Thai Pork Toast (Khanom Pang Na Moo)

 This snack is so addictive ^^, a bit spicy, crunchy around the edge and soft in the center, you will eating it continuously.

Murtabak: Delicious street food at home

I love food that's full of spice, not only when eating but cooking is fun too.

Caramel Rusk: Snack time!

 I really wanted to make this snack about a year ago when I went to Kyoto, the one that I bought from the shop is so delicious.

Chicken curry puff: Crisp and flaky snack!

Fried food is my weak point, haha, I really can't help but eat them all, and I know that most of us are the same. 

You asked for it: Home made Cornflakes crunch

 It looks like food for children, but if you try it you will know that it suits everyone.

Sandy Macadamia: Additive snack for you!

 This is one of my favorite snack, ^^ sweet and salty macadamia nuts, well I never know that it's not hard to make at home. Sandy Macadamia, is a roasted macadamia nut that cover with caramelized sugar and but the sugar has been crystallized by stirring, it will turn back into a sand like texture.

Delicious Pancake, Simply the best!!!!

 I don't believe that we really need something fancy to be happy, even you know that I love to make some fancy dessert haha. But there's a time that all I want is a simple and delicious dessert to brighten me up ^^.

Chicken Farm Bakers' Project #5: Finger Food Party, Mini Polenta Muffins with Prawns and Dill Mayonnaise

This recipe is the only savory one from: Chicken Farm Bakers' Project #5: Let's Celebrate Finger Food Party. I choose this recipe from the reason that it can be prepared ahead ! It's good when you have to make many items at the same times.

When you have a party, it's will be less stress if you don't have to make all the thing in one day.

This muffin is very easy to make, all you have to do is mix all the things up in a bowl, and that is. If you prepare the muffin ahead you just need a little bit of time to make the dill mayonnaise (which is easy, too) and cook the prawns.
I bought this book: Nibbled: 200 Fabulous Finger Food Ideas (Murdoch Party Food) a long time ago but this is the first time for me to try the recipe, and I love it. Actually I love everything in mini size, so this book has a lot of small version of food and sweet, and this time I have to say "Thank You" for my dear friend who host this month project, I really happy making it.

Adaptation From: Nibbled: 200 Fabulous Finger Food Ideas (Murdoch Party Food)

Mini Polenta Muffins with Prawns and Dill Mayonnaise

Makes 30

Muffin
250 g	plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
110 g	polenta
1 tablespoon	baking powder
½ tsp	salt
55 g	sugar
2	eggs, lightly beaten
125 g	butter, melted
250 ml	milk
Dill mayonnaise
3 tablespoons	finely chopped dill
1 tablespoon	lemon juice
½ tsp	Mustard powder
375 g	whole-egg mayonnaise
30	small cooked prawns (shrimp)

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6) and lightly grease 30 mini muffin holes. Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the polenta, baking powder, sugar and salt and mix together well. Add the egg, butter and milk and stir until just combined.

Spoon small amounts into the muffin holes, filling to the top. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Turn onto a cake rack to cool.

Mix together the dill, lemon juice, mustard and mayonnaise, and season with plenty of salt and black pepper.

When the muffins are cool, cut a circle from the top then spoon some of the muffin out, and spoon a little dill mayonnaise on the muffin.

Top with a prawn and some freshly ground black pepper.

Chicken Farm Bakers' Project #5:
Mini Polenta Muffin with Prawn and Dill Mayonnaise

Parmesan Grissini – Italian Parmesan Bread Sticks

This grissini has its own charm, who can resist the salty sweet smell of the Parmesan, I can’t. I make it many times; this special recipe is from one of my beloved books: ......................(I once wrote about it, you can read about it here). It will stay crisp long after baking (this bread stick is a bit dry, you can put it in a long glass and place it in the room, mine stays crisp for day).The key ingredient of this grissini is the Parmesan cheese, but don’t use the one in a green bottle (you know it!), use the real Parmesan cheese and freshly grate it. I must admit that I try to make it by using that green bottle parmesan once and the result was unacceptable, so this is my warning sign. The dough is so easy to work with and it will be easier if you use a stand mixer, but when using a stand mixer for kneading, you may need about 2-3 tbsp of water because the dough will be quite dry.

Parmesan Grissini – Italian Parmesan Bread Sticks

Makes about 25 grissini (25 cm long)

50g	unsalted butter
200g	whole milk
10g	fresh yeast (or 1¼ tsp instant yeast)
375g	strong white bread flour or Italian 00 (doppio zero) flour
3 generous tablespoons	grated Parmesan
10g	fine salt
	Olive oil for brushing

Melt the butter in a pan, add the in milk and heat it gently until it just feels warm to the fingertips (37-40°C). Whisk in the yeast.

Put the flour, Parmesan and salt in a bowl, then add a little of the milk mixture at a time, mixing it in well with your hands until it forms a dough. Alternatively, mix in a food processor (stand mixer), with a dough hook, for 3 minutes on the first speed, then 6 minutes on the next speed.

Turn the dough out on a clean work surface (you don’t need any flour or oil), and dimple and fold. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 230°C, gas 8.

Repeat the dimpling and folding process and leave for another 30 minutes, again covered with the tea towel.

Cut the dough in half lengthways; flour your work surface and roll each piece out into a big rectangle.

Cut the dough across its width into strips about 1cm wide - you can use a sharp knife against a clean plastic ruler.

Roll each strip with your fingertips, starting at the center and moving outwards in three movements, stretching the dough slightly as you roll. Press each end lightly with your thumb, to make an ‘ear’ shape. Lay on a non-stick baking sheet and leave to rest for 10 minutes, brush lightly with olive oil before baking.

Turn the oven down to 180°C, gas 4 and bake for 10-15 minutes until crisp arid lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Small Batch Vanilla Scented Yeast Doughnuts

I always think about fried doughnut as a kind of comfort food (or you can say that I love all fried food, haha, and they all give me a comfort feeling). Fried yeast doughnuts are childhood favorite, but the purchased one is not good enough to satisfy me, so I have to make it by myself, I don’t say that this is the best recipe but it’s easiest both to make and to eat. I follow the recipe from ................... but I adjust the recipe a little bit because I want my doughnut to be special. So, I use vanilla scented sugar instead of the plain sugar to give the doughnut a lovely fragrance and increase the amount of the sugar (this is very strange for me, usually I reduce it, but a little bit sweeter is great for this one). You can use plain sugar and add 1 tsp of the vanilla extract to the dough instead if you don’t have vanilla scented sugar.

The doughnut is great while still warm, and beware you may need more than one.

Small Batch Vanilla Scented Yeast Doughnuts

Makes about 6-8 pieces (use 6.5cm doughnut cutter)

150 g	Bread flour
30 g	Cake flour
15 g	Unsalted butter
1	Egg
70 ml	Milk
2 tbsp	VANILLA-SCENTED SUPERFINE SUGAR
1 tbsp	Dried milk powder
¾ tsp	Instant Yeast
¼ tsp	Salt
	Oil for frying
	VANILLA-SCENTED SUPERFINE SUGAR For coating the donut

Mix together egg, and milk, set aside.

Put both of kinds of the flour, the sugar, dried milk powder and yeast in a bowl, whisk to combine, add and salt whisk again. Pour the egg and milk mixture into the bowl.

Use large spoon (or pastry scraper) to mix everything together, and knead briefly to bring all the ingredients together.

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead, you will see the dough will be elastic after about 2 minutes.

Add the butter and knead (see the picture in Hand knead bread making - How to) by using the heel of your hands to compress and push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself. Give the dough a little turn and repeat. Put the weight of your body into the motion and get into a rhythm. Keep folding over and compressing the dough. Knead for 6-8 minutes or until the dough is soft, pliable, smooth and slightly shiny, almost satiny.

Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size (can be 1 hour or 1 hour and a half check often depend on the temperature).

Take the dough out of the bowl, deflate by touch it lightly.

Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to 1.5 cm thick on a floured surface. Cut out dough using a 6.5 cm doughnut cutter. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oil in a deep fryer to 170°C. Gently place the doughnuts into the oil. Cook until golden on both sides, then remove to drain on paper towels. Place the doughnut in the bowl of sugar, turn to coat the doughnut with the sugar, transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan.

Dorayaki for my Doraemon

If you ever read Japanese comic (Manga), you may know about this sweet treat, which is the favorite of Doraemon (ドラえもん, the cute robotic cat, who has a lot of gadgets which can solve many problem for Nobita), and my favorite, too.

I like to make it myself than purchasing it, because my Dorayaki doesn’t has any chemical taste, and it’s more delicious when freshly make (plus, I can put the feeling more or less up to my mood). It’s easy to make if you know how to make a pancake, it’s almost the same. The different is the sweetness and honey fragrance, plus the filling (a sweet azuki bean paste, which you can buy at supermarket or make it by yourself). Due to a lot of sugar in the batter, the pancake will brown quickly so watch carefully and use low heat to prevent burning.

Dorayaki

Makes 6

120 g	Cake flour (sifted)
2	Egg
100 g	Sugar
1 tbsp	Honey
50 ml	Water
	Oil for frying
360 g	Sweetened red bean paste

Beat the egg and sugar until thick and light in color and add the honey, beat to combine.

Mix the water, whisk to combine follow by the flour and whisk to combine.

Tap the bowl to release some air from the batter, cover with cloth and let the batter rest for 30 minutes.

Stir the batter lightly to loosen it.

Fry the pancake over low heat, when the pancake has bubble all over, flip the pancake. And fry the other side until golden.

Place the pancake on the wire rack until finish with all the batter.

Spread the red bean paste on one pancake cover it with another to make a sandwich.

Chinese Steamed Buns with Minced Pork

Not too easy but not hard to make if you know how to knead bread, this is a simple meal by itself, and delicious too. This one of my favorite from childhood time, we usually have these buns on festival or family gathering, talking, eating and drinking tea, what a lovely day (even I finished consuming too many buns, I still love it). This is quite a huge recipe for a small family so I include the half recipe so you can make and enjoy them without having too much left because this bun is more delicious when freshly made. And when you have a lot of creativity, you can use other kind of filling, like custard, shrimp, sweet bean paste and etc. So, don’t be timid, give it a try and you will love to have a little ethic bun at home (and you make it by yourself too).

Note: It will be good if you can find pastry flour because the pastry flour will give the right among of gluten in this recipe but you can use half cake flour and half all purpose flour instead of the pastry flour.

Chinese Steamed Buns with Minced Pork

Makes about 35-37 for large recipe or 17-19 for small recipe

Sponge
Large	Small
375 g	190 g	Pastry flour
10 g / 1tbsp	5 g / ½ tbsp	Instant yeast
10 g / 1tbsp	5 g / ½ tbsp	Sugar
225 g / 1cup	113 g / ½ cup	Water

Sift the flour, and combine flour and yeast.

Dissolve the sugar in the water and pour into flour mixture, mix until soft and smooth (picture 1).

Let the sponge rise for 60 minutes, the sponge will be almost double in volume (picture 2).

It will look like a sponge (picture 3).

While waiting for the sponge to be ready, make the minced pork filling.

Minced pork filling
Large	Small
300 g	150 g	Minced pork
225 g	115 g	whole water chestnuts, finely diced
20 g	10 g	Sugar
½ tsp	¼ tsp	Salt
2 tbsp	1 tbsp	Soy sauce
2 tbsp	1 tbsp	Oyster sauce
1 tbsp	½ tbsp	Sesame oil
2 tsp	1 tsp	Grounded pepper
1 tsp	½ tsp	Corn starch
2	1	Spring onions (chopped)
2	1	Dried shitake (soaked and chopped into small pieces)

Put the minced pork in a bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle and beat until sticky, put all the ingredients except shitake and spring onion and beat to combine.

Mix the shitake and spring onion into the pork mixture, beat to combine.

Cut into portion (it will be easier to put the filling in a pan and cut into portion).

Cover with the plastic wrap and put in the fridge until use.

Dough
Large	Small
150 g	75 g	Pastry flour
5 g / 2 tsp	2.5 g/ 1 tsp	Baking powder
40 g	20 g	Water
100 g	50 g	Sugar
4 g / 1 tsp	2 g / ½ tsp	Salt
50 g	25 g	Vegetable oil
		Sponge

Sift together flour and baking powder into a bowl and mix in the sugar and salt; make a well in the center.

Pour the water into the center and place the sponge on top and mix to combine.

Pour the vegetable oil on top and knead to combine.

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead until smooth and elastic.

Then cut into pieces (you can weight and cut into pieces or cut into 30g/ piece: about 35-37 for large recipe and 17-19 for small recipe). Roll the dough into a ball.

Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand into a 3" diameter circle. Place a filling mixture in center of each dough round, and gather up edges to enclose filling, twisting edges together and pressing to seal and place over paper baking cup. Repeat with remaining dough and filling, covering buns with plastic wrap.

Let the buns rise until double in volume, about 30 minutes.

Cook in a steamer for about 12 minutes taking care to leave each bun enough space to expand. Do not open the steamer while the buns are cooking. Serve warm.

Adaptation from this web forum (in Thai language)

April 2008 Daring Bakers Challenge #18: Cheesecake Pops

Ok, I’m so late, but today is still in April, please forgive me. I always forget to see the post date, and this is my second time (the first is last month, but I made it, almost late). But for this month I can’t post in the 27 of April because I still didn’t made it, and this recipe need a lot of time from start to finish so it take me 2 days to finish. This recipe is from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth by Jill O’Connor (this book appear so many times in my blog, and I really love it), the lovely and cute cheesecake pops. It’s a great challenge for me at this time, the result is delicious, and I think you should try this at home, too.

Cheesecake Pops

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages	cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups	sugar
¼ cup	all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon	salt
5	large eggs
2	egg yolks
2 teaspoons	pure vanilla extract
¼ cup	heavy cream
	Boiling water as needed
	Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound	chocolate, finely chopped– you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)
2 tablespoons	vegetable shortening

Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) – Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Curry Puff

This is the recipe that my sister (who live in UK. and may miss the taste of it) asks for it, I have to test it before so now it’s your recipe.
For other people who may not know curry puff, it is a savory treat, the shell is formed by layering two different dough, one is lean and the other one is rich. So when fry the shell will be crispy. In Thailand the curry puff is a famous souvenir from Saraburi Province. But today we will make it at home and it’s can become your famous savory treat too.

Curry Puff

(Makes 30)

Filling

Oil 15 ml

Potato (½ inch dice) 250 g

Onion (½ inch dice) 150 g

Carrot (½ inch dice) 100 g

Sugar 15 g

Soy Sauce 15 ml

Curry Powder 2 tsp

Pepper 1/2 tsp

Salt ⅛ tsp

(You can season according to taste.)

First make the filling by steam the carrot and potato together, when done set aside.

Set the pan over medium heat; pour the oil and sauté the onion until fragrant and soft. Put the carrot and potato into the pan and sauté a little, put all the condiment in the pan, adjust the taste with salt and pepper (or you can add more of anything, it’s your recipe, I just give you a guideline). After that set aside because you will make a shell now.

Shell

-Outer Dough

All purpose flour (sifted) 290 g

Sugar 2 tbsp

Cold water 125 ml

Salt 1 tsp

Oil 100 ml

-Inner Dough

All purpose flour 150 g

Oil 60 ml

Oil for frying the curry puff.

Note on oil: use unflavor oil like soy or corn.

Make the outer dough by mix the flour and the oil together, until the flour is moisten. Add the sugar and salt in the water, whisk to combine then pour into the flour mixture. Knead until soft and pliable. Cut into 15 pieces (about 30 g/ piece). Cover with damp cloth.

Make the outer dough by mix the flour and the oil together, knead until smooth. Cut into 15 pieces (about 13 g/ piece).

Now we are going to make the shell.

Pat the outer dough into a small circle, put the inner dough on top of the outer dough pat a little and cover the inner dough with the outer dough.

With the rolling pin, roll out the dough into an oval shape. Roll the dough by the small side into a cylinder.

With the rolling pin, roll out the dough into a long rectangular. Roll the dough by the small side into a cylinder again, this time roll tightly.

Cut the dough in half, you will have 2 shells now. With the rolling pin, roll out the dough into a small circle; try to be gentle or you will tear the dough.

Put about ½ - 1tsp of the filling into the shell, fold in half and fold the rim of the dough to seal.

Do the same with all the remaining dough.

Fill large pan with oil, heat to medium.

Fry the curry puff until golden, and enjoy the curry puff while still warm.

Caramel corn

My sisters really want to eat it and ask me to make a real (good?) caramel corn. So I search for the recipe on the internet and voilla, it came from one of my favorite blogs “The Amateur gourmet”. But you know that my problem of the sugar still persist because from the original recipe the corn came out too sweet to enjoy them often, so I decided to reduce the sugar. This is the result that I hope that you will like it as well. I make them almost every week now because my sisters can finish it real fast.

Caramel corn

Unsalted butter 100 g
Corn syrup 100 g
Baking soda ¼ tsp
Brown sugar 100 g
Salt 1 tsp
Vanilla ½ tsp

Popped corn 15 c

Heat the oven to 150°C.

Melt the butter, stir in the corn syrup, sugar and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil stirring constantly. Boil without stirring for 4 minutes (I find it burned if boiling too long). Remove from the heat, stir in the soda and vanilla (it will foams!). Pour the mixture over the popped corn immediately (it’s will harden if you wait for too long) and mix well. Spread the coated corn into large cake pans and bake for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them cool, the corn will be crisp.

If you want the original recipe just click here.