Sunday, August 9, 2009

USTA 2009 New England District Champion!

USTALook who won! Hubby and his teammates fought hard in the finals to win the USTA League 2009 New England District Championships!! =) Congratulations and well done to the team! It was 3 days of nail biting tennis excitement in 2 difference clubs.

This tourney started on Friday and ended today. After playing against 4 different teams, hubby’s team qualified for the finals which was held today. It was totally nail biting and nerve wrecking experience watching the team play against the other team. Hubby’s win wasn’t enough to win since it was the best of 5 (2 singles and 3 doubles), and it was close with hubby’s team winning 3-2.

Congratulations again on this win! In about 2-3 weeks’ time, the team will be heading to Western Massachusetts to compete in the Sectional Championships. Winner of the Sectional will be heading to the Nationals in the west coast!!!section6.ashxThere were a few dramas leading towards this confirmed win. Lets just say one/some of these men were perhaps sore losers and had perhaps unscrupulously sabotaged hubby’s tennis rating in hopes get him/his scores/his team disqualified! Grrr….. I think USTA is having their investigation on who’s been impersonating hubby’s team captain NOT ONCE BUT TWICE to bump up hubby’s tennis rating.  Ohh.. I really want to know what that culprit(s) was!!!

Boy, was I glad the weekend was over. I came home feeling more tired and drained than the hubby who played 4 times in 3 days!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Easy Fried Biscuit

FriedBiscuit1Fried Biscuit reminded of those sugar duster donuts we get in Malaysia.I was first introduced to this “donut” at a Chinese Buffet Restaurant about 8-9 years ago. I never knew how easy it was to make it until a friend of mine leaked the secret!. All you need is a can of plain biscuit, oil and granulated sugar for dusting! It was a easy, yummy treat which reminded me of home and my younger days chasing down the cake van that drives around the neighborhood to buy a sugary donut skewer and other baked goodies!FriedBiscuit

EASY FRIED BISCUIT / EASY DONUT RECIPE

Ingredients:

  • 1 Canned Biscuit (Regular Buttermilk)
  • Oil (for deep frying)
  • 1-2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar (pr more depending on preference)

Method:

Heat enough oil over medium low heat. Once oil is hot, drop in biscuits and deep fry them for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Be sure not to over crowd your pan with too many biscuits (they will also poof up a little) at one time. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle or coat the fried biscuit with some sugar. Serve warm! Now wasn’t that EASY??

You do have to make sure your oil is not overly hot. You will end up with a golden brown outside and a gooey uncook dough inside. Alternatively, you can cut the biscuits into half and roll it into smaller balls before deep frying them to ensure that the fried biscuit will cook thoroughly. Another way is to use a small round cookie cutter to stamp out the middle of the dough, and deep fry mini “donuts” and “donut-holes” you get from this method. Enjoy!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Green Tea Chiffon Cake

Updated August 21, 2009.

Hubby and I love chiffon cake and have not had any in many months (or years?). With my spanking new non-stick tube pan, I was excited to try a chiffon cake recipe! Ideally, I would like to attempt a pandan chiffon cake, hubby’s favorite. However since I did not have the time to get some pandan paste from an Asian grocer, pandan chiffon cake would have to wait.GreenTeaChiffonWith my big bag of green tea powder, I decided to make a green tea chiffon cake. Now that would be different from the regular chiffon flavors we’ve had; pandan and orange. I googled for a recipe and found a recipe that seem to be used ever so often in various food blogs.

The recipe (though looked complicated, was actually easy) turned out really well. My first attempt in making a chiffon cake was surely a success! Well at least 99% successful (I’ll let u in why it’s not 100%)! I was a happy baker. I was worried if my chiffon cake will turn out light and fluffy like it’s supposed to.

I found the recipe HERE and HERE.

GreenTeaChiffon8 

GREEN TEA CHIFFON CAKE RECIPE

Ingredients:

Part A:

  • 4 Large Egg Yolks
  • 30 Gm Granulated Sugar
  • 1Tbsp Honey
  • Pinch of salt

Part B:

  • 4 Tbsp Warm Corn Oil
  • 80 Ml Warm Water + 4 Tsp Green Tea Powder
  • 3 Tsp Rum

Part C:

  • 100 Gm Cake Flour
  • 3/4 Tsp Baking Powder

Part D:

  • 4 Egg Whites
  • 1/2 Tsp Cream Of Tartar
  • 30 Gm Granulated Sugar

Method:

In a medium bowl, cream ingredients (A) with hand whisk till sugar dissolved. Add in ingredients (B) in the respective order and mix well before adding the next item. Sieve in ingredients (C) and mix till no lumps. In a large bowl beat egg whites with electric beater till frothy, sprinkle in the cream of tartar. Beat till white in color and add in sugar by thirds. Egg white should be beaten till stiff peaks are formed.

Put half portion of egg white into yolk mixture and mix it with a hand whisk in 6 strokes. Pour yolk mixture into the rest of the egg white and mix well with hand whisk. Put batter into a chiffon cake pan (20cm / about 8 inches), hit the pan on a hard surface several times to release the bubbles and bake at 350F for 35 -45 minutes or till cooked.

When the cake is cooked, remove from oven and hit the pan once on a hard surface to loosen the cake texture then invert cooked cake on a wire rack to cool for 15 – 20 minutes. Remove cake from cake pan (you may need to run a knife around the edges) and leave aside to cool completely.

June’s Notes: My chiffon cake was only 99% successful because I used a non-stick tube pan. I found out later that I should use regular tube pan to bake chiffon cake. The chiffon cake needs to cling on the sides of the pan to climb up and achieve its height (for the same reason, don’t grease your pan). Therefore, although my cake was light and fluffy, it did not rise like the cake HERE. I do wonder if it was coz my pan was also a little bigger (9-3/4” as opposed to 8”)?  I don’t think I’ll invest in another tube pan, one is enough. Plus, my chiffon cake was still light and fluffy!GreenTeaChiffon6The green tea taste in the cake is quite subtle. It could maybe use another teaspoon of green tea powder. I sprinkled some green tea powder on the cake once it’s done to enhance the green tea flavor and also to cover any flaws on the cake (I accidentally left my palm prints, when I remove the cake from the pan).

Serve your chiffon cake, plain….. or with a dollop of red bean paste! =

 GreenTeaChiffon7GreenTeaChiffon11

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Coconut Corn Konnyaku Jelly

I’ve heard about Konnyaku Jelly for a while and had no idea what it was and how was it different from agar-agar (from seaweed) or gelatin (from collagen inside animal’s bone/skin). Konnyaku (also known as Konjac) is derived from a plant native to eastern Asia. Konnyaku can therefore be used as a vegan substitute to gelatin.

I got a bag of it from the Malaysian grocer in Flushing Mall a couple months back and have finally decided to try it. I forgot how much I got it for, perhaps about $3-4? The instruction on the back asked for canned fruit /fruit juice but I wanted to try something different. I googled for some recipe ideas and found a recipe for Sweet Corn Konnyaku Jelly. I used that recipe and made modification to mine since the instructions on the bag of my Konnyaku Jelly called for more powder than Aunty Yochana’s Sweet Corn Konnyaku Jelly recipe. CornKonnyakuHere’s my recipe, based on Happy Grass brand Konnyaku Jelly. The way the Konnyaku Jelly thickens reminded me of corn starch! I finally was able to use the different kind of molds my friend Anna sent me months ago. Thanks, Anna!!CornKonnyaku2

COCONUT CORN KONNYAKU JELLY RECIPE

Ingredients:

  • 125gm Happy Grass Plain Konyaku Jelly (1/2 Packet)
  • 1/2 Cup Sugar
  • 250 Ml Sweet Creamed Corn (8.5oz can)
  • 400 Ml Water
  • 200 Ml Canned Coconut Milk

Method:

Add sugar and Konnyaku Powder into a pot. Slowly pour in water, coconut milk and creamed corn while stirring mixture to prevent clumps from forming. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat and continue stirring for another 2-3 minutes. The mixture will start to thicken. Add 1/2 packet of the Malic Acid (came with the Happy Grass Konnyaku Jelly) and stir until dissolve. Pour (or spoon) mixture into molds/bowls. You may have to work quickly as the mixture hardens very quick! Allow jelly to set before chilling it in the fridge. Remove from mold and serve. CornKonnyaku1Here are the different kind of molds I used for my Konnyaku Jelly. If you dun have fancy ones, ice cube tray would probably work too. Or you could use other containers. Mold

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

My New Steve Madden Sandals

SandalsOoh… I love my Steve Madden sandals and I can’t wait to flaunt it this weekend….Hope the weather’s good! I might need to get some pedicure or at least paint my toe nails and make my fugly feet a little more pleasant to the eye! =P

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