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Cheesecake Brownie

Mary — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:49:28 +0000

Cheesecake Brownie

My children love cheesecake and they love brownie too. So, the easiest sometimes is to combine them both and they love it even more. Sometimes I sandwich the cheese in between and it looks beautiful like in Best Layered Chocolate Cheesecake. When you do this, you can create patterns out of it which is quite fun. This is a great dessert for any party.

Brownie recipe is simple. There’s no beating in a mixer, just melt and mix which I like best. There’s very little washing to do, too.

Ingredients A (brownie base)
250g butter (melted)
1/3 C cocoa
1 & 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs (beaten)
1 & 1/3 C flour (sieved)

Melt the butter in a pot under very low fire. Add the rest of the other ingredients to it and mix well. Pour into a tin lined with baking paper

Ingredients B (cheesecake topping)
400g cream cheese
6T sugar
1T lemon juice
4 eggs

Cheese layer mixture

Beat the cheese, sugar, lemon juice and eggs until well mixed. Pour this mixture onto the chocolate base. Swirl through with a butter knife to create some patterns of your choice.

Baked cheesecake brownie

Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes. Test for doneness with a skewer. It’s cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out dry. Cool in the tin before cutting. Enjoy it with a cup of your favourite hot drink. I love this cheesecake brownie chilled.

Do you like cheesecake? What type of cheesecake do you like….no bake, baked or steam baked? What is your best cheesecake? Please share, add and comment in the comment box below.

If you subscribe through RSS or email, please go to the original page to access the comment box at http://www.keeplearningkeepsmiling.com

Other cake recipes that you may be interested:
My Best Chewy Brownies For Friends
Best Espresso Coffee Cake
Best Espresso Coffee Swiss Roll
Zebra Chocolate Butter Cake
Fast, Easy, Healthy Carrot Cake
Best Banana Cake
Sweet Potato Cake
Butternut Squash Coconut Cake
Coconut Banana Cake

Quote of the day……

“The important thing is to dare to dream big, then take action to make it come true.”

Joe Girard

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Spicy Curry Green Beans

Mary — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:58:03 +0000

Spicy curry green beans

I love to cook spicy food though I don’t eat very spicy myself. My family eats spicier than me. Most of my friends eat very spicy too. My favourite spicy food is curry. It makes my world go round. One of the dishes that I cooked for my friends last week when I invited them over for a simple Chinese New Year lunch was Spicy Curry Green Beans. It was dry fried. Everyone liked it very much.

This recipe is very simple and cooking it is also very simple and easy, but the taste was really awesome. My children think it was my best stir fry so far. I think I disagree. I think it’s because they have eaten other delicious dishes too often!

Ingredients A
300g green beans (washed and cut)
a small piece of cooked meat (sliced)
corn four
salt
pepper powder
2 chilies (chopped)

Chopped chilies

Ingredients B (seasonings)
1t curry powder
1t tumeric powder
1t chicken stock granules

Spices and seasoning

Sprinkle some salt, pepper and corn flour on the meat and mix well. Heat up some fried ginger oil (you need more oil for this dish) in a frying pan. Add the sliced meat and fry for a while. I like it a little burnt which tastes awesome. Add the chili and green beans and keep stirring for a while. Do not add water. Add the seasoning in Ingredients B and mix well.

Dry frying the meat and green beans

Dish up and serve hot with rice. This is a very delicious dish with a little burnt or smoky flavour and the green beans are still crunchy. My children liked it so much that they asked for it again the next day.

How do you like your green beans cooked? Please share, add and comment in the comment box below.

If you subscribe through RSS or email, please go to the original page to access the comment box at http://www.keeplearningkeepsmiling.com

Other vegetable stir fry recipes that you may be interested in:
Healthy Vegetarian Fried Eggplant
Fried Zucchini With Eggs
Okra Fried With Egg
Fried Garlic Green Beans
Fried Baby Leeks With Crisp Garlic Pork
Tenderstem Broccoli With Turkey Mince
Shrimps And Bok Choy Stir Fry
Lamb And Bok Choy Stir Fry
Zucchini And Salted Fish Stir Fry
Leeks And Curried Chicken Stir Fry
Creamy King Prawns And Marrow Stir Fry
Chinese Cabbage With Turkey Mince Stir Fry
Brussels Sprouts With Honey And Mustard Sauce

Quote of the day……

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all.”

Dale Carnegie

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Tamarind (Assam) Tomato Tiger Prawns

Mary — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:33:43 +0000

Tamarind tomato tiger prawns

Prawns, or shrimps, are my top favourite, especially tiger prawns. My family loves prawns, much to my delight, because it’s fun when we eat together. I always cook tiger prawns with the shells still intake because that is where the fun is….peeling the shells and sucking the head. I used to peel the prawns for my children when they were small but they have picked up the skill and enjoy peeling themselves. This type of dish is only to be enjoyed at home as eating this in restaurants, or parties, is just too messy.

Tamarind Tomato Tiger Prawns is another of my favourite dish. In Malaysia, we use a a lot of tamarind, also called assam, for cooking. It gives a very nice sour taste and makes the dish very appetising. Tomatoes add to the sourness and also colour.

This dish comes with a little more preparation but it’s worth it all. The recipe is actually quite simple and easy.

Ingredients A
1 kg tiger prawns (cleaned and the feelers and head trimmed)
2 big onions (peeled and sliced into rings)
150 tamarind paste (assam)
300g water
2 tomatoes (cut into wedges)

Tamarind paste (assam)

Add the tamarind paste to the water. Mix it well and sieve it. Keep the tamarind liquid and throw away the bits.

Ingredients B (to blend or pound)
1 purple onion
3 shallots
1/2 whole garlic
1 red chili (or more)
2T chili sauce
2 tomatoes

Ingredients C (seasoning)
5T sugar
1t salt
1/2t chicken stock granules

fry the pounded ingredients and onions

Blend or pound Ingredients B to a smooth paste. Heat up some oil in a frying pan and fry the blended ingredients until fragrant. Then add the sliced big onions from Ingredients A. Continue to fry for some time until the big onions become slightly translucent.

Add prawns to fried ingredients

Add the tiger prawns and continue to fry over high heat until the prawns turn pink and curled up. Add the seasoning in Ingredients C and mix well. The tomato wedges. Adjust according to taste. Dish up and enjoy. It is very delicious with rice or noodles. Do not overcook the prawns otherwise the meat will become tough.

What is your favourite prawn dish? Do you like big prawns or small ones? Please share, add and comment in the comment box below.

If you subscribe through RSS or email, please go to the original page to access the comment box at http://www.keeplearningkeepsmiling.com

Other prawns (shrimps) recipes that you may be interested in:
Dry Seafood Curry
Tiger Prawns In Butter Sauce
Pumpkin, Prawns And Coconut Soup (Thai)
King Prawns And Vegetables Stir Fry
Shrimps And Bok Choy Stir Fry
Creamy King Prawns And Marrow Stir Fry
Spicy Seafood Kimchi Soup
Fried Rice Noodles With King Prawns And Chicken
King Prawns And Salmon Curry

Quote of the day……

”Obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off our goals.”

Zig Ziglar

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Pumpkin Seeds Crisps (Tuiles)

Mary — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:40:56 +0000

Pumpkin seeds crisps (tuiles)

Anything crunchy or crispy can be very addictive. That’s why crisps, or tuiles, are selling very well. Why not make your own one? It’s healthier and taste better, free from preservatives and additives, too. Homemade food is always the best. Pumpkin Seeds Crisps (Tuiles) is one crisp that I made every now and then for my family. It’s very delicious and addictive. Well, at least it’s quite a comfort to know that it’s a healthy crisp. Sometimes I use sunflower seeds or almond flakes.

At front left with pineapple tarts and rice pudding (nian gao).

I made this last week for a few friends whom I invited over to my place for a simple Chinese New Year lunch. Martha, the lovely lady who made the most impressive strawberry jelly for our Chinese New Year Women’s Hot Pot Party liked it so much that she wanted me to post the recipe as soon as possible as she wants to make them. Of course I would, hopefully in return for some strawberry jelly…haha.

So here is the recipe…..simple and easy.

Ingredients
2 egg whites
100g sugar
1/4t vanilla
50g plain flour
100g pumpkin seeds
2T butter (melted)

Batter with pumpkin seeds

Mix the egg white and the sugar. Add the vanilla, flour and mix well. Finally add the seeds and melted butter and mix. You can adjust the sugar and amount of seeds according to your preference.

Ready to go into the oven

Spoon onto paper-lined baking trays and spread it out thin. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness, or until crisps. Do not overbake. Cool and enjoy.

Do you like crunchy and crispy food? If you are to make this crisp, what type of seeds or nuts would you use? Please share, add and comment in the comment box below.

If you subscribe through RSS or email, please go to the original page to access the comment box at http://www.keeplearningkeepsmiling.com

Other crunchy snack recipes that you may be interested in:
Crunchy Sesame Candy Bars
Crunchy Peanut Candy

You can find similar recipes by Kristy at http://kristygourmet.blogspot.com/2010/02/almond-crispy-crisps.html and Anncoo at http://anncoo.blogspot.com/2009/12/flaked-almond-bisucits.html

Quote of the day……

“I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.”

Frank Lloyd Wright

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Chinese New Year Women’s Hot Pot (Steam Boat) Party

Mary — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:25:49 +0000

Having fun cooking and eating

Chinese enjoys Hot Pot. In Malaysia we call it Steam Boat. This is a very fun and healthy way to eat and particularly most welcoming in this bitterly cold winter to keep everyone happy, nice and warm. The most important is a soup base. It can be spicy like the tom yum soup or a non spicy one. Usually we have both. Then there’s a wide array of raw meat and seafood, vegetables, noodles and cooked meatballs to be cooked in the boiling soup. Little bowls of sauces are served as dips. At the end of all the cooking, the soup tastes the best in the world.

Very refreshing, beautiful, delicious and utterly impressive. Best!

Yesterday was the last day of the Chinese New Year. Finally the celebration came to an end. The other day when someone suggested a Chinese New Year Women’s Hot Pot Party, everyone jumped at the idea. What better way to celebrate the final week of Chinese New Year! This must be a year of great abundance…an overflowing of food throughout this important Year of the Tiger. I had 3 parties last week, all filled with one of the best food we can think of. Now I have to work hard on my exercise program! This is not the time to step on the weighing scale…haha.

6 layered steamed rice pudding (kuih lapis). A popular Malaysian dessert.

For this party, each one of us (about 20) was to bring something for the hot pot or a dessert. I brought a dessert…..the layered rice pudding. I only made 6 layers instead of the usual 9 layers. Click 9 Layered Coffee Rice Pudding for the recipe. You can substitute the coffee with other flavour or colouring.

Beautiful and comical ladies. Their faces tell it all!

The year of the Tiger....roaring with laughter...haha.

Apart from all the wonderful food, there were lots of sides-splitting jokes and laughter. You can imagine how suffering it is to laugh on a full stomach! I really had to hold my sides…haha. What utter wonder to be so free to laugh and act! You know the reason why….no man around!…haha

Soft and very delicious chicken-cuttlefish balls

Here are some of the foods that we had at the party. There were actually more food after I took the pictures but I wanted to join in the eating! Instant hunger struck every one of us when confronted with so much good food! I bet all our husbands were filled with envy to know what we ate and all the fun that we had. My hubby stared at me with green eyes…..haha. Well, these are what women need….lots of Happy Hours!

More good food to add to the pot

A table of desserts

How do you celebrate the last day of the Chinese New Year (Chap Goh Mei)? What food would you like most if you are to attend an all women’s party? What topic of conversation do you enjoy most? Please share, add and comment in the comment box below.

If you subscribe through RSS or email, please go to the original page to access the comment box at http://www.keeplearningkeepsmiling.com

Other Chinese New Year parties that you may be interested in:
Chinese New Year Eve Family Happy Hours
Chinese New Year Women’s Happy Hours

Quote of the day……

“He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.”

John Milton

Keep Learning Keep Smiling

Juicy Prawns Omelette

“Consider the postage stamp; its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing until it gets there.”

Keep Learning Keep Smiling

Cheesecake Brownie

Quote of the day…… “The important thing is to dare to dream big, then take action to make it come true.” Joe Girard

Keep Learning Keep Smiling

Spicy Curry Green Beans

Keep Learning Keep Smiling

Tamarind (Assam) Tomato Tiger Prawns

”Obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off our goals.”

Keep Learning Keep Smiling

Pumpkin Seeds Crisps (Tuiles)

“I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.”

Keep Learning Keep Smiling

Chinese New Year Women’s Hot Pot (Steam Boat) Party

“He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.”

Keep Learning Keep Smiling

Quote of the day……

“The important thing is to dare to dream big, then take action to make it come true.”

Joe Girard