Spring Rolls & Lettuce Wraps

Here are my attempts at making popiah (spring roll) skin, though I doubt I will be doing this again unless my cravings take over, and until I get a cast iron skillet, which I suspect may be the key to making a good popiah skin (It's sort of like making crepe, except that instead of using a batter, you make a dough from plain flour, water and oil). I used a non-stick pan and it didn't work too well for me as I had some difficulty trying to get the dough to stick to the pan, resulting in quite a mess. I think I managed to produce about 50 pieces all in all, which were not too bad, though some were rather erratically shaped, but I prefer to call them "rustic". Oh well, it did look easy when I watched how it was made on youtube :)

Spring rolls filled with lettuce, vinegared chilli, kecap manis, jicama/turnip, carrots, pork mince, chinese sausage (lapcheong), ground peanuts, crispy fried shallots

My favourite - lettuce wraps with jicama/turnip and pork mixture

I used the spring roll skins and filled them with lettuce, bulgogi beef and bean sprouts

"Banana-Split" Strudel

Warm banana, chocolate and cream cheese strudel in baklava-style walnut layered filo pastry



This is too addictive. Thank goodness it's a pretty rich dessert, so even if I wanted to eat more, my stomach is telling me to stop. I came across the recipe for this on the Food & Wine website after searching for ways to use up the bananas that I had bought a few days ago. Well, forget about banana breads and banana muffins. This recipe by Gale Gand is an interesting take on the strudel which is the perfect combination of bananas, chocolate and cream cheese. I also like the way she layered the filo pastry with walnuts and sugar, like a crunchy baklava, but without the syrup. The top crust is buttery and sugary-crisp, and I dressed it up a little with black sesame seeds. It's delicious served both warm or cold (I prefer having mine chilled....it's like eating chocolate banana cheesecake......yum!).

Here is the recipe, by Gale Gand:

"Banana-Split" Strudel

 

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups finely chopped walnuts (4 1/2 ounces)
1/2 pound cream cheese, softened (I used a 250g block)
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup granulated (caster) sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ounces (or 60g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 sheets filo/phyllo dough
1 stick (4 ounces / 110g) unsalted butter, melted
4 medium bananas, peeled
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)
1 pint vanilla ice cream

 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Spread the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 6 minutes, or until browned. Transfer the walnuts to a plate to cool.
2. In a bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the egg yolk. Add 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, the vanilla and cinnamon and beat until blended. Stir the chocolate into the cream cheese mixture and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.
3. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo on the parchment paper. Brush the phyllo with melted butter and sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the walnuts and 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar. Cover with another phyllo sheet, butter it and sprinkle with walnuts and granulated sugar as before; repeat 2 more times to make 4 layers.
4. Turn the baking sheet so that a long side is facing you. Spoon half the cream cheese mixture in a long strip along the length of the phyllo, leaving a 2-inch border of phyllo below and on each side. Lay 2 bananas end to end on the cream cheese. Set the 2 remaining bananas next to them, so you have a double row. Trim the bananas if needed. Spoon the remaining cream cheese mixture in a strip on the bananas.
5. Starting with the long edge closest to you and using the parchment paper as a guide, lift the phyllo up and over the bananas and roll into a neat, compact log; fold in the sides to enclose the filling. Discard the parchment paper. Slide the strudel to the center of the baking sheet, making sure the seam is down. Brush the strudel with melted butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
6. Bake the strudel for 40 minutes, or until crisp and brown. Let it stand for about 25 minutes, then transfer to a cutting board. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Using a serrated knife, thickly slice the strudel crosswise and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.



Crisp, buttery and sugary layers of pastry encase a creamy chocolate, cheese and banana filling



Chicken Curry Puffs

 

One of the "standard" items that I usually serve whenever we have guests over at our house, are curry puffs. They are easy to make and can be prepared in advance, which is good because that means I just have to reheat them in the oven the next day. I should be thankful that frozen puff pastry is widely available these days. I can't imagine if I had to make my own puff pastry. I remember seeing my mum making puff pastry from scratch when I was little. Lots of folding and rolling. But the curry puffs she made were so terribly yummy as the pastry was delicate with many thin and crisp layers. I think she stopped making them for a while because they were a bit too unhealthy. Well, frozen pastry isn't too bad, and I don't forsee myself slaving over the kitchen counter making my own.

I did not type out the recipe for this because it's pretty basic. The filling is made from diced chicken and potatoes, cooked with star anise, cinnamon and cloves, curry powder and curry leaves, seasoned with fish sauce, soy sauce, salt and sugar. Oh, and of course, onions, garlic and ground chilli. Some people like to add peas and carrots, but I prefer to keep mine simple. The only tricky part is trying fill the pastry with as much of the filling as possible, and yet be able to seal the edges properly and not having them burst open during baking. As you can see in the picture below, one of them started to open up a little, but still not too bad. We usually eat up all the ugly looking ones anyway and save the better looking ones for the guests :)

 

Mushroom, Tomato and Bocconcini

Sliced white batard, grilled with tomatoes, mushrooms and bocconcini, with parsley and sweet basil

I'm going through a phase where I've been just eating ciabatta with bocconcini, tomatoes and mushrooms for lunch everyday. It's delicious and doesn't take much time to prepare. I like using ciabatta bread, which I sliced thinly so that it crisps up in the oven. So, I placed a little butter on the bread and drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), and popped them in the oven under a hot grill at 200°C for about a minute or so. Then I drizzled a little balsamic vinegar, placed some thinly sliced bocconcini, followed by tomatoes and mushrooms (which I had already seasoned with salt and pepper and tossed in EVOO together with parsley and basil) on the bread and topped it with some more bocconcini. Grill in oven for about 5 minutes until the cheese has melted. Remove and drizzle with some EVOO and serve! Crunchy and full of flavour, especially the zingy balsamic vinegar! Yum!

Grilled ciabatta with a buttery bocconcini base

Stir-fried Asparagus with Sambal Belacan

We had some friends over for lunch last weekend, and as usual (by popular demand), G prepared chicken rice and I prepared a side dish of Sambal Asparagus. It was my first time making it after many years, and I was afraid that I might have forgotten what it should taste like. Well, fortunately it turned out pretty well, although next time I would probably add more chilli to it :)

Sambal Asparagus

2 bunches asparagus (approx 400g), woody ends trimmed
2 tbsp dried shrimp, washed and left for 15 minutes to soften
6 shallots
3 cloves garlic
2-3 tbsp chilli paste (made from dried chillies)
2 tsp belacan (fermented shrimp paste)
1/4 cup oil

Seasoning:
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste

Method

Cut the asparagus into 5cm lengths. Blend/pound the dried shrimp, shallots and garlic until almost fine. Heat oil in wok and fry the blended ingredients, belacan and chilli paste until fragrant for about 3-4 minutes or until caramelized into a deep red colour. Mix in seasoning. Then add asparagus and stir-fry on high heat for about 3 minutes. Check for seasoning. Dish out and serve with white rice.