Dried Haw Slices with Apple Honey Tea

Heard of Chinese Hawthorne? Er ... What's that? Do you like to eat Haw Flakes ? ... Er ... what's Haw Flakes ? ... Do you like "Zhan Zha", 山楂饼 ? {In Mandarin, the Chinese Hawthorne is pronounced as "Zhan Zha"(mountain berry)} Yes ! Well, my big kids know only 山楂饼, as they like to munch this sour sweet reddish thinly sliced titbits in cylindrical wrapped paper.

But I'm not going to make 山楂饼 for them. Instead,  make this sour sweet drink or dessert soup cos it is not uncommon to them that I've made quite often when they were young.  Once I asked the owner of the traditional herb shop what drinks I could make to whet the young kids' appetites?  I was given this very easy recipe : Water + dried haw slices + some apples + some honey or rock sugar and boil about 25 minutes.  Because of the sour sweet taste (I think), it helped to whet their appetites ... hee.. hee.. Occasionally, I made this as tea or dessert, served hot or chilled to enjoy be it on cold or humid weather.

Dried Haw Slice with Apple Honey Tea
Serves 4 pax
Ingredients
Water about 2 litres
Dried Haw Slices 50g
Red Cooking Apples 4 (peeled, cored and cut into big chunks)
Honey 2 - 3 tablespoons to taste

Method
1) Wash the dried haw slices a few times. Ensure that any small seeds are removed. Drain and discard the water.

2) Put all the ingredients (except honey) in a cooking pot with about 2 litres of water and boil over medium flame. Once boiled, lower the flame to low-medium and continue to boil for about 20 minutes or till you could smell the fruity fragrance infused into the tea.

3) Stir in the honey when the soup is warm.  Serve as drinks or as dessert. Warm or chilled to your preference.

Do adjust the sweetness to your preference.

Here's how we enjoy this dried haw infused & apple honey fragrance drinks :

Enjoy a cup of dessert drink with some soft apples

Serving a  bowl of sour sweet dessert

After meal, have a cup of warm sour sweet fruity honey tea ease indigestion.

Relaxing and enjoying a cup of Dried Haw Slices with
Apple Honey Tea in my cosy corner

Hope you enjoy this sour sweet fruity fragrance honey tea in any ways, much like we do :)
Have a great weekend ahead ! 

  

Submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up March 2016 Theme Honey which is organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Joycescapade.

Rose Infused Milk Pudding

Well, as the saying goes "life is not a bed of roses"... And learning how to overcome the misadventures or unpleasant situations are part and parcel of life.

Chance upon this easy to make milk pudding. Since I've got some dried rose buds, quickly made these desserts to try .... love the hint of rose fragrance and smooth silky texture.

Recipe adapted from : Day Day Cook
Modified slightly below as I've reduced the sugar amount.

Rose Infused Milk Pudding
Serves 3
Ingredients :
250ml fresh milk
2 egg whites
15g granulated sugar
2 - 4 dried rose buds
Strawberries for garnish (optional)

Method:
1) Briefly rinse the dried rose buds, use only the petals and place them in the heat proof bowls. Set aside.

2) In a big bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar and milk. Mix well with a whisk.

3) Run the mixture through a sieve, thereafter, pour the mixture into the individual heat proof bowls.

4) Cover the bowl with cling wraps.

5) Prepare a steamer and steam under rapidly boiling water on medium heat for about 9 - 10 mins.

Serve immediately with some berries if you like. My big boy commented it tasted like soy milk beancurd but with rose fragrance. My hubby is not a fan of sweet dessert but he enjoyed it too :)

♡♡♡ ~~♡~~♡♡♡

 

Linking this post to Little Thumbs Up - Feb 2016 which is organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Sweet Home-Chefs.

Butter Oats Asparagus

I'm sure Cereal Prawn is one of the very well-liked dishes amongst the CNY celebration food.  A popular dish that served at most zi char stalls and restaurants. Of course ... the prices hiked during festive season too.

We have been feasting with too much meaty stuffs during the CNY celebration week. So instead of using prawns, I tried out with just asparagus, so called "a vegetable dish". I have adopted asparagus 芦笋 in cooking some CNY dishes as it sounds auspicious like 顺顺, 如意顺利 {proceed smoothly in whatever you do} ^-^!
Anyway, glad that my family liked it as I again 'agak-agak' guesstimate the taste and ingredients.

Butter Oats Asparagus
Serves 4
Ingredients :
1 bundle asparagus about 200g
100g unsalted butter (you can use salted butter and omit/reduce the salt)
100g plain oats or cereal (I used rolled oats)
3 - 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 - 3 red chilli padi, deseed and thinly sliced
Curry leaves, a handful just the leaves without stem. Wash clean and pat dry with kitchen towel.
1 - 2 tablespoons sugar (adjust the sweetness to your preference).
Pinch of salt to taste
Cooking oil for pan-frying the asparagus

Method:
1) Wash, rinse and drain the asparagus in colander.  Cut and discard about 1cm of bottom stalk. Cut diagonally about 1 inch long lengthwise.

2) In a wok or frying pan, heat some cooking oil with medium flame.
Pan-fry the asparagus for about 2 minutes, remove and set aside. Lightly pat with kitchen towel to drain off any excess oil.

3) Using the same wok or frying pan, wipe clean the excess oil with some kitchen towel. Melt the butter over low flame.  Stir-fry the garlic followed by chilli padi and curry leaves until fragrant. The curry leaves looked crisp at this stage and you could also smell the aroma of chilli and curry leaves.

4) Add in the oats and sugar, quickly stir them around. Pour in the asparagus, pinch of salt and coat with oats mixture evenly for about a minute. (Note: use low flame as the oats will be browned very quickly in high heat).

Off the flame, dish to a serving plate and serve immediately.

We loved the fragrance of butter & curry leaves. Mouthful of crispy crunchy oats a perfect complement to the asparagus! Enjoy!

Here's wishing everyone 顺顺利利 , 万事如意in Year of the Red Fire Monkey! 

☆☆《《《☆》》》☆☆

Linking this post to Cook & Celebrate Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

Warm Scallops with Asparagus Fruity Salad & $500 Paypal CASH Giveaway!

Scallop is one of our favourite CNY home-cooked dishes as it sounds auspicious like (带带)'代代平安' "peace to every generation" in Mandarin and Cantonese.  I usually make stir-fry scallops with asparagus for our CNY celebration dish. With my previous attempt in making warm salad here and Abalone Salad, so I tried out and 'agak-agak' guesstimate the taste and ingredients for this Warm Scallops with Asparagus Fruity Salad.


I like that this salad dish serves during CNY celebration that's full of auspicious symbolic:
Asparagus & Pear 芦笋 & 梨  = '顺顺利利' proceed smoothly in whatever you do
Scallop 带子 = '代代平安' peace to every generation
Pineapple 黃梨  = 旺来 <ong lai in dialect> wealth bestowed 
Pomelo 柚 = 有 / 又 again & again ... thought to bring continuous prosperity. The more you eat, the more wealth it will bring.

Warm Scallops with Asparagus Fruity Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients :
Baby Asparagus 120g
Large Frozen Scallops about 18 pcs
Pineapple 2 fresh large slices (use canned pineapple if you prefer)
1 large China Pear - cored and peeled
Dash of pepper & salt
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil

Salad dressing: Lemon Honey Vinaigrette
Juice of 1 large Lemon
1 tablespoon Honey
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon wholegrain mustard
Dash of pepper & salt
Pomelo - some for garnishing

Method :
1) To save time, thaw the scallops (in steps 3 & 4) and prepare the salad dressing in advance. Put all the dressing ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake until well combined. Season with pinch of salt and dash of pepper. Chill for 1 - 2 hours.

2) Cut the fruits (pineapple and pear) in bite sizes. Chill the cut fruits in fridge.

3) Thaw the scallops. Rinse well and pat dry with few layers of kitchen towels. Do not cover, refrigerate the scallops for 30 minutes to dry.

4) Season the scallops with dash of salt and pepper to taste.

5) Saute non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to the pan. Add in the scallops, set in a single layer in the pan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until bottom of each scallop is nicely browned. Turn scallops over and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes until they're firm and nicely browned.

6) Wash, rinse and drain the asparagus in colander.  Trim and discard about 1/2 inch of bottom stalk. Cut length wise about 2 inches long.

7) Meanwhile, prepare a small pot of boiling water and an ice bath (a bowl full of ice and water). Blanch the asparagus in boiling water for about 1 minute and quickly remove them from the boiling water and plunge them into the ice bath for about 15 seconds and drain.
(this act is called “shocking”). 
Blanching and shocking allows the partially cooked vegetables to cool quickly so they retain their crunch. 

To serve the salad, arrange the cut fruits and asparagus on a big serving plate. Top with the scallops and garnish with some pomelo. Pour the chilled lemon honey vinaigrette dressing and gently toss until just combined.

Warm tangy salad with natural juicy fruity sweetness.  My big kids gave big thumbs up for this :) Happy ^-^! I'm sure this salad will be well liked by everyone (from young to old) in the family. Do give it a try if you intend to dish up for CNY celebration.
Enjoy !

Counting down to CNY2016 ... here's a gentle reminder ... a chance to *win a S$500 Ang Pow as we usher into CNY2016 ^-^!

To welcome the Year of the Red Fire Monkey, 10 cooking bloggers have come together to bring you the chance to *win a S$500 ang pow! (Terms and Conditions Apply).

To enter, please complete the Rafflecopter below : 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


This giveaway is brought to you by :

Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

Alvin from Chef and Sommelier

Ann from Anncoo Journal

Amy from Amy's Baking Diary

Charlynn from My Baking Cottage

Karen from Luvswesavory

Sharon from Delishar

Victoria from Victoria Bakes

Weilee from Wei Lee's Passion

*One Prize of SGD500 will be sent to one winner via Paypal (or bank transfer within SG). An email will be sent to the winner to notify him/her of the win. Should the Organiser (Diana) not receive a reply within 48 hours, another winner will be selected.

This giveaway is opened to ALL International participants! Take part and maybe you will be the lucky winner ! 
Closing on 3rd February !

祝大家:

大吉大利  万事如意

猴年行大运, 旺来发大财 ! 

☆☆《《《☆》》》☆☆

Linking this post to Cook & Celebrate Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

Blackberry Chia Jam & $500 Paypal CASH Giveaway!

Although I've made Pumpkin Kaya and Mango Jam (but didn't post) sometime ago, I've never imagine myself making homemade fruity jam could be that easy ^-^! What I love about this is the use of all natural fruits/juices with no sugar added.  With the added Chia Seeds (packed with omega 3 fatty acids), these tiny chia seeds thickened the mixture and transformed a jar of spreadable healthy jam ... fast & easy, no sweat !

Spread on bread, rolls, digestive biscuits, pancakes ... anything that you could find at home to make some healthy brekkie, tea/coffee snacks with this Blackberry Chia Jam.
Enjoy !

Recipe source : Thekitchn
Below my slightly adjusted version on the ingredients.
Blackberry Chia Jam
Fills a 250ml jar
Ingredients A
170g Blackberries (nett weight of a punnet bought)
1 medium Peach - peeled, cored and diced
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice - from half a lemon

Ingredients B
1 to 2 tablespoons honey (adjust the sweetness to your preference)
1.5 tablespoons Chia Seeds

Method:
In a small saucepan combine all the Ingredients A and cook with medium flame. Stirring occasionally.

Once the fruit mixture heats up and begins to boil, mash the fruit using the back of a fork till they break up. This takes 3 to 5 minutes.

Sweeten the mashed fruit with 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey. Lastly, add the chia seeds and stir once. Off the flame. The mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.



Once cooled, transfer the fruit mixture to a jar or airtight container and refrigerate. Fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Of course, mixed berries or just strawberries would be my next "Berry Berry Chia Jam" !
But before that, here's a gentle reminder ... a chance to * win a $500 Ang Pow as we usher into CNY2016 ^-^!

To welcome the Year of the Red Fire Monkey, 10 cooking bloggers have come together to bring you the chance to *win a S$500 ang pow! (Terms and Conditions Apply).

To enter, please complete the Rafflecopter below : 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


This giveaway is brought to you by :

Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

Alvin from Chef and Sommelier

Ann from Anncoo Journal

Amy from Amy's Baking Diary

Charlynn from My Baking Cottage

Karen from Luvswesavory

Sharon from Delishar

Victoria from Victoria Bakes

Weilee from Wei Lee's Passion

*One Prize of SGD500 will be sent to one winner via Paypal (or bank transfer within SG). An email will be sent to the winner to notify him/her of the win. Should the Organiser (Diana) not receive a reply within 48 hours, another winner will be selected.

This giveaway is opened to ALL participants! So, what are you waiting for ?! Take part and maybe you will be the lucky winner ! 猴年行大运, 发大财 ! "Huat ah" !

Abalone Salad with Lime Chia Vinaigrette & CNY2016 Giveaway

Canned abalone is rather expensive here but a lot of people love to buy canned abalone for CNY celebration as it symbolizes abundance of auspicious feasts, wealth, luck etc. etc. (“年年包有余”). Hence, it’s a trend for 'a must have' abalone during CNY celebration for my family... to indulge the luxury dish once a year ... hee .. hee ! There are many ways to enjoy this delicacy … braised abalone with mushrooms & vegetables, add sliced abalone to treasure pot (pen cai) or prosperity toss “Lo Hei Yusheng” etc. etc. Somehow, I like abalone salad ... Abalone and Asian Slaw with Oriental Dressing shared last year.

When I saw the recipe shared by Angie's Recipes - Frisée, Artichoke, Sweet Pointed Pepper Salad with Lime Chia Vinaigrette, I know I must make the lime chia vinaigrette for my abalone salad ! Why ... somehow the pieces of artichoke looked like abalone at a glance ... hee .. hee!
Now, who's with me to feast this quick & easy luxurious abalone salad ?

Recipe source : Angie's Recipes
Slightly modified on the ingredients below
Abalone Salad with Lime Chia Vinaigrette
Dressing :
20 ml Extra virgin olive oil
50 ml Vegetable broth
20 ml Freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon Dijon wholegrain mustard
1/2 teaspoon Chilli flakes (omitted as don't have any on hand)
1 teaspoon Maple syrup
1 tablespoon Chia seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Salad:
Red & Green Coral Lettuce
1 canned Abalone (drained and sliced thinly)
Capsicum - sliced
Pomelo - any amount to your preference

Method:
Put all the dressing ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Chill for at least an hour to thicken slightly.

Arrange the lettuce, abalone, capsicum and pomelo in a big bowl.

Pour the chilled lime chia vinaigrette dressing and gently toss until just combined.

Ready to eat ! Enjoy !

Ta da ! A big bowl of abalone salad ... taste tangy refreshingly good ! Enjoy !

Let's toast to abundance of wealth and good health in the Year of the Red Fire Monkey!

Linking this post to Cook & Celebrate Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

~~~~~《《☆☆》》~~~~~

To welcome the Year of the Red Fire Monkey, 10 cooking bloggers have come together to bring you the chance to *win a $500 ang pow! (Terms and Conditions Apply).

So join us in ushering the new year and maybe you will be the lucky winner this year!

To enter, please complete the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is brought to you by:

Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

Alvin from Chef and Sommelier

Ann from Anncoo Journal

Amy from Amy's Baking Diary

Charlynn from My Baking Cottage

Karen from Luvswesavory

Sharon from Delishar

Victoria from Victoria Bakes

Weilee from Wei Lee's Passion

*One Prize of SGD500 will be sent to one winner via Paypal (or bank transfer within SG). An email will be sent to the winner to notify him/her of the win. Should the Organiser (Diana) not receive a reply within 48 hours, another winner will be selected. This contest is also opened to overseas participants. 

祝大家:
猴年大吉  万事如意
心想事成  年年有余

Wish you luck, happiness, prosperity and abundance of blessings !

Strawberry Mille Crêpe Cake

Still counting my blessings ... glad that I'm one year older and still surviving ... ^-^!
Made this Strawberry Mille Crêpe Cake for my birthday and a small 'tribute' for my blog turns 2-year old in January.

Recipe modified slightly from Milo Mille Crêpe cake

Strawberry Mille Crêpe Cake

Ingredients for Crepes:
(A)
250g cake flour - sift and set aside
50g caster sugar

(B)
2 eggs
30g melted unsalted butter
250ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipped cream filling:
350ml heavy whipping cream
25g caster sugar (2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Strawberry (1 punnet 250g)
Some cooking oil for greasing the pan.

Method :
1) Combine and mix ingredients (A) in a clean bowl.

2) In another bowl, make ingredients  (B) : whisk eggs with a manual whisk and mix in the melted butter. Next, pour the milk in and continue to whisk till combined.

3) Add in (B) to (A) mixture and whisk till a smooth batter.

4) Heat the non-stick griddle or pan with low flame. I'm using a 20cm non-stick pan. Dap a little cooking oil with kitchen towel and lightly grease onto the non-stick griddle or pan.

5) Pour crêpe batter using a small soup ladle or big ice-cream scoop, swirl to cover the surface of the pan. Cook about 1 minute. Using a chopstick to tip the side, with your fingers, gently and carefully flip the crêpe over, continue to cook for about 30 seconds.
Remove the cooked crêpe. Repeat this process till finished the batter.

For the strawberries:
Reserve about 10 whole strawberries, cut each halves for decoration.
For the filling, hulled and slice each strawberry thinly into 4 slices vertically.
Pat dry with kitchen towel and aside in the refrigerator.

To make the whipped cream:
Freeze the cleaned mixing bowl for about 10 minutes.  Take it out from the freezer, immediately put all together the cold whipped cream, caster sugar and vanilla extract in the cold mixing bowl. Use the electronic mixer to whisk till stiff peaks form (about 4 - 5 minutes).

To assemble the crêpe cake:
Place one crêpe on a large plate or cake board.

With a small spatula, spread a thin layer of the whipped cream on the crêpe. Place about 6 - 7 slices of *strawberries. Spread another thin layer of whipped cream. Next, top with another crêpe and repeat the same process till finished the filling. For the final top layer, spread some whipped cream and decorate with some strawberries as you like.

Chill the crêpe cake for a few hours before cutting/consuming.

Dust the decorated strawberries with some icing sugar or snow powder  when serving. (optional).

*Note: 
I didn't fill every layer with strawberries. Filled the initial 4 layers and alternate the last 2 layers. Feel free to fill each layer with sliced strawberries but you'll need to add more quantity.

I ran out of all-purpose plain flour, replaced with cake flour.

Happy Birthday to me ^-^!

Happy 2nd anniversary to Luvswesavory :D

♡♡~~♡~~♡♡

Every blessing You pour out 

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

~~♡♡♡~~