favourite recipes for everyday cooking and baking

Microwave Chocolate Cake Ingredients 3 tbsp self-raising flour 2 tbsp cocoa powder 1 egg 3 tbsp caster sugar 3 tbsp butter, melted 3 tbsp water 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 1 tbsp chocolate chips Method Combine flour and cocoa in a small microwave-safe container and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with sugar and add this to the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter, water and vanilla. Stir well until evenly mixed and smooth. Add chocolate chips on top. Place in the microwave on medium heat (600W) for 3 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let it cool slightly before serving.

    Asparagus and Prawn Stir-fry   Ingredients   1 tbsp vegetable/peanut oil 2 cloves garlic, sliced/chopped 200g prawns, peeled, deveined and tails intact 2 bundles asparagus, woody ends snapped off, halved crossways 2-3 bird's eye chillies, sliced   Sauce: 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp fish sauce 1 tbsp palm sugar (or to taste) 1 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce 3 tbsp water   Method   Heat oil in a wok on high heat. Add the garlic, followed by the prawns. Let the prawns cook on one side, then flip them over to cook the other side. When the prawns are almost cooked, remove and transfer them to a plate and leave the oil in the wok. Next, add the asparagus to the wok and fry for 30 seconds, then push them aside. Add the chillies and pour the sauce ingredients down the side of the wok into the centre and bring to a boil. Toss the prawns in with the asparagus and sauce, and stir-fry briefly until everything is w...

      The first time I had lamb shanks was at Mulligan's, an Irish restaurant in Sydney. I remember how tender the meat was and it just melted in the mouth, together with the luscious red wine gravy and mashed potatoes. Well, that was a really really long time ago, and since then, I had always wanted to cook lamb shanks but never did until now, after I bought a french oven that's large enough to fit those shanks. I decided to make a Thai version by braising the lamb in massamum curry with some potatoes. I had it in the oven long enough that the meat was so tender and just fell off the bone. It was delicious, and with all curries, it tastes even better the next day! Massamun Curry Lamb Shanks   Ingredients   6 lamb shanks (about 2kg or 4lbs) Salt 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 1 star anise 1 cinnamon stick 6 cardamom pods, lightly crushed 110g (4oz) massaman curry paste 2 cups coconut cream 2 cups reduced-salt beef st...

I was pondering over what to write for this post and decided to look up " pancakes " in Wikipedia. It was fascinating to learn that different countries around the world have their own version of pancakes, be they sweet or savoury. Of course, the ones that most of us are better acquainted with are American-style pancakes , Australian pikelets (mini-sized ones) or crepes (which are thin pancakes). It was the long Labour Day weekend and the kids asked for pancakes this morning, and so I made pancakes! I remember seeing Nami's post on Buttermilk pancakes a while back, and her pancakes looked so good! Moreover, it was a really simple recipe and although I didn't have any buttermilk on hand, I could easily make some using fresh milk with a splash of lemon added to it. They did take a while to make because I only had one pan and made the pancakes one at at time. However, these pancakes were wonderfully light and fluffy, unlike the dense, heavy and cakey types that can be...