Hazelnut & orange yoghurt cake with orange syrup

I think I am slowly steering myself away from bakegoods that are loaded with choc chips. Not that there is anything wrong with them. In fact I have a theory that adding choc chips can always make a cake taste better. But I also love the crunchiness and flavour that are so unique to nuts and seeds. I have never used hazelnuts in baking before (in fact I have never eaten hazelnuts on its own before today) so I decided to give it a try. It is, after all, the magic ingredient of the heavenly Ferrero Rocher and the creamy Nutella. Instead of lemon as in the original recipe, I have used orange zest and juice for its mellow acidity. A simple orange syrup is poured onto the cake at the end to further intensify the orange flavour and keep the cake moist.

Hazelnut & orange yoghurt cake loaf with orange syrup


1/2 cup white all-purpose flour
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup pack brown sugar
100g hazelnuts
zest of a whole orange
3 eggs
1 cup plain natural yoghurt
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 vanilla extract

For the orange syrup: juice from a whole orange + 1 tbsp brown sugar

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a loaf tin.
2) To toast the hazelnuts, pour them in a microwavable container and heat on high setting for thirty seconds. Shake the container to move the nuts around and heat for another thirty seconds. Repeat until the nuts are lightly toasted. Place them in a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin until they reach the desired size.
3) In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and hazelnuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, eggs, orange zest, vanilla and oil. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Gently mix just until all ingredients are well combined and there is no sign of flour.
4) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in pan for ten minutes.
5) Meanwhile make the orange syrup. In a small saucepan, heat the orange juice and the sugar until all sugar is dissolved. Set aside. Transfer the loaf to the cooling rack and poke the surface of the cake with a chopsticks to make small holes. Pour over the orange syrup while the cake is still warm. Serve after the juice has soaked into the cake.

When the cake is still dry with no syrup

Roasted punpkin with Brazil nuts and feta

I use the oven mostly for baking cakes, cookies and slices, rather than cooking actual dishes because roasting and baking are really not part of Chinese cooking. But oven itself is a real time saver when it comes to cooking. You prep all the ingredients, pop everything on the tray, leave it in the oven, come back after a while - VOILA!!! A beautiful meal is finished.
What I made today is a good side dish. Pumpkin cubes simply roasted until soft and intensely sweet, which is contrasted with the crunchy Brazil nuts and the salty and tangy cheese. Super easy to make, hardly any cooking involved, but so delicious.

Roasted pumpkin with Brazil nuts and feta

900g pumpkin (either kent or butternut is fine)
100g Brazil nuts
120g feta cheese

1) Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C.
2) Deseed the pumpkin and chop into 2.5 cm cubes. (Don't bother with the peeling - the skin will soften in the oven) Lay them on a baking tray. Drizzle some olive oil on top and sprinkle with some cracked pepper and dried mixed herbs. Use your hands to mix evenly so each piece of pumpkin is coated with oil and seasoning.
3) Put in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft and cooked through.
4) Put the nuts in a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin to yield broken bits of different sizes. Sprinkle over the cooked pumpkin. Break up the feta cheese into small pieces and sprinkle on top. Serve hot as a side dish.

Prawn & pepper spaghetti

One of the things that I like about Brisbane is its outdoor markets. They sell everything from big punnets of strawberries, different types of honey and freshly made pasta to sourdough bread, mini dutch pancakes and handmade chocolate fudge. All the vegetables and fruits are fresh and so much cheaper than getting them from the supermarket. But if you are hoping to get the best quality produce, it is always best to go early as most of these markets open at around 6 o'clock in the morning and finish before noon. And getting out of bed early is not the easiest thing to do in the weekend in winter!
So these are the prawns that I got in the market near where I live. I seldom have the chance to go there because of yoga class and church etc but I really should go more often. (I think I bought the most delicious apples I have ever tasted there!!) They did have the unpeeled ones but I was too lazy to do all the peeling, deveining etc. These prawns are so sweet, crunchy and tasty there really is not much you can do to ruin them, except over-cooking them. They are what makes this simple pasta dish so delicious :)
Prawn & pepper spaghetti

300g wholemeal spaghetti
1 red and 1 green capsicums, deseeded and sliced
1 red chili, finely chopped
300g button mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1) Bring a large pot of water with a pinch of salt to boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions. When cooked, reserve one cup of pasta water. Drain spaghetti and set aside.
2) In a pan, heat about 1/2 tbsp olive oil above medium-high heat. Add chili and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add mushrooms and allow to cook for a few minutes. Add the prawns and cook until they just turn pink. Stir in the capsicums.
3) Add the cooked spaghetti into the pan and toss all ingredients so they are well combined. Add a bit of pasta water if it looks too dry. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Serve immediately.

Chocolate and Pear Pudding

I do think having friends over for dinner is one of the biggest pleasures in life. You do a bit of cooking, exchange a bit of gossips, have a bit of laughs, share a tasty home-cooked meal (and share the washing-up afterwards). And you really don't have to cook anything too impressive. It's often simple, familiar and comforting food that people enjoy the most. And there is nothing better to end a lovely meal than a delicious dessert.

Chocolate Pear Pudding, from Nigella Express

1x815g canned pear slices in juice
125g all-purpose flour
75g brown sugar
25g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
100g soft butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence

1) Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C and grease a 22cm square baking dish with butter.
2) Drain the pears and lay them on the base of the dish.
3) Combine butter, eggs and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl and the rest of the ingredients in another. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated into a batter.
4) Spread the batter over the pears and smooth the surface. Bake for approx 25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the centre of the pudding comes out clean.
5) Let stand out of the oven for 5 to 10 minutes and cut into slices. Serve with chocolate sauce or chocolate ice-cream if desired.

This dessert is so easy and quick to make (no surprise since the book is called Nigella Express). The sponge cake layer is moist and soft and the chocolate flavour goes really well with the sweet and tangy pears. We reduced the amount of sugar used in the recipe and thought the level of sweetness was just right. In fact more sugar would probably overpower all the other flavours. We ate the pudding on its own without any sauce and it was really delicious. It is definitely my type of dessert, and definitely the type of dessert for any chocolate-lovers!

Crustless Ham & Broccoli Quiche

Quiche is one of those dishes I have never had until I came to Australia. When most people consider the pastry as the best part (when it is cooked right), I sometimes find it slightly too heavy. Since I do not have the patience to make my own pastry, I took an express route and made this very tasty Crustless Ham & Broccoli Quiche.
Because of the lack of pastry, this makes a much lighter meal and is cooked very quickly. There is no worrying about whether the pastry is too thick or under cooked. Despite the name of the dish, the flour does make the sides and the base of the quiche firm up a bit, creating a very light "crust". The only thing I do not like from the original recipe is that it uses 2 egg whites in addition to the 2 whole eggs. I mean, what would you do with the 2 left-over egg yolks? I'm not sure how big of a different it would make but I have included 3 whole eggs in mine and it has worked perfectly.

Crustless Ham & Broccoli Quiche, adopted from Baking Bites


2 small heads of broccoli, finely chopped
120g shredded ham
1 clove of garlic, crushed and chopped
1/2 onion, diced
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups of milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup of cheese (ricotta and Parmesan)

1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
2) Lightly grease a baking dish or a quiche pan.
3) Heat a bit of olive oil on a pan over medium-high heat. Saute the diced onion until translucent. Add the garlic and chopped broccoli and stir until cooked and softened. Mix in the shredded ham. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
4) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour and baking powder. Season with pepper. Stir in the cooked ingredients.
5) Pour the egg mixture into the prepared pan. Scatter cheese on the top.
6) Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges of the quiche is golden brown. Let set for 5 minutes. Serve on its own or with salad.

焗豬扒飯！

Sometimes I think that my interest in cooking is partly due to the limited choice of restaurants in Brisbane when you eat out. Instead of trying to find a nice restaurant that serve decent food (that is reasonably priced), it is far easier to learn to cook yummy food. (Not to mention how much healthier it is for you!) This dish is really something I would never make when I'm at home in Hong Kong. I mean why would you go through the trouble of all those chopping and stirring and baking and washing up when you can get the same dish (probably a better version of it), along with a drink, at 大家樂 across the road at $40?
This rice dish is probably the most classic Hong Kong fast food dish. I have yet to come across a person from Hong Kong who has not had it before. It's got fried rice, it's got pork chop, it's got tomato sauce, and it's cheesey and so so so yummy. The pork chops are juicy and flavoursome. The rice has absorbed all the flavours from the cheesy tomato sauce, the eggs and all the vegetables. On its own it is such a satisfying meal, and a little antidote to homesickness.

Baked fried rice with pork chop adopted from Christine's Recipe

2 bowls cooked brown rice
1/2 onion, diced
2 capsicums, diced
3 small tomatoes, diced
150g frozen mixed peas, corn and carrots
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
2 eggs, beaten well
2 pork chops
all-purpose flour
salt & pepper, to taste
soy sauce, to taste
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup of cheese (I used a combination of shredded Parmesan and ricotta)

1) Sandwich each pork chop between two layers of plastic wrap. Use a rolling pin or a meat hammer to flatten the pork chop to half its original thickness. Remove any visible fat. Marinate them in sugar, pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce and cornstarch overnight (or at least 30 minutes)
2) Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees C.
3) Heat oil in a pan on a medium-high heat. Place the pork chops in the beaten eggs, then cover both sides with flour. Cook the pork chops in the pan until both sides are golden brown and about 90% cooked through. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.
4) In the same pan, heat oil on a medium heat. Cook the chopped onion until transparent. Add the garlic and stir for about one minute. Stir in the capsicum and frozen vegetables. Cook until they are warmed through and soft. Remove from the pan and set aside.
5) In the same pan, heat oil on a medium heat and pour in the eggs. When the eggs are starting to set, mix in the cooked rice and break up the rice if there are any clumps. Continue to stir until the eggs are well combined with the rice. Then add in the tomatoes and 2/3 of the cooked vegetables. Mix well and season with pepper and soy sauce. Pour the rice mixture in the baking dish. Top with pork chops.
6) In the pan, heat up the tomato paste and 1/2 cup of water on a high heat. Stir until the mixture comes to a boil then reduce to medium heat. Slowly add in small amount of flour (about 1/2 tsp each time) into the mixture until it thickens to the desirable consistency. Mix in the remaining vegetables and season with sugar and pepper. Pour the sauce over the rice and the pork chops. Sprinkle cheese on the top. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the pork chops are cooked through. Serve immediately.

Sweet and Nutty Cake Loaf

I am so happy today 'coz I tried out two recipes and they are both fantastic! I won't fit both of them in the same entry because that just won't do them justice and they both deserve to be on their own :P The first dish that I made was the Sweet and Nutty Cake Loaf, adopted from Baking Bites. I was looking for something that differs from my usual blueberry muffins or choc chip coffee cake. The fact that this recipe used sunflower seeds caught my attention. So I decided to bake this to use up the half-empty packet of seed mix and half-empty bottle of almonds in my cupboard.

Sweet and Nutty Cake Loaf

1 cup white all purpose flour
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups of a combination of sunflower seeds, almonds, dried cranberries and sultanas

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Lined a loaf tin.
2) In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and the seeds, nuts and dried fruits.
3) In a separate measure cup, whisk together egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Stir until just combined. Do not over-mix and keep the batter slightly lumpy.
4) Pour mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and cooked through when tested with a skewer or a chopstick.
5) Turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

This cake just has so much texture - the loaf itself is dense, at the same time you get the crunchy almonds, crispy seeds and the juicy cranberries. It is not too sweet and there is the combined flavour of almonds and dried fruits in every bite. I imagine it will make a really good breakfast when heated with a bit of butter or honey on the top. On its own it is really good as a snack. You can be really creative and add whatever nuts or dried fruits you have on hand. Being low fat and loaded with heaps of seeds and almonds, a tea cake cannot get any healthier than this.