Stir Fried Lean Pork with Rosemary

My neighbour had given me a small plate of petai ( bitter bean or stink bean ) with minced pork with belacan. I added aubergine as to make it a bigger portion of vegetables in order to have a balance diet.

Ingredient to be added to enhance the taste for petai :
chopped onion ( half )
belacan
a spoonful of chilli paste
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp sugar

The real cooking was the "Stir Fried Lean Pork with Rosemary".
Ingredients:
150 g lean pork

A.
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp garlic peper ( salt free)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp dark sauce

B. Some chopped garlic, ginger and shallot.

Method:
1. Marinate lean pork with (A) for 15 mins ( or 30 mins).
2. Fry chopped garlic, ginger and shallot until golden in colour.
3. + marinated lean pork . Stir fry for 2 mins with high heat,  + 1/4 cup of water.
4. Fry ( * without covering the wok or frying pan) until the pork become quite dry before serving.

Apricot Banana Bread

The inspiration of making this bread was adapted from Taste of Home. I substitute bran cereal with wheat germ  since I didn't have bran cereal.

Some changes were made from the original recipe.

Also , this is my first time using this savarin cake tin so I couldn't figure out how long does it take to get the cake "burn". 

Apricot Banana Bread:
Ingredient :
100 g butter
80 g castor sugar

2 eggs ( about 70 g each)

100 g mashed banana (suggested using pisang emas (wiki )

50 ml buttermilk ( I substituted it with milk + few drops of lemon)

1/8 salt 

120 g flour  +  1 tsp baking powder + 1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda

30 g wheat germ

100 g chopped dry apricot (soak in hot water if it is too hard to cut)
50 chopped walnuts ( baked for 10 minutes before chopping)

Method:
1. Cream butter and castor sugar until light and fluffy.
2. + egg +  mashed banana + buttermilk + salt.  Stir the mixture with spoon.
3. + flour + wheat germ + apricot and walnuts.
4. Pour into a greased 9" savarin cake tin.
5. Temperature : 180 C
6. Baking time : 45 mins. ( I baked 30 mins over lower heat and 15 mins upper heat）
（* But the bread seemed not "burnt"enough after baking for half an hour's time over lower heat. )

Verdict : The banana bread was moist enough with a mild flavor of apricot and yet you still could feel the crunchiness of walnuts.

Lemon Poppy Seeds Cream Cheese Cookies

I have lemons.
I have poppy seeds.
I have cream cheese.
What am I waiting for ?

So, I decided to make this Lemon Poppy Seeds Cream Cheese Cookies ！
And I started to write this recipe based on how I wanted my cookies taste like last night.


Lemon Poppy Seeds Cream Cheese Cookies:
Ingredients:
A. 140 g cream cheese ( room temperature)
      70 g butter
      100 sugar

B. 1/8 tsp salt
      20 ml lemon juice
      1 tbsp lemon zest

C.( sieved). 215 g all purpose flour
     20 g poppy seeds
     1 tsp baking powder
     1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda


Method ：
1. Cream Ingredient A for 10 mins ( until fluffy).
2.  + B + C . Mixed well.
3. Shape into a ball and use a fork to press the dough before baking.
4. Temperature : 180 C.
    Baking  Time ：25 - 30 mins （ Middle  rack)

Luffa with Omelette

Luffa is always my favorite dish due to its softness after cooking.

Chinese always fried luffa with omelette and char siew  ( 叉烧) .

Lunch Menu:

1. Fried Luffa with Omelette and Char Siew.

2. Mustard Green in Water - No oil , no salt.

Apple, Carrot and Coconut Muffins

I always think that it is much easier to make muffins than making cakes although their texture is different.

It is my first time to make this apple, carrot and coconut muffins. The recipe is adapted from the book " Muffin Galore" ( Catherine Atkinson ). 

The combination of these ingredients makes very moist muffins. The actual recipe makes 12 muffins but I only make half of these.

( All dry ingredients - mixed well)

Apple, Carrot and Coconut Muffins :
Dry ingredients:
75 g plain wholemeal flour
75 g white flour
50 g brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon powder
100 g carrot ,finely grated
100 g dried apple, chopped (  I used fresh apple)
30 g raisin, chopped
25 g walnut , chopped
50 g flake coconut

Wet ingredients: ( I have made some changes here as I didn't have buttermilk )
The actual recipe needs 63 ml buttermilk , 63 ml milk  1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla extract)

I substitued the above ingredients as below :
50 g melted butter
70 ml milk
1 slightly beaten egg
1 tsp vanilla extra

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 C  Gas mark 4. ( I used 190 C as I thought that this muffin is quite moist and it needs higher temperature ) . Grease a 6-cup muffin tin with paper muffin case.
2. Mix dry ingredients + wet ingredients , mix briefly until just combine.
3. Baking time : 25- 30 mins .

Voila ! My tea time : A cup of tea and an apple, carrot and coconut muffin, yummy !