Scottish Beef Stew

Stay warm and cosy with this old fashioned Scottish beef stew recipe. Tender chunks of beef with onions, carrots and swede in a rich beef gravy. This fall-apart beef cooked in the slow cooker or oven, perfect for Burns Night or any other nights!

This is classic comfort food that is made with simple ingredients and is very easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1kg stewing/braising beef, cut into bite-size chunks
• 2 tbsp plain flour, mixed with a pinch of salt and pepper
• 2 large onions, peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 tbsp cranberry sauce
• 500ml red wine
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium  potatoes, peeled and chopped
• ½ small swede, peeled and chopped
• 700ml beef stock, if using cubes, just use 2 cubes
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 tsp dark brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp crushed black pepper
• fresh thymes sprigs

Method:

Heat the oil in a large pan. Dust the chunks of beef in the flour and fry the beef for 7-8 minutes until golden brown all over. Add the onions and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Add the cranberry sauce, then pour in the red wine and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add in the carrots, potatoes, swede, stock, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle boil then transfer to a slow cooker and cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours. Alternatively you could place a lid on the pot and cook in the oven for 3-4 hours, stirring a couple of times during cooking.

Serve topped with a little fresh thyme and some freshly cut bread. 

                                  

 

Seitan Chicken & Stuffing Roast

Have you had enough of that nut roast? Are you crying out for the perfect Sunday joint?

Look no further. Whether it's your Sunday roast or that all important Christmas dinner, this seitan chicken & stuffing roast joint will impress any guest!.

This stuffed seitan roast is full with flavour!. Just because it is vegan doesn't mean it doesn't taste amazing! This roast can be made in the morning and left to cool before things get too hectic. Then just slice off the portions you need for dinner and reheat for 10 minutes until hot all the way through just before serving. This way, it frees up space in the oven and makes preparing dinner more relaxed and less overwhelming!. The perfect centerpiece to Christmas, Thanksgiving or even just a homey dinner with the family. This stuffed seitan roast is just as great during the holidays as it is during the year!

Ingredients:

Wet ingredients:

• 200ml boiling water
• 1 tin (400g) cooked chickpea and aquafaba from tin
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Dry ingredients:

• 250g vital wheat gluten
• 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 4 tsp vegan bouillon powder
• 2 tsp onion granules
• 1 tsp garlic granules

Stuffing:

• 100g sage and onion stuffing

Method:

Sage & Onion Stuffing: Add 200ml boiling water to the stuffing mix in a bowl.  Mix until consistent then add 1 tsp vegan spread. 

Leave to stand whilst you make the dough, then add a little more water so the stuffing is not dry. You want it to be a bit sticky.

For the dough:  Put 200ml water, lemon juice and the tin of chickpea beans with all the juice from the tin into a plastic jug.

Using a stick blender, blitz until it makes a completely smooth paste.

Grind the nutritional yeast, stock, onion and garlic granules using pestle and mortar or electric herb mill (if you have one at home) until it makes a fine powder and add to the wet mixture, blitz until combined.

Now add the gluten to the food processor then pour in the wet mix whilst it's running then hold on as its going to get a bit active. Mix on full power for 2 minutes.

Leave to stand for 1 minute.

Mix on full power again for 2 minutes or until a uniform stretchy consistency has been achieved.

Making the joint: Spread the dough flat and measure it to be as wide as your steamer and twice as long.

Roll out the stuffing to match the width of the dough then place near the top of the dough.

Roll up the stuffing with the dough and create the joint shape.

Tuck in excess dough around the roll of the joint, try to make this as uniform as possible.

Oil a sheet of aluminium foil then roll up the roast as tightly as you can, cover this with another layer of foil so it looks like the photo. 

You will need to gently force this into the steamer. Steam for 1 hour.

                                  

Turn out the joint and pop it back in upside down and steam for a further hour.

Pop the joint out and flip it over then steam for a final 30 minutes.

When the joint has finished steaming, remove the foil, put it on a cooling rack and leave to stand for 30 minutes, this will let it tighten up and form an outer layer.

Carve into slices and serve!

Notes: Ideally you want to make the joint the day before to let it rest and firm up completely. This makes it much easier to carve.

Agar Agar Koi Fish (Koi Jelly)

Want to "wow" your family with something sweet, beautiful and auspicious this Chinese New Year? Try making Koi Fish Jelly!

There’s a Chinese proverb that goes ‘nian nian you yu’ (年年有余) which means having things in surplus every year. As ‘yu’/ surplus sounds like ‘fish’, which symbolizes wealth and prosperity, the Chinese loves to serve fish on Chinese New Year. With this recipe, you can have fish for dessert too 😉

I absolutely enjoy making this jelly. Seeing how the fish come to life is so satisfying. It's like magic!

Ingredients:

• 9g Agar Powder
• 100g granulated sugar
• 650ml water
• raisin, for the fish eyes
• yellow and red food colouring
• Koi mould

Method:

Make the agar jelly: Add water, sugar and agar powder into a pot of water to boil, then lower to a simmer.

Stir until the sugar and agar powder has dissolved. Turn off the heat.

Next, take some of the agar liquid (about 3 tablespoons) into a small bowl. Using a tweezers, grab the raisin, dip it into the agar liquid, and then place the raisin into the eye of the koi mould (do this to both eyes).

Add yellow food colouring to the bowl of agar liquid and mix well. With a teaspoon, add a bit of the yellow agar mixture to the koi mould. It only takes about 1-2 minutes to harden.

Next, take again some agar liquid about 3 tablespoons into a small bowl. Add red colouring to the bowl and mix well. With a teaspoon, add a bit of the red agar mixture to the koi mould.

When it has hardened, gently pour the agar liquid into the mould. Allow it to set. Find some bowls or cups to hold the mould steady!.

Poke any air bubbles with a toothpick. Once set, place in the freezer or fridge to chill for an hour. Once it is firm, you can easily pop the koi jelly from the mould, or if needed use a toothpick for assistance.

Beef & Stout Pie

Rich and savoury, this beef and stout pie recipe is always a huge success every time I serve it. This beef and stout pie is the perfect St Patrick's day dinner recipe. Succulent beef and mushrooms cooked in rich Guinness gravy baked under hot milk pastry is a dish that is guaranteed to impress.

Dark and hearty on its own, the Guinness gives an incredible richness to the finished pie. Its flavour goes particularly well with the beef. 

Meat pies are common all over the British Isles. And beef and Stout pie is particularly common in Ireland where it's also referred to as Beef and Guinness Pie. 

Don't let the length of this recipe scare you away. Even though it has quite a few steps, it's really a simple recipe.

 

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 1¼ cups milk
• 135g lard
• 3½ cups plain flour
• ¾ tsp salt

For the filling:

• ½ cup flour
• 1 tsp thyme
• 675g stewing beef
• 1 brown onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup sliced button mushrooms
• 1 can Guinness stout, approx. 2cups 
• 2 cups beef stock
• ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2x45g butter 
• 45g butter, melted for greasing the tin

Method:

For the hot milk pastry: Cut the lard into small chunks. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine the milk and the lard, heating until it is almost boiling.

Combine the salt and the flour, then slowly add the hot milk to the flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Or if you have a food processor, you can combine the flour mixture and hot milk, pulsing until a dough forms into a ball.

Flour your counter. Form the dough into a disc shape and let it rest for about 20 minutes, or until cool. Once the pastry is cool, you can wrap it and refrigerate it up to two days, but you have to let it come to room temperature first.

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, pepper and thyme. Add the beef cubes, tossing them until coated with flour. Heat vegetable oil to fairly high. Fry off the beef in batches, don't over crowded the pan. After all the pieces are browned, set aside the beef.  

In a cast iron or oven safe pot, over medium heat, melt 45g butter and add the mushrooms, allowing them to sweat and cook. While the mushrooms are cooking, melt another 45g butter in another pot and cook the onions down slowly, allowing them to caramelize. Once the mushroom are cooked down add the beer to the cooked mushroom and bring it to a simmer. Reduce the beer by half, then add the beef, caramelize onions, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, season to taste with salt and pepper, then add the garlic and thyme. Simmer the stew until the beef is tender. You can also transfer the beef stew mixture into a slow cooker to cook until the beef tender. Allow the beef stew to cool before adding to the pastry.

For the pastry: Roll the pastry dough out to about ¼ inch thick on a floured surface. Brush a muffin tin thoroughly with melted butter, then using a round cookie cutter to make the initial shape, press the dough-round into the muffin tin. Fill the dough with the cooled stout stew, then cut another round to make the top of the mini pie. Roll the two edges of the pastry together. Cut a small vent on the top. Repeat until all of the dough and stew have been used up. Chill the meat pies in the fridge while you heat up the oven. 

Pre heat the oven to 190ºC/170ºC for fan assist oven. Place your muffin tin filled with chilled pies into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Serve with vegetable of your choice. Enjoy!

Vegan Steam Vegetable (Bangkuang) Bao

Bāozio 包子 are a very popular Chinese breakfast item. These buns usually present themselves as sweet or savoury fillings wrapped in a dough and also it is one of the popular street foods in China or Southeast Asia. 

Surprisingly, steam bao find its origin in the 2nd century, when this food was much simpler. Over the course of history, steamed baos have witnessed many changes, which leads to the diversity of this traditional Chinese delicacy. Today, you can find bao in different sizes, shapes and with various stuffing.

Today I decided to make a vegan vegetables bao using bangkuang (know in Malaysia) Bangkuang/ sa kot/ yam bean/ jicama is a tuberous root native to Mexico. The Spaniards spread its cultivation to Philippines, and from there it went to China and other parts of Southeast Asia. It is sweet with a crisp texture and yellow papery skin. It is commonly eaten raw in salads such as Rojak and Yee Sang. It is an essential ingredients in Jiu Hu Char or Popiah. That is how bangkuang look like as below photo.

For the bao dough follow the link below:

https://yummymummyrecipes.blogspot.com/2019/06/steamed-bao-buns.html

For the filling:

• 750g coarsely shredded bangkuang/jicama/yam bean
• 200g coarsely shredded carrot
• 5 dried shitake mushroom, soaked to softened and cut into small pieces
• 2 pips garlic, finely chopped
• 3 stalks of fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 3-4 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• salt to taste

Method:

For the filling: Heat 2 tbsp cooking oil, add in the garlic and fry until fragrant, then add in the carrots. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Add in the bangkuang and continue frying for another 2 minutes. 

Add in the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sesame oil and salt. Mix well and add in about ¼ cup water and bring to boil. Once boil, let it simmer until soft and nearly dry. Just before taking the fillings off the heat, add additional seasoning such as white pepper, salt and sugar. Make sure you are slightly heavy handed adding in the seasonings because it will be eaten with steamed buns which is plain.

Transfer the cooked fillings to a bowl. Leave it aside to cool completely before filling the bun.

To fill the bun, shape the dough into round shape using a rolling pin. Put the dough on your hand or on top of the table. On the top of the dough, put 1-2 tbsp of the cooked fillings. Pull up the sides of dough and seal off the edges with your fingers. Well seal needed so that the fillings do not burst out from the dough.

Put the buns on top of a square baking paper on top of the steamer rack. Leave space of about 1.5cm between the dough for expansion. Proof the dough for another 30 minutes or almost double in size. By the end of the second proofing, you will notice that the dough skin become smoother as compared to before proofing. 

After the second proofing, get ready the steamer with some water. Bring to boil. When the water boils, steamed the buns under high heat for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, off the heat and let the buns sit in the steamer, without opening the lids for about 10 minutes before transfer the buns out of the steamer. The process of letting the buns sitting in the steamer is to prevent wrinkles and rough surface appearing in the buns. Put the buns in cooling rack.

Best served warm as breakfast or snack items. Re-steam the buns for 3-4 minutes will make the buns soft as if they are freshly prepared.

Lion's Head Meatballs (獅子頭 Shi Zi Tou)

 With the grand and exotic-sounding name, you would think the Chinese meatballs known as "Lion's Head"( 獅子頭 Shi Zi Tou ) would be troublesome to make at home. Fortunately, they are as easy as can be. A Shanghai speciality, Lions Head meatballs are made of simple, humble ingredients.

You will find quite a few versions of Lion's Head in China. One popular rendition in northern China is braised meatballs, which are braised in a soy-sauce-based liquid after browning. Another type is meatballs cooked in chicken broth. 

What are Lion's Head Meatballs?

Lion's Head meatballs (獅子頭 Shi Zi Tou) are large pork meatballs that steamed/braised and served with vegetables. Their name derives from their shape, which resembles the head of a Chinese guardian lion, or foo dog. It can be eaten anytime of the year, but is often served as a celebration dish!

Ingredients:

• 450g ground pork/chicken
• 10g ginger, minced
• 1 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 large eggs
• 3 tbsp plain breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
•  ½ tsp white pepper
• ¼ five spice powder
• 1½ tsp corn flour
• ¼ cup water
• 100g water chestnuts

For the sauce:

• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 4 slices ginger
• 2 spring onions, cut into 2 inch lengths (separate the white and green)
• 2½ tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1½ tbsp light soy sauce
• ¼ tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1½ cups water
• 1 tsp corn flour, mixed with 1 tbsp water
• ¼ tsp sesame oil
• bok choy for serving

Method:

For the meatballs: Put the ground pork/chicken in a large bowl. Add the minced ginger and spring onions, egg, breadcrumbs, Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, five spice powder, corn flour and water.  Whip everything in one direction for about 10 minutes, until the meat mixture resembles a paste. This step is important to making sure the meatballs have the right texture and don't fall apart during frying.

Finely minced the water chestnuts and add to the meat mixture and continue to mix everything together for further 5 minutes. Use a spatula to scrape everything together.

Heat enough oil to submerge the meatballs in a small, deep pot (small pot requires less oil) to about 175ºC. Make sure there are enough oil to cook the meatballs evenly.

With oiled hand, divide the meat mixture into 8-9 equal portions and shape each into a ball. Carefully lower the meatballs one at a time into the heated oil, and fry in batches until the meatballs are evenly golden brown. Remove the par-cooked meatballs with slotted spoon and set aside.

For the sauce: Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over low heat. Add the ginger and white parts of the spring onions and cook for 1 minute. Then add the sugar and cook until dissolved.

Add 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1½ tbsp light soy sauce, ¼ tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce and 1½ cup water. Stir and bring the liquid to a boil.

Once boiling, add the fried meatballs. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes over medium/low heat, flipping the meatballs halfway through.

After simmering, there should be about ¾ cup liquid left. Remove the meatballs from the liquid and arrange on your serving plate. I served mine with blanched baby bok choy. Just add 1 tsp oil to boiling water for the shinny look, and blanched for 30 seconds.

Mix your corn flour mixture, and pour into the sauce to thicken. Once it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, stir in ¼ tsp sesame oil and the green part of the spring onions. Once the spring onions are wilted, drizzle the sauce over the meatballs.

Bunny Red Bean Bao Buns

To usher the Year of the Rabbit, I decided to make my bao buns in the shape of a bunny! Bunny Bao Buns!! These vegan bunny-shaped boa buns are ridiculously fluffy, soft, shinny and sooooooo cute.

The dough can be all be mixed into one bowl which is the best. And great news is no hand muscles needed to make this delicious bao buns, all just mix in a cake mixer. 

If you want to make a plain boa buns, you can go ahead and divide and shape the dough into a ball, let it rest and then steam. However, if you want to make a bunny shaped like this, have pink and black good colouring on hand!

You only need a little dough for the pink and black details. I then divided the remaining dough for 30g each balls. Once I had all my dough separated out, I lightly covered them with a tea towel to avoid them from drying out while I shaped each bunny.

You can make it a plain buns. I like mine filled with shop bough red beans paste. You can find the paste in any Asian shop.

 For the ingredients and method on how to make the buns but not shaping, following the link below:

https://yummymummyrecipes.blogspot.com/2019/06/steamed-bao-buns.html

To assemble the bunny:

To make the bunny ear and eyes, once the dough is all ready mixed, pinch about 25g for the plain dough and add the pink colouring to the dough and mix well. 

Again take about 10g of another plain dough and add the black colouring and mix well. Set aside separately both the pink and black dough and cover with a cling film to avoid dryness.

Put the packet of the red bean paste in freezer for about 4 hours. This will make the paste much easier to handle. Then take about 15g to 20g and shape them into balls. You can also freeze the red bean balls for easy handling.

You should get about 14-15 plain dough balls. Flatten and shaped the balls into circles, with the outer edge thinner than the centre.

Place the red bean ball in the centre and encase the filling with the dough. Press and seal the dough well. Slightly elongate the bun into an oval-egg shape. Place seam-side down into a piece of baking paper.

Create a pea-sized pink ball, about 14-15 pink balls for the tail, another pea-sized of 14-15 pink dough for the ears (divide the dough into 2 to make a pair of ear) and a buckwheat-sized black dough balls for the pair of eyes. Adhere all pieces with a touch of water.

Allow to rise, covered, for 30 minutes.

Steam in a bamboo steamer for 10 minutes, and serve immediately.

Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 5 days, or frozen for 2 months.

Bunny shape Pineapple Tart

Why are Pineapple Tarts used in Chinese New Year?

Serving any kind of sweet dessert is encouraging during Chinese New Year because it symbolises bringing a sweet life into the new year. The Hokkiens also consider certain fruits auspicious, and they are particularly fond of pineapple, ong lai in Hokkien dialect,which literally means " fortune come".

What are Pineapple Tarts?

Pineapple tarts are addictive bite-sized buttery goodies filled with pineapple jam. Made with butter and egg yolk, melt-in-your-mouth texture which is loved by many Malaysians and Singaporeans.

Its jam is usually sweet yet tart, and often made with fresh pineapples.

Here is the link to my Pineapple Tart recipe.

https://yummymummyrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/06/pineapple-tart.html

Year of Rabbit Yee Sang

 Gong Xi Fa Chai!, Kiong Hee Huat Chai, Kong Hei Fatt Choy!, Selamat Tahun Baru China, Happy Chinese New Year, Xīnnián kuàilè, 新年快乐 !!!

Chinese New Year wouldn't be complete without a few key things; angpows, resplendent reunion dinner and of course, Yee Sang. Yee Sang is something that is uniquely Malaysian. 

Yee Sang, dubbed YuSheng or Prosperity Toss, is a common ritual done on Chinese New Year to signify an auspicious start to the year. Yee Sang is a type of salad that is traditionally prepared with raw fish, carrots, white radish, pickled ginger, pomelo, peanuts, sesame seeds, crackers, five spice powder, pepper, oil and plum sauce. Every ingredient represents prosperous meanings: pomelo and carrot for luck, white radish for promotion at work and fish for abundance. 

The dish is then assembled on a plate for the Prosperity Toss (lou hei) in which the vegetables are first beautifully laid on a plate, excluding peanuts, sesame seeds, crackers, powders, oil and sauce, which auspicious saying are uttered while the final ingredients are added. Then diners will toss the ingredients into the air with more auspicious wishes. This is why the dish's actual name is Lou Hei Yee Sang (捞起魚生) 

Where Did Yee Sang Come From?

Although instinctively one would assume Yee Sang comes from China, its current iteration that we all know so well was actually birthed in Malaysia itself. Legend has it that the original Yee Sang was created by Loke Ching Fatt, originally a Cantonese immigrant from China, in the 1940s who owned a small catering business called Loke Ching Kee in the sleepy town of Seremban. As Malaya was going through recovery from World War II, Loke decided to pivot his business by creating the Lo Hei Yee Sang, a dish was inspired by the Chinese celebration of Ren Ri (人日), the 7thday of the Chinese New Year, where humanity was created according to myth. As it was common for the Cantonese to eat raw fish on that day, Loke decided to create the dish we know and love today, taking some inspiration from not only Cantonese culture, but Teochew and Hokkien cultures which were prevalent in Malaya as well. The dish was also prepared intentionally ritualistic, ensuring that the flavour and colours are observed for the auspicious new year. In the past, Grass Carp (waan jyu, 鯇魚) would be used, where they would be starved for a few days to ensure all impurities are gotten rid of before slicing up for the preparation, however, today salmon would be the most common form of preparation.

Winter Pear & Ginger Trifle

Wow your guests with this delicious winter Ginger Trifle-individual desserts made with sweet and sticky ginger cake, layered with fresh pears, custard and cream. They are so simple to make and are sure to become a family favourite.

I love sweet sticky Jamaica Ginger Cake. It's a cake that he been around for over 50 years and still delicious. These individual Jamaica Ginger Cake  & Pear Trifles are really simple to make. You just need to assemble the ingredients and you have a fabulous dessert.

Ingredients:

Pear compote:

• 4-5 fresh firm pears
• 3 tbsp soft light brown sugar

For the trifle:

• 500g Jamaican Ginger Cake, cut into cubes
• 400ml double cream
• 8-10 tbsp Cointreau orange liqueur/sherry, for non-alcoholic, use orange or pear juice
• 500g fresh custard or shop bought
• 5 crushed ginger biscuits
• edible glitter & chocolate gingerbread man/Christmas tree/reindeer, optional or decoration

Method:

Pear Compote: Peel and core the pears and cut into cubes. 

Place the pear with brown sugar in a saucepan and heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the pears begin to give off a little liquid. Turn down to a simmer leave to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Whipped Cream: Whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks. Set aside in the fridge until ready to assemble the trifles.

Assemble the trifle: Take your chosen serving dish/bowl and place a layer of ginger cake cubes in the base. Drizzle the cake layer with the liqueur or juice. 

Top with a layer of compote.

On top of this add a layer of custard.

Repeat the layers of ginger cake, liqueur/juice and pear compote.

Add a top layer of whipped cream.

Sprinkle with some crushed ginger biscuits.

Finally top with chocolate gingerbread man/Christmas tree/reindeer and a sprinkle of magical edible glitter.