Angle Hair with Garlicky Bread Crumb

I recently stumbled on this pasta recipe and it has been our favorite pasta dish ever since. I make this once a week or every fortnight, varied it with minced chicken or mushroom. All you need is any type of long strand pasta, garlic, bread crumb, and parsley. You can skip parsley if you want. 

This is actually a good way to get rid of any stale bread you have on your counter. I used store-bought bread crumbs as bread is hardly ever lasts in this house. It quickly gets eaten by you know who.

Serve immediately and eat them while they're still warm. 

As for the kindy, the appointment was a thumb down. The principal was so cold during the tour, which was not really a tour for me. And the kids, they all behave like they're in an army camp. Kindergarten are supposed to be fun. Anyway, my visit is short, I might be wrong. We found another kindy though. Everything sounds so right, but the waiting list is so loooong. Hmmm..

No more sigh. We are going to keep looking. Ganbatte to us!

Angle Hair with Garlicky Bread Crumb

(Recipe is loosely adapted from My Recipes:Linguine with Garlicky Bread Crumb)

Yield: 4 serving

Ingredients

4 slice day-old hearty white bread, torn (I used store bought bread crumb)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided-up to you
6 garlic cloves, minced (I used garlic powder-1 tsp)-suit yourself
8 ounces uncooked linguine (I used angle hair pasta)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

(I added minced chicken)

1. Preheat oven to 250°.

2. Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 2/3 cup. Place breadcrumbs on a baking sheet. Bake at 250° for 30 minutes or until dry.

3. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Return pan to heat. 

4. Stir in breadcrumbs, and cook 6 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently.

5. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. Place pasta in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper; toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

RC Note: If it is too dry for your liking, add more olive oil, or reduce the amount of breadcrumbs.

Blueberry Oreo Chiffon Cake

Yippee! My first Chiffon Cake. Some people said you can't call yourself a baker unless you've baked a Chiffon Cake..Hmm..really? It seem tricky, but they aren't that bad. I seriously enjoyed the whole process of making this cake.

The cake is so soft and moist. The sweetness level is just perfect, and the blueberry taste is quite prominent. I ate few slices in one sitting and my oh my, it was so gooooood. The cake is known for its lower cholesterol and fat content, so it make me feel less guilty eating it. 

As for the guys, Adam hates blueberry, so he only had one small piece of it (He used to love berries..sigh). Husband, on the other hand, had no idea why am I so happy over a piece of fluffy cake :P He he Let him be. He won't understand the art of making a chiffon cake. He just do what he's best at, which is eating and splurging me with kitchen toys :P

The recipe is from Bisous A Toi. Thanks K Rima for sharing this recipe :) 

Oppss..too much sugar! 

Btw, today is the first day of Rejab. So "Slamat Berpuasa" to those who're fasting today. :)  


Blueberry Oreo Chiffon Cake
Source: Bisous A Toi

(I half the ingredients to suit my 17cm chiffon pan)

Ingredients
6 egg yolks
100g blueberry yogurt
150g flour - i used cake flour
4g baking powder
100g caster sugar
3g salt
100g vegetable oil - i used canola oil

6 egg whites
1g cream of tar tar
100g sugar
50g of blueberry oreo - cut into tiny bits
enough blueberry paste or purple colour

Method
1. Preheat oven 150C

2. Whisk egg yolks with sugar till pale in colour.. add in yogurt and also oil.. add in ur sifted flour, baking powder and also salt.. lastly add in purple colour- set aside
3. In another bowl.. whisk egg white with cream of tar tar till foamy.. slowly add in sugar a little at a time and whisk till soft peak.
4. Scoop 1/3 egg white meringue and add to egg yolk mixture.. fold in gently. once combined.. pour ur egg yolk mixture into meringue and continue to fold in gently and lightly.. once mixed pour half of ur mixture into a 22cm tube pan.. sprinkle half of ur oreo blueberry.. pour the rest of ur mixture and lastly throw in the rest of ur oreo blueberry. [RC Note:Tap your pan one or two times]
5. Bake it for 50mins.. once baked.. turn ur chiffon pan and once its cool.. take it out of ur pan..

Adam Bakes: Brown Butter White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I am here to praise two things- brown butter macadamia nut cookies and that little boy's mixing skill. Great, both. I believed this is the best cookies I've baked so far. I might have said something similar before, but naah..this is it. This is the best cookies ever!

Have you guys ever browned butter? It's the best scent you'll smell. It adds nuttiness flavor in the cookies. I'll definitely bake this again for Eid. :P 

Below is Adam's cookies tray. He scooped them himself. The little guy was supposed to take his afternoon nap. But he insisted to watch some BumbleBee (the robot) videos than hitting the sack. He was watching it for almost an hour and showing no signs of giving up his iPad. Well, that's the bad side of iPad-he never wanted to stop tapping away. Once he grabs it, he doesn't want to let go of it. Sometimes, it's easier to persuade him to stop tapping and hand us the iPad. But during his bad hair days, we (me, actually) had to force him to pass it, and he eventually cries a river after that. I always feel bad for doing that. But that's the only way to terminate the iPad session. 

Yesterday was different. Instead of taking the iPad away, the brilliant side of me asked him to help me bake some cookies in the kitchen. And just like that, he jumped out of his bed, left the iPad and went straight to the kitchen. Hurray to no drama!  As for the iPad, I'm still saying YES to it. There are many good quality apps for children, we just have to choose them wisely. 

He helped me pour all the ingredients inside the bowl, except the browned butter. Then, he insisted on mixing the wet batter with the dry ingredients himself. Okay fine, mix it. He did, and he done it quite well.#confetti

So here the best part of this entry: the recipe. Beware! You'll never stop munching on it :P

Brown Butter White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

(From Joy the Baker, adapted from Betty Crocker)

Yield: 2 dozen small cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 

1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 coarsely chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup white chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium saucepan melt the butter, swirling and stirring the butter until nicely browned bits appear in the bottom of the pan. This may take about 5-7 minutes. Once the butter is browned, remove pan from heat and set aside to cool a bit while you measure out the dry ingredients and set them aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the brown sugar and slightly cooled butter. Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add egg and beat for one minute more. Add milk and vanilla extract and beat to incorporate.

Turn the mixer off, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the dry ingredients all at once. With either the stand mixer on low, or by hand with a spatula, incorporate the dry ingredients until just mixed in. Fold in the chopped nuts and white chocolate chips.

Scoop two teaspoon sized balls onto a lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are deliciously golden. Remove from oven and let rest of the baking sheet for 3 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Poached Pear in Cage {Bosc Pear}

Bosc Pear. I found it while I was doing my groceries shopping at Cold Storage. Bought it simply because of its beautiful russeted skin. According to Saveur.com, these pears are a favorite for poaching and baking because of its firmer texture which can retain their shape when cooked. It has a bold sweet aromatic flavor and quite a pleasure to eat.

Anyway, it didn't take me long to figure out what should I do with these pears :). I poached four pears and wrapped it with pastry while kept the other two pears for Adam's Fruity Friday class. He loves this pear more than the Forelle type. 

This is how I wrapped the pears. I wish I could do time-lapse, but I haven't got much time to explore it yet. For a while, please bare with the gif image first :P The lattice pattern can be found in this entry.

My previous post on the same recipe can be found here and here. 

Seri Muka a.k.a Putri Salat

I'm always on a lookout for good Seri Muka's recipe. This one probably the closest to perfect Seri Muka I've ever produced. My previous attempts in making one have always turned bad. Who else to blame except myself as steaming is really not my cup of tea. 

If you have troubles in making seri Muka (like myself), how about give yourself another chance with this recipe. The recipe came to me from Pick Yin of Life is Great. Unlike Pick Yin, I'd to substitute the pandan extract with pandan paste because I was out of pandan leaves. Besides, I was too eager to try it and I can't wait for tomorrow. 

Anyway, Adam is a true fan of this kuih. Husband, on the other hand, commented on how thin the bottom layer is he he. I ate one piece and I am pleased with the taste. However, what I am most content with, is the feeling of success. Finally...after many failed attempts, I can ticked this kuih off my list. Phew~