French Toast with Mixed Seasonal Fruits

What can i say the best way to use up old bread even baguette is to make French toast. My whole family loves it. There are so many different condiments you can serve it with from fruits, maple syrup, bacon, custard, cheese, chocolate sauce really the list is endless.

Ingredients

Old bread sliced or cut to shapes you desire
2 eggs,beaten with a little milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp icing sugar,Optional
butter


Method

• Dip your bread to the egg mix and just let it soak up. Make sure the bread is nicely cover with the egg batter.
• Place some butter on a frying pan under low heat and when the butter is melted place the dipped bread into the pan.Make sure you do not burnt the butter.
• Turn them over when its done, nice golden color and allow the other side to cook.
• And its ready to serve best eaten when its warm.

Kedgeree

I recently made one of my all time favorite dish Kedgeree. For those who ask what is that well it is a dish consisting of cooked flaked fish, boiled rice, coriander, hard-boiled egg, curry powder, butter or cream and occasionally sultanas.

Kedgeree is one of many breakfast dish that, in the days before refrigeration, converted yesterday's leftovers into hearty and appealing breakfast dishes, of which bubble and squeak is probably best known.

But you know this dish is so good that you can really eat it anytime of the day and its a great party dish as its so quick and easy to make.


Kedgeree
serves 4


Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
250g Basmati rice
500g Firm white fish fillets, with skin off and bones removed
100g Fresh prawns,peeled and devined (Optional)
4 large eggs
2 Bay leaves
1 Fresh red chilli (Optional)
Bunch of fresh coriander
1 large Brown onion
2 Lemons
Olive oil
3 Tablespoon of Patak's or any brand of your choice Tikka Masala or  Madras curry paste
1 cup of Frozen peas or fresh
Natural yoghurt, to serve (Optional )

Prep for the Kedgeree

• Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Add fish,eggs and bay leaves to the pan and turn the pan to simmer. Cook for about 6 minutes.
• Cook the rice according to how it should be and add a pinch of salt to it.
• Finely slice the chilli if using, pick the coriander leaves and roughly chopped the stalks.
• Peel, halve the and finely slice the onion. Cut the lemons in half.

Cooking your Kedgeree

• Put a large casserole - type pan on medium heat with couple of  lugs of olive oil, add onion, chilli and coriander stalks and cook gently for 5 minutes.
• Stir in the curry paste and peas, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• After the fish and eggs have had their 6 minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove then from pan to plate. 
• Flake the fish up to nicely big chunks.
• Let the eggs cool down and then peel the shells away. Add the cooked rice to the onion mixture and followed by the fish and a good squeeze of lemon juice.
• Gently stir everything together and check seasoning.
• Cut the eggs to quarters. Set aside for serving.

To Serve

• Sprinkle over coriander leaves, hard boiled egg and serve with some natural yogurt and a wedge lime or lemon for squeezing over.

My recipe is an adaptation from Jamie's Ministry of food.

Steamed Taro Cake ( Wu Tow Ko)

This is a Malaysian version of Steamed Taro/ Yam Cake. Just had a craving for this local delight that i have not had for ages and since i manage to got my hands on some Taro why not give it a go. Mum used to make them too and everyone really enjoy the homemade ones as they are nicer and of cause we always add more of the ingredients (Liau) that makes it tasty.


Steamed Taro Cake


1 1/2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup cornflour
1 litre cool water
vegetable oil, for frying 
1 1/2 cups dried shrimps soaked in hot water 
squeezed and finely chopped
3 Chinese sausage/ lap cheong,finely chopped (for meat version)
1 cup dried chinese mushroom,soaked in hot water
squeezed and finely chopped ( 2 cups maybe use if not doing meat version)
400g yam diced in to 1cm cubes
1 1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
1/3 cup chopped spring onions
red chilli finely chopped 
Fried shallots ( bought from store)
Garlic chilli sauce

For those who do not know, this is what Taro/ Yam looks like.

• Mix rice flour and cornflour with water to make a thin batter
• Saute shrimp,sausage and mushroom in oil till slightly colored and fragrant. Add Taro, five spice powder, salt, sugar and yam batter. Cook on medium heat, stirring and scraping the sides of the pan continuously till the mixture is thick starchy paste. Taste and season further if needed.

•  Heat water in the steamer. Transfer the Taro paste to a round spring form cake tin ( 22- 23cm)
• Turn heat up so the water is boiling and steam cake for 40 - 45 minutes.
• To check if the cake is ready test it with a pricker on the taro once taro is soft is ready.
• Do not worry if cake looks a little wobbly when first out of steamer, as it will firm up as it cools down.
• Sprinkle the spring onions, fried shallots and freshly chopped red chillies over the top.
• Serve with garlic chilli sauce.

Leftovers can be kept in the fridge and warm up the next day or slice them up and pan fry them till golden and served! Both ways yummy. 

It can also be frozen up so whenever you crave for it, you know where to find them.