Chilled Cheesecake with Cadbury Choc Topping

Baked or Chilled ?

When it comes to cheesecakes I prefer mine chilled rather than baked.

It is essentially easier to make and does not possess that dense creamy texture that you get from a baked cheesecake. Having said that, I would definately not turn away a slice of baked cheesecake if one is placed in front of me ! :) In the end..it is all preference.

The one in the picture has Crushed Oreos as its base, Luscious CreamCheese+SourCream+Melted White Chocolate as its body and Decadent Melted Cadbury Chocolate as its topping. The recipe for this cheesecake is as such that it produces a cheesecake that is absolutely light in texture and virtually melts in the mouth.

Teacher's Day Celebration Brownies..

Celebration Brownies

(covered in colourful sprinkles, drizzled with white chocolate and dotted with marshmallows)

Thank you Azreen !

Happy Birthday to Aziah !

Wedding Bells...

Congrats Naz & Wife !

Monday Night Dinner - Beef Pot Roast

For this week's Monday night dinner I made a super easy, leave-it in the oven beef pot roast. Here's what you need :-

Ingredients :

A.
1.5-1.8 kg ribeye/sirloin rolled beef
Mustard powder (2-3 tbsp)
Paprika (2-3 tbsp)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

B.
Carrots (2/large/cut into chunks)
Celery (2/large/cut into chunks)
Onions (4/large/cut into chunks)
Garlic (1/large/halved)
Olive Oil (2-3 tbsp)
Salt

C.
625 ml beef stock
Onions (1/large/chopped)
Garlic (2-3/cloves/minced)
Stewed Tomatoes (1 can)

Steps :

* Drizzle Carrots, Celery, Onions and Garlic in B with olive oil and season with salt then roast for 15 mins @ 170c oven.
* Marinate A. (Do this the night before)
* Heat about 3-4 tbsp of oil in shallow pan, brown the meat on all sides. This will take no more than 10 mins. This step is just to seal in the juices and not to cook the meat.
* Once the meat is browned. Set aside. Using the same oil, sautee the onions and garlic in C, then add the stewed tomatoes and lastly, add the beef stock.
* Arrange the roasted vegies in a large, deep roasting pan (must be large and deep enough to contain the liquid), place the beef on top, pour beef stock over.
* Cover with aluminium foil.
* Roast slowly for 2-21/2 hours at 165c. If you want the top of your pot-roasted beef to be crispy, remove foil 10 minutes before time, increase temperature to 180c and let brown for about 8-10 mins.

(picture courtesy of Google Images)

Once done, your Beef PotRoast should look like this. Let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

To make nice brown gravy, strain the liquid in the roasting dish thru a strainer. Then take about 2-3 tbsp of butter, melt it and add 2-3 tbsp of plain flour to make a thick'ish paste. Add the strained liquid. Stir until a gravylike consistency is achieved.

Carve the roasted beef into nice thick slices.

Serve with the homemade brown gravy

and

Creamy Dijon Mustard and Sour Cream Potato Salad

and

Quick Sundried Tomatoes Aglio Olio Spaghetti

* A special extra..as appetiser...

Homemade quesadillas with tomato salsa, minced beef, cheese

served with sourcream and sweet relish

*Happy Cooking*

Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb + sides

Every Monday night I cook for my entire family of 9 adults and 3 rugrats. Which means I'd be planning the menu all through the weekend and seeing that I'm not one to slave over the stove for long hours, I tend to keep to dishes that spends most of its time in the oven bubbling away whilst I nicely plant myself in front of the telly until it is all ready to be served. Here's what I made for this week's Monday night dinner :

Main

* Slow-Roasted Leg of Lamb

Sides

* Mid-Eastern'ish Chicken with Tomato Rice

* Sun-Dried Tomatoes Focacia Bread

* Cold Cucumber Chickpeas Salad

* Cold Garlic-Yoghurt Dip

INGREDIENTS AND METHOD

Slow-Roasted Leg of Lamb

Part 1

1 leg of lamb (bone-in)

4-5 cloves of garlic

Rosemary leaves

2-3 tbsp of Briyani Powder

Salt and Pepper

Part 2

3 large onions (Quartered)

1 whole garlic (Halved)

2 large carrots (Quartered then halved)

2 tbsps briyani powder (Mix with some water/stock to make thick paste)

4 tbsps tomato sauce

1.5 cups of water or chicken stock

Salt to taste

Night before cooking day

Marinate the leg of lamb - Part 1

(Picture courtesy of Google Images)

Pat dry the leg of lamb. Make small slits all over it. Insert slivers of garlic and rosemary in the slits. Rub all over with briyani mix. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap with cling-film. Refrigerate overnight.

On Cooking Day

* Pre-heat oven to 150C.

* Place onions, garlic and carrots in a large roasting dish.
* Sit the leg of lamb on the onions, garlic and carrots.
* Pour the water/chicken stock around the leg of lamb.
* Cover roasting dish with foil.
* Roast for approximately 3 hours.

After 3 hours
* Remove roasting dish from oven.
* Let leg of lamb rest for abt 30 mins. Then remove the lamb from roasting dish. Wrap with foil. Set aside.
* Meanwhile, pour juices from the roasting dish into a pot. Add the briyani paste, tomato sauce. Add more water or stock if needed. Season with salt and pepper.
* Transfer the leg of lamb into the roasting dish again. Pour the gravy over. Bake uncovered for 20-30 mins (depending on how crispy the outside you want it to be).
* Carve the lamb just before serving.

Your Roasted Leg of Lamb will look kinda like this.

(picture courtesy of Google Images)

I served the lamb with a side dish of

Chicken & Vegetable Rice

Recipe and Picture from - http://arabic-food.blogspot.com/

and also

Cucumber and Chickpeas Fatoush

Recipe and Picture from - http://arabic-food.blogspot.com/

I also had some Garlic Sundried Tomatoes Focacia Bread prepared for those who wanted to soak up the gravy from the Roasted Leg of Lamb.

For dessert, I made Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Cake Pudding complete with Chocolate Sauce and Vanilla Whipped Cream. Recipe from Nigella's book entitled 'Nigella Express'

 

I apologise for not posting actual photos of the items I made last night..as usual..in the hustle and bustle of prep work, the actual cooking, the serving and the eating..I forgot to take pictures ! :)

Cups and cups of sweet custard..

Last Saturday I steamed 100 cups of Caramel Pudding for my brother's friend, Shaheen. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of it. Anyway, I'd like to say thank you to Shaheen for her order and hope she'll come back for more ! :)

Little Sweet Comforts

It's my father's birthday today. And so, I made these little Pineapple Upside Down Cake for him..along with some Tiramisu too ! I have added these little morsels of heaven to my list of Teatime Treats.

Super Easy Roast Chicken !

(PICTURE TAKEN FROM BBC GOOD FOOD WEBSITE)

I tried this recipe last night and the outcome looks exactly like the picture above !

SLOW-ROAST CHICKEN

(Extracted from BBC Good Food)

Ingredients :

> 1.6-2 kg whole chicken

> 1 kg roasting potatoes, half or quartered (whatever that suits your family)

> 2 whole garlic heads - halved

> 3 whole onions - quartered

> 4 celeries - cut into 2" in length

> 2 large carrots - cut into 2" length then halved

> 300 ml chicken stock

> 2 stems of rosemary

> 6 bay leaves

> 1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional, omit if you do not like the sour'ish lemony taste)

> Butter for greasing

Method :

• Heat oven to 160c/fan.
• In a large roasting dish or roasting stock pot, place the potatoes, celeries, carrots, onions, garlic and 1-2 pieces of the lemons. Add also the herbs.
• Pat dry chicken with kitchen towel.
• Stuff chicken with balance of lemon pieces.
• Brush generously softened butter (this will give you a nice and golden colour) on chicken, sprinkle salt + pepper.
• Place chicken on the assorted veggies + onions etc.
• Add chicken stock

Roasting Instructions :

~ Pre-heat oven to *160C/Fan.

~ Loosely cover the roasting.

~ Cook for 1 hour.

~ After 1 hour, remove cover, brush a bit more butter on the chicken then bake uncovered for another 30-40 mins (depending on how crispy and golden you want your chicken to be).

~ Once the desired is obtained, remove chicken from oven, loosely cover with foil and let rest for 30 mins before carving.

* Note :

The heat differs from oven to oven, therefore check the doneness of the chicken by pricking the thickest part of the chicken..and if clear juice flows out..the chicken is done.

Big Cookie In a Bag

One Big Chocolate Chip Cookie

wrapped in clear cookie bag

sealed to ensure freshness and crispness

then packaged in delicate organza bag

and finally, lovingly tied with polka-dot ribbon

A Sweet Birthday Treat from 'ME' to you..

Thank you Sham@Me !

I hope your friends will like this gift of Brownies in a Tin..

* Me ordered 2 Medium Tins and a Small Tin.
* The cookies are complimentary.

My Chocolate Cake

- Happy Birthday Azlil -

Moist Chocolate Cake

sandwiched with Chocolate Ganache

topped with Chocolate Spread, Whipped Cream and

scattered with Chocolate Shaving..

JustBrownies

I dont have a fancy name for my brownies..so, they are simply called 'Brownies In A Tin'

Yellow/Cupcake Design - (M)

Blue & White/Cupcake Design - (M)

Orange/Floral Design - (M)

Orange & Green/Floral Design - (S)

Tins with cupcake and floral design are also available in (L) size.

Comfort Food For Brunch..

Thanks Junaida..

Sugar is Sweet, So Are You !

Fondant decorated sugar cookie for special occassions or just because I love you...

No BBQ Beef Ribs

This is super easy. Got it of a show on AFC. Try it !

What you need :

* Some beef ribs enough to feed between 8-10 ppl

* 2 carrots

* 2 stalks of celery

* 2 bulbs of garlic

* 2 red apples

* 1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

* 1 cup Maple Syrup

* 1 cup Tomato Ketchup

* 1 cup Brown Sauce

* 1 cup Worchestershire Sauce

What you need to do :

First,

> Chop the carrots, celery and apples into chunks.

> Slice the garlic bulb into 2.

> Set aside.

2nd,

> Brown the ribs to seal in the juices.

> Set aside

> Use the same oil to saute the carrots, celery, apples and garlic

> Then add the ribs to the sauteed carrots, celery etc..

3rd,

> Whilst the vegies are browning..mix all the liquids together..

> Then add to the browned ribs and vegies.

4th,

> Bake in the oven @ 180c for 2-2.5 hours.

5th,

> Once the meat is all nice and tender,

> Dish everything out on a platter, pour some of the sauce over,

> Pop it in the oven for another 10 mins or so to brown the top.

Lastly,

> Serve with a side-dish of green vege, or

> Potato Salad, or

> Homemade Fries, or

All of the above ! :)

A little tea-party..

Thank you Kak Shida.

For her little tea-party recently, she ordered Shepherd's Pie, Mini Chicken Pie, English Trifle, Beef Rissole, Vegetarian SpringRoll and Fried Spiral Pasta. All for a party of 10.

The start of 2010..

A Special Birthday Gift

Thanks KY !

Sweet, Sweet, Sweet Delights...

See those little pink squares ? They are called Barfi. Sweet little Indian delicacy that I've found myself totally hooked on ! These pink ones are named Babydolls..or at least that's what it sounded like when I asked the lady behind the counter that day. My first encounter with a Barfi was when I went strolling in MidValley during the Deepavali  week. As I walked around the promo area, I saw this little stall bustling with activity. What attracted me was the lady behind the counter..I believe she is known as Mdm. Teranjit Kaur. As she called out to passers-by to try her sweet desserts, she was also attending to her customers...the queue was..well..LONG ! Mdm. Teranjit affectionately calls her customers either darling or sayang. And if people weren't attracted by her friendliness and efficiency..then its gotta be the little bites of heaven that she was selling ! When I stopped to buy the Barfis and Coconut Candy from her..I was the only non-indian standing in line ! or specifically I was the only Malay standing in that queue...But was she surprised to see me ? Nope ! instead she asked me to try a bit of everything that she had on the counter. Try I did !! but when I got to the pink delights called Babydoll..I stopped..coz..it was then that I fell in love..not only with the colour..but also with its softness, its lusciousness, the way it melted in my mouth, the way it got me wanting more..and so for my nephew's wedding..I packed 3 layers of Barfis in a glass bowl, placed it in a decorated basket and send it along as a 'hantaran'..hoping that they too would love it as much as I do...

Crazy about puddings !

Poached Pear Pudding

Sticky Chocolate Date Pudding

(served with Caramel Sauce and Vanilla IceCream)

Sticky Chocolate Pudding

(served with Vanilla Custard and Vanilla IceCream)

For the love of all things sweet..

Sticky Toffee Pudding, Chilled Chocolate Pudding, Chilled Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Oreos Chocolate Chip Cookie...these are my guilty pleasures ! Although some were made to fulfill some orders..most were for satisfying my need and love for sweet luscious things ! *happy sigh* Last Monday for dessert after dinner at my parent's house I made Sticky Toffee Pudding AND Chilled Chocolate Pudding ! a bit OTT right ?

By request, the Sticky Toffee Pudding was served with vanilla ice-cream AND caramel fudge whilst the Chilled Chocolate Pudding was served with cold custard sauce..but of course, my niece Zara..had her choc pudding with the custard sauce AND vanilla ice-cream ! then came the order for 20 cups of Chilled Cheesecake..naturally..I didn't make just 20..instead I made an extra 10 cups for me to ensure that it is up to mark..(this I say to pacify my guilt ! hehehe)..and today, for my bff's office, I made 25 more cups of the cheesecake as well as a tray of Tiramisu ! After delivering the cheesecakes I came home and decided that with the school holidays round the corner my nephews and niece could do with a jar of Oreos Chocolate Chip Cookies..that's what I tell myself..in truth..I'm a sucker for all things that are sweet !! Hey Linda..thanks for the order !

Teach me..and I will LEARN.

I love puddings ! By puddings I mean sweet soft melts-in-your-mouth kind of dessert. Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry..any flavour..with or without fruit..drenched with toffee sauce..covered with creamy custard...any type of pudding..I will eat ! Despite the fact that I have been making trifles, caramel pudding, tiramisu, apple crumble and bread&butter pudding for quite sometime..I thought it would do me some good to attend the English Puddings cooking class conducted by Puan Rohani Jelani http://www.rohanijelani.com and I was sooooo right ! Did you know that the 'real' English Trifle does not contain any jello at all ? Did you know that you're supposed to bake Apple Crumble on high heat to ensure that the apples get thoroughly cooked so that when you bite into it its all soft and squishy and not crunchy ? Did you know that poached pears with gingerbread cake is absolutely yummylicious ? Did you know that you MUST use stale bread to make the best Bread&Butter pudding ? Did you know that the 'real' Custard Sauce IS NOT made with custard powder ? Did you know that if you made Sticky Date Pudding in mini loaf pans and serve it with warm toffee sauce it tastes absolutely to-die-for ? Did you know that you can never ever stop learning ? Did you know that you should never be stingy with your knowledge ? Did you know that sharing is caring ? Did you know that if you teach me...I will learn and that if you ask me....I will share...

My Humble Abode...

Every morning..when I wake up I am greeted by the sounds of a little black and yellow bird chirping away outside my bedroom window and every night I fall asleep to the sounds of crickets cricketing, frogs croaking, dogs barking, cats mewing..When I first moved to my 'not quite on the map house', I used to be so upset with people passing remarks like 'Eeee..I rasa I tak bolehlah duduk dalam hutan' and 'OMG, jauhnya from civilisation..' First and foremost, my house is not in the jungle..and as for civilisation..the nearest McDonalds is 5 minutes drive ! Just because my house isn't situated in some upscale overly priced area does not mean its worthless..just because it was not designed by some fancy schmancy architect does not mean its not beautiful..in its own way, it has its own appeal, its own attraction..my house is only 6 minutes away from my office..so, I never ever have to worry about getting stuck in the jam ! my house is only 10 minutes from the Sg. Buloh toll..so getting to anywhere and everywhere is not exactly difficult..so what if it is surrounded by kampung environment ? so what if the nearest supermarket is not Cold Storage ? Its my house and I love it ! (I'm not being bitter, I'm just upset with a certain someone who said 'Oklah jugak duduk rumah kat sini..' with a little uppity snobbish curl to her mouth..

After Raya Biscuits..

A short note : I would like to say thank you to Intan Shaliza, Randeep and Ustazah for their after Raya cookies order..

Time to bake again !

Its time to start baking again ! A week's rest for Hari Raya is more than enough. It is also time to work-off all the calories consumed during Hari Raya (gosh ! is it really possible ?)..So, if any of you need more cookies, brownies..etc..you know where to find me ! Till next time..take care y'alls !