No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

Oh yeah, I love Instagram :)

Happy Friday to you!

Since we are in the middle of Wimbledon fever, I thought of celebrating the season of strawberries and cream with a luscious mousse like chilled strawberry cheesecake. No need to clean the oven - yay! Another great thing about this cake is that you can serve it with a side of more strawberries and cream. Hey, a wise woman once told me that watching tennis burns more calories than watching the Kardashians. I will believe anything at this stage!

I made the biscuit base with Digestives as they were cheaper, but if you can get Oreos - go for it, the colour contrast works for a better looking cake I think. You can also really unleash your creativity decorating this cake. Just be inspired by the strawberries. Make it as simple or as elaborate as you wish. I can't wait to see your photos if you make this :) 

Since it is summer and there are the occasional sunny day, I am thinking of making this again for a potential BBQ. I might make this with a different type of fruit. What do you think? 

Right, enough chatter, here is the recipe. Enjoy! Oh yes...don't forget to watch the tennis as well ;)

Quick Chicken & Butternut Squash

So simple and delicious

Cooking for one can be a chore sometimes. As my better half is away from home this week, I needed some quick and easy dish ideas. Spend less time in the kitchen and more time watching Mad Men. In times such as these, a quick one pan dish is a definite must.  

As I was looking despondently at the sad and few ingredients in my refrigerator, I decided to combine some butternut squash and coriander for a quick meal. I added some chilli for some heat and the combination worked well. The bright colours are an added bonus as well, plenty of antioxidants!

Coffee Infused Cake

Happy weekend everyone! Here are some photos of the trek I did last Saturday with some friends at the Lake District. We did the Crinkle Crags, Bowfell and Esk Pike Walk as found on this great walking website at The Walking Englishman

At the start of the trek

The Nutty Cinnamon Buns were a welcome treat up on the gusty and crinkly crags. It is a shame I did not take a photo of us scoffing them as my hands were frozen and there is only so much multi tasking I can do.

Cannot wait for the next trekking excursion! Last night, hosted a wee Wii Party tonight. Oh boy, it got pretty competitive!

The menu was a simple one of chicken curry and noodles and for a Geordie twist - stotties! For dessert I made this lush coffee infused cake. I like this cake because it is perfect to cap off any dinner party. Like eating coffee whilst you drink your coffee, if that makes any sense. I am very excited to share this recipe and I hope you have fun baking it. 

Slow Braised Caramel Chicken

Hello! Hope your week has been wonderful. If not, I am sending a little sunshine your way. 

Last night's dinner was at my favourite Asian restaurant in Newcastle, Little Saigon. I decided to be adventurous and order something different for a change. Little bold me decided to go for the Vietnamese Caramel Pork. It is slowly braised and had a wonderful balance of sweetness that is set off with heat from the black pepper. Wonderful!

I was ordered requested to replicate this dish at home. Since we are all out of pork at home I had to make this with chicken drumsticks. Hey, why not!

This is such an easy dish to prepare. You just need to allocate time for the braising. Your patience will be rewarded.

Nutty Cinnamon Buns

I first fell in love with cinnamon buns half a lifetime ago when Saint Cinnamon came to Kuala Lumpur. The queues were infamously long. I myself had not the patience to queue for them but I would always cling on to the hope that one of my family members had more patience than I.

Since moving to the UK, I have been smitten by the silver fox that is Paul Hollywood (is it those blue eyes mixed with that sexy bit of grey hair?) and have been influenced to bake bread. Paul, oh Paul made me fall in love with baking bread.  

That being said, I was not one for trying my hand at sweet breads as I found them intimidating. For that, I have my fellow Malaysian friend Sharon to thank. She first suggested we bake some cinnamon buns when I visited her in Leeds. Yes, us Malaysians, it is a continuous cycle of cooking and eating all the time! 

Needless to say, these buns have become a staple in my kitchen. 

These buns are delicious and soft with a delicious crunchy candied nut topping. They are a fantastic tea time treat and are best consumed when warm with a hot cup of black coffee. 

A word of caution, please make them when you have the time to fit in a 10km run or at least 2 spinning classes after. Don't blame me for the state of your behind. 

Oven Roasted "Sun-dried" Tomatoes

Hey hey hey. Yes, that Robin Thicke song ("Blurred Lines") is stuck in my head.

After a morning selecting colour themes for this little blog of mine I got hungry. I wanted something to eat like now, now NOW. I made some sun-dried tomatoes and pesto last week and they were sitting in the fridge for a moment such as this! ;) Huge thanks to my friend Cheryl for introducing me to this fabulous way of cooking tomatoes.

Here we go - home made bread, pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. The vegetables are from Asda. ;) I don't think I am quite ready for a vegetable patch in the garden just yet.

Hey hey hey!

Meet Peanut!

Give me a treat!

Happy Hump Day!

Say hello to my hamster Peanut! She has been with me since August last year. We were supposed to get a pair, the idea being to name one hamster "Peanut" and the other "Butter" (Yes, we have an obsession with Peanut Butter - I like Whole Earth unsweetened Peanut Butter). Alas, it was not to be, so we just have Peanut.

What is your favourite Peanut Butter? 

May the Kitchen Gods Bless this Blog

Welcome all to this little blog of mine.

Having just moved to the North East of England, I find myself craving for Malaysian food from time to time. Most times it is my mother's cooking I long for. As I cannot simply turn up at mama's house, I have to get cooking! I am blessed that we have a Chinatown in Newcastle and quite a few Oriental supermarkets to enable me to recreate my Malaysian favourites.

Since I have always enjoyed cooking and writing, I hope to share my experiences in the kitchen here. I hope it will bring some enhancement to your world as it has done to mine.