Thai Style Sweet & Sour Wings

You would like this dish if you like the unique combination of fish sauce, lemongrass and lime scent. The sweet and sour taste would whet your appetite asking for more of this succulent wings baked to tender :)

Yield: 19 mid wings for 4 adults

Ingredients

700g chicken mid wings, about 19 pcs

Marinades

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper powder

1 tsp low salt light soya sauce

1/2 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp chopped ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

2 tsp chopped lemongrass

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

2 tsp honey

Glaze

1 tbsp remaining marinade collected 

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp fish sauce

Juice from 2 limes

Garnish

Chopped red chili

Cut green scallion

Cut coriander leaf

Direction

1. Rinse and drain chicken wings.

2. Add in marinades and mix well. 

3. Cover with food wrap and allow the wings to marinate for 1/2 to 2 hours, or longer in the fridge. The longer the marinating time, the better would be the taste of the wings.

4. Arrange the wings in a single layer over a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

5. Bake the wings in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 20 minutes.

6. While waiting for the wings to bake, prepare the glazing sauce.

7. Brush the glazing sauce over the wings.

8. Return the wings to the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Repeat step 7 and 8 for another one or two rounds, or till you finish the glazing sauce.

9. For the final round, drizzle honey over the wings and spread using a brush.

10. Bake the wings at 200 degree Celsius for 5 minutes. Thereafter, allow the wings to stay in the oven for about 1/2 an hour to allow the remnant heat melts the fat under the skin.

11. Garnish the wings with chili, green scallion and coriander leaf. If you prefer a stronger lime taste, you may squeeze some lime juice over the wings before serving.

Serve warm :)

Sweet Potato Butter Cake

I came across a similar recipe from a Japanese cake book during last year BookFest. After three attempts, I finally was able to get closer to producing this yummy golden butter cake.

Although this is a dense cake, it has a very soft and moist texture. The entire cake was overwhelmed by butter aroma. Even the sweet potato bits were masked by butter scent. 

Eat it to love it <3

Yield: One 20Lx6Wx9H cm loaf cake

Sweet potato strips

Ingredients

200g honey sweet potato, peeled & cut

20g unsalted butter

20g fine sugar

Direction

1. Peel and cut sweet potato into strips which weighs about 200 to 220 g.

2. Melts 20g of unsalted butter in a pot.

3. Add sweet potato strips and stir fry till the outer layer slightly soften. Pour in the fine sugar and cook till the sweet potato strips were about 8&&0% softened.

4. Dish out the sweet potato into a bowl and set aside.

Butter cake

Ingredients

All ingredients in room temperature 

85g unsalted butter, softened

50g fine sugar

3 egg whites

35g fine sugar

3 egg yolks

1/2 tsp vanilla essence 

90g cake flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

30g fresh milk

Direction

1. Lightly coat one 21x9.5x6.5 cm cake mould with butter and set aside.

2. Mix cake flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

3. Whip butter till pale. Add in sugar and continue to whip till light and creamy. This takes about 5 minutes.

4. Beat egg whites in a clean and grease-free mixing bowl till frothy. Gradually add the sugar and beat till firm peaks formed.

5. Gradually add in the egg yolks, one by one.

6. Add in the vanilla essence and blend well.

7. Gradually fold the egg batter into the  whipped butter in (4).

8. Sieve in 1/3 of the flour mixture from (1) into the batter. Fold in the flour using a spatula. 

Do not over mix. It's okay to have streaks of unmixed flour as the subsequent mixings will do away with it.

Add in 1/2 of the fresh milk.

Finish up the remaining flour mixture and milk by adding them alternatively.

 

9. Pour in 2/3 of the sweet potato and mix well.

10. Pour the batter into the cake mould, tap lightly to level the batter as well as to get rid of trapped air bubbles.

11. Arrange the remaining 1/3 of the sweet potato on top of the batter. Just rest the sweet potato strips on top of the batter without having to press down. As the sweet potato strips will sink slightly into the batter during baking.

12. Bake in the lower rack of a pre-heated oven at 190 degree Celsius for about 5 minutes, then lower to 170 degree Celsius for 35 to 40 minutes, or till an inserted skewer came out clean.

13. After about 5 minutes out of the oven, transfer the cake out of the cake mould onto a cooling rack to cool down.

Cover the warm cake with a tissue paper  to prevent moisture from escaping.

14. Slice the cake and enjoy :)

Barley Milk Wholemeal Bread (breadmaker )

I have a similar recipe that is baked in an oven. However, on a lazy day, I prefer to let the breadmaker runs the process from kneading to baking. As a result, I modified my oven recipe http://mymindpatch.blogspot.sg/2014/12/barley-milk-loaf.html

into a recipe that is suitable to be baked in a breadmaker :)

Yield: One 13Lx12Wx13H cm loaf

Loaf weight: 480g

Ingredients 

70g boiled barley pearls

125g fresh milk

35g raw sugar

1/4 tsp salt

15g beaten egg

25g coconut/vegetable oil 

225g bread flour

25g wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp instant dry yeast 

Glazing

Some beaten egg

Direction 

1. Boil barley with candied winter melon strips and pandan leaf.

2. Collect 70g barley pearls and blend with 100g milk.

3. Add about 25g of fresh milk to (2) to top up the quantity to 190g in weight.

4. Pour barley milk mixture into the bread pan.

Followed by raw sugar and salt;

15g beaten egg;

coconut oil;

bread flour;

wholemeal flour;

dig a hole, and pour in the instant dry yeast.

5. Place the bread pan into the bread machine.

6. Select "5" Sweet Bread Function, select desired crust colour, and press "Start".

This step 7 is optional, you may leave the dough in the bread pan till baking cycle completes. By shaping the dough, you'll get a more uniform loaf and minimize the appearance of conspicuous  air sacs within the loaf.

7. When the countdown timer appears at 1:55 (1 hour after started the "Sweet Dough" program), take out the dough and shape it into a ball. 

Sprinkle some bread flour over the surface of the dough.

Remove the kneading blade, and place the dough back to the bread pan

As the dough maybe sticky, it is advisable to handle it with a pair of disposable gloves.

8. When the countdown timer shows at 1:05, apply a thin coat of beaten egg over the surface. Be careful not to let the beaten egg touch the sides of the bread pan.

9. When the loaf rises too close to the window, to avoid having an untanned top, cover the window with a small piece of aluminum foil.

10. When the baking cycle is over, transfer the loaf to a cooling rack.

Allow the bread to cool down completely before slicing it. Enjoy :)

Barley milk bread with homemade strawberry blueberry jam ^_^