Creamy Pork Chop

Found Sunny's Creamy Chicken Pork Chop from Allrecipe. The first time I cooked that, the pork was a little tough and the gravy was salty. So I tweaked the recipe this morning.

Changes that I had made to the recipe were:
1. Substitute Cream of Mushroom for Cream of Chicken.
2. Additional ingredients: half a can of water, 1 carrot and about 2 tbsp of MasterFoods Honey Mustard.
3. Simmer pork chops in slow cooker.

The final result was tender and tasty pork chops. The gravy was great for the Whipped Mashed Potatoes.



Creamy Pork Chop

Serves 4

Ingredients:
6 pcs of pork chops
1 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, slice
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot, cut whichever way you like
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1/2 can water (use Cream of Mushroom can to measure)
1/2 can chicken broth (I used Swanson brand)
abt 2 tbsp of MasterFoods Honey Mustard
pepper


Method:

Heat oil in a non-stick pan, sauté garlic and white onion till translucent. Remove.

Add pork chops and brown abt 5 mins on each side.

In a large bowl, whisk together cream of mushroom, water, chicken broth and honey mustard to form a mixture.

Pour mixture to the pork chops in the pan. Add the carrot and pepper. Bring to boil.

Put all the above into the slow cooker. Simmer for about 2-1/2 to 3 hours in the slow cooker. (I used high heat for 2-1/2 hr)

Serve with rice, pasta or mashed potatoes.

Note from the original reciep: This dish can also be made with chicken instead of pork; either whole pieces, or chunks, simply adjust cooking time accordingly. Use Cream of Chicken when cook with chicken.

Tazz's Note: When cook with chicken, don't have to simmer in slow cooker, just simmer in the pan, like the original recipe.

Fantastic Cheesecake

Went to Tampines Mall and there was a sale by Popular Bookshop. After browsing through, finally bought Fastastic Cheesecake by Alex Goh, which Jaschin has mentioned before in her blog. I got it at $13.40. So excited because like Jaschin, I am also a Cheesecake lover. There are so many Baked Cheesecake, Crispy Pastry & Chilled Cheesecake recipes in this book. The Cheesecake photos in the book really made Tazz drool. All so sinful yet irresistible.

Interesting quote behind the book: Cheesecake is sumptuously irresistible. "Wow" is the word when girls see a cheesecake. The exclamation shows their joyful surprise and above all, their yearning for a bite. Mild or rich, tender or flavourful, cheesecake appeals to anyone in the world. If you have not yet developed a liking for cheesecake, it is just because you have not tasted all the cheesecakes in this book.

Meme - You are what you eat

I have been tagged by Rachel to write this Meme – You are what you eat. After racking my brain this morning, I have come out with a list of my top ten favourite food, though not necessarily in the following order.


# 1. Curry. Curry is so appetizing that it is impossible to resist. I like any curry cooked in coconut milk. Using evaporated milk as a substitute is a great no no in my opinion. Worry about cholesterol? Who cares unless the doctor gives the red light.


# 2. Chicken. I like chicken cooked in any form, be it fried chicken, roasted chicken, grilled chicken or chicken soup. I simply adore fried Chicken Wings. Who doesn’t, right?


# 3. Soup. Nutritious soup is what I have to cook for my family every other day. Just throw in all the ingredients or herbs into the slow cooker and few hours later, *Tada!* A nutritious soup that hydrates one’s system and makes one feel so satisfied with a complete meal.


# 4. Rice. Staple food for all Asians. Tazz, like most Asians, can’t do without rice.


# 5. Pork. When the Nipah encephalitis among pigs swept through some farms in Malaysia, our government banned the import of pork from our neighbour. I realized how important pork is when I started to crave for it just a week or two without pork on my palate. Lean pork or with some fats are fine for me, just don’t make me eat pig trotters.


# 6. Vegetables. I eat all kinds of vegetables. My family must have vegetables everyday. I had drilled the importance of eating greens into my children since they were very young.


# 7. Milo. A die-die must have beverage for Tazz. I drink about three half-mug Milo during the day time AND one half-mug in the middle of the night (if I have insomnia, that happens about twice or thrice a week) Hahaha.. Hubby reasons that all babies must have night feeding, so does his big baby. I like my hot Milo without milk or sugar.


# 8. Chocolate. I simply love Chocolate till death, especially the dark type. Can’t resist any food made of Chocolate at all. The only type of Chocolate that I hardly touch is the white chocolate. Don’t ask me why because I don’t even have the answer.


# 9. Cheese. I love cheese in Pizzas; Flies; Cookies and Cakes, especially Cheesecakes. I don’t really fancy cheese in buns; burger and spagetti. Pardon what I am going to say, cheese in spagetti tastes really awful to me.


# 10. Cake. I eat any cakes, but those cheap ones from the neighbourhood stores or frozen type from the Supermarkets.

*Ahem* Whom do I sabo now? Hehe.. Look at the list:
Ching - Little Corner Of Mine
Fonia - My Zest
Janny - Jan's Kitchen
Jaschin - Jas's Kitchen
Lin - Sinfully Yours

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and readers here! Christmas is not a religious occasion for my family since we are not Christians, but it is a time for us to soak up the festive spirit by feasting. For such a joyous festival, a sumptuous western spread would be terrific, so we will be dinning out this evening at one of the restaurants that serves western fare. Tazz has only made this Chocolate Cheesecake to mark the occasion.

Recipe for the Chocolate Cheesecake part is from Leisure-Cat. The recipe there is for a 6" cake with a biscuit base. I have decided to use a 7" Sponge Cake base and made it into an 8" cake, so I have modified the recipe to suit my need. We are very delighted with the end result as the Sponge Cake has balanced up the sweetness of the sweet chocolate cheese part.

For the Sponge Cake, I have used the recipe from Cookery Family. It is a Basic Sponge Cake recipe which is used as a base for any chilled cakes. The method used is separate egg method which is very easy even for a novice baker like me. So lazy to do the translation, if you are interested in this Basic Sponge Cake recipe, see here.






Chocolate Cheesecake
朱古力芝士蛋糕 (8" cake pan)

For the base:
7" Sponge Cake

Ingredients for the Cheese filling:
260g cream cheese, room temperature
130g dark chocolate
100g diary whipping cream
260g whipped cream (I used abt 275g diary whipping cream to whip till mousse state)
1 tbsp of gelatin
2 tbsp & 2 tsp of water (to dissolve gelatin)
100g castor sugar (I only used 70g castor sugar)


Method:

Melt dark chocolate with 100g diary whipping cream using the double boil method.

Dissolve the gelatin with water using double boil method.

Beat the cream cheese with sugar until creamy.

Add gelatin solution to dark chocolate mixture.

Make sure chocolate mixture is cooled, add into the cream cheese mixture. Mix well.

Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.

Put the cake base in the lined cake pan, pour in the cheese mixture. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Note: Adjust the castor sugar according to the type/brand of dark chocolate used.

冬至 Winter Solstice Festival

Today is 冬至 or Winter Solstice Festival. I had already served one round of Tang Yuan(汤圆) on Sunday as I was worried that my significant other might have to travel overseas during this time. Thank god, my prayer has been answered! His trip is now postponed to early January. So, what do I do today? Of course I serve another round of my children's favourite Tang Yuan(汤圆). In this modern time, many Chinese, especially Singaporeans, have already stopped celebrating this occasion. But, I have continued the practice of cooking Tang Yuan(汤圆) because my children, especially Gene, like it so much. I even buy the frozen type from Supermarket to cook for them as and when we feel like eating.

The Chinese word tang (meaning 'soup') sounds like tuan which means reunion, while yuan means round, signifying "yuan man" (complete /圆满 ). The entire phrase tang yuan therefore symbolises "tuan yuan" (family reunion /团圆 ), and eating tang yuan on Dong Zhi represents family reunion and harmony, and also signifies family unity and family prosperity.

See the significance of Tang Yuan(汤圆) now? That's why I must have it on 冬至or Winter Solstice Festival, and also on Chinese New Year. Hahaha... Tazz isn't the very traditional type, but Tazz views the unity and harmony of Tazz's family as the most important thing in Tazz's life. Nothing matters, but my family!

The Tang Yuan(汤圆) that I have cooked today is the Spring Home Glutinous Rice Balls with peanut filling. I just boil some Red Bean Soup and serve with the cooked Glutinous Rice Balls.



Glutinous Rice Balls with Red Bean Soup

冬至 Winter Solstice

Dong Zhi(冬至) falls on this coming Thursday, which is 22nd December 2005. Dong Zhi is called Winter Solstice in English. if you are keen to read up on the Chinese tradition of celebrating Dong Zhi or Winter Solstice Festival, see here. Tang Yuan(汤圆) is the special dessert served for this festival. As I have already said here that Dong Zhi falls on this Thursday, but I cooked Tang Yuan today as I couldn't wait till that day. Hubby might have to go overseas on Wednesday and hopefully be back by Christmas Eve. I just pray hard that things turn up well or there is a change in plans for the next three days, so he doesn't have to make the trip.

Alright, back to the topic of Tang Yuan. My mum has two versions of Tang Yuan. One is less sinful, whereas another one is extremely sinful. She used to serve the less sinful version many years ago until... (can't recall). I can't remember when was the time she came out with this extremely sinful version, which most of us couldn't resist, for Chinese New Year. Making Tang Yuan has always brought back fond memories of the past when my siblings and I helped my mum to roll the glutinous rice balls in the kitchen. It seems like yesterday yet so long ago... *sigh*

My mum's Tang Yuan is special in a way that it can be served at any time as desired without having the glutinous rice balls turning soggy in the soup. The cooked glutinous rice balls are coated with some sugar and set aside, only to combine with the hot soup or hot syrup and cooked beans, when served. She likes to use the type of orange sugar for the whole recipe. The sugar though orange in colour is actually called brown sugar. I chose to cook the extremely sinful version for my family today.



Tang Yuan (Extremely sinful version)

Serves 4 - 5

Ingredients for glutinous rice balls:
250g glutinous rice flour
water
15-20g brown sugar
food colouring (usually pink)


Method:

Add sufficient water to flour and knead into dough.

Divide dough into 2 parts. Add food colouring to one part. Knead each dough well.

Make balls from the dough.

Bring water to boil in a big pot and drop in dough balls to cook. When cooked, balls rise to the surface.

Drain balls and put in a big bowl. Add about 15-20g of sugar to mix with the balls. Set aside.


Ingredients for syrup:
300ml water
4-5 pandan leaves, washed and tied into a knot
2-inch knob ginger, crushed (more if desired to give a strong ginger taste)
abt 100g brown sugar


Method for syrup:

Bring water to boil in a pot with the pandan leaves and ginger.

Add sugar and cook till sugar dissolves.

Discard pandan leaves and ginger.



Ingredients for the beans:

Brown sugar (tho' orange in colour):


Brown beans:


Dried mandarin orange skin (Chen pi):


Ingredients for beans - the lighter colour type (Chia Dao in Hokkien) :
200g brown beans
600ml hot water
100g brown sugar
some dried mandarin orange skin (chen pi)


Method for cooking beans:

Simmer in the slow cooker for 2-3 hours. Add sugar when beans are cooked. Keep warm until served. The brown beans won’t break into bits when cooked, that's the reason for choosing it instead of the normal red beans. Brown beans look like red beans but lighter in colour.


To serve:

Put cooked glutinous rice balls into individual bowls. Add cooked beans and hot syrup as desired. As this is extremely sweet, we only eat the chewy glutinous rice balls and the cooked beans. The strong ginger taste in the syrup makes this special.

______________________________________________________________




For the less sinful version, the ingredients and method for cooking the glutinous rice balls are the same as above. The difference is the soup used instead of the syrup and cooked beans.

Ingredients for soup:
abt 600ml water
4 –5 pandan leaves, washed and tied into a knot
2-inch knob ginger, crushed
sugar to taste (preferably brown sugar)


Method for soup:

Bring water to boil in a pot with the pandan leaves and ginger.

Add sugar to taste and cook till sugar dissolves.

Discard pandan leaves and ginger.


To serve:

Put cooked glutinous rice balls into individual bowls. Pour hot soup and serve.

Note from Tazz as at 22nd January 2006: I have finally found the actual name for the orange sugar and beans. They are called brown sugar and brown beans respectively.

Ayam Percik

Person who shared this Ayam Percik recipe was Jam from KC. This morning was the first time that I used my oven to grill chicken. After buying my oven this year, I couldn’t bear to grill any meat (other than ham and canned tuna) in it because I was worried that it might stain my oven. When I saw so many grilled chickens and turkeys photos in the forums, I couldn’t resist anymore. I told myself I had to start using my oven to grill meat, any meat, be it chicken, pork or beef. Finally I settled for this Ayam Percik recipe because I was curious after having read all the good reviews in KC. No regret after trying because the chicken tasted fantastic and most important of all, no oil stains in my precious oven. *lol*



Ayam Percik

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (about 2kg), cut into 4 pieces. Alternatively, can use chicken thighs
15 dried chillies
10 shallots
3 garlics
1 stalk lemon grass, sliced thinly first.
2cm ginger
2cm fresh turmeric (or 1/2 tsp turmeric powder)
2cm galangal (lengkuas)
1 tbsp meat curry powder
assam juice (2 tbsp assam mix with some water, strain and discard seeds)
1 cup water
200ml thick coconut milk
salt and oil


Method:

Grind chillies, shallots, garlics, lemon grass, ginger, fresh turmeric and galangal till fine.

Heat oil in a wok, then add in the ground ingredients. Stir fry for a while.

Add the assam juice, curry powder, coconut milk and 1 cup of water. Mix well and add in the chicken pieces and salt. Simmer till gravy has thickened.

Remove the pieces of chicken and place them on a tray. Pour some gravy over the chicken and grill them till the chicken is slightly crispy.

Serve hot with lettuce, shredded cucumber and slices of tomato. Ayam Percik is a dish by itself but also goes well with rice or bread.

Chendol Agar-agar

Found this Chendol Agar-agar recipe in one of my old Lifestyle magazines. Thought it was quite interesting so I gave it a try. Verdict? We prefered to eat the agar-agar on its own because the gula melaka sauce was too sweet. I used coconut milk instead of evaporated milk, which was called for in the original recipe. I only made half of the following recipe and it yielded 10 Chendol Agar-agar.



Chendol Agar-agar

Yields 20 agar-agars

Green Jelly Ingredients:
7g agar-agar powder
400ml water
100g caster sugar
1 tsp green colouring


Method for Green Jelly:

Put all ingredients into a pot and boil until agar-agar powder and sugar have dissolved.

Pour into a shallow mould and let it set. Cool thoroughly in the refrigerator before grating. Refrigerate until needed.


Agar-agar Ingredients:
13g agar-agar powder
850ml water
200g caster sugar
200ml coconut milk (can substitute with evaporated milk)
1/4 tsp salt
5 pandan leaves tied into a knot
150g cooked red beans or whole kernel corn


Method for Agar-agar:

Put all ingredients (except the coconut milk) into a pot. Boil until agar-agar powder and sugar have dissolved. *

Add in the coconut milk and bring to boil. Turn off heat.

Arrange some grated green agar-agar strips in the mould.

Pour in the ‘white agar-agar’.

Let it set and then refrigerate.

Serve with gula melaka sauce.


Gula melaka sauce ingredients:
250g gula melaka
200ml water
3 pandan leaves, tied into a knot


Method for sauce:

Boil ingredients till the gula melaka dissolves.

Strain and cool thoroughly before serving with agar-agar.

Note: * If using evaporated milk to make the agar-agar, can add with the rest of the agar-agar ingredients to boil from the beginning.

In my opinion, for the agar-agar to go well with the gula melaka sauce, best is to reduce the quantity of the gula melaka for the sauce.

Pancakes

Look at my Pancakes! I am so happy to get even-coloured Pancakes, at least for one side on each cake. I got the recipe from Allrecipe. After my failed Fried Apple Pie attempt, I learnt a lesson. This time round, I just followed the recipe by using cup measurement for flour. I suspected that it was my wrong conversion of ingredients that had caused the previous failure.

Back to the topic, to get even-coloured Pancakes, flip the pancakes over only when it has become brown (lift a little bit and peep). Refrain from oiling the pan after the first cake, or too often, when you are making more. As for the other side, I still can't achieve the same even-coloured tone. Maybe have to do more experiments next time.



Pancakes

Yields 8 pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil


Method:

Preheat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium-high heat.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the centre.

In a separate bowl, beat together egg, milk and oil.

Pour milk mixture into flour mixture. Beat until smooth.

Pour or scoop the batter onto the hot pan, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.

Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Don't laugh!!

Don't laugh! I know I am a wacko when comes to cake decoration. First, the Japanese Koyo-design for my Non-Bake Tofu Red Bean Cheesecake (Gene said that *pout*), then the Agar-agar Leaves and Flowers design for my Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake, and now this. I name this Tazz design. This is my first successful baked cake, to commemorate this event, I choose this design. Haha... you must be thinking "Stop kidding! You don't know how to do proper frosting with cream!" Well, that's true because I have never attended any baking lesson.

My first attempt at cake baking was somewhere around August this year. I made a Sponge Cake. The name of the cake was Never-fail Sponge Cake, but, I failed flat. I was very stubborn, I stuck to the stated time on the recipe eventhough my cake was still quite pale. The end result was a soaking wet Sponge Cake (Oh! What a name?!).

My hubby has been suggesting that I should attend baking course since I am interested, but Tazz being an obstinate creature, will never budge, eventhough he has offered to join me in the lessons. I have managed to learn alot by reading and watching video clips on the net. So in the meantime, I don't think I need to attend any course yet.

Chocolate Cheesecake is my second attempt at baking. Kirsten made this for her gathering with her cyber friends. The cake was very well received by all and she shared the recipe at the forum. I was extra patient this time, the time stated to bake this cake was 45 to 50 mintues at 180 degree Celsius, but my cake took almost 2 hours to bake, despite the fact that I was using a black spring-form pan. The reason could be I kept opening the oven to check on the cake. I baked the cake for the first 15 minutes with a foil at the top to prevent burning at the top. Then I removed the foil. When I saw that the top of the cake was nice golden colour, I put the foil to cover the top again. After 50 minutes, I tested with a toothpick, it wasn't done yet. I put the cake in again with the foil covering the top and check every 15 to 20 minutes. Finally, the cake took almost 2 hours to bake. *phew!* I know my Chocolate Cheesecake doesn't look as great, but to me it is already an achievement. Haha... I am a novice baker, what else can I ask for?!





Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients for Mixture A:
250g cream cheese
60g castor sugar
1 egg


Method for Mixture A:

Beat cream cheese with sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg until well incorporated. Set mixture aside.


Ingredients for Mixture B:
180g butter
150g sugar
3 eggs
3 tbsp cocoa powder
120g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder


Method for Mixture B:

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg, one at a time until well incorporated into mixture.

Sift all the dry ingredients together.

Fold into egg mixture.

To assemble, pour half of mixture B, all of mixture A, then the remaining mixture B.

Bake in preheat oven at 150 degree Celsius for 45-50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Once cool, chill in refrigerator. Nice eaten chilled.

Note: I greased and floured my 7-inch cake pan. I used plain flour and cocoa powder in the ratio of 1:2. Kirsten's recipe said to bake at 180 degree Celsius, but the recipe at KC said to bake at 150 degree Celsius in an 8-inch square pan.

Final update as at 14th December '05: Kirsten has confirmed that actual temperature for baking this cake should be 150 degree Celsius for 45-50 minutes.

Pork Chop Cutlet

I used to cook Pork Chop Cutlet last time, but never so tasty like this particular recipe. Jingle26 shared this recipe at Nurkochen. She got it from her friend who had attended cookery lessons at community centre. It was the taste of garlic that made this Pork Chop Cutlet different from those that I had made in the past. Ni doesn't like garlic, when she bit into the Pork Chop Cutlet, I stole a glance at her from the corner of my eye ( *blush* I felt guilty for adding her most feared minced garlic without informing her) and asked her opinion, she said it was delicious. *Phew!* I was so happy when the garlicphobe chomped away unknowingly. Most of the time when I added garlic to my dishes, I had to slice thinly instead of mincing it so she could remove it from her food, otherwise she would take an hour to finish one meal. *roll eyes*



Pork Chop Cutlet

Ingredients:
1/2kg pork chop, cut into 8 slices
2 beaten egg
50-80g plain flour
50-80g breadcrumbs

Marinade for pork chop:
1 tsp of minced garlic
2 tbsp of light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp corn flour
1-1/2 tbsp of cooking oil (add last)


Method:

Tenderise pork with millet or back of a cleaver.

Marinate pork for about an hour.

Smack the marinated pork on the plain flour, dip into beaten eggs and cover it with bread crumbs.

Deep-fry the pork with hot oil, till golden brown and crispy.

Cut into thin strips and serve with chilli sauce and LP sauce.

Potato Pancakes with Applesauce

I failed in my Fried Apple Pie assignment yesterday, so I had the Applesauce sitting in the fridge waiting for me. I searched for recipes with Applesauce and finally found one, which was close to what I had in mind, at Allrecipe, but I couldn't use that recipe because my Applesauce wasn't entirely the same. Finally I found one Potato Pancakes recipe in an old Lifestyle magazines. The recipe of the Potato Pancakes said to serve with jam or on its own. I combined my Applesauce with the Potato Pancakes recipe and *Tada!* I had put my Applesauce to good use.



Applesauce

Applesauce Ingredients:
5 apples – skinned, cored and cut into small cubes (I used Granny Smith green apples)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
3/4 cup of water
a pinch of salt
1/2 lemon – take the juice.

1 tbsp corn flour with 1/4 cup water


Method for Applesauce:

Mix all ingredients (except corn flour with water) in a pot and cooked over small fire until apples soften.

Add corn flour mixture to thicken. Turn off the heat.




Potato Pancakes
Makes 10 Potato Pancakes

Ingredients for Potato Pancakes:
300g finely grated potatoes
3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
270g plain flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/4 tsp salt
225ml water or milk
Oil to grease frying pan


Method for Potato Pancakes:

Squeeze excess moisture from grated potatoes until almost dry.

Place the grated potatoes into a mixing bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients and combine well into a thick batter.

Heat a frying pan and grease it lightly with oil. Drop 3 – 4 tablespoons of the batter on the frying pan and cook over medium heat for 4 – 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Serve hot with warm Applesauce.

P.S. Both photos updated on 21st March'06

What a lousy day!

I was so poor thing yesterday. I failed in my Fried Apple Pie assignment. I still have no idea what was the cause of my failure. The dough was quite sticky. After flouring my hands, rolling pin and board, I could roll normally, but!! I couldn't get my intended shape because of its elasticity. I lost my patience, dumped the dough into the rubbish bin and stormed off to cool down.

For dinner, I cooked Rendang Chicken using Brahim's Kuah Rendang. Just like what was said in the forum, Brahim's Rendang Mix rocks! Very yummy! But!! after the food was in my stomach, then I realized that my Rendang Chicken photo turned up so ugly. My temperamental camera (*sigh* just like me) threw tantrum because of the gloomy weather (insufficient light *roll eyes*) *Arggghhhh!!!* Now I have to reduce the size of the photo to camouflage the poor quality and use it in my blog.



Rendang Chicken

Recipe is on Brahim's Kuah Rendang sachet itself.