One Pot Spicy Tofu Stew

Healthy, easy and all in one pot

One Pot Spicy Tofu Stew

Hello folks! How was everyone’s weekend? I sure hope you had a good one whatever it is you got up to.

As for me, I had my first encounter with hill sprints. It is part of my training plan for the Berlin Marathon in September this year. Man, was it tough. You essentially have to sprint up a hill 4 times. This is done after you have just completed a 45 minute run. At the end of the first sprint I felt ready to roll down the hill and stay down.

Since I need to incorporate more protein into my diet with all this running, I decided that for Meatless Monday I am going to make a protein packed stew. This recipe was inspired by a Korean dish – soondubu jjigae, that is, soft tofu stew. The traditional stew uses dried anchovies and kelp to make a stock and the stew commonly has meat or seafood in it as well as the addition of fish sauce. Since all of those ingredients are not viable options for a meat free Monday dish, I had to get creative. I was also lazy to wash too many pots so I made this into a one pot stew.

Coffee Cake with Almond Streusel Topping

Super soft and moist coffee cake with crunchy, crumbly almond streusel

Hello everyone. Happy Friday! I am happy to say that I have been busy baking pineapple jam tarts and I realised that I only posted once this week. Where did the week go?

Yesterday night, I wanted something that didn't come in a cookie form. As the saying goes, you can’t have too much of a good thing. I also wanted to use up some sour cream and some thick Baileys cream that I have languishing in my refrigerator. So, after dinner I baked this coffee cake and topped it off with some almond streusel. I had some leftover almond streusel in the freezer as I made a big batch for some blueberry muffins previously. As such, it saved quite a bit of time for me. However, if you need to make a fresh batch of almond streusel, do give yourself some extra time as the almond streusel must be rested and chilled for at least 2 hours before you use it.

As for the taste and texture of the cake, I really like how the sour cream and Baileys cream gave this cake a super soft and moist texture whereas the addition of the almond streusel contributes a crumbly, crunchy and sweet topping. When eaten together, the two contrasting textures provide a very appetising and delicious combination! I had 2 slices after my dinner, and no, I did not have an apple for dinner. This morning for breakfast, I had another one, maybe two, slices.

I was not too pleased with the photographs as it was taken quickly at night in yellow light as my greed didn't allow me to keep the cake uneaten until the morning. So, these photos will have to do. Until next time, happy baking!

Recipe for Coffee Cake with Almond Streusel Topping

Prep Time: 20 minutes (not including time for preparing almond streusel)/ Baking Time: 45 minutes

You will need an 8” cake tin

Ingredients

200gm All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

¼ tsp Baking Soda

½ tsp Salt

75gm Butter

200gm Castor Sugar

1 large Egg

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

120gm Sour Cream

100gm Baileys Thick Cream (coffee flavoured)

30ml Black Coffee (1 tsp coffee diluted in hot water)

Topping

200gm Almond Streusel (recipe follows)

1 Tbsp Soft Brown Sugar

Method

1. Grease the cake tin and line with parchment paper. Pre-heat the oven to 160°C. Next, start by preparing the dry ingredients. Sieve the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl. Add in the salt and whisk to combine the ingredients.

2. Cream the butter with a mixer until it has softened. Add the castor sugar and mix until evenly combined and the mixture is fluffy.

3. Add the egg and vanilla essence, mix until just combined. Do not over mix after you have added the egg.

4. Now, fold in the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, Baileys and coffee mixture. Add a third of each mixture/ingredient at a time to ensure that it is even. Make sure the batter is evenly mixed after each addition.  

5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. In a bowl, combine the almond streusel and tablespoon of soft brown sugar and roughly whisk together with a fork. Add the streusel topping all over the top of the cake. Bake for 45 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Recipe For Almond Streusel

Prep Time: 10 minutes (active prep time)/ Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before use

Ingredients

60gm All Purpose Flour

60gm Ground Almonds

60gm Castor Sugar

60gm Butter

¼ tsp Salt

Method

1. Cut the cold butter into cubes. Place in a food processor. In a bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, ground almonds, castor sugar and salt together and whisk to evenly mix. Add the flour mixture into the food processor with the butter and pulse for about 15-20 seconds until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

2. Put the mixture into a resealable plastic freezer/sandwich bags. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before using. The almond streusel can be made in a big batch if you are intending to use it for other bakes, such as on top of muffins. It can be frozen for up to a month. Just put in the refrigerator to thaw out before using. Streusel should be used cold.

Almond Cookies

Meet the newest addition to my store!
Crunchy, delicate and fragrant almond cookies. Oh-so-delicious!
Price:
£8 per container of 45 pieces each

Ready to order?
Email nomsieskitchen@gmail.com
Call/Text/Whatsapp 074 4748 0418

All goodies are made to order from scratch. 
Shipping within the United Kingdom, shipping charges apply.
Collection/Delivery can be arranged in Newcastle/Gateshead area.

Vegetarian Lasagne

Hello everyone! For last week’s Meatless Monday edition, I shared a recipe for a homemade tomato based pasta sauce (“Pasta Sauce”), if you missed it, you can click here for the recipe.

I did mention in that post that the Pasta Sauce makes a great addition to lasagnes or as a base for any tomato sauce based pasta dish. Following on from that, I thought it would be nice to share a recipe that actually uses the said Pasta Sauce with you. As such, for this week’s Meatless Monday’s post, I am going to be sharing a recipe for vegetarian lasagne.

Pineapple Jam Tarts

Everyone, say hello to my Pineapple Jam Tarts.

Luscious all butter pastry topped off with home made pineapple jam. A match made in heaven. 100% made from scratch.

Price:

£10 per container of 45 pieces each

Ready to order?
Email nomsieskitchen@gmail.com
Call/Text/Whatsapp 074 4748 0418

All goodies are made to order from scratch. 
Shipping within the United Kingdom, shipping charges apply.
Collection/Delivery can be arranged in Newcastle/Gateshead area.

Turmeric Fried Chicken

Crispy, aromatic and juicy - need I say more?

Hello everyone!

Today I am sharing a closely guarded (well not anymore!) recipe for one of my favourite comfort foods. It is turmeric fried chicken. Well sure, it is fried chicken so it’s bound to be delicious. However, throw in that all important ingredient of – you guessed it – turmeric and somehow it becomes more than just fried chicken. The aroma from the spice just takes this fried chicken to another level, not forgetting, it also gives the chicken a brilliant golden colour.

Homemade Tomato Based Pasta Sauce

Delicious Homemade Tomato Based Pasta Sauce, full of vegetable goodness

Hello and a very happy Meatless Monday!

I hope you had a great weekend and got your batteries all recharged to face this week. It was an eventful weekend for me. If you read my previous post you would know that I have decided to start selling my cookies. I have always hesitated to do so but have finally decided to go for it. I have been unemployed for more than a year now. I have lost count of how many rejections I have received from countless job applications. No wait, I do know how many as I have a special folder just for them. Anyway, as times are bad, I decided to start helping myself and I am hopeful that this negative can be turned into a positive! I figured I have nothing to lose. If you have any tips for me or if you have encountered such an experience before, do share them with me, I would love to hear from you.

Looks like tomato soup? Just thought it looks better here than in a jar!

Ok, enough of this self-help guru philosophising. Back to this Monday’s meatless recipe. This time, I am sharing a recipe for homemade tomato based pasta sauce. Have you ever made your own pasta sauce before? If you haven’t you should really give this a go as it tastes so much better than store bought jars with the added bonus that you know exactly what is going in it. Definitely more healthful and it is packed full of vegetables. You see, I really am trying to help you stick to your healthy/healthier resolutions this year. We all want to be better right?

Use this sauce for anything from adding into lasagnes or as a base for marinara pasta. It’s so easy to make and have on hand for quick weeknight pasta dishes. Remember, a good tasting pasta sauce is the foundation of a great tasting pasta dish. 

Chinese New Year Peanut Cookies

Melt in your mouth traditional Chinese peanut cookies

Hello and happy weekend!

One thing about being Chinese is that we get to celebrate Chinese New Year! This year it is on 31 January, which isn't that far away at all. I still haven't recovered from the Christmas festivities. Anyhow, I am still looking forward to welcome the Year of the Horse come the end of the month. 

As with all celebrations, there inevitably comes the great baking madness! I love baking Chinese New Year cookies. One of my favourites are traditional Chinese peanut cookies. They melt in your mouth and taste just as good with coffee as they do with beer. Made from scratch (no such thing as peanut butter here) using roasted peanuts, they are incredibly irresistible and so difficult to stop eating!

This year, I am forging ahead and have decided to start selling my cookies. I am starting with this cookie but stay tuned for more varieties as I will be posting them up by next week. 

Back to this winner of a cookie, the details are as set out below:

Sold in containers of 45 pieces each

I am selling in containers of 45 pieces each (as pictured above), prices are:

£8 for 1 container 

£15 for 2 containers 

£21 for 3 containers

The size of each cookie is approximately the same size as a bottle cap.

Each cookie is made by hand and is about the size of a bottle cap. This photo is for comparison purposes and is also a bit of a laugh!

All cookies are made to order by hand so you can be assured of optimum freshness. Needless to say no preservatives are used. 

Collection/delivery around Newcastle/Gateshead area can be arranged, cash upon receipt is preferred. For everyone else, shipping within the UK is possible, payment will be made via Paypal. Ready to order or have any questions? Please drop me a line at nomsieskitchen@gmail.com or call/text/whatsapp 074 4748 0418 for details.

Why not bring a little taste of Chinese New Year to yourself? I look forward to hearing from you.

Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Hazelnuts

Just chewy enough, tastes equally good slightly warm or straight out of the cookie jar

Happy Hump Day! It’s Wednesday, so why not sit back and enjoy a cookie or three? I know it is the start of a new year and a lot of people are embarking on weight loss or healthy journeys so I was thinking twice about sharing this recipe. Then again, it is too good not to share. Don’t take this the wrong way, I assure you I am there to support you on your quest to be a better you. However, there are times in life when you just need a cookie break. It is not a contradiction. All things in moderation and you will not eat the whole pack or whole jar of cookies. That’s my philosophy any way. As such, when you are in need of a cookie break or if you are baking for kids or friends, I hope you will have this recipe by your side to try. At the end of the day, if you want a cookie, it is much better to have a homemade one then a packaged one from the supermarket.

French Bean Omelette

French Bean Omelette

Hello everyone! I hope you had a lovely festive season and I wish you and your loved ones a very happy 2014.As this is my first post in 2014 and it is a Monday, you guessed it, time for a Meatless Monday post.

One of my closest friends came over from Malaysia to visit me during the festive season. We had so much fun entertaining him and we went to York and Edinburgh. It was my first time in Edinburgh and it must be one of the nicest cities I have ever visited. The streets just ooze history and character. They also have very good steak and ale pies. Apart from that we also had friends over a couple of nights at home too and all that translates to more glorious food! With all the travelling, cooking and eating, I managed to gain 2kg in the last 3 weeks. I must now begin my quest to work of that excess weight and make my fat cry. Although, I do believe that I will end up crying before my fat does.