Homemade Achar

My mum would always make this Achar once in awhile in containers for us. Each container with different taste for our family members. We like it differently so my mum will adjust the taste according to our preferrence. They usually like it to be added with more chillies and peanuts. Mine is NO PEANUT cos i am allergy to nuts.

Ingredients
3 pc Small Carrots
2 pc Cucumbers
1 Whole Ripe Pineapple (you may used canned pineapple)
3 pc Chili Padi
1 Tbsp Sesame seeds
5 Tbsp White Vinegar
2 Tbs Sugar
1 tsp Seasame Oil
1 Tbsp Salt

Method

1. Wash carrots, cucumbers, chillies. Slice them into very thin pieces.
2. Soak the slice carrot, cucumber and chillies in water and add the salt. Mix the vegetable evenly with the salt water for 1 min. Remove all the vegetables and drain dry. Set aside the salt water for later use.
3. Cut the pineapple into some pieces.
4. Put the cut pineapple into the salt water and stir for awhile, drain the water away.
5. Add all the vegetable and pineapple in a mixing bowl.
6. Add vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and sesame seed. Mix everything evenly.
7. Store them in a container and place in the fridge.

Best time to eat is after one day later.

Homemade Kaya

I missed the Kaya from Singapore and toast bread, but the best Kaya Toast that i had ate before is not from Singapore but Penang. Last time whenever i was on business trip to Penang, the No. 1 must eat breakfast is half boiled egg with kaya toast at any coffeeshop. I don't know why their Kaya Toast just taste so nice.

I found quite a number of kaya recipe and decided to try out a more easy version. Usually when i try out a new recipe, i will reduce the ingredient by half.

Ingredient
6 eggs
250g sugar
3 pandan leaves
250ml coconut milk

Method

1. Gently beat the egg and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Try not to beat too hard which will create foam.
2. Wash the pandan leaves and dry it out with kitchen towel. Tie the pandan leaves with a knot.
3. Use a double boiler, add eggs, pandan leaves and coconut milk and mix them.
4. Stir the mixture until thick paste. (I stir for about an hour)

Layer Latte

I have break too many glasses during wash and clean so last weekend i went to Auchan to get new ones. I bought 4 glasses for about 5Euro.

Just now where i was making coffee, "Tink Tink" i thought i should try it out on my new glasses to see how it looks like. So i try out the layer latte which i watched from YouTube the other day. Actually i try doing this a few times after watching the YouTube on other glasses, but it either failed or not very perfect. So today my luck is here.

I watch a few video from YouTube, and they all say the same thing. The trick of making nice layer latte is to pour your latte into the glass very very slowly.

Here is my step.

1. Prepare the milk in Nespresso milk maker
2. Prepare your espresso
3. Pour in the liquid milk without the foam and cream into the glass with half filled
4. Use a spoon to scoop the cream on top of the liquid milk at about 3-5 cm thick
5. Pour in the espresso into the centre of the glass at very very slow rate. (you may use a spoon to help cos if you are pouring the espresso from a cup into the glass, it is quite hard to control).
6. Now you see your layered latte. Pour the cream milk and foam on top to finish.

Types of milk in France

The first time when i buy milk from the supermarket, OMG i don't know what's the difference and i just grab one and go. When i reached home, then i started to google it to find out.

Easy if you cannot remember the French word, just memorise the color as all the milk are mostly bottled in these three color irregularless of brand. So just choose your favourite brand or in-house brand. Usually i buy Auchan in-house brand.

Lait = Milk
Blue color = demi-écrémé = Low Fat Milk
Red color = entier = Whole Milk
Green color = écrémé = Fat Free or Skim Milk

Cream cheese in France

Can you imagine i spend months before i got the right cream cheese. I have been researching through the Internet trying to find cream cheese in France. Then i realise French don't eat cream cheese. And the difficult part is you can't do direct translation from English to French for cream cheese, cos you will never find it on the cheese shelves.

After researching, i found three brands which carry cream cheese, Philadelphia (US brand), Kiri (French brand) and St Moret (French). Even when i manage to find the brand and try to get it at the supermarket, i still failed. Each brand has its line of cheese products on the shelves and with different French label. I was so confused after browsing 20mins on the cheese with my hubby face turning from red to black, and i give up.

I returned home and try to google it to find the image of the correct cream cheese from Philadelphia and Kiri. While searching, i found out that St Moret cream cheese taste more salty and not so recommended for baking.

Next morning, i returned to the supermarket and got the Philadelphia and Kiri cream cheese. For Philadelphia, it is labelled as à tartiner and pack in a plastic container while Kiri is labelled as à la crème de lait and is wrapped into individual cubes in a box.

Usually most people use Philadelphia's cream cheese for baking. I was really lucky to got this in France as Philadelphia just launched them in France market last year. France has different types of cheese here, so Philadelphia actually aiming to create new concept to use it as cooking cheese for the market here.

While getting the Kiri cream cheese off the rack in Intermache yesterday, i saw this snack from Kiri. I remember reading from its website, saying that Kiri targeted audiences are actually kids, so they have this biscuits stick with cream cheese snack. I was so tempted and decided to give it a try. Thumbs up!. I love this, and its going to be in my favourite snack list.

Finding Chinese Ingredient in France Bordeaux

I did not shipped much Chinese food ingredients with me when i came France, and this is the worst nightmare i have. So how to i survived.

EurAsie is my survivor. I not very sure if this supermarket is owned by a Thai or Vietnamese but they do sell all kind of Chinese ingredient that we used back in Singapore. They have familiar brands like Yeo's, Prima Taste, Panda Brand Oyster Sauce, etc. They also have wide varieties of products, ranging from canned food, flour, beans, Thai rice to fresh pandan leaves. I can find most of the ingredients i need for cooking our Singapore style Chinese food here. But one thing for sure is the price is double when converting back to SGD.

I will visit this place about once a month to stock up all the necessary ingredient. If i go there, is a "Confirmed with Chop" sure got things to buy. That's why i try not to go too often otherwise i am sure to exceed my grocery budget again. I think on average i will usually spend around 80-100 Euro there, this is excluded other grocery i need to purchase from Carrefour. That's the reason why this place is my hubby No. 1 most hated place. Not only i will spend alot but also i will shop for very long, going through every shelves browsing what i don't have at home. Hahaha.

Website
http://www.eurasie-bordeaux.com/

Address10 Avenue de Tourville 33300 BORDEAUX


Opening hoursMonday to Friday: 9am to 730pm
Saturday: 920am to 730pm 

Homemade Beef Burger

I was browsing at the bread session at the Supermarket and don't know which one to buy, then i saw this burger bread and "Ting Ting"... I want to make burger for breakfast.

I still have frozen beef patty in the freezer and it have been there for sometime as i don't know what to do with them. So here i am going to get rid some of them. This was easy, i just add a little oil to my Tefel frying pan and pan fry the beef patty. Then i add some lettuces, few slices of tomatoes and cucumber with some mayonaise, mastard and tomatoes sauce. And this is my easy like ABC burger.

Vanilla Rasin Cupcake

Ingredients
120g butter (at room temperature)
120g caster sugar
120g self-raising flour
2 large eggs (at room temperature)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
60 pc yellow raisins

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a 12 cupcake paper case in a tray
2. Use mixer to cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the vanilla extract.
4. Add one egg and half shifted flour and beat for awhile, add in the other egg and flour and continue to beat until smooth.
5. Fill each paper case with mixture to 1/4 full, put in 5 raisins and fill it again with mixture to 3/4 full.
6. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden.
7. To test, insert a toothpick into the cupcak and make sure it comes out clean.

Pork Cutlet

I know how to make this pork cutlet when i was a kid. I learnt it from my mother and i cook it for my sisters whenever my parents went holidays. I remember my sister and I will sit on the kitchen floor and take turn to mash the biscuits. We don't have food processor so we used the stone grinder and we really make sure the biscuits are grind into fine pieces. It taste better when they are finely grind.

Ingredients
300g of pork
20pc of cream biscuits
1 egg

Methods

1. Cut the pork into thin slices. (It taste better compare to thick slice)
2. Marinate the pork with some sugar, light soy sauce, seasame oil and pepper for 20mins. Set aside.
3. Use a food processor to grind the biscuits till fine. If you do not have a food processor, put the biscuits into a zip-lock bag and use the bottom of a glass bottle to grind it manually.
4. Pour the biscuit bits onto a plate.
5. Beat the egg lightly and pour into a plate with some depth.
6. Heat enough oil in the pot for deep frying.
7. Coat the thin slice of pork with the egg on both sides.
8. Transfer the meat onto the biscuit plate and make sure both side are coated fully with the biscuit.
9. Slowly drop the coated meat into the oil. Fry till brown and serve. (DO NOT stir the meat as it biscuit bits will seperate from the meat.

Katsu Curry

Katsu Curry is the number one in my cooking list that i will never go wrong. Whenever i need to invite friends to my house for dinner, this is the first dish that comes to my mind. Sometimes cooking other dishes will tends to fail and make me embarrass in front of the guests. So Katsu Curry has always been my survior...lol.
I have try shortcut by putting all the ingredients into the pot and boil to save time BUT i will never do that again as the fragrant does make a difference. So NO SHORTCUT.

Ingredients
2 large potatoes
2 carrots
2 large onions
1 litres water
1 box of Curry Sauce Mix (You can get it at any supermarket at the Japanese session)

Optional: You can add califlower for the soup base

Methods

1. Cut the potatoes, carrot and onion to big pieces.
2. Bring the water to boil.
3. Pour in the potatoes, carrot and onion and boil for 20mins or until the soup is sweet.
4. Break the curry sauce cube into smaller pieces, add into the soup.
5. Stir constantly till the curry sauce cube melt.
6. Continue to stir until the curry paste becomes thick.
7. Off the fire and serve with rice.

Toppings:
For the toppings, you can use fried fish fillet, chicken or pork cutlet.
For the pork cutlet recipe, please see here

Baileys Chocolate

I don't know what to give my hubby for Valentine's Day, after long consideration i decided to make chocolate for him. I love Baileys and my hubby love chocolate so decided to make this Baileys Chocolate. I love this chocolate, it is not hard but a bit soft. It melt in your mouth.

Ingredients

200g condensed milk

50g butter (cut into small pc)

125g brown sugar

1 Tbs honey

125g dark chocolate (cut into small pc)

30ml Baileys Original Irish Cream Liquor

2 Tbs cocoa powder

Method

1. Combine the condensed milk, butter, sugar and honey in a saucepan. Stir in medium-low heat till sugar dissolves.
2. Increase heat to medium-high and stir for 15 mins until the mixture become thick. Remove from heat.
3. Add the chocolate and liquor, stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth.
4. Pour into chocolate mould and set aside for 1 hr to cool.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
6. Cut the chocolate to your preferred shape or smaller pieces.
7. Pour cocoa powder into a small bowl. Put the chocolate into the bowl to coat with cocoa powder.
8. After coating, take the coated chocolate and pad lightly on a kitchen towel to remove access cocoa powder.
9. Serve.

I do this at the room temperature of about 5°C, and my action has to be fast before the mixture start to harden.