EASY NO CHURN, NO ICE CREAM MACHINE BAILEY'S RAISINS ICE CREAM

34 degrees.....So hot ~~~~! I need to cool down! ICE CREAM please!! Who cares about the expanding waistline at times such as these ><

Looked up in internet for 'life-saving' homemade ice cream without using ice cream maker, and saw a few recipes that do not even need to churn! That means just mix and freeze. No crystals, creamy and so so good! 

The secret? Simply the unassuming full cream condensed milk  ^O^ I suspect it's because there is no water in condensed milk, therefore grainy crystals will not form during freezing.

Alcohol reduces the freezing point, so it will take longer for my dessert to freeze.  Never mind, I shall wait as this promises to give almost the same results as those expensive creamy ice creams you buy out there. No air, no icy grainy texture, just cold creaminess…… !

Be adventurous and play around with the basic recipe. You can add rum to make Rum & Raisins, Oreo cookies, fresh fruit pulps or purees, cream cheese, melted chocolates..... the list goes on.

Quick! Get to work!

Basic Ice Cream
Ingredients
Half can of 387g full cream condensed milk
600g cold thickened cream
3/4 cup puree
1 tsp vanilla extract
Few drops of food colouring (optional)

Bailey's Raisin Ice Cream
Ingredients
Half can of 387g full cream condensed milk
600g cold thickened cream
230 ml Bailey's Irish Cream (I used slightly more, >v<)
80g raisins

Method
1. Soak raisins in Bailey's for a few hours or overnight.
2. Place mixing bowl and beaters in freezer to chill.
3. Mix soaked raisins and liquor thoroughly into condensed milk. Set aside.
4. Pour the cold cream into cold mixing bowl. Using medium speed, beat cream with the chilled beaters until stiff.
5. Pour condensed milk mixture into beaten stiff cream. Fold gently until you do not see any white streaks.
6. Pour into container and freeze till firm.

forgive my poor photo taking skill, I could not wait any longer to consume it!

SPRING ONION PANCAKE 葱油饼

Ratio 3:1:0.5 This is the formula for the dough. Shall explain below. This delicacy is not difficult to do, but there are quite a few steps involved. Once you get the hang of it, you'll think I write too much. Haaaaaaa ^.^

My first encounter with this biscuit was when my family visited Taiwan in year 2012. At first I was apprehensive about the snack, as a friend warned me it was way too oily and he would never ever eat it again. This happened just before our trip. But our nice tour guide-cum-driver kept singing praises about this Taiwan goodie, we just HAD to try it. That was it! I absolutely loved it! Too bad we only bought a few pieces on our first try. (The stall was rated number one in Yi-Lan by our tour guide! Arggh!) We bought whenever we saw a stall on the streets and would buy more than we could manage, but still devoured everything. Yummz!

The Sanxing (三星) spring onions used by Yilan (宜兰), Taiwan is big and very sweet with a slight pungent taste, and according to our tour guide, they cannot be bought elsewhere as it is difficult to keep fresh. You cannot find them even in other counties of Taiwan, that is why the name Sanxing Spring Onion Pancake draws so much attention and so popular. In order to make the pancake at home, I had to make do with our local scallions, so try to get them as fresh and fragrant as possible from the market stalls. (Photo source: http://www.go2taiwan.net/monthly_selection.php?sqno=62)

 

Spring Onion Pancake (recipe extracted from a Taiwanese show)

Ingredients

Dough

3 cups plain flour

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup cool water

Some sugar (optional)

Some oil

(Important note: Use the SAME container to measure dough ingredients. If you are using a bowl, use the same bowl to measure flour, boiling water and water. The ratio is 3 (plain flour) : 1 (boiling water) : 0.5 (water))

Filling (original recipe calls for scallions and salt and shortening only)

Huge bundle of scallions

Fine salt

Sesame oil

White pepper

1-2 tsp oil

Method

1. Cut away roots, wash and clean the scallions. Hang upside down to dry until the whitish end shows a inner protruding tip. You may want to do this 1-2 hours beforehand

2.  Put the flour into a big mixing bowl or pot. As I prefer a slightly sweet dough, I added some sugar. This is optional. You may also add salt if you like a more savoury taste. Stir well using a wooden roller pin.

3. While stirring the flour, slowly add boiling water and keep stirring. Use all boiling water. You should get uneven clumps of cooked flour.

4. Continue stirring and pour some of the cool water and mix. You may stop adding water when you think the dough is holding well, but I always get to use all the water. (DO NOT ADD MORE WATER NO MATTER HOW TEMPTING IT IS!) Now knead the dough with your hands until the dough is thoroughly mixed. 

(This adding boiling water technique will not end up with a clean bowl and hands. It gets stickier as you knead)

5. Rub dough surface with oil, cover bowl with wet cloth or cling wrap. Let it rest for 30 minutes.

6. Dice the scallions. Set aside. Just before the 30 minutes is up, mix salt, sesame oil and pepper into the diced scallions. Give a taste test to see if you need to make adjustment. You should make it slightly saltier as the taste will be balanced off with the dough. Reason for not preparing this earlier is to avoid salt extracting moist from the spring onions.

7. Lightly dust the counter top with flour. Roll out the dough into a big rectangle. As you roll out the dough, lift up the dough corners from the counter top to make sure it does not stick. The rectangle has to be thin, about 3-5mm thick. The long side of the rectangle should be in front of you, with the shorter breadths at the sides.

8. Apply oil onto the dough. Spread the scallions as much as you will like to have, all the way to the West, South and East sides of the rectangle. Leave about 5cm brim at the North side of the rectangle to enable sealing.

the amount of scallions here in my opinion is not enough. I added more in my other batches.

9. Starting from the long side in front of you, lightly tug, pull and roll the dough upwards as you go along until it forms a long log.

10. Pinch and seal as you pluck the balls out. 

11. Press ball downwards with one sealed end facing you. Use roller pin to roll the dough flatter. It is ok if the dough breaks. You will break it anyway during frying.

12. Prepare a pan, drizzle oil (oil cover just about 1/2 of the height of pancake) and fry with medium low fire on one side until the bottom turns golden brown. Flip over and fry on the other side until both sides are done.

13. With the help of roller pin and spatula, turn and push inwards the sides of pancake to force out the layers. (the same idea that a roti prata vendor "crushes" the prata upon cooked)

14. Remove from pan and leave on prepared paper towels to absorb excess oil.

15. Serve while warm.

SWEET AND SOUR PORK

Sweet and sour pork is my eldest son's favourite dish. I used to prepare about 500g of pork, but it was never enough for my family of six. Now I would prepare 1000g of pork collar, and each time I complete the dish and stare at the volume in my wok, I feel as if I'm in catering business!!

I tried to link video to show my prep for deep frying, but it just would not work. I saw this method in Facebook by Auntie 陈月儿. Her method of deep frying works every time and the hot oil does not splatter all over. I also do not need lots of oil to deep fry, just ensure the oil is enough to submerge the meat completely. The batter is simple but very crispy. 

Get ready a basin of water, a colander to prepare pork for deep fry. Dip the meat into flour mixture. Place the floured meat into the colander and quickly dip the colander into the basin of water. This water dipping should take less than a second. Give the colander a light tap to shake out excess water. Return the meat into the flour mixture. With dry hands, now press in the flour to make sure they really stick onto the meat. Place the thickly pressed floured meat into another plate. The meat should not stick together, or simply separate them. 

When the oil is hot enough (test by dropping some flour into the oil and is good when it sizzles immediately), gently place the meat into the pot for deep fry. Do not crowd the pot. Make sure the meat is 'comfortable' in the hot bath. Do not stir the oil yet, let the flour set for a minute or so before giving the pot a gentle stir to ensure the meat do not stick at the base. Fry for a few minutes and pick out the cooked meat onto a drainer. You'll be pleased to see how little oil is being drained out, yet the meat is crispy.

this is a 40cm wok!!

SWEET AND SOUR PORK

Ingredients

1kg pork collar (五花肉), cubed

250g flour mixture for frying (add salt, pepper and sugar added into plain flour) or pre-packed deep fry flour mix

Oil for deep fry

1 each of green, yellow and red capsicum, cubed

1 cucumber, cubed

some cubed fresh pineapples

1 onion, sliced

Marinade

Light soy sauce

pepper

salt

Shaoxing

Sauce

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar

4-5 pcs rock sugar (or more)

some corn starch water for thickening

some salt, optional

Method

1. Marinade the pork for 30 mins. Prepare flour mixture.

2. Deep fry pork. Set aside to allow to cool.

3. Using a little oil from deep fry, quickly stir fry capsicums, cucumber, onion and pineapple. Set aside.

4. Bring water, ketchup, dark soya sauce to a boil, add vinegar and thicken with starch water. Drop the rock sugar in and turn down the heat to low. Stir till sugar is dissolved, and you should get a shiny sauce. Give a test taste to see if the sauce needs adjustment. Pour the deep fried pork and vegetables back into wok and toss evenly.

5. Serve.

I tried mangoes this time, but the juice from the fruit caused my pork to turn soggy. Pineapple is still a better choice.

WHITE WINE CLAM PASTA

I've been yearning for this! It's not like I've eaten this before, but I could imagine the taste will be fresh and awesome. What I had in mind was prawns and clam pasta, but as the kids do not like seafood, and my mother in law does not like western, I waited for an appropriate time to do this, albeit without the prawns. =<

Finally the shower of blessing came after a few months of dry spell! Yeah!! With a young child and one umbrella plus my stuff, I made a short trip to the supermarket after church. I could not buy a lot of things since I needed to shelter my young son, so i missed out a few ingredients. In my kitchen, I had to make-do with what I had. My kids love cheese sausages, so I added as a garnish for extra protein. The final sweet product came out quite satisfactory to me =)

White Wine Claim Pasta

Ingredients:

1 packet spaghetti

1 packet fresh white clams (can add some prawns too!)

3/4 cup white wine + 1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup stock

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

8 cloves garlic

2 tbs ketchup (I'd prefer 6 cherry tomatoes, or 2 tbs tomato sauce, but I forgot t buy them)

1 tsp tonkatsu sauce (or Worcestershire sauce)

 5 stalks scallion, chopped

dash of salt

Garnish:

some lemon zest

some grounded Parmesan

some chopped chilli

herb croutons *

Method:

1. Prepare spaghetti till al dente. Set aside.

2. While preparing spaghetti, in a big pan, pour 3/4 cup wine and bring to boil. Pour in washed clams and cook for a few minutes. Drain, discard unopened clams. Set aside the cooked clams. (You may re-use the sauce, but I thought the smell was too strong.)

3. Blend garlic with extra virgin olive oil. Using the same pan over low heat, pour the mixture and fry until fragrant. Turn to medium heat, mix in ketchup, konkatsu sauce, stock and 1/4 cup wine. You may add a dash of salt for seasoning. As the sauce comes to a light boil, stir in clams and prepared spaghetti. Give a good toss.

4. Arrange onto plate, and garnish. Serve hot.

*  Herb Croutons:
Cube some leftover bread, toss in some dried thyme, oregano, olive oil and salt. Bake at 200C for 8 min.

HONEY ORANGE BALSAMIC VINEGAR CHICKEN WING

Actually I wanted to make honey lemon wings, but I just could not get the lemon from the store below. So I used orange instead. To add to the tangy taste, I decide to try balsamic vinegar for a boost. Turns out well, and love the orange peel!!

Ingredient:
1kg chicken wings or drumlets or any part

Marinade:

Juice from 1 big orange (I used navel orange)

1 grated orange zest (without the white pit)

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp brown sugar

2 tbsp rice wine (or Shaoxing or white wine)

1 tsp oyster sauce

Some honey for brushing the wings 

Method:

1.Wash and clean chicken wings. Marinate overnight in fridge.

2. Remove wings from fridge and set aside on counter top for 15 min.

3. Preheat oven at 200C. 

4. Place wings and zest on a well lined baking sheet. Discard the marinade. Brush honey on the wings.

5. Place tray on upper half of oven. Bake for 25-30 min. Halfway through, flip over the wings to ensure even browning.

COTTONY VERSION of UPSIDE DOWN PINEAPPLE CAKE

Upside down cakes seem to keep appearing in my Facebook recently. Okay... let's do it. But I do not want to make my usual upside down cake that is dense. Searched the internet for some ideas, and found this pleasing one from www.allrecipes.com by Cathy. The original recipe looked too sweet and dry. I made some adjustments and my cake turns out light and cottony in texture yet still moist.  

Try not to further reduce brown sugar and butter proportions, otherwise the fruits may not stick well. However if your pans have larger surface area, you may need to increase the brown sugar and butter accordingly, but a flatter cake.

Upside Down Pineapple Cake (after my adjustments)

Ingredients

4 eggs, separated

1/2 cup salted butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

Slices of canned pineapple, well drained

Glaced cherries, halved

1 cup cake flour

1 tsp baking powder 

1/2 cup canned pineapple juice

3/4 cup caster sugar

1 tsp almond / vanilla extract

Method

1. Using very low heat, melt butter. Remove from heat. Pour all butter except for 1 tbsp of it  into 7" deep round pan. Now use the butter to grease sides of pan. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly and arrange the pineapple and cherries. Set aside.

2. In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites using low-medium speed. Add caster sugar gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat till stiff.

3. In another bowl, beat the yolks using high speed until the egg yolks become very thick and increase in volume. Mix in juice. 

4. Mix cake flour and baking powder thoroughly and sift into yolk mixture. Fold in the flour. (Tip: Use a hand balloon whisk to fold. It works every time)

5. Fold in 1/3 meringue into yellow batter. Transfer this mixture into the remaining meringue and fold gently.

6. Fold in 1 tbsp melted butter and extract.

7. Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth the top and give the pan a few taps to remove air.

8. Bake in preheat oven at 165C for about 30 min or the cakes becomes springy to touch.

9. Invert cake and remove pan to cool.

CRANBERRY BUTTERMILK SCONES

Watched too much MasterChef lately. Recently the contestants were asked to make 6 perfect scones, and I saw how they did their fare. Some did beautifully, some were very confident but failed, others just did not pass the mark. After watching the episode, the craving for scones came and stuck on my mind for a few days. Finally I put the thought into action.

I was always inconsistent when making scones. Sometimes they turn out fine, mostly they turned out to be stones. So watching MasterChef helped me gain a few tips. Hope I'll be more consistent from now on.

Cranberry Buttermilk Scones (source: Mary Singelton)

Ingredients:

3 cups or 375g all purpose flour (I used low protein flour)

1/3 cup or 120g sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup cold butter, cubed

1 cup buttermilk *

1 cup dried cranberries

1 tsp grated orange peel (I used 1 tbsp lemon peel, finely chopped)

Put aside 1 tbsp buttermilk and prepare cinnamon sugar **

*you can make your own buttermilk. In a measuring cup, place 1 tbsp lemon juice and fill to 1-cup mark with full cream milk. Leave to stand for 5-10 min. I added a few drops of white vinegar to assist.

** mix 2 tbsp sugar with 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder to make cinnamon sugar

Method:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well. Cut in COLD butter to form like bread crumbs. (I used 2 forks to help me cut and mash. Temperature from our fingertips may cause the butter to soften, and will end up a not so satisfactory product)

2. Slowly stir in butter milk until just combined. You may not need to use all.

3. Fold in cranberries and peel.

4. Turn onto floured surface, gather the dough and pat into a ball to approx. 1/2 - 1 inch height. Do not overwork the dough. I like my scones crumbly, but if you like it more firm, knead the dough gently a few times. Cut into desired shapes or wedges. If using cookie cutter, make sure to flour the cutter for every cut. Place on lightly greased baking sheet, brush each scone with 1 tbsp buttermilk and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top.

5. Bake in preheated oven at 200C for about 15-20 min or until golden brown. I used about 25 min as my biscuits were bigger.

6. Serve warm with beaten cream cheese (mixed with powdered sugar and vanilla extract) or jam.