Lamb Shoulder For Xmas Meal

I handed over the cooking to the hubby for our Xmas eve dinner. He is best in cooking lamb especially on cast iron pan. I bought the Lodge Cast Iron pan when I retired 7 years ago and it is serving us well. We love to cook meat using the CI pan. It helps seal the juice in the meat and cooks evenly . The lamb shoulder was well cooked. So tender and moist. But most importantly, the special sauce is the highlight of this  CI pan cooked lamb shoulder. So tasty and delicious that I wanna share here with my readers. Hope you guys will like it too.

Just look at the cooked lamb, tender and moist

Marinate the lamb meat for 5 hrs or overnight in fridge

Ingredients for the marinade sauce

1:1:1:1:1 ratio

Minced garlic

Oyster sauce

Thai sweet Chilli sauce

Ketchup

olive oil 

Enjoy!

Danish Butter Cookies

Time flies, it is Christmas again. I didn't bake any cake this year. Last year I baked a Burnt Cheesecake but this year ,I baked some look alike Danish Butter Cookies . I googled for one and just trusting it will not failed but somehow the cookies tasted good but the shape is definitely out. But we are not letting the shape spoil the joyous Christmas mood. This recipe is taken from youtuber Little Duck's Kitchen . I adjusted the icing sugar by 30percent as hubby doesn't like it too sweet. It turned out ,just the piping out was a bit hard. First time making it. I guess practice makes perfect applies here. It should look like a rosette . Tip given is after piping out the rosette, chill the cookies in fridge for 10mins before baking at preheated 180C for clearer pattern after baking. Thanks for the tip given by LDK. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS !

I enjoyed piping out the soft dough

using 1M nozzle

I baked at 190c for 20 mins rotating the tray every five mins. My oven temp is a bit crazy :)

Ingredients

250gm SCS salted butter

130gm icing sugar - (I reduce 40 percents)

1egg

1tsp vanilla extract

270 gm cake flour

70 gm corn flour

20gm milk powder

Method to follow you tuber LDK

Matcha Glutinous Rice Balls / Tang Yuan

Today is Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, the onset of winter the following day. The day will be longer and night shorter. And Chinese around the world celebrate with making and eating Glutinous Rice Balls / Tang Yuan. A very important and big day for the Chinese. These Glutinous Rice Balls are made of Glutinous Rice flour and warm water for a gooey and chewy texture ( like mochi ) with a peanut butter filling and served with sweet soup. Matcha Glutinous Rice Balls ,so yummy good. First time making this Matcha balls. It is fragrant and texture is smooth with the peanut butter bursting in the mouth with every bite. For the not overly sweet soup , I used scewpine leaf and honeycomb sugar . So good. I served the Glutinous Rice Balls with sweet soup from a sake jar just for fun. 

the peanut butter fillings bursting in the mouth with every bite...so good!

before wrapping the filling, freeze the peanut butter filling for a few mins for easy wrapping 

the right texture for the matcha dough shld look like this as shown here. Add in water slowly to get the right texture...not too wet nor too dry. Cover the dough with a damp cloth when not using

 I used NikoNeko Matcha powder

Recipe: 10 pieces

1/2 cup glutinous rice flour

1/2 tbsp matcha powder

1/3 cup or more warm water

Filling

2 tbsp of Skippy Chunky Peanut Butter - freeze for 5 mins -shape them into tiny bit balls  

Method:

Mix glutinous rice flour and matcha powder evenly in a small mixing bowl. Slowly add in warm water and using a spatula, gently stir until you get a soft dough yet not too wet. The amt of water is just a rough guide. Cover with damp cloth if not using to prevent dough from drying . Divide dough into ten equal portions. Shape into  round balls. Gently press down and flatten dough and place the peanut butter filling  in the center and shape into a round ball again. Repeat till all balls are done and ready for cooking. Place the balls in the fridge while waiting for the sweet soup to be ready.

To prepare the sweet soup

Boil screwpine and honeycomb sugar with 2 cups of water. Once the honey comb has dissolved. Off heat. 

To cook the Glutinous Rice Balls

Boil a pot of water. Once water boil,  gently add in the balls into the boiling water. Once the balls starts floating, it means they are cooked. Use a slated spoon to scoop up the balls. Add the cooked balls into the sweet soup. They are ready for serving.

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE 

Red Lentil Burger

I have been wanting to try eating healthy and the possibility of adding more plant based protein into my diet starting 2023.  Cutting down on meat protein and seafood such as prawns and squid and oysters will be in my wish list for 2023. For a start, I tried making burgers from red lentils and really it was delicious, flavourful and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. There are many red lentil burgers on the internet. I chose one that is easy to prepare and oven baked for a healthier version. A keeper for sure. 

I can make 4 burgers from one recipe

the slightly sticky texture after blitzing in a food processor makes it easy for shaping

the ingredients in this burger mixture are red lentils, carrot, onions, sawtooth coriander, garlic and seasoning of my choice ( smoked paprika , black pepper, and salt )

a food processor is a must have in my kitchen..my useful helper

Red Lentil Burger - makes 4 piece

Ingredients:

red lentils - soaked for 3 hours, drain dry

Half carrot- cut into small chunks

6 Sawtooth coriander

4 shallots

3cloves of garlic

1.5 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp smoked paprika

A dash of black pepper

Salt to taste

Blitz the ingredients above in a food processor until you get the right texture. Not too fine. Divide into 4 portions and shape them into burger size.

Line a greaseproof paper on a baking tray . Brush paper with olive oil. Place the burgers on the baking tray and bake for 20 to 25 mins.  Flip burgers over and further bake another 5 mins @200 C.

Take out once the burgers aregolden brown and crisps.

Curry Fish Head Mamak Style

My favourite curry is the Curry Fish Head Mamak Style. Hot spicy and the fragrance from Halba Campur ( Mix Fenugreek) makes the curry tasty and delicious. This curry is easy to whip up and had it cooked in 50 mins. I used Alagappa's Fish Curry powder. I find the taste more authentic for Mamak  Style curry. Vegetables I used for the curry are just okras and fresh tomatoes. 

delicious curry to serve to loved ones

Okras and tomatoes goes well with this curry

Halba Campur are mix fenugreek seeds

Curry Fish Head Mamak Style

Ingredients 

1 med sized fish head

8 Okras

5 tomatoes - cut into wedges

4 tbsp Alagappa's Fish Curry powder ( mix with 2 tbsp of water into a paste)

1tbsp of ground dried chilli

6 shallots- sliced

1 clove garlic - chopped

2 slices of ginger

1sprig of curry leaves

2tbsp of Halba Campur

1cup of thick coconut milk

2 cups water

2 tbsp tamarind paste

5 tbsp of cooking oil

Method:

1. Pour 5 tbsp of cooking oil into pot and saute shallots , ginger , garlic curry leaf and curry powder and chilli paste till fragrant. 

2. Add in Halba Campur and add in thick coconut , tamarind paste and water. Once it boil ,add in fish head . Add in Okras and tomatoes and simmer under med low heat. Once the curry is boiling, add salt to taste. Off heat and serve with rice.

Vanilla Apricot Ice Cream With Butterscotch Caramel Sauce Topping

Ice cream is mostly everyone's favourite . Adults and kids alike just love them. Me, is one big fan of homemade ones. Why? Reason being I can control the amount of sugar and I can have whatever flavours I like. Having a ice cream machine makes making ice cream easier. Lessen steps and the ice cream turns out more smoother too. This time, I made Vanilla Apricot Ice Cream and top with Butterscotch Caramel Sauce. So good. A pair made in heaven. I used canned apricot as fresh apricot not in season . Anyway canned one taste just as good. 

 

Smooth and creamy texture

topped with butterscotch caramel sauce

always thaw the ice cream for 2mins for easy scooping

I always prepare a jar of butterscotch caramel sauce for ice cream

vanilla beans from the vanilla extract

put them into the milk and heavy cream for the vanilla flavours

Vanilla Apricot Ice Cream With Butterscotch Caramel Sauce Topping

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup  milk

3/4 cup sugar ( I reduce to 1/2 cup sugar )

1 can of Apricot

1 tbsp of vanilla extract 

Method:

Combine the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla extract  in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring , to dissolve the sugar. Place the pan in the ice bath and stir occasionally until it cools to room temperature. Transfer to a container , cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled about 3 hours.

About an hour before you churn the ice cream, add in the chopped and blended Apricots mixture.  Freeze in ice maker according to the manufacture's instruction. Transfer to a container and freeze until firm about 2 hours. Serve with Butterscotch Caramel Sauce.

Butterscotch Caramel Sauce

4 tbsp of unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 tsp flaky salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

1tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, once butter melted, stir in dark brown sugar, salt and heavy cream. 2. Keep stirring with a rubber stapula until well blended for 4 to 5 mins. Scraping the sides occasionally.

3. Remove the mixture from the heat, add in the vanilla extract. Once cooled you can add in a tsp of whiskey if you like ( optional ) 

4. Store in glass jar. It will thicken once cooled. Can store in fridge and reheat in microwave.