Happy Seven Months Lucius！七个月大咯！

25th September 2010

Lucius又长大一个月了！ 他已经是满七个月的大宝宝了！

踏入第七个月，突然有一天他的依依呀呀婴语变成连串音调类似异国语言的巴巴麻麻啊啊。来劲时会说个不停，听起来煞是好笑。

随着Lucius一天天的长大，他和大人的互动也越来越多，很多时候他都会尝试用不同的肢体语言和音律，甚至眼神来表达他的心意。

他已经能用双手把上半身撑得高高的。他一直在学习爬行，有时弄到自己满头大汗还爬不动时会发脾气。他也慢慢的可以自己坐立。开始学坐时坐一下就要倒下来，现在买给他的高椅已经能派上用场。

他依然会和陌生人微笑和玩但让陌生人抱抱会扁嘴，还会哭。（陌生人=爹地，妈咪，外公，外婆，简称四大天王以外的所有人）。

越来越会认人了，意即也更粘身边的人，看到外婆总是啊啊叫要抱抱，而且还很会撒娇。他会把头靠在大人的肩膀上贴得紧紧，两只手绕着大人的身体抱得紧紧，有时甚至用他的小脸来磨蹭大人的脸。每当他这样对我撒娇时，我的心马上融化。

以前喂他喝奶时他总爱用小手抢着握奶瓶，但是都属于玩票性质，因为还未能握得很稳。现在他已是“全职”自己独立拿奶瓶喝奶了，为我们省下了不少功夫。

一满六个月就开始让他尝试半固体食物。第一样让他尝的是最基本的米糊。还记得第一次喂他吃米糊的情景，一口一口接着吃，吃完一口就吵着要第二口，还用手来抢。但吃了几天，便便次数多达一天三次，而且很稀。听从食品公司的建议，让他停几天后再吃较少的份量，但情况没改善。后来换了另一个牌子就没问题了。

因为这样拖延了让Lucius尝试其他食物的时间，所以至今除了米糊和自己煮的白粥，Lucius只吃过红萝卜和南瓜泥。我是follow the book的妈咪，所以我紧跟4 day wait rule，就是每次只给宝宝尝试一样新食物，一连吃四天后如无不良反反应，才介绍另一样新食物。

不要看Lucius长得比一般同龄宝宝大，他的胃口其实不大，体型也属于瘦长形。好啦，不瘦但绝不会胖。到现在他还没换大奶瓶（晕～～），150ml的奶有时还要分几次喝。还有，他还在穿M size的纸尿布，买了L size的让他试，穿起来宽宽跨跨。

这个月还没帮他量身高体重，星期五到医院复诊时量了再记录下来。

Bacon Wrapped Cherry Tomoto/ Enoki Mushroom and The 100th 樱桃番茄/金针菇培根卷和第一百

I made this for Mid-Autumn Festival dinner together with Braised Ee Fu Noodles.

It is a perfect finger food for party or as a quick snack. What you need is just a pack of bacon, cherry tomato and enoki mushroom from the supermarket. No baking or cooking technique is required, just assemble and send into the oven.

Be cautious when you eat the cherry tomato bacon roll because the juice is real hot but that's the beauty of it. After baking the cherry tomato is almost melt-in-the-mouth.

As oppose to the juicy cherry tomato, the enoki mushroom bacon roll is dryer but very crunchy when you munch on it.

Initially I didn't plan to wrap with enoki mushroom but since I bought a pack for the Braise Ee Fu Noodles I thought why not used some for the bacon roll. Anyway, D likes anything with enoki mushroom.

I made bacon wrapped cherry tomato again on Sunday morning for breakfast. After baking I removed the toothpick and had it wrapped in bread. Tasted very yummy too.

Ingredient:
Bacon slices
Cherry tomato
Enoki mushroom (separated)
Toothpicks/ wooden picks

Method:
1) Line a baking tray with aluminum foil or baking paper. Brush a thin layer of butter/ margarine/olive oil (I used canola spread). Preheat oven to 200C.
2) Roll up a cherry tomato or strip of enoki mushroom in bacon slice, cut the bacon slice to the desired length and secure the joint by inserting 2 wooden picks. Place on baking tray.
3) Bake at 200C for 10 mins then 230C for 2 mins (upper rack). Brush the bacons with the excess oil on the baking tray.

Note:
1) I used olive oil for greasing on the second time. I found that that the bacon cooked faster and the aluminum foil got slight burned. Suggest reduce the baking time if using olive oil.
2) I made 3 rolls (either cherry tomato or enoki mushroom) from each bacon slice.

Variation:
1) Replace cherry tomoto and enoki mushroom with other ingredients such as asparagus, capsicum etc.
2) Use a skewer (satay stick) to stick 2 or 3 rolls together.

The 100th

Just a short note, I login to my blog and just realized I got 100 followers today, a new milestone to me.

Thanks all readers and followers for your support and encouragement.

Angel's Braised Ee Fu Noodles 爱的焖伊府面

D likes braised Ee Fu Noodles a lot but it is not commonly found in the menu of the zhi char (煮炒) stalls in coffee shop or hawker centre. Though there is something similar called fried yee mee (炒伊面) the noodle itself and cooking method are different.

Braised Ee Fu Noodles are normally served in Chinese restaurants and sometimes during wedding dinner. Thanks The Little Teochew for sharing her braised Ee Fu Noodles recipe and now I can replicate it at home for my loved ones. The recipe is very easy to follow. Though I didn't follow the recipe to a T it gave me a very good guide.

I tried to look for the dried Ee Fu Noodles in the supermarkets, went to a few including hypermarket but only Yee Mee was found. Finally I got it at the wet market near my house. (Update: Had seen in NTUC Finest and Cold Storage)

Traditionally this dish is cooked with yellow chives (韭王/Jiu Wang) but I have never seen it before in the supermarket or wet market. I tried my luck to look around for it but it was proven that I had no luck. I abandoned the project and grabbed a pack of green chives to standby.

At the end I only used the green chives for garnishing but not cooking as I afraid that the taste might be too strong to blend in with other ingredients. Then I remembered I had a Boy Choy sitting in my fridge so I used Boy Choy instead. I believe the sweetness from Boy Choy compliments other ingredients which are basically different types of mushrooms.

I cooked this dish for Mid-Autumn Festival dinner together with a finger food (coming up in my next blog post) and beancurd longan soup with egg.

I was very pleased with the result. My family enjoyed the dish a lot. D mentioned that this dish was almost perfect if not lacked of marinated green chili.

Because I had put in a lot of love and effort in preparing this dish, one of D's favourite dishes, I decided to name it "Angel's Braised Ee Fu Noodles" (Ju, I hope you don't mind).

I am sharing my adapted recipe from here.

Ingredients: (for 4 servings)
4 - 5 cloves garlic (chopped)
4 - 5 leaves Chinese cabbage/Bok Choy (白菜) (cut into stripes)

1 can straw mushroom （草菇）(halved or quartered depending on size)

1 pack enoki mushroom（金针菇）
3 large dried shiitake mushroom（香菇） (presoaked in water and thinly sliced)
4 - 5 tbsp vegetable oil + ½ tsp sesame oil
4 dried mounds (200g) Ee Fu Noodles

Braising sauce: (mix together)

3 tbsp oyster sauce/abalone sauce (I used 1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce & 2 tbsp abalone sauce)

½ tbsp light soy sauce (adjust the amount or omit it if the oyster sauce used is salty)
1 tsp dark soy sauce (for colouring purpose, reduce the amount if desired)
1 tsp sugar

½ tsp Chinese cooking wine (花雕酒)
¼ tsp white pepper

2 cups dried scallop broth *
* Rinse 30g (or a handful) dried scallop and soak in 2 cups of water for a few hours. Remove and break down the dried scallop. Bring the water to a boil, add the dried scallop and simmer for 20-30 mins, off fire and let the dried scallop soak in the broth till cooking time.

Method:

1) In a wok, heat vegetable oil and sesame oil. When it is very hot, add in garlic and saute till fragrant. Add bok choy and stir-fry till becomes slightly soft. Add all the mushrooms and stir-fry for about 1 min at medium-high heat.
2) Add braising sauce and simmer till a gentle boil. Add in Ee Fu noodles, making sure you submerge them in the braising sauce as much as possible. Cover with a lid and let the noodles stew in the sauce at low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Open lid and check for doneness.
3) Gradually add little hot water if the noodle is not cooked yet and continue to simmer (I repeated this step for 2 - 3 times). Meanwhile, taste the noodle, add more seasonings if required. If it is too salty, add a pinch of sugar.
4) Off fire when the noodles is almost cooked and little braising sauce is left. Cover with lid and allow the residual heat to continue cooking the noodles till al dente (when the dish is done it should have no braising sauce).

5) Dish up on serving plate and garnish with cut chives or coriander.

中秋芋头蛋和月饼男孩 Mid-Autumn Festival Mini Yum & Mooncake Boy

月饼吃多了，今天和大家分享一年一度只有中秋节时才能吃到的迷你芋头～芋头蛋（我不知道正确的名字，因为家里都是这样叫的）。

以芋头拜月、祭拜祖先和吃芋头是潮汕中秋节的一大习俗。从前我们家每逢中秋节都会买很多芋头蛋和菱角来过节。

说起来已经很多年没吃过菱角了，现在很像从没看过有人卖。菱角的外壳是硬的，形状像在飞的鸟，因为是黑色的，所以我常常把菱角和老鹰联想在一起，小时候看了会怕怕。吃时把壳剥开就行了（就像是吃栗子一样），里面的肉是白色的，感觉有点像在吃栗子，但是和栗子比起来，栗子会比较好吃。

照片中看到的是来自汕头的芋头蛋（也有来自香港的，味道没那么好）。和一般的芋头比起来，芋头蛋的味道更香浓，吃进口嘴尾还带有甜味，口感更是绵绵幼滑。做法很简单只要拿去蒸就行了，单单这样吃或是沾点幼糖吃就已经很好吃了。

今天是中秋节，在此派出Lucius祝愿大家中秋节快乐。

但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all friends and readers!

(Photos taken on 22nd Sept 2010, Lucius, 6 months 4 weeks old)

Quick & Easy Sardine Puff (Ready-made Puff Pastry) 简易烤沙丁鱼角（现成酥皮）

I made this in a cooling Sunday morning to replace my usual toast with jam breakfast, as I preferred something warm that day.

I used frozen puff pastry in small square (that means I don't even need to divide and cut the puff pastry). What I need to do is just to wrap it with some fillings and bake in the oven.

For the filling, I used canned sardine, onion and chili padi again. This time I made it spicier by adding extra chili padi (refer here).

Since the puff pastry is frozen so you need to thaw it ahead before use. You may let it thaw slowly in the fridge (not freezer) overnight if you know you are going to use it the next day. If you need to use it as soon as possible, you may preheat the oven with low temperature, switch off the power and let the frozen puff pastry thaw in the oven (this is what I did for this batch of sardine puff).

Due to our warm and humid weather I feel that puff pastry that is still cold (but not hard) is easier to handle than room temperature one. So just thaw it until it is soft enough to fold. If it is too hard you will tend to break the pastry into half while folding, so be gentle and bend it slowly.

I bought the square puff pastry (as shown in the picture) from JB Jusco at RM4.50/pack. I have seen it selling in JB Carrefour at slightly lower price. It comes with 10pcs of puff pastries which are nicely stacked on layers of plastic sheets.

I am not sure if this brand is sold in Singapore, can anyone advise? Also, can you please share your favourite brand of ready-made puff pastry, where to get it and the price by leaving a comment here?

To assemble, I place the puff pastry with the plastic sheet on my palm, remove the plastic sheet on top (remain the bottom one), add one spoonful of fillings then fold the pastry into half (your choice to fold it into rectangular or triangle shape), press down the edge with the tines of a fork. Turn over and press down the edge again (do it on both sides just to ensure the edge is tightly sealed). Place it on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Then apply egg wash (I used whole egg - egg white mixed with egg yolk) after complete all the wrapping and bake in preheated oven at 200C for about 15-20 minutes or till the pastry becomes golden brown.

蛋花腐竹龙眼糖水 Beancurd Longan Soup with Egg

最近又是Sardine Puff又是烤月饼的，很燥热，今天就来点糖水润润喉。

照片是晚上拍的，效果很差，但不要质疑它的美味哦!

这甜品可是我们家的最爱，虽然是热食的但我们喜欢热天喝，很润喉止渴。不止当饭后甜品，这还是我们家晚餐饭桌上的汤水，有这个当天就不煮汤了。边吃咸的菜肴，边配这个甜汤，这就是我们家的吃法。相信“外人”很难理解，包括D在内。哈哈哈！

做法非常简单，腐竹加入适量水煮至软（加入一把班兰叶一起煮会更香），加入龙眼干，煮一会儿，味道出来后加入适量冰糖或白糖，最后徐徐倒入蛋液煮滚就行了。

注：
1) 腐竹有两种，一种是煮咸的料理用的，要选购煮甜品的腐竹.
2) 龙眼干也有两种，一种来自中国，有加入黑糖，一种来自泰国，比较小颗，完全是原味。个人觉得煮甜品用中国的比较好喝。照片中的龙眼干是中国的，汤水因为龙眼里的黑糖所以颜色比较深。

Walnut Mooncake 核桃月饼

去年的这个时候我还怀着小Lucius，看到网友们纷纷献上诱人的自制月饼，我只有看的份。当时我还是处于害喜的阶段，即使心里蠢蠢欲动想尝试做，但却力不从心。时间飞逝，今年的中秋节Lucius即将步入七个月，是个大宝宝了。

我喜欢吃新加坡某家餐馆的核桃月饼，所以第一次做月饼就选做这非传统的核桃月饼。另一方面这月饼的饼皮类似挞皮，是我比较熟悉的，所以应该比较有把握。

星期六买了莲蓉馅（我选的是纯正白莲蓉），因为需要时间松弛，想说晚上把饼皮打好，那么隔天就能开始包馅了。等到Lucius睡着后，大概晚上11点要开始做时我才发现需要用到白油（shortening），可我家里没有。脑海里就一直想应不应该用牛油或菜油代替白油（成品会有影响吗？），或是立即到24小时的超市购买白油（这么夜了还特地出门买一罐白油会不会有点发神经？），还是等到隔天一早才出去买（会不会太迟？）。

我上网做了一些功课。根据baking911，白油的含脂量是100%，做出来的饼皮是最酥脆的（most flaky），而牛油和菜油（margarine）含脂量都是80%左右，牛油做出来的饼皮酥脆度是中等，相较的菜油做成的饼皮最不酥脆（题外话，我觉得我用菜油做的这个sardine puff也很酥脆）。

我选的这个食谱根据做过的网友反映饼皮非常flaky，而我又不想我的饼皮太flaky，那么如果用菜油代替白油，饼皮是不是就不会那么flaky呢？最后我决定用菜油代替白油。这么拖一拖，开工时已经是凌晨12点多了，搅拌机打一下停一下，生怕会扰人清梦。

在一个中碗里铺上一大张保鲜膜，加入打好的饼皮，把周围的保鲜膜向内折包好就能收入冰箱了。

烤好的饼皮确酥酥脆脆的，味道很香，因为选用了salted butter，饼皮有点带咸，配上甜内陷，我觉得恰到好处。一部分内陷我加入了咸蛋黄，我觉得加入咸蛋黄的更加好吃。

有没有发现有些月饼的颜色比较深？比较深色的第二次刷蛋黄液时用了蛋黄加少许蛋白，比较浅色的一律使用蛋黄加少许清水。

这是我用的核桃，是D到以色列出差带回来的。我觉得味道很好，比我平时买的美国核桃好吃。

开始时我选用整颗核桃做装饰，觉得会比较美。烤好一盘后才发现整颗核桃可能太大了，很容易掉出来。烤第二盘时，我用小块的核桃，刷蛋液时一并刷过核桃，烤好的月饼核桃粘着饼皮，不会掉落。

Ingredients: (Yield 25pcs)

Dough
220g butter (salted)

50g Crisco shortening (I replaced with margarine)

50g icing sugar

½ tsp vanilla essence/extract

½ tsp ammonium bicarbonate (I omitted)

1 egg

360g plain flour
25g custard Powder
½ tsp baking soda

Walnut for decoration

1 egg yolk + 1 tsp water for glazing

Fillings

1kg Lotus Paste
200-250g Walnut (toasted and chopped)(I omitted)

Method:

1) Cream sugar, shortening, butter, vanilla essence and ammonium together until slightly white (slow speed first then change to high speed)

2) Gradually add in egg.

3) Lastly add in sifted flour, custard powder and sodium bicarbonate to knead into a dough (do not mix too long). Leave dough in fridge overnight or for a few days (cover with cling wrap).

4) Divide fillings into about 40g each, roll into round ball.

5) Take out dough from fridge and divide into portions of 30 gm each.
6) Wrap fillings into dough and decorate with walnut. Apply egg wash and bake at 160ºC for 10 mins. Take it out and leave it for about 10 mins and apply egg wash again. Bake for another 15 mins.

Tips:
1) After diving the dough, keep half of it in the fridge while wrapping the fillings. Due to our hot weather the dough may become too soft to handle if keep in room temperature. You may rotate the two plates of dough whenever you find the dough starts to turn soggy.
2) Use small chunk of walnut for decoration and apply egg wash over the walnut, so that the walnut will stick to the pastry after baking.
3) The pastry is slight salty as salted butter is used. It compliments the sweet filling. However, if you do not like salty pastry, use unsalted butter instead and add ½ tsp of salt.

(Recipe reference: Baking Mum)

One Lovely Blog Award & "Thank You" from Lucius

Thanks Weng of I Heart My Bakes for dedicating this lovely award to me.

Sardine Puff 烤沙丁鱼角

I made these sardine puffs one month ago for afternoon tea. I adapted the shortcrust pastry recipe from Today newspaper. When I looked at the date I couldn't believe that the newspaper cutout was dated 2 years ago. I have eyeing for this for the longest time and finally I made it.

For the fillings, I mixed the sardines with onion and finely cut chili padi (bird's eyes chili).

The pastry is flaky and buttery and the filling is just the way my family likes their sardines to be, hot and spicy.

I think this baked version still can't beat the fried version. It is not bad though, just let the oven does the job, no deep-frying and major cleaning.

Pastry recipe adapted from Today newspaper dated 11th December 2008. The amount shown below is half the recipe.

Ingredients:

Fillings
1 small can sardine in tomato sauce (I used Ayam brand)
1 small size onion (cut into strips)
4 chili padi (bird's eye chili) (finely cut ) (I think still not spicy enough!)
Pinch of sugar and light soya sauce to taste

Pastry
250g plain flour
¼ tsp salt
125g butter, at room temperature (I replaced with margarine)
1 ½ tbsp ice water
½ egg yolk
For the egg wash: ½ egg yolk + ½ tsp water
**I think the crust is slightly salty. I will add a pinch of sugar if I were to make again.

Method:
1) Place the flour in a mixing bowl, add salt and mix well. Using fingertips, rub the butter into the flour.
2) Add water and egg yolk and mix to form the dough.
3) Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 45 minutes before use (so that it is easier to roll out and handle).
4) Now prepare the fillings. Place the sardines in a bowl, remove bones and break them up with a fork then add the rest of the ingredients (including tomato sauce in the can, reduce the amount if you prefer the fillings dryer), mix well.
5) To assemble, preheat oven to 200C. Roll out the dough to about 0.5mm thick (see tips below).
6) Use a round pastry cutter (about 8cm diameter) to cut out the pastry circles (I use a cup as I do not have round pastry cutter). Place on a baking sheet.
7) Place a spoon of sardines on the centre of each round and fold the pastry into a half moon (I made 2 half moon shape and the rest is round shape, just cover the top with another piece of cut-out pastry).
8) Using the tines of a fork, press down on the edges of the puffs to seal them.
9) Apply egg wash - lightly brush it onto the tops of the pastry.
10) Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown.

Tips:
Rolling out your pastry between sheets of greaseproof paper or cling film (tape it to your work surface to keep it steady) ensures your pastry won't stick to your rolling pin and work surface. Plus, it makes for easy cleaning up, too.

Lastly, the picture below is for a blog friend.

Anncoo, you get what I mean? :)

小老虎上新装 Baby Tiger's New Costume

小老虎却披上羊衣裳。

照片是Lucius刚睡醒时拍的，看他一副呆呆傻傻的样子。Lucius外公说这辑照片Lucius长得像女生。

(Photos taken on 21st August 2010, Lucius, 5 months 3 weeks 6 days old)

Banana Chiffon Cake 香蕉戚风蛋糕

做麦片牛油蛋糕(Nestum Butter Cake) 时剩下一粒蛋白，所以决定用来做戚风蛋糕。通常我看到戚风蛋糕的配方多一粒蛋白，我也会把蛋黄一并加入或是少用一粒蛋白，因为不喜欢剩下一粒蛋黄，除非我已有所打算要用蛋黄来做其他东西。

家里也不常买香蕉，这香蕉原本是我特地买来做这个琼妮老太太的香蕉蛋糕的。既然有多一个蛋白，又有香蕉，那我就没有理由不尝试做这个Jessie(Hearty Bakes) 分享的Light & Moist Banana Chiffon Cake。

说起来这可是继Chiffon Cheesecake后我用现有烤炉烘的第二个脱模戚风蛋糕（其他的都是用杯子），所以在火候上我还需多加注意。以前在老家用姑姑的古董圆形烤炉烤戚风都不需看火，而且都烤得很美。

以下是我的实验记录，写下来方便做日后参考。

我开始用170度上下火烤，烤到蛋糕表面已完全上色（棕色）后，我转下火继续烤。当我发现蛋糕开始裂开，我把温度调低10-15度继续烤，出炉前我再次转为下火烤大概3-5分钟。蛋糕总共烤了40分钟。

蛋糕在烤炉里发得很漂亮，但是在出炉前却稍微回缩（大概低了10%）。还好，蛋糕冷却后没有再回缩。

我发现蛋糕表面（脱模后的底部）中间有点湿，应该是烤不够的关系。也许我不应该转为下火。

除了这些小缺陷，总得来说这蛋糕非常好吃。本来我觉得加入了这么多香蕉泥蛋糕可能会比较实，但是蛋糕还是很轻盈。另外，蛋糕的组织细腻，口感湿润，而且甜度对我来说刚刚好。谢谢Jessie分享这么棒的配方。

Recipe adapted from Hearty Bakes.

Ingredients:

6 large egg yolks
35g sugar (reduced from 40g)
60ml corn oil (I used canola oil)
200g banana puree (used very ripe bananas)
1 tbsp milk (not in original recipe)
120g cake flour (I used superfine flour)

7 large egg whites
40g sugar

Method:
1) In a bowl, manually whisk yolks and sugar till pale in colour.
2) Add oil and whisk till combined.
3) Add banana puree and milk, mix well.
4) Sieve in flour, mix till incorporated.
5) In another bowl, whisk whites will frothy, then add sugar gradually. Whisk till medium peak (I whisked till stiff peak).
6) Fold in 1/3 white to the yolk mixture, then pour the mixture to the remaining whites. Fold till just incorporated.
7) Pour the batter into a chiffon pan, bake in preheated oven at 170C for 40 mins (baking time and temperature subject to individual oven).
8) Remove from oven and invert the cake immediately. Unmold when cool down completely.

Note:
You may also bake in paper cups. Increase the oven temperature to 175C, bake for about 20-25 mins (depending on cup size).