Cherry Cheese "Christmas Wreath" Pound Cake

This cake was inspired by the cover of this month's Coles magazine, which actually uses an instant butter cake mix. I decided to make the cake even more festive by making a cream cheese pound cake bursting with fresh cherries, drizzled over some orange glaze icing and decorated it with more cherries! A generous dusting of icing sugar always creates a pretty snowflake effect, and to complete the Christmas wreath look, I added a sprig of mint leaves which I picked from the garden.

Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice ("Lu Rou Fan")

I was inspired to cook this after trying something similar at Lai Lai Casual Dining, a Taiwanese restaurant in Singapore. It's Taiwanese style braised pork belly with a thick, sweet and salty gravy that is full of  umami flavours. If you're far away from family and feeling homesick, this comforting bowl of braised pork over steamed white rice is just what you need! I usually make a big pot of this and freeze the leftovers for days when I have no time to cook.

Pad Thai with Prawn and Pork

It's hard to find a good pad thai in Sydney with the exception of Thai La Ong where I had the most delicious pad thai with sliced pork. I've only been there once quite a few years ago, but I vividly remember the pad thai which was moist, saucy, and bursting with flavours of tamarind and the charry smokiness from the wok. Nothing like those pale-looking, bland and boring pad thais some other restaurants serve. That was my benchmark for pad thai, and today, I've got the perfect recipe that I hope you will enjoy. The only thing was that I couldn't find thin pad thai rice sticks at the supermarket. So I had to make do with the broader version which was about 1 cm wide. When the craving hits, you just have to make do with what's available! Continue reading to find the recipe.

Grilled Beef with Teriyaki Sauce

Grilled Beef with Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients

2 x 220g Scotch fillet beef steaks
Ground black pepper
Vegetable oil

Teriyaki sauce:
1/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 Japanese cooking sake
2 tbsp brown sugar (or to taste)

Method

Prepare the sauce first. Combine everything in a saucpan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce is reduced to half. Transfer to a heatproof bowl to cool.

Place steaks in a ziplock bag (or just use a dish) and add 2 tbsp of the sauce that has cooled down. Add some ground black pepper if desired. Mix well and leave to marinade for about 1 hour.

Heat a grillpan or frying pan on high, lightly greased with some oil. Drain the excess marinade from the steaks and fry the steaks for about 3 minutes each side. Pour in 1-2 tbsp of teriyaki sauce and let it coat the steaks. When the steaks are cooked (medium rare), transfer to a plate and let it rest for 5 minutes, covered with aluminium foil. Reserve any remaining sauce in the pan for later.

Slice the beef thinly on the diagonal, and arrange on a serving plate. Drizzle with extra teriyaki sauce and enjoy with a bowl of steamed white rice.

Creamy Cheddar and Ricotta Cheesecake

The addition of milk and ricotta in this recipe makes for a light, fluffy and creamy cheesecake.