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Saturday, November 6, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Creme Caramel
Some people asked me about my training, I can’t really get into details because it was a work related event. It was a grueling four days of Experiential Learning. If you are not familiar with the concept, check it out here.
It is a very effective method for learning; even though things may not hit you then and there, eventually you will get some insights. I’ve been getting some epiphanies over the weekend when I reflect on the course, some of these are direct concepts that they wanted you to get out of the class, but many are indirect.
One of the shocking self discoveries is the fact that I don’t believe in second chances. If I think I’ve been wronged by someone, I cut that person completely out of my life! I can count a number of people I stopped talking to, after they said or did something that annoyed me completely at the time, but on hindsight looks so silly!
After much soul searching, I figured the reason behind this behavior. It is rather simple actually! I am the center of my universe. I don’t give much importance to other people’s feelings. If someone says or does something that hurts me, I never stop to think why they did or said that.
Most of the times, if you take your own feelings out of the equation, it normally has very little to do with you, the other person is after all the center of his/her universe too. If you just think about the reason for the action from their perspective, it will put things in a new light. They might just be expressing how they feel at that moment, mostly driven by factors in their own life. Hurting you is the least on their agenda!
So, I have decided to look at things from other’s perspective from now on, and give people a second chance to redeem themselves. Obviously if someone continues to hurt me, even if I can find an excuse for the behavior, I will decide to either confront them, or stay away from them, depending on how important they are to me. I am human, after all!
I love Creme Caramel and found this easy recipe to share..
This creamy dessert is known by different names across the world – Flan in Spain and Mexico, Creme Caramel in France and Caramel Custard in England, Leche Flan in Philippines, Banh Dua Ra Men (Coconut flan) in Vietnam. In its basic form, it is just a mixture of egg, milk and sugar. You can always add other ingredients like fruits, nuts, spices etc to add different flavors to the basic flan. Here is how I made my pistachio flan.
Ingredients (For 6)
Caramel
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp water
Flan
3 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup shelled pistachios
1 tsp vanilla extract/essence
1/2 cup sugar
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
To make the caramel sauce, heat the sugar and water in a heavy bottom saucepan over medium high heat, and cook stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. Cook without stirring till the sugar caramelizes and turns into a caramel brown color.
Remove from the heat and immediately pour into six ramekins or a large baking dish. Tilt the dishes to coat the bottom and a little bit of the sides with the caramel sauce.
Note: The caramel sauce solidifies in a matter of seconds, so if it crystallizes as soon as you pour it into the ramekins before you get a chance to tilt and spread it along the bottom of the cups, keep the cup in the microwave for 15 seconds. The caramel will melt and you can tilt the cups to coat the bottom. Be very careful with the caramel sauce, it is extremely hot and can cause severe burns.
To make the flan, process the pistachios in a spice grinder or heavy duty food processor to form a coarse powder. Break the eggs into the jar and blend again till the eggs are foamy and the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
In a saucepan, add the milk and sugar and cook on medium heat till the sugar is completely dissolved and the liquid is heated through, making sure not to boil the milk. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the hot milk into the egg-pistachio mixture, and then add the vanilla extract. Mix well to combine.
Place the prepared ramekins in a large roasting pan, and add hot water to fill the pan half way. Divide the custard mixture equally between the ramekins.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes. Test by inserting a thin knife into the middle of the custard. If the knife comes out clean, the custard is set. If not bake for a few more minutes.
Remove the cups from the water and let those cool to room temperature. Cover the dishes and chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours or overnight.
To serve, run a thin knife along the edges of the cup to separate the custard. Cover the cup with the serving plate and invert the cup, and give it a nice tap on the back to get the custard out.
It is a very effective method for learning; even though things may not hit you then and there, eventually you will get some insights. I’ve been getting some epiphanies over the weekend when I reflect on the course, some of these are direct concepts that they wanted you to get out of the class, but many are indirect.
One of the shocking self discoveries is the fact that I don’t believe in second chances. If I think I’ve been wronged by someone, I cut that person completely out of my life! I can count a number of people I stopped talking to, after they said or did something that annoyed me completely at the time, but on hindsight looks so silly!
After much soul searching, I figured the reason behind this behavior. It is rather simple actually! I am the center of my universe. I don’t give much importance to other people’s feelings. If someone says or does something that hurts me, I never stop to think why they did or said that.
Most of the times, if you take your own feelings out of the equation, it normally has very little to do with you, the other person is after all the center of his/her universe too. If you just think about the reason for the action from their perspective, it will put things in a new light. They might just be expressing how they feel at that moment, mostly driven by factors in their own life. Hurting you is the least on their agenda!
So, I have decided to look at things from other’s perspective from now on, and give people a second chance to redeem themselves. Obviously if someone continues to hurt me, even if I can find an excuse for the behavior, I will decide to either confront them, or stay away from them, depending on how important they are to me. I am human, after all!
I love Creme Caramel and found this easy recipe to share..
This creamy dessert is known by different names across the world – Flan in Spain and Mexico, Creme Caramel in France and Caramel Custard in England, Leche Flan in Philippines, Banh Dua Ra Men (Coconut flan) in Vietnam. In its basic form, it is just a mixture of egg, milk and sugar. You can always add other ingredients like fruits, nuts, spices etc to add different flavors to the basic flan. Here is how I made my pistachio flan.
Ingredients (For 6)
Caramel
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp water
Flan
3 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup shelled pistachios
1 tsp vanilla extract/essence
1/2 cup sugar
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
To make the caramel sauce, heat the sugar and water in a heavy bottom saucepan over medium high heat, and cook stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. Cook without stirring till the sugar caramelizes and turns into a caramel brown color.
Remove from the heat and immediately pour into six ramekins or a large baking dish. Tilt the dishes to coat the bottom and a little bit of the sides with the caramel sauce.
Note: The caramel sauce solidifies in a matter of seconds, so if it crystallizes as soon as you pour it into the ramekins before you get a chance to tilt and spread it along the bottom of the cups, keep the cup in the microwave for 15 seconds. The caramel will melt and you can tilt the cups to coat the bottom. Be very careful with the caramel sauce, it is extremely hot and can cause severe burns.
To make the flan, process the pistachios in a spice grinder or heavy duty food processor to form a coarse powder. Break the eggs into the jar and blend again till the eggs are foamy and the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
In a saucepan, add the milk and sugar and cook on medium heat till the sugar is completely dissolved and the liquid is heated through, making sure not to boil the milk. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the hot milk into the egg-pistachio mixture, and then add the vanilla extract. Mix well to combine.
Place the prepared ramekins in a large roasting pan, and add hot water to fill the pan half way. Divide the custard mixture equally between the ramekins.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes. Test by inserting a thin knife into the middle of the custard. If the knife comes out clean, the custard is set. If not bake for a few more minutes.
Remove the cups from the water and let those cool to room temperature. Cover the dishes and chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours or overnight.
To serve, run a thin knife along the edges of the cup to separate the custard. Cover the cup with the serving plate and invert the cup, and give it a nice tap on the back to get the custard out.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Its raining again....
Some one tagged a video or Mr Tiger in facebook. As im totally new in blogging so i'll need to learn to know how to attached the video here.. anyways, the video narrated how Brunei same month last year experienced a bad rain downfall, it was so bad that landslides is a common incident. Alhamdullillah there were no lives lost unlike the neighbouring country, Miri , atleast 3 lives were lost when the landslides hits them while they sleep.
I love the rain, I love anything to do with rain. Infact I come to the conclusion, when you are down and out a walk by the beach during a heavy rain is like going through a theraphy.
When the rains hits your back and your head, you have totally no reason to not cry your hearts out.. scream and shout if you want. No ones gonna hear you in the raging mad rains and sounds of the rough waves hitting shores. Mind you, this is not for the faint hearted or those who are really down till you can't think straight and start walking towards the heavy waves and get yourself killed.
I dont know about other cold countries, but Brunei is Hot and Humid on normal days, so rain is a welcome bliss, it cools the air, it lifts up your mood and its not as stuffy when you just closed all windows and stay indoor in an airconditioned room. Of course no one likes to get wet unnecessarily.
but yeah, Rain is a bliss.
here are some picture I took during the heavy rain this week while sending the kids to school. Hopefully, that rain on that day is the last heaviest for this year. I pity my new neighbour next door as their house was covered with water and I am so sure that it managed to seeped into their house. .. you see behind my house is a jungle .. and in the jungle, giant lizards are common and so does snakes and those in the same timeline. ehough talking on this.
Have a great Sunday , bloogie
Devilish Self Saucing chocolate pudding
I tasted for the first time the sinful Self saucing chocolate pudding at a cousin's place. No words, just no words can express how rich it melts in your mouth when served warm with a rich dollop of creams .
I dig out a recipe and this is what i found, tried and tested. I actually reduced the sugar as my sugar level at the very moment is on a borderline. wont want to go overboard with it ..
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 80g butter, melted, cooled
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- thick cream , to serve
Sauce
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 1/4 cups boiling water
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease an 8-cup capacity ovenproof baking dish. Sift flour and cocoa into a large bowl. Stir in sugar.
- Combine butter, milk and egg in a jug. Slowly add to flour mixture, whisking until well combined and smooth. Spoon into baking dish. Smooth top.
- Make sauce: Sprinkle combined sugar and cocoa over pudding.
- Slowly pour boiling water over the back of a large metal spoon to cover pudding. Place dish onto a baking tray. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until pudding bounces back when pressed gently in centre. Serve hot with cream .
Notes & tips
- Hint: Pouring the boiling water over a spoon prevents the water from disturbing the sugar mixture too much.
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