Chouquette, Gateaux, Eclairs

Back in July I had a little trip to Brisbane. At that time I was missing French pastries, so much so that I dragged hubby and his brother to New Farm to visit an authentic French Patisserie called  Chouquette, which is actually the name of one of my favourites pastries (pictured above).

As I suspected, the long walk from the city was totally worth it. There were so many things to choose from, everything looked beautiful and yummy. The seatings inside and outside the cafe were full, so  we bought some to take away.

I bought this Gateaux with chocolate macaron on top (above picture) and a bag of Chouquette to share between us. The men bought some apple tarts. Everything was very delicious, very French, and comes in very generous portions. Three of us agree that they tasted very authentic, unlike some bogus macarons sold in Asia. My brother-in-law said the girls behind the counters were cute, too. LOL.

The next time I'm in Brisbane I would like to stay closer to the patisserie so I can have my daily indulgent there. You should, too, if you have the chance to go there. Highly recommended! :)

P.S. all the pictures here are taken from their webpage. I didn't bother taking pictures of the ones we bought as they looked very similar.

The Quorn Supremacy

I'm very pleased to say that my beloved Quorn has arrived in Australian shores! :) I'm not entirely sure whether they've only just arrived here or whether they came here during my last overseas stint. No matter, I'm soooooo glad it's here.

Just to clarify: it's not a new skincare brand. Hehehe...

This UK invention is such a life-saver for vegetarians or would be vegetarians who don't like the taste of soya mince. Myself, I'm a "mostly vegetarian" person who still loves eating the occasional chicken, crabs and non-smelly white fish.

What exactly are they? Blurb from their webpage: "Mycoprotein is the common ingredient in all Quorn products. It's made from a member of the fungi family (the same family that morels and truffles belong to) and is a high-quality meat-free protein that's low in fat, high in dietary fibre (important for your digestive system) and is a valuable source of amino acids."

My favourite is definitely Quorn Sausages: perfect for BBQ, pizza topping, "toad in a hole", etc. My 2nd favourite: Quorn Pieces - lovely as chicken replacement in recipes, absorbing the flavour of the sauce easily.

They're so tatsy, even Meat Monster doesn't mind eating them. Which is a huge complement considering he doesn't like most "fake meat".

Talking about food makes me hungry. I'm getting Quorn Schnitzel on my next shopping trip. Yum. :)

I Want Sally Lunn's Buns!

The cold and windy weather makes me want to eat Sally Lunn's Buns. They're sold at Sally Lunn's (where else?!) in Bath, Somerset. Apparently the place is the oldest house in Bath. I've been there twice, I like mine toasted with rum butter. Yum...

Click here for the history of "the original Bath Bun".

What do you feel like eating right now?

Chinese Custard Tarts

A conversation with friends reminded me of this recipe for melt-in-the-mouth custard tarts. Very addictive. I'm not on diet = good for me. Hehehe...

Chinese Custard Tarts
Makes 24 tarts

Pastry for a double-crust pie:
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup cold butter
6-7 tbsp iced water

1. Place flour and salt in a food processor. Add butter in pieces. Process until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. With machine running, add enough water to make a dough that forms a ball on the blade (do not over process).
2. Knead dough lightly. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 mins.

Custard filling:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup milk

1. Heat the oven to 400F (about 200C)
2. Roll out pastry to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out circles to fit greased small, shallow tartlet pans.
3. Filling: combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Cook, without boiling, over a medium heat until sugar dissolves. Cool completely.
4. Add eggs and milk to sugar syrup. Mix to combine. Carefully pour into pastry shells. Bake for 10 mins. Reduce oven temperature to 350F (175C). Bake for 10 mins longer or until filling is set.

Apple Cake

Talking about Donnybrook and apples reminds me of a good recipe I have:

Torta con le mele (= cake with the apples)

3oz butter: softened, plus extra for greasing

11oz self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting

3 eggs

5oz caster sugar

3 apples: peeled, cored, and chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Grease a cake tin with butter and dust lightly with flour.

3. Whisk eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the butter.

4. Sift the flour into the mixture.

5. Add the apples and mix gently.

6. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake until cooked (about 30-40mins).

7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before turning it out.

For fancier cake: serve with whipped cream or Mix Berry Coulis. Or with both.

Spring Rolls

I found this old recipe that includes precise measurements. Hubby mentioned the other day that according to the copyright training he had at work, list of ingredients can't be copyrighted. Only the instruction portions could be copyrighted.

Though I could be "borrowing" the ingredients list from elsewhere, all the cooking instructions in my articles are my own words, thus I'm SO going to copyright them! Hehehehe...

Anyway. Here goes the Vegetarian Spring Rolls recipe.

10 sheets frozen spring roll wrappers

Filling:
2 cloves garlic - crushed
50gr mushrooms - chopped finely
120gr carrot - shredded
70 gr white cabbage - shredded

Seasonings:
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp light soy sauce
1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
1.5 tsp cornflour

4 tbsp water

For sealing: mix plain flour with a little water.

1. Fry garlic in a little oil in the wok until the colour change. Discard the garlic.
2. Add mushrooms, cabbage, and carrot, stir for 1min.
3. Add seasonings and fry until everything turns thicker. Let it cool on a plate.
4. Place filling in the centre of spring rolls wrapper. Fold the wrapper to make a roll. Seal the end with the plain flour "glue".
5. Deep fry spring rolls over moderate heat. Make sure to keep on turning them to avoid creating burnt rolls! From experience I find that frying using coconut oil enhances the taste.
6. Drain, put in a dish lined with paper towels to absorb the extra oil.
7. Serve with sweet Thai chili sauce or Worcestershire sauce

Add cooked mince chicken for a meaty option. Enjoy!

Asparagus Soup

This is the most memorable dish in my Chinese cooking repertoire. Reason: it's the soup my mother cooks for special occasions or treats.

As in other Asian form of cooking, the amount of the ingredients and spices are quite ambiguous, there's no set amount like in Western cooking. A pinch of this, a tiny bit of that, a slice of this, a dash of that. I suppose it helps to "train" our taste buds. After some practice you'll get use to it in no time. In my opinion, it's good to have flexible recipes, that way you can always adjust the amount of spices according to your liking. It also encourages you to keep on practicing, doing trials and errors in order to perfect your favourite recipes.

The best cooking advice my mother ever gave me: always add a little bit of sugar in your cooking, it's the one thing that makes the difference. It's my late grandma's cooking secret. I've always done it ever since. So the cat is out of the bag! (Say, "thank you, Music!") Hehehe...

My mum's original recipe uses crab meat. Chicken makes a good substitute. For a vegetarian option, use mushrooms instead.

I find white asparagus give a softer taste compared to the green asparagus. I haven't seen fresh white asparagus around here, so I use fresh green asparagus or canned white asparagus.

Ingredients:
Onions
Garlic
Vegetable stock
Chicken
Asparagus - chopped about an inch long
Sweetcorn (or baby sweetcorn)
Castor sugar - a teaspoon is good for a start
White pepper and salt to taste
Egg, beaten
Cornflour - mixed with cold water: a little bit goes a long way!
White vinegar
Parsley for garnish

1. Stir fry onions. Halfway throw in the garlic. Stir fry until both change colour.
2. Pour vegetable stock. Add chicken/crab meat (if used), asparagus, and sweetcorn.
3. Bring to boil, then simmer on low heat until the meat is tender.
4. Make sure the soup is hot (increase the heat if necessary) before pouring the beaten egg tiny bit by tiny bit while stirring the soup so the egg breaks up into "strands".
5. Add sugar, white pepper, and salt to taste.
6. Add cornflour mix until the soup is slightly thicker. Remember NOT to put too much cornflour, otherwise you'll end up with a starchy lump of solid!
7. Add a dash of white vinegar to taste.
8. Done. Garnish with parsley leaves.

Serve on it's own or with croutons for a more westernised version.

When we were kids we used to add tomato sauce and chili sauce to the soup. Nowadays I like to savour the soup just as it is.

Tabouli Salad and Cats

Serves 4

3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cracked wheat/bulgar
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tomato, diced

Dressing:
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
pepper and salt to taste

1. Pour boiling water over wheat. Stand for 20 mins.
2. Add parsley, mint, onion, and tomato.
3. Combine the dressing ingredients. Toss to mix.

For a more gourmet take: serve on top of lettuce, sprinkled with pine nuts. Enjoy!

CATS
= my favourite animals.

My sis gave us a Stuff On My Cat Calender for Christmas. Love it!

If you like cats, check out this webpage: http://www.stuffonmycat.com/

Florence and Kendal Mint Cake

Above is Basilica Santa Croce (= Holy Cross Basilica) in Florence.

Apart from the Basilica itself, most of the buildings around the Piazza are shops selling leather goods: coats, bags, shoes, etc. I remember entering one of the shops on the left side of the photo and trying on a gorgeous floor length black leather coat. The cutting was superb and the leather was very soft. I looked fabulous wearing it, even if I may say so. Hehehe... However, I was living in hot and humid Singapore at that time, so I couldn't see the point of buying the coat, no matter how tempting it was. Looking back, I should have bought it. I guess I was too young and naive to know the value of investing in a classic coat then.

The Basilica looks really ornate outwardly, so I was expecting the inside to be at least as nice as that. I was quite shocked when I stepped in, as the inside was very plain, grey and humble looking compared to the outside. I suppose I shouldn't judge the Basilica by it's cover... Inside are the tombs of famous people: Dante, Michelangelo, Voltra, Gallilei, Machiavelli, Lancio, Rossini, etc.

That's my only memories of Florence. Not much, I know. Perhaps it wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be...

As promised, this week is all about pepperminty things. So with much pleasure I present to you the recipe for Kendal Mint Cake, a hugely popular mint treat in England.

According to an article I read, the Mint Cake was created by accident in the 19th century. It's fame spread after being first sold at Kendal railway station. It's also popular with mountaineers due to it's energy content.

I'm no mountaineer but I love eating them alongside my chocolate drink. Somehow they always remind me of Lake District and wintry Christmas.

This recipe makes 16 squares.

450gr (1lb) granulated sugar
150ml (1/4 pint) milk
5ml (1tsp) peppermint essence

1. Butter an 18cm (7inch) square shallow cake tin. Place the sugar and milk in a saucepan. Bring very, very slowly to the boil over a very low heat, shaking and swirling the pan occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.

2. Place a thermometer in the pan and boil rapidly until the mixture reaches 140C (275F). Remove from the heat and add the essence, beating well until smooth and cooled slightly.

3. Pour into the prepared tin. As it cools, mark out squares with a knife. Once cold cut into 16 squares.

Clever idea: dip them in chocolate, leave to dry on top of baking paper. Voila: after dinner mint!

Mix Berry Coulis

I made this for a friend who is wheat-intolerant.

Today's post is supposed to be for the Flourless Chocolate Cake with Mix Berry Coulis, like the picture above (baked by moi). Unfortunately the recipe went missing somewhere in the cyber space, so you just have to be content with the coulis for the moment. Here goes.

Mixed Berry Coulis:

500-600gr frozen mixed berries

2 tbsp icing sugar

2 tbsp Cointreau (use lemon juice for non-alcoholic option)

Cook everything on medium heat until it boils. Remove from heat.

Serve on top of cakes, ice cream, waffles, pancakes, or fresh fruits.

Homemade Truffles

This recipe makes about 24-30 truffles

200gr dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
2tbsp Cointreau
60gr butter at room temperature (salted butter gives better result)
2 tsp cream
1/4 cup ground almonds
2tbsp icing sugar
cocoa powder for coating

1. In a bowl: microwave dark chocolate and Cointreau - use medium low setting. Microwave until the chocolate melts or nearly melting, soft enough to mix.

2. Remove the bowl. Stir. Add butter a little at a time. Mix well.

3. Mix in cream, almonds, and icing sugar.

4. Let the mixture cool down a bit, then chill for 15mins. or until firm enough to handle.

5. With damp hands: take spoonfuls of the mixture and roll into small balls. If you find it too fiddly, put mixture straight into individual paper cases.

6. Roll balls in the cocoa powder. If you put it straight into paper cases: dust with cocoa powder on top.

7. Put truffles on a tray lined with baking paper. Refrigerate until firm.

8. Put truffles inside individual paper cases if you haven't already done so. Serve on it's own or with coffee.

If you'd like them to look fancier, roll them in a mix of cocoa powder and ground almonds or hazelnut pieces.

They will keep for up to 10 days if stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

The ones I made before Christmas disappeared very quickly. Hehehe...

Mie Pizza

mie = noodles (Indonesian)

pizza = well, you know, PIZZA! Hehehehe...

Strictly speaking it's not really a pizza, it's more like an Asian style fritata. I have no idea why the dish doesn't reflect the name.

It's a lazily clever way of making a quick meal in a hot summer day.

- Unhealthy option: use a packet of Indomie Mie Goreng, any flavour will do. I'm partial to the Sate/Satay flavour.

- Healthy option: use pasta
- 1 large egg

1. Cook the noodles/pasta.

2. Add the flavouring packets/mix Italian herbs to the egg, beat well.
2. Put the noodles/pasta in a microwave safe bowl. Pour egg mixture on top.
3. Microwave for 2 mins. (or until half-cooked).
4. Turn over and do another 2 mins. (or until both sides are cooked and the noodles look dry)
5. Serve with tomato sauce and mayonnaise. (Japanese mayo is the best!)

For an even healthier option: add cooked mix vegetables and sliced mushrooms before step 2.

For a restaurant look: add chopped parsley on top of Mie Pizza, with salad leaves and cherry tomatoes on the side.

There. Easy peasy.

Yeah, not quite Italian. Hehehe... Still, I thought I should get it out of my system sooner than later, while I'm hunting for my notes, photos, and postcards from my trip to Italy to refresh my memory.

I also have to mention that I went there while their currency was still Lira, during northern hemisphere's summer 2000.

P.S. Last night I played a quick game of Chuzzle. Lo and behold, I managed to zoom passed hubby's highest score. The computer must have felt guilty for making me scoffed the Chocolate Orange... Peace offering accepted. Therefore I'm declaring myself as the Queen of Chuzzle's TWO kingdoms! Classically Speedy... or is it Speedily Classic? Hm... Woohoo anyway.... (hubby said, "It's just a game..." No way he would have said that if he was the overall winner!)