Mango cheese cake

ingredients:
500g cream cheese (Woolie's homebrand's fine. Trust me, I just did a presentation on cheeses in Australia..:P )
mango flavoured jelly powder x 2 pack
2 can mango slices in syrup (425g)
200 ml hot water
1 cup crushed sweet biscuits
50g butter, melted
3 tbs brown sugar

method:
1. Add jelly to 200ml HOT water. Stir to melt.
2. Drain the mango slices and add the syrup to the jelly. Cut mango into small cubes. Set aside.
3. Leave jelly in fridge for 1 hour to set.
4. In the meantime, prepare biscuit base by combining crushed biscuits, butter and sugar. Press firmly onto a lined 20cm springform pan. Leave in fridge for at least 30 mins to set.
5. Combine jelly and cream cheese in a blender and mix throughly.
6. Pour 1/3 onto the base.
7. Add mango cubes to the cream cheese mixture and pour everything into the cake pan.
8. Leave overnight in the fridge, yes, you guessed it, to set. :)

Comments: this recipe is inspired by Berry Simple mandarin cheesecake which i made a fortnight ago...used mango instead of mandarin orange and reduced the amount of liquid from the last time...the cake was nice n firm-er....and I loved how the cubes added texture n interest to the cake...was quite pretty to look at..
the crumbly stuff on top of the cake is shaved chocolate by the way....we had an issue with bubbles on the surface of the cake.....and we wanted to conceal it somehow.. ;) Anyone has a better solution for next time??

This is an updated comment: just spoon the bubbles off...i think the bubbles were from the jelly solution which i had not done properly... and I have doubled the quantity for the cake...as i think it was too 'shallow'....'taller' looks better...the biscuit base reminds the same.

apricot walnut muffins

another great recipe from my trusty 'Muffin Bible'...made a couple of modifications though...mainly used thick cream instead of butter...just cos i wanted to finish the cream...hee..

ingredients:
12 dried apricots
2 tbs brandy
2 cups flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 egg
150 ml thick cream (originally 1/2 cup milk and 50g butter)

method:
cook apricots in brandy for five minutes and then roughly chop.
Sift flour and baking powder and stir in sugar, chopped apricots and chopped walnuts.
Combine egg and milk and add melted butter.
Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients and pour in milk and butter. Stir quicky until just combined.
Three quarters fill greased muffin pans and bake at 200 degrees for 15-20 mins.

makes 24 tiny muffins, 18 small ones OR 12 big ones.

comments: I think it tasted more like a scone then muffin cos of the cream....made the outside more crispy/ crusty than regular muffins...brought it to Carrie's birthday brunch...most people liked it and thought that the sweetness was just right.. :) Happy Birthday once again Georgeous girl!!! What a pleasure to have finally met Homer!! ;D

sushi n jap curry rice!!

so this is what i have been up to.. haa havent been updating cos been really busy with uni work..wont post the recipe up cos i think everyone knows how to make them. The jap curry just follow the instruction on the box! haaa..suhi.. hum.. abit tricky but most websites teach u how! -x

Hummus

ingredients:
1 can chickpeas (liquid reserved)
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon chicken salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
dash of chilli powder
dash of pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried chives (optional; doesn't do much)

method:
puree the chickpeas with some of the liquid. (I used a hand blender n slightly less than half of the brine.) Add the rest of the ingredients and blend again. Rest in fridge for at least an hour for flavours to mingle.
Serve with pita bread, vegetable sticks or crackers.

Comments: 'Original' hummus recipes have some tahnini (sesame seed paste/ butter) added too .... but my tahnini is somewhat bitter so i didn't want to add it....you can experiment though...came up with the recipe cos i needed to prepare some munchies for friends who are dropping by tomorrow...it's quite tasty n comparable to store-bought versions....lower in energy too.. :)

Mom's achar!!

Ingredients:
2 cucumber, julienned
2 carrots, julienned
dried chilies 6 pc
tumeric powder 1 tsp
shallot 1 medium
Roasted Sesame seeds 2 tbs
Roasted Ground peanuts 2 tbs
white vinegar 4-6 tbs
Sugar 6-8 tbs
Pineapple, diced, ½ cup

Method:
1. Marinate cucumber with salt for 30 mins. Wash off and dry with paper towels.
2. Fry shallots, chilis and tumeric powder til fragrant.
3. Add cucumber and carrots
4. Add rest of ingredients in order.
5. Chill overnight to allow flavours to fuse.

Comments: yay! I tot i had lost the recipe!! Made this last year....definitely a keeper!!! Serve with Hainan chicken rice....or Coconut rice (nasi lemak)....or rendang...or any spicy dish with rice..... :)

Salmon fettucine with mandarin orange ginger paste

:) own concoction...no recipe cos it wasn't that fantastic...the salmon was too fishy....but the madarin orange peel ginger paste idea pairing was interesting....might try that again as a topping when baking some other fish...
Just take fresh mandarin orange peel, chop it up with a roughly equal amount of ginger as fine as you can and add a teaspoon of olive oil...

curried carrot soup

from Allrecipes.

INGREDIENTS
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp curry powder
900 g carrots, chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water, or as needed

DIRECTIONS
1 Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onion until tender and translucent. Stir in the curry powder. Add the chopped carrots, and stir until the carrots are coated. Pour in the vegetable broth, and simmer until the carrots are soft, about 20 minutes.
2 Transfer the carrots and broth to a blender, and puree until smooth. Pour back into the pot, and thin with water to your preferred consistency.

comments: i omitted the water altogether...and cos the curry powder was extremely spicy, the final concoction tasted like a very fiery curry!!! This is excellent to make in a hurry for Indian food cravings. Serve with nann/ baguettes!! Yum! Oh...and the carrot flavour wasn't that strong, surprisely... :)