Asparagus in Egg-Vinaigrette Sauce served with Grilled Saibling Fillet

Asparagus is in season at present and I will include it in our menu at least twice or three times a week.  For today's dinner, I prepared an egg vinaigrette to accompany the steamed white asparagus and grilled fish fillet.

Ingredients:
1 kg white asparagus, to be peeled and ends trimmed

Vinaigrette Ingredients:
4  hard-boiled eggs
2 tbsps chopped flat parsley
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar or plain vinegar
1 tsp mustard
3 tbsp white wine or plain water
salt & pepper to taste

Method:
Separate egg whites from egg yolks.  Chop egg whites finely and leave aside.  In a bowl, mash egg yolks with a fork.  Add olive oil, vinegar, mustard and wine.  Mix thoroughly and then, add chopped parsley.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Steam asparagus for about 11 minutes or until done to your liking.  Serve asparagus with Egg-Vinaigrette.

To prepare the fish fillets:  Season with salt and pepper.  Place fish fillets under grill for about 10 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Aprikose-Streuselkuchen

Literally translated, it is called Apricot Cake with Crumble Topping.  For the base, I prepared a yeast dough whereas the filling consists of Schmand (sour cream), vanilla pudding and apricots.  To top it, I prepared a crumble dough which consists of flour, butter, sugar, etc.

Base Ingredients (for a 24 cm dia cake tin with loose base):
160 g plain flour, to be sifted
80 ml warm milk
10 g fresh yeast
20 g fine sugar
a pinch of salt
1 egg yolk "M" size
60 g soft butter

Filling Ingredients:
1 big can (825 ml) apricots or 650 g fresh apricots, to be washed, halved and deseeded
150 g fresh milk
60 g sugar
1/2 packet vanilla sugar
10 g vanilla pudding powder
100 g Schmand (sour cream)

Topping Ingredients:
1 egg "M" size
250 g plain flour
125 g cold butter
a pinch of salt
a pinch of baking powder

2 or 3 tbsp icing sugar to garnish

Method:
In a mixing bowl, add flour and make a well in the middle.  Crumble yeast into the well and add a little warm milk.  Stir mixture a bit before sprinkling with a little flour over top.  Cover bowl with a clean dishcloth and leave aside for about 20 minutes.  Then, add sugar, salt, egg yolk, butter and balance of milk.  Knead until a soft dough is formed.  Cover bowl again and leave aside for another 20 minutes.  Greased a cake tin lightly with butter.  Line cake tin with dough by bringing a slight edge on the sides as shown:

For the filling, mix sugar, vanilla sugar and vanilla pudding powder together in a bowl.  Add a few tablespoons of milk and stir until there are no lumps.  Bring milk in a pot to a slight boil. Remove pot from heat and add the pudding mixture.  Whisk thoroughly by using a hand whisk. Return to stove and bring pudding to a slight boil and keep stirring.  Remove from and leave aside to cool down completely.  Once cooled, add sour cream and stir well.  Add mixture to dough and spread evenly as shown:

If using canned apricots, add into a sieve and drain the syrup (to be thrown away).  Prepare fresh apricots as mentioned above.  Arrange apricots on pudding filling as shown:

Mix all topping ingredients together until they resembled like crumbs.  Sprinkle on top of apricots as shown:

Bake in a preheated fan oven at 175° C for about 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.  Once done, remove from oven and leave it to cool down completely.  Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Happy Baking!

Strawberry-Quark (Curd Cheese) Tart

This tart is one of our family's favourites.  The base is made up of puff pastry and marzipan, whereas the filling consists of curd cheese and strawberries.  It is a hit with both adults and children alike.

Base Ingredients:
1 packet (300 g fresh rolled puff pastry
100 g marzipan

Filling Ingredients:
250 g curd cheese (Quark) - 20% fat
250 g curd cheese with cream (Sahnequark) - if unavailable, use normal curd cheese as above
2 eggs "M" size
160 g sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
2 tbsp (level) freshly grated lemon zest
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp cornflour

Topping Ingredients:
700 g fresh strawberries
1 packet red cake glaze (Tortenguß)
2 tbsp sugar

Method:
Grease a 28 cm in diameter pie pan (if possible, with loose bottom) with butter.  Line pan with puff pastry until up the sides.  Roll out marzipan between two plastic sheets to the size of the base of pie pan.  Place marzipan on top of puff pastry base by using the plastic sheet. Remove plastic sheet.

Preheat fan oven to 180° C (conventional:  200° C).

In a bowl, mix all filling ingredients together until well blended.  Add filling into pie pan and spread evenly.  Bake for about 45 minutes.  Once ready, remove from oven and allow tart to cool down completely in pie pan.

Important Note:  During baking, the filling might tend to bulge i.e. rise up in the middle.  If this happens, place a wooden spoon between the oven door and the oven as shown.  By doing so, the filling will not get any cracks on the surface.  Continue baking until done.

Brush strawberries clean (if necessary, wash them).  There are various ways of arranging the strawberries:

Slice strawberries into slices and arrange on top of tart as shown in the photos below:

OR

Just halve strawberries and arrange on top of tart with cut surface up.

OR

Cut the stalk part of strawberries and arrange them with the cut side down.

Prepare glaze according to packet instructions.  Pour glaze from middle of tart.  Don't worry, the glaze will cover the strawberries on its own.  Remove tart from pan and serve.

Bon Appetit!

Claypot Chicken Rice

This is a one-meal chinese dish which is normally served in Singapore, Malaysia and China.  Traditionally, this dish is cooked in a claypot over a charcoal stove.  This type of cooking gives the dish a distinctive flavour but nowadays, it can be baked in an oven - the simple and quick method. There are several variations of this dish i.e. with salted fish, chinese sausage, etc. but the following recipe uses chicken meat.

Ingredients (serves 4):
600 g chicken breast, to be finely diced
2 cups (250 ml capacity) rice, to be rinsed and drained
300 ml chicken stock
2 tbsp cooking oil
8 dried mushrooms, to be soaked in hot water until soft and finely sliced (throw the stems away)

5 shallots, to be peeled, finely sliced and deep-fried until golden brown

Marinade Ingredients:
15 slices fresh ginger, to be cut into shreds
14 pips garlic, to be peeled and halved
2 tbsp dark, thick soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp salt or according to taste
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp cooking oil

Method:
In a bowl, mix all marinade ingredients together and add diced chicken.  Mix well, cover bowl and chill for at least one hour.  Preheat conventional oven to 180° C.

In an ovenproof dish, mix sliced mushroom, rice, cooking oil and chicken stock together. Then, add diced chicken and its marinade.  (Note:  To improve the taste, I suggest that one stir-fry the chicken and marinate in a wok (without oil) for a few minutes or until chicken changes colour.)  Mix thoroughly and cover dish with aluminium foil (shiny side down).  Bake for about 30 minutes.

Remove dish from oven and by using a wooden spatula, mix rice by bringing the bottom rice to the top.  This is to ensure even cooking.  Cover dish with foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Check whether rice is done.  If not, return to oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes.

Serve hot sprinkled with fried shallots.

Bon Appetit!

Apam Balik or Ban Chien Kuih (thin version)

Due to the many requests which I received from my blog readers, I am posting the recipe for the thin version of Ban Chien Kuih or Apam Balik/Apam Pulau Pinang.

Batter Ingredients (yields about 15 - 20 pcs):

100 g rice flour

50 g plain flour

15 g cornflour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1/2 tsp salt

100 ml thick coconut milk

100 ml water

3 "M" size eggs

80 g sugar

Filling Ingredients:
350 g roasted peanuts, to be coarsely chopped
70 g sugar
30 g soft butter

Method:
Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl and leave aside.

In a small bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved.  Sift all dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl.  Add thick coconut milk and water.  Mix thoroughly until no lumps can be seen.  Then, add egg mixture and mix well.

Heat a small pan (non-stick) over medium heat.  Add a small soup laddle of batter to pan - just enough to cover the base of the pan.  Put on the lid and cook until the sides are crispy and brown in colour.

Remove lid and sprinkle peanuts filling.  Fold into half and remove from pan to a wire rack. Repeat procedure until the batter is used up.

Serve immediately!

Bon Appetit!