Little Heavenly Bites - Carrot Cake with CreamCheese Topping

Chilled Cheesecake with Snickers Topping

For my Ayah on Father's Day..

Base : Crushed Milk Biscuit

Body : Creamy Creamcheese

Topping : Melted Snickers Bar

More Brownies..

Chewy Brownies for my friend Zety.

Thank you !

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 !