Happy 2015! Apple sauce for ham

Today marks the last day of 2014. Happy new year! May 2015 brings you good health, peace and happiness.

2014 has been a year of drama, life changes and new experiences. I thank my family and friends for being supportive of my career change and new friends who have given me opportunities to try new things. With the recent Airasia mishap, it again reminds me of how short life can be. Live each day to the fullest and cherish your love ones. Whatever you want to try, do it now and not wait till next time. There may not be a next time. I am glad I made the trips to Europe and Tokyo this year with my family even though I was not earning as much. The time spent with family is priceless.

I was wondering which recipe I should share with you today. I had some recipes which I had tried earlier but haven't had the chance to post yet. However, just as I was shopping for ingredients for dinner tonight, I saw some green apples from Holland which looked delicious. I decided to try making my own applesauce. I had some applesauce from Seasalt Carribean Deli last week with my turkey and have been wanting to try making it. Coincidentally my mum brought over some ham when I invited her for dinner.

Apple sauce
1.5kg green apples
1.5 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp brown sugar
1- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp rum/whisky (optional)

1.  Slice and core the apples.

2. Melt the butter in a pot, add brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fry till fragrant
3. Add in the apple slices and 1/2 cup of water. Mix well.

4. Cook the apples over low fire till soft (about 8-10 mins)
5. Taste the apples and add more brown sugar and cinnamon if desired.

6. Remove from heat and put the cooked apples in a blender and blend till smooth.
7. Cool before serving. You may bottle the applesauce and refrigerate the applesauce for a week.

Note: You may use white sugar instead of brown sugar and reduce the cinnamon if you like a lighter colour.

You may serve the applesauce with pork chops, ham or sausages.

Merry Christmas! Simple dessert: Panna Cotta

Merry Christmas! It's a cool 27 deg C in tropical Singapore. Hope you are having a lovely Christmas with your love ones and opening all the presents :) I attended Christmas eve mass with friends whom I have met in Shanghai. It was a lovely reunion.

Sorry for missing last week's post. My sister's slipped disc was acting up and I was shuttling around to bring her to physio and doc. Thank God she is now feeling better and can at least walk about without much pain though she still can't sit for long. My laptop also decided to act up end of last week and had to see the "doc" too :) In the midst of the busy schedule, I am thankful to family and friends who helped out.

I made this lovely Panna Cotta 2 weeks ago. Never knew it was so easy. I was introduced to Panna Cotta about 10 years back at Pasta Brava. I loved it ever since but never thought about making it. It was a spur of the moment that I decided to make it at 9pm in the evening 2 weeks ago.

Panna Cotta (Makes 5 martini glass)
2 cups of thick cream
50g caster sugar
1 Vanilla bean/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp gelatin
3 tbsp cold water

1) Heat up the thick cream and caster sugar either in microwave or over the stove. Once the sugar melts, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. If using vanilla bean, let it infuse for 30 minutes and reheat the mixture.
2) Mix the gelatin with the cold water and let it stand for 5-10 minutes
3) Pour the warm cream mixture into the gelatin and mix till the gelatin has completely dissolved.
4) Divide the panna cotta into the martini glasses and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

* In the top photos, I have added 1 tbsp of Kahlua to half the mixture to make coffee flavoured Panna Cotta.

I have served the vanilla Panna Cotta with some blueberry pie filling for a refreshing taste. You may also greased some ramekins and pour the panna cotta mixture and mould them for serving.

Hope you would try making the dessert. It's a simple dessert to make for a party or gathering.

Simple dish: Corned Beef Whole Tomato Rice

We are into the last month of 2014! How did the time go by so fast? We are left with 29 days to complete our resolution for 2014. Are you ready to tick your resolution checklist?

I wanted a work-life balance when I started out 2014. I couldn't find that in the corporate world doing my old job so am glad I took the courage to do baking full-time from mid 2014. I have tried a number of new experiences this year... working in a cafe part-time, teaching baking courses and of course baking full-time. I have met new friends along the way who have kindly shared their experiences with me. It's not easy running your own business. I taught my 2nd baking class last Sunday and had good fun with the participants.

So last week was another busy week for me as I prepare for the class and the 1st birthday party for my little online bakery. My mind was full of baking and I did't really know what to cook for meals. I saw an FB post from a friend on Thursday morning on her cooking the whole Tomato rice and inspiration struck. I had watched the tutorial on whole Tomato rice a few weeks ago and knew it is the current hot favourite on the Internet in several countries but didn't get round to cooking it. It's a simple meal to prepare in your rice cooker and you can add whatever ingredients you have on hand.
I remembered I had a can of Libby's corned beef sitting in my pantry for a few months and thought it's time to cook it so I came up with this version of Corned beef Whole Tomato Rice.

Corned Beef Whole Tomato Rice (Serves 3-4)
1/2 can Corned Beef
1/2 white onion (diced)
1 large tomato (remove the top and bottom bits)
2 cups of washed uncooked Rice
1 tbsp Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

1) Heat up the rice cooker and add the Olive oil
2) Fry the onion till soft and transparent
3) Add the corned beef and fry till fragrant
4) Dish up the fried corned beef and set aside
5) Add the washed rice into the rice cooker and added water to the level indicated by the rice cooker.
6) Remove about 5-6 tbsp of water as the tomato contains water
7) Put tomato into the center of the pot and add salt and pepper to taste
8) Let the rice and tomato cook in the rice cooker as per norm
9) When the rice is done, stir the rice and the tomato and add in the fried corn beef.
10) Mix well and serve.

Below is the cooked rice from Friday before mixing in the fried corned beef. As my tomato was small, I added 2 tomatoes to the rice.

* Do remember to remove the water in step 6 otherwise your rice will be very soft and mushy. I made the mistake as I was in a hurry on Thursday. Cooked the dish again on Friday and remember this time to remove the water and it tastes so much better.

You can add different ingredients to the rice and try different combinations. Maybe one for each day of the week :)