HappyPearEats

Summer is the mango season in the Aussie land. Mr. Pear and I found a cheap grocery place few months ago. Every time we go there, sure will find something fresh and cheap to create our meal.

Early January (yes, I know, I have been so slow in catching up with update), this grocery shop sold a box of mangoes (it was over 15 mangoes per box) for just $9. How can anyone resist not to buy? They were all big and juicy.

However, how can we finish the whole box for only two of us. We needed to use them before it got rotten. Here were the solutions that we had:

1. give away to friends
2. make the mango mousse ring
3. make mango sago in coconut milk

We made the mousse for one of our dinner gatherings with friends to complete our three courses meal the other night. The result was amazing especially for a hot summer night.

This is absolutely easy to make and you can simply substitute the mango with other fruits. The original recipe actually uses strawberry instead which I will definitely try in next strawberry season :D

This is a kids friendly version of black forest cake. I made it for our connect Christmas party last year (plus a surprise cake for my dear friend). Since there are few kids and two pregnant ladies in the party, I decided to make a non-alcohol version of this cake.

I don't usually make the same thing more than once, because I like to try different things. If I ever make it again, it is either I really really love it (mango sago, which I will post later) or I really really want to conquer it (e.g. macaron). Nothing in between.

Sometimes, I don't know where I got this braveness from, but I always try to make new thing if I am going to a bring-a-plate party. It is not because I am so confident in my skill, this is only simply because I have a reason to make new and more complicated things. It is more a motivation to challenge myself, as I know I will only have one chance, otherwise, I am totally screwed and got nothing to share on the day (my plan B is always take away pizza lol).

Before Christmas, I bought a box of nice cherries from Garden City. To be honest, I know I am not going to finish it before it got rotten. I had to think a way to finish it before it happened. Then, black forest cake came across my mind. I wanted to make this for a long time and I know Mr. Pear like to eat chocolate cake. So, it was a win-win situation.

As I said, I was brave enough to make the cake on the day right before the party for the very first time. I would not have the luxury to redo if it stuffed. Therefore, I paid extra attention to every single step of the recipe. After the cake was out from the oven, I was not very happy as it looked so dry.

However, I really did not have time to make another one, so I still put the cake together and bought it over to the party.

Surprisingly, the cake came out very moist and it tasted just as nice as the store bought cake! I seldom say my food is good, as I was taught from young that this is not humble. But, I just can't help myself after the first bite of the cake... "It is so yummy!!!" I said that with an unbelievable tone, as I knew how it looked like before it got assemble. The result was brilliant and most of my friends liked it! Success! Yes! :D 

Happy New Year everyone!!! How was your new year eve like? Mine was a quiet and relaxing one with Mr. Pear. He prepared a beautiful dinner and we shared a glass of champagne. It was wonderful :D

I am sorry for the lack of post for such a long time. I was meant to post this before Christmas. However, my computer was playing up, so I needed to get Mr. Pear to fix it... and now it is up and running again! Yay!

Not long ago Two months ago, my dear friend Jade referred her friend to me as her friend wanted to have some macarons for her wedding. To be honest, I was really happy on one hand, coz someone trusted me and recommended me to their friends. How cool is that~

But on the other hand, I was a bit freaking out, as I haven't baked macs since 2010 after Jade's wedding. A good three year without making any, and now I have to bake for someone's wedding again?! How can I not freak out?!

So, the macaron madness begins...

I know I may shock you a bit if I tell you I am actually not a macaron fan but what makes me so fascinated about macaron is the unlimited combinations you can have with the shell flavours and the fillings.

If you follow my facebook page, you sure know how often I bake macs for the past few a couple of weeks. It has been an ups-and-downs journey. And it was so good to see the macs getting beta each time.

Of cause, every now and then accident happened, especially when trying new stuff.... haha...Yes, please do not expect to get it right at the first time. This recipe is a guide line for you to practise and the key steps are mostly followed from Adriano Zumbo's book, Zumbo with a little modification according to my personal experience and preference. However, please be aware that the outcome may vary due to different circumstances which will also be shown as we go through the process. It is gonna be a long post, but it records all I have come across these few weeks, so you know what to expect and what may happen :)

Once you have got the idea of how to make it and it is just a matter of time before you nailed it :) So, "Never Give Up" is the first and the main ingredient that you must have.

So, are you ready?

There was a little hiccup when I made this apple tarte tatin. I burnt the sugar!! Oh, no!!! What an unforgivable mistake! Before the guests came, I was trying to multitask myself... cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, blah blah blah... I kinda overestimated my efficiency! I put the sugar in the pan and left the kitchen and try to do something else which I should not do. I should watch the sugar closely because it is the most important part of the whole dish! And that is how it got burnt...

Again, as I was too busy with cooking for the night, I kinda forget to take pictures :((( And I almost forgot to take this finished product... as you can see, there is only a small on the plate... hopeless!! X_X

{ via MasterChef Australia }

serves 2 | prep 10 mins | cook 30 mins | French 

[ Ingredients ]

3 golden delicious apple

1 tbs lemon juice

1/2 cup (110 g) caster sugar

20 g unsalted butter, chopped

ready-rolled puff pastry sheet

cream, to serve

[ Method ]

1 Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C  fan-forced).

2 Peel apples, cut into quarters, remove cores (cutting each quarter at the core so it has a "flat" side), and toss the quarters in a large bowl with the lemon juice and 1 tbsp of sugar.

3 Using 20 cm frying pan as a guide, cut pastry into a round slightly larger than the pan, prick with a fork.

4 Melt butter in a 20 cm non-stick frying pan over medium-hight heat. Cover with the remaining sugar. Cook over medium-low heat, shaking pan occasionaly to spread around any dark spots that appear, until a rich caramel forms.

5 Place apple quarters into pan, rounded side down, arranging them around pan. Cut remining apple to fill gaps. Cook the apples over medium heat for about 10 mins until caramel is bubbling up in the pan, shaking pan occasionally to prevent burnt spots

6 Lay the pastry over the apples, tucking any protruding edges around edges of pan

7 Place the pan in the oven, cook for about 25 mins, or until the puff pastry has risen and cooked. The pastry should be dry and flaky. Stand tarte in pan for 10 mins before carefully turning out onto a serving plate. Serve with cream. 

♥  bon appétit  :)

Mum: here are the ingredients: 3 eggs.

Me: So 3 hard boiled eggs or raw eggs with shell?

Mum: Just 3 raw eggs. Then, 3 dried whole citrus peels. 

Me: So am I cook the raw eggs together with other ingredients?

Mum: Yes... and 8 dried honey dates... (mum started to get annoyed) 

Me: What? 8 dried honey dates? Would it be too sweet? How much water you are putting in?

Mum: Can you just let me finish before you ask questions? I don't even finish the recipe! You keep asking questions, how am I supposed to finish telling you the recipe? So can continue?

Me: Okay! 

Then, we both burst out laughing... Yes, that's me... Sometimes, I can be quite annoying... haha... So blessed that Mr. Pear can bear with all my nonsense... = , =|||

Anyway, mum finally finished the recipe after she lost her temper to me... So I did learnt this recipe a hard way! hehe... I made this the other night and I forced Mr. Pear to drink with me together as he started to have some cough... and Mr. Pear said he loves it! 

Though this soup quite worked for me (at least I did not have the chest pain when I coughed), the effectiveness is varied from different individuals.

   Chuanbei and Egg Sweet Soup   

{ mum's recipe }

serves 2 | prep 5 mins | cooking 1 hour | Chinese

[ Ingredients ]

3 dried whole citrus peels 原塊果皮

8 dried honey dates 蜜棗

15 g dried south almond 南杏

15 g dried north almond 北杏

20 g chuanbei 川貝

[ Method ]
1 Put all ingredients in a medium pot (except the chuanbei) and cover with 6 bowls of water under medium high heat until the eggs are cooked. Meanwhile, put the chuanbei in a small processor and blend it into small pieces.

step 1a: put everything in the pot (except the chuanbei)

2 Take out the eggs and peel the shell off. After that put the peeled eggs and the blended chuanbei in the pot and cook together with other ingredients under medium high heat. When the water reduced to 2 bowls of water, then you are done. Simple! :D

[ Kitchen Notes ] 

¶ Mum said to blend the chuanbei into smaller pieces can help to release the taste from chuanbei quicker.
¶ Remember to wash your eggs before cooking. 

♥  bon appétit  :)

   Crème Caramel   

{ via Australian Good Taste - April 2008, p. 92 }

serves 6 | prep 30 mins (+2 hrs cooling) | cooking 55 mins | French 

♥  bon appétit  :)