FAREWELL MR. LEE CHONG SENG

Just as everybody is busy getting ready for the Chinese New Year, we heard the news from Guangzhou that our dear cousin Mr. Lee Chong Seng has passed away over the weekend.  

The only rose among the thorns! 

All of us were rather shocked at the sudden news.  In fact, we have met up with him last year in May. No doubt about it that he had aged, but he did not looked sickly at all.

He was the learned one in the family over in China and he was the keeper of our family history too. He used to give speeches to the various organisations in China and I think he must have been quite well known among the Chinese society around Toi San.  And he was the only one who know English back then and I remember how my youngest sister Vicky  corresponded with him(very neat handwriting, I recalled). So,  Vicky don't feel too sad.  After a life of toiling, he can rest in peace now.    

God bless his soul. RIP

As Chinese New Year is just around the corner, I will be busy with making the pineapple tarts with my sisters the following week. 

So wishing everyone a very HEALTHY, PROSPEROUS CHINESE NEW YEAR!

TIRAMISU CREPE CAKE

The translation of the name Italian tiramisu means "pick-me-up" (metaphorically, "make me happy"). (wikipedia).

I wanted to make everyone to be happy at the Christmas party and so I did this Tiramisu Crepe cake as one of the dessert. The other 2 cakes which I did was an Oreo Cheesecake and Steamed Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting.  These are all prepared ahead cakes, thus saving time and valuable oven space on day of the party itself.

First, preparing the batter for the crepe and cooking the crepes. I had done a crepe cake before and they complained it was too thin. So this time, I decided to make the crepe a bit thicker instead.


Next prepare the cream cheese filling.  In fact both of these can be done a day ahead.

Assembling the crepe cake using a springform cake tin.  I brushed each crepe with a bit of the Bailey's liquer before topping with the cream cheese filling which had more liquer in it!.
Cover and refridgerate till set.

The finishing touches just before the party. Unmould the cake and using the sponge fingers (I had forgotten to dip them in the coffee syrup thus they were a bit dry and mostly left uneaten) along the sides of the cake.

Finally tie with ribbons to secure the sponge fingers and dust with some cocoa powder (which again I forgot to do so).

Seemed everyone must be happy tucking in this cake as there were not much of it left at the end of the party.
 

BAKED PORK LOIN WITH CRANBERRY STUFFING

I had always preferred the easy way as I see no point stressing over the cooking for any party. So what's wrong with buying instead of cooking it yourself?  I intended to buy the Glazed Pineapple Ham  for the Christmas party but was deterred by my daughter. I ended cooking this Pork Loin  and am pleased and glad that I did managed to cook it right and that it was well received at the end of the day. 

 

I had done this recipe before - only on a smaller scale -just for the 3 of us then.

So I followed the same recipe - using a sauce of whole grain mustard,  mustard sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar/honey/golden syrup, salt and pepper to cover the pork loin before wrapping it with streaky bacon.

For the Christmas party, I bought 2 big pieces of pork loin.  As it was a bigger piece, I was afraid that after baking, it will become tough and dry.  So I decided to stuff the pork loin with a moist fruity filling to minimise the dryness. 

 

Had to use my sharpest knife to carefully and slowly "open" up the pork loin into a flat piece. Also using the back to cleaver flatten the meat as well as to tenderize it.

Since it is Christmas, the best choice of fruits could be cranberries.  I use dried cranberries soaked in orange juice and  chopped green and red apples. These goes into a pan and boil till soft but not mushy. Smear the meat with the same mustard sauce before topping with the stuffing

Rolled the meat into a loaf. I tied both ends to make it easier to handle.

Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and smear more sauce over the whole loaf.

 

Place streaky bacon -each piece overlapping another over the loaf. Tie with strings to make a neat roll.
Place the rolls in a roasting pan and pour in about 1/2 to 1 cup of white wine. This will help the meat to stay moist as they bake at the same time adding more flavour to the meat.
I baked the pork loin at 180C for almost half hour.

Remember to allow the meat to rest for at least an hour before serving.

The pork loin was served with a Roasted Pumpkin and Beetroot salad with the mustard sauce as well.

HAPPY BEGINNINGS

After our Christmas party, there were a succession of birthdays celebrations towards the year end. 

Lovely dovey - my eldest brother with wife Mei Lian whose birthday is on Christmas eve.

On the 27th it is my daughter Esther's birthday. The 3 of us went to the Zen Korea BBQ at Taman Putra Ampang- known as the "little Korean Village" due to the large concentration of  Korean restaurants here. 

This restaurant is  a corner lot located on the first floor of another Korean restaurant.  The seating is spacious along the length of the windows. 

  

The banchan (sides dishes) are refillable. Korean food is healthy and colourful and they represents the elements of the universe: black represents water and can be seen in those black sesame and seaweeds,  red (fire) as in the anchovies, red peppers and kim chi; blue/green (wood) as seen in the spinach; white (metal)- the coleslaw and taufoo and garlic; yellow (earth) the big beansprout, doenjang (bean paste).  These help to balance the yin and yang and bring the body in harmony and they are so tasteful and delicious.  

 The Beef Bulgogi which was so yummy - together with the garlic, bean paste and wrapped with the lettuce!

and the Pork Bulgogi equally delicious with the mung bean noddles. 

We did not have to the cooking ourselves as it was done by the staff and brought to our table.

My sister-in- law Serena also celebrated her birthday on the 28th with her family.

And finally we celebrated together my brother YB's birthday on the 29th with 4 tables at the Woh Kei Restaurant.

 I baked these Hokkaido Cupcakes instead of a birthday cake.

 Everyone loves these cupcakes!

I decided to make some Steamed Lotus Paste Buns as well

 On an impulse, decided to shape these buns into bunnies for the Bunn family!

But they looked more like mouses than bunnies!

 Happy Bunn family

 Clams (lala) in superior soup

 Fried Kangkong with sambal

 One Pot Chicken 

 Claypot Fish in Wine 

Black Pepper crabs

 Crabs in Butter sauce- yummylicious- literally "drink" the sauce

Thus ended a very "delicious" year!. 

Santa then- (some 16 years ago?)

My sister just "discovered" this photo while spring cleaning her house.

Santa's now (2012)

The "little elves"  has grown and so has Santa's beard!