Cheddar & Chives Scones

Great for breakfast or an afternoon high tea. Simple to make.

 Chives and cheddar.

 Handle dough as little as possible and preferably, add the liquid all at once.

 Just form dough quickly with palms of your hands, don't press too hard. Scones look better when rustic and unevenly shaped.

Recipe:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
20g chives, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 cup packed shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 stick (4oz) salted butter, chilled & diced
1 egg
1/2 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)

Mix dry ingredients, cut in butter till crumbly (or pulse in food processor).
Stir in chives and cheddar.
Beat egg with cream. Add to flour mixture (add more cream if nec. until dough can just stick together)
Handle as little and as lightly as possible.
Take half of dough and press lightly into round shape on flour-dusted surface.
Cut into triangles, brush top with either melted butter, beaten egg, or heavy cream.
Bake at 400 deg, 20 - 25 min.

Tip: Best to bake only what you can eat that day and refrigerate the rest of the dough until needed. Tastes best freshly baked as scones tend to dry out very quickly.

Tri-Color Steamed Eggs 三色蛋

The mosaic-effect in this steamed dish comes from using three types of eggs - chicken eggs, salted eggs and century eggs.

Recipe:
4 chicken eggs, beaten
Twice the amount of water as eggs.
1 hard boiled salted duck egg, chopped
1 century egg, chopped
dash of white pepper
few drops of sesame oil
One "yaw zha guai" or "yu tiao"- fried Chinese cruller sliced into rings (optional)
Small pinch of salt (may even omit according to taste)
Directions:
Beat chicken eggs, beat in water and seasonings, stir in chopped eggs.
Pour into glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap and steam medium-high heat for about 5-7 min till cooked.

If using Yu Tiao:
Place sliced yu-tiao on top.
Cover with plastic wrap and steam medium-high heat for about 5 min, till 90% cooked.
Put in oven and broil on low heat till top is lightly browned.

When sliced, eggs will have pretty mosaic pattern due to the black century eggs.

Banana Bread 1

I love my Black & Decker Convection Toaster Oven - it can even bake two breads at one time! The baking is very even, even without the convection function turned on, so foods dont' burn easily.

This banana bread is so tender and has melt-in-your-mouth texture - quite amazing.  Not the heavy, solid banana breads or muffins you buy in the stores. Bottom is a little browned because I didn't turn on the convection function.  I should have as the bottom of the pans were right above the heating elements.

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/3 cups light brown sugar

2 large eggs

4 very ripe bananas

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:  Stir dry ingredients together.

Beat butter, sugar and oil together till light.

Beat in eggs and bananas and vanilla essence.

Stir in flour and orange juice

Pour into two greased glass bread pans.

Bake at 325 deg for 45 min.

Hong Kong

** Click on photos to enlarge **

 Giant French macaroons at Hong Kong bakery in Taikoo Shing.

 Tried the chestnut macaroon - chestnut cream was delicious, but macaroon was not that great.

Had dinner at Simply Life bakerycCafe in Taikoo Shing shopping center.  Great food at reasonable prices.  This is grilled shrimp with brown rice risotto.

 Crabmeat linguine.

 Yummy desserts from Paul Lafayette bakery.  HK$40 per piece.  My favorite was the mango bomb.

Teeny mangoes with intense flavor.

Vietnamese Rice Rolls

On a hot summer day, Vietnamese Rice Rolls are perfect for a light and healthy lunch. The ingredients are simple and easy to put together.  It's also a fun family activity when all the ingredients are put on the table and everyone makes their own rolls. 

These are availalbe at Vietnamese grocery stores.  Soak for 5 seconds in warm water and use while still stiff.  It will soften very quickly, even as you put ingredients on top.  Can use two sheets together if you find they break too easily.

 Vietnmaese or Chinese rice vermiceilli can be used.

I use precooked cocktail shrimp that have been thawed and tails removed. 

Sauce Recipe:
1 tablespoon peanut butter
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
Heat over stove until peanut butter is melted and stir till sauce is smooth.  Adjust to taste and desired consistency.