fyen's lil laboratorium: October 2010

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Recipes : Strawberry basil mille feuille

For this hot season, why don’t we treat ourself a cold, easy and yummy dessert…for sure everyone will love it… Mille feuille means thousand leafs in French if I’m not wrong (correct me if I’m wrong) and sometimes people just call this napoleon. Oops..I remember one of my mom’s fav napoleon in Chinatown Sydney, it is made by Chinese Emperor Garden Cakes and Bakery. My mom always dream to go there and eat that again hahaha… cause their napoleon is just unique, different and I don’t know how to do it..(so sorry mom…)

It’s a recipe from Chef Gordon Ramsay, no need oven at all yeay :D and I did a lil bit twist on it…hope you like it hehe…

What you need :

whipped cream
filo pastry, in sheets
Icing sugar
butter (prefer clarified butter)
mixed summer berries e.g. raspberries, blueberries, redcurrants, wild strawberries
vanilla pod/ vanilla essence
fresh basil
egg white

What you need to do:

1. To make the filling, tip the cream into a bowl with 3 tbsp of sugar, and the vanilla seeds. Lightly whisk until the cream just hold its shape. Finally shred the basil, then fold through the cream and lastly chill until needed

2. For the mille feuille, divide the pastry into three large sheets. Brush each one with egg white, lay the sheets on top of each other pressing together gently. Dust both sides with icing sugar and pat off the excess. Using a pastry cutter or chef’s ring cut the pastry into rounds. Fry the discs in clarified butter for 2 -3 minutes each side until they are brown and crispy, remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper

3. Cut the berries , here I only use strawberry…cut cut cut…

4. For assembly…place a little spoonful of the cream on the plate and place a pastry on top. Begin to create the layers by spreading more cream onto the first piece of pastry, scattering over a mixture of berries and another spoonful of cream. Top with another disc and repeat the process. Finish with the third disc, dust with icing sugar and garnish with any remaining fruit and voila….you did it…yummy yummy dessert…

For more details, watch this video for how to make the mille feuille hehe…(Remember I make a twist on this recipe which I combine two recipe become one – ahahha as usual I choose the easier way to do it hahaha… not time consuming and same super yummy hehe)

Tips from the chef :

The millefeuille can be assembled up to 2 hrs ahead and kept somewhere cool. You could also prepare the pastry rectangles, and cream mix the night before. However, don't add the basil to the cream until just before assembly, and keep the pastry well wrapped in cling film.

Do you know that…my cooking team make this mille feuille as our dessert on the blackboard challenge and all the jury (read: chefs) love it hehe…but they complain that they can’t taste the basil well haiz… (we make a square one at that time and using oven to make the pastry)

Got these pictures from Lynette’s facebook (the owner of Palate Sensation), thanks a lot hehe…cause seems like I forgot to take a shot for this dessert haizzz…

Fashion : Cute mask for the haze

Haze worsen in Singapore and Indonesia…pollution…pollution alert… >.< …a glance just like fogs…but this one is unhealthy yet hot fog haizzz….

eniwei…maybe we need to take some action now to avoid that unhealthy haze, first of all avoid doing any outdoor activities (doesn’t mean you need to get your Medical Certificate here haha) and secondly wear a mask… (back to oldies memories…the swine flu memory where everyone using a mask), so we still can be fashionable in this haze period hohoho…check it out…

My fav Doraemon ドラえもん ♥♥♥

Hello kitty masks (dedicated to my fren Nini haha :P..for sure she will buy it)

Other cute masks…

Skull masks like bleach? why not haha…

Or maybe DIY masks hehe….superb creative :D

hahaha..hope you njoy it…going to google doraemon mask now…yuhuuu ♥♥♥

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Sharing : Indonesian Art of textile “Batik” all the time

Let’s be proud of our own country art textile,Batik, which Unesco has list batik as one of the world cultural heritage from Indonesia and it is fall on 2nd of October. On that day, encouraged everyone wear batik to show their support and of course we all posed with our best Batik.

Making a batik is not just like cooking an instant noodle, you need a lot of patience and creativity to do it. In Javanese, batik means ‘to-dot’. So indirectly batik-ing is just like drawing or painting on a piece of cloth using canting (read:'’tjanting’ is a small copper cupped spout which is attached to a bamboo or wooden handle) and liquid wax. (now known as batik tulis or hand drawn batik)

But nowadays, in order to make life’s easier. They use carved wooden/ cooper blocks to do the stamped batik (batik cap). All you need to do is carve the wooden and dipped it into a pan of hot wax and pressed on the long laid cloth on the long tables. Chop chop chop…and done…:D

Know more on batik tulis

Finely detailed designs are first drawn freehand with a pencil on the textile. Then hot liquid wax is applied. The cloth is hung over a frame. The wax used in the process can be a combined product of paraffin, bees-wax, and plant resins called gondorukem and mata kucing. The canting is dipped into a pot of hot wax and the wax then flows through the spout on to the fabric. From time to time she blows on the tip of the canting to secure an easy flow of the wax. The wax is removed with hot water, scraped from the portions of the dried material still to be dyed. The parts that were covered by the wax did not absorb the dye and thus remain white (or whatever color the original cloth was previously dyied). Since the wax behave as a resisting medium, this process is called resist-dye process. Next, other areas are waxed over. this is repeated during each phase of the coloring process, up to four or more times, until the overall pattern and effect are achieved. ( o.O Oh My God…I’m so sure I don’t have that patience LOL…)

Tat’s why batik tulis costs you a lot…so do pay attention on it. If you don’t waste them correctly, the beautiful pattern will fade eventually. So let’s see some tips on it:

Wash them gently with hands, don’t use machine or brush
Don’t squeeze dry because it will ruin the fibers of your Batik
Air dry the Batik but do not put them directly under sun light
Don’t iron them directly, lay a thin fabric on top of the Batik first
Use a liquid detergent specially formulated for Batik
If you wish to scent the cloth, do not spray perfume or similar agents directly onto the cloth. Impregnate tissue paper or thin paper with the scent and lay/store the batik between these sheets of paper

Let’s have a peek on Batik Fashion ♥
batik02

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Art: Balloon artist Rie Hosokai

Rie hosokai is the worldly appreciated balloon artist. Her significant technique and exquisite sense of fashion were proven by winning the international balloon dress competition”milleniumjam fashion award”two years in a row and many other major balloon art contests. Other than that, she is the most desired artist performances continue to entertain men and women of all ages.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Sharing : What a Lovely Name

Stop by a very cute website and love to share it. What A Lovely Name is a website which helps you to find a perfect name for your baby. Can browse it by tradition, personality trait, celebrities’ babies name or even from Harry Potter or Starwars’ world LOL hahaha…eniwei love the color of the website.

Find more on their website

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Recipe : Buttermilk Panna Cotta

MELELEH…(means melting)…yeay…this is wat happen recently in Singapore…so hot…hot…hot and hot… Hate to go out hahaha… (is this only my excuse lol)

So let’s make us a healthy, fresh yet yummy dessert to be eaten in this hot season. It’s quite simple and seems like there’s a different way to make this panna cotta.

I have made this before I learnt it from cooking class soo it’s up to you which one do you want to follow haha…(of coz the one from my cooking class taste better XD)

Well, before that Panna Cotta is an Italian dessert which means cooked cream, they are soft (like tofu/ pudding) and just perfectly melt on your mouth (yummm XD). Best served with fresh berries or maybe other fruits such as mango, passionfruit ( no durian please haha).

Recipe 1: (using cream)

What you need:

100ml cream
lil of bit vanilla essence ( or you can use fresh vanilla pods so you can see the vanilla on your panna cotta)
15g gelatin leaves (not suitable for Muslim frens)
lil bit lemon zest
600ml buttermilk ( homemade buttermilk mix 1tbs lemon juice/vinegar and 1 cup milk if you cannot find a ready use buttermilk)
100ml semi whipped cream
120g sugar (depends on your preference)

Panna Cotta:

1. Mix the cream with sugar, lemon zest,vanilla and boil it on small pan

2. Soak the gelatine on water (for several mins), drain, squeeze and add it to the scalded cream mixture. Mix mix mix and let it cold.

3. Gradually strain the buttermilk inside and make sure it is well mixed

4. Mix together whipped cream and the mixture

5. Pour into moulds and put it into the fridge at least 2 hours, after that ready to be served :D

Recipe 2: (using yogurt instead of cream)

What you need:

1 cup skim milk ( you can add lemon juice as well to make it become buttermilk, taste great :D)
2 cups of vanilla yogurt
lil of bit vanilla essence ( or you can use fresh vanilla pods so you can see the vanilla on your panna cotta)
15g gelatin leaves (not suitable for Muslim frens)
lil bit lemon zest
sugar (depends on your preference since yogurt is sweet enough)

Panna Cotta:

1. Mix the skim milk with sugar, lemon zest,vanilla and boil it on small pan

2. Soak the gelatine on water (for several mins), drain, squeeze and add it to the scalded cream mixture. Mix mix mix and let it cold.

3. Gradually strain the yogurt inside and make sure it is well mixed

4. Pour into moulds and put it into the fridge at least 2 hours, after that ready to be served :D

Note: I personally more recommend to use gelatin leaves as it give a more flexible texture :D

Feel free to see this video from Nicko’s kitchen on how he make his panna cotta :D

Happy cooking :D

Bday blast: 09.10.10

Happy bday Indahwaty heheh… (our lil sister LOL)… Hope you like our lil bday party for you and always wish u all the best years ahead….eniwei enjoy your bday pics here…