Almond Dessert Soup

* this recipe is from the aunt of my friend Helen. A wonderful receipe indeed.

Ingredients:
4 tael south almonds
1/2 tael north almonds
2 tbsp rice
4oz sugar (or rock sugar)
6 cups water
1 cup milk
3 egg white (optional)
** must have is a cloth bag (best to have this bag made with "dick kok leung" fabric)

How to Make:

1. Rinse almonds and soak them with 2 cups of hot water until soft.

2. Rinse rice and soak them with 1 cup of hot water until soft.

3. Pour almonds and the soaking water to blender and blend until all smooth - in a few batches.

4. Pour the almond mixture from blender through the cloth bag and squeeze out all almond juice to a pot - do it in a few batches.

5. Pour rice mixture to the blender and blend until all smooth. Add this rice mixture from blender to the same pot with the almond mixture through a few sieve.
6. Add 3 cups of water to the same pot and bring to boil.

7. Add milk and sugar to the pot and when bubbles form around the edges, turn to low heat and adjust tastings.

8. Add the egg whites to the pot, leave them inside the dessert soup for a short while, then use a whisk to break up the cooked egg whites. (if you whisk all egg whites first before you pour into the dessert soup, very likely you are not able to see and eat the egg whites as they should have mostly dissovled!)

enjoy~

Tiramisu

* receipe adopted from Antonio Carluccio's "Simple Cooking".
* a must try receipe which is easy and mouth-watering!


Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
vanilla esence
400g mascarphone cheese
80ml cream
milk
300ml expresso coffee
3-4tbsp Kahlua or Tia Maria
18 ladyfinger biscuits
cocoa powder

How to Make:
1. make the expresso coffee and let it cool down.

2. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks and 80g caster sguar and a few drops of vanilla essence together until smooth.

3. In a second larger bowl, mix the mascarpone cheese with the cream to make it thinner and smooth.

4. Pour the egg mixture to the cheese mixture and beat until all combined and mix well. Should the mixture be too dense and thick, then add a little bit of milk. If the mixture is too light, then add some more mascarphone cheese. Taste it and see if the mixture is tasty enough!

5. Mix coffee with your liquer and the remaining 20g caster sugar in a third bowl.

6. Lightly dip the ladyfinger biscuits with the coffee and line these bicuits on the bottom of the dessert container (a glass rectangular container or individual dessert bowls). Then add a layer of the cheese mixture, then sprinkle some cocoa powder on top. Then another layer of the biscuits dipped with coffee, then another layer of the mascarphone cheese, then cocoa powder, until all materials used up.

7. Cover and chill in fridge until ready to serve.

Best with a glass at Amaretto!

Enjoy!

Italian Meatballs with pasta

I watched a TV program at TLC with an Italian chef making these meatballs sauce, saying that this is the dish for almost all Italian families on Sunday lunch. Looks easy at TV and therefore tried to make one for Chung's family Sunday lunch too. At the end, it's all ok, just a bit of work to do! But worth trying.

Ingredients:

Braising Sauce:
Spare ribs
Beef ribs
Onion x 1 - minced
Garlic x 3 cloves - pressed
Fresh Tomatoes x 3 - de-skin and de-seed, then minced
Italian Tin Peeled Tomatoes x 2 to 3 cans
herbs you like - thymes or rosemary or both
Chicken Broth
salt and pepper and sugar

Meatballs:
Minced Beef x approx 200g
Minced Pork x approx 200g
Minced Chicken or Veal x approx 200g
fresh white bread x 1 pc soaked with water
breadcrumbs x 1 to 2 cups
1 to 2 eggs
garlic x 3-4 cloves - minced
italian parsley - minced
grated parmesan cheese

How to Make:

Braising Sauce
1. Wash and dry your pork ribs and beef ribs.

2. Then heat up a frying pan and pan fried the  ribs until evenly browned. Take out and drain the extra oil on kitchen towel.

3. Heat up another braising pot which can hold all your ribs. Pan fried the minced onion onion and garlic until fragrant, then add the tomatoes and the tin tomatoes and the ribs. Then add some water or chicken stock until all ribs are under the liquid. Add the herbs you like (thymes, rosemary, salt and pepper) in a herb bag and bring to boil. Then turn to medium to medium low heat. The pork ribs should be soft enough in 1.5 hr while the beef ribs in about 2 hrs. Check from time to time so that the meat still slings on to the bones but tender enough. Once the pork ribs are tender enough, remove them from the braising pot first to avoid over cooking.

4. If the ribs are fatty, there are bound to be oil. Best to remove it by skimming it after it cools down and you remove the meat but just the sauce remaining.

5. Season the braising sauce with salt, black pepper and sugar and adjust accordingly as per your taste.

Meatballs
1. Mix the 3 types of minced meat together and marinate with salt, pepper, sugar and corn flour.

2. Slightly soak 1 pc of white bread in water and use your hand to tear it into smaller pieces and add to the minced meat.

3. Add the minced garlic, 1 egg, minced parlsey and the breadcrumbs and use your hand to mix it all up, then lastly add the grated parmesan cheese.

4. If you feel the mixture is too dry, then add another egg. If you feel the mixture is too wet, add another spoonful of breadcrumbs until you feel the consistency of the mixture is balanced.

5. Then use a tablespoon to scoop out mixture and roll it between the palms of your hands until it becomes like a golf ball. Line them up in a plate and sprinkle with some cornflour on top.

6. Re-heat the braising sauce and keep it at low fire.

7. Heat up a frying pan, add olive oil enough to pan fried the meatballs. Pan-fried them in batches until golden in the outer surface, drain the oil in kitchen towel, then add these meatballs to the braising sauce for 30 -45min.

8. Best to prepare your favourite pasta separately. Sprinkle some grated parmesan cheese on top.

Ready to serve, with a glass of Moscato perhaps!

Enjoy!

Chinese 1-2-3-4-5 Spareribs

This is a dish every chinese should know how to make and it's super easy to make too. Best to go with rice!

Ingredients:
Spareribs cut into 1.5" each
1tbsp - wine
2tbsp light soy sauce
2tbsp dark soy sauce
3tbsp brown vinegar
4tbsp sugar
5tbsp water

* depending on how many spareribs you have, if after placing all the above ingredients into a pot, it is not sufficient to cover all your spareribs, either add water to make sure all spareribs are just covered or double the above ingredients.

How to Make:

1. Wash the spareribs, drain and then blanch in hot water for 10 min. Remove from pot.

2. Add the spareribs to a new pot, then add the above ingredients and bring to a boil. Then turn to medium heat and braised for approx 30-45min. checking it from time to time to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom.

3. after approx 30-45min, check is spareribs are soft enough by poking a chopstick inside the meat. If sounds tender to you, then check taste of sauce and adjust to your likings (eg. if not sweet enough, then add a bit more sugarm if not sour enough, then add some vinegar, etc). 

3. When the meat and taste of sauce all ok, then check if sauce is thick enough to your likings. If not, then turn on the fire a bit more until sauce thickens.

Serve with hot rice and enjoy!