Fudge Truffle Cheesecake

So recently I went to a friends folk's house.  Eager to make a good impression, my friend J and I decided on this decadent cheesecake to appease the crowds.  Despite several problems including too small mixing bowls and several messes, we were able to create this delicious cheesecake!  Enjoy but beware--this is extremely rich so make sure you have some milk and people to share this with!

Fudge Truffle Cheesecake

• 1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 C butter [softened]
• 2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese
• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C).  In a large mixing bowl, mix together the graham crackers, powdered sugar, butter, and cocoa by hand.  Press this mix into a 9" springform pan.

On the stove, carefully melt the chocolate chips in a bowl over boiling water.  Watch carefully to make sure that they don't burn!  Melt them until very smooth.

In another large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy with an electric mixer.  Gradually beat in the condensed milk until the mixture is smooth.  Next mix in the melted chocolate, eggs, and vanilla.  Continue to beat with electric mixer on low until the mixture in thoroughly blended.  Finally pour over the crust in the springform pan.

Bake at 300 F (150 C) for 55 minutes.  It will appear to be underbaked in the center, but keep in the over an additional 50-55 minutes while the oven cools off.  If you leave for more than 55 minutes in the oven while it is cooling down, the cheesecake will crack.  

**Personal note, I think that this cheesecake tastes a lot better after being in the fridge.  I would suggest keeping it in the fridge for at least an hour after baking to ensure delightful eatings!

***You can also make this crust with the same amount of vanilla wafers




Adapted from: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/fudge-truffle-cheesecake/Detail.aspx

Triple Chocolate Meringue

I paired this dessert with my chicken parmesan!  I created this dish and dedicate it to my flatemate Atti-- he has managed to get us all hooked on chocolate, and is my official dessert "taste tester" to make sure everything is good haha.  So if you are looking for chocolately goodness that melts in your mouth, here you have it!

Triple Chocolate Meringues

I broke the process up into three different sections.  You can make these desserts all in one day, but I chose to make the the meringues the day before since they take 2-3 hours to bake.  

A. Chocolate Meringue

3 large egg whites

1/2 C + 1 TB (110 g) white granulated sugar

1/4 C (30 grams) confectioner's sugar

1/3 C cocoa powder

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200 F (95 C).  Line two baking sheets with parchment/baking paper and set aside.

Separate the egg whites and put into a bowl and whip until soft peaks form.  Slowly increase the speed to high and add granulated sugar one Tb at a time until stiff peaks form (firm but moist).  Sift the confectioner's guar and cocoa powder on top of the egg whites and fold into the whites.  This step takes time and don't become impatient and stir it--folding gently you will be able to get it all to come together.

Fill a pastry bag (or if you are like me and don't own one, use a ziplock bag and cut one tiny corner off and fill, using like a pastry bag) with the meringue.  Pipe into whatever shape you like--I used just simple circles!  

Bake for 2-3 hours (if they are small like mine, it took only 2ish hours) until meringues become dry and crisp all the way through.  If you make these ahead of time, you can cool then store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days!

**For a cheap and easy alternative if you run out of time or just want it right away, you can also buy just store bought meringues.

B. Chocolate Mousse

200 g chocolate 

200 ml double cream

4 eggs (separated)

3 tsp caster sugar

Melt the chocolate with 2 TB of water (30 ml) over a bowl of simmering water until melted--make sure you stir and watch it so the chocolate does not burn!  Beat the egg yolks into the melted chocolate.

In a separate bowl beat the cream until it form soft peaks and then fold into the chocolate mixture.  In a second bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks then quickly add and beat in the sugar.  Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in two lots.  Pour into glasses/bowl and chill for an hour.

***Or, for a quick and cheap alternative, you can always buy packaged chocolate mousse, which just requires you to add one cup of milk and whip it into goodness, then chill for one hour in the fridge! (instructions on the packet)

C. White Chocolate

2/3 C white chocolate buttons (or chips work as well!)*
*you can adjust this to any amount, depending on how much you like/want white chocolate!

Put a small pan on the stove top filled with water and heat until simmering.  Then add a bowl with the white chocolate on top and simmer until the white chocolate is melted.  Again make sure to stir it, watch the temperature so it doesn't get too hot, and watch it so it doesn't burn!



THE PLATING PROCESS!
To put together, place one meringue on the plate as a base.  Next using a pastry bag or ziplock bag (as explained above) fill with the mousse and pipe onto the meringue--just enough so that it covers the top of the base.  Next add a second meringue on top, securing with the mousse acting as a 'glue'.  In a separate pastry bag or ziplock bag, fill with white chocolate and carefully drizzle on top. For added plating and pizzaz points, you can grate a small block of dark chocolate on top! Enjoy with friends and family...or maybe all by yourself! :)



Adapted from: http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/chocolate-pavlovas-chocolate-mascarpone-mousse

Chili Prawns

So C and I made dinner as usual, but we seem to be on a major prawn kick.  This may be due to the fact that prawns are on ultra sale at Countdown! Regardless of the fact, we made our own version of a yummy looking recipe, and it turned out really well! We used a variety of spices; C swears that we put in too many, but I thought it was perfect! But I do have to agree you have to be careful not to add too many overpowering flavors, so good luck and have fun with the spices!

-1 lb [.45 kilo] prawns, deveined
-5-6 slices of ginger, sliced into small pieces
-spring onions (optional, garnish)
-1 medium onion, minced
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-two handfulls of mushrooms (sliced)
-vegetable oil (for frying)


Sauce/spices:
- 2 Tb ketchup
- 3 Tb crushed chili paste
- 1 tsp sugar
- tumeric powder (optional) *
-cumin powder (optional) *
-curry powder (optional) *


*As noted earlier, mix and match spices and amounts for flavoring--remember that sometimes less is more!


In a wok, heat up enough vegetable oil to cover prawns when frying. When it's warm, shallow fry prawns in batches for 5-6 minutes or until pink. 


In a separate pan, pour in 1 Tb of vegetable oil. On medium heat, put in garlic, onion and ginger. Cook until soft. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce/spices and add to the pan. Stir well.  Add in cooked prawns. Cook and stir for another 5 minutes and serve while hot! :)


Adapted from: http://thelittleteochew.blogspot.com/2010/09/prawns-in-chilli-ketchup-gravy.html

Carson's Bruschetta

So Carson swears that this does not even need to be included since it is so easy, but if you are anything like me and sometimes it's just nice to have--so here it is! :)

Carson's Bruschetta

-2 medium onions, diced

-1 baguette 

-2 tomatoes (optional, yummy)

-1 C cheese, grated

-salt, pepper, sugar to taste

-olive oil

Preheat over to 350 F (176 C).  Slice bread into 1 inch segments.  Cover tops of bread pieces entirely with cheese and place pieces on ungreased baking pan.  Cook for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Meanwhile in a pan place onions and olive oil.  Add salt, pepper and sugar and saute until onions become transparent in colour/slightly brown.  Once fully cooked, add to the top of bread (Carson says until delicious...).  

Optional extra goodness:  chop tomatoes on top! to do so:

Chop tomatoes. (Self explanitory....) For this step, allow the onions to cook for ~3 minutes before adding the tomatoes into the pan with onions.  

So yes, that was ultra easy.  But there ya have it!

Peach Crumble

Recipe coming soon!

Peach Crumble

Broccoli Soup

[Insert witty commentary here]

Broccoli Soup

3 fresh broccoli stalks [15 oz]

2 C chicken broth

1/4 C butter [or margarine]

1/4 C four

1/4 tsp salt

dash pepper

2 C milk

In a pan, boil chicken broth.  Next add the broccoli (juliendd).  Cook for 5 minutes.

In a separate pan, melt butter.  Stir in the flour, and salt and pepper to taste.  Gradually add the milk.  Cook and stir mixture over low heat until thick and smooth.  Once this texture is achieved, remove from heat and add to chicken broth & broccoli. Stir well and 'eat deliciously'! :)

   

Mexican Pizza

Every once in a while when you're tired of doing the same-old, same-old meals it is nice to just have something hearty and, well to be honest, not so healthy but amazingly delicious!  Z and I were thinking just that when I suggested a Mexican or Nacho pizza to him.  Definitely an easy and yummy recipe to try today!

(Serves 1-2)

Ingredients per pizza (~10"):

1 can refrigerated pizza crust dough (I used Pillsbury Pizza Crust Classic but you can use any kind)

1 can Nalley Chili con carne with beans

1/2-1 C grated pizza mix cheese (you can use any type of cheese that you prefer!)

1 roma tomato

2 handfulls of tortilla chips

10 olives, from a can

1 dollop of sour cream

Flour

Preheat oven to desired temperature as dictated on the can of pizza crust.  Prepare a clean flat surface or get out a rolling mat and sprinkle a little flour over the surface to reduce sticking.  Take the dough out of the can and using rolling pin roll out into desired shape and size. 

Next place the dough onto a nonstick or Pampered Chef stoneware.  Spoon out out the chili over the pizza, using enough to cover the surface but leaving a ~1" edge around the whole crust. You will not need to use the whole can! Next sprinkle the cheese until you have covered all of the chili on the pizza.  Cook in the oven for 13-17 minutes (depending on how crispy you want the crust to be).

Pull the pizza out of the oven.  Take the tortilla chips and break them into slightly smaller pieces, then stick into the melted cheese -- the best thing about this recipe is that it can be adjusted to your tastes for toppings, it doesn't really matter what/how much you add to it.  Next add some extra chili on the top.  Cook in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

While it is cooking for the last 5 minutes, cut up the tomato and olives into small pieces.  Once it has baked pull it out and add the remaining toppings.  Experiment until you find which toppings you like most and enjoy!

** If you would like to add a little extra zing to your pizza base, in a separate pan saute chopping onions, minced garlic, mushrooms, and a pinch of paprika to add some flavor.  Then mix into the canned chili before spreading it over the pizza dough.

Carrot Cake [Muffins]

I have to admit, that my mother makes the best carrot cake in the world.  She makes it for my father for his birthday every year, and every year it is absolutely perfect.  Only second to that is this recipe, which is simple and has not too many ingredients to create a fluffy moist cake (or muffins if you choose).

Carrot Cake [Muffins]

Cake:

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 medium/large carrots [grated]

3/4 C orange juice [*I used mandarin passionfruit]

3/4 C sugar

1/4 C canola oil

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/4 C unsalted butter, softened [1/2 stick]

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 375 F (190 C).  Line 13 X 9 in baking pan with heavy-duty aluminium foil, extending over edges and coat with nonstick cooking spray (or use greased pan or silicone pan).

Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda in salt in a medium bowl.  In another bowl, whisk together carrots, juice, suigar, oil, egg, and vanilla.  Next stir the wet and dry ingredients in one bowl together until blended.  Pour into the prepared pan and back 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then left the cake entirely out of the pan onto the cooling rack.

For the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until creamy (medium speed).  On low, slowly beat in the powdered sugar until fluffy.  Using a knife or any other method to spread on the top and sides of cakes.

**If you are looking to create the muffins, follow all of the step exactly, except use a muffin tin instead of a pan for cooking! 

Keith's Chili

Everyone across the world in every culture has their own type of chili that they can make--Spicy chili, Texas chili, mom's chili, the list goes on forever and ever.  Recently I had a craving for chili, and threw together some stuff and it was actually really good!

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can corn

1 can mixed beans

1 small package of peas
1 packet of beef soup

2 Tb red chili powder

1 Tb crushed chili

1/2 Tb crushed garlic

1/2 Tb curry powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 lb minced beef [may add more or less]

1 onion [moderately finely chopped]

salt & pepper

Using a wok (this recipe created far more chili than I expected!), simply add the tomatos, corn, bean, peas, chili powder, beef soup, crushed chili, crushed garlic, curry powder and cumin. Heat these on medium high while you prepare the meat.

In a separate pan, put 2 Tb oil in the pan and then add the minced beef and onion, and saute until the onions are golden brown and the meat is cooked all the way through.  Optional is to add salt and pepper or even curry/chili powders to the beef itself during this stage.  Once cooked, simply add to the rest of the ingredients in the wok.

Add salt & pepper...now wasn't that easy?  Additionally you can always top with grated cheese, yum!

The heat on this chili can be altered significantly with different amounts of chili and curry...obviously the more chili and curry the spicier it is!  I'm not one for super spicy foods, but this was just downright delicious!

Coconut Prawn Curry

My flatmate swore that the pictures of this originally were not the best looking prawn curry she'd ever seen...but it was by far the most delicious once I finally made it!  This recipe is simple but require a wide variety of spices, so I adapted the recipe to my less formal university flat.

Coconut Prawn Curry

(Serves 2 fairly hungry individuals)

A.

500g of prawns [cleaned & deveined]

1 medium onion [finely chopped]

3/4 C coconut milk

1 C water

1 1/2 tsp tumeric powder

1 tsp fennel seeds [may use cumin as a sub]

1 TB curry powder

pinch of salt

pinch of sugar

Chopped chilli 

B.

2 garlic cloves

1/2 inch of ginger root

pinch of salt

Take all of the B. items and chop them very finely, then set aside for later use.

In a pot/wok, heat up 2 TB oil with the onion, curry, and fennel seeds on medium heat.  Saute until the onion become a golden brown color.  Then add the B. items that you chopped up earlier. Saute until aromatic.  Then add 1/2 C water to the pot and cook on low heat until water and oil begins to separate.

Toss in the prawns quickly and coat them with the spices on low for 1 minute.  (Add more water if borrom starts to stick).  Next add coconut milk and 1/2 C water and let simmer until boiling point.  Add the pinch of salt and sugar just to taste.  Use the chopped chilli to garnish if you are up for a little bit of spice! 

Additionally for a more filling meal, use this curry dish as a sauce on top of jasmine rice (instant or a rice cooker if you have one).  It's perfect!

Recipe adapted from: http://www.fussfreecooking.com/meat-recipes/coconut-prawn-curry/

Honey & Spice Cookies

Honey and spice and everything nice goes into these cookies! They taste a bit like molasses sugar cookies to me--perhaps because of the slight bite to them? (no pun intended) But they're great and SUPER easy so have a go at them!

Honey and Spice Cookies

2 1/4 C all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3/4 C butter (unsalted, I used a bit less!)

1 C sugar

1 egg

1/4 C honey (I used a little bit more)

Preheat your oven to 350 F (177 C).  Sift together the flour, baking soda, and nutmeg.  Melt the butter, cool, and then add the sugar and beat well.  Next add the egg and blend before adding the honey and dry ingredients.  Make sure that all of the ingredients are blended well!

In a separate bowl put the sugar (this is for rolling purposes so you don't need a huge bowl!)  Roll the dough into balls then coat with sugar.  *If you find this step difficult because the dough is too sticky, you can either add a titch of flour to it, or place in the fridge for a little bit to allow the dough to harden! Next place the balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes, or until light golden brown.  The trick is not to cook them too long or they become super hard.  Let them cool for a few minutes before devouring :)

**Just a complete sidenote, if you want flatter and less rounded cookies, after placing the dough balls on the cookie sheet simply take the bottom of a plastic cup and gently press down on the balls.  This will create thinner less puffy cookies in the end!


Recipe from: http://www.insidethekaganoffkitchen.com/2010/02/07/534/

Triple Lemon Cake

Well, I was really craving this when I was searching through the endless pages of tastespotting.com (which is really an amazing site for finding recipes--I entice you all to go check it out!).  However, if you are like me and living in New Zealand during the winter time (or something like that) I found it rather difficult to find delicious lemons in my grocery store.  Instead, I simply used just regular lemon juice, and found that the flavour was still quite excellent.  So for all of you lemon sticklers, you can wait for the season, just let me know if you think it makes any difference! :) 

Cake:

1 1/2 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 C milk

1 C sugar 

1/2 C canola oil

3 eggs

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon extract

Syrup:

1/3 C sugar

1/3 C lemon juice

Glaze:

1 TB lemon juice

1/2 C powdered (icing) sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

milk

Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).  To begin the cake base, sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.  In a separate large bowl, combine milk, sugar, and canola oil.  Add eggs one at a time.  Next add lemon zest, vanilla, and 1/4 tsp lemon extract (the amount of extract can be upped if you don't feel that it's lemon-y enough!).  Finally add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir.

Pour this mixture into a well-sprayed loaf pan (or a silicone one if you are so lucky to have one!) and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick can come out clean from the center.

During the last 5-10 minutes of baking, heat the sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly.  Set aside while you remove the cake from your oven.  Let the cake stand for 5 minutes, then drizzle with lemon syrup over the top and sides, allowing it to be soaked up by the cake.  This is will make the cake rich and moist!

Once the cake is finally cooled, mix the lemon juice, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl.  Once you have reached a consistency that you like (if it's too thick try using some milk to thin it out), use a piping bag or fill a zip-lock bag with the mixture and cut a small hole on the corner for piping.  Drizzle the mixture lightly over the top of the cake to add a little zing! 

Enjoy! :)

Adapted recipe from: http://www.onelovelylife.com/?p=1846

Sugar Donut Muffins

My flatmates, but one in specific, truly would eat these every single day if I made them for her.  They are light, they are fluffy, they are filled with god knows how many calories, but each one of those calories is totally worth it once you bite into these muffins!  If you don't believe me, try it out for yourself!

Sugar Donut Muffins

(Makes 10)

3/4 C sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking pwder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 C vegetable oil

3/4 C milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 TBs butter [melted]

1/2 C sugar [for rolling]

Preheat your oven to 350 F (177 C) and light grease muffin tins with spray or oil (or use muffin cups in a muffin pan).  

In a small bowl, beat sugar and eggs until light in color.  In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder salt, and netmeg.  Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine.  Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.  Divide the batter evenly into the cups, filling about 3/4.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until you can put a toothpick in the center and have it come out clean.  While the muffins are baking, melt the butter and pour the remainig sugar in a small bowl.  When the muffins are done, light brush the tops of each muffin with butter, remove from the pan and roll in sugar.  Let cool and enjoy!

**This recipe says that it only makes 10 muffins...which I think is odd and slightly ridiculous, so if you just add a little less to each you can still make 12 perfectly normal looking/sized muffins :)


Recipe from Baking Bites

Chocolate Dipped Biscotti

This recipe is quick, easy, and good for dessert, a snack, or pretty much anytime you are looking for something delicious to munch on!

Biscotti

2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 C sugar
1/2 c [1 stick] unsalted butter [room temp]
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
dark/semi sweet chcolate
almonds [finely chopped]

Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  Whisk together the flour and biking powder in a medium bowl.  Using an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and salt in a large bowl.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Finally add the flour mixture and beat until blended.

Form dough into a log on the baking sheet and bake until light golden--approx. 40 minutes.  Let them cool afterwards for about 30 minutes before using a serrated knife to cut the log into 1/2 in slices.  Next arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet and bake ntil pale golden (15 minutes).  Finally take the biscotti out and put on a rack to cool completely.

While it is cooling, stir the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts.  THIS IS IMPORTANT--especially if you are an inexperienced baker such as myself, do not--whatever you do!!--melt the chocolate in the microwave.  It will burn and be unusable.  Second times the charm, no? Dip the end of each piece of biscotti in the melted chocolate, and place on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set.  Optional--sprinkle chopped almonds on top.  Refrigerate for about 35 minutes so the chocolate can become firm.

**You can make these ahead of time and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or wrap in foil and freeze in bags for up to 3 weeks!


For my flatmates and I, I decided to make a dipping frosting as well which was a great hit! Just simply mix milk and powdered sugar until a liquid paste is created, and happy dipping!


Adapted recipe from: http://www.lawyerloveslunch.com/2010/06/dont-judge-me-biscotti-for-dinner.html

Dutch Baby Pancakes

Now this recipe is definitely one of my absolute favorites that I have tried out--so if you have a major sweet tooth [or as my Hungarian flatmates say "Sweet lips"] this recipe is definitely for you!

Dutch Baby Pancakes

Pancakes:

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

6 Tbs butter

Begin by preheating your oven to 450 F (or 232 C), and place the rack in the middle.  Put 10" cast iron skillet (or other heavy ovenproof pans...I personally just used a small metal square baking pan since we didn't have any others!) in the oven to preheat.  

In a large bowl, beat eggs until they are frothy.  Then add milk, flour, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Beat until the mixture is creamy (a few minutes, it's ok if there are a few lumps!)  Next, working VERY QUICKLY, remove the pan/skillet from the oven, melt butter to coat the pan.  Pour all of the batter into it and return immediately to the oven.  Backe 20-25 minutes until puffy and golden brown on the edges, remove from the oven and eat immediately!

Now the original recipe called for adding lemon juice and powdered sugar on the top to taste.  Instead, I decided to add a lemon glaze on top, followed by a hearty dash of powdered sugar.  The result? Delicious heavenly breakfast.  Just try it!

Glaze:

Milk

Lemon juice

powdered sugar

I specifically did not add any amounts of the ingredients, based soley on the fact that it is up to your own personal like of how lemon-y you like things, and such.  Experiment to try and find the best mix!

Recipe adapted from: http://whiskingaway.com/2010/07/10/dutch-baby-pancakes/

Thai Coconut Curry Soup

This next one is truly close to my heart, seeing as it is one of the first things I made, and have shared with many people since I learned how to make it!  Another great thing about this recipe is it is very versatile and therefore can be made often--but never with quite the same taste!

Thai Coconut Curry Soup

2 medium onions [finely minced]
2-4 cloves of garlic (depends on how much garlic you like!)
1 Tbs Curry
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp red chili powder (if you like spicy!)
1 can coconut milk
2 Tb fish sauce
2 large carrots
2 medium potatoes [cubed]
2 broccoli
1 red pepper
salt & pepper for flavor
Meat of your choice

Saute the onions, and with one minute left, add in the garlic.  Next turn the heat on low and add the curry, cumin, coriander, and optional chili powder--let these cook for about 2 minutes).  After 2 minutes, add the coconut milk and fish sauce.  Bring the entire soup to a boil, and add the potatoes.

While this is cooking, you can start the meat and other vegetables.  For the carrots, make sure you cut them julliennd style (matchstick sized) and peel the broccoli stalk and also julliennd.  For the red pepper, slice it and add at the very end--don't cook longer than 3 minutes or it will become mushy!

***Just as a side note, to create a thicker base add cream, or to thin it out add water or vegetable stock!


For the meat, there are several variations:

Chicken:
Use ~5 pieces of chichken thighs, peeling off the fat.  You will want to place 3-4 slices into the thighs and add paste*.  Rub the paste into the cuts in the chicken, and add to the pot.  Your curry is done with the chicken is!

*Paste:
1 Tb chili powder
1 tsp lemon
1 tsp oil
pinch of salt

Striploin Steak/Minced Beef:
You can additionally try striploin steak (steak cut really thinly) or minced beef.  Seeing as minced beef where I currently live is cheap, I tend to use this as the best type of meat.  Minced beef you can cook alongside with the onions, to get a great sautéed flavor!


Add desired amount of sat and pepper at the end for flavor, and there you have it!  You can easily experiment with different types of vegetables--also with the types of spices! Even changing the amount of curry or chili powder can greatly change the taste! Enjoy :)

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

To begin, I am a poor university student who just happened to fall absolutely in love with cooking and food.  I am not someone who has a fancy camera and takes beautiful pictures, and I am definitely not a person who has tons of expertise in the ways of the kitchen.  But I do enjoy it, and I do enjoy eating, so here is just a collection of a few of my adventures through out the kitchen! :)  

Cinnamon Pancakes with Apple Topping

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Pancake Recipe:

1 egg

1 C Buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

2.5 Tbs brown sugar

1 C flour

2tsp cinnamon

1.25 tsp baking powder

1 Tb butter (melted)

Filling:

2/3 C pecans

3 Tb maple syrup

Icing:

½ C powdered sugar

1 Tbs vanilla

½ tsp cinnamon

milk

Begin by preheating your pan (or grease).  Beat egg, then mix in milk, vanilla, and brown sugar [in a large bowl].  Sift in flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Next add butter and mix together lightly.  Spoon batter onto the hot pan.  *It is important to note that you should flip the pancake one you see bubbles forming around the edges!  Flip and finish the other side!

I personally omitted the use of a filling, but the process is as follows:

Meanwhile, toast your pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat until they become fragrant.  Put them in a mini fod processor with the syrup and pulse until well combined and paste-like (adding more syrup, if you wish).

For the glaze (my favor part), sift the powdered sugar into a bowl, then add cinnamon.  Finally add milk a little bit at a time until you get the perfect consistency.  

To plate, place a little bit of the pecan-maple paste in the center of a pancake, and roll the pancake and drizzle with the glaze.  Lastly add a little more cinnamon on top! Eat and enjoy :)

Stefan and I created another variation, but creating an apple topping instead of using a filling.

Apple Topping:

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 TB flour

1-2 apples diced, in a separate bowl

1-2 tsp brown sugar

Preheat your pan/griddle and when hot add butter to the pan to melt it.  Sweat or saute the apple in the pan.  While they are cooking, sift cinnamon, flour, and brown sugar together in a pan.  Slowly add to the apples, coating them, and when done place on top of the pancakes!

Pancakes adapted from: Elly Says Opa