November 30, 2008 at 10:45 pm · Filed under TWD, Recipes: Dessert, Recipes: Baking
Finally! I have joined the fun group, Tuesdays With Dorie. I read about great reviews of this book, Baking from home to yours by Dorie Greenspan and had wanted to buy it since. I got it for only SGD20.00 after a 20% discount with the addition of a $20 voucher.
I’m already late with this entry. Although we do not celebrate Thanksgiving, I don’t mind trying out the recipe as this will be the first time I’m making a pumpkin pecan pie. Sounds delicious, isn’t it? Vibi from La Casserole Carrée, is the host this week. Check out her site for the recipe.
The recipe asks for shortening and I didn’t managed to buy them, so I just skipped that totally by adding more butter. With no food processor or a pastry cutter, I went ahead to make the pie dough using my fingertips, the rubbing-in method. I knew that I had to work fast. But it seemed that there wasn’t enough flour for me to work with and the butter starts to melt a little. The whole dough seemed so greasy and wet and I’m not sure if I was doing it correctly.
The dough was to stay in the refrigerator for an hour for it to harden up before rolling. The rolling was tough with a new rolling pin, although I made sure I rolled the dough on a floured kitchen counter. First roll out, and the dough cracked. Gee.. was the dough too hard? This is really tough for me! The rolling was so frustrating with the dough sticking to the rolling pin which I’ve floured it as well. With the help of B, we managed to place the pie crust onto the foil tin, with holes, of course. We patched up the crust with the remaining dough. Whew! Ugly, but finally done. After all, it’s my first pie! If only I knew earlier, I could just use a stand mixer to help me out on the dough.
With a badly done crust, it might not hold the filling well after I cut the pie. Will it just crumble? This has to be the most challenging and time-consuming bake I’ve ever done. And I’m glad I managed to come out with a decent looking pie. Oh yes, it’s ONLY decent looking from the outside.
Being the first attempt, everything looked and tasted so wrong!! Just as I cut the pie, it feels so soggy. The pie was already baked for 60 mins but the pumpkin filling didn’t firm up. What went wrong? I’ve no idea. Can someone enlighten me on this? The pie crust is no better. There’s just oil oozing out as I cut the pie. It seems under-baked. Did I used too much butter? Or was it the mishandling of the pie dough in the initial phase?
Ok. The pie can’t be eaten, it’s just too greasy. I’m glad that I tried. At least, I have gain some experience making my first pie. No, I’m not showing my unsuccessful bake this time round. LOL
November 20, 2008 at 12:38 am · Filed under Recipes: Salad, Recipes: Quick & Easy, Recipes: Pasta
Finally, I’m back after a long hiatus. I didn’t realize that it’s been a long 3 months since I’ve last blogged. Laziness and heavy workload made me put off blogging during this period. However, I managed to squeeze in a vacation to Taiwan in October. As I needed to be away for a short week, I had to complete all my work before I set off. Yes, it was only a week, and there was so much to do!! Thanks to a few readers for reminding me that I’ve not been blogging. Haha..
Soy and Pepper is hosting Pasta Presto Nights this week and I thought, why not join in the fun? I cook pasta dishes quite often, mainly as a main course. This shall be my very first submission to Pasta Presto Nights.
Some time back, I was organizing a birthday picnic for a close friend. They requested to have my mashed potato salad for the picnic. It is the one and only salad they wanted every time we have a potluck. Making potato salad is quite time consuming, at least to me. The boiling, peeling and cutting of the potatoes takes up at least half an hour? Pasta salad on the other hand, is so much faster and easier to make. Boil the pasta and toss everything together and you’re done! I’m lucky they weren’t disappointed with the pasta salad. That’s a relief.
This is an easy salad recipe and you can add any ingredients you like to the pasta. For mine, I added yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, ham and Japanese cucumber. Simply omit the ham if you want the vegan way. If you can’t find Japanese cucumber, replace them with normal cucumber or zucchini, anything to add crunch to the salad. I added some leftover cheddar shreds as well, really adds more punch to the salad. The dressing I added to the pasta is just a guideline, adjust the amount of mayonnaise and vinegar to your own preference. The pasta salad looks slightly dark due to the balsamic vinegar. Less is more!
Hearty Pasta Salad
Serves 8 to 10
300g fusilli pasta
1 to 1½ japanese cucumber, julienne
4 slices of picnic ham (or anything ham you like), cut to strips
1 yellow bell pepper, julienne
12 to 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
30g cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)
3 tbsp olive oil
1½ cup low fat mayonnaise (replace with yogurt for the healthier choice)
1½ tbsp balsamic vinegar (add more if you like it sour)
1 tsp dried parsley (1 tbsp if you are using fresh parsley, chopped)
black ground pepper
Cook pasta according to the packet instructions. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and set aside in a large bowl. Add mayonnaise, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and black ground pepper to the pasta. Toss to mix evenly so that each fusilli pasta is coated with the dressing. When the pasta has slightly cooled, add in Japanese cucumber, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, ham strips and cheddar cheese, mix well. Taste the salad, add more dressing if you like. Lastly, mix in the parsley. Cover the bowl and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours for the flavors to sit in. If time permits, leave it in the refrigerator overnight.
Quick to make, right? Share with me what kind of dishes you bring to a potluck. Perhaps I can try making them for my next potluck!! And I will share with you my mashed potato salad the next time I have the chance to make them.
