Prata Potato Puffs

Another easy delicious snack
Thanks Anncoo Journal for the recipe

What you need:

5pcs frozen prata
10 hard boiled quail eggs (I didn't have so I used 5 hard boiled eggs, halved)
450g potatoes
3tbsp curry powder (I skipped)
5tbsp fresh milk
1 large onion, chopped
1tsp sugar
1tsp chicken stock powder
1 beaten egg

Method:

1. Peel potatoes and halve them, and steam for about 30mins until soft
2. Mash them, leaving some chunks behind
3. Heat a little oil in a frying pan. Sautee onion with curry powder, if using, until onions are soft
4. Add in potatoes, milk, sugar, chicken stock powder. Stir well. Dish up and leave to cool
5. Thaw frozen prata slightly until it can be folded. Dab your hands with flour to prevent the prata from sticking
6. Place potatoes in the middle and arrange eggs on it. Fold it over, use fingers to make pleats on one side of the prata until fully sealed
7. Place prata puff on a lined baking tray and brush the top with beaten egg
8. Bake in a preheated oven of 200degC for about 20mins. Take it out and brush again with eggs, bake for another 10mins or until it's golden brown

Note:
This is really yummy. It can be freezed too, and airfry before consuming

Bake Along #73 Strawberry Mille-Feuille

Today I baked a French dessert with a name I do not even know how to pronounce LOL
I've eaten this before somewhere but this was the first time I prepared it in my own kitchen

Looking at the name, the impression I got was this dessert could be such a pain to prepare. But I was wrong, this is considerably simple. And it's yummy, too. Light and refreshing, a combination of sweet from the cream pastry, and tart from the strawberries, with a slight saltiness from the puff. Love it :)

 

 

First, I prepared the pastry cream filling. Recipe as follows..

 

What you need:

 

600ml fresh milk OR 200g sweet condensed milk mixed with water to reach 600ml
2 egg yolks
30g corn flour and 20g plain flour
enough sugar (only when fresh milk is used, I used 8 heaped tbsp)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp butter

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients except butter til smooth and even (if necessary, sift)
2. Cook til bubbling. Add in butter and stir til glossy
3. Let cool by covering it with cling wrap. Let the wrap touches the surface of the pastry cream with no space in between - to avoid the surface getting dry

I used store bought puff pastry, rolled it up to make it thin about 5mm, and cut into rectangles

Arrange on a lined baking tray, poke holes with fork

Cover with baking paper and another baking tray, then bake in preheated oven of 180degC for 15mins

Remove the baking tray and paper and bake again for another 15mins. Let cool

 

Assemble by placing 1 puff on a serving plate, spread pastry cream on top and arrange strawberry slices over it. Top with another puff, spread pastry cream and arrange strawberry slices, top with another puff. Before serving, dust some icing sugar over it

 

Note:

Typically mille-feuille comes with pastry cream which has a slightly runny consistency

Mine was thicker than it's supposed to be, as I prefer it that way LOL

 

 

 

This post is for Bake Along, an event organised by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids

 

 

Bake Along #68 Popovers

Finally I can blog! :) So glad my PC is now okay *phew*

Here is my first ever popovers LOL
Love this puffy munch, even on its own - I need nothing else :)
I made 6 of them, somehow the other 3 deflated much faster, and those 3 were at the outer side of the oven during baking. Uneven heat, probably?

Look at them while still in the oven...

(yeah, I know, it's time for me to clean my oven LOL)

 

This was about 10 mins after out from the oven

 

 

Looks like a giant opened mouth, huh? LOL

I love to see the hollow part :)

 

I followed the recipe from King Arthur Flour which I happened to see at Lena's blog, Frozen Wing

Here is the recipe...

What you need:

2 large eggs, room temperature
170g lukewarm milk
1/4 tsp salt
90g plain flour
22g melted butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 230degC. Put the rack at the lower level
2. Grease 6 cups muffin pan, each cup is 6.25cm wide and 2.25cm deep
3. Whisk milk, egg and salt til well combined, no streaks of yolks visible
4. Add in all flour, beat with electric mixer on high speed for 20 secs (small lumps are fine)
5. Stop, scrape sides, beat another 30 secs on high speed til frothy. Stir in melted butter, combine quickly
6. Pour batter into the cup, 3/4 full. Make sure oven is at 230degC
7. Place pan in the oven, bake for 20mins without opening the oven door
8. Reduce to 175degC and bake for 15mins til golden brown
9. If browning too quickly, position rack at the top and put cookie sheet to shield the popovers
10. If you want the popovers to hold their shape longer, bake 5 mins more (total 40 mins)
11. If you are to serve immediately, remove from oven straight away and stick the tip of the popovers with knife to release steam to prevent sogginess

This post is for Bake Along, an event organised by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids

Banana Tarte Tatin (Jamie Oliver)

This is a video from Jamie my kids love to watch, especially Ian
He's fascinated by the name of this dish, he always said, banana tataten LOL
So when I made this, he was so excited
He said, mummy! U made banana tataten from Jamie!
But then, he also said, I don't like... wew...
True enough, he didn't even want to try
He doesn't like banana, that's the thing
He doesn't like fruits in fact, what he wants to eat occasionally only papaya, apple and pear - that's all. Many think banana is kids' fave - nope, not for Ian's case
Total opposite from Abby, she loves fruits - most of them
Any parent with solution to make the kids like fruits more? :)

Anyway, we love this, Abby too, especially cos banana is one of her favorite fruit :)
When it's in the oven, the whole house was filled with lovely banana smell :)
One thing is, it's a tad sweet to us. I should have reduced the sugar in this sweet treat, since the bananas I used were so sweet

Recipe can be found in this video

What you need:
(below recipe has been adjusted for future use)

6 bananas (I used ripe pisang raja)
40g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 orange - take the zest
plain flour for dusting
1 pack of ready to use puff pastry (mine is 375g)

1. Preheat oven to 190degC
2. Place wide rectangle baking tray on medium heat, pour sugar, butter, cinnamon and orange zest -> in this order
3. Stir constantly til completely combined and turn fire to low
4. Cook for approx 5 minutes while stirring til sugar has all dissolved and the mixture is golden and caramelized. Turn fire off
5. Peel bananas, halved, lay carefully on top of the golden caramel
6. Remove from heat
7. Roll puff pastry til slightly bigger than the tray, lay on the caramel banana, tuck in the edges and bake for 30 minutes
8. Once out from oven, immediately overturn the pastry
9. Serve warm

Many love to eat it with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche, but we love to eat it on its own, it's already just too good! :)

This is my last submission for Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe

Even Abby's favorite dog - Bobo, also curious about the taste of this snack :)

Please view below - our friends yummy cookings using Jamie's recipes too :)

Bake Along #24 - Savoury Scrolls

I was browsing through the links below, looking through all the fabulous bakes with 4 ingredients
I read Joyce's post, shared about how she bakes for many events way ahead
Then I was thinking, wow...I am exactly totally opposite
Almost everytime. almost all bakes for all events I participate, I did last minute, if not late wew....
I guess my time management need some room of improvement LOL
Joyce, I sincerely admire you post all your bakes in time! Seriously! :)

I find it's rather tough to manage because my baking time is limited to once or the most twice a week, it's a kind of agreement in the family
I used to bake very often, at one point it was close to daily thing, but after sometime DH suggested not to bake too often
In fact, it's not only him, but also my mum suggested the same thing
So then came the once to twice a week bakes in the agenda

The main and only reason is health, both of them were not so comfortable in eating sweet treats in daily basis, which I sincerely agree
It's impossible to make and not consuming it, especially knowing that my family loves eating LOL

So, my baking days now is only Saturday and/or Sunday, and one more time on midweek, but even on that one more midweek, it's preferably to bake something not so sinful, such as buns or savoury snack

As robotic as it sounds, the schedule is a good arrangement for me and my family, and for me in particular - good for my waistline LOL

The down side is, it's not easy to arrange the time for me to bake to be in accordance with the dates of submission for the events
Fortunately there are not only a day to submit, but many days, so even though a little late, but so far still in time :)

What makes me more determined to go ahead with the arrangement... after my last week's health screen showed my bad cholesterol level was not so good, 3 points higher than normal wew..... Better take care... Luckily the rest was good, particularly my good cholesterol, it's higher than recommended, which is good :)
I was wondering how come the good cholesterol can't overwrite my bad cholesterol LOL

Having said all that, it doesn't mean I will not participate in those events
How to? I love it too much! LOL

Now for this bake... I actually had my 4 ingredients bake on Saturday for Mother's day, but it's too early to post for the Bake Along event, so I had my mid week bake today hehehe...

I wish I could make the scrolls in all even sizes hehehe....

It's not some sweet treats I baked today, not because I avoided it, but I was simply drooling when I saw this recipe at 4ingredients website
Combine the 4 ingredients together and nobody can say no to this little snack :)

And true enough, this is really yummy, and so simple to make, too
Crisp and tasty... delicious!
Here's the recipe...

What you need:
1 pastry sheet (I used Pampas and I flattened with rolling pin)
Prego pasta sauce
small diced back bacon
grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 180degC
2. Put the flattened sheet on lightly floured surface
3. Spread sauce, sprinkle bacon, followed by cheese
4. Roll the sheet away from you like when making swissroll
5. Cut into thick slices (around 3cm)
6. Arrange on lined pan, and bake for 20-30 minutes (depends on how thick is the cut) til golden brown
7. Remove from the pan and let cool
8. Keep in airtight container to keep them crisp

Beware: It's so difficult to stop munching this scrolls!

Please view other bakes with 4ingredients below, so exciting to see many different ideas from our friend bloggers, including hosts for the event: Zoe, Joyce and Lena

You have great simple bake which only uses 4 ingredients? Come join the party :)

Indonesian Style Curry Puff

I had sudden great craving for this snack that time - can't find it in Singapore so I looked for the recipe high and low, found the most convincing one and decided to it a try

Not that Old Chang Kee curry puff is not my kind - oh I do love it to the bits, also their other stuff, but this time not this what I craved for hehe....
I was very very satisfied with the taste - so crunchy skin with tasty filling - can't remember when the last time I ate this snack - must be years ago!
What needs to be improved is the look (yeah, I always have this problem! hihi...), especially the plait, this batch is still far from neat :S

What you need:

(source: Sajian Sedap - makes 25)

For the skin:

250g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp chicken stock powder

30g margarine

1 egg - lightly beaten

3 tbsp icy cold water

For the filling:

4 shallots - chopped

4 cloves of garlic - chopped

2 tsp chinese parsley - chopped

300g chicken breast - small diced

200g carrots - small diced

100g french beans - slice thinly

50g tanghoon (bean vermicelli) - blanched til soft, cut

1/2 tbsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp chicken stock powder

200ml water

4 eggs - hard boiled, cut into 8 sections

cooking oil to do the sauteeing and deep frying 

How to make the skin...

Mix plain flour and salt also chicken stock powder

Add in margarine, stir til forms lumps

Add in egg and water, stir well til form dough

Set aside for 30minutes

On lightly floured surface, flatten the dough and cut round shape (diameter approximately 10cm)

How to make the filling...

Sautee with oil shallots, garlic and parsley til fragrant

Add in chicken - stir til chicken well cooked

Add in carrots and french beans - stir til a little soft

Add in salt, pepper, sugar, chicken stock powder - mix well

Add in water, cook til water lessen and only a little bit left

Add in cut tanghoon - stir briefly and off heat

How to assemble...

Take 1 skin, add in filling and 1pc of sliced egg at the centre, cover it up by folding the skin into semi circle shape, brush the edges with water (I didn't use brush, only used my finger :P) and do the plaits around the edges

Heat oil on high heat and deep fry the puffs

Once the puffs are in the oil, off the heat for awhile - wait til the skin forms bumps then on the fire again, deep fry on medium heat til golden brown

Wew...I dunno is it cos of my high level of craving or it's just too yummy or I was just being greedy...I ate 3pcs in a row when it's still smoky hot fresh from the wok! :)

Cheese Envelopes (Topfengolatschen)

Saw this at Vivi's site, I reckoned this as something unique, which intrigued me to give a try - lemon, cheese, puff...great combo!
It's supposed to look like envelope but if you compare from the original recipe, mine was far from envelope shape :P
I did exactly as instructed but one thing - as usual, I was being greedy generous by giving too much filling so resulting in the big fat envelopes *grin*
The shapes are similar to the banana chocolate cheese puffs I made previously
Ok, aside from the shape, these puffs do taste yummilicious! :)
I changed the raisins to chocolate chips - not because I dislike raisins, it's just to make my kids interested to eat - they don't really eat raisins :)

After bite:

What you need:
(makes 12)

25g butter
50g icing sugar
10g agar agar powder (white)
125g cold cream cheese
50g chocolate chips
1/2 tsp grated lemon skin
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
a pinch of salt

1 egg yolks, beaten -> for glazing
icing sugar to sprinkle just before eating

Beat in medium speed butter and icing sugar til well mixed
Add in salt, vanilla, agar agar powder, ceam cheese til smooth
Off mixer
Add in chocolate chips, stir with wooden spoon
Prepare puff pastry, flatten with rolling pin and cut into square shape - 10cm x 10cm
Add in filling - approximately 2 tbsps, at the centre of each square
Fold in as if you're folding an envelope, cover the centre part with a little square pastry to seal
Brush with egg yolk (I brush the other side)
Arrange on a lightly greased cookie pan
Bake in preheated oven of 200degC for approx 15minutes
Sprinkle with icing sugar before eating

For step by step instruction, please view Vivi's site at the link above (her site is in Indonesian language, but u can always see the pics :P)

Some asked me which puff pastry I used, here's the picture after I googled, so far I see NTUC and Cold Storage sell this

I'm submitting these chubby cheesy envelopes to Aspiring Bakers#6: Say Cheese! (April 2011) hosted by Jean from Noms I Must at this LINK

Banana Chocolate Cheese Puffs (Molen Pisang Keju Coklat)

After participating as a member in LBT Indonesia since mid February, seeing many talented Indonesian new friends with their wonderful bakings, being reminded of many nice yummy food I havent eaten for ages, makes me craving for many things

One of them is this snack - very famous in Bandung originally
Got the recipe from an avid cook and baker - Ricke, easy to make and yummy too!

Happened to find the puff pastry when I wandered around supermarket a few days ago, so I decided to get the bananas too - saba bananas - with luck on me this time

Unfortunately photos couldn't be produced with natural daylight, dun want to wait til tomorrow either, a little doubtful the object is still available hehe....

There's so much work to do for the presentation - especially compared to the original ones, but can't complain about the taste
Crisp puff with sweet juicy banana and chocolate balanced with salty cheese - yum! More than enough to satisfy my craving :P

What you need:

ready to use puff pastry, to flatten with rolling pin on a lighlty floured surface and shape into 10cm x 10cm square (approx)
ripe saba bananas - steam for around 20mins and cut the length into 4
chocolate rice
Kraft cheddar cheese (the blue box) - cut the same length as the banana (shape like french fries)
1 egg yolk mixed with a little vegetable oil for glazing
grated cheddar cheese and chocolate rice for sprinkles

Prepare a square pan, lightly buttered also the sides, put a parchment paper and lightly butter on top of the paper ( I used 22cm square pan enough to arrange 12 pcs)
Arrange 2 banana slices and 1 cheese slice on the pastry, add 1tsp chocolate rice on top
Close the pastry to envelope shape (close top, bottom followed by left and right)
Arrange the puffs on the pan with around 1cm distance in between each puff
Brush the tops with egg yolk mixture, sprinkle with grated cheese and chocolate rice
Bake in preheated oven of 200degC for approx 25-30mins or til golden brown
Let cool