Quick Microwave Chocolate Cake

Microwave Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

3 tbsp self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg
3 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp chocolate chips

Method

Combine flour and cocoa in a small microwave-safe container and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with sugar and add this to the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter, water and vanilla. Stir well until evenly mixed and smooth. Add chocolate chips on top. Place in the microwave on medium heat (600W) for 3 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let it cool slightly before serving.

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Asparagus and Prawn Stir-fry

 

 

Asparagus and Prawn Stir-fry

 

Ingredients

 

1 tbsp vegetable/peanut oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced/chopped

200g prawns, peeled, deveined and tails intact

2 bundles asparagus, woody ends snapped off, halved crossways

2-3 bird's eye chillies, sliced

 

Sauce:

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp palm sugar (or to taste)

1 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce

3 tbsp water

 

Method

 

Heat oil in a wok on high heat. Add the garlic, followed by the prawns. Let the prawns cook on one side, then flip them over to cook the other side. When the prawns are almost cooked, remove and transfer them to a plate and leave the oil in the wok. Next, add the asparagus to the wok and fry for 30 seconds, then push them aside. Add the chillies and pour the sauce ingredients down the side of the wok into the centre and bring to a boil. Toss the prawns in with the asparagus and sauce, and stir-fry briefly until everything is well coated, and sauce is slightly reduced. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

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Braised Lamb Shanks with Massamun Curry

 

 

 

The first time I had lamb shanks was at Mulligan's, an Irish restaurant in Sydney. I remember how tender the meat was and it just melted in the mouth, together with the luscious red wine gravy and mashed potatoes. Well, that was a really really long time ago, and since then, I had always wanted to cook lamb shanks but never did until now, after I bought a french oven that's large enough to fit those shanks. I decided to make a Thai version by braising the lamb in massamum curry with some potatoes. I had it in the oven long enough that the meat was so tender and just fell off the bone. It was delicious, and with all curries, it tastes even better the next day!

Massamun Curry Lamb Shanks

 

Ingredients

 

6 lamb shanks (about 2kg or 4lbs)

Salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

6 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

110g (4oz) massaman curry paste

2 cups coconut cream

2 cups reduced-salt beef stock

1 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)

3-4 tbsp palm sugar (or to taste)

2 tbsp tamarind pulp concentrate

1/4 cup ground/chopped peanuts (optional)

500g (1 lb) potatoes, peeled and cut into golf-ball sized

Coriander leaves, for garnish

 

Method

 

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Rub some salt over the lamb shanks. Heat up the vegetable oil in a large dutch/french oven or and sear the lamb in 2 batches on high heat, about 8 minutes each batch until browned. Transfer to a plate.

 

Using the oil left in the dutch oven, fry the onions, star anise, cinnamon stick and cardamom for 3 minutes, and then add the massaman curry paste. Fry until fragrant, then add half the coconut cream. Fry for 1-2 minutes until the oil starts to separate. Add the rest of the coconut cream and beef stock. Bring to a boil, then add the lamb shanks. Cover with a lid and place in the oven to cook for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven and add fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind pulp and peanuts. Stir well to mix. Add the potatoes and cook in the oven again for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and place on the stove on medium-high heat. Remove the lid and let it boil for about 10 minutes to let the curry reduce slightly until thickened.

To serve, transfer to a serving dish and garnish with coriander leaves. Enjoy with steamed jasmine rice.

 

 

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Buttermilk Pancakes

I was pondering over what to write for this post and decided to look up "pancakes" in Wikipedia. It was fascinating to learn that different countries around the world have their own version of pancakes, be they sweet or savoury. Of course, the ones that most of us are better acquainted with are American-style pancakes, Australian pikelets (mini-sized ones) or crepes (which are thin pancakes). It was the long Labour Day weekend and the kids asked for pancakes this morning, and so I made pancakes!

I remember seeing Nami's post on Buttermilk pancakes a while back, and her pancakes looked so good! Moreover, it was a really simple recipe and although I didn't have any buttermilk on hand, I could easily make some using fresh milk with a splash of lemon added to it. They did take a while to make because I only had one pan and made the pancakes one at at time. However, these pancakes were wonderfully light and fluffy, unlike the dense, heavy and cakey types that can be found in some restaurants. I served the these lovely pancakes with raspberry coulis, fresh blueberries and maple syrup, although the kids wanted theirs with only syrup or Nutella.

Buttermilk Pancakes
Adapted from Just One Cookbook

1 1/4 cup plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups of buttermilk

2 tbsp melted butter

1/2 tsp almond essence (optional - I omitted this)

Some butter, to grease the pan

Maple syrup, butter and fresh fruit, to serve

 

Method

 

In a large bowl, put the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and whisk together.

 

In a small bowl, whisk the egg and sugar. Whisk in the buttermilk, melted butter and almond essence. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth and combined.

 

Heat a non-stick pan or skillet on medium heat, and add a tiny amount of butter to grease the surface. Pour about ¾ cup of batter onto hot pan from 12 inch high. This is necessary for a nice circular shape. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake. This takes about 3 minutes. When the surface looks almost dry, flip the pancake over to cook the other side for 1-2 minutes until lightly browned. Transfer to a serving plate and repeat the steps above to make the rest of the pancakes. Serve the pancakes immediately with syrup, butter, fresh fruits or anything you fancy.

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