No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

    If you are a fan of Nutella, you'll like this decadent dessert.  I've never tried making Brownies with bananas before but now that I've this recipe, I will have another option what to do with over ripe bananas, other than making muffins or banana bread.  These chocolatey Brownies are soft, texture is a bit cake like and can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days and they do taste better, when chilled. You can make this yummy dessert to serve to your family and friends after a hearty X'mas eve dinner. Banana Nutella Brownies  ~    榛子酱香蕉布朗尼    Ingredients 2 bananas about 300 gm 130 gm oil 150 gm light brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 95 gm plain flour 40 gm chocolate chips 25 gm cocoa powder 1/8 tsp seasalt 135 gm nutella Method Prepare a parchment lined 8 x 8 inch square pan. Mash the bananas, add sugar, oil and vanilla.  Whisk till well combined. Sift in flour, salt and cocoa powder and mix in the chocolate chips.  Whisk till fully well combined. Pour the mixture int

  I'm a fan of beancurd skin be it fresh or deepfried.   Bought this from the wet market where it is available at the stall selling beancurds and soy products of all sorts.   I didn't deep fry this as recommended by the seller, just panfried till it's crispy and as it's bland on its own, so had to cook this in a sauce to let it infuse into the beancurd skin.  You can also cook this with a sweet and sour sauce whereby it will taste better if it's deepfried. Braised fresh beancurd skin/Tau Pau with black beans   ~    黑豆焖腐竹云耳 Ingredients 6 pieces fresh beancurd skin 20 dried cloud ears 2 tsp black beans 1 tsp oyster sauce 1/4 tsp sugar 3 cloves garlic, chopped Broccoli 1.1/2 tsp cornflour +  1 Tbsp water Method Soak the cloud ears till soft, snip off the hard part of the fungus. Pan fry the beancurd skin till crispy.  Dish out and set aside. Saute the garlic till fragrant, add in the black beans, followed by the cloud ears.  Stir-fry. Add in some water and oyster sauce

 I must admit that I love chiffon cakes and if you have been following my blog, you will notice that I have blogged many chiffon cake recipes.  Chiffon cakes are light and refreshing and they do stay soft and moist even after a few days stored in the refrigertor.   A plus point is that my family members do not get bored with chiffon cakes for they love them as much as I do! Cocoa Nutella Chiffon Cake ~  可可榛子酱 戚风蛋糕   (adapted from 'here'  with adjustments) Ingredients (A) 98 gm hot water 45 gm cocoa powder 45 gm Nutella 1.1/2 tsp vanilla (B) 6 large egg yolks 45 gm caster sugar 3/4 tsp salt 75 gm vegetable oil 75 gm milk 135 gm plain flour )  Whisk and mix 15 gm cornflour     )  thoroughly (C) 6 large egg whites 90 gm caster sugar 1.1/2 tsp white vinegar or lemon juice OR 3/4 tsp cream of tartar Method Mix (A) thoroughly and set aside With a ball whisk, whisk egg yolks and sugar till creamy, add in salt, oil and milk.  Add in (A) and whisk till well incorporated.  Sift in flour

This sourish and  slightly spicy chicken dish is best served with hot steaming plain white rice most welcoming on a wet and cooling day.  The addition of curry leaves enhanced the aroma of the dish and also added some colour to it.  Serve this with some crunchy greens to complete this wholesome meal. Assam/Tamarind Chicken  ~   亚参鸡 Ingredients 600 gm deboned chicken leg, cut into bite size 1 heaped Tbsp assam paste + 1 Tbsp hot water  1 tsp light soya sauce 1 tsp dark soya sauce 3 tsp sugar 1 big onion, cut into wedges 2 lemon grass crushed 1.1/2 tsp cornflour + 1 tsp water to thicken Birdeye chillies Curry leaves Method Mix the assam paste with hot water, discard the seeds.  Marinate the chicken with this paste, light and dark soya sauces with some salt for a few hours, preferably overnight which I did. Pan fry the chicken till semi-cooked (save the marinade).  Dish out. Saute the onion wedges, curry leaves, lemon grass and birdeye chillies till fragrant.  Add in the marinade, sugar a