Nespresso Citiz

This is a very back dated post that I have left in the 'draft' section.

a few months ago we have accumulated enough credit card points to get a free Nespresso Citiz! I am so happy there is a reward for spending :)

This small machine changed my life the way i make coffee (i have not made myself a cup of instant coffee since….)

everyday i will have a cup of nespresso coffee, it costs around 60-70 cents for a pod. some say ground coffee is cheaper, yes definitely, but this is cheaper than buying coffee from the cafe almost everyday which was what I used to do. DIY homemade coffee cannot be compared to barista made coffee.. but this really did change my life.

every morning i see other office workers buy their $3-5 cup of coffee, my colleagues will ask me if I want a cup, i will politely decline because i've already had my wonderful coffee!

and i only made it in 1 minute.

If you are unsure how it works or how it tastes, go to myer in perth city. That is the only nespresso store in Perth which sells the coffee pods, and you get to taste the coffee for free. The staff there are very friendly as well! 

After one try and i was sold. My citiz came with the milk aerochinno (automatic frother) that froth the milk in a minute or so, so convenient!

some of our creations

four layered latte

just my usual skinny latte

the good thing is the machine is inexpensive, and the pods are very reasonably priced as well, cheaper than going out to buy coffee. but unless you have the patience to clean up and make coffee with ground coffee beans, this is a good way to go for busy people but wants a good cup of coffee

Hello Kitty

made some sushi over the weekend, and i decided to take out my hello kitty rice mold to make cute rice balls!

interesting addition to my dinner!

Anzac day at Rottnest Island

This is not a food entry but just wanted to share some photos i took at rottnest yesterday.

With the 5 day easter break, we decided to go to rottnest for a day of cycling and chilling by the beach

im always mesmerised by the beautiful turquoise water

cycling around the island is not easy feat, we were so tired today. luckily they had reasonably priced food like the rottnest bakery, subway and red rooster on the island. had a slushie at red rooster and went to iga to buy lots of snacks and drinks

can u spot the quokka?

what a nice way to end the easter break, hope u had an awesome holiday too!!

Nepalese Momos

one of our best couple friends are nepalese. A country with such a rich culture and with friendly loving and warm people. 

The couple invited us to their house for Momos (since they know we loved them!).

Momos are Nepalese Dumplings with meat and soup inside of them. These taste very very similar to our chinese Xiao Long Bao except that this has a bit of a curry taste, since curry powder is added to the mince.

So we sat around and chat and laughed while we make these adorable momos. Mine really looked very amateurs, the professional looking ones are the ones made by my friend

After this we steamed them and ate them with a rich spicy sauce! Sorry no photos after this cos it went straight to my tummy

How to Make Creme Brulee

Ingredients: 

600 ml cream

1 vanilla bean (split in half and scrap the seed)

1/3 cup caster sugar

6 egg yolk

demerara sugar to cover the top 

This recipe is really easy! I just followed the steps on youtube, i always thought creme brulee was a very complicated dish.

Check out this short video and you will be able to make your own creme brulee in no time :

made a mess trying to separate the yolks

watching youtube while we prepare

got the creme brulee set (includes blow torch) for $35 from eatdrinkcook fremantle

the result was so wonderful. although it is very very creamy which we suspect that thickened cream should be used instead of normal cream (junior master chef recipe uses thickened cream) but i still loved this!
the hard sugar coating was just magnificent. looks appealing and tastes even better!
I will be making this again, definitely a good dessert to show off during dinner parties

will be going to sydney tomorrow and i will be eating lots too! so stay tuned for more posts on sydney 

Australian Day Barbeque

Long over due post
Had an awesome barbecue by the pool with friends who each brought a dish



we had lamb, steak, sausages and lots of chicken wing

i decided to make something 'asian' and more exotic.
Chicken Satay

with the convenience of google, i can get the recipe with just a click of the mouse!

Recipe: Chicken Satay

Ingredients:

4 chicken legs and thighs or 4 chicken breasts (deboned)

Spice Paste:

1 teaspoon of coriander powder

2 stalks lemon grass

6 shallots (peeled)

2 cloves garlic (peeled)

4 tablespoons of cooking oil

1 teaspoon of chili powder

2 teaspoons of turmeric powder (kunyit)

4 teaspoons of Kecap Manis (ABC brand from Indonesia recommended)

1 spoon of Oyster Sauce (Lee Kam Kee brand recommended)

Bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 2 hours to avoid burning)

1 cucumber (skin peeled and cut into small pieces)

Method:

Cut the chicken meat into small cubes. Grind the Spice Paste in a food processor. Add in a little water if needed. Marinate the chicken pieces with the spice paste for 10-12 hours. Thread the meat on to bamboo skewers and grill for 2-3 minutes each side. Serve hot with fresh cucumber pieces.

Full recipe is here

i love barbecue leftovers
i just had to heat up the lamb, make turmeric rice and some salad
and that makes a filling yet wonderful dinner :)

On Sunday I had Dimsum and Wine

Had our dim sum fix at our favourite place, Dragon Palace Seafood.

Our usual order:

Siew Mai - Pork and Prawn Dumplings

Har Gow - Prawn Dumplings

Beancurd Roll - my absolute favourite!

Char Siew Pastry - bbq pork pastry

Spare Ribs

Sticky (glutinous) Rice

Porridge

Wrote about this restaurant here

it was so good and quite reasonable, costs only $25 per person.

Then we went home, had sweet sandalford dessert wine and relax by the pool :)

Hope you had a good weekend too!

French Toast Brekky

i promise more posts with my new iphone! totally loving it!

The bf requested french toast for breakfast today, so i made it for him. 

Really simple, i used 2 eggs (beaten + a pinch of salt) and 5 slices of bread (sliced in half so it is easier to cover it is egg)

add honey/maple syrup on top and it makes a great fulfilling breakfast

Cute Sandwiches

Found this picture that i thought i might share with other hello kitty lovers. Bought the sandwich mould in Singapore last year and made some nutella sandwiches, so delicious and too pretty to eat!

I AM BACK!

Hi, i just returned from a longggg trip to china and usa. No chance to blog there but i have a lot of food photos to share with all of you. Will start blogging soon! Hope u had a good and safe xmas/new year's.

Heartshaped Strawberry Jelly Cheesecake

one of my favourite dessert is a good rich creamy cheesecake.

i made this probably a year ago, so i forgot the recipe, sorry!!! I think it is one of the recipe behind the phil cream cheese package.

If not any normal cheesecake recipe will do

these are the ingredients i used

use the heartshape cookie cutter to cut the sliced strawberries and place them on top of the cheesecake

this caused a mess! need to pour is slowly (so you dont distort the cheesecake) and ensure that the jelly spreads evenly

left over lovey strawberries + jelly

yummy!

loved how it turned out although i could be neater...need to use a sharp knife and clean it each time you cut

there u go, u have strawberry, jelly, creamy cheese and biscuit all in one bite.

have a good weekend guys!

Strawberry Picking at Wanneroo

A few weeks ago my colleagues and I decided to go pick some strawberries!

I strongly suggest you call and enquire about the season and make a reservation. The lady actually told us the strawberry field was closed as there were no strawberries left, but after driving for 1 hour to this place, i begged her to let us pick some! and she was kind enough to allow us to do so...

Could still spot some strawberries even though she said the good ones were gone

We went to the strawberry tea room for lunch, there was a huge playground which was perfect for families with kids!

thick and cold strawberry milkshake...yummmy

the waffle did not come with strawberries, these were picked by us!

Strawberry Farm and Strawberry Tea Room

2024 Wanneroo Road

Neerabup WA 6031

Phone (08) 9407 5166

Then we went to Hillarys Boat Harbour for some fish and chips

hillarys was beautiful, havent been there for a long time, and i was surprised at the new restaurants and development of the place. loved it!

The queue at the fish and chips store was insane, but it moved quite quickly. the fish and chips were hot and fresh, perfectly battered. must eat this when u are at hillarys!

http://www.topcatchfishandchips.com.au/home.aspx

Shop 206, 58 Southside Drive Hillarys

tel: (08)9246 1878

Simple Puff Pastry Sausage Roll

Made these yummy sausage rolls with the help of my cousin

All you need is 500g of mince meat (pork/chicken or beef)

3 sheets of puff pastry

For the meat marinate: put in 2 tbspn of ketchup

1/2 tbspn of salt

2 tbspn of chopped onions

2tbspn of chopped carrots

1 teaspoon of worchester sauce

1 teaspoon of olive oil

marinate for about 30 minutes and u can start rolling them!

With the puff pastry, cut them into 4 long and even strips, and place the meat in the middle of one strip, and cover on top another strip and seal the sides with water! Easy peasy!

Put in a preheated oven of 160 degrees celsius and baked for about 20 minutes.

Then brush the sausage rolls with egg wash about 5 minutes before it is done.

Delicious snack and party food for everyone!