*~Riceballz~*

Green View Garden, Cameron Highland

Last Labour Day weekend was spent back in hometown. Since mum had day off from work and there is nothing much to do anyway, off to Cameron Highland we went.

Our first stop, and the best stop of the whole one-day trip - Green View Garden.

Strawberry goodies - Cakes, strudels, puddings, salad and chocolates.

We had this strawberry cheesecake.

And strawberry strudel.

Fresh strawberry juice.

Chocolate fondue. Served with strawberries, chocolate love letters and marshmallows.

Yummy!

There were so many pit stop cum vegetables/flower/ fruit farm cum rest and relax cum dining cum shopping area scattered around Ringlets, Tanah Rata, Brinchang and in between but this place is by far the best. It was spacious and the atmosphere was very relaxing. The wide array of western food and desserts makes me want to return for more.

The rest of the trip though, was not as good. Remember the Watercress Valley that I USED TO give good reviews of? I retract back my statement. If you happen to pass by there, don’t stop. Move ahead to somewhere else. That place had turned into a money sucking, tourist conning place. I should seen the telltale sign by the brand new Mercedes Benz parked right in front of their place.

They charge for every single thing and the food was cutthroat expensive. They charge RM0.30 for toilets and RM1.00 just for looking at the watercress! I don’t see the reason to charge people for looking at the farm when it is free in other farms. There were nothing impressive anyway, unlike beautiful flowers or fruits. They even closed the dining section so that the view is not accessible unless you dine in.

As for dining in, well for a steamboat meal consist of a soup base, a small basket of vegetables, ten meatballs, three stuffed chillies, three stuffed bean curd skin, ten suikow, two balls of noodles and two glasses of drinks, we were charged a whooping RM72.00. Despite the price stated in the menu, they will over charge you, knowing fully well that once you left you can’t make any complaints anyway.

So, be careful.

Popularity: 89% [?]

Posted in Confectionery, Dessert, Fruits, Pastry | No Comments »

Bacon and Cheddar Quiche

If you are a bacon and cheese lover, you will love this. Seriously, I have yet to find someone who doesn’t love a combo of them both. This sinfully rich bacon and cheddar cheese quiche which is laden with fatty bacons and melted cheddar is another one of my holiday cookouts last month. Got lazy to post it, forgot all about it until now. I made the quiche crust using the pate brisee crust, and for a 9 inch pie plate the fillings I used are:

8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Prepare the pate brisee crust as per instruction of the recipe. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, thyme, and pepper. Pour into the baked crust. Crumble bacon over the top with the shredded Cheddar cheese.

Bake at 175 degree C for about 30 minutes, or until quiche filling is set and top is lightly browned. The recipe I found on the net suggested serving the quiche with fresh tomato wedges or a tossed salad, although I scarfed them down the moment the quiche is freshly baked out of the oven. The aroma, texture, and lingering aftertaste is just indescribably good!

Popularity: 20% [?]

Posted in Baking, Pastry, Pork | No Comments »

Lemon Curd Tarlets

These tartlets were made last holiday and I forgot all about it until I check my photos last night. I meant to write down the recipe because they are tasty, so here it is.

Lemons were cheap the other day when I was in market so I bought a bunch and have to use them up before mum starts lecturing about wasting stuffs. Initially I saw some lemon tart recipes in the paper and wanted to try them up but since most of the ingredients were not available, I scoured the internet and found this lemon curd tart recipe. This recipe is also taken from joyofbaking.com. The sweet pastry crust is made with the recipe in my previous post.

Ingredients:

3 large eggs
1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon (4 grams) lemon zest

Lemon Zest - The yellow outer rind of the lemon that contains the fruit’s flavor and perfume.

Method:

1. In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended.
2. Cook, whisking constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes pale in color and quite thick (like a hollandaise sauce or sour cream), and this will take about 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps.
4. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted.
5. Add the lemon zest, cover, and let cool to room temperature before filling the pastry crust.

Do note that the lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Covering the lemon curd with plastic wrap prevents a skin from forming on the surface.

Mum tasted the lemon curd tartlets and declared that despite it is nice, the tart is a wee bit empty to her liking. So she asked me to put in some sliced strawberries that we got from Cameron Highland a few days back (Yeah, this was made at about that time). They do look prettier with strawberry slices, isn’t it?

Popularity: 13% [?]

Posted in Baking, Pastry | 2 Comments »

Sweet Pastry Crust

Mum and occasionally dad loves to eat pastry, and every now and then we would make a batch of homemade tartlets for tea or snack. We tried a lot of recipes for the crust, and last holiday I was trying this recipe taken from joyofbaking.com. I must say that the sweet pastry crust recipe is very nice. Crispy and buttery, the crust is good for any pie or tart fillings.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Method:

1. In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.
2. Place the butter in mixer and beat until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Gradually add the beaten egg, beating just until incorporated.
4. Don’t over mix or the butter will separate and lighten in color.
5. Add flour mixture all at once and mix just until it forms a ball. Don’t overwork or pastry will be hard when baked.
6. Flatten dough into disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until firm.
7. The resulting mixture is quite soft and breaks easily, so do handle with care. I have to dust some flour to prevent the dough mixture from sticking to the rolling pin.
8. When the pastry is rolled to the desired size, lightly roll pastry around your rolling pin, dusting off any excess flour as you roll.
9. Unroll onto top of tart pan. Gently lay in pan and with a small floured piece of pastry, lightly press pastry into bottom and up sides of pan. With a thumb up movement, again press dough into pan.
10. Prick bottom of dough (this will prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes).
11. Cover and refrigerate for about 20 minutes to chill the butter and to rest the gluten in the flour.
12. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.
13. Do remember to fill tart pan with pie weights, rice or beans, making sure the weights are to the top of the pan and evenly distributed over the entire surface.
14. Bake the crust for 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is dry and lightly golden brown.
15. Remove weights and cool crust on wire rack before filling.

This is my tartlets, filled in the tartlet pans ready to be baked. Some are quite smooth but some are not that pretty, thanks to my half baked skills. It does seem like there are a lot of steps, but it isn’t as hard as it sounds. All I have to do now is to bake the crust and let it cool off before filling them in. This batch of crust is for lemon curd tartlets, which I will blog about later.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Posted in Baking, Pastry | 1 Comment »

Vegetable Quiche

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this is a vegetarian affair, but close enough, what with the amount of vegetables, with just a pinch: the sinful cheese.

Ingredients:

9 inch pate brisee crust
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup asparagus
2-3 mushrooms, sliced thinly
2-3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 stick carrot, chopped
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
A few dashes of Italian herb

Method:

Dice, chop, slice and cook vegetables by stir frying them with some olive oil, herb, salt and pepper, set aside.

Prepare and pre bake the pate brisee crust as per instruction. Fill the crust with vegetables and top with cheddar cheese.

Whisk together the eggs and milk. Add salt, pepper, and some herbs. Pour egg mixture over the vegetables. Bake at 175 degree C 45 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let vegetable quiche stand 10 to 12 minutes before serving.

Dig in! Honestly, this kinda savoury pastries are so darn good!

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted in Baking, Pastry, Vegetables | No Comments »