5 min to infuse the milk with the vanilla,
2. Making the meringue
Whisk the egg whites abd sugar with an electric whisk on full power for at least 15 minutes (hand held version) or until mixture becomes firm and glossy with firm peaks formed after lifting up the whisk.
3. Poaching the meringue
With a large spoon, carefully scoop the egg whites, one by one, into the simmering milk. Poach them one side for 3-5 min and turning it over for abnother 3-5 min, taking care not to break them! If the milk begins to boil and rise out of the pan, turn doen the heat and gently push the meringue side ways so the build up of heat and steam can esacpe.
Carefully lift each meringue to a baking tray without the milk.
Strain the milk into a saucepan.
4. Making the vanilla custard
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar, then gradually add whisk in the hot milk. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
Cook over medium heat for 4-5 min until the custard begins to thicken. Stir constantly to distribute heat and lift the spoon for every 10-15 sec to check if the sauce is thick enough to cover back of the spoon. Strain immediately into a large bowl and continuously stirring for at least 2 mins to stop any further cooking (or else it becomes scrambled eggs!)
Leave to cool and chill in refrigerator and the meringues in another tray in refrigerator.
5. Making the caramel:
Put tge water in a small heavy base saucepan and scatter the sugar evenly over it. Let the sugar absorb the water for a few mins, then place the pan over medium heat and leave without stirring, until sugar has dissolved and formed a syrup. Simmer until it turns to golden brown caremel. But watch carefully cause it can becomes burnt in a short time. One has to be very patient in preparing this caramel cause it seems to take forever!
Serve:
Place the cold custard sauce at the bottom of the serving tray, then carefully place each meringue on top (like the "floating islands"). Then using a spoon to pour caramel on top of merginue. It will take 1 -2 minutes for the caramel to get set (i.e. becomes crispy), then serve!
Yummy, especially in summer time. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Minced Beef
Onion x 1 - minced
Garlic x a few pieces - pressed
bay leaves - 1 to 2 pieces
Tomato sauce
Spaghetti
Parmesan cheese
How to Make:
1. Preheat oven at 190'C
2. Prepare your spaghetti or preferred pasta according to packet's instrucions or until al dente. Then mix with olive oil and place at bottom of the oven proof dish.
3. Marinate minced beef with a bit of everything (light soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, pepper, cornflour).
4. Fry garlic with olive oil until fragrant, then add minced onion until soft.
5. Push them to the side of the frying pan and add the minced beef. Cook the beef until almost done, then mix with the onion and garlic.
6. Add the tomato sauce of your liking, correct the seasonings and add the bay leaves and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes or so (until thickened a bit).
7. Pour minced been tomato sauce over pasta, sprinkle some freshly grated parmessan cheese and bake in oven for 20 minutes or even the top becomes golden brown.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Eggplant x 2 pc
Zucchini x 2 pc
Grated Parmesan Cheese x 1 bag
Grated Morzarella Cheese x 1 bag
Tomato Sauce (buy a brand you like. For can type, use 2 cans, for bottle type, use 1 bottle. I personally prefer the japanese brand γγδΈ. For Italian bottle type, Bertoli Tomato with Sweet Basil is also good)
Onion x 1 - minced
Garlic x a few pieces - pressed
How to make:
1. Preheat over to 190'C
2. Clean eggplant and zucchini and wipe dry and cut them into slices.
3. Pan fried eggplant and zucchini with olive oil ina few batches, making sure you turn on each side unitl both sides are a little bit brown and soft.
4. Drain them in kitchen towel.
5. Fry the pressed garlic in olive oil, then add the minced onion until they are soft and fragrant. Then add the tomato sauce. Whichever brand you use, do some tastings and correct seasonings to your likings. eg. adding a bit of ketchup, salt and sugar.
6. Using a over proof dish, add some cooked tomato sauce on the base, then add a layer of eggplant, then sprinkle some parmesan cheese. Then another layer of tomato suace, a layer of zucchini, then sprinkle some morzarella cheese...repeat you are done with all your ingredients. Best to reserve some cheese as the top layer.
7. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
* if prefer less sweet cheesecake, all the sugar measurements below can be reduced a bit.
Base:
85g butter (at room temperature or use melted butter, both ok)
168g digestive biscuits (or just 1 pack of the McVities Digestive Biscuits)
3 tbsp caster sugar
Filling:
168g curd cheese (or a box of the Philadelphia Soft Cheese)
1 egg
4 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 lemon juice
Topping:
10 fl oz sour cream (or a box of the Diary Farm Sour Cream)
2 tbsp caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
How to make this:
1. Preheat over to 180'C.
2. Grease cake tin with butter.
3. Crush digestive biscuits by putting biscuits into a ziploc bag (do it in a few times), put a towel on top of ziploc bag, and use a rolling pin or something hard to crush the biscuits on top of the towel. Sieve the crushed biscuits and discard the unseived biscuits (i.e. the coaser part) for other purpose (eg. feeding your four-legged friends!).
4. Add sugar and butter to the crushed biscuits, mix well and press into cake tin base. (just press well but not too hard, otherwise, difficult to cut after baking)
5. Prepare filling by beating cheese with egg, sugar, vanilla essence and lemon juice by electric whisk. Pour onto cake base (can gently drop the cake tin on table top a few times to ensure filling are evenly coated on top of the cake base and in the same level). Bake cake for 30 min. Take out and cool for 5 min at room temperature.
6. While cooling, reduce oven temperature to 160'C. Mix sugar with sour cream and vanilla essence and pour over cheesecake.
7. Bake for 10 min. Leave too cool, chill before serving.
Variation for Blueberry cheesecake:
a. Buy a box of blueberries, wash and wipe dry.
b. Crush them in a blender.
c. Sieve out the fine juice from the extracts from the blender.
d. Mix the fine blueberry juice with the cheese filling in step 5 above before pouring on top of cake base.
-> this photo is taken after the chese filling is baked and waiting for the sour cream top to be placed on top before the last baking of 10 min.
ENJOY!!
* original receipe from Margaret Fulton
Ingredients:
3 eggs, with egg yolks and egg whites separated
1/2 cup caster sugar (if prefer sweeter, than use 1 cup sugar)
2 tbsp sifted cocoa
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup cream, whipped (if prefer roulade with more cream, then use 1 cup cream)
fresh strawberries cut into small pieces
How to Make:
1. Preheat overn to 180'C.
2. Line a swiss roll tin with baking paper.
3. Beat the egg yolks with electric whisk until thick and creamy.
4. Gradually beat in sugar and vanilla essence.
5. Sift cocoa then fold into the egg yolk mixture with a spatular.
6. Beat egg whites with electric whisk until soft peaks form and fold immediately into the cocoa mixture.
7. Pour at once into the prepared swiss roll tin and bake for 15 mins.
8. Take out from oven to cool down.
9. At the same time, prepare another swiss roll tin with a baking paper on top, sprinkle with either caster sugar or icing sugar.
10. Whip cream with an electric whisk until the cream looks like ribbons, mix with the chopped strawberries.
11. Turn the baked chocolate roulade into the new swiss roll tin covered with baking paper and icing sugar (with the top side now facing the down side of the new swiss roll tin). Gently remove the baking sheet from the baked choclate roulade.
12. Gently scatter the strawberry cream mixture on top of the chocolate roulade.
13. Making use of the new baking top on the bottom of the tin, gently roll up the chocolate roulade with the strawberry cream mixture, then place inside an airtight box and chill in refrigerator.
ENJOY~
