Fresh Tomato Soup with Basil (Delia Smith)

I love this soup
Really tasty and goes well with chopped fresh basil
And it's extremely delicious eaten with toasted bread, in my case - sundried tomato bread

First time saw this soup at Yen from Eat Your Heart Out, drooled over it and decided to give it a go. So glad I did! :)

What you need:

600g ripe tomatoes, quartered with skin on
1 medium onion, chopped small
1 medium potato, chopped small
1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
275ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tsp chopped fresh sweet basil, to garnish
some cream
salt, black pepper

Method:

1. Heat oil over medium fire, add onion and potato, cook for about 2 minutes
2. Lower to low heat and soften slowly without browning, stir every few minutes, about 10 minutes
3. Add in tomatoes, cook for 1 minute. Pour stock and stir
4. Season with salt, pepper and garlic
5. Cover and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes
6. Blend briefly to puree the soup
7. Garnish with fresh basil, and swirl 1 tbsp of cream on each bowl before serving

I'm submitting this post to:

* Little Thumbs up with theme of the month of March: "Tomato", organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Doreen from my little favourite DIY

 

 *Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake

 

 

 

 

Bake Along #41 - Apple Turnover with Quick & Easy Flaky Pastry (Delia Smith)

I'm always intrigued with recipes using words 'easy' or 'quick', better still, using both words LOL
When I saw Mich from Piece of Cake and Angeline from Angeline's Side of Story made this pastry from Delia Smith, I wanted to try too, very much
At the same time, Bake Along latest theme is Turnover, I decided to give this a try with apple filling
I used the recipe for the apple filling from Ina Garten after seeing Angeline did so too a while back

With such an easy method of making the pastry skin, I must say I'm very satisfied with the result, tasty, buttery and crisp. It's not flaky enough, but it's easily forgiven :)
The filling is no different, very addictive :)

What you need:

For the pastry:
110g butter
175g plain flour
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp. cold water (I added to 3 tbsp to make it more moist)

Method:

1. Keep butter wrapped in a plastic, and freeze for at least 45 minutes
2. Sift flour and salt in a large bowl, grate frozen butter on top of the flour
3. Use butter knife to mix (do not use hands) evenly
4. Sprinkle water with hands all over and mix again with butter knife for a few seconds, then you may finish off with hands
5. Dough should be moist, combine altogether, and leave the bowl fairly clean, no need to knead the dough
6. Wrap it up and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes

For the filling:
1 tbsp grated orange zest
3tbsp fresh orange juice
600g tart apples (granny smith)
3 tbsp sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 1/2 tbsp plain flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of salt

Egg wash:
1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water

Method:

1. Combine orange zest & juice. Dice apples and immediately toss with the juice mixture to prevent browning
2. Add sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt (sugar depends on the sweetness of the apples)

To assemble:

1. Preheat oven to 200degC
2. Bring the dough out from the fridge and leave it for about 15 minutes
3. Flatten the dough using rolling pin on a floured surface, shape according to preference (I made rectangle shape), keep chilled until ready to use
4. Brush the edges with egg wash
5. Place the filling on half side and fold up over the filling, then seal the edges with fork
6. Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar, poke some holes and transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper
7. Bake for about 20 minutes (depending on the size) until browned and puffed
8. Serve warm or at room temperature

I'm submitting this post to:

* Bake Along hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids

 

* Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake

Basic Pancake With Sugar & Lemon (Delia Smith)

Another dish caught my eyes when I saw this at Lian from Whatever You Do
A great dish from Delia Smith for breakfast, I am always intrigued by breakfast recipe, as I often clueless on what to prepare for my family in the morning :)

This is a simple kind of pancake, yet yummy and refreshing with lemon drizzle and sugar sprinkle, love it :)
My kids like it drizzled with chocolate sauce, I find it delicious too :)

 

What you need:

110g plain flour
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
200ml milk mixed with 75ml water
50g butter

To serve: caster sugar, lemon juice and wedges

Method:

1. Sift flour and salt, hold the sifter high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break eggs into it, whisk til combined
3. Add milk mixture gradually with whisk, use rubber spatula to scrape bits of flour all around the edge to the centrem whisk once more til batteris smooth, with the consistency of thin cream
4. Melt butter in a pan, take 2 tbsp and mix into the batter. Whisk and pour the rest into a small bowl to grease pan, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it around
5. On medium heat, spoon batter with a ladle, everything at one go
6. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip the pan from side to side so the base will be evenly coated. After a few minutes lift the edges up to see if it's tinged gold
7. Flip the pancake over and cook the other side for a few seconds
8. Side it out of the pand onto the plate
9. Serve immediately with sprinkle of sugar and lemon juice drizzle

I'm submitting this post to  Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake

 

 

Below are blogging friends cooking and baking using recipes from Delia Smith :)

Avocado Tomato Salsa (Delia Smith)

Allright, I'm not a trend setter, I'm a trend follower instead
Everytime Cook Like A Star launches the star chef of the month, I always start with browsing through their website, or their cookbook if I own one
And then I'll look through what others make, and almost 100%, I'll end up listing down what I shall make from them
And this month is no exception either LOL

Another mouthwatering dish from Delia Smith I saw at Mich from Piece of Cake I coudn't resist :)

What you need:

1 ripe firm avocado
2  firm tomatoes
1 shallot (I used 3)
1 tbsp fresh lime juice (I used large lime)
1 heaped tbsp chopped fresh coriander (I used 2 tbsp)
a few drops of tabasco sauce
salt, black pepper
sugar (I added)

Method:

1. Skin the tomatoes b y pouring boiling water over them, leave it for a few minutes, drain and slip skin off when cool to handle
2. Cut in half, hold each half over a saucer (cut side down), squeeze gently to extract seeds
3. Chop tomato finely
4. Halve avocado, remove stone and cut each half into quarters and peel off the skin
5. Chop into small dice, while slice the onion thinly
6. Combine everything in a bowl, add in seasoning, lime juice, coriander and tabasco
7. Civer with clingwrap and leave in the fridge for at least an hour before serving

I had this refreshing salsa with my homemade chicken burger, delish!
I will make this again with grilled salmon, just like what Mich did
Thinking about it makes me drooling already, yum! :)

I'm submitting this post to:

 

* Little Thumbs up with theme of the month of March: "Tomato", organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Doreen from my little favourite DIY

 

 

 

*  Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake
 

Below are blogging friends cooking and baking using recipes from Delia Smith :)

Slimmers' Scrambled Eggs (Delia Smith)

This month Cook Like A Star guest chef is Delia Smith
Confession: I never heard about her before LOL
Thanks Zoe for introducing her, I found many great recipes from her I guess one month won't be enough! :)

Let me start with a simple recipe to start my day - yummy breakfast
I love eggs, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner
But for a good breakfast, egg is a must for me
Sunny side up, hard boiled, soft boiled, poached, scrambled, omelette... name it, I love all, hence my interest in eggs recipes :)

Saw this in Joyce's site and I knew I had to try too
This omelette is easy to make and yes it's delicious!
I ate it this morning with a slice of toasted wholemeal bread

What you need:

2 large eggs, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper
1 tbsp fresh milk
1 heaped tbsp grated cheddar cheese
1 tbsp snipped chives
milled black pepper

Method:

1. Over low heat in a pan pour milk, whirl around the edges
2. Add in eggs and with wooden spoon stir backwards and forwards through the liquid egg
3. Keep scrambling til 3/4 of the egg is creamy and solid mass formed, and 1/4 is still liquid
4. Add in cheese and chives, continue to scramble
5. Remove from heat, continue to scramble til no liquid egg
6. Seve immediately with milled egg and a toast or any other breakfast companion you prefer

 

I'm submitting this post to Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake

Below are blogging friends cooking and baking for this event :)