Lemon "Cheesecake" with Berry Topping

I'm actually quite excited with this recipe. I made this for our wedding anniversary back in April (I know! Very late in posting this!) and it was a hit for hubby and myself.

It is only recently that I am onto the band wagon of making raw desserts. It's just to increase my repertoire of creating desserts at home I guess. I love the idea of having a cheesecake without the heavy feeling in my tummy. There is NOTHING wrong with enjoying a cheesecake from time to time of course, but hey, if I could re create something at home that is healthy and nutritious, I'm in.

This require a little planning with the soaking of cashews. It is a very nutrient dense recipe- and very high in calories as well with the amount of cashews in it. Still a treat food for sure.

I am still using my trusty ken wood food processor but lately, been wondering if it is worth investing in a Vitamix or Thermomix? oh first world problems. Nevertheless, I have promise myself that I will not have another appliance unless one breaks down.

As I'm typing this, I just remembered I have a few more slices in the freezer. Oopies! I guess I know what I'm having for dessert tonight.

What do you use? Food processor? Thermomix? Or a high powered blender like Vitamix?

Lemon "Cheesecake" with Berry Topping (12 servings)

Base
150 grams almond meal
100 grams of desiccated coconut
3 medjool dates soaked in water
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

"Cheesecake"
500 grams of cashews soaked in water overnight
1 cup of lemon juice
zest of whole lemon
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 tablespoon of honey
1/4 cup of coconut oil melted

Berry topping
1 cup of berries
1/4 cup water
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp of gelatine powder (mix with 1 tablespoon of water)

Make the base first.
Blitz everything up till it comes together. Press into a 9 inch lined cake tin. Fridge it while you make the "cheesecake".

Blitz all the ingredients together. Make sure it becomes like a smooth paste- not lumpy. Pour into base and freeze for around 30 mins to an hour.

Place berry topping except gelatine into sauce pan. Cook till it becomes soft. Cool and add the gelatine mixture. Pour berry topping onto cheesecake topping and freeze for a further 3-4 hours.

Defrost cake in fridge for 2 hours before serving.

The Best Banana Bread

I am always in search for ideas for snacks and breakfasts for my two favourite boys. One of my favourite blogs Whole Food Simply always inspire me to make better baking goods for my family.

I did quite a few adaptations to suit us as usual. I have experimented a few times and I think this version came out the best. It's simple, and more importantly, full of protein, and nourishing. I used two dates- which is plenty of sweetness for us as bananas are full of natural sugars as well. I stayed with tahini as I like the slight bitterness to counteract the sweetness. I used crushed walnuts for that extra hit of antioxidants and texture. If you like, try adding a handful of cacao nibs- we love that chocolate-like crunch.

The other reason why I like this recipe is that it uses coconut flour. Coconut flour, I believe, is under rated. It's basically coconut dried into a flour format. It is very low in sugar but very high in fibre. I think the texture is quite different from normal flour and that's why many people shy away from using it. It is also very absorbent. I would say I would use 3 times the amount of liquid to the amount of flour I use (e.g 1/3 cup of coconut flour to 1 cup of coconut milk or almond milk). I would usual also use more eggs than normal.

This recipe though- the ratio works in harmony with each other. The texture is like what a banana bread should be. I gave it out a few times and the only negative I had was that I cut my slices too thin!

How do you like your banana bread? Thick cafe style slices or thin and crispy toasted?

Asher doesn't care of course. He gobbled it up!

The Best Banana Bread (12-14 slices Or 10)
4 medium size bananas
2 dates soaked in hot water
3 tablespoons of tahini or sunflower butter or nut butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup of coconut flour
1 heaped tsp of vanilla paste
1.5 tsp of bicarb soda
2 tsp of cinnamon
juice of 1 lemon
pinch of salt

optional: handful of crushed walnuts, cacao nibs

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a bread loaf with baking paper. Put all ingredients in a food processor and bliz it. Pour into pan and bake it for around 35-40 minutes. (yup! It's that easy!!!)

Salted Almond Butter Ice Cream

The other day, I came across this blog post. It struck a cord with me because from time to time, hubby and I discuss how our marriage changed since the arrival of Asher.  I'm a very lucky woman because I have the world's best hubby in so many ways. He is a hands on daddy, in love with me and is absolutely supportive in my fitness, health, work, family and food goals.

That does not mean though that we do not struggle from time to time. Like most families, we can fall into a rut if we are not careful. Because of his early morning starts, more often than none, he gets easily tired. For me, I'm a perfectionist in some ways and like to make things "right". With our focus on Asher, it's easy to start the morning with a text message and we may not even have a decent chat till 2 days later!

With tiredness and busyness means we say things we do not mean (or think), we forget appointments and neglected to check in with one another. It comes in with impatience and annoyance. I felt unappreciated, and he felt unheard. It could easily spiral into a downward mess.

I'm writing this to remind myself that I'm very very lucky even though sometimes I don't feel that way. Because counting my blessings makes me realise that the world is not bleak. My husband isn't the world's most unthoughtful person or mean. He is a human and humans can tire and make mistakes. So this is my list to remind myself.

1) He wakes up early every morning so that he can be with us earlier in the day
2) He brushes his teeth in the guest's bathroom so he doesn't wake us up.
3) He never complains with whatever I cook.
4) He plays with Asher every single day. He change his nappies when needed and feed him most dinners.
5) He budgets and make sure our household gets taken care of
6) He says "I love you" daily to me
7) I have been obese, skinny and pregnant and he stood by me
8) He stayed close to me when Granny was seriously ill and passed on.
9) He welcomed my family into our lives and even like them staying with us.
10) He adored my granny and attempted/learned cantonese with her.
11) Also attempted to speak mandarin to my dad
12) Taste and eat every single dish I made and bake AND gave me honest thoughts.
13) Never once did he complained about my gym schedule. He change his work schedule so I can head to the gym to have me time 4 times a week.
14) Totally embraced eating clean.
15) Does the laundry
16) Remembers rubbish and bin collection days
17) Trusts me completely with shopping and budgeting
18) Always on the lookout for cheap flights
19) Appears to know every city and transport system around the world.
20) Cooks me breakfasts occasionally
21) If I forget an ingredient in the midst of baking, he would go out and buy it straight away.
22) Often think about our future
23) Share our love for travelling
24) Endure my occasional need to "get it right!" (and then having to taste countless tarts, ice cream or roasts)
25) He is in love with Asher.
26) Some evenings, make me a cup of chai tea with warmed up almond milk.
27) Want to spend time with us. He doesn't stay long for work functions or meet up with friends for a beer at night.
28) Always keep me updated on his work, what's been bothering him or finances
29) Calms me down when I feel upset or panic.
30) Pray with me and for us.

I'm sure there are more and i'm sure I can add to it as time goes on.

So for my hubby, this salted almond butter ice cream is for you. (Just because I know how much you love ice cream!)

Salted Almond Butter Ice-Cream (serves 2)
2 frozen bananas
2 tablespoons of almond butter
pinch of salt

place everything in a food processor and blitz till it becomes ice cream! Drizzle with your favourite topping.

Leek and Spinach Tart

This is one of my favourite "light meals" recipe. I spoke about Teresa Cutter before but honestly, this woman creates the best healthy clean recipes that are so nourishing for your body. I have made this tart a few times and even had it at my baby shower.

One of the reasons why I made this various times is because I have trouble removing tarts from tins. This version was one of the semi successful ones- but you can see it suffered some trauma. The filling is beautiful and the crust is so yummy though.

Some mistakes I made included
- Not oiling the tin enough
- Pressing the pastry too hard into the tin. Gentle pressing is sufficient.
-Not rolling the pastry evenly.
- Underbaking the crust.
- Using the wrong type of tart tin. I used the high wall type but found out that NOT all tins are created equal. Too thick a tin actually made it harder for the tart to be removed.

There was one week, that I was so frustrated, I made 3 tarts to prove that I can do it :x

Leek and Spinach Tart (Serves 10-12)
Crust
300 grams of Almond Meal
1 Cup of desiccated coconut or around 100grams
3 tablespoons of linseed
pinch salt
3 eggs

Filling
2 leeks
500 grams of spinach
500 grams of ricotta cheese
seasoning

Preheat Oven to 180C. Oil your tart tin VERY well. Blitz crust ingredients in the food processor. Roll pastry in between two pieces of baking paper and gently press it to the tin.

To make the filling, cook the leek with a little oil till soft. Add spinach till it wilts. Mix vegetables with ricotta and seasoning. Spoon into tart. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with rocket and balsamic vinegar.

Walnut Chocolate Brownies

They say friendships change when you become a parent. For me, its an opportunity to meet more new friends who are parents. Asher have been attending gymbaroo since he was around 8 weeks young. From there, I met a few other mums whom I click with. One of them is also from Singapore and her husband is from Malaysia!

Our sons are only born 2 weeks apart. We started meeting fortnightly for play dates and hosting lunches at respective homes. It's so cute to see the boys watching one another and playing with toys. Of course, they are not at an age where they would play with each other but they appeared to be curious about each other's presence.

I made Elana's Pantry's Walnut Chocolate Brownies for this lovely mother. By the way, she cooks such nourishing lunches for me after knowing how I eat (think pan fried salmon with asparagus with corn, pumpkin soup, and a grilled chicken tenderloin with a side pumpkin and goats cheese salad). That said, she said these brownies were a hit with her family and can't believe it has no gluten and minimal refined sugar in it.

Walnut Chocolate Brownies (I cut it to 24 small bites)
100 grams of dark chocolate chopped roughly (I used lindt)
1/4 cup of coconut flour
2 eggs
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup of coconut oil
2 tablespoon of honey
1/3 cup of crushed walnuts
handful of chopped dark chocolate

Preheat Oven to 180C. Line a brownie tray with baking paper.
Using a food processor, pulsed dark chocolate. Add in all other dry ingredients first. Pulse till it is well mixed. Then add in all other wet ingredients except the walnuts and handful of dark chocolate.
Pour mixture into pan. Sprinkle crushed walnuts and chocolate over the mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Peppermint Patties

Has it been a good Christmas for you? It certainly has for us. We started the day with church- Lasted 2 carols before I went into the cry room with cranky Asher. We had a lovely lunch with family members and just chilled for the afternoon. Presents were opened through the day rather than in one sitting. I promptly stored away some of Asher's toys for future use and let him enjoyed some of his new rattles and smaller items. Looking at the photos, he is one blessed baby!

I'm a little behind in my posting but I figured out better late than never. Every year around Christmas, I have the urge to make sweets. Maybe it's the season, but I feel that it just calls for something sweet to end the day with. I have been really good lately and am very close to gaining back my pre-pregnancy weight, and so have been experimenting with healthy sweets.

Speaking of which, it does feels good having my strength back. I'm not 100% back yet but just feeling more like myself is great and very close to where I was. You know how they say breastfeeding helps with weight lost? Well, it kinda did nothing for me until I start exercising. I mentioned this before but this experience has taught me to appreciate my body and read myself better.

Back to this little treat. My husband LOVES coconut. I wasn't a coconut lover before but is now a convert. I stumbled to this blog and found a treat that he loves in a much healthier version. I was delighted and made this just for us. The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup of honey but I added only 1 tsp and found it was sufficient for us. A Christmas after dinner mint.

Peppermint Patties (I made 14 and adapted from Meaningful Eats)
1 cup of desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons of coconut cream
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1/2 tsp of peppermint essence
1 tsp of honey
100 grams of lindt dark chocolate

In a food processor, blitz coconut, cream, oil, honey and essence together. It will form a paste. If it is too dry, add a few tsp of water. Shape them into little balls using a teaspoon and pat them into patty shapes. Freeze them on a baking tray lined with paper for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt chocolate in microwave. Using a fork, place each patty into the chocolate coat it and place it back on tray. Fridge it. Eat after 1 hour. Store in air tight containers in the fridge.

Pear and Coconut Almond Tart

Tarts are also associated with lovely crust and filling. I picked up this quick and easy recipe recently in a recently Donna Hay magazine. It isn't one of Donna's recipes- but in the advertisement section for pears! A quick glance shows that the base of this consists of a healthy dose of almond meal.

I thought about it for a few minutes and wonder how it would taste like with some coconut in it as well. The result is a thin base tart with the sweetness of pear in it. The cinnamon is certainly a very nice touch. Coconut added some texture to it.

The tart in the photos look dry but it didn't taste like it. I had it with a small scoop of vanilla ice-cream. It was satisfying.

Pear and Coconut Almond Tart
90 grams of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of almond meal
1/4 cup of desiccated coconut
1/4 tsp of baking powder
2 tsp of lemon rind
2 pears peeled cored and quartered
1/4 cup of golden syrup for brushing

Preheat Oven to 160C. Process butter and sugar in the food processor. Add eggs, vanilla, almond meal, coconut, baking powder, lemond rind and process til combined. Pour mixture into prepared fluted tart tin. Press pear quarters to the mixture. Bake for 40 minutes or till set. Brush with golden syrup and allow to cool in tin. Serve with cream or ice-cream if desired.

Potato and Leek Soup

Ok, So I hate to admit.. that I have perhaps gone overboard with my weekly soup obsession. Like seriously overboard. How do I know? Out of my 10 outstanding posts, there are only 3 that are NOT soup related.

I'm not sure if that will stop me though. The more I make soups, the more I like it. Maybe.. just maybe, it's my Cantonese heritage mixed up with my years of being in Australia. You know, the nightly clear vege/slow cooked soup paired with main meals turned into weekly thick comforting western style soups?

Am I even making sense?

In 2007, I made a similar soup- it was a much simpler version. This version of potato and leek consists of more vegetables- mainly celery and spring onions. I find that the addition of more veges gave a rounder and richer soup base than just potato and leek.  It also  has a bit of chunk into it-since I rarely blend my soups to a fine mixture. Usually, I leave out the "end bits" in the pot while I blitz the rest up with my gorgeous blender.

Isn't it always fun to look back at past entries of similar recipes? I started this blog on the 14th of September 2004 and a blink of an eye, it is nearly 7 years. It was a space for me to vent my frustration when I was completing my thesis, and I turned it into food related instead. Over the years, I had the encouragement of bloggers around the world to cook better. Well, I hope I have cooked better ;)

Well,  I know it's only June but I can't help but think... my blog will be turning 7 this September. ahh..

Back to the soup. It tasted even better the next day.

Potato and Leek Soup (Serves 4) 
1 onion diced
1 tsp of garlic
4-5 medium size potatoes diced
2 leeks sliced
1 small bunch of spring onions
1 small bunch of celery diced
1 ltre of chicken or vegetable stock
200 grams lean bacon diced

Saute bacon first till brown. Remove from pot. Cook onions till soft. Add potatoes. Again, cook till it has this lovely looking crust. Add all the other veges. Cook it down. Add stock and simmer for 20 mins or so till tender. Cool. Blitz everything up. Return to pot. Add most of the bacon bits, leaving some for garnishing. Dish up with cracked pepper.

Lemon Tart

I usually shy away from making pastry because I perceived them to be difficult, tricky, time consuming and unpredictable. The last thing I want is to make a tart and for pastry to fall off, or a base that is hard enough to break a person's tooth. Ah... the power of my imagination.

It turns out that to make a sweet shortcrust pastry isn't that hard. A few blitz in the food processing, resting in the fridge and tadah, ready to be rolled into the pastry tin. I used Donna Hay-because that is my "if this is new, look at Donnay Hay Classics" mantra. I think the pastry turned out slightly crisp but I would have preferred it to be slightly more crumbly. I might give Women's Weekly a go next time as their ratios of butter and flour seems slightly different to me (more butter I think).

I do like the filling! Nothing like a good citrus refreshing kick. The original recipe does not call for lemon zest, but since I have this lemon that I have squeezed, why waste the zest? I reduced the sugar slightly and even used a new product by Philadelphia- a low fat cream!!

My colleagues polished most of the tart off and I took 2 slices for AR. I did bring some fruits to go along with the tart, and cream of course. Since I was bringing it for office morning tea, I didn't cut a slice before packing it...and now I think the photo of it looks too plain! Definitely did not justify now lovely this tart was.

Lemon Tart

Short Crust Pastry
2 cups plain flour
3 tablespoons caster sugar
150 cold butter chopped
2-3 tablespoons iced water

Process flour, sugar and butter in food processor till it resembles breadcrumbs. While motor is running, add iced water till dough is formed. Turn dough out. Knead lightly. Wrap in pastry wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Once dough is ready. Roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper, till around 2-3mm thick. Line the tart tin. Blind bake it (by placing baking paper, filling it with rice or baking beads) in preheated 180C oven for 10 mins. Remove beads and bake for another 10 mins till golden. Spoon filling in and bake again.


Lemon Tart Filling
3/4 cup of lemon juice (I used 1 and 1/2 lemons) and zest of it
1/2 cup of caster sugar (Was 3/4)
3/4 of pouring cream- I used Philadelphia low fat cream
3 eggs lightly beaten

Place lemon juice and sugar in heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir till sugar dissolved. Add cream and eggs. Stir continously for 5 mins or so. Pour into tart shell through strainner. Bake tart for further 20-25 (mine took 25 mins) till filling is set. Cool and serve with cream or ice-cream.

Spicy Chickpea Burgers

We are blessed with many wonderful friends who taught us how to appreciate different cuisines. Through friends of friends, we got to know a girl from Queensland who happens to be a vegetarian. She came to visit us in Feb for two weeks-and being hosts, I decided to venture into the slightly unknown territory of vegetarian food.

I have to admit- I was buzzing with excitement as I accepted this challenge of having to satisfy our guest but at the same time to satisfy the meat loving hubby as well.

This was one of my creative ventures. Just something that I read out of several magazines but because I "can't be bother to look for the exact recipe" I re-created something from scratched. It wasn't too hard and I get to put my handsome food processor to work.

My own complain is that it is a tad too dry. I would have added perhaps one more egg or even more drops of oil to this mixture. The guest did not complain and every bit of the burger was finished.

And the hubby did not have a word of complain.

Spicy Chickpea Burgers (makes around 8-10 patties)
2 cans of chickpeas (or 1 cup dried and soaked overnight)
2 tsp of chili powder
2 eggs-lighted beaten 
1 tablespoon of cornflour
1-2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tsp of sesame oil
salt and pepper

Blend everything together. Shape with hands and panfry it both sides for around 3 minutes per side. Serve with toasted seeds bread and side salad!

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.

Pear and Cranberry Loaf- Happy Birthday to Me!

Greetings from Sydney!

Last year this time- we prepared for a wonderful engagement photoshoot. This year, I'm in Sydney celebrating with great friends.

Birthdays are a funny thing. One can probably lament that getting older limits what one can do. I beg to differ. Each year brings us to different opportunities. It all lies in our attitude. The thoughts that we place in our head.

The year of 2009, and the year of being 25 years old has finally ended. This year though, has brought me unbelievable joy. I have graduated (finally!) and got married (with the amazing 3 weddings) and had a wonderful time with my friends in Malaysia. I learned that it is NOT easy to organize home improvement/renovations and is increasingly getting addicted to magazines (Food and Home improvement included).

So here we are, celebrating a new age- it is only fitting to celebrate with a cute little cake isn't it?

Pear and Cranberry Loaf 

2 pears diced
1 cup of cranberries
125 grams butter
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cup of self raising flour
1/2 cup of buttermilk (I used normal skim milk)

Preheat Oven at 180C. Line loaf tray with baking paper.

Process butter, eggs and vanilla in food processor for 2-3 minutes. Add sugar, flour and milk, process for 1 min or till combined. Spoon mixture into big bowl and add pear and cranberries. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and bake for around 30-35 mins. Serve. =)

Lemon Slice

Oh who can resist a slice of sweetness?

Especially a tangy one?



Lemon slices are a classic isn't it? Just that tiny piece of tangy sweetness ends a dinner pretty well don't you think? These little gems were made for a gathering that we had on a Friday and I was soo pleased to know they were gone quickly.

Although, a few people came to me and said:

"What lovely CHEESECAKE that was!"

DOH!


Lemon Slice (Suppose to be for 24 slices but I slice it smaller and made that to be around 30 slices)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 cup plain flour
120 grams butter
1 tablespoon of milk

topping
1 1/3 tablespoons corn flour
1/3 cup of cream (low fat)
6 eggs
1 cup of castor sugar
2 tablespoons of lemon rind
3/4 cup of lemon juice

Preheat oven 170C. Line slice tray with paper.

Process sugar, flour, butter and milk in food processor(YES!) till mixture comes together. Press mixture to tin and bake for 25 minutes.

Topping: Whisk cornflour and 2 tablespoons of cream till smooth. Whisk remaining cream, eggs, sugar and lemon rind and juice. Place liquid in saucepan and cook over low heat for around 6 minutes till it thickens. Pour over base and bake for 5 minutes or till topping just set. Cool in tin and slice!


psss.. recipe taken from my favorite baker- Donna Hay Classics 2

Corn, Leek and Potato Chowder

My best friends can attest that I have a huge thing for corn. When we were growing up, Ruth, Peggy and I would love going for walks at the night markets. Without fail, we will buy roasted peanuts, cup corn, other little snacks and will chit chat the evening away.

When we were a little older (and some experience in the kitchen following our home economics class), I decided to be a little adventurous and make sweet corn soup for my best girl friends. That recipe was given to me by my mother who asked her work colleague who made it at a dinner party that I attended and finished three bowls of it (I was extremely overweight with a good appetite!). My mother thinking that she better get the recipe so we can enjoy it at home, thus probably saving her some embarrassment.....

Corn though is a very nutritious vegetable. It is full of vitamin B, C and of course fiber. Ah..reading these information give me MORE reason to have more corn.

Now though, I tried to venture out other versions of sweet corn soup-this one being a healthy one with the addition of leek. Potato also fills us up. We usually having our soup just like that perhaps with a bread roll. A very light and fulfilling meal.

Corn, Leek and Potato Chowder
250 grams of frozen corn
2 potato chopped
1 leek diced
1 ltre of stock
seasoning

1 egg lightly beaten

In a deep pot, heat a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook leek till soft and add potato and corn. Pour in stock and boil. Simmer for around 20 minutes till potato turns soft. Cool for 5mins.

Pour half of the soup into a blender and blend. Pour back into the pot and heat up. Stir in egg. Serve with your favorite bread roll.

This soup is also freezer friendly and I had another bowl for lunch at work. yum! =)

Sending this to my friends from Weekend Herb Blogging, The host is Marija from Palachinka

Red Curry Pumpkin Soup with Mango Chilli Sausages and Parmesan Waffles

oops! Sorry about this long title but I really excited to share this soup with you today. It's thick and rich and SPICY! A colleague of mine said to me that she added 2 tablespoons of left over thai red curry paste to her pumpkin soup and it had a huge punch to it. That got me excited and I returned home to try it that weekend.

As usual, I empty my fridge of vege-including one leek and a few potatoes to the pumpkin. The dear hubby then said to me he would prefer to have some MEAT in his soup which left me scurrying around-lucky though I did buy some Mango Chilli Sausages from Leanards so it was handy.


Red Curry Pumpkin Soup with Mango Chilli Sausages and Parmesan Waffles (Serves 6)
800 grams of butternut pumpkin
4 royal blue potatoes peeled and diced
1 red onion chopped
1 leek chopped (White part only)
3 carrots peeled and chopped
1 ltr of vege stock
2 tablespoon of red thai curry paste

1 cup of parmesan cheese

3 mango chilli sausages.

Saute onion in a deep pot. Add curry paste in and cook till it smells oh so good. Then add the diced pumpkin, carrots and potatoes. Add stock. Simmer for around 20-25 minutes.

Mean while, grill sausages till done. Rest. Sliced.

Cool soup for 5 mins.
Whizz the pumpkin soup up in batches (see, told u I love my food processor!). Return to pot. Add sausages.

Turn up the heat in your oven to around 200C. Sprinkle cheese on lined cookie tray. Grill it for around 5 minutes till it all melt. Cool slight. Break it up in pieces. Serve with soup.