Sweet Water Chestnut Custard with Salty Coconut Cream Topping (Thai Tako Dessert)

Sweet Water Chestnut Custard with Salty Coconut Cream Topping

Last evening, I was taken with a sudden passion for music and spent a few hours working through my limited piano, flute and recorder repertoire. This morning, I spent the whole of it rolling sushi, and once that was done, moved on to wrap dumplings for dinner. The Hub and Eldest Son were gone for the whole afternoon playing golf with their respective groups of friends, the Babies were all dressed up light sabres included watching Star Wars, and I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon stirring and stirring - for a Thai Tako dessert.

I couldn't decide which flour I would use for my Tako. Depending on the texture desired, one could choose between mung/green bean, rice flour, glutinous rice and/or tapioca/corn flour. Also whether to use agar-agar or not.

To complicate things, I decided to add texture to my sweet (eggless) custard base by making my own rice flour. Soaked broken jasmin rice in water and ground it. Whether making the sweet base or the salty coconut topping, alot of stirring over low heat is required as one has to make sure that the flour used is thoroughly cooked. Also to avoid curdling.

Sweet Water Chestnut Custard Base :

120g Rice Flour

30g Corn Flour

150g Sugar

1/2 can of peeled Water Chestnuts (diced and soaked in Jasmine or Rose-infused water)

400ml of Jasmine or Rose-infused water

Screwpine leaf

Green food colouring

Salty Coconut Cream Topping :

1.5 cans of Coconut Milk

1 Chinese soup spoon of Sugar

1 Chinese soup spoon of Rice Flour

1/2 Tsp of Salt

Screwpine leaf

For a smoother and lighter base, it may be better to use mung bean flour and agar-agar. But I like my custard base with tiny bits of rice in it. And of course I didn't make screwpine leaf cases to serve my Tako in as screwpine leaves are precious in these parts. The Tako is best eaten chilled.

Sushi-making Station

Dumplings for dinner

Meanwhile, my aunt (mom's half-sister) died of cancer a few days ago. All my condolences to my uncle and cousins for their loss.

Meme

Dear Pris from Stuttgart tagged me for this Meme, so here I am!

RULE #1 People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

RULE #2 Tag 5 people to do this quiz and those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by.

1. Do you have secrets?
Do I?

2. Would you fall in love with a boy younger than you?
Why not? As long as he thinks that I'm as young as I look :-) and do not expect me to mother him.

3. Do you enjoy going to school?
Love it. But then I've only been to the good ones so it helps. Love the challenge of trying to stay awake in class. Love eating at the school canteen. Love studying last minute for exams and doing better than those who mugged all year. Love the adrenaline that exams gave me - but not the stomachaches. Hated P.E.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Start an empire.

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
Never. If you do not want to lose your good friend, don't start no hanky panky with him. My Hub is both a friend and an adversary. My supporter and greatest critic. But he is above all my partner in life.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
Being loved. That's what my mom told me. But it would be nice to be able to love in return.

7. List five favorite movies.
Drunken Master, High Heels, Cinderella, Howl and the Moving Castle, Star Wars...In general I like funny movies, animated films (e.g. Pixar, Ghibli Studios), Almodovar, good ghost movies.

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
If he's married, I'll forget him. If he's only in a relationship, I'll see what I can do to persuade him that he would be better off with me. But as a general rule, if the guy can dump his supposed love for you, he can dump you for someone else too later on. Only go for someone with scruples/principles and make sure you stick to yours.

9. Is there anything that has made you extremely happy?
My beautiful children.

10. Do you have any regrets?
I try not to have any.

11. How would you see yourself in 10 years time?
Still slogging away in the kitchen, still helping the kids with homework, playing golf with the Hub, but not looking a day older than 30 :-).

12. Who are currently the most important people to you?
My Hub and kids, my parents and siblings, a few old friends.

13. What kind of person do you think the person that tagged you is?
Spontaneous, kind, faithful and loving.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
Doesn't that depend on who you're married to?

15. What is your favourite colour?
Red.

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
I would, but on the day that he pisses me off, I'll make him pay for it.

17. Think of someone who is currently on your "he/ she really pisses me off" list. Describe him/ her.
Am I lucky? Can't think of anybody at the moment...

Unless pigeons could be counted. They are fat, noisy, dirty, shit alot and are best dead and roasted.

18. What are the top five countries on your 'to-go' list?
India, Japan, New Zealand, Brazil and Bora Bora.

19. Do you prefer being single or having a relationship?
Better be single than badly accompanied. Having said that, I know how to work at keeping a relationship going, so I prefer to be in one.

Tagging :

Petite Fleur
The Dutchess
Bibou's Mom

And anybody who cares to do this Meme...

12th Birthday Part 2

The Birthday Boy

Eldest Son wanted to eat Chinese for his 12th Birthday. He said he didn't want to see another strand of pasta till next week's lunch at school. Which meant that the Hub had to cancel his plans to bring us to Europa 92 (Pavarotti's restaurant) for a chic dinner.

The meal was no highlight of the year, of course. 99% of the Chinese restaurants here are lousy. If they're edible you can already count yourself lucky. We usually go to this one in Formigine as I rather like the lady owner and she always gives us extra Hot and Sour Soup which the kids love. The rest, if you're careful with what you order, is not too bad and will do for the times when you do not feel like cooking and yet didn't want to eat Italian.

Peking Duck meal

We ordered a Peking Duck meal. It came with home-made pancakes (but not the firm ones), shredded spring onions, cucumber, hoisin sauce, chilli oil (very hot) and duck (meat and skin) served on fried rice vermicelli. The skin wasn't crispy at all which was a pity and the duck was quite tasteless, but otherwise it was fun wrapping up our own Peking Duck. The duck bones were used to make a soup which was quite good and the restaurant offered us a plate of fried Green Beans which were nicely done.

The Birthday Cake

Finished the meal with a delicious St Honoré that I bought from our favourite pastry shop here (the same one that did the Hub's Birthday cake in April). It had puff pastry, chantilly, crème patissière, cream-filled choux and strawberries.

Next week I'll be bringing mothers from Baby Girl's class to lunch in the same restaurant. Hopefully we'll be able to come up with a decent menu and allow everyone to enjoy the meal.

Eldest Son turns 12

Eldest Son at 6 months

I wasn't a teenage mom so I can no longer pretend that I'm still in my 20s when my son has just turned 12. Does he have to grow up so quickly? Will he remember the number of times I had to carry him, change his diapers, wake up for him? No. All he wants nowadays is more playtime, more video games and more chocolate. Often I had to hold a cane to his face to remind him to watch his language and attitude in front of me. And that's only the beginning.

Still he has been a really sweet and beautiful (still is, actually) baby and has given me much joy and many kisses before he started having homework. I think I'd probably stopped looking upon the boy as the 8th Wonder of the World the day he started school.

Baked Potato and Egg Curry Puffs

Anyway, I couldn't bake him a cake to take to school today as there was a Bake Sale at school. Didn't want to be accused of spoiling sales from Middle Years schoolchildren, so I baked him a few Curry Puffs to share with his classmates instead. And he had his Birthday presents (some Play Station 2 wrestling game and a Ferrari fountain pen - when he wants to he has beautiful handwriting) last evening and will receive more when I throw him his Birthday party at the movies next week.

So Happy 12th Birthday, my eldest child, and may you have a happy, healthy and fulfilled life. In the meantime, please finish your homework before the due dates, thank you very much.

Baked Curry Puffs

Potatoes (boiled and mashed)

Eggs (hard boiled and cubed)

Onions

Garlic

Chillies

Curry Powder

Cumin seeds

Fennel Seeds

Curry leaves

Salt

Sugar

Pepper

Coconut Milk

Puff pastry

Chrysanthemum Tea

Chrysanthemum Tea

Have missed the Chrysanthemum Tea that I used to have regularly when I was living in Singapore. Brought some of the flowers back from my last trip home, so decided to have a few of the curry puffs with a nice pot of the flower tea this morning.

Shared it with my Italian teacher and she was quite won over by the lovely perfume of the flowers and the delicate taste of the tea.

Served it in my new teapot LOVE from Bormioli. Love it.

Steamed Tapioca with Sweetened Coconut Cream

Steamed Tapioca with sweetened Coconut Cream

This is one of the Hub's favourite S.E. Asian dessert. And you don't usually get it in the Thai restaurants here in Europe. So when I saw some tapioca in the Asian shop here a few weeks ago, I bought them to make a Steamed Tapioca with Coconut Cream.

Tapioca

1 can Coconut Milk

100g Sugar

1 Screw pine/pandan leaf

Peel the tapioca and cut it into 2 by 5 cm pieces. Steam for about 30 minutes or until the tapioca pieces turn translucent.

In a saucepan, add in the pandan leaf and dissolve the sugar in the coconut milk over medium heat. Lower heat, stir occasionally and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Pour the sweetened coconut cream over the tapioca pieces. They can be eaten warm or slightly chilled.

Masala Dosa, Chapati, Chicken Curry à la P

P's Chicken Curry and Chapatis

Hub and I are probably united (for once) in wanting to live in India for a few years. Though the recent news of the Indian CEO of an Italian MNC in India being clubbed to death by angry workers have somewhat diminished the ardour.

In the meantime, we stick to our weekly curries and occasional readings of Indian authors. I was told that I wasn't too bad in the curry business, but there is only so much that we can learn from the books. A stint in a real Indian kitchen obliges if I wish to stay on track for cooking nirvana. Besides, cooking together is fun.

To my joy (and luck, of course), there is P. Excellent cook who on a good day can cook for 50 singlehandedly. And she has very kindly offered to let me watch her cook lunch today. And brunch in. Then lunch in. And finally take away.

As if God wanted to show his approval for my entreprise, He had R waylaying me this morning after dropping the kids off at school, with a gift of - Biryani and Pappadums. Though of course the favoured recipient was actually the Hub. For some reason Indian women like to feed him.

I love going to P's place. It's cozy and smells of spices. And when you eat you can watch her cook at the same time - very convenient :-). Besides, we hit off really well (I think) and usually have quite a few good laughs insieme.

Masala Dosa

She started out with a Masala Dosa - for my brunch. I made Dosa recently, but mine was done the French crepe way - with more liquid. Whereas she did it the Indian way (as it should be done), with a thicker batter. Using an experienced hand, she spread the batter with the back of her ladle till she obtained a smooth and round Dosa. When the batter is done properly, you'll get holes in the white part of the Dosa as it is being cooked. Cook only on one side till crispy. And P gave me a tip : rub the pan with an onion if you do not want your batter to stick to it.

Dosa Batter :

3 cups raw Rice

1 cup spilt Urad Dal

1 Tsp Yellow Dal

1 Tsp Fenugreek seeds

2 Tsp Rice Flakes

Soak the rice and lentils separately for 5-6 hours. Grind them to batter consistency and then mix them together. Leave to ferment all night in a warm place.

Potato Masala :

Boil a few potatoes, mash them and set aside.

Heat some oil in a pan and brown some onions, green chillies, ground turmeric, salt and curry leaves.

Mix in the potatoes and serve with the Dosa.

I was only halfway through my brunch when she started preparing the lunch. Chicken Curry that made her the toast of the Indian bachelors working here. So much for my diet, but how could one say no to a Chicken Curry like P's?

It's good when the oil floats to the top of the curry

Chicken Curry :

Chicken pieces (marinated with curd, ginger, pepper and garlic)

Onions

Black Cardamomes (3-4)

Green Cardamome (1-2)

Whole Cloves (5-6)

Whole Pepper

Cinnamon bark (2)

Peanuts

grated Coconut

Garlic (5-6)

Brown the spices and grind them into a paste with some water. Heat up some oil in a pan and add in 2 bay leaves followed by the spice paste. Also add in some turmeric, chilli powder, ground cumin, ground coriander and garam masala.

When the mixture is fragrant, add the chicken pieces. When the chicken is cooked, add in some warm water and half of a big tomato and stir well. If you wish, you can also add in some fresh coriander leaves and/or paneer (cheese). Serve hot with some rice and chapatis.

P, bless her generous heart, went on to teach me how to make chapatis. It looked easy, but when made by an inexperienced person like myself will surely churn out only Australia and India-shaped dough (we had a good laugh over this, didn't we?). Ideally, chapati dough should be thin, smooth and round.

Chapati :

(Wholemeal) Wheat Flour

Water (lukewarm)

Salt (optional)

You're supposed to know how much water your chapati will need literally at the tips of your fingers. Meaning at the moment I wouldn't know. But from the look of things it could be something like 2 cups of flour : 1.5 cups of water.

As P kept stressing, chapatis are healthy because you wouldn't need oil to cook it. You cook it on both sides on a hot pan and then finish by putting it on top of the fire. It will puff out (and look pretty) and then it's ready for consumption. Keep the chapatis warm wrapped up in a little towel.

I had food to take away of course - for the Hub (again) and the Babies. They polished off everything with enjoyment and asked me when I would going back to aunty P's...

How about after I would have burnt some calories?

Lake, Park and Mini-Zoo

After eating as much as we had, we badly needed a walk. The Cs have recently discovered a park with a mini-Zoo not far from where we were and suggested that we make our way there.

Actually I've passed by the place a couple of times last year. Wanted to check it out but never got round to it. The Hub would also discover that he knew the owner. It's actually a private park with a lake in it in Ca di Sole, about 9Km from Maranello. But the guy has opened it to the public, only asking for a parking fee on weekends and on public holidays.

Those long barrels were a hit with the kids but tiring for the parents

People were fishing on the lake filled with ducks and swans when we arrived. Children were playing in the playground(s) and families were picnicking on tables in the park. BBQ pits made from recycled material were available for use. There was a kiosk selling drinks, tit-bits and firewood.

The mini-Zoo unfortunately contained animals in cages. There were cows, goats, emus, monkeys, ostriches, parrots, pigs...And fake animals are found on a sort of island in the middle of the lake.

Lovely way to spend a nice Sunday with nice friends. Before returning home to supervise Eldest Son in his homework.

Il Piccolo Mugnaio, Torre Maina

The Watermill

We've been trying for quite a number of months to organise a meal together with the D and C families. Ideally I would have loved to cook them lunch or dinner, but with each family having 3 kids each, I couldn't find the necessary courage. Finally we decided to lunch together in a restaurant and they had the great idea to bring us all to the agriturismo Il Piccolo Mugnaio in Torre Maina near Maranello. And the L family joined us too since they are also acquainted with the other families.

It was a really lovely autumn Sunday. We were 2 Italian families (but not from these parts), 1 French and 1 Germany family making up a total of 8 adults and 12 children. A lovely restored farmstead greeted us as we arrived, with rolling hills, vines, lemon trees...In fact it has a little working watermill that could be used to demonstrate flour making. There is also an eating hall with Chef's kitchen, a small shop selling homemade jams, liquors, balsamic vinegar, honey, soap, sweets...and an outdoor dining area with a lovely view.

For grinding flour

We were seated in a half-covered cellar underneath the machines producing flour. An inconvenience when people decided to hang around them as dust would then make its way down to where we were sitting and join our meal. Otherwise it was a simple and lovely meal starting with fried Gnocco, parmesan cheese with balsamic vinegar and cured sausages, followed by home-made pasta in a ragu sauce, Ricotta-filled raviolis served with funghi porcini and Tigelle with Rabbit and Wild Boar Stews. For dessert we had Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce (very good - I had 3 portions, I know I know...) and throughout the meal we had Lambrusco produced on the farm.

The pasta first courses

The agriturismo is open for school and tourist visits. If you have at least 15 people in your group they could also tailor-make lunches, dinners, conferences, meetings etc.

Half of the kitchen

This is not the best agriturismo we've been to food-wise, but the setting is really lovely and I love being able to watch the cooks at work in their open kitchen. And since it's so near our house we are already looking forward to combining lunch there with walks in the mountain in the near future.

The surrounding Vines, hills etc

Il Piccolo Mugnaio

Via Vandelli 531

41050 Torre Maina (MO)

www.ilmolinoditorremaina.it

Tel : 0536 940870

Ratatouille and Cod

Ratatouille

Eldest Son doesn't eat zucchini except when it's cooked in a Ratatouille. Funny, isn't it? Now of course it is famous after Disney made a cartoon of it, but I serve mine the traditional Southern French way, nothing fancy like in the film. Cod was on offer at Esselunga the other day so I pan-grilled it in olive oil and herbs (e.g. dill, basilic, aniseed, thym, parsley...) and served it with some ratatouille.

Ratatouille :

Olive Oil

Garlic (lots of it)

Onion

Zucchini

Aubergine

Red Peppers

Tomatoes

Tomato Sauce or Purée

Herbes de Provence or just Basilic and Thym

Salt and Pepper

Basically one browns the diced garlic and sliced onion in a good amount of olive oil till fragrant before adding in the peppers, aubergine, tomatoes and zucchini in this order to have them browned. The size of the vegetables is as you wish, some like it in rounds, some in chunks and yet others in cubes.

Then add in the herbs and adjust the olive oil if necessary. I like to add in some tomato sauce or purée to obtain a wetter and thicker sauce but that only once the vegetables have been browned. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The cuisson of the vegetables is rather personal for a ratatouille though in general they, for once, taste better rather well-cooked. I usually cover the pot and cook them for about 20 to 35 minutes on a low fire. The ratatouille can be eaten hot or cold, in fact it goes rather well served cold the next day on a hot baguette.

Vegetable Couscous with Roast Carré of Lamb

Vegetable Couscous

Couscous is an all-time favourite in my family so I endeavour to make it from time to time. Besides it's so easy to make I've no excuse not to do so. Two evenings ago I roasted a carré of lamb in the oven and served it pink on couscous grains with a vegetable soup.

Lamb Carré

The Vegetable Soup for Couscous :

Olive Oil

Garlic

Onion studded with whole cloves

Cinnamon stick

Mustard Seeds

Ground Nutmeg

Ground Ginger

Ground Cumin

Ground Coriander seeds

Ground Pepper

Salt to taste

Fennel bulb

Red Peppers

Carrots

Zucchini

Turnip

Tomatoes

Concentrate of Tomato

Cabbage (blanched separately first)

Water

Harissa (optional)

A meat bone (optional)

Parsley or Coriander Leaves

Needless to say the vegetables should be added to the soup in the order of the time needed to cook them and it would be best not to overcook the cabbage and zucchini. The garlic, onion, fennel and spices should be grilled in the olive oil till fragrant before proceeding with the rest of the soup.

I used to be a Child too

I was the youngest kid in this group of kids being looked after by the same Malay Nanny

I was getting pretty tired lately dealing with all the things I had to deal with as an adult and on a whim asked dad to scan me a few pictures of myself when I was a kid.

When I got it, I had a lot of difficulty recognising myself when I was two. Goodness, was I so ugly? Did I use to be so small?

But it must be great to be a little child with nothing to worry about, no chores to handle etc. If I could remember it I'm sure I'll be missing those days of my childhood.

Back to reality otherwise. I want to cry...

Terramara di Montale, Italy

Terrama di Montale (tickets)

The Hub very probably had this scenario in mind when he woke up this Sunday morning :

10:30am - Play Golf

1pm - Come back home for lunch

2pm - Retire to the sofa with something sweet and watch The Singapore Grand Prix

He forgot that his wife could be quite perverse and what really happened was :

10:30am - Play Golf

1pm - "What are we having for lunch?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"How about brunch with bacon, eggs etc?"

"One normally brunches at 11am...In any case, you can do whatever you want as long as you clean and tidy up after."

Remember the kids' school sending us this paper on how to discipline the kids? I thought it'd probably work better on the Hub, so I try to practise whenever I can. Men shouldn't behave like Pashas when they are not born one. And if you want to watch the Grand Prix at 2pm, you'd better come home and have lunch before Noon. Basic time management. And even maids get Sundays off nowadays.

And to hammer in the message, after I've picked up Baby Girl from a birthday party at Opla, I called home to announce that I would be dining out with her. I mean the guy decided to go jogging and take a bath just when it was time to go pick up the girl. Hello?

And in between, being the good mother that I am, I brought Baby Boy to visit Terramara di Montale. As he wasn't invited to Opla and was feeling really miserable about it, I had to comfort him with something else. Sunday was European Heritage Day and the Terramara opened its doors for free visits. (Just in case you wondered, Eldest Son had to stay at home and do his homework. Yes, on a Sunday.)

The Cheftain's (right) and Artisan's (left) Houses

The Terramara were villages in the Emilia region of the Po river plains in about 2BC. They were usually built on raised platforms in the marshy areas (you know why we're mosquito-infested here in Modena). They farmed, grew animals, produced ceramics, textiles and sophisticated bronze weapons and tools.

Inside the Cheftain's House

Tools from the Artisan's House

Weapon-making exhibition

The Terramara di Montale is an excavation site and open air museum displaying some of its finds. But the few reconstructed houses, furniture, tools etc are usually all reproductions based on drawings, sculptures or actual findings. Each time they open they would usually have a theme and conduct workshops and/or exhibitions based on it. During our visit, the theme was "Archery" so visitors got to see how bows and arrows were made and also get a chance to use them. Baby Boy is crazy about archery so you can be sure he queued up for a try.

The park is open on Sundays and also on public holidays during the warmer months. At other times, it is available for school or private group visits (minimum 20) at 5 Euros per head. Normal entry prices would otherwise be 6 Euros. Everything is in Italian though.

After the visit, we stopped by at the cemetary next door and paid our respects to Luciano Pavarotti. Time really flies, he has been dead a year now. Pavarotti grew up in Montale and was buried there.

Terramara di Montale

Via Vandelli

41050 Montale Rangone (MO)

Italy

Email : info@parcomontale.it

Tel : 059 203 3101