Saturday, March 27, 2010

Oreo Truffles



My friend Inga inspired me to make these. She was telling me about an easy recipe to make truffles. I never did realise that truffles are the easiest candies to make. It only requires 3 ingredients..... the secret to making truffles is to use the best quality chocolate.

(I finally bought a new camera... the new Canon Powershot SD 1400. I am surprise by the quality of the pictures taken !)
Ingredients:
One pack 8 oz Philadelphia cream cream
36 Oreo cookies
Two pack 8 oz baking chocolate

Toppings (optional)
Crushed nuts
Coconuts
Dutch cocoa powder

Directions:
1. Crushed the Oreo cookies till fine. An easy way is to use blender or food processor. I had neither. So I crushed the cookies and sift them till they are fine
2. Combined the crushed Oreo and cream cheese till well mixed
3. Chilled for about 30 minutes
4. Rolled the mixture into small "meatballs"
5. Chilled overnight
6. Melt the baking chocolate and dipped the balls into the chocolates
7. Sprinkle with toppings (optional)
8. Chilled for at least 1 hour and serve


~Bel~

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Cajun Crab Dip



The cooking club is having a Cajun Theme party tonight. It took me while to decide what to bring. My kitchen is not equipped for the heavy Cajun cooking.
I finally decided on a cajun crab dip.
This is my first attempt in making dip. Asians are not a great fan of dip..especially cold dip. It was difficult to choose a recipe especially with something which I am not familiar with. I finally settled on this cold crab dip recipe..... with some modification. The recipe calls for Cayenne pepper which add kick to the dish.


Ingredients:
8 ouces Philadelphia cream cheese, soften ( I used reduced fat)
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 six ounce cans crab meat, drained.
2 cups finely chopped green onion
1 cup mayonnaise
1.5 teaspoon of worcesteshire sauce (original recipe called for 1 teaspoon)
1.5 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (original recipe called for 1 teaspoon)
salt to taste (original recipe called for a teaspoon)



Direction:
1. Combine cream cheese and lemon juice together
2. Combined all ingredients together to the cream cheese mix
3. Chill and serve with cracker
~bel~

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Butter Cake


I had been thinking of butter cake for last two weeks. I was in a baking mood today and decided decided to bake one using the recipe in Bakingmum. It is a very simple and easy recipe

The pictures taken are really bad as I am without camera. These were taken using my blackberry.


Ingredients :

300g self raising flour (sifted)
200g sugar
250g butter (unsalted)
6 large eggs
1/2 cup of evaporated milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract



Direction

1. Cream butter and sugar till white and fluffy

2. Add eggs. One at a time and mix well

3. Add vanilla extract and evaporated milk

4. Fold in flour

5. Pour into greased and lined cake tray 9X9 ( I used two loaf tins)

6. Baked at 160C (330F) for about one hour


~bel~

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Spicy Black Bean and Black Eye Pea Salad



I am going to a friend's place today and decided to make a bean salad. I decided to adapt a Southwestern Bean Salad with Black Bean, Black Eye peas, Pepper and Cilantro recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen.... with a small twist :)
I am pleasantly surpised by the results. I really like the tangy and spicy taste...... really refreshing :)

Ingredients:
1 can of black bean
1 can of black eye pea
1/2 cup of green peppers (diced)
1/2 cup of red pepper (diced)
1/2 cup of golden pepper (diced)
3/4 cup of red onion (diced)
1.3 cup of chopped cilantro

Dressings:
4 tablespoon of olive oil
3 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of Japanese chilli flakes (you can purchase this from any Japanese grocery shop_
6-10 drops of tabascco ( more if you like the salad to be more spicy)
Salt and pepper

Direction:
i) Rinse the beans till no foam. Drain for at least 5 minutes. Pat dry
ii) Whisked the dressings together until well combined
iii) Add 1/2 of dressing to the beans. Set aside for at least 15 minutes to marinate
iv) Add the peppers, onions and cilantro to the beans. Add salt and pepper to taste
v) Add more dressing if desired.
vi) Chilled for one hour and ready to serve

~bel~