mac n cheese - i miss u

xmas is just a few days away… so far no invitations for xmas dinners or lunches … hmm.. since i'll be back in mcca, i guess i'll just crashed myself @ tina’s place :P

thinking of xmas lunches, i missed tassa’s mom’s homey macaroni bake. aaa. this spurned me to dig my recipes for a simple baked mac n cheese. yea! the ingredients and steps are pretty simple.

8 oz elbow macaroni

1½ to 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3 tbs butter

a pinch salt or to taste

a pinch of cayenne pepper

½ cup milk

1 egg

½ to 1 cup buttered fresh bread crumbs*

cook macaroni as per package instructed. drain.

cover bottom of 2-quart baking dish with a layer or macaroni, a layer of cheese, bits of butter, salt and pepper.

continue layering until all ingredients used, ending with a cheese layer.

whisk milk and egg together, pour over the top, cover with buttered bread crumbs.

bake in 350F oven for 25-25, until browned and cooked through.

serves 4-6.

*process 2 slices of bread in the food processor, toss with 2 to 3 tsp of butter

hmm. ok i would need to get the macaroni and milk. butter – checked. cheddar cheese, left ½ block… not sure enough. get from tesco as found the kraft cheddar block the cheaper there rm9.90 only. will substitute the cayenne pepper with chilli flakes + grounded pepper. i will add some shredded chicken meat for heartier meal J

only thing is the bread crumbs… sounds like messy. have use food processor = have to clean it later. somemore the current food processor, not sure can process the bread to crumbs.. i'll just skip the bread crumbs then haha...

ok! i will make this for sunday's lunch.

going thru the recipes makes me think of what to bake for cny. and i'm itching to bake some cookies. the thing is my blender has died on me.. hmm. but lucky me! i came across a cookies which does not need creaming! yay! it's a cornflakes cookie recipe – a fave for cny which i have not made for years. hmm. ok. will see how. if I bake them, i'll post the recipe n photos J

japanese lite cheesecake

few years back i tried to make a no-bake cheesecake following the instruction on the back of the philadelphia cream cheese package. well, i had to run out to tesco to get a new blender as my mom's old molinexx broke down halfway when i was creaming the cheese. not sure whether it was that or because i was using agar2 powder... the cake didnt set even though it was chilled in the fridge overnite.... this bad experience had "frightened" me off from attempting another cheesecake... until one fine day i made another no-bake cheesecake - latte cheesecake. it was a hit among my friends at work and sonia (although she did remark it was a little lite compared to the ny cheesecake ... of course lo... that's not fresh cheesecake mar...).
however, i felt a little was-was with the gelatin.... my family dont take beef.... so i asked the shop "bake with yen" what was the source of the gelatin... but the lady was a little offensive... answered me curtly "it's halal! it's halal!" ... well i'm not particular on halal as i'm not muslim mar, rite? so i asked again.... "gelatin derived from what? or what type of gelatin?" ... she raised her voice "halal la!"... so i gave up. no point asking again (i plan to ask again the next time i go when there's less customer....). so i packed the left over gelatin powder and kept it in a corner....until i really find out what's made of or other alternative.
with the chilled cheesecake out for the moment, my urge to bake another cheesecake has not subsided. so a searching i went and found many many cheesecake recipes. some so intimidating that i dont even dare to think of baking, some so easy i felt it's too good to be true. then i saw one - japanese lite cheesecake (aka cotton cheesecake) and it has a lot of feedbacks - happy and successful ones. hmm... so i braved myself ... saved the recipe and made a preparation in my little brain to try in for cny.
it actually has 2 parts... it sounds complicated but it's actually quite fun and easy... and the best is it is a foolproof. why i'm so sure? cos if i can baked it successfully... anyone also can!
i was halfway thru the baking process when my cousins arrived to pai nian. fortunately, i havent started the beating of the egg white ... so i left it for a while (quite a while....) and i had to continue before they left as i'm afraid the melted cheese would curdle (it didnt...). a-girl, my cousin laughed at me remarking that we can buy the same which doesnt cost much. well.. she is not really into baking and i guess she doesnt really understand the joy of baking and exhilarating feeling when someone compliment the cake.. :) ..
due to laziness, i decided not to use the mixer ... u know la... have to take out from box, clean ... use then clean n dry again... so marfun.... so i beat the egg white manually to soft-peak. thank god, man!! it's soft-peak only and not stiff... my hand nearly tercabut lo. but i really do enjoy the process especially seeing it turning from frothy to soft-peak... maklum la... first time making mar... ehehheh.
then came to the baking.... tension lo.. cos the oven in mcca ar... is the gas oven. some more the marks/temperature button terpadam. so dunno what temperature... just light it up and wait till very hot and put it in. luckily, there's a lite bulb that is bright and clear so i can monitor the progress. the baking takes only around 30 mins compared to 1.5 hrs as recommended. and YEEHA! it turned out great! this recipe is a keeper....

i'm now planning to make some other flavors based on this recipe e.g. matcha, cappuccino, etc...

140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar or white vinegar
50g/2 oz. butter
250g/9 oz. cream cheese
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh milk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
60g/2 oz. cake flour /superfine flour
20g/1 oz. cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 tsp. salt
Instructions:
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.
2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
3. Add the egg white mixture to the cream mixture and mix well.
4.Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan (Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper).
5. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).

bubble yummy strawberry cheese brownies

my fingers are swollen and my head is feeling like it is being constantly being hit by 10 tonnes of bricks... gosh, could this be arthritis? ooOOoo
to take my pain off my mind i decided to bake another brownies. i've visited mandy's blog with the most beautiful brownies and was thinking of simulating her invention since last week. i however, i decided to use the chewy brownie recipe and to do some changes to the topping so i can freeze some for mom and mom doesn't like anything with green tea. so i used artificial strawberry paste ... cos strawberries i saw in giant were like mushy and they were expensive. besides it's my first time baking so... tot use cheaper substitute first...

the verdict : it turn out more comical than classy like mandy's ... the yellow and pink cheese topping were very contrasting. instead of getting strawberry red ... i get those bubble gummy pink - and it tastes like bubble gummy too. reminded me of candy floss... -yummy.

chewy chocolate brownies

thank god i am recovering from the much despised flu. my appetite wasnt so great which was good actually but this caused bloated tummy as i ate irregularly. i miss my mom and her cooking!! haiz.... she was planning to extent her stay ...ok, so i dont really have mood to eat but the sudden thought of chocolates perked me up and my digestive juices started flowing... then i remembered having a great slice of american chocolate brownies in secret recipe on my birthday... that what i called CHEWY!! i hardly find really chewy brownies here. i guess malaysians dont really like the chewy texture... moist yes but chewy maybe not. it's an aquired taste, i think. why? cos most of my friends dont really fancy chewing their cakes.... mom certainly doesnt but maybe it's her dentures :P so my quest to look for a chewy brownies recipe begun... and yipeedidee! found one which is simple and has some rave reviews... bake it with the tweakings as suggested and it turn out yummy! however, i think i will cut down the baking time to maybe 25 mins so it would be goo-eyer. maybe i will drizzle some sheridan (baileys would be better but i dont have it here...) on top..

* i tweaked those ingredients in []
2 BIG eggs [ 3 medium eggs ]
1/2 cups butter, melted[ 1/4 cups vegetable oil ]
2 cups sugar [1 1/4 cup]
1 cup flour1 cup cocoa powder (i used the cheapest local cocoa from "bake with yen". i reckon if you use those higher quality cocoa powder, your cake will taste better)
2 tsps vanilla essense
1/4 tsp salt [i omitted the salt]
[a small fist of choco chips]

1. melt the butter and mix the vege oil and sugar while the butter is warm. put aside to cool.
2. shift the flour and cocoa powder together into a bowl.
3. pre-heat the oven to 160C or 325F
4. beat the eggs lightly and fold it into the wet mixture.
5. fold in the wet mix to the dry mixture.
6. mix then together until combined but do not over mix else it will be cakey.
7. i swirl in the chips before pouring the batter into the pan. original recipe uses 8x8 square pan. i used a 8" round pan.
8. bake for 30 mins in 160C. but i think should reduce to around 25mins.
9. to check for doneness - which really depends on how u like your brownies, insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean IT'S TOO DONE!!! for me i think it should have crumbs sticking to the toothpick but not too wet.