Happy New Year!

Hi friends, 

*** HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 ***

Wishing all of you a great 2011, with good health, happiness, love, laughter and contentment! 

Enjoy your New Year ! Have fun!

Above picture, courtesy from hubpages.com

Cherry, Chocolate and Kahlua Brownies

Baked this delicious brownies and while they are still warm, three quarters of it are gone in less than half an hour! My nieces and nephew came for a visit and thought I bake something chocolaty, their favorite. These brownies are perfect! I would suggest using a slightly bigger pan as when the brownies are baked, it really puffed up in the centre. And as usual, I reduced the amount of sugar used, from the original 500gm to 280gm, believe me, it is sweet enough! The brownies turned out really good, with a delightful Kahlua liquor taste, moist and chocolaty. This would definitely go on my 'to-do-again' list!

I'm sharing this with Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story

Cherry, Chocolate and Kahlua Brownies

(adapted from "Brownies and Bars" by Liz Franklin)
Makes 15
Preparation Time : 1 hour, plus 30 minutes soaking
You will need a lightly buttered roasting tin or cake tin measuring 20x30cm/8x12inches

100g/3-1/2 oz dried cherries (I use dried cranberries)
4-5 tablespoons Kahlua
250g/9oz butter
500g/1 lb 2oz caster sugar (I use 280gm)
100g/3-1/2oz dark chocolate
60g/2-1/4oz cocoa powder
4 eggs, beaten
125g/4-1/2oz self-raising flour

Soak the cherries in the Kahlua for 30 minutes or so.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Melt the butter, sugar, chocolate and cocoa powder together. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
Stir the eggs into the chocolate mixture and then fold in the flour. Stir in the cherries and soaking liquid.
Spoon into the prepared tin, and then bake for 35 minutes or so, until just firm but still slightly fudgy.
Leave to cool in the tin and then cut into squares. Store them in an airtight container.

A Happy Yummy Christmas Celebration!

Hello, friends, thank you for your Christmas wishes!

As usual, we celebrated this year's Christmas at my sister's place with lots of munching, chewing, talking, laughing whilst savoring the delicious Christmas dinner. It is my niece's sixth birthday too, so each year, she gets double presents during Christmas, and she's thrilled to bits! Here's some photos taken.

Presents around the lovely Christmas Tree

Our Christmas Menu.... oh...oh, the 'r" is missing from "Starter"...my BIL is probably too hungry when he is writing this!  (Hey J, is your mind on the turkey while writing this? He! He! I would too! ^..^)

My sister's delicious roasted turkey and my youngest sis's pumpkin rice. They are delicious.

My youngest sis's roasted lamb. Yummy!

My sis's sister-in-law's fresh salad with sour cream and chives. Refreshing and delicious!

Baked potatoes with cheese and bacon! Yummy!

Mince Pies, from my eldest sis, the filling is full of flavour from the brandy and rum. Really good!

Fruits with Chocolate Fondue. Needless to say, this is a hit with everyone! Absolutely addictive!

The birthday girl, my cute little niece, Ashleigh, with her mommy. My sis baked a really delicious cheese butter cake for her little princess who requested for a "clown" cake. 

Her cake is really cute and beautifully done! Great job, sis!

Due to the excitement, (there are about 30 of us!) and hungry kids, the adults too, I have forgotten to snap some photos of the Chili and Nachos (made by me) and the Spaghetti with Mince Meat Tomato Sauce (made by my nephew, which is really delicious, the kids had seconds!). I have forgotten the Gingerbread Man (cookies) and his family too! We really had fun and already planning for our New Year's get together pot-luck dinner!! 

Christmas Greetings From Malaysia!

To all my foodie friends, blogmates and everyone!  Here's wishing all of you ,

A MERRY CHRISTMAS 

AND 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR

* HAVE FUN AND ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAYS *

Tang Yuen Festival

Today is Dongzhi day or Winter Solstice Festival , one of the important festival celebrated by the Chinese.  It always falls on or around 22nd December each year, where sunshine is the weakest and daylight is the shortest. The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in.

When we were small, my sisters and I would help our mom to make Tang Yuen, a sweet dessert made from ground glutinous rice. In those days, my mom would soak the glutinous rice grains and we would bring the rice grains to a special shop to be grinded to a paste. The grinder is a big mortar made from marble. Nowadays, powdered glutinous rice can be easily obtained from any grocery shop. 

The powdered glutinous rice is then mixed with water to a dough. A small amount of the dough, the size of a cherry tomato, is then rolled into a round. The dough can be divided and add some food colours before rolled them into rounds. Drop these rounds into hot boiling water and cook until they pops up, they will be cooked at this point. These are eaten with sweet soup. The sweet soup is prepared by boiling water, sugar, some crushed ginger and pandan (screwpine) leaves. Scoop some glutinous rice balls into a bowl, top with some sweet soup, and you will have a bowl of Tang Yuen. Tang Yuen can be cooked in a savoury soup, but it has always been the sweet version for my family. 

Some superstitious and belief : by eating Tang Yuen, we will be one year older, instead of waiting for the Chinese New Year, where the starts of a new year in a Chinese Calendar. My mom and the elderly used to say that as soon as you one ate of these Tang Yuen, then you are a year older. My mom used to stick a pair of Tang Yuen, a white and a red at the top corners of the windows and doors, as it is believed to be a talisman to keep the evil spirits from harming the children. Tang Yuen is also served during the Chinese wedding ceremony to the couple so that they will have a sweet and loving life together. (Yes! I had this at my wedding!).

These Tang Yuan can be filled with sweet stuffings, like a  mixture of finely chopped peanuts and sugar, or some local palm sugar. I chose to do mine plain, without any stuffing, as I like it better plain.  Tang Yuan can be eaten either hot or cold. I prefer it hot.

This tradition is now passed down from one generation to the next. My kids are helping me now just as I have helped my mom. My kids certainly had a great fun making this Tang Yuan, with various colours and sizes! My sisters and I would always try not to drop one onto the floor when making them into rounds, but being kids, we are always not careful and there will at least be a few wasted! We would always laugh at each other when this happens. Now I see this being repeated in my own kids! 

Have you eaten any Tang Yuen today? If you have, then you are a year older! 

Fresh Mango Bread (Actually A Loaf Cake!)

This is a recipe from Dorie's book, BFMHTY. My kind neighbour gave me half a dozen mangoes, which are  very sweet and smells heavenly. I immediately thought of something to bake with these lovely mangoes. Looked for a recipe, and found this. I reduced the sugar, as the mango is extremely sweet. And I also reduced the spices slightly as my family are not keen on cakes heavily spiced. When I mixed the batter, it seems to be too much for the sized-pan recommended and thought of using a slightly bigger one. But then, I think that I should really trust Dorie, I'm glad I did. The batter came up to almost to the top level of the baking pan, though not quite. When it's done, it rises nicely and cracked in the centre as most loaf cake should. 

The thing is, Dorie suggested to keep it overnight for the flavours to come through. I was tempted to slice a piece as it smells wonderful, but did not! This morning, had it for breakfast with my coffee and it was full of mango flavour! It is still a little too sweet for me!  Glad that I reduced the sugar! Of course, a few slices went to my neighbour. All in all, this loaf cake is moist, the mango flavour really comes through and the flavour from the spices is just right, not too strong. 

I am submitting this lovely mango and raisin loaf cake for the Culinary Smackdown December 2010 with the theme "Raisins" at Mom's Sunday Cafe, one of my favourite site. Take a peek at Melynda's fantastic blog and share your best raisins recipe with this challenge. It will be fun!

Fresh Mango Bread  (I will call this Fresh Mango Cake with Raisins!)
(adapted from "Baking From My Home To Yours" by Dorie Greenspan)
Ingredients :
3 large eggs
3/4 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour  (I use 300gm)
1 cup sugar (I use 140gm)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger (I use 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I use 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar (I use 50gm)
2 cups diced mango (from 1 large peeled and pitted mango)
3/4 cup, moist golden raisins
grated zest of 1/2 lime

Getting Ready : Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other. (This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from overbaking).

Whisk the eggs and oil together.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Rub the brown sugar between your palms into the bowl, breaking up any lumps, then stir it in. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, switch to a sturdy rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix until blended - the batter will be very thick (really more like a dough than a batter) and not easily mixed, but persevere, it will soon come out together. Stir in the mango, raisins and zest. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake the bread for 1-1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown a thin knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. (If the bread looks as if it's getting too brown as it bakes, cover it loosely with a foil tent). Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before running a knife around the sides of the pan and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.

Serving : As good as this bread is freshly baked, I think it's even better the next day. One day spent wrapped in plastic seems to intensify the fruit and spice flavors. Of course, if you can't wait, don't. Just cut the loaf into thick slices and serve with tea, hot or iced, or coffee.

Storing : Wrapped in plastic, the cake will keep for about 4 days at room temperature.

(my notes :  I steamed the raisins for a few minutes to plump them up. My cake was done in 1 hour 25 minutes, the top covered with foil after baking for 1 hour)

Milk Loaf

Ha! Ha! What recipe follows next after my marmalade jam?  You guessed it right, bread of course! Really straightforward and simple, if you have a breadmaker, that is! This milk loaf is made in the breadmaker from start to finish. It is simple, easy, and what you get is a nice, soft and delicious loaf of bread. Baked this in the late evening intended for breakfast, but finished it that night itself, (yes, a very rare late night snack with my family!) really good when it is warm and smells wonderful just after baking, spread with butter and my homemade Orange Oxford Marmalade.  I baked another one that same night, for next morning's breakfast, of course!

I'm sharing this lovely bread with Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen

Milk Loaf
(adapted from "The Big Book of Bread - 365 Delicious Recipes For Bread Machines and Home-Baking" by Anne Sheasby)
Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking Time : varies according to breakmaker
Makes : 1 medium loaf (serves 10)

1 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup water
3 cups strong white flour
1-1/2 teaspoons salt (I find it a little salty, I reduced to 1 tsp the second time round)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter, diced
1 teaspoon fast-action dried yeast

1. Please note, bread machines vary, so add the ingredients to the bread pan in the order specified in your instruction booklet (if this differs from the instructions given here).
2. Pour the milk and water into the bread machine pan. Sprinkle over the flour, ensuring that the water is completely covered. Add the salt, sugar and butter, placing them in separate corners of the bread pan. Make a small indent in the center of the flour and add the yeast.
3. Close the lid, set the machine to the program recommended in the manual (usually Basic White/Normal setting), select size of loaf and type of crust, and press Start.
4. Once the baking cycle has finished, remove the bread pan from the machine and turn the loaf onto a wire rack to cool. Serve in slices.

Oxford Marmalade

This homemade Oxford Marmalade is exactly what it is supposed to be, sweet, bitter and full of chunky bits of the orange peel and the juicy flesh. My MIL gave me about a dozen oranges, two or three different varieties, and these are definitely not Seville oranges, which are recommended to use for making Oxford Marmalade. I use half of them to make this marmalade which has been on my "list of to do jams and preserves" for soooo long! If I had known that it would turn out this good, I would have made this ages ago! 

The only thing is, these oranges turned out to be seedless oranges! Without the pips (seeds), where pectin is needed to set the jam, I thought the peels would be enough.  But after adding the sugar and simmering for more than 45 minutes, it still doesn't show signs of thickening. So I added in about 3 teaspoon of powdered pectin, and simmer for a further 10-15 minutes before it starts to set.  I do not like my jam to be too thick, I like it slightly on the runny side, so it is just perfect for me. If you like your jam really thick, then add an extra teaspoon of pectin and simmer a little longer.  

I reduced the amount of sugar to only 1-3/4 cups from the original 6-1/2 cups! That's rather drastic, isn't it? But believe me, it is sweet enough! Try adding the sugar a quarter cup at a time until it reaches your desired sweetness. The peels are soft and tender and there are chunky bits of the orange flesh. I remove the white pith before chopping the flesh to large chunks. 

This is a delicious marmalade!

I'm sharing this with Recipe Swipe Thursday at Prairie Story and
Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen

Oxford Marmalade
(adapted from "50 Step-By-Step Homemade Preserves" by Maggie Mayhew)
The characteristics caramel colour and rich flavour of a traditional Oxford marmalade is obtained by cutting the fruit coarsely and cooking it for several hours before adding the sugar.
(Traditionalists say that only bitter oranges such as Seville should be used to make marmalade. Although this isn't always true, it is most certainly the case when making Oxford marmalade).

Makes about 2.25kg/5lb  (I got 4 bottles of 250ml)

Ingredients :
900gm/2lb Seville (Temple) oranges (I use 6 oranges, about 1kg)
1.75 litres/3 pints/7-1/2 cups water
1.3kg/3lb/6-1/2 cups granulated sugar, warmed ( I only use 1-3/4 cup, which is sweet enough!)

Method :

1. Scrub the orange skins, then remove the rind using a vegetable peeler. Thickly slice the rind and put in a large pan.
2. Chop the fruit, reserving the pips (seeds), and add to the rind in the pan, along with the water. Tie the orange pips in a piece of muslin (cheesecloth) and add to the pan.  Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 2 hours. Add more water during cooking to maintain the same volume.  Remove the pan from the heat and leave overnight.
3. The next day, remove the muslin bag from the oranges, squeezing well, and return the pan to the heat. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 1 hour.
4. Add the warmed sugar to the pan, then slowly bring the mixture to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved completely.  Increase the heat and boil rapidly for about 15 minutes, or until setting point is reached (105C/220F).
5. Remove the pan from the heat and skim off any scum from the surface. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes, stir, then pour into warmed sterilized jars and seal. When cold, label, then store in a cool, dark place.

Tofu with Preserved Szechuan Vegetable and Pork

Tofu, the old-time Chinese favourite! The tofu is first steamed, cooled and topped with preserved, pickled Szechuan vegetables and pork. Szechuan vegetables are preserved with salt, hot pepper powder and some spices. The Szechuan vegetable that I used for this dish is sold in packets and it can be eaten as it is, usually as an accompaniment in porridge. I like to stir-fry this preserved vegetable with shredded pork. This is a really simple and tasty dish that goes well with steamed white rice or plain white porridge.

Tofu with Preserved Szechuan Vegetable and Pork
Ingredients :
1 pack soft tofu
100gm lean pork or chicken
80gm preserved Szechuan  vegetable
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 slices ginger
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cornflour + 1/2 tsp water
1/2 cup water
1 tsp chinese cooking wine (optional)

Method :

1. Steam soft tofu for about 5 minutes. Drain, pat dry and put on serving plate.
2. Cut pork to thin shreds and marinate with cornflour and 1 tsp water. Keep aside.
   
3. Heat about 2 tbsp oil, saute chopped garlic and ginger slices till light brown and fragrant. Add in pork and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add in preserved Szechuan vegetables and water. Stir and let simmer for about 5 minutes until pork are cooked. Before adding salt, taste for saltiness, as the preserved vegetables are usually quite salty. Add in chinese cooking wine, if used, give a quick stir and dish out to the serving plate, on top of the steamed tofu. Serve hot.

Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake

Moist, soft and yummy! This cake is delicious, especially over a cup of hot black coffee, no cream please! Some cakes are good with creamed coffee, well this is good with plain black coffee, of course it's my preference, but seriously, just black coffee with this! 

This is a recipe from 'Rose's Heavenly Cakes' by Rose Levy Beranbaum.  Would you believe it, I made these weeks ago but never post it.  Now is a good time, since I have not been baking ever since I got back from my holidays! Still having the cough and it is really irritating as it kept me from having a proper sleep each night! Thank you to all you lovely ladies for all your get well wishes!  Will be back to baking by next week!  Really missed it! LOL!

This cake is especially good when it is still very warm, about 15 minutes right after baking. It is so moist and soft, delicious. It smells wonderful in the oven! On the next day, it stays moist, soft and very good too. This cake was recommended to be baked in a "one small Bundt and 2 cupcakes" pans.  Why wasn't it being recommended to use, perhaps an 8 cup Bundt pan to fit all the batter in? I used my standard muffin pan and got only 11, as the batter was not enough for my 10 cup Bundt pan.   

As you can see from the picture above, the chocolate streusel is supposed to be in the centre of the cupcake, but somehow it has risen to the top!


I'm sharing this with :
Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen
Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen


Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake
(adapted from "Heavenly Cakes" by Rose Levy Beranbaum)
Makes : One small Bundle-style cake and 2 cupcakes; serves 6 to 8
Baking Time : 40 to 50 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for the cupcakes)
Rose suggested, if desired, you can make a total of 12 cupcakes instead.

Chocolate Streusel Filling
3 tbsps (1.5 ounce/40 gms) firmly packed, light brown sugar, preferably Muscovado
2 tbsp plus 1-1/2 tsp (0.5 ounce/12 gms) sifted before measuring, unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Make the Chocolate Streusel Filling : In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cocoa and cinnamom. Use a fork or your finger tips to break up the sugar, if necessary.

Batter
1-3/4 cups (7 ounces/200 gms) sifted into the cup and leveled off, bleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 plus 1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick/4 ounces/113gms) unsalted butter
1 cup (7 ounces/200 gms) superfine sugar (I use 160gm)
1 large egg, at room temperature (3 tbsp/1.7 ounce/50gms)
1 large egg white, at room temperature (2 tbsp/1 ounce/30 gms)
1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup (8.5 ounce/242 gms) sour cream

Special Equipment : One 6-cup fluted metal tube pan, coated with baking spray with flour / 2 cupcake liners set in ramekins or custart cups.

Preheat The Oven : Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F/175C (325F/160C, if using a dark pan).

Mix The Dry Ingredients : In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt just until lightly combined.

Make The Batter : In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, cream the butter on medium-high speed for 1 minute.  Beat in the sugar slowly, taking about 2 minutes to beat it in, and then beat for another 2 minutes.  With the mixer off, pour in the egg, egg white and vanilla and scrape down the sides of the bowl onto the egg mixture.  Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

With the mixer off between additions, add the flour mixture together with the sour cream in three parts.  Beat each addition starting on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened, then raise the speed to medium and beat for 15 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl after addition.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners to fill half full.  Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoons of the streusel filling and drop a spoonful of batter on top.  Use a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon to smooth the batter. The batter should fill the liner almost to the top.

Using a silicone spatula or spoon, scrape about half of the remaining batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small metal spatula.  Sprinkle the remaining streusel filling evenly over the batter, making a ring around the center of the batter to keep most of the streusel away from the outside and inside edges. Drop the remaining batter in large blobs over the filling and spread it evenly.

Bake The Cake And Cupcakes : Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for the cupcakes), or until the cake just begins to come away from the sides of the pan.  In the cupcake liners, the cakes should spring back when pressed lightly in the center.

Cool And Unmold The Cakes : Let the cakes cool on wire racks in their pan and liners for 10 minutes.  With a small metal spatula, loosen the top edges of the large cake and invert it onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray.  Cool completely.

Teriyaki Chicken Pizza

Hi, I'm back! Thank you for visiting my blog and all your sweet comments while I'm away. Went to Penang with my family together with my sister and her family. It was a good trip but some of us came back with flu and cough, including me.

Made this lovely pizza a couple of weeks ago but never got round to post it. This pizza is so delicious. Yummy! The crust is really good. It is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy inside. The fantastic crust is from King Arthur Flour's website. Do not be put off by the rather long instructions, it is actually quite simple to do. I'll be making this again for sure! There are so many toppings variations that I would love to make. Have you tried with garlic teriyaki sauce before?  I love Kikkoman Garlic Teriyaki Sauce, if you have not tried this sauce before, buy a bottle, you'll love it!

I'm linking this to Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen and Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story

For the pizza crust, refer to King Arthur Flour, click here for the full recipe.

Teriyaki Chicken Pizza

Ingredients :

250gm minced chicken

3 tbsp garlic teriyaki sauce

1 small capsicum, halved and cut to thin slices

1 small tomato, quartered and cut to small chunks

1 onion, halved and sliced thinly

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tbsp oil

3 tbsp spaghetti sauce

mozzarella cheese (as much as you want!)

Method :

Marinate minced chicken with teriyaki sauce and keep aside for 15 minutes.

Heat oil. Saute garlic till fragrant. Add in sliced onions and stir about 2 minutes until limp. Add in minced chicken and stir for about 4-5 minutes or until cooked. Dish out. Keep aside.

Spread the spaghetti sauce over partially baked crust. Top with cooked minced chicken, scatter the sliced tomatoes and capsicum evenly over chicken.  Top with mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 220C for about 15 minutes until cheese melts.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Popovers

This is great as a teatime snack or for a light breakfast. It is a healthy snack without any butter and very little sugar.  I would usually reduce the sugar in most recipes, but for this, I added a little bit more!  And to give additional flavour to this otherwise plain popovers, I added in orange zest and orange essence.  My kids love to eat these with some honey drizzled over the top while still hot.  This is extremely easy to make and takes only about 15 minutes of preparation. The original recipe are served with sweet, fresh berries. These popovers are best eaten while still hot, don't forget the honey!

I made this twice actually, the first time with vanilla essence, which is good too.  Just increase the sugar a little otherwise this will be quite bland. And of course, eat it while still hot with drizzled honey.

I'm still on holiday! I scheduled this post to be published today! See you in a few days time!

Blueberry Popovers
(adapted from Baking with Love by Readers Digest)
125gm (1 cup/4-1/2 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon caster sugar (I use 2 tablespoons sugar)
2 eggs
250ml (1 cup/9fl oz) milk
80gm (1/2 cup/2-1/2 oz) blueberries
1 tablespoon icing (confectioners') sugar
my add-on:
grated zest of 1 orange
1/2 tsp orange essence
pinch of salt

1. Use 1 x 12 hole (80ml/1/3 cup/2-1/2fl oz) deep muffin pan and grease 8 cups. Preheat the oven to 220C(425F, gas mark 7).
2. To make batter, sift flour, sugar and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Break eggs into the well, add milk, orange zest and essence and combine with a fork.
3. Using a wire whisk, gradually work the flour into the liquid to make a smooth batter with the consistency of pouring cream. Pour into a large jug.
4. Pour batter into muffin cups; they should be two-thirds full. Drop blueberries into the batter in each cup, dividing them equally.
5. Bake on the centre rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until popovers are golden brown, well risen and crisp around the edges.
6. Unmold the popovers with the help of a round-bladed knife and dust with icing sugar. Serve hot.

(my notes : I use frozen blueberries, there's no need to thaw them, I bake the popovers at 200C for 25 minutes, serve these with drizzled honey while still hot)

Kenny Rogers' Corn Muffin

Each time when we went to Kenny Rogers' for a meal, the muffins would be the last one to be eaten, and usually it will be packed for takeaway as we would be full from the meal.  Over here in Malaysia, Kenny Rogers restaurants only served three types of muffins, Chocolate Raisin, Banana Raisin and Golden Vanilla Muffins. So this Corn Muffin is a new flavour to me and  since they do not sell this muffin over here, I'm unable to know whether it tastes just as Kenny Rogers'!  Among these four flavours, I would go for the Chocolate and Golden Vanilla. 

I'll be taking a little break for a short holiday with my family.  See you when I get back!

I'm submitting this to the monthly roundup at Copycat Club at Buttercream Barbie and Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story

Kenny Rogers' Corn Muffins
(source from recipe.goldmine.com)
Ingredients :
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar (I only use 80gm)
1/4 cup honey (I use slightly less, I reduce about 1 tablespoon from the 1/4 cup)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup frozen yellow corn

Method :

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Cream together butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt in a large bowl.  Add flour, cornmeal and baking powder and blend thoroughly.  Add milk while mixing.  Add corn to mixture and combine by hand until corn is worked in.
3. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan and fill each cup with batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until muffins begin to turn brown on top.

The Winner for the "Culinary Smackdown Let's Get Tangy With Citrus November 2010" goes to ....

Thank you everyone for taking the time and especially to these lovely ladies who has submitted their delicious entries for the Culinary Smackdown. I thought choosing the theme was extremely difficult. I changed my mind over and over before decided on  citrus as the theme  for the month of November 2010.  Choosing the winner is even more difficult than anything else! The entries submitted are all mouth-watering and looks so delicious that I have a hard time picking out the winner!

Let me present the delicious entries to this Culinary Smackdown, in random order, and you can see for yourself how delicious each entry is. They are :

Orange Oatmeal Bread from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipe

Chicken Breasts with Lemon from Hun...What's for Dinner

Homemade Orange and Lemon Marshmallows from At Home With Rebecka

Orange Lassi from love2cook

Lemon Onion Chicken from Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Grapefruit Rhubarb Jam from Mom's Sunday Cafe

Rum Painted Pineapple Orange Bundt Cake from Brenda's Canadian Kitchen

Lemon Dill Chicken and Rice from From Apples to Zucchini

Lemon Bars from Krakilette

Lemon Yogurt Cake with Lemon Glaze from Big Mama's Home Kitchen

There now, don't you agree with me that they all look so deliciously yummy! I'm sure by now that you would want to know who the winner is. Alright, lovely ladies, this is a very challenging and extremely difficult decision for me as all of your entries are absolutely incredible!  OK. here goes, hold your breath......

THE WINNER FOR THE "CULINARY SMACKDOWN LET'S GET TANGY WITH CITRUS NOVEMBER 2010 "  goes to ........

*** MELYNDA OF MOM'S SUNDAY CAFE ***

her fabulous entry "Grapefruit Rhubarb Jam"

Yahooooo !  Melynda, you have won!!!! Please email me your full address and this wonderful cookbook shall be on its way to your kitchen very soon!

Congratulations Melynda!!!!

Thank you to the rest of the participants for your entries and support! It has been fun hosting! Now, I'm handing over the hosting for the next month's challenge to Melynda.  Have fun, Melynda!