Winning Her World Best Home Cook Contest 2015

 

It was one of those proud moments in life.. I came across this contest which was organized by HerWorld Malaysia few months ago whereby you cook/bake using one or more of the ingredients featured. There was Golden Churn Butter there and noticed that the deadline was near so I baked a quick cake (a fav recipe of mine), frosted it, took pics and sent it in.

Little did I know that I will be one of the 12 chosen finalists and was asked to join a cook-off session in Starhill Culinary Studio, Bukit Bintang. I knew that meant big but the shock came when I learnt I needed to recreate my cake from scratch in an hour!!! Wow, that to me sounded impossible and I had to bring all the needed items as I will only be given the butter, cake mixer and oven. The worse part was when I was told that I will be the only one making a cake...hmm..can things get any worse..

The day was one of the most stressful ones where the clock kept ticking and I was willing my hands n mind to move as fast as possible, also being careful not to forget any ingredients.
It took me 1 hr 15 mins to complete as the cake needed 15 mins to cool off a little before frosting. It was then whisked away to the judging room and I was hoping that it will stay in shape and not collapse.

At last I could sigh with relief and felt totally famished. Next came lunch break while the judges were tasting the dishes and choosing the winners. Soon the speeches started followed by the announcement of winners. I really thought that I did not win anything when they called out the second and first runner up and was shocked beyond words when my name was announced as the Grand Prize winner. Wow....that was unbelievable. My cake actually won the Grand Prize! It was a great moment to be cherished.

Starhill Culinary Studio

Baking at the event



My winning cake, after tasting session

With my prize

With thr other winners

Daphne Iking

https://www.facebook.com/reshwani/videos/10153304188018897/?l=3695705020230928943 

Gobi Manchurian

Here's a yummy recipe I tried for dinner yesterday. It turned out perfect, served with chapatti n dhall.

Serves : 3

Ingredients:

1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets, soaked in hot water with some salt
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup corn flour
black pepper powder n salt to taste

3 tbsp tomato sauce
3 tbsp chilli sauce
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp vinegar
1 big onion, sliced thinly
1 green chilli, cut small
4 garlic cloves, grated
1 tsp corn flour, mixer with some water
salt to taste
some spring onion for garnishing

Method :
Drain cauliflower. Set aside.
Mix plain flour, corn flour, salt, ground pepper with some water to make a medium thick batter.

Heat oil in a pan, deep cauliflower florets in batter and fry till light golder colour.
Keep aside.

Sauce :

Heat a non stick pan with some oil. Saute the onion till soft. Add in garlic and green chilli. Mix well.
Next add in all the sauces and season with salt. Mix well.

Add in vinegar. Mix to combine.

Add in cornflour mixture, mix well and add in the fried cauliflower florets. Coat well with sauce and cook about 5 mins and turn off heat.

Garnish with spring onion and serve hot.

Old Fashioned Banana Cake

This is one cake I have been saving to do for some time now...and ya, at last I tried it out and regretted waiting for so long. It is so soft and yummy, practically melts in the mouth. You just got to try this out to see. It is so easy to put together and the recipe's a keeper.

You need :

3 large ripe bananas, mashed
170 gm butter
160 gm castor sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp yogurt
227 gm cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method :

Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line a 8x8 inch square pan.

Beat butter and sugar till fluffy. Add one egg at a time and beat well between additions. Add in vanilla and yougurt. Beat.
In a bowl, combine flour, soda and baking powder.
Add in mashed bananas and flour mixture into the mixer and beat in slow speed.
Once combined, pour into prepare pan and bake for about 40-50 mins (depending on your oven). Check occasionally after 35 minutes to avoid over baking.

Chicken Mushroom Pasta in Creamy Tomato Sauce

I tried out this yummy recipe for our weekly pasta night and it turned out great, even my little one loved it. It's a tomato based sauce with added cream and parmigiano reggiano ;).

It's an easy meal to make and perfect for weeknight dinners. Do give it a try.

You need :

Olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/2 chicken breast, boneless, skinless (cut into small pieces)
10 button mushrooms , sliced
1 big onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, grated (I love to grate garlic as it gives more flavour)
1 small can tomato basil pasta sauce
dried italian herbs, salt, black pepper powder, dried chilli flakes (use according to your flavour needs as I did not measure)
1/2 cup thickened / cooking cream
parmigiano reggiano ( about 1/4 cup)

spaghetti / pasta of choice (cooked al dente) - I used angel hair pasta - for 3 persons

Method :

Heat some olive oil in a pan and add butter. Once it melts, add in onion and grated garlic, saute.
When onion turns brown, add in chicken pieces and mushrooms.

Mix well. and let it cook. Once chicken is nearly cooked, add in the pasta sauce and let it come to a simmer. Add in herbs, chilli flakes, salt, black pepper powder, Mix well and close with a lid, cook for about 10 minutes on low heat. You may add in a little hot water if too thick. Turn off heat. Add in the cream and parmigiano reggiano and mix.

You can now add in the pasta, mix it all together and serve it hot,

Deepavali Cookies 2015

Deepavali is just around the corner and as usual, I've been busy baking, shopping n thinking on what else need to be done.. and the house cleaning of coz.

So, this year so far me n my sis baked a few cookies and made murukku...Here's what we've made so far..will update this post once we've done all the baking ;)

Belgian Choc Almond Cookies

Semperit or Custard Cookies

Coconut Butter Cookies

Murukku

My collection of cookies magazine

Birthday Outing 2015

October has always been a special month for me and we usually plan a vacation around my birthday. This year being a long one with the husband's Masters exams, moving to a new house (that reminds me that I still have a 3rd floor to decorate) and all the other things between, we decided to do something simple. So, we stayed a night in KL city and made the most out of it.

We started off the day with a drive to PJ BluInc Media office to collect my cheque for HerWorld Best Home Cook 2015 (will post soon on that) and headed to Jaya One which was just nearby. Parking was so easy as it was Fri, no crowd at the mall and the little one was so happy as we went about shopping for new toys and clothes for her (hmm..it's supposed to be my birthday).

We then had lunch at this Mexican place : http://www.fronterabar.com/
Review : Awesome food. We loved the Chicken Tortilla Soup which was so flavourful, grilled salmon, chicken burrito and of coz, my margarita ;).

Tummies filled, we drove to Sheraton Imperial KL and checked-in. The little one was so excited that she was practically jumping up and down and started enjoying her mini vacation.

Quill City Mall is just opposite Sheraton though you have to cross a very busy road. We took a walk and eventually got stuck in the rain that evening and somehow managed to cross over with a little help from a KTM officer.

That night we decided to go for Chinese food and after searching through Trip Advisor, we checked out Hakka Restaurant. It's opposite Pavilion, ample of parking, child friendly and full of people. The waiters were attentive and the food was yummy. There' s outdoor and indoor seating available too.

The next day we enjoyed the hotel breakfast and checked out their pool. At 12pm we checked out and headed to Levain Boulangerie to check out the place and get some pastries. The place was bustling with people enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon and we joined in.

Check out the strawberry lover who could't wait to get her hands on it :

Feeling satisfed, we headed to Klang and had to stop to collect this awesome birthday cake the husband ordered for me from a fellow homebaker. The strawberry lover was in fruity heaven looking at the cake topped with her fav fruit. It was indeed a lovely celebration and I had too much outside food for 2 days that I couldn't wait to start cooking ;).

  

Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake

It has been some time since I baked something special for dessert. So when I was out grocery shopping yesterday I bought a pack of fresh blueberries, a couple of lemons and a pack of edible flowers (I've been hunting for this for some time now and was too happy that I couldn't resist not buying them).

I started prepping the dessert the minute I came home after work and in 30 mins, it was in the oven, filling the house with that lovely smell...then I started on dinner which was Tofu and Vege Jalfrezi (I'll update that recipe later). The cake was cool by the time we finished dinner and I whipped up a simple lemon glaze and decorated it with the edible flowers...and it looked so LOVELY ;)

Do give this yummy, moist and easily impressive dessert a try. Feedbacks are welcome.

Ingredients :

1/3 cup unsalted butter (soft)
1 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla
1 1/2 cup Cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
lemon zest from 2 lemons
1 cup fresh blueberries, coated with some cake flour

Method :

Preheat oven to 170C.
Prepare a loaf pan by greasing and lining the bottom and sides with baking paper.

Beat butter and sugar using electric mixer and then add in the eggs one by one.Add in vanilla. Beat well.
In a bowl, mix together flour and baking powder. Add this to the egg mixture alternately with milk.
Now using a spatula, fold in the blueberries and lemon zest.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 40-45 mins or till skewer comes out clean.

Lemon glaze :

1/2 cup icing sugar
Juice of half a lemon

Whisk both ingredients using a hand whisk till sugar dissolved.

Pour or drizzle glaze on cool cake.
Top with edible flowers.

Ready to serve.

Asian Style Orange Chicken

Hi everyone! Yesterday I made this yummy orange chicken recipe, something you can whip up for a quick weeknight dinner. Do give it a try ya.

                            

Here's the recipe :

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast, cubed, 

seasoned with some sea salt and ground garlic and pepper. Set aside.

Mix together:

rind and juice from 2 small oranges

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 tbsp distilled white vinegar

2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

some freshly ground pepper

2 stalks spring onion, sliced

Method :

Heat some oil in a non-stick pan and pan fry chicken pieces till lightly brown and keep aside.

In now empty pan, add the orange sauce mixture . Cook and stir in medium heat till thickened. add in the chicken pieces, coat well, cover and let it cook in the heat.

Turn off fire, dish out and sprinkle spring onion. Serve hot with rice.