Moomy Reminisced About Mrs Holland's Scones

I'm the kind of person who eats and enjoys breakfast.

And boy, do I miss those huge breakfast buffets at Malaysian hotels … *sighs*

Y'know how that saying goes … 

I've whipped up pancakes, French toasts, scrambled eggs and a simple bowl of oats for that first meal of the day pretty often (not at the same time, mind you) but most recently, I've been a-wanting some good ol' scones.

I remember one afternoon in Abu Dhabi: my wonderful dear mommy-friend/neighbor, Mrs Holland, had called to say that she'll pop by for a bit. She knocked on our front door not long after with a box of the cutest freshly baked scones and tiny Bonne Maman jam jars! 

I've held that memory in my mind for several years now, wanting to recreate those lovely scones but it was only recently that I managed to do so.

Kyra had sent this over to me this past summer - thank you, babe! It was such a wonderful surprise and a sweet reminder of the lil playgroup lil Tommy & I were in when we were in AD. It was funny when slowly, then steadily, each of us became preggy with our 2nd child … it was like a pregnancy-bug was going around the group hehehe a number of us have already left for greener pastures but we still keep in touch through FB. 

My dear Kyra, Carrot and lil Issy (whom I've yet to meet but already adore through pics posted in FB), this one's for you guys. Lil Tommy & I miss you three and all of our friends in AD and hope that one day, our paths will cross once again.

Here's my take on Cranberry-Orange Scones, which I most recently made for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning:

The first thing to do is to take half a cup of dried cranberries and plonk them into a bowl. Pour enough orange juice to cover the fruit and cover it with cling film. Let it sit for at least an hour or two.

Soaking the dried crans in OJ will plump up the fruit with extra juiciness :D

Better still, if you're planning your day ahead, do this the last thing before you go to bed so you can have these scones for breakfast tomorrow morning. This was what I did on Thanksgiving eve, before calling it a day.

When you're up the next day, drain that bowl of orange juice and set it aside.

Into a big bowl, add these ingredients: 2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 level teaspoons of baking powder, a quarter teaspoon of salt, 2 heaped teaspoon of sugar and the grated zest of half an orange. Toss these together.

Next, add a quarter cup of cold and cubed butter into the above flour mixture. I used a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembled small peas/crumbs.

Now that I have a good pastry blender, its all I needed to combine the butter and flour together for my pastry :D Easy peasy :D:D:D

You work the butter into the flour until you get small crumbs ...

Into a measuring jug, pour a quarter cup of milk. Then pour enough orange juice to fill the liquid to the third of a cup line. Break a large egg into the jug and whisk the mixture together.

Make a well in the middle of the bowl and pour the above mixture in. Also add another tablespoon of OJ.

Make a well in the middle of that butter + flour mixture so that you can pour the liquid binder into it ...

Add that (drained) bowl of soaked cranberries into the mixture and using a spatula, mix the dough together.

Here's a good tip: Do not overwork your scones mixture. You want this to be a scruffy mess. Scruffy is good because if you handled the dough too much, you won't have that crumbly buttery-ness when your scones are baked.

So remember: Handle the dough as little as possible!

Once your dough has come together, scoop it up and put it into a Ziploc bag and pop it into the fridge to rest for about 15 minutes. 

Let the dough rest for a bit in the fridge so the butter gets cold again. Cold dough makes for a flaky scone :D:D:D

The measuring and mixing of the above dough is pretty quick and I used that 15 minutes of waiting time to freshen the boys up, put the kettle to boil and also to preheat the oven to 400degF.

And by then, you're ready to roll out your scones. On a clean, floured surface, roll out the dough to about 2-3cm thick. I rolled mine out as though I was making a thick-crust pizza, and cut the circle into 6 wedges.

Ahhhh … at this point, I just couldn't wait for the scones to be ready …

Place edge wedge upside down on a lined tray. I brushed each wedge with extra milk and sprinkled some sugar on top for added crunch. Bake these scones for about 12-15 minutes until the tops and bottoms of scones are nice and golden brown.

The first round, I sprinkled brown sugar on top of my scones (as pictured above). The second time round, on Thanksgiving morning, I used regular granulated sugar. I like the regular sugar best. Your choice, really. You don't need to sprinkle anything but I do recommend that you brush the tops with milk or melted butter before baking.

All you need now is a mug of freshly brewed tea (I'm an Earl Grey kind of person), a dollop of butter or jam, whichever you fancy and then you can sit back and enjoy your scones like Queen E does at the Palace! *winks*

Its just me, an Earl Grey, my fresh-from-the-oven scone and 2 fairies today …

Cranberry-Orange Scones. A perfect pairing like apples and cinnamon, peanut butter and jelly, strawberries and cream ...

The Lil Walkers Off-Island Group of AD, Christmas picnic 2011. 

Despite our short time there, we had forged beautiful friendships with the mommies and lil ones of this playgroup and a couple others. Lil Tommy and I defo miss our AD friends and we hope our paths will cross once again …

We miss you, Kyra & Carrot! Thank you for the numerous rides to and from playdates and helping to manage the group. We should make a date to meet up at a Tim Hortons near you one summer, OK? *winks*

Enjoy this recipe, everybody! :D:D:D Keep warm and stay dry! x

Moomy and Her First American Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

I know I should have prepared a post and send it off in the midst of all that madness cooking and nibbling and basting a turkey but hey, its still a Thanksgiving weekend so I'm not that late in wishing you, my dear readers, a wonderful gobble-licious Thanksgiving weekend!

Its 10:01am, the day after a loaded Thanksgiving feast.

In my last post, I had written about how anxious I was about this holiday. It was, after all, the first time we're going to host a proper American Thanksgiving dinner. And I'm sure there were "rules" and the do's and do-not-forget's to this turkey dinner.

I must say, it was an eye-opening experience to prepare for this holiday - the hunt for a gravy boat at the local Goodwill store, researching recipes for the best giblet gravy recipe, figuring out what's best to go with that juicy turkey my darling hubby will be roasting …

It was sheer madness, for me, on the days leading up to Thanksgiving but right now, on a rainy Black Friday morning, I am quite the happy bunny.

Tired and exhausted, but pretty pleased.

Let me share with you some of the pictures I took yesterday:

Grandma and Grandpa O'B surprised the lil boys with a couple of new toys :D

The Cooking Schedule. Our target was to sit down and eat by 5-ish.

My darling hubby was busy working the turkey yesterday. Instead of the usual bread stuffing inside the turkey, he stuffed huge chunks of onions, apples and celery and a selection of herbs inside the bird for added juiciness. 

Our 14.68lb (6.65kg) roast turkey a-resting, a-resting … 

I watched The Pioneer Woman make these rolls and it looked pretty easy. She said it would yield 24 rolls but somehow, LOL our dough just grew and we got more than we bargained for. These were the rolls my dear FiL helped me to prepare while me and darling MiL stepped out to Freddy's for a quick get-away. He ran out of muffin tins so he taught me how to make crescent rolls too :D Not bad, eh Dad? *winks*

So buttery and delicious, I ate 2 of these while chopping up vegetables :D:D:D

During the day, we set out nibble platters: cucumbers and bell peppers with a ranch dip dressing, crackers and an assortment of cheese (not in the picture), and my darling hubby also fixed a fresh bowl of guacamole! I never fancied avocados before but that guacamole was awesome!! 

Nothing beats falling asleep in Grandpa's arms …

Helping my darling hubby clear the turkey of its stuffing ...

 Our dinner yesterday was an excellent team-effort: my darling MiL made cranberry sauce, apple pie and mushroom & walnut stuffing. My dear FiL rolled out them rolls, my darling hubby whipped up his fluffy mashed potatoes, giblet gravy and turkey, of course. And I worked on the green bean casserole (I used Alton Brown's recipe & French's fried onions!) and roasted veg :D

I loved how the bar transformed itself into a beautiful buffet spread :D

My plate, with a wee bit of everything on it :D
It sure looked like a lot, right? But I wanted to take a picture of all the dishes on a plate for this post :D:D:D And yes, I ate it all s-l-o-w-l-y and by 9:00pm, I was too stuffed even for a slice of pie.

We split the leftovers between us: these went back to the Coast with my in-laws :D

And these are ours …
That big yellow box held several last halves of Devilled Eggs :D:D:D

I even saved the turkey bones to make stock/soup on another day (I promised myself there will be no cooking on Black Friday!). 

Because I was totally full from dinner last night, that apple pie has breakfast written all over it :D:D:D

So that was our Thanksgiving, my dear reader. I had totally forgotten about the stuffed mushrooms I was going to prepare for nibbles but o well. There is always another dinner …

This Thanksgiving was a special one for us. I cannot believe how fast time has gone by. The last couple of years wasn't easy but I am truly thankful that God has given us strength, faith and perseverance to remain calm in the midst of difficulty.

We are truly thankful to our darling family and friends, both new and old, near and far, who showed us love and support, kind words and bear hugs. You know who you are :D:D:D

Its going to be a cold and wet weekend here so if you're on the road this weekend, drive safe and keep a sufficient distance from the traveling car in front of you, OK? :D 

Moomy and The Nightmare Before Thanksgiving

And here we are … well, when I said "we", I actually meant "me".

We're less than a week away before Thanksgiving. 

Our first, proper, American Thanksgiving. On American soil, Pacific standard time. (Well, I might as well point it out in case you didn't get it.)

And we're hosting my darling hubby's parents!! 

I'm already nervous - I'm worried that there might not be enough fresh green beans for the green bean casserole because everybody will be trying to get their hands on some, right? - and have been reading up and checking on possible dishes for our menu this year.

If its not what to put on the table, its the table itself that's bothering me. I've watched enough episodes on telly to know that even the tables get dressed with napkin rings and some kind of centerpiece!

You know what's funny … I was actually eye-balling some branches and leaves out in the yard earlier today. I thought the branches and leaves look autumn-y and would be pretty appropriate for a table centerpiece. *rolls eyes*

Too bad I did not pick out more of the teeny weeny lil pumpkins when we went to the patch last month.

See? Lil ones for $2.00! 

 I truly didn't know what I'd do with these at that time … but now I do!! And I regretted that I didn't buy several of these ...

So odd, but so cute, isn't it?

Anyhoo, thinking about our upcoming Thanksgiving dinner reminded me of a Friends' episode where Monica was forced to cook for the gang but they were late. 

The One with the Floating Heads …

Watching Friends was, as always, very entertaining and amusing and it never failed to cheer me up. 

The turkey we cooked when my bestie & her hubby came by to visit us when we were living in Abu Dhabi. Pic courtesy of Ayu and her fine photography skills :D

I know we'll be fine. Its not our first time hosting dinner for our dearest family and friends but I think its just that we I don't want to screw anything up, y'know. I hate to sound repetitive but its Thanksgiving, after all. One of the biggest American holidays, as my darling hubby had helpfully pointed out.

But I know we'll be fine. This is just like any other dinners … 

With extra side-dishes and a proper dessert (thank God for MiLs who bake! My darling MiL is bringing her delicious apple pie! And cranberry sauce - which I thought wasn't necessary until my MiL asked there's any hehehe).

And a dressed table!

So take it easy, everybody. If you're feeling the same anxiety as I am, please drop me a line and tell me what's keeping you calm, OK?

Stay dry, folks. And have a wonderful pre-holiday-madness weekend!!

Moomy's First Take On Quinoa

I'm usually a wee bit slow when it comes to certain things …

Like posting a birthday card on time (yeah, my BFFs can vouch this for me. I'm either too early or too late!).

Like getting ready to go somewhere (I can just about see my darling hubby nodding to this! :P)

Maybe this time round, I'm not that late but I finally got my hands on a pack of quinoa!!

Pronounced "KEEN-wah", this particular grain is said to be very, very healthy and high in iron, magnesium and fibre.

I couldn't wait to try this superfood (food that is supposedly really, really good for you and your health). In fact, I've already had a dish in mind: Quinoa a la Fried Rice. Its not complicated. Three basic steps, really ...

Here's how to (1) Prep the Q:
First, you need to rinse the grains. I read that the grains can be bitter but you can remove that bitterness by rinsing the quinoa several times. So pour 1 cup of quinoa into a fine sieve and rinse the quinoa as you would Thai Jasmine rice prior to cooking.

Each Q grain is coated by saponin, a natural "weapon" the plant uses to protect itself from predators. When you rinse the quinoa, the water will be frothy and smells slightly nutty. Rinse again and again till the water becomes clear. Clear water will indicate that you've washed that bitterness off the Q.

Once I was done with washing the grains, I just left it to drip-dry in the sieve. (I was excited to start cooking so I gently pressed the back of a spoon against the quinoa in the sieve to push through any last remaining droplets of water.)

Toss the dry quinoa into a pot over medium heat. Stir it around with a wooden spoon just to "toast" it for about a minute. We're not trying to brown these grains, OK? Dry-toasting the Q will help to develop a nuttier flavor without that bitterness.

Anyhoo, add 1 and a half cups of water (or veg/chicken broth for more flavor) into the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and let the grains simmer for 12 minutes.

When the time is up, remove the lid and fluff your quinoa with a fork. If you can still see a wee bit of liquid in the pot, cover the lid and let it simmer for another minute or so.

Alternatively, my BFF poured her rinsed quinoa into the rice cooker. She used the 1:2 ratio (for every cup of Q, use 2 cups of water/broth) for this cooking method. Easy peasy.

So while the quinoa was cooking, I used the time to (2) Prep the Vegetables:

1 carrot: Skinned and diced finely.

Broccoli: I love my broccoli so I prepped quite a generous cupful of small florets of these greeny beauty.

Half a red pepper: Cored and diced finely.

A handful of sugar snap peas: According to size, I cut the peas into halves and thirds.

A good handful of cremini mushrooms: Trimmed and sliced finely.

Half an onion: Peeled and diced finely.

A couple of garlic cloves: Peeled and diced finely.

With all that prepping done, its time to (3) Assemble the Dish:

Heat up about 1 generous tablespoon of coconut oil (I had some already melted from a baking session earlier; you can always use veg oil or butter) in a wok over medium-high heat. 

To that, I added onions and carrots into the mixture. Stir it around the pan for about a minute or so before adding the sliced mushrooms and garlic into the mixture. I like my mushrooms nicely sautéed so give the shroomies about 2-3 minutes in the pan, before adding the other vegetables into the mixture - broccoli, sugar snap peas and red pepper. Continue to stir the mixture.

I also wanted some scrambled eggs in my dish (fried rice ain't complete without some eggs in it) so make a huge well in the middle of those veggies and crack 2 eggs into that spot. Let it cook for several seconds and scramble it.

How beautiful is that veggie mixture …?

Stir your mixture and add the ready quinoa into the wok. Stir thoroughly to combine.

Add a generous tablespoon of oyster sauce. Stir again to combine. Taste and season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

And ta-daaaa!! How's that for a meal, huh?

Quinoa a la fried rice fit for a Queen :D:D:D

I was pleasantly surprised by the lightness of quinoa. My darling hubby said it tasted wonderful and reminded him of couscous (he thought it was couscous at first hehehe). I loved that it was easy to prepare and together with a variety of vegetables, you can easily make quinoa into a beautiful meal. 

Its also good start to incorporate superfoods in our lifestyle. With all that work-related stress and toddlers' temper tantrums, it is soooo easy to succumb to the fat, juicy burgers that fast-food restaurants have to offer. 

But as I had shown above, you can make quinoa look and taste really good in as many steps as 1-2-3. 

To me, life's complicated enough and you don't need a complex recipe to further muddle your brain. It might seem that I cook fancy-schmancy meals but I don't. I just make sure that I keep a good supply of spices and basic essentials in my kitchen and with that, I can turn a simple chunk of meat into a beautiful Middle-Eastern dish or with a wonderful curry that will remind you of a tropical paradise.

So don't hesitate, alright? Make this quinoa dish that something new you try this week! :D:D:D

Moomy's Tagine-less Lamb Tagine!

If you’ve been following my blog, you would know that most of my entries were about the dishes I’ve tried and tested in my kitchen, for my darling lil family.

I must say, I have been pretty adventurous this year. I’ve attempted dishes that I have never thought I would try to cook at home.

Recently, my darling BFF asked me why didn’t I start cooking like this when I was still in SG. She said she would have placed orders and perhaps even recommend my food to her friends.

Hehehe what she said tickled me. But it got me wondering too.

Being this far away from home (SG) and because of our dietary needs, it has made me more creative, challenged and inspired to cook healthier dishes and try out new recipes. 

Besides, eating in Singapore is very much known as a national pastime. From hawker centres to open-air food courts to high-end restaurants, you can be pretty spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding what to have for dinner. And if you're one who doesn't cook, its quite equally easy and cheap to grab a delicious meal from the nearby hawker centres. 

One of my fave hawker centres in SG, Bedok Corner. This is where I get crispy pisang goreng (banana fritters), hot-from-the-wok Chinese-style carrot cake in black sauce (its different from the American carrot cake) and beef satay!

Another popular tourist attraction in SG: Lau Pa Sat, an open-air/street food court :D

Having all that convenience at our fingertips, it certainly has made me far too comfortable in SG. 

Which then got me wondering: if living here in the suburbs already made me cook like these, can you imagine what I would do if I were to live far, far, away in the middle of nowhere?

Like in a farmhouse or on a ranch with chickens running around the yard and laying fresh eggs for me to bake chiffon cakes (boy, I will need a lot of egg-laying hens) ...

That could easily be me, one day ...

And our lil boys will be like the cutest farm-boys ever in bright yellow boots and overalls feeding lil goats (I’d never eat a goat ever again) ...

And since we’re in the country, we’ll have a ginger, fat and furry indoor cat. O boy, no cat! NO CAT!! 

Anyhoo … today I tried making another tagine. I’ve attempted a chicken tagine once in SG but this time round, I’m going to cook it with lamb.

So for my Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas & Apricots, let’s start with the spices first:

I then poured the above warmed-up spices into my Magic Bullet and added the following too:

And gave it a quick blitz just to get the whole seeds all smushed up. This is your Ras el hanout* spice blend. Set it aside.

*Ras el hanout is Arabic for "head of the shop". Basically, it refers to a mixture of the best spices the shop has to offer. This spice is heavily used in Moroccan and North African cuisine. 

In a big pot, heat up about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Once the oil has warmed up, brown 1 and a half pounds of cubed lamb meat (do it in batches so you can get a nice sear on your meat). This will take about 4 minutes per batch. Once you're done searing the meat, set it aside.

 Lamb, lamb, lamb ...

Turn the heat down to medium and then add 1 large diced onion into the pot. Use your wooden spoon to scrape at the brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Saute these onions until they become soft, about 5 minutes.

Don't worry if you can't scrape all that brown bits off the pot. Once you've added more liquid into the mixture, you can still work on it. Believe me, those brown bits are good stuff!

Then add 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, 5 garlic cloves (3 minced and 2 left whole), and 5 teaspoons** of the Ras el hanout spice blend. Stir and let the magic blossom in the pot for about 1 minute.

**I froze the rest of the spice blend that wasn't used.

Add 1 can of diced tomatoes and the seared lamb (including any juices on the plate). Bring this mixture to a boil.

Now the tomatoes and seared lamb have joined the merry party in a pot!

Add 2 cups of chicken stock into the pot, stir the mixture and return it to a boil.

Simmer, simmer, o meat please be tender;

Make this tagine one great meal to remember!

:D I'm a poet, I didn't know it! LOL

Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn down the heat to low, partially cover the pot and let the stew simmer for about 1 and a half hours. Just remember to check on it every now and then to give it a good stir.

In the meantime, prepare your vegetables. The original recipe called for only chickpeas but I love my stews to have at least 2 types of vegetables (chickpeas are vegetables? legumes!) so the meal is properly balanced out, y'know. These were the vegetables I had prepared for the tagine (I forgot to take a picture!):

1 can of chickpeas: Toss the chickpeas into a strainer and give it a quick rinse. Pour about half of the chickpeas into a small bowl and mash it up so its … well, mashed up. You'll now have half whole chickpeas and half mashed-up ones (the mashed up chickpeas will help to thicken the stew). Set these aside.

Half a butternut squash: Because I have this in my fridge. Because I think a butternut squash is wonderful in a stew. Because I love butternut squash. Hehehe but don't you think peeling the skin off it is such a pain? Anyhoo, I cubed the squash up. Set these aside.

1 carrot: Skinned and cut into chunks of similar size to the butternut squash. If you want to go rustic and leave the skin on, go ahead. Set these aside.

1 huge potato: Skinned and cut into chunks of similar size to the butternut squash. Set these aside in a bowl of water so your potato chunks don't discolor.

A handful of dried apricots: I cut the apricots into thirds. You may cut it into half or quarters too. Set these aside.

A handful of fresh cilantro: Chop these up finely and set it aside.

At the 1-hour mark, I added the hardier vegetables into the pot - butternut squash, carrots and potatoes. Give it a good stir, cover the pot and let it continue to simmer slowly to tenderness.

About 20 minutes later, add the chickpeas and apricots to the pot. Stir and let the stew continue to simmer.

Colors of Fall in a pot, don't you think?

Your vegetables should be ready - soft and fork-tender - about 10-15 minutes after you've added the chickpeas and apricots. Taste your stew; you can season the stew with more salt and freshly-cracked black pepper if necessary. Then throw in the chopped fresh cilantro and give it a good stir.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Moroccan-inspired Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots is ready!

Now you can have this tagine with warmed-up crusty French loaf, pita bread or even naan. I had originally planned to make couscous to go with the stew but at the last hour, I realized I didn't have enough couscous left.

Plan B was Rice Pilaf! Here's my fave recipe, courtesy of Mr. Good Eats, Alton Brown: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/rice-pilaf-recipe2.html

If you read through his recipe, he talked about putting the rice into the oven and all that. I've tried it before and I thought it was quite long-winded - sorry, Alton!

So instead of popping the entire pot into the oven, I poured the contents of my pot (prepping the broth for the rice) into my rice cooker and simply pressed a button. Once the rice is cooked and fluffy, I garnished it with a mixture of slivered almonds and golden raisins***.

My special garnish for the Rice Pilaf :D

***I warmed these (a generous handful each of slivered almonds and golden raisins) up in a frying pan, sans oil. Watch and stir the mixture around as it will burn. Once the almond slivers are golden brown and toasty, get them off the heat and into a bowl.

Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots & Rice Pilaf with Peas and Red Pepper

That was such a beautiful plate (to see and eat hehehe). You can smell and taste the saffron in the pilaf and it was just a perfect dish to go with that lamb tagine.

The tagine … omy. My darling hubby is a meat-lover and he absolutely loved lamb. Me, not so much. I'm a steak person hehehe but cooking this lamb stew for him was an absolute joy because he said the meat was tender and the stew itself was fragrant from that beautiful mixture of spices. I truly enjoyed this lamb stew that I'm looking forward to leftovers! :D

And I just used my normal pot to cook this tagine dish. I didn't have the conical cooking device that the Moroccans use.

So if you wish to introduce an exotic dish to your family tonight without ever leaving the country, give it a go then. You will love it! :D:D:D Happy days, everyone!