Smoked salmon, leek and mushroom quiche

This year I haven't had much luck with Australian Post. Firstly they lost the postcard that my parents sent me from overseas. And then they directed my RSVP to my friend's wedding back to my address, without a single note or word of explanation! I thought that we are long past the era when people have to worry about losing ther mail. Apparently not!

Enough ranting and back to cooking. After making fried rice with smoked salmon yesterday I still have some fish left from the packet. Not wanting to keep it in the fridge for too long, I made a smoked salmon, leek and mushroom quiche today.

Smoked salmon, leek and mushroom quiche

100g smoked salmon, cut into small pieces
2 trimmed leeks (or buy a whole leek, cut away the green section and the root)
250g sliced mushrooms
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup plain flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup ricotta cheese

1) Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Lightly grease a baking tray.
2) Heat olive oil in a frying pan over moderately high heat. Chop the leeks into thin rings and add them to the pan. Stir for about one minute then add the sliced mushrooms. Cook until both vegetables are softened and excess moisture is evaporated. Set aside and allow them to cool down slightly.
3) In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, baking powder and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the cooked vegetables and the smoked salmon and stir well.
4) Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the eggs are set. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle extra cheese on top if desired.

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.

Meatballs & Spaghetti

Just because you have some mince in your fridge, it doesn't mean that you have to have spaghetti bolognese for dinner. I am not an Italian and I'm certainly not an expert in Italian cooking. But here it is, my version of Meatballs & Pasta.

400g of mixed lamb and pork mince (I would normally use beef + pork but lamb is what I have in the fridge)
chopped basil
chopped parsley
3 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 chopped carrot
1 chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 canned tomato soup
Wholemeal spaghetti or any pasta
Parmesan, grated (optional)

1) In a large bowl, mix together the minced meat, chopped basil, parsley, breadcrumbs and 1 egg. Add freshly ground pepper and mix well.
2) Roll ~1 tbsp of mince mixture into a meatball. Repeat with the rest.
3) Cook pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
4) In a heated frying pan, add olive oil and meatballs. Allow to cook until golden and cooked through. Set aside on paper towel to absorb excess oil.
5) In the same frying pan, add onion and carrot. Stir until soften then mix in garlic. Add tomatoes to pan and cook for a few minutes. Add in tomato soup and bring it to a simmer. Add water to thin it out if desired. Mix in meatballs, cracked pepper and chopped basil.
6) To serve, place pasta on a plate or a bowl and spoon over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle over grated Parmesan if desired.

This may look waaaaayyyyyyyyyy to saucy for some of you but this is the type of pasta that I grew up having, which obviously is not the most authentic Italian. Oh well, I'm blaming my parents for it!

The First of (Hopefully) Many Up-coming Cooking Night

I love risotto. Who doesn't?! It's creamy, smooth and flavoursome and it is full of CARBS. I have always thought of it as a gourmet "restaurant food" that would be hard to reproduce at home. But with the help of allrecipe.com and my darling friend Crystal I made my first attempt of the dish.
And it was delicious! It really is not as difficult to make as I imagined. It requires a bit of patience and time because you have to be prepared to stand by the stove top for at least 20 minutes while you constantly stir the rice until you get the desired firmness and texture. I would strongly recommend cooking this with a friend - it just makes everything so much more fun don't you think?
It is a very versatile dish as well. Sprinkle freshly chopped herbs and Parmesan cheese at the end and stir in whatever you feel like - seafood, chicken, sausages, grilled / roasted vegetables, lemon zest + lemon juice, etc.
NB: Some reviews recommend using 1 whole cup of dry white wine and adding garlic with the shallots to enrich the flavours. I'll definitely try that next time.

Gourmet Mushroom Risotto

6 cups of chicken stock/beef stock/vegetable stock
Thinly sliced mushrooms
2 shallots, diced
1.5 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 TBSP finely chopped chives
2 TBSP butter (optional)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1) In a saucepan, warm the stock over low heat
2) Add olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, saute until soft. Remove mushrooms and their liquid. Set aside.
3) Add olive oil to skillet and stir in shallots. Cook for 1 minute. Add in rice and stir until coated with oil for about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken a pale golden colour, pour in wine. Stir constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add in 1/2 cup warm stock to the rice and keep stirring to allow stock to be absorbed. Continue adding stock to the rice, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir constantly until the rice is al dente. May take 20-30 minutes.
4) Remove from heat. Stir in mushrooms with their liquid, chives and butter if desired. Season with cracked pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to serve.

Today's dinner

Baby quiche

This is meant to be a healthier alternative to your ordinary quiche. It actually tastes more like a fish bake than a quiche, because of the proportion of the ingredients. You can really add whatever vegetables that you like. Make sure you add heaps of chopped fresh herbs and enough black pepper - they really add to the flavour.

1 large size onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
1 can of mixed beans, mashed
1/3 cup of corn
1/3 cup of mushrooms, diced1/2 head broccoli, finely chopped
1 small can of salmon/tuna, drained
3-4 eggs
1 cup of finely chopped fresh herbs, eg basil, parsley, mint
cracked pepper

1) Pre-heat oven at 180 °C
2) Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Add mushrooms and broccoli and continue to sauté until soft. Add other vegetables and salmon. Turn off the heat and add the eggs. Mix well
3) Spoon mixture into muffin tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
4) Serve warm with salad!Strawberry & Chocolate Slice
I also tried out one of the recipes from the Easy Baking cookbook. I wanted to use up some of the chocolate buttons that I have so, instead of choc chips, I added a layer of melted chocolate on top of the strawberry jam layer. I forgot to buy butter today so I only used half of the butter stated in the recipe. The slices turned out really yummy. Great combination between the strawberry jam and the almond. However the flour mixture did not bind as well as it should, probably because of the amount of butter used. Just have to eat them like crumbles then!!

225g plain flour
1 tsp baking power
100g brown sugar
200g unsalted butter
150g rolled oats
225g strawberry jam
Chocolate buttons
25g flaked almonds

1) Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Line 30x20 cm rectangular baking tin with baking paper
2) Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add sugar and mix well. Add the butter and rub in with fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the oats.
3) Press three quarters of the mixture into the base of the prepared tin. Bake in preheated oven for 10minutes.
4) Spread the jam over the cooked base. Melt chocolate buttons in microwave and spread over the strawberry jam. Mix the remaining flour mixture with almonds. Sprinkle evenly over the chocolate layer. Press down gently.
5) Bake in the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into slices. Enjoy!

My Nearly-Death Experience & Cinnamon-choc chip sour cream cake (with recipe)

So according to my workmates, I almost got run over by a car yesterday.
Indeed that is a bit of an exaggeration. So there I was, crossing the road at the pedestrian crossing. 3 cars were coming down the hill on my right. The first one stopped while I was walking across the road. The second car was going down the slope so fast that it could not stop in time. SQUEAK! BANG! It crashed into the first car and created a huge dent at its rear. The impact made the first car moved a few metres forward. By then I was already at the traffic island. As I looked back I thought "Oh no I think it was me who caused the accident?!" But I was five minutes away from being late to work so I just kept walking. A colleague of mine and a couple of other people happened to be standing around in the car park located slightly above the road, which made it a perfect platform for watching this little event. It wasn't until their graphic description of accident when I realized I could've been hit by a car for real if I was two seconds slower! So I said a little prayer to thank God for protecting me every second of my life. And I ate one of the double choc chip muffins that Susie bought. Yum.
And yes, I took extra care when I crossed the road today.

Considering I had the morning free today I wasn't gonna waste it on packing (that will be tomorrow morning's work). I made the cinnamon-chocolate chip sour cream cake from the recipe on smittenkitchen. And it was AMAZING. So delicious. I brought some to work and people were asking me for the recipe. And someone reckoned it tasted like some sort of French cakes. Any food from France has gotta taste good right?
The cake turned out extremely dense and moist. It was so chocolatey and cinnamonie. Perfect for a sweet tooth like moi!

A slightly modified version:

50g unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup pack brown sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
300 mL sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
Splash of milk

Chocolate chips - as much as you like
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to175°C.

In a large bowl, cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar, then mix in the egg yolks and vanilla. Sift flour and baking powder together into a separate bowl. Alternately add sour cream and then dry ingredients into butter mixture. Beat eggs whites until stiff, then fold into batter. Add splash of milk. Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon together in a separate, small dish.

In square baking pan lined with baking paper, pour in half of the cake batter. Sprinkle the top with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture and half of the chocolate chips. Pour remaining batter on top, sprinkling the top with the remaining cinnamon-sugar and chocolate chips.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Special treat for breakfast: homemade 豆漿！

I ♥ yoga!

Three months into my yoga practice and I am already addicted to it!!! I want to practise every day. I want to fit it in the morning when I have a late start at work, or in the evening if I am so lucky to come home early. Every time I practise it releases all my muscle tension and gets rid of all the aches and pains. I feel stronger, softer, longer, taller, lighter, steadier. My shoulders feel broader. My breathing feels deeper. My legs have more strength. My spine feels taller. And it's perfect for lazy people like me 'coz you don't even have to go outside of your house to do it. So go try it out. 'Coz I know you'll love it too!
I can't wait til Sunday again!

And I made Berry Buckle again - This time not over-baked and heaps more cinnamon! yum!

Be Italian

Thank God it is the weekend. It came just in time before I went out of breath after such a long week. And what would a weekend be without a delicious slice of chocolate cake?


It was such a simple recipe I managed to whip up the cake within an hour. Icing was recommended but, as lazy as I am, I skipped it and served the cake by itself. The recipe did not call for any chocolate and used only cocoa powder for the chocolate flavour, which makes it lighter than your ordinary chocolate mud cake. Good for anyone who isn't after a rich and heavy dessert but still want a treat. Also perfect as my afternoon tea tomorrow~!

At 2:50 we went to see NINE. I love movies based on musicals 'coz they are so full of music (duh!), full of life and full of entertainment. There are costumes, music, singing, dancing, make up, building one musical spectacles after another, bring you into the crazy and chaotic world of Guido Cortini.
Despite my expectations from watching its trailer, it seems to fall short of being another Chicago. Every cast member is fantastic but the film does not do them justice, esp some of the female characters. With the exception of Marion Cortillard and Penélope Cruz, who have the opposing roles of the wife and the mistress. Penélope is the sexy and seductive mistress blinded by love. Marion is the wife who struggles between staying and leaving her husband. She is so likeable on screen you just can't help but feel for her. And she has this captivating charm that seems to be unique to French women. So effortlessly chic. So classy and elegant in everything shes does.
(And I love her make up - flawless complexion, a flick in the eyeliner and matte lips!)



And then there is Fergie, who is soooo amazing in her musical number. As a professional singer, she really stood out with her musical performance. Love her voice, love her dancing, love her energy, love the tambourine. She sounds so good I want to be Italian!!! (However I did get a little chill when Judi Dench and Sophia Loren sing...)

Even though it's not a great film, it's still a good one. You would enjoy the great choreography, the music, the costumes and the old Italian set and their charming Italian accent (except from Nicole Kidman's, which ruined it a bit....) Still worth the visit to the cinema.

My Mixed Berry Buckle

Today was one of those days when the Sunshine state got a bit wet. The streets were wet. The cars were wet. My shoes were wet. I like the rain. It's soothing. It's dreamy. It smells amazing. It almost takes you to another world just by listening to it. (it also makes the weeds in my front yard grow like crazy. but i'm ignoring them) Great soundtrack for a day of study (or procrastination). And in queensland it's a rarity not having to worry about your SPF for one day.

So I was deciding between two recipes that both look delicious and doable (for a beginner baker like me). Sure, blueberry boy bait sounds more appealing. But blueberry buckle got so many good reviews and looks like a much "safer" recipe. So I went ahead and made my own version of the Blueberry Buckle. I've only got frozen mixed berries so that's what I've used. I've cut down the sugar by 2/3 'coz that other cake recipes from allrecipe.com that I have tried have been too sweet. I skipped the topping because of laziness. And also because I was a bit reluctant to add another 75g of butter into the recipe after watching that Heart Foundation ad this morning. After all I don't want to become one of those people who go on a statin at the age of 35. Instead I just put a few mixed berries on top of the batter and sprinkled a mixture of ground cinnamon and sugar on the top, which was suggested in the blueberry boy bait recipe.

(please forgive the amateur photography!)

Turns out that I should have pushed in the berries into the batter 'coz they came out of the oven BLACK. Well I didn't think about that then so just like that it stayed in the oven for 40 minutes. And this is, once again, a lesson for me to never to trust the recipe 100%. 40 minutes were apparently too long and it came out a bit burnt and not as moist as it could have been. Probably 30-35 minutes next time. And more cinnamon on the top!!

This is a buttery, rich, sweet cake with refreshing berries in every mouthful. Great for afternoon tea or anytime you feel like a lift. Another recipe for my collection~

PS And I'm sorry I forgot the cookies Anna!! So here they are. Buttery chewy cookies with the perfect balance between Hershey's choc chip and dried cranberry.