Little Joy Factory

Joining  I Heart Cooking Clubs provides me a good chance to try different ways of cooking. The most exciting part is to prepare an everyday dish in a totally new way, such as steamed coconut curry soup, baked fish fillet,  roasted pork ribs etc. We all like that fall off the bone, melt in your mouth rack of ribs. That's why I often boil pork ribs soup, easy and nutritious. Typical ingredients go well with pork ribs are fresh corns, lotus root, apple, pear.  Never roasted pork ribs at home,  simply because I am afraid they would be too dry.   Asian ribs, one of Donna Hay's recipe suggests using hoisin sauce (海鲜酱), five-spice powder (五香粉), soy sauce (酱油) , sesame oil (芝麻油), Shaoxing (绍兴酒) to marinate the ribs. These seasonings are readily available in my kitchen.  It's so convenient to prepare this dish. To achieve tender roasted ribs, I first pull the membrane off  the ribs before marinate them. The...

Chinese New Year is approaching, food bloggers here are busy baking CNY cookies.  I have baked pineapple tarts, almond cookies, peanut cookies. How about you? Since there is still one week away, I'd like to bake one more type of CNY cookies. Read a few posts about Chinese Walnut Cookies (核桃酥) recently.  Some recipes add alkaline water, some add shortening, some use vegetable oil, some use butter.  Despite the difference in recipes, I notice there is one thing in common:  food bloggers are trying to create the traditional taste of walnut cookies from their hometown, from their childhood memories. In my hometown, Chinese walnut cookies are crunchy and full of walnut fragrance. There is no butter in it,  but for sure there are walnuts. They are so delicious that I have always been tempted to buy them whenever I see similar ones at bakery shops here.  How...

This week at  I Heart Cooking Club ,  it's Time for Tea !  Friends have prepared  a good spread of tea time snacks such as delicious cakes, cookies, muffins, scorns.  I am running out of time as today is the deadline for submitting the post!  I don't want to miss the party again (sorry to say that, I have missed for two weeks).  To fit into the theme, I was thinking of making a quick and easy dessert with a Donna Hay's recipe. Standing in my kitchen, with my fridge door widely open,  I saw half pack of leftover buttermilk,  one pack of cooking cream.  Buttermilk Panna Cotta ?  Yes! Panna Cotta , which literally means cooked cream , is a traditional, easy, and delicious Italian dessert. It is made by simmering cream, sugar, and gelatin.  It took me less than 10 minutes to prepare. Garnished with blueberry sauce,  this silky smooth and wobble des...

Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) is still 20 days away, but Singapore is already getting ready for the Year of Horse. CNY decorations are all over the shopping malls, very pretty and impressive. As a home baker, it's time for me to bake CNY cookies . As usual, pineapple tarts are the top in my baking list. This year, I decided to try a different recipe.  Actually, I saw this recipe from Sonia's blog ( Nasi Lemak Lover ) last year. She said it's the "Best Melt-in-the-Mouth" pineapple tart recipe. As I have already finished baking  pineapple tarts  with my own recipe then, so did not have the chance to try.  A few days ago, Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids  shared her experience of baking pineapple tarts with 3 popular recipes. One of them is Sonia's.  Zoe provided a comparison table with ingredients and method used in each recipe, and concluded that Sonia's recipe yields the best melt-in-...

Nuts are my favourite snack. I love pecans, pistachios, walnuts and macadamia the most.  While these nuts are not so expensive in U.S and China,  they are quite pricy here in Singapore.  One pack of 250g roasted pecans can be sold close to S$10. To enjoy pecans at home,  I usually buy raw pecans from local wholesale market, and roast them in my oven.  Toss with some salt, sugar, and Chinese five-spice powder,  homemade roasted pecans  rival the top-quality nuts brands. Store in an airtight container in the fridge, we can enjoy a handful of  crispy delicious pecans anytime of the day.  While there are many good things about nuts,  try not to consume them in excess.   Nuts contain a high amount of omega 6. It's important to maintain a balanced omega 6 and omega 3 ratio (1:1) in your diet.  Study shows a diet that is hig...

I love walnut and banana, the combination of the two is simply irresistible to me. This banana and walnut cake recipe was pinned from Cuisine Paradise . It stands out from the rest due to its rich and moist texture. The secret lies in brown sugar, which has the taste of molasses, sweeter and richer as compared to white sugar. To make it suit more to our taste, I added cinnamon and chocolate chips. The cake is super moist and delicious. It smells heavenly during baking. It has become our "family cake".   CINNAMON WALNUT BANANA CAKE (Recipe adapted from  Cuisine Paradise ) Ingredients: - 227g unsalted butter, soften - 140g brown sugar - 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract - 4 eggs - 2 1/4 cup (~275g) self-raising flour - 1/4 teaspoon baking soda - 1/4 teaspoon salt - 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder - 240g  (2 medium-sized) ripe bananas - 50g chopped walnuts (+ extra for decoration) - 50g chocolate chips Directions: Preheat...