Babi Guling

Good evening dear readers. So sorry for the lack of posts of late! Been really busy at work, and will crash the moment I hit the beds! But tonight, to make up for it, I’m going to share a recipe that would make you salivate from start to finish! Babi guling! I’m not sure if you have had this before, but let me tell you, it’s something you definitely want to try!

The first time I had babi guling was in Ubud when the Mr and I went for our honeymoon! (: It was highly recommended by a close friend, and the moment we tried a mouthful, we understood why. It was absolutely delicious. The meat was so tender and melts in your mouth. The skin was so crispy! Just the way we love our pork! hehe While walking to the shops after our delicious meal, we were lucky enough to see one of the suckling pigs delivered to the shop on top of a man’s head! hehe Love to see things that we don’t get to see everyday. Made our trip more memorable! The suckling pig was roasted to perfection! We were so tempted to have another plate just looking at it! hehe

My memories were triggered when I was watching MKR and the winning team made their version of babi guling. It looked so so good and I was hoping they would post their recipe on the MKR website. Thankfully, they did! The mr requested for me to make it a few weekends ago and I happily and most willingly did! (:

When I made the spice paste (base gede), I knew immediately it was gonna be really good as it smelt really close to the one we had in Ubud! I got more and more excited as the spices were blending as the smell of the aromatics just filled the kitchen. I couldn’t wait to get it into the oven and bake it! hehe The only thing that I would do when I make it again is to marinade the pork with the spice paste for at least a couple of hours, so that it would flavour the meat more!

Other than that, everything was perfect, from the crispy skin to the tender meat. Absolutely divine! We just wanted to finish everything, but had to leave some for lunch the next day! hehe So do give this a try, it’s no surprise why Dan & Steph are the winners of MKR. Their recipe was spot on and definitely a keeper! heh Please don’t get overwhelmed by the amount of ingredients! It’s really worth the trouble of finding them all!

Babi Guling (Recipe adapted from MKR)

1.5kg pork belly, rind scored

2 1/2 tbs olive oil

300ml coconut milk

100g bean shoots

2 tsp kecap manis

A bunch of bok choy, boiled and drained

2 tsp shallot oil

Steamed jasmine rice, to serve

Spice Paste (Base Gede)

Juice of 1 lime

4 long red chillies, deseeded

1 stalk of lemongrass,  white part only, bruised and finely chopped

4 green spring onions (white tender part only) roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic

2cm piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped

2 cm piece of galangal, finely chopped

1 tbs ground tumeric

1 tbs ground coriander seeds

1 tbs vegetable oil

1 tbs palm sugar

2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp shrimp paste

1/2 tsp salt

Sambal (For the bean shoots)

4 green spring onions (the green part)

2 small red chillies, deseeded

2 cloves of garlic

 1 cm piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 lemongrass (white tender part only), bruised and finely chopped

2 fresh lime leaves

1/2 tsp shrimp paste

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 tbs vegetable oil

1/2 tsp salt

pinch of ground black pepper

Steps :

1) Preheat oven to 240 degree C.

2) To make spice paste, process all ingredients in a blender to form a smooth paste. Reserve 1/4 cup for the sauce.

3) Lightly prick the meat side of pork with a sharp knife or skewer and rub in spice paste in a thick layer. Roll lengthways and secure at several intervals with butchers string. Place in a baking dish. Rub salt into skin.

4) Roast for 20 minutes. Reduce oven to 175 degree C and cook for a further 1 hour 15 minutes or until tender and cooked through. Remove from oven. Rest lightly covered with foil for 30 minutes.

5) To make sauce, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add reserved spice paste. Cook for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Stir in coconut milk and juices from rested pork. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

6) To make sambal, process all ingredients until smooth.

7) Cook bean shoots in a saucepan of boiling salted water until tender. Drain and set aside. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan. Cook sambal until fragrant. Add bean shoots and toss to combine. Stir in kecap manis.

8) In the same pot of water, boil the bok choy until tender, drain and place in a bowl. Add the shallot oil and toss it well.

8) To serve, slice the pork into 1-inch pieces and serve on hot steamed jasmine rice with the sambal bean shoots, bok choy and lots of sauce.

ENJOY! (:

So dear readers, hopefully you’re not too hungry after reading this post! But do give this a go as you would definitely not regret it! Especially if you and your loved ones are meat lovers. This is definitely a dish for you! (: Hope all of you had a good (and delicious) weekend! Here’s to a good week ahead!

PS : The sauce is so good, even my mr who usually isn’t a fan of sauce couldn’t stop pouring over his rice! hehe

Remember to always bake and cook with love!

The Little Ox

Ever since moving to this side of town, we’ve been trying to look for good brunch places to dine at on weekends. A month back, while looking for places to celebrate my birthday, I found some gems and visited Merchants Guild with Peggy and her cutie pie, Paige! hehe But there were a few more than caught my eye and we took the opportunity to head to one during the Anzac Day holiday – The Little Ox!

A beautiful interior, at a corner of New Street sits The Little Ox. Its situated in the middle of the estate and definitely a place that many people come by for both a food stop and a coffee stop! When we got there, there was a long line, and I thought that we probably had to wait for a long time for a table. I found out when I walked closer that the people were queueing for take-away coffees! Thankfully we grabbed the last table available outside before the real queue set in!

We ordered our drinks before deciding on what to have for brunch. We all had our usuals! Chai soy latte for me, Melissa had her hot chocolate fix and the mr had a latte. As it was Anzac Day, our drinks came with a small Anzac cookie and it was so good! Not too sweet, and had a touch of rosemary! So interesting! Definitely gonna try that the next time I whip up some Anzac cookies. hehe Unfortunately, they forgot to put on for the mr. haha I shared half of mine! (:

If you know me well, I will never be able to go past corn fritters as long as it’s on the menu! My favourite by far, are the ones from Replete Providore. This one has definitely come on par! It was crispy and every bite was filled with juicy corn kernels! This was topped with bacon and smashed avocado which I adore! The tomato relish was tangy and cuts the richness of the dish as a whole which was perfect.  Are you salivating while reading this? haha Cause I am! hehe There was also the option of having a poached egg and of cos I wanted one on mine. Cause who wouldn’t right?

I was so glad I did, cause the egg was poached to perfection and the yolk acted as a sauce for the dish! Now, I’m sure you are salivating! Look at the molten egg yolk! hehe Absolutely YUMMOLICIOUS!

When Melissa and I saw the menu while the Mr was looking for a park, we knew what he was going to order. The Mr LOVES his rosti or hash and this has his favourite beet root as well! A clear winner! (: I love how the salmon has the slightest shade of pink! When the plate arrived, it looked like an art piece with pretty colours none-the-less! The salmon was cured beautifully and had the right amount of saltiness. It went so well with the capers and pickles, and the earthiness of the beets. The potato roesti was crispy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside. Just the way the mr loves it! If you look close enough, you would see some housemade chicken, thyme and pine nut sausage! It was so juicy and tender, and tasted delicious!

Melissa decided to have the soft omelette with sauteed mushroom, feta and basil. I think out of all the dishes we had, this didn’t have as much wow factor as the rest! But it was still delicious and flavoursome! Maybe if she added the leg ham, it might have added a oomph to it. hehe

Definitely a place we will be heading back especially since it’s quite near to home! (: Especially for more corn fitters!

Hope you all had a great weekend! and to all Mothers out there, hope you all had a fabulous Mother’s Day!

I got lots to be thankful for. Without my mum, I won’t be who I am today. (: Love you Mummy!

Eggless & Vegan Banana Bread

Banana cake. Who doesn’t love a thick slice of warm banana goodness?? I could have it for breakfast, tea or dessert! Actually, I could have it at any time of the day. I have done my fair share of baking different kinds of banana bread. Looking back on what I’ve shared, I’ve done a walnut, chocolate and maple banana bread and a sour cream maple banana cake. One that I never thought I would try is a vegan version of banana cake!

To be honest, I never thought of making a cake without eggs before! But after I saw the post on OvenHaven (super duper talented, check her blog out! hehe) I knew I had to give it a try! What more when it’s actually really healthy? hehe This would be perfect for your kids and children with or without allergies! hehe The cake came out so moist, soft and light! It was just filled with banana with every single bite! Absolutely divine!  Especially when it’s warm! I had mine with some butter and also I had it for dessert with a scoop of my homemade salted caramel ice cream! Yummi-li-cious!!! So give it a try if you’ve never made anything eggless or vegan like me, and be delightfully surprised! hehe

Eggless and vegan Banana Bread (Adapted from Veg Recipes of India)

4 ripe large bananas

1 1/2 cups plain flour

2/3 cups olive oil

1/2 cup fine brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Steps :

1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease a bread/loaf tin with some olive oil.

2) Mash the bananas and place them in a mixing bowl. Add the olive oil, vanilla bean paste and sugar  and blend till well combine.

3) In a separate bowl, combine the plain flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add it into the mixing bowl, 1/2 cup at a time. Slowly mix them till well combined.

4) Pour the mixture into the prepared bread/loaf tin and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted to the middle of the bread comes out clean.

5) Allow it to cool for 10 minutes in the bread/loaf tin before you turn it out onto a cooling rack. Slice and serve warm with butter or a scoop of ice cream. ENJOY! (: Cling wrap the rest of the bread and keep it in a tupperware in the fridge.

The next time I make these, I’m gonna put some walnuts, sunflower seeds and maybe some chocolate chips! hehe There’s nothing better than the combination of banana and chocolate! Do give this a try! I am very sure you will love it! Have a great and blessed Sunday! (:

Remember to always cook and bake with love! 

Prawn Aglio Olio & A Wine Giveaway {Winners Announced}

Good evening my dear readers! (: I hope that all of you had a wonderful weekend especially if you had a long one because of the Anzac Day holiday. I’ve got some exciting news to share with all of you! (: A week back, I received an email from  Taylors Wines who wanted me to do a wine giveaway on my blog. Of course, I said yes! hehe I was also so lucky to received not one, but two bottles of Pinot Gris to taste! How generous are they? Couldn’t be happier!

Before I go into more details of the wine and the giveaway, I would like to tell me my thoughts about the Pinot Gris! Pinot Gris has always been one of my favourite type of wine. hehe I had a glass before bed one night, and really love how clean and crisp it tasted with tones of pear and apple. I knew instantly what would pair with it perfectly – seafood. My dearest husband read my mind, and made an amazing prawn aglio olio with pan seared scallops for dinner the following night!

He even used some of the wine in the sauce and it was so good! I wanted more (: The prawn and scallops were so sweet & succulent, it just complimented the wine perfectly.

Prawn Aglio Olio with Pan Seared Scallops (The mr’s original recipe, serves 2)

5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

3 small chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped (you can increase or reduce the amount of chilli depending on how spicy you like your dish to be!)

2 tbs fresh basil, finely chopped

1/2 cup white wine (I used Taylors Estate Pinot Gris)

2 tbs olive oil (plus an extra tbs for the scallops)

Salt & pepper, to season

12 prawns, peeled and cut into chunks

6 scallops, left whole

Pasta of your choice

Freshly grated parmesan cheese, to garnish

Steps :

1) Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Strain and run under cold water so that the pasta will not stick together. Set aside while cooking the sauce.

2) In a heavy based pot, heat the olive oil on medium fire and fry the garlic and chilli till fragrant.

3) Add the prawns, and fry till it’s coloured and no longer translucent. Add the chopped basil and white wine. Allow this to simmer for about 5 minutes.

4) Pour the pasta into the sauce and mix it well. Set aside, and keep it warm.

5) Pat dry the scallops and season with sea salt. Heat a non-stick pan on low-medium fire and add 1 tbs of olive oil. Place the scallops into the pan and flip every 30 seconds. Repeat each side for about 3 times, or until the scallops have a nice golden brown sear.

6) Place the pasta on a plate and top with 3 scallops per person. Garnish with some freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serve with a glass of Pinot Gris. ENJOY!

And now, the part that you’ve been waiting for so patiently…. the giveaway! (:

Taylors Wines is a family-owned wine company, in South Australia’s stunning Clare Valley, that was born from a passion of producing exceptional,  hand crafted wines. They are “Bringing great wines to life” and would love to give two lucky readers two bottles of their beautiful Taylors Wine –  Taylors Estate Pinot Gris 2011 and Taylors Estate Shiraz 2010.

How do you win these amazing wines?

To enter this giveaway:

• All you have to do is to leave a comment at the end of the post to let me know : What is your favourite wine and what do you like to pair it with? 
• Open to Australian residents only! (So sorry!)
• Please make sure you’re of a legal drinking age and be able to provide a proof of age (it is needed to be sent to the company before they can send you the wine)
• The winners will be drawn on the 5th of May 2013, Sunday at 10pm (Melbourne time).
• You may reenter daily, one entry a day (YAY!)
• Winner will be picked via random.org and announced on this blog and notified via email

Good luck and have a great week ahead! (:

Remember to always cook and bake with love!

This is a sponsored post by Taylors Wines. I tasted the Pinot Gris with compliments of Taylors Wines, however, the review, opinions are honest and based on my personal taste and preference. The recipe is a Food Made With Love original.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And the winners are….. Diana and Coco!! (: Congratulations!

Congratulations you two! (: Will be dropping you an email or a reply soon! Hope you enjoy the wines! hehe Have a great week ahead! xx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update : Unfortunately, I can’t get hold of Diana and Ross (who was picked after not hearing from Diana) so I had to pick another winner! Congrats Zoe!! (: Hope you will enjoy this wine with Jeff!

{Quick & Easy} Fig Jam

As promise, I decided to share the recipe for fig jam I used to have with my scones! You will realise it’s so easy and something you can do in less than 30 minutes! Be warned though, cause this is VERY ADDICTIVE! haha Once you’ve tried a spoonful, you would want to have another, and another, and another!

Another plus point is that this recipe uses dried figs, so you can make this all year round! Trust me, you would definitely want a bottle of this in your fridge all the time. hehe I’ve had it on my scones, croissants, with cookies and of course, on it’s own! YUMMO! Just can’t get enough! (:

So quickly get a packet of dried figs and make some jam now! (:

Dried Fig Jam (adapted from Tastespotting)

250g dried figs, chopped into quarters

1 cup of water

1 tsp lemon juice

Steps :

1) In a small heavy base pot, place the dried figs and water and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and allow it to simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the figs are plumped up.

2) Turn off the heat and pour the mixture into a blender. Add the lemon juice and blend till smooth with a spreadable consistency. Be careful when blending as the mixture is very hot! If it’s too thick, just add more water, 1 tsp at a time.

3) Allow the mixture to cool, and then place it in an air tight bottle, and keep it refrigerated. It can last up to 2 weeks.

Enjoy! (: If you’re like me, take a spoon and dig in immediately! hehe Simple, quick, delicious and addictive! Cannot get any better!

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Remember to always cook and bake with love!

Fig Maple & Thyme Scones

Figs. I just can’t get enough of them. Whether it’s the fresh or dried version, I love them all! I could have them everyday to be honest! Sometimes, I wish they weren’t seasonal. Thankfully, I’ve got two fig trees in my backyard that gives are beautiful juicy figs in Summer! Hooray! But since it’s Autumn now, I have to say, the dried figs are just as satisfying (:

I’ve always considered myself blessed. Even more so when I look at our bark yard, in particular our herb garden bed! The Mr has a green thumb! Wheeee! (: Everytime I look at how much it has grown and flourished, I will be filled with joy! hehe Basil, mint, coriander, rosemary and lemon thyme are some of the herbs we’ve grown. And since this recipe calls for some fresh thyme, I just went to the garden bed to pick some! Easy peasy! (:

Okie, back to the scones! (: My love for scones come from my mum, we would make scones whenever we have time on our hands and have it immediately for tea. Instant gratification! haha One of our favourite places to have scones is at Ms Marples Tea Room up at Mount Dandenong! Although some might say theirs is more like a dense cake, mum must have it every time she comes to Melbourne! hehe I was going through Tastespotting and chanced upon a recipe that instantly caught my attention. I made a variation of the recipe with the things I have in my pantry. These were SO GOOD. They were light and fluffy in the middle and just went so well with butter. I could have it for breakfast, tea and dessert! Definitely something I would make frequently now, plus it didn’t take much time at all!

I know there are many different ways to enjoy a scone, but my favourite way is with butter and jam. As I made fig jam a while back (recipe in the next post, so stay tuned cause it’s addictive!), I had my warm scone with some unsalted butter and homemade fig jam! YUMMO! As a dessert, I topped the scones with a quenel of macadamia ice cream and it was delicious too!

Fig, Maple & Thyme Scones (adapted from Le Pirate Life)

3 cups self-raising flour, sifted

80g unsalted butter, cold & cubed

1 cup of milk (might need a couple of tsp if dough looks too dry)

2 heap tbs of pure maple syrup

250g dried figs, chopped into quarters

A handful of thyme (leaves removed from stalks, a few sprigs for garnishing)

Steps :

1) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius and lined a baking tray with baking paper.

2) In a large bowl, place the self-raising flour and butter. Using your fingers, gently rub the butter into the flour till it resembles breadcrumbs. Create a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the milk and maple syrup into the well. Gently mix the dough till it all comes together. Add more milk (a tsp at a time) if the dough feels and looks a bit too dry. The dough should feel soft and a little sticky.

3) Fold in the figs and thyme leaves into the dough. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface and knead it slightly, careful not to overwork the dough. Using a rolling pin (or just your palms), flatten it out till it is about 3 cm thick.

4) Using a scone cutter, cut out the scones and place them on the baking tray. Garnish the scones with more thyme leaves or sprigs of thyme if you’ve some.

5) Bake the scones for 20-25 minutes. You can either leave it to cool and store in a air-tight container, or enjoy it hot with some butter, cream and jam.

ENJOY! (:

So dear readers, what is your favourite way of having your scones? Please share as I would love to hear from you! (: Have a great weekend and remember to always cook and bake with love! 

Turning 27 (Part 3) : Merchants Guild

Yes, my birthday celebration continues! (: This time with my favourite mother and daughter team : Peggy & Paige! hehe While researching for where to dine at, we decided to head to somewhere close to both our homes, so I went through my list and decided on Merchants Guild! The weather was beautiful, so we took a nice stroll there to have brunch.

Merchants Guild

Address : 680 Centre Road, Bentleigh East

Website : http://themerchantsguild.com/

If you follow me on instagram (@lianneelow) you would see alot of photos of Paige just cause she is so gorgeous! (: Doesn’t she just melt your heart? I was so so lucky to be able to have brunch with her and her beautiful mum on my actual day. As the Mr had work that day, Peggy was so sweet to spend the day with me. Thank you again!

We started our brunch with chai lattes. I love it when cafes serve their chai lattes in a pot! It was richly spiced and something just so comforting about it. I’m not sure how many times I’ve said it, but I do love my chai lattes! hehe Especially if there it is served with a side of honey. Mmmm (: I could drink it all day I reckon!

There were many attractive things on the menu, but I decided to stick to the all-time favourite of mine – eggs benedict! At Merchants Guild, they actually change the flavour of their hollandaise and that day, it was a herb hollandaise that was thick and delicious, but not overly rich.

Peggy ordered the roast potato bubble & squeak with smoked trout with a side of horseradish cream, cornichons and poached eggs. It was so delicious and when I tried it, I knew that the Mr would definitely love this! He’s a huge bubble & squeak fan, so much so that he requested I made it for him for brunch. The smoked trout pieces were mixed into the bubble & squeak and the horseradish cream had a subtle spiciness! Yummilicious!

Both of us were drawn to the buckwheat pancakes on the menu, so we had to order a serve to share. They were so good! Thin pancakes topped with grilled pears that were so soft. The chocolate fudge was so rich and decadent, tasted like nutella! So so good! It was drizzled with a whiskey maple sauce that really had a kick to it. We couldn’t stop saying “so good!” haha The roasted hazelnuts added a crunch that gave the dish more textures. Absolutely loved this!

Thank you again for the company and for the treat (: Definitely had a great time and you both made my day! Great food, awesome company, happy bellies and endless smiles! 27 is gonna be a great year I’m sure! hehe Definitely gonna bring the mr here to try the food, and no prizes on guessing what he will have! hehe

Remember to always cook and bake with love! (: