Baklava Fingers

The first time I ate a Baklava, my response was "so sweeetttt". The nutty taste plus crisp filo pastry kept me hooked. I wasn't able to take more than 1/4 of a slice of baklava at one sitting but it was special.

To recreate it at home just seems an impossible feat. Layers of filo pastry + cups of chopped up nuts doesn't seem to appeal to me. It screams "too much work" Until I discover Karen Martini's Baklava fingers recipes. I love the way we can layer the pastry and roll it up like a spring roll-it create the layers without too much work. Everyone knows filo pastry needs tender loving care and mine just seem to tear easily-hence the less I get to handle it, the better. Furthermore, the rolling bit means it is more forgiving.

What I did differently for this recipe however is to reduce the amount of syrup used to soak the baklava so that it is slightly less sweet. As a result, the baklava can be kept for a day or two longer.  And of course, my lovely food processor came in really handy when making the nuts mixture.

I grab this recipe off Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. Quick search on the Internet revealed Karen's video on how she made it. So it's bonus- you can watch it and follow it step by step too.

The hubby said next time, I have to scan ALL my recipes and save it in the computer with backups- just in case I lose this one. You can tell that he like this heaps!

Baklava Fingers

1 1/2 cup of walnuts toasted
1 cup of almonds toasted
50 grams brown sugar
50 grams caster sugar
2-4 tsp of ground cinnamon
2-3 tsp of all spice
150 grams dried figs chopped
375 packet of filo pastry
200 grams of melted butter (but I used around 50grams if not less)
1 egg lightly beaten

Syrup
200 ml water
300 grams caster sugar
3 tbsp honey
3 cinnamon sticks
1 lemon grated zest and juice

Line an oven tray with baking paper. Preheat Oven 180C.  Put sugars, cinnamon and all spice in food processor and process till nuts are coarsely chopped. Transfer into bowl and toss figs through.

Put 1 sheet filo on a clear bench, brush with melted butter, repeat with 3 more sheets. Cut pastry sheets in half vertically the brush edges with butter and egg. Sprinkle around 3 tablespoon or a handful of nuts around each segment, leaving a border around the edges.

Roll segments up like a spring roll. Put logs on trays and brush it with some butter.

Put trays in oven and bake for 20 mins. Cut logs into 4 equal pieces and put on a platter. Drench with syrup. Let it rest for around 2 hours before serving.

To make syrup- put all ingredients in small pan over medium heat. Stiry for 10 minutes or until it is dissolved. Remove and cool.

Grilled Honey Soy Chicken

So I am a big fan of oven roasted dishes. Seriously, what can be easier than marinating and putting into the oven and then come back to lovely dinner?

Well,  the only problem was that I ran out of time! So after marinating the chicken overnight with the purpose of chucking into the oven, circumstances happened and I didn't managed to oven baked it in time. The next best thing is of course, grilling it.

I didn't regret it one bit. The result was crisp chicken, but tender on the inside. I served it with rice and veges and it was a lovely comforting meal.

Grilled Honey Soy Chicken (Serves 4)
6 drumsticks
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/4 cup of chinese wine

All marinated over night or for at least 20 minutes. Baked in oven for 40 minutes or grilled it for around 15 mins. Serve with a squeeze of lemon.

Apple Pancakes

Lunch does not always have to be savory. One random weekend, I decided that we will be having apple pancakes and ice-cream for lunch.
My logic:
- Let's skip the main and go straight to sweets. More calories can be allocated to sweets.
- It's healthy! see... we have apple.
- We need to finish our raspberry ice-cream in the freezer.

The disappointing thing about this recipe is that it isn't exactly light and fluffy. It did hit a good spot and made an excellent sweet lunch!

Apple Pancakes

1/2 cup self raising flour
2 tablespoon of caster sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg whisked
1/3 cup milk
2 apples peeled and grated (but I chopped!)
ice cream to serve

Combine flour, sugar and cinnamon in bowl. Add egg and milk. Whisk till smooth. Fold in apples.

Heat frying plan over low heat. Pour 1/4 cup of apple mixture (a ladle) in pan. Great spread out with back of spoon. Cook pancakes until bubbles appear on surface. Turn over. Cook for anotner 1-2 mins till done. Serve with ice-cream.

Chicken Hor Fun

There are some days, where I want Singapore hawker  food. In MY ideal world, it will be low fat, low calorie but tastes the same. Alas, that's not always the case isn't it. We are quite blessed that in Perth, we have easy access to similar hawker food like in Singapore (plus where we reside). However, it is never quite the same as sitting in a kopitam, enjoying a plate of hor fun or  my ultimate favourite... ban mien.

Still, a girl has got to make do with what she has. So dropping by the oriental store, I picked up a packet of the white flat noodles, got my wok in action and started frying.

The result is still not as nice as the hawker style one of course, but it will do! for the time being..... =)

Chicken Hor Fun

200 grams of Hor fun noodles blanched and seperated
500 grams chicken diced and  marinated with soya, sesame oil, dark soya, oyster sauce and pepper.
1 bunch of choy sum washed and chopped
1 cup of chopped mushrooms (I used button but dried dehydrated shitake is fine)
2 eggs
1 tablespoons of garlic

Seasoning
2-3 tablespoon of oyster sauce
2-3 generous tablespoon of soya
1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce 
1/3 cup of shiao xien wine.

Heat a little oil in pan. Fry garlic and chicken till nearly done. Toss all veges in. Then toss noodles and add seasoning. Keep frying. Make sure the heat is on HIGH. Add eggs and tadah.. dinner is served.

I'm sharing this very simple dish with my friends from Presto Pasta organized by Ruth. This week Deb of Kahakai Kitchen is hosting.

Horseradish Beef Wrap and Indian Chick Pea Salad

As the weather gets warmer, you can see that my posts on wraps increased exponentially. Truth is that I find wraps really easy to prepare. Besides, they are usually low carb and filling. Where do I get my inspirations from? Usually from lunch bars or cafes where they serve up gourmet recipes for $14 a sandwich. I like to take a peak into what they put into there and re-create in our home kitchen.

I have never used horseradish cream before and have only had a hint of it in a sandwich some time back. Keen to experiment, I bought a tiny jar and thought of pairing it with roast beef.

Not knowing how pungent it was, I put a generous spread on quite a few wraps. OH MY GOODNESS. It stings on the tongue. Eventually, both hubby and I had to scrap some of the horseradish off our wraps. Having said that, I love the combination of roast sliced beef with the horseradish cream + salad. Totally delish and "gourmet" ...again.

The chickpea salad is an adaptation of my previous version.  What changed was that I toasted mustard seeds and the spices with some olive oil before tossing the chickpea through. That little step actually made the salad tastes more roburst, the flavors seem to blend in better.

Horseradish Beef Wrap and Indian Chick Pea Salad

1 packet (around 100 grams of roast beef slices)
horseradish sauce
2 cups of baby spinach leaves
crumbed feta cheese

Place some spinach leaves on choice of wrap. Place 2 slice of roast beef (You can use left over roast beef if you have some instead of store bought packets) on leaves. Spread a tiny amount of horseradish cream on the beef and sprinkle with crumbed feta. Wrap up, toast and serve with chickpeas salad or your choice of salad.

Carrot Fritters

Remember my recent post on my BIG bag of carrots dilemma? Well, turns out that I grated WAY too much carrot for our carrot cake too! So I decided to make fritters instead!

With no recipe in hand, and totally random...I mixed up a few batches of this with egg, flour, water and lots of seasoning. Surprise surprise, it tasted quite good with some mayo and bbq sauce.

One thing I do enjoy about these fritters is that it is super healthy-with all the vitamin A we consumed using the carrots.

Carrot Fritters (around 16 fritters)

1 generous cup of shredded carrot
1 cup of flour
3 eggs
1 cup of water
pepper and salt

Mix it all up. Heat fry pan with a little oil. Dollop mixture into pan. Flip and serve warm with mayo and bbq sauce.

ps-I love the bright orange!

Taco Wrap!

What would you do with your leftovers?

We had tacos one afternoon for lunch (with a group of mates) and ended up with left overs!

Quick reheat and da dah! Great lunch in a wrap!