Corn Fritters with Roast Tomato

Corn Fritters! Every time I see corn fritters on a menu I order it. It's delicious. I love biting into the corn bits and all it's sweetness and juiciness. Omnomnom.. When I saw *this recipe* I decided to try it out for our weekend brunch =) I left out the bacon so this is a vegetarian dish.

Half the tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and then pop into the oven
Mmm Capsicum..
Chop them up into little pieces
Flour, baking powder, salt and paprika. I was a bit more generous with the paprika because I wanted it to be a little more spicy.

Pour in the egg and milk mixture.

Mix it up with some herbs. I used ground coriander and chopped parsley instead of fresh ones because I didn't have any.

And then, pour the batter into the corn mixture.

Serve with the roasted tomatoes and some rocket leaves. Delicious, healthy and filling =) This version is even better than some of the restaurant-made ones that I've had! Also, if you cook it at home it doesn't get too greasy. So good =)

Sweetcorn Fritters with Roast Tomato and Bacon

1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika (I used a bit more)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob
1/2 cup diced red capsicum
1/2 cup sliced spring onions
1/4 cup chopped coriander and parsley combined ( I used 1 tbsp parsley and 1/4 tsp ground coriander)
4 tablespoon vegetable oil
to serve
4 Roma tomatoes
1 bunch rocket, washed and dried
4 rashers grilled bacon
olive oil
salt and pepper

Serves 4

Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC. Slice tomatoes in half. Place tomatoes (cut-side up) on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes.

Sift flour, baking powder, salt and paprika into a large bowl, stir in sugar and make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, combine eggs and milk. Gradually add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until you have a smooth, lump-free batter.

Place corn, capsicum, spring onions and herbs in a mixing bowl and add just enough batter to lightly bind then. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Drop in 2 tablespoons of batter per fritter and cook 4 fritters at a time. Cook for 2 minutes or until the underside is golden-brown. Flip and cook on the other side. Transfer to a plate and keep warm and cook the remaining fritters.

To serve, place one fritter on each plate. Top each with 2 halves of roast tomato, a small handful of rocket and a rasher of bacon. Finish with a second fritter and drizzle a little olive oil around the base of the stack.

Bacon Onion Cheddar Biscuits

It's funny how 12 muffins just disappear into my mouth under my nose so quickly. In this case they disappeared particularly quickly.

I've always preferred savoury food over sweet ones and this time is no different. This recipe was shared with me by Cherlyn, and it is awesome!

I did make a few adjustments though. Instead of shortening, I used butter, and instead of 'cutting' it into the flour I rubbed it in by hand. Also I made two batches of these, and I found that if you bake it at 350 F for 25 minutes instead of 375 F for 20 minutes, you get a more muffin-y texture. Depends on whether you prefer it to be harder or softer really. I prefer the latter but I do understand that these are supposed to be biscuits not muffins.

These were the first batch, they were not as golden.

After I wolfed down 2382938298 6 3 2 I felt so guilty that I ran to the gym. Nah, I'm lying. I took a nap and dreamt that I went to the gym.

This recipe can be found on The Pioneer Woman's website *link*. She gives good step-by-step photos on her website so if you are a noob like me you should definitely check it out =)

Ingredients

• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¾ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ cups Vegetable Shortening (I used butter because I didn't have any)
• 10 Tablespoons Milk
• 4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 1 whole Egg
• 10 slices Thick Cut Bacon, Fried And Crumbled
• 1 cup Finely Diced Onion
• 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter, cut in shortening until all combined.

Combine milk, oil, and egg in a separate bowl. Whisk together.

Combine flour mixture, milk mixture, bacon, onions, and cheddar cheese in a large bowl. Stir gently until all combined.

Spoon batter into greased muffin tins. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes on 375 degrees until golden Remove from pan and serve warm.

Far East Movement - If I Was You (OMG) (feat. Snoop Dogg)

Avocado Toast

I'm back.. with more avocados! =D

So I saw this post the other day and thought I'd give it a try. Olive oil and avocados, how much healthier can you get right? My mama would be proud!

So first you scrape the avocado flesh into a large bowl. I bought organic avocados and they're a little smaller so I used two. For two people and four slices of bread.

Mash them up with a fork. Pre-breakfast workout right there for ya.

Realise you don't have enough avocados to go around and cut another one open.

Season with salt and pepper and juice from half a lemon. All to suit your taste really. Avocado + Lemons = Love.

Take out your bread. I'm using Wholemeal. Funny, I love John bread with lots of grain in them, and John likes white bread (yuck) so Wholemeal is really a good compromise, no yucky unhealthiness yet no "grains stuck in your teeth" according to John.

Drizzle with Olive Oil

Toast. You can use a toaster. Our landlord is stingy has yet to replace ours.

Spread avocado mash on top and sprinkle with crushed chillies. I love the crushed chillies. Gives the toast a 'kick', a step up from the usual.

Enjoy. Omnomnomnom. Ended up being full after one slice but gobbled it up anyway.

Here's one more avocado picture for you =P Okthxbai.

Eggplant and Feta Cheese Pasta

Vegetarian for 2 days in a row? I'd better cook some meat tomorrow or my steak-loving boyfriend might start complaining.

Recently I've developed an interest in vegetarian food.. In the past, when I heard vegetarian, my first thought would be "Aw hell no! Gimme my cheeseburger nao!!" But now I find that there are so many creative vegetarian recipes out there to choose from and they all look equally delicious!

Here's a recipe that I made up and turned out to be pretty good. I know, I surprised myself too.

Had some eggplant left over from the previous culinary adventure so I decided to use it to make pasta. Thought eggplant would go well with cashews and chilli flakes but didn't know about the feta cheese. Hmmm.. I guess cheese goes with anything.

The eggplant cut into cubes, drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and put into the oven.

Coming out looking like this! Mm.. I could eat them just like that.

After that I pretty much just cooked the pasta, dumped all the ingredients I wanted into it and stirred =)

Ingredients:

• 1 Eggplant
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 2 cups large spiral pasta, or whatever pasta you have in hand really
• 1/2 cup Cashew Nuts
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp Chilli Flakes
• 1 tbsp chopped Parsley
• Juice from 1/2 a Lemon
• Feta cheese, to your taste
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
• Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C, then cut the eggplant into small cubes. Don't cut it too small because they will shrivel into nothingness as you bake. Drizzle with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Pop in the oven for about 40 minutes, and be sure to turn the eggplants in the middle so they're cooked pretty evenly.
2. In a bowl, crumble feta, add cashews, olive oil, lemon juice, chilli flakes, garlic, parmesan and some pepper. Mix well and set aside.
3. When the eggplant is almost done, start cooking your pasta.
4. Once cooked, drain. In the same pot, add feta mixture, eggplants and parsley. Mix well and serve immediately.
   

Trapt - Headstrong

Sometimes I wish I could say whatever I want. Anyway, this is an old fave.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

I love making breakfast, it's the highlight of my weekend. Okay, my life is pretty uneventful =P All week long, I search for awesome recipes that I can use to make Sunday brunch. Pancakes, muffins, french toast, you name it! I find myself impatiently waiting for the weekend so I can bake and cook. I also love seeing the bf's happy face when he gets a yummy brunch. =) I love breakfast, it's my favourite meal of the day.

Today I'm sharing with you an awesome recipe that I found on Joy The Baker. Okay, I do go there a lot, but it's not the only website that I visit, promise! I will be sharing more food porn in a few days! =) *link*These were delicious! I couldn't get over the fact that they tasted like carrot cake.. but were.. pancakes? Oh yum, with the cream cheese it was perfect! You should really try it out! =) Here's the recipe:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash nutmeg
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup packed brown or granulated sugar
1 cup milk
2 cups finely grated carrots
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Spread
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 dash ground cinnamon

1. In a bowl, combine flour, pecans, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg.

2. In a separate bowl, combine egg, brown sugar, milk, carrots, and vanilla; mix well.

3. Stir carrot mixture into dry ingredients until moistened. Pour batter by 1/4 cupful onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on the top of pancake; flip and cook until golden brown.

4. For topping, blend cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and serve with pancakes.

Ratatouille

I was really attracted to this dish because of its traffic light colours! And also because it was vegetarian and it would make me feel better about stuffing my face at dinner =X This is a minor adaptation of Smitten Kitchen's *Ratatouille* .It came out so delicious even my steak-loving boyfriend liked it =D
What the hell is a yellow squash? They didn't have any so I bought a butternut pumpkin because it was very cute.. Mmm.. Oven-baked pumpkin.. So soft and sweet..
I used pasta sauce instead of tomato puree for this one. So you pour it in your dish along with onions, garlic, salt, pepper and crushed chillies.
And then line the thinly sliced vegetables up prettily. I think Smitten Kitchen used the word, concentrically. I prefer prettily =P My veges aren't as thinly sliced because I did them manually. It took me almost an hour *_* Stupid pumpkin was so hard to slice! I thought it was worth it when I was eating though =)
Okay this is not a Gregg's advert. I sprinkled Parmesan Cheese on top, which was not in the original recipe.
After 50 minutes in the oven, it looks like this!
Ate it on Wholemeal bread and with a dollop of cheese, but you can eat it with rice or just by itself =)

Just being random.

I am obsessed with muffins. It's 10pm and all I want to do is bake some muffins. *_*

What do you think of people who take your opinions and throw it back to your face like it was theirs in the first place? It's pretty annoying right? I wish I was a better person so I wouldn't have these fleeting moments of annoyance. But hey, I am who I am.

Muffins... Mmmm... Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins... I wish it was morning so I could bake them.

Okthxbai.

Avocado Ice Cream

I love avocados, they're like God's gift to us hoomans... Delicious, creamy, nutricious avocados.. Mmmm... In Malaysia we scrape out the meat and eat it mixed with condensed milk, or sometimes we make it into juice! It turns out more like a milkshake though, and it is heavenly!
I decided to make Avocado ice cream a while ago but haven't go around to writing about it.. I don't have and ice cream maker, so I followed David Lebovitz's method of making ice cream where you have to freeze and whisk every 30 minutes. I have to say I failed a bit because I fell asleep for an hour in the middle XD Making ice cream is so time consuming! I also got the avocado ice cream recipe from Alton Brown.

The results were good! It was still a bit icy as I did not have an ice cream maker, but it was also very refreshing because of the lemon juice in it. It's the perfect thing to eat on a hot sunny day.. Ah... *sneaks off to fridge and grabs some Avocado Ice Cream*

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

I've always wanted to make Cinnamon Rolls.. Unfortunately I don't have enough space in my tiny little student flat kitchen. So when I saw Joy's Cinnamon Roll Muffins I decided to try it out! They're way easier to make than actual cinnamon rolls (i.e. Cheat!) and so so yumm.. I swallowed 29382937297 before I had to force it on everyone else or risk becoming obese.

I can tell they'll be good..

Boiling brown sugar hot from the oven.. I have to confess I burnt my tongue because I was too greedy, but it was worth it XD
Here's the recipe and the link:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 tsp active dry or rapid rise yeast
• 2/3 cup warm milk (100-110F; low fat is fine)
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Filling/Topping

• 2 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch ground cardamom

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp milk or cream

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup filled with the warmed milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until very smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.
2. While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl using a fork until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly. Divide the batter between 12 greased muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips (or swirl in with a spatula.)
3. Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350F.Bake for about 20 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Some of the sugar mixture on top may still be bubbling.
4. Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread.Serve warm. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.

Surprise Train Trip =)

Vintage Blue Blazer from TM ( I love the gold buttons!), Red Silk Scarf from Vietnam(a gift when I went there), Striped Dress from INC, Topshop Stockings, Gold bangles (super cheap from Equip), Bag bought off a friend who was moving away.

I'm quite proud of the fact that my outfit did not cost much! =D Reminds me of something I read somewhere.. "Why is it that men are proud of how much they spent on something whereas women are proud of how little they spent on something?"

John brought me on a surprise train trip for my birthday =) And he made me mojitos and then we went to watch Despicable Me and then he organised a surprise birthday party at home =) He's the sweetest! =) I might post up some pics soon. Good night! =)

Lemon Drenched Lemon Cake

I am in love... Seriously, this cake makes me want to bake some more and then give it to everyone I know. It's so lemon-y even though I only used two lemons. I halved the recipe while maintaining the amount of lemons though, so maybe that's why. It should be renamed get-yourself-a-boyfriend cake *_* Okay, I know you're thinking "What... All this bitch thinks about is getting a boyfriend!" Yes. I can read your mind. Well that's because you haven't tried this cake =P Give the recipe a go, Joy the Baker has the most awesome baking recipes! =) Damn, I should have listened when she wrote that one cake was not enough! Here is the recipe, which you can find in Joy's website *link* :

For the Cakes (I halved everything except the lemons in this whole recipe):

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 2 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 plump, moist vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out and reserved, or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 6 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 2/3 cups heavy cream
• zest of two lemons, finely grated
• 1 stick, plus 7 Tablespoons (15 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the syrup:

• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• juice of two lemons

Making the cakes:

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8 1/2-4 1/2-inch loaf pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Even if the pans are nonstick, it’s a good idea to butter and flour them. Place the pans on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular sheets stacked one on top of the other.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Put the sugar and the lemon zest in a large bowl, working with your fingers, rub them together until the sugar is moist and thoroughly imbued with the fragrance of lemon. Add the vanilla bean seeds and work them into the sugar. If you are using vanilla extract, add it later, after you have added the eggs.
• Add the eggs and whisk them into the sugar, beating until they are thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the extract (if using), then whisk in the cream. Continuing with the whisk, or switching to a large rubber spatula, gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions; the batter will be smooth and thick. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions. Pour the batter into the pans, smoothing with a rubber spatula.
• Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. As soon as the cake goes into the oven, make the syrup. After about 30 minutes in the oven, check the cakes for color- if they are browning too quickly, cover them lightly with foil tents.

Making the syrup:

• Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil Remove the pan from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.
• When the cakes test done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding them and turning them right side up on the rack. Place the rack over a baking sheet lined with wax paper and, using a thin skewer, cake tester or thin-bladed sharp knife, poke holes all over the cakes. Brush the cakes all over with the syrup, working slowly so that the cakes sop it up. Leave the cakes on the rack to cool to room temperature.

John Mayer 'Not Myself'

Austrian Pancakes

Brunch on Sunday! Mm.. Now I don't even have to spend all my money on Paddington's House of Pancakes every time I visit Kuala Lumpur anymore!

Egg Yolks, Milk and Sugar. Mix well!

Whisk egg whites till fluffy and then fold into the mixture. This makes the pancakes come out all fluffy and light! =)

Fry in butter and sprinkle some raisins on top. When one side is cooked, turn over.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and whatever you like really. I made this for John so I was allowed to make it as fattening as possible XD (Forgive the appearance of my coffee table. It is approximately 30 years old. I'm not kidding.) I got the recipe from Angie's Recipes. Unfortunately, I had a little accident with my laptop and now the keyboard isn't working and I have to get it fixed so you will have to look for the link yourself. I want to cry =(

Nova Cafe

Its so nice to go out with the girls and have a good chat over dinner once in a while! For our girls' night out this time around, we decided to go to Nova Cafe.
This is what I had, the slow braised lamb on herb & onion bread, with tomato jam & aioli. When you first start eating it, it's pretty yum, but after a while, the tomato jam feels a bit too tangy and intense. Teresa shared the same sentiment.
Cherlyn had the Nova chicken burger, capsicum cashew nut pesto, tomato, greens & shoestring fries which she thought was delicious and managed to finish everything! =) If I had to tell you what the best thing about Nova cafe was, it would be its perfect service! The staff were all super nice, attentive and friendly on the night we went there and we had a really good dining experience =)

Afterwards, the girls gave me an early birthday surprise =) Aw... So sweet!

From the moment I saw this cake, I knew I was going to love it. Even the icing was made from crushed Oreos, how can anyone not love it! =D
My happy face =) Aw... Thanks so much guys, I feel loved! =)