My First Event : Chocolate Lover

Dear All,
Every February 14th love-struck men and women spend more than 1 billion dollars on chocolate products. Blame Cupid for the love-struck part, but why chocolate? What does chocolate really have to do with the most romantic day of the year? Here’s a brief history of chocolate and Valentine’s Day.

Our infatuation with chocolate first began 2,000 years ago when it was discovered in Latin America. The Maya and Aztec elites infused cocoa beans with water to form frothy chocolate drinks – the first frappuccinos, if you will – for special occasions and as sacrifices to the gods. The Aztec ruler Montezuma believed that chocolate was an aphrodisiac and routinely drank it before entering his harem, thus increasing chocolate’s popularity and its association with love and romance. As it turns out, he was ahead of his time. Modern-day scientists have linked the chemical phenylethylamine in chocolate to feelings of excitement, attraction and even pleasure.

The rest of Aztec society used cocoa beans as money and were unable to afford to drink it. Thus “gifting” chocolate for consumption was the Aztec version of John Cusak standing outside of your window with a boom-box. Christopher Columbus saw how the Aztecs revered cocoa when he entered the picture in the sixteenth century and immediately took the luxury product back to Queen Isabella of Spain. Chocoholics sprouted up all over Europe, sharing the legend of their new obsession’s alleged mythical powers. At one point in time, chocolate was believed to be so potent that nuns were forbidden from eating it and French doctors used it to treat “broken hearts.”

By the 1800s, the Cadbury Brothers set up shop in England and began packaging candies to sell to a mainstream audience. In 1861, in a genius marketing move, Richard Cadbury created the first ever heart-shaped box for Valentine’s Day, spurring the commercialization of the holiday. To this day, every February 14th we all still have a sweet spot for the sweet stuff.

(picked from History of Valentine's Day-Chocolate)

So, I'm sure all of us are Chocolate Lovers, aren't we.......
In conjunction with the coming Valentine's Day 2012.....I am organizing my first event and its called 'Chocolate Lover'.and when I thought of Valentine's Day, the two things that came to my mind : roses and chocolates....so, now you know how my logo came about....
This event will run from 1st Jan 2012 to 15th Feb 2012.

To participate, it's really simple...
1. Create a chocolate dish...it could be a chocolate cake, mousse, cookies, pudding, jellies, brownies etc....if it has a Valentine's theme, it'll be even more marvelous.
2. Follow my blog.
3. You may send in as many links as you want but only posts posted from 1st Jan 2012 onwards...do link it using the linky tool at the end of this page.
4. Use of above logo is mandatory and your post should link back to this event.
5. To those who do not have a blog, do send your entries to resh_82@hotmail.com Pls include your name, pic, recipe and 'Chocolate Love'r as the subject.
So, go on...create a dish with love....;)

Check out thefoodblogdiary for more events...
In order to participate,

Easy Banana Dessert

Need to get a dessert done in 5 minutes?....Here you go...this is a ice-cream like dessert and yummy to be served with choc sauce or toasted nuts....

You need about 2-3 ripe bananas (not over ripe)...I used Cavendish bananas....Remove the skin, slice them up, place in a freezer container and freeze them for a few hours or overnite.....

When ur ready to serve dessert, remove the bananas from the freezer, put them in a blender, add 1/2 tbsp sugar (optional), 2 tbsp of thickened cream (I used Paul's Thickened Cream) and blend them. You may add a little UHT milk if it's difficult to blend...it will be creamy a thick....Serve immediately with sliced bananas, nuts or choc sauce...

Tom Yam Fried Beehoon

I used the paste I made earlier for this easy Tom Yam Fried Beehoon.

Ingredients :

1/2 packet beehoon (soaked)

1 big onion

1 carrot (shredded)

1/2 chicken breast meat (cubed)

sawi / mustard greens (cut into 1 inch pieces)

tom yam paste (see homemade-tom-yam-paste)

2 tbsp light soy sauce

salt

fried egg (shredded)

method :

Heat olive oil in a wok, fry onions till golden brown, add carrot and cook a little, add tom yam paste and chicken meat.

Add light soy sauce and salt.

Stir in the beehoon and mustard green and mix well till the paste is evenly coated.

Cook and serve hot with shredded fried eggs.

Homemade Tom Yam Paste

Homemade Tom Yam Paste

This is a homemade tom yam paste that I made for tonite's Tom Yam Fried Beehoon..

This is an easy way to make your own tom yam paste as long as you have all the ingredients handy...here you go...

Ingredients :
2 stalks lemongrass (cut into small pieces)
4 kaffir lime leaves (cut into small pieces)
5 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tbsp taucu
2 tbsp or more dry chilli paste (as desired)
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp tamarind water
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp dry prawns
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Put all the above mentioned ingredients in a food processor and blend to make a smooth paste. Then heat a wok with some olive oil and fry the ingredients till fragrants and keep aside. You can even make in a bigger batch and refigerate once it's cool.

For those who want a vegetarian version, do not add the dry prawns and fish sauce.
This paste is good for Fried Beehoon, Fried rice or Seafood Soup

First Event 'Chocolate Lover'

Dear Friends...I'm organizing my first event next year in conjunction to Valentine's day...so all lovers out there,stay tuned for more updates on this event soon.

Pepper Chicken Masala

This is a spicy dish and goes well with Dhall, rice or even chapati....

Ingredients :
1 kg chicken (cut into desired sizes)
2 onions (sliced)
2 sticks cinnamon
4 cloves
curry leaves
2 tomatoes (diced)
1 tsp turmeric powder
water
salt

For masala:
5 cloves garlic
2 inch ginger
1 tsp fennel
1 tsp cumin
3 dried chillies
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp black pepper

Method :
1. Fry and grind masala ingredients to make paste.
2. Heat a large wok, add olive oil and saute onions, curry leaves, cinnamon and cloves till onion is golden brown and fragrant.
3. Add turmeric powder, chicken and masala paste.
4. Cook for about 5 minutes and add a little water, salt and tomatoes.
5. Cook covered till chicken is tender.

Eggless Fruit Cake

Looking for a vegetarian, dairy-free yet moist fruit cake?....here it is....I've been wanting to make a fruit cake for some time now and yesterday I dropped by DoReMi, a baking ingredients shop just 5 mins drive from my hse and got all that I needed to make this moist, fruit and nut cake with just the amount of sweetness that will make you indulge in another slice....I got this recipe some time ago from the net (sory, I forgot to note the blog when I took down this recipe).....here you go....Eggless Fruit and Nut Cake

Ingredients :

250gm mixed fruits
150gm walnuts / pecans (chopped and roasted at 180degrees for about 6 minutes or till lightly browned)
1 cup muscovado / brown sugar (I used Organic Muscovado sugar)
1 cup water
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
4 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp orange zest

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract


Method:
1. Put the fruits, water, orange juice in a pan. Add sugar, orange zest, mixed spice, salt and oil. Bring to a boil...let it simmer for about 5-8 minutes.
2. Turn off the heat, let it cool a bit and add lemon juice and vanilla extract. Leave it for about 20 minutes. Add in flour, baking soda and nuts and mix well.

3. Heat oven to 180 degrees. Grease a bundt pan and spoon the mixture in. Bake for about 40 minutes or till the cake tester comes out clean.
4. Cool over a wire rack before removing from the pan and slicing......:)

Sending this recipe toBake Fest and Bake-fest-2 

Linking this to Winter Carnival ,Holiday Baking, Serve It-Baked Sweet, Baked Goodies, tea-time-treats-blogging-challenge, Cakes For Christmas, Eggless Cake

Sinful-delights

Our 1st year Wedding Anniversary- weekend outing

We went on a weekend outing for our 1st year anniversary and hada enjoyable, relaxing time....we started with Breakfast at Sravana Bhavan at Bangsar and trust me, food was awesome...coffee..perfect for me to start my day...

Later, we went to The Gardens, Md Valley as I wanted to get a gift for my husband......he liked the Marks and Spencer perfume and after shave set...and I loved the scent...so, he got his gift......

Later, we had lunch at Amarin, Heavenly Thai....my fav Thair restaurant..they had done some renovations and the place looks good with a modern touch...food was as usual, lovely...

We had lots of time so we went to GSC Signature an dwatched New Year's Eve....I thought it was a really nice movie, a good one to end a year and start a new one with... and GSC Signature is a nice cinema without the usual buzz but tickets cost RM25 each.....overall, a good outing with my loving hubby :)

Plans for the weekend ...

Ive been busy at work and studying this past week....so, it 's time to cook again....I was at bangsar last week and managed to visit Pantry Magic...and got a bottle of pure vanilla there for RM30....I find that reasonable as I've always been looking for a nice vanilla extract and it's always very expensive....I cant wait to use it and see whether using pure vanilla really makes a difference...

For this weekend, I plan to make Pepper Chicken Masala and bake a fruit cake (my dad loves fruit cake and since we're planning to visit home this Sun...i really wanna bring something for him). I'm still finding a good moist fruit cake recipe....well, hope i'll succeed and post my weekend recipes soon...have a wonderful weekend everyone :)

Homemade Thosai with Coconut Chutney

Baked Raspberry Cheesecake with Strawberry Coulis

Tonite's dessert for some guests at our house...recipe coming soon as I'm too tired tonite...and got to go to work tmrw....nitez

I used a 8' tin and it easily serves 4....

Ingredients :
5 digestive biscuits
25 gm butter (melted)
250 gm cream cheese
1 tbsp flour
85 gm castor sugar
150 gm raspberries
Vaniila extract
1 egg
70 ml sour cream

Strawberries and 3 tbsp icing sugar
Method :
Crush digestive biscuits (place in a bag and crush using a rolling pin or a pestle). Mix with the butter. Press firmly on a 10’ buttered springform pan and bake at 180 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and leave to cool.
Beat cream cheese, flour, egg, castor sugar, sour cream and few drop of vanilla till fluffy. Mix in the raspberries. Pour mixture into pan and bake for about 40 minutes.
The middle might still be a bit soft. Let it cool completely and refrigerate (makes it firmer) till it’s ready to serve.
For the strawberry coulis, Heat the strawberries in a pan until soft, mash to bring out juice. Push through a sieve to drain the juice. Keep to serve with the cheesecake.

This is indeed a wonderful, easy dessert to do...for those celebrating Christmas, do give it a try....do double the recipe and use a 20' springform tin as it's a real crowd pleaser

I am submitting this to the Christmas Giveaway in The Sweet Spot

This also goes to Bake Fest and Bake fest # 2, Yummy desserts

Linking this post to Baked Goodies, Serve It-Baked Sweet, Sinful-delights,

Also sent to Love Lock with Sweets 

Herb Roasted Chicken Breast with Veggies

Tonite's dinner....Herb Roasted Chicken Breast with Roasted Vegetables....took me less than an hour to do....tasted and smelled superb....this recipe makes 2 so double it according to ur needs....an easy recipe for get-together and entertaining guests

INGREDIENTS :
2 chicken breasts
turkey bacon or turkey slices (cut lengthwise to wrap around chicken)
green or red capsicum (cut lengthwise)
small potatoes (sut into thin slices)
cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic (sliced)
mixed dried italian herbs
dried oregano
black peppercorns
salt to taste
Parsley
Sour Cream (to serve with)

METHOD:
Preheat oven 220 degrees
Pour olive oil or a baking dish
Place chicken breasts in the middle
Place veggies surrounding the chicken
Add garlic, herbs, black peppercorns, salt and give a stir to mix well.
Bake for about 25 minutes
Serve hot with sour cream

Blueberry Muffins

Got this recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook ; My Father's Daughter...delicious moist blueberry muffins....made slight modifications to it...

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs
1/2 cup low fat milk
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
200 gms fresh blueberries

METHOD
Heat oven to 180°.
Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Whisk butter, eggs and milk in a bowl.
Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in another bowl.
Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients; fold in blueberries.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown and a knife comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

I baked mine for 30 minutes as it was still light colored when I tried baking for 20 minutes…Guess it depends on your oven.

ENJOY ;)

Chicken Kurma

Ingredients :

1/2 chicken (cut into desired sizes)
2 tomatoes(diced)
salt (to taste)
3 tbsp kurma powder
2 cups water
1 tsp kas kas powder

For frying :
1 big red onion
1 tsp aniseed (lightly pounded)
3 cloves
2 small pieces cinnamon
3 cardamons
2 star anise
few sprigs curry leaves
2 bay leaves

To grind :
1 big red onion (diced)
6 cloves garlic
1 1/2 inch ginger
2 green chillies (without seed)

Method :
Heat a big wok or pot and pour olive oil. Add frying ingredients and saute till fragrant. Add grinded ingredients and saute for about 3 minutes and add in chicken pieces and kurma powder. Mix well and add in water (add more kurma powder or water if needed to get desired curry consistency).Close with a lid and cook till chicken is slightly tender. Add in tomatoes, kas kas and salt. Mix well and cook till chicken is done.Serve hot with rice or chappati.

Indian Spiced Okra

This is a simple and easy dish...goes well with rice.

 

Ingredients:

300 gm okra
1 big red onion
4 cloves garlic (minced)
4-5 dried chillies (cut into 1 inch lengths)
few sprigs of curry leaves
1/2 tsp garam masala
3/4 tsp chilli powder (can be reduced)
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt

Method :
Heat a non-stick pan and pour some olive oil.
Saute the onions, add dry chillies, curry leaves and garlic.
Once its fragrant, add in the okra and all the ground ingredients, salt.
Fry till okra is cooked and not sticky.
Dish out and serve hot.

Linked this to Rosh's Gimme Green

Baked Banana Crumble

Baked Banana Crumble....it was an easy and delicious dessert to do especially when u plan to make it on a busy day....it only takes about 20 minutes to prepare....
original recipe's from http://dineanddish.net/2010/09/mushysqushy-bananas-recipe-baked-banana-crumble/....found it when i was browsing for a quick, easy dessert...worth the try....and got compliments for it.

Makes 2
Ingredients :

2 ripe medium sized bananas
1/3 cup orange juice (i used Peel Fresh)
1/2 tbsp vanilla essence or 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1/3 cup molasses brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp cold butter

Method :
Combine orange juice and vanilla in cup.
Slice banana lengthwise and place cut side up in 2 buttered ramekins
Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, oatmeal and salt in a bowl. Add butter and rub with fingers or using two knives until mixture resemble crumbles or small peas.
Drizzle banana with orange juice mixture.
Spoon crumble over the bananas and bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes
Serve warm :)

Romantic Dinner ;)

Yesterday's romantic surprise dinner for my hubby worked out just like I wanted it to...It's been sumtime since we both sat and had a quiet dinner...so, I made it special by preparing Pan Fried Spiced Dory with Potato Salad....and for dessert, i made a warm Baked Banana Crumble...and that made his day ;)

Tonite's dinner

Tonite's dinner plan : Pan Seared Spiced Fresh Dory with Cool Potato Salad...yummy....I marinated the dory yesterday nite...nw im thinking...should I make dessert as well?...hmmm...pics cmng up soon :)

Min's Blog: Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011)

Min's Blog: Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011)

Min's Blog: Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011)

http://daily-cuppa.blogspot.com/2011/11/oreo-cupcakes.html

Oreo Cupcakes

Yummy chocolatey cuppies :

The original recipe is from www.yumsy.com
Submiting this recipe to :

Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011) hosted by Min of Min's Blog

Oreo Cupcakes

 

 

Ingredients :

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa

1 cup castor sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup sunflower/ canola oil

1 tsp vanilla 

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup hot water

20 oreo cookies

Method :

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees celcius. Line tray with baking cups (medium size).

2. Place broken oreo cookie pieces in each cup.

3. Mix the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, soda and baking powder in a bowl using a wire whisk.

4. Add eggs, oil, vanilla, milk and mix thoroughly. Add hot water and mix well.

5. Transfer batter into a large measuring cup and pour batter into each baking cup till about 3/4 full.

 

Bake for aBOUT 18-20 MINUTES

Makes about 15 cupcakes 

 

 

 

Almond London Cookies

My favourite cookies.....at last I made them...it was the most tedious cookie ive made so far but well worth the try...especially when it turned out really well..

Ingredients :

250 gm butter
125 gm fine sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
50 gm almond powder
200 gm corn flour
300 gm cake flour
1 tsp emplex (optional)
1 tsp baking powder
200 gm whole almonds (roasted in oven over 200 degrees for abt 10 mins or till almonds are crunchy
50 gm almonds nibs (roasted)
700 gm dark compound chocolate


Method :

Beat butter and sugar till fluffy
Add in egg, vanilla and beat.
Add in almond powder and mix.
Sift corn flour, cake flour, baking powder and emplex.
Add flour to the mixture and mix till it forms a dough.

Cover each almond with dough to an oval shape and arrange on a baking tray. Bake at 200 degrees celcius for 15-20 mins.

Melt chocolate using double-boiling method. Put each cookie on a paper cup and spoon choc mixture over the top. Sprinkle roasted almond nips for deco...

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie

Hi everyone...this is a rich, delicious, satisfying dose of chocolate brownie...everyone loved it...it's slightly gooey, moist and has a cheesy top..worth the try.....

You will need a rectangular or square pan (20cm base measurement)

Ingredients :
150 gm butter
200 gm dark compound chocolate
3 eggs
200 gm castor sugar
225 gm cake flour
65 gm sour cream
375 gm cream cheese

Method :

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Brush pan with butter and set aside.
Combine butter and chocolate in a double boiling method till all choc and butter melts (be careful not to overheat it).Remove and set aside to cool (5 mins).
Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl. Add whisked egg and 140 gm sugar to choc mixture. Stir. Add in flour and sour cream till well combined.
Beat cream cheese and remaining sugar using electric mixer. Add the remaining egg and beat till combined.

Pour a layer of choc mixture at the base of baking pan and smoothen. Spoon over cream cheese and balance choc mixture over the choc surface and swirl to create a marble effect using a butter knife.

Bake for 30 mins or until skewer inserted in the middle comes our clean. Cool for about an hour, cut into squares and serve.It goes well with vanilla ice cream, too...

Sent this to Choc Fest