HAPPY DUMPLINGS FESTIVAL 2018

18/5/2018
MONDAY

Wishing everyone a happy and wonder Dumpling Festival today.

My Cantonese Dumplings 2017

That's right, no making of dumplings this year but that does not mean that we did not celebrate the festival together.  To me,  coming together, seeing each other  and catching up with the news is more important than the dumplings!  

and of course the table is always laden with food ..

Must-have Poached Chicken and Roasted Pork.  Roasted Duck (brought by my sister-in-law Evon) while my sister-in-law Serena cooked Braised Mushroom with dried oyster and Pig trotters, Turnips to be wrapped with lettuce, Steamed Fish  and Pig stomach soup.  We also have sweet sour Pork cooked by my eldest sister while my sister Yoke also cooked the Soy Sauce Prawns (had to go hunting to 4 wet markets before getting big prawns due to the Raya holidays), stir fry mixed vegetables and last but not least her home-made "fiery" Chili sauce.  

Dessert:- Fresh watermelon, Almond jelly with longans and lychees and Bread Pudding. 

Every year when we go shopping for the Chinese New Year, Sarah always wanted to buy canned longans and lychees. She likes them since her childhood and said without them, CNY is not CNY. So now after half the year had passed, both these items were still sitting on the counter (even though the expiration date in next year), so I decided this is a good time to eat them.  I had a packet of organic Almond powder, its perfect for this dessert.  So, this is really a classic dessert that you can find in a Chinese wedding dinner, Almond jelly served with a mixture of canned fruit cocktails.  

of course, there is always ice-cream..

Bread Pudding with blueberries.

I had made some no-knead crusty bread (King Arthur's recipe) over the long weekend. 

Must butter the the pan generously. Cut half loaf into big chunks and layer them over  the pan.  Top with my rum-soaked mixed fruits and fresh blueberries.  For the custard, I used 450ml full cream milk as I had no cream (its 300 ml milk plus 150 ml cream) with 3 eggs plus 2 egg yolks and I actually forgot to add sugar!   

Pour the custard over the bread and sift some cocoa powder over the bread. Set aside for a while to allow the bread to soak up the milk.  Bake @ 175C for around 25-30 minutes till the custard sets. It is best serve warm.

Here are some of my baking over the long weekend...

My Crusty No-Knead Bread served with some cheese. Simply delicious.. 

Matcha Chiffon Cake.
A flavour for this week that you can find @ the BlackEyeBear Cafe besides the usual butter cakes and Banana Chiffon Cake. Do drop by for their coffee and our cakes (see The Three Sisters Bake).


Weekend dinner cooked by Sarah.
Soba with Onsen eggs. Simply heartwarming and ultra delicious.