When Chocolate meets Orange in Paris made in Bahrain.

I wanted to make a pie. But I read online that making tarts will be more satisfying. Well, maybe because it was much more simpler and less fuss to do. So I made a tart. I wanted to use my oranges that has been on the table for quite some time. I don't want to waste it, so I made Orange Tart. I know oranges and chocolate goes really well, like a beautiful relationship swimming in our tongue. Sounds dirty. :P

Plus, my husband is not the "any-kinda-dessert" person, but do sometime enjoy having to eat anything with chocolate in it. Dark chocolate to be precise. Chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, hot chocolate and, urm, and.. hmmm.. I think that's it. But not chocolate bar. Like Cadbury or Galaxy or Godiva.

So I went online and did my research and found a great french tart base and a delicious orange & chocolate filling. Or maybe I should call it orange filling. No. Orange curd. Yes, the right word for it is orange curd. I just checked back the website I found the recipe.

Here's the recipe.

French Tart Base by David Lebovitz.

90g (3 ounces) unsalted butter (cut into pieces)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

3 tbsp water (I use room temperature)

1 tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

150g flour

1. Preheat oven 210'C. Heat butter, oil, water, sugar & salt for 15 mins in the oven till butter is bubbling & sugar starts to brown at the edge of the oven proof bowl.
2. Pour hot butter mixture (be careful as butter mixture may explode) to flour. Quickly stir flour & butter mixture till forms into a ball. 
3. Transfer to pie/tart pan and wait to cool. Once cool spread dough evenly.
4. Baked for 15 mins or until golden brown. 

Simple and quick. Which I like. And it taste good. But really. Be very careful when taking out the heated butter from the oven. I almost jumped when it errupted and you can hear the "blop blop" sound. No kidding.

For the chocolate layer base I used (another simple and quick recipe) :-

Chocolate Ganache by Pastry & Sports.

100g dark chocolate (original uses 50gs only)

100g cream (original uses 50gs only)

1. Heat cream (not to boiling).
2. Pour warm cream on finely chopped dark chocolate.
3. Stir till smooth.
4. Pour on cooled tart base. Refrigerate till set for about 30 mins.

Last, the orange curd. 

Orange Curd by Pastry & Sports.

2 whole eggs (room temperature)

10ml orange juice (100g) (I used freshly squeezed juice of 1 orange)

50g sugar

75 butter

Zest of 1 orange (I reuse the one that I squeezed)

1. In a small sauce pan, add sugar, zest, orange juice & eggs over gentle heat. Stir till thickens. But do not boil it. Cause it will end up like making scramble eggs. (LOL!)
2. Out from the heat, add butter and whipped till incorporated. 
3. Leave to cool. Then pour it on the cooled tart base with chocolate ganache layer.
4. Let it set for 2 hours or more in the fridge. Not the freezer. 

I had a problem with the curd. Maybe because my eggs were not room temperature as I took it from the fridge straight to the sauce pan. Or maybe I should have whisk the eggs and sugar together before I pour everything (like instructed from the Pastry & Sport blog) in one go. But then again, the taste is just delicious. Because nothing goes wrong when chocolate meets orange base in Paris... :)

Enjoy & good luck.

Good Morning.

Well, I woke up early today after Subuh (around 3.20am) and slept back for few hours before woken up by my food alarm. I woke up at 7:30am thinking I should do my morning workout, but urgh! I hate it when the pillow is so cozy and the blanket is so warm and the aircond is blasting cold since its the starting of Summer. I should set a timer to my aircond. So it can shut off on its own and it will make me uncomfortable to sleep back again. lol!

Homemade.

Being a housewife, we tend to learn how to cook. It's not that I don't know how to cook, but I never seem to take the opportunity to cook when I was young. Back home, my kitchen was big enough. But it doesn't seem to attract me to cook. I baked. Cookies & cupcakes. But mostly, it wasn't that successful. And plus, the mess. My mother is a cleaned freak. She likes her house cleaned and untouched, you can say. So, she barely cooks in the kitchen. She buys most of the time. Maybe, that's why it didn't interest me in using it.

Anyways, I started to learn to cook by myself. I enjoy watching cooking/baking show a lot. As much as I love watching DIY interior related. I remembered when in high school, I used to cook in my friends house instead off mine. I used whatever ingredients that's there and make up something that is edible. Pasta & cheese, sandwiches, fried rice & etc...

After I got married, my husband brought me to Hong Kong to start our new married life. And Hong Kong was a challenge when it comes to food. It sort of force me to learn to cook. I mean, I am a typical Malaysian who misses Malaysian food very much. But I can live without having to eat them everyday. It's just that, your tongue knows what it wants. Plus, my husband is Malaysian. He is just like my dad. The rice man. Lol! As long as there is rice on the dining table, it will be enough. Hong Kong didn't have some of the things that we Malaysian loooove to use. Or maybe, we couldn't find any.There's no cili boh, kicap pekat, fresh santan or even pandan leaves. But we survived from the land of pigs. Now that's another story to tell . :)

Here in Bahrain, Alhamdulillah, so far it's welcoming. Managed to find and get things that wasn't available in HK, and most importantly, HALAL. I've up my cooking and challenged myself. I wanted my cooking to taste like how it was in a "kedai-tepi-jalan" style. I wanted the taste to be like the Malay-Thai cooking. And not only that, I even challenged myself to do Western style. heheheheheh. So here I am, posting this blog and posting my "agak-bangga-lah-jugak" photos. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as eating them. It ain't perfect, but the taste is enough to make my husband tummy, happy.

 

 

Summer heat.

It's the summer in Bahrain. Hot. Well, I don't feel the heat, cause I'm always at home with the aircond, but my husband gets the heat pretty much everyday. Pure sandy heat. And stuffy. Hazy. And stuffy. Sand dust. And just plain stuffy. Have I mentioned that yet...?

Though there is loads of wind, but, it only blows loads of hot air. Sea heat, sandy heat, just heat. And the sucky part of it, is that, Bahrain's sands - no. Bahrain's construction sites have loads of sand used for construction (of course - duh!) and when the wind blows, sands are blown away. You can make sand castles in a week in your home bathroom floor. And those fine sands get into our eyes easily. My husband's having an eye infection right now. And I think, I'm getting one to. Swollen, puffy eyes. Itchy.

Stop it! Stop complaining! Remember. To "Think Positive"! New motivation.

*moment of silence*

*breath deep....*

I'm grateful with what is given. Thank you, Allah....

Making them pie - One fine day, I hope..

I feel like making a PIE. A fruit pie. So having this recipe in my blog as a reminder and also saving the recipes forever fro reference. Recipe was taken from 100 Cafe Street.

Strawberry Pie

Pie Crust (I replaced it with my own crust recipe) :

Original -

1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened as directed on box.

or

Optional -

1 1/2 cups Graham cracker crumbs (see recipe above)

1/4 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

75g butter, melted.

Filling :

2/3 cup hot fudge topping

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 pint (2 cups) strawberries, quartered

Strawberry Pie Glaze : 

1 quart fresh strawberries

1 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup whipping (heavy) cream, whipped (if desired)

Directions :

1. Heat oven to 450°F (around 232°C)

2. Spread hot fudge topping in bottom of cooled baked shell. Refrigerate 1 hour.

3. In small bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Carefully spread over chocolate layer in shell.

4. In medium bowl, gently mix strawberries and *pie glaze. Spoon evenly over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

5. Just before serving, pipe or spoon whipped cream around edge of pie. Store in refrigerator.

___________________________________________________________________

*Directions for Strawberry Pie Glaze :

1. Arrange half of strawberries in baked pastry shell with fudge topping & cheese base. Mash remaining berries and combine with sugar in a medium saucepan. 

2. Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
 

3. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into boiling strawberry mixture.
 

4. Reduce heat and simmer mixture until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
 

5. Pour mixture over berries in pastry shell. 

Reminder : Will post photos once I make them.

Project list.

These are some of the recipes that I will make. Make sure you make a point to. - Note to self.

Recipe 1
Lemon Curd. (Recipe taken from Taste)

Makes :1 1/2 cups

Ingredients :
2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
1/3 cup (80g) chilled unsalted butter
Zest and juice of 2 lemons

Method :
Whisk whole eggs, yolks and sugar in a saucepan until smooth, then place pan over a low heat. Add the butter, juice and zest and whisk continuously until thickened. Strain through a sieve into a sterilized jar. Lemon curd keeps, covered, in the fridge for 2 weeks.

To my beloved Mr. Oven!

I stayed in HK with my husband for 1 year, and in that 1 year, I was craving to BAKE & BAKE & BAKE! I was so frustrated that, the place that was provided for us didn't have an oven. They had microwave, washing machine, fridge & all. But no oven. I think in a home, what one should ALWAYS have (no matter what) is an oven, fridge, washer/dryer or washer & a dryer & microwaves. I guess probably, the size of the apartment that we are staying didn't allow an oven to be built in. *sigh* But nevertheless, I never complained about it. I managed to learn to make cakes & desserts by steaming or freezing. See, creativity kicks in when one thinks out of the box.

1 year have passed and here we are in Bahrain, and I could not thank enough to Allah for the opportunity that is given to my husband & I. Allah must have given us such a great blessing in our lives, as when we were in HK we both accepted and appreciated what was given everyday. And maybe because of that, he gave us a new life in Bahrain. 

As I remembered, arriving here with my husband that night, it was passed midnight, and we were quite excited yet afraid. Heard & saw the news and received some messages from friends/relatives on how politically Bahrain is. Everyday riots. Everyday fights. We were given signs of bad news all the time. But Alhamdulillah, everything and even until today, nothing bad happened. Except that 1 day, when Bahrain was having another huge riot, that my husband wasn't allowed to go home and had to stay in his hotel for 1 night. But... It was fine. :)

Anyways, as usual, me, babbling. Going around the bushes and never came upon what I'm trying to write about. Ok. Where was I? Yes, when we arrived to our apartment, we were greeted by the guard or was he the watchmen? I forgot. All I know is, my husband always call them "The Superman". Cause they do everything here. They help to fix the lights, fix the curtain rail, cabinets, bring us the gallon bottle water, top up credits for the phone and basically... EVERYTHING! LOL! The Superman.. 

As he opens the door to our unit, my jaws dropped. I wanted to say out loud, "You've got to be kidding me!" My husband looked at me, and I looked back and was disbelief. This was the same reaction when I came to my apartment in HK, when I saw our room, but instead of saying "Oh... It's - small...", I can only say in bahasa, "Ubby, besar gila!" LOL!! It's huge. For the 2 of us. It was huge. Imaging having to live in a 500 sqft home in HK and now we were given a 1000 - 1500 sqft!! Alhamdulillah. Ya Allah, thank you.

The apartment has everything. All the list I wanted above (for the kitchen, I mean.) So the story of the oven finally arrives. The Oven. I love my oven. Weel, it's not mine, but I am able to use it anytime I want. And I have been doing so. *grin*

So, it was a Sunday. And my husband was off. Here in Bahrain, Sunday is the first day of the week. So unlike in Malaysia or Hong Kong, our weekends are Saturday & Sunday. Here is, Friday & Saturday. Getting some use to it. So Sunday, my husband was off, so we decided to burn the oven. hehehehe. De-virgin-nise it. Well, maybe it wasn't a virgin, but we decided to turn it on. We had our first Sunday (well, Husband-Off-Day) Project. We made bread.

Well, he is a Baker afterall. I, on the other hand, helped around. (psst... more to cleaning every single mess..) So we did 2 types. The day before, I didn't even realized my husband had already done his  levain (starter). I requested for wholemeal bread. And so he did plain wholemeal bread and the other is prune ciabatta. Have a look at them photos. Sorry it doesn't look so "photo professional" or image drooling picture. We only have our Blackberry to capture the evidences.

*Reminder to put in recipe*

Waking up.

Good morning.

Just chilling at my living room, watching MTV Teen Cribs. Gosh, those kids are pure lucky and spoiled. But really really lucky. Heh.

Had my breakfast. Made french toast wholemeal bread with honey & strawberries. Did my 10 mins cardio & 20 mins strength training just now. Loving the morning wake up. I usually sleep back after my Subuh 4:00 am prayer. But am happy that my body woke up again at 7:30am.

I hope this new environment that I'm experiencing, will change & give me a boost for this year's 2012 resolution. I don't have one but I hope it's good. I may started a bit to late, but never thought it's NEVER to late to start anywhere.

I think Summer is coming soon. It's April now. Weather's kinda ok. Not to hot nor to cold. A bit dusty. I think it's hazy..? Today is Friday. So Bahrain's weekend is here. F1 is happening right now I think. But not so sure what's the outcome yet. Read and heard that the local's aren't happy with this and doing some "tunjuk perasaan". Saw some smoke from afar the other day. We were in the car heading home from grocery shopping. And my husband point out to the direction. I think it was near Saar?

Oh, well. I don't blame the locals for not being satisfied with the ruling of the King. But all I pray is that, my husband & I are safe. And we are Muslim that belief in Allah, Nabi Muhammad & Rasul.

To those coming for the F1 show, enjoy. I think everyone should come to Bahrain. Cause, it's a very beautiful country. It has a mystical thing about this country. I don't know what. But like what my gf said, "Dusty Dreamy.." Lol!

Will update soon.

The Next New Journey

Assalam readers.

It's finally here. Our next journey. We had a very sad farewell to HK, but a happy hello to Bahrain.

This is our first post after being in Bahrain for 2 months plus. And I finally started the new blog.

So stay tune. I think this new place of ours is a whole NEW experience.

Wassalam.