Chinese Tea Eggs (茶叶蛋)

My kids are all egg lovers and they eat hard boiled eggs on a regular basis though it can rather plain and boring! I decided to do something a little different by making these Chinese Tea Eggs. 

The combination of tea leaves and dried spices (cinnamon, star anise and cloves) and five spice powder filled the kitchen was a wonderful aroma even as the eggs gently simmered on the stove for that two hours. 

My kids enjoyed the Chinese Tea Eggs very much as they it has a distinctive and special flavour. It can be enjoyed dipped in soya sauce but I think its sufficiently flavourful on its own. You can leave it overnight so that the eggs develop a deeper flavour. It's an easy dish to make - what you'll need is patience to watch the fire while its cooking. 

Chinese Tea Leaf Eggs Recipe from Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients:

• 6-12 eggs (I used 6 eggs)
• 4 cups water
• 6 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce (I used 5 tbsp)
• 3 tablespoons pu-erh tea (I used tie guan yin tea leaves)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 3 cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Method:

• Add 4 cups of water to a medium pot and gently drop in the eggs. Make sure the water covers the eggs. Bring the water to boil on high heat. Boil for about 10 minutes or so to make sure the eggs are cooked.
• Transfer the hard-boiled eggs out of the hot boiling water and rinse them with cold water. Using the back of a teaspoon, gently tap the eggshell to crack the shell. 
• Return the eggs to the water and add in the remaining ingredients. Bring the tea mixture to a boil and immediately turn the heat to low. Simmer for 2 hours (the longer the simmering, the better the taste). Add more water if needed. Serve immediately or leave the tea eggs in the mixture overnight to further develop the color and flavor.

I am submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event organized by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY and hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out. 

Mushrooms Bruschetta with Poached Egg

I'm always on the look for easy brunch ideas which I can whip in a hurry on weekends - not the usual fare (rice and dishes) which we eat on weekdays but something more interesting. I came across Mushroom Bruschetta when I was surfing for mushroom recipes. This is a twist from the original which is made of tomatoes and sounded delicious with all that different types of mushroom - as you can tell by now, I'm a mushroom lover.

Anyway, the Mushroom Bruschetta on its looks rather boring as you can see from the picture above. The recipe I found suggested it be served with fried or poached eggs. I recall my friend Baby Sumo's tutorial on making the perfect poached eggs on her blog. So I decided to try my hand at making them for this recipe. 

The poached egg turned out pretty well for a first timer. The yolk was a beautiful runny golden yellow. It was irresistible as the yolk soaked into the crispy bread and flavourful mushrooms. Totally divine!

It's hard not to take another picture of the beautiful, golden runny yolk on the bruschetta. My kids gave this a big thumbs up.

Mushroom Bruschetta with Poached Egg (4 servings)
Recipe adapted from here

Mushroom

Ingredients

• 150 g butter (I used a few tablespoons of olive oil)
• 4 thick slices sourdough bread (I used French Loaf)
• 2 banana shallots or 4 regular shallots, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 300g mixed wild mushrooms (chanterelles, ceps, wood blewitts, oyster, field mushrooms etc), trimmed and sliced
• 2 tbsp crème fraîche (I replaced with yoghurt)
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon (I used rosemary)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
• 4 free-range fried or poached eggs, to serve

Method

• Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the bread slices and fry for 1-2 minutes each side or until lightly browned. remove and keep warm.
• Add the remaining butter to the frying pan and sauté the shallots and garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry over a medium heat for 6-8 minutes. season well, remove from the heat and stir in the crème fraîche and chopped fresh herbs.
• Serve the mushrooms on the sourdough bread, top with fried or poached eggs and serve immediately, drizzling with any pan juices.

Poached Egg
Recipe from Baby Sumo, adapted from MasterChef Australia

You'll need:

• A fresh egg at room temperature
• White vinegar
• Water
• Slotted spoon
• Saucepan

Method

1. Crack the egg into a small ramekin or small bowl. It is easier to slip the egg into the simmering water later.

2. Fill a small saucepan with approximately 4 inches of water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the water, it will help the eggs whites set.

3. Using a tablespoon, swirl the water making a whirlpool (as if you are drawing circles in the water). Gently tip the egg into the centre of the whirlpool and watch the magic of the swirl work. As the egg hits the whirlpool, the egg white will enclose around the yolk and form a neat tight round. (If your eggs are not fresh or not at room temperature, then this is when it will fail and won't enclose properly)

4. Allow the egg to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the yolk is cooked to your liking. Gently lift out the egg using a slotted spoon and give it a little wobble. The egg white should be just cooked (no more translucent white). Remove with a slotted spoon and rest the spoon on kitchen paper for few seconds to absorb any excess water.

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen for my little favourite D.I.Y., and hosted by Joyce, kitchen flavours.

Spinach and Cheese Souffle

With Chinese New Year round the corner, we're all going to have a sugar-overload from the cookies and cakes. This made me decide to make a savoury souffle rather than a sweet one. I think my kids would love a chees-y type of souffle. After searching around, Ina Garten's Spinach and Cheese Souffle recipe seemed most promising. It's my first time making a souffle and it proved to be quick, easy and really delicious. 

This recipe produced a souffle which was light, fluffy and perfectly chees-y (the way my kids like it!). The pepper and nutmeg added a unique and distinctive aftertaste. This was a great recipe to hide vegetables in and get kids to have an extra dose of them.  

Souffles are probably one of the hardest type of dishes to photograph. Knowing that it is going to start collapsing the moment its out of the oven, I was armed with my camera at the oven door to capture the souffle in its most-puffed up glory. 

When I moved it to the balcony for the photography session, it started sinking...

And sinking... and then it became totally flat!

Nonetheless it was still beautifully light and fluffy inside.

With a wonderful melt-in-the-mouth type of texture. This souffle makes a great side dish at a more elaborate dinner or could be served as the main course alongside a salad. 

Spinach and Cheese Souffle

• Recipe from Food Network

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp (42 g) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for sprinkling
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 cup scalded milk
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 extra-large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese, lightly packed
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry (I used a small bunch of fresh spinach, blanched and squeezed dried)
• 5 extra-large egg whites, room temperature
• 1/8 tsp cream of tar tar

 Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter the inside of a 6 to 8-cup souffle dish (6 1/2 to 7 1/2 inches in diameter by 3 1/2 inches deep) and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the hot milk, the nutmeg, cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, until smooth and thick.
• Off the heat, while still hot, whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the Cheddar, 1/4 cup of Parmesan and the spinach and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
• Put the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, on medium speed for 1 minute, then finally on high speed until they form firm, glossy peaks.
• Whisk one quarter of the egg whites into the cheese sauce to lighten and then fold in the rest. Pour into the souffle dish, then smooth the top. Draw a large circle on top with the spatula to help the souffle rise evenly, and place in the middle of the oven. Turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (don't peek!) until puffed and brown. Serve immediately.

I am submitting this to Bake-Along hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Lena of Her Frozen Wings and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids

This is for AlphaBakes hosted by The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes.

Egg Tarts

I grew up eating egg tarts from Chinese dim sum restaurant and bakeries but did not know these were such popular snacks and even listed on the World’s 50 most delicious foods compiled by CNN Go in 2011. The egg tarts’ first recorded appearance were on the “Manchu-Han Imperial Feast” (满汉全席 Mǎn Hàn Quán Xí) - a lavish banquet for Emperor Kangxi which went on for days. They were featured as one of 32 delicacies.

Though egg tarts are more common in Asia, the best I have eaten were from a Chinese bakery tucked away in a back lane of San Francisco. Those egg tarts were so well known that there was always a long queue for it. Though it has been decades since, the buttery pastry and smooth egg custard left such an impression that whenever I feel like egg tarts, those were the ones I think of!

For a while, everyone in a particular baking group I follow seemed to be making egg tarts which made me crave for them again. I have always thought it was rather difficult to make and was surprised how easy it was. My first attempt did not turn out too badly though I think they could be more browned. I might increase the temperature of the oven a little towards the end of the bake when I make these again.

The pastry shell for egg tarts can either be a shortcrust (crumbly biscuit-like) or in a flaky, puff pastry-like layer form (the more well-known version).  Whichever the version, the pleasure of eating an egg tart is undoubtedly biting into a crumbly outer shell filled with silky smooth egg custard. Egg tarts, anyone?

Egg Tarts (makes 38-40 tarts)

Recipe from Munch Ministry

Short Crust Pastry

• Softened unsalted butter 250 g
• Castor sugar 120 g
• 1 egg
• Plain flour 500 g

Method 

• Cream the butter and sugar till creamy. (I creamed it using a whisk for about 3 to 5 minutes)
• Add in the egg and mix well.
• Lastly add in the flour and mix to form a soft dough. If the dough is sticky, you can add some more flour (a little at a time) till it is smooth and not sticky .
• Mould into the small cupcake mould till the dough is used up.
• Pour in the egg custard till its almost full.

Egg Custard 

• Water 350 g
• Castor sugar 120 g
• Fresh milk 100 g
• 5 eggs

Method

• Place water and sugar in a pot and boil till sugar is dissolved. Let it cool completely.
• Add milk into the sugar mixture and stir.
• Lightly beat the egg and add into the above.
• Mix well and strain the egg mixture.
• Pour into the prepared cup and bake at 160 Deg C for 20-25 mins or till the crust is slightly brown (I baked it for about 30 minutes)
• Remove the tarts by turning the mould over and knocking the base gently. The tarts should come out easily.

Note : Prepare the egg custard first before the dough.

How to mould the pastry:

1. Place a ball of dough into the mould. I use 25 g of dough for each mould (6 cm across).
2. Press the dough with your thumb to spread it out all over the mould.
3. Make sure that the tart base is not too thick and some of the dough should spill over the edge of the mould.
4. Trim the excess dough off using a sharp knife.

The history of egg tarts is extracted from World of Chinese. 

###

Watercress and Capsicum Quiche

I’ve always wanted to bake a quiche but never got round to it because I thought it was rather unhealthy with a buttery crust and way too much cream and cheese – that was till I saw this healthier version. This recipe is  crust-less, uses low fat cottage cheese and absolutely easy to do. All I did was saute the fillings,  blend the rest of the ingredients, stir in the vegetables and cheese and it’s ready to bake!

The good thing about quiches is that you can use any kind of vegetable or meat. This is a vegetarian version with watercress and capsicum.  It was an absolutely delicious and guilt-free dinner and I would love to make it again with different combination of ingredients such as meat, sausages, mushrooms and spinach.

Watercress and Capsicum Quiche (9 inch round baking dish)

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup – 2 cups filling of choice (sauteed veggies/meat) – I used 1 bunch of watercress leaves and 1 medium capsicum and made 1.5 cups of filling)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup greek yogurt (or sour cream)
• 1 cup 1% cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Additional spices/herbs or choice, optional
• 2 cups grated cheese of choice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 165°C. Spray baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Allow the vegetable/meat fillings to cool after cooked.
3. Combine the eggs, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, flour, salt, and pepper, in a medium bowl. Stir together, or blend in food processor until the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Pour the mixture into a bowl with the filling ingredients. Add 1/2 the cheese and mix. Pour the mixture into the baking dish and smooth out the top. Top with remaining cheese.
4. Bake until set, about 45 minutes. Remove the baking dish from the oven. It will be puffed up, but will fall slightly as it cools. Allow it to cool, then, refrigerate. Cut it into squares and serve with a pasta or side dish.