BBQ Pork (Char Siu) pastries

Ingredients :
Pork (country ribs)
Char Siu sauce
Kicap manis
Oil for stir-fry
Green peas

Mix Char siu sauce and kicap manis together. And marinate pork for atleast 48 hours.
Prepare a deep baking dish (fill with 1/2 inch of water) , place a metal rack on top of baking dish.
Place marinated pork on the rack and bake for 25 minutes on 400F. (save marinate for glazing)
Take pork out and turn them over. Brush with marinate. And bake again for another 20 minutes.
Repeat one more time.

Take pork out and wrap in aluminum foil for about 20 minutes.
Carefully remove foil and chop the Char Siu up into tiny pieces. (or chop in a food processor)

In a hot skillet, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add chopped Char Siu and green peas. And stir-fry for about 5 minutes.
You may add 2 tablespoons of water if you feel it is too dry. And 1 tablespoon of kicap manis.
Keep aside.

Preheat oven 375F

Prepare short-crust pastry. If I am in a hurry (or lazy) I usually buy the ready-made Pillsbury short-crust pastry.
Roll it out, and using a round circle cookie cutter, cut a few circles.

Place one teaspoon of Char Siu filling into the center of a circle. Place another circle on top. Press to seal. I use a fork to make the pattern all around. Brush with egg yolk.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm.

Cheat sheet: You can also buy some cooked BBQ pork from a Chinese take-out and chop them up and stir-fry with green peas for the filling.

Recipe for Short-Crust Pastry :
http://www.helpwithcooking.com/pastry-guide/shortcrust-pastry.html

Easy Orange Cake

If you're in a hurry and need to bring something to a party, here's a super easy (and moist and light) cake recipe.

You will need :

1 box of Duncan Hines white moist cake mix (Do NOT add in the other ingredients as directed on the box)
1 can of soda (I usually use Sunkist orange)

Combine cake mix and can of soda.
Pour into a 13x9 baking dish
Bake according to instructions on the box.

For topping :
Dust with powdered sugar
or decorate with cool whip.

In this picture, I put little dollops of coolwhip using a ziplock bag as an icing bag. And add a slice of mandarin orange (canned) on top.

Deviled eggs

Tips :
Use eggs that are a week or two old for easier peeling.
Rest eggs sideways on the egg tray for atleast one day so that the egg yolks will be centered.
Take eggs out from the fridge atleast half an hour before cooking them.

Place eggs in a large pot. Fill with water. Sprinkle with some salt. Cover pot with tight-fitting lid. Boil.
As soon as you get big bubbles and steam, take the pot off of the stove.
Wait 30 minutes to let the eggs cook.

Then, remove eggs using tongs into a bucket of ice water. Leave eggs to cool for about 15-20 minutes.
Slowly crack the egg surface until the shell is cracked all over.
Place the eggs back into the cold water for another 10 minutes to aid peeling.

Then, peel the shell off.
Place freshly peeled eggs into the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Slice eggs into half.
Squeeze yolks into a separate bowl.
Mash the yolks with a fork.

Mix in ingredients : (for a dozen eggs)
1/2 cup light mayo
2 tsp honey mustard
2 tsp chives (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Cut the tip of the ziploc bag. (or use a pastry bag) Place egg yolk mixture inside.
Squeeze bag and fill the egg white shells.
Sprinkle with paprika (or garnish of your choice)

Coconut Almond bars

Ingredients :
1 pack Oreo cookies (approximately 24 pieces)
5 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
4 large egg whites
1 bag (14 oz) coconut flakes (about 5 1/3 cups)
1 cup sliced almonds (can substitute with chopped walnuts)
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350F.
Line a 13x9 in baking pan with nonstick foil.

Pulse cookies in food processor until fine and crumbly. Add in melted butter.
Press crumbs into foil-lined pan. (I use a mug to press and flattened the crumbs)
Bake for 8 minutes.

Combine coconut, milk and egg whites in large bowl. Fold in almonds. (leave some aside for later)

Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
Spoon in coconut mixture on top. Spread evenly.
Sprinkle top with remaining almonds.

Bake 30-35 minutes until top is set and golden.
Cool completely.
Let it set in the fridge for an hour. Remove foil and cut into bars or triangles.

Lemon cake

Ingredients :

One packet Betty Crocker White moist cake mix
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel
A few slices of lemon
Powdered sugar

Follow instructions on Betty Crocker's cake mix.
Add lemon juice and grated lemon peel
Bake according to instructions

Let cool.
Sprinkle powdered sugar
Decorate with lemon slices