Variations of Curry Puff with puff pastry

Posted on by cheryl

Curry puffs made with puff pastry 2, Singapore style.

Curry puff made with puff pastry, Singapore style.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl M. Cordeiro Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

It was the large, triangular, multi-layered flaky pastried curry puff that I had in mind when putting this together. The kind that was stacked warm and neat on a newspaper lined cardboard box that was carried for door to door sales, usually by an Indian man or his son, when I lived in the high-rised government built blocks in Bedok North, Singapore.

I was about five or six years old when the large curry puffs, too large for me to finish on my own actually, became one of my favourite things to eat, beating the smaller, more reasonably kid-sized, fried rounded and pinched tipped version of curry puffs.
Continue reading “Variations of Curry Puff with puff pastry” →

Breakfast danishes with puff pastry

Posted on by cheryl

Raspberry danish pastry, dusted with icing sugar on top.

Raspberry danish pastry, dusted with icing sugar on top.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl M. Cordeiro Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

Some danish pastry adventures with the puff pastry that we made earlier.

Danish pastry with fresh raspberry filling.

I think the whole idea is to simply have the pastry become a container of sorts for whatever filling you wish you have in it. And making a little pastry box from the pastry is what we did, the first, adding fresh raspberries over a bed of sweetened vanilla cream. This was baked at 220C in the oven till the puff pastry was done. Once cooled, the raspberry danish was dusted with icing sugar before serving.
Continue reading “Breakfast danishes with puff pastry” →

Paisley

Posted on by cheryl

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro in purple paisley, Louis Vuitton L'Impetueux white Suhali

Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl M. Cordeiro Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

Paisley is not a common motif in my wardrobe, where it’s difficult to find a paisley print that doesn’t for example, overwhelm my frame. This casual weekend dress or sundress, from Marks & Spencer Limited Collection has a different sort of paisley print, more an over-sized print of it, a sprawling design that seems too large for even the dress to capture in full. It is also brightly coloured, something that contrasts to the pastels of paisley or the earthern tones of it on a lot more textiles. The deep magenta of the dress with contrasting blue-green of the paisley print is a nod to the Persian and Indian roots of this ancient design and the colourful textiles of the region.
Continue reading “Paisley” →

Crème caramel, made with the most basic of ingredients

Posted on by cheryl

Crème caramel recept, French baked custard recipe

Crème caramel, with extra caramel on top.

Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl M. Cordeiro Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

I don’t remember when it was that I first tasted crème caramel, all I knew was that I loved it, and at the time thought I would also never be able to enjoy this dessert if I were not at a posh restaurant in Singapore ordering it off the menu.

The first time I made this dessert, I thought that there was no way at all that it would turn out right. The Swedish weather was cold, the caramel came out too sticky and too thick, it froze almost immediately upon touching the soufflé dish and I couldn’t wash the dish clean of the solidified caramel even with boiling water! Since the caramel was stuck to the dish, I went ahead with the custard on top of it and thought not to expect too much, writing it off as a failed project.
Continue reading “Crème caramel, made with the most basic of ingredients” →

Puff Pastry

Posted on by cheryl

Video from Otago Polytechnic on how to make puff pastry.

How to make puff pastry was a complete mystery to me whilst growing up, even though it is one of the few things I’ve always enjoyed in a myriad of foods from the savoury to the sweet. Puff pastry beef pie and chicken pie popped into the microwave oven was something I quite often had for lunch after school in Singapore. In Sweden smördeg as it is called with fruit and custard, drizzled with icing sugar is a relish to have at breakfast or at tea time.

Puff pastry dough with a cross on top.

The base dough for puff pastry, marked with a cross on top, ready for rolling out.

Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl M. Cordeiro Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

As I’ve discovered what many others who make puff pastry have known, it takes more patience and time to make puff pastry than skill. Puff pastry has a much higher fat content than other types of pastries, using an alternating folding and rolling technique to create the layers of dough with air trapped between them. The pastry puffs up during the baking process and generally makes anything you serve on it / with it look fantastic!
Continue reading “Puff Pastry” →

Coloured eggs for the Easter basket

Posted on by cheryl

Coloured Easter eggs, Easter Lilies, Sweden.

Easter lilies and coloured Easter eggs.

Photo © Cheryl M. Cordeiro Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

One of the exciting events to look forward to in school when I was young during Easter week was the Easter Egg Hunt. The teachers would hide colourfully painted hard boiled eggs in one of our school gardens – the smaller gardens of the school – and the girls simply had to roam the gardens in search for them. Each girl who found an egg had a present to look forward to.
Continue reading “Coloured eggs for the Easter basket” →

Coffee cinnamon chocolate chip cookies

Posted on by cheryl

Coffee cinnamon chocolate chip cookies recipe; kaffe och kanel chokladkakor recept.

Brightening up the Easter table.

Photo © Cheryl M. Cordeiro Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

A staple Easter goody is chocolate, so I thought I’d put together a variation of the chocolate chip cookie, with coffee and cinnamon added. These like most chocolate chip cookies, are best eaten when just out of the oven or when slightly warmed with coffee or a tall glass of cold milk.

It takes about twenty minutes to prepare the dough and about 30 minutes baking time.
Continue reading “Coffee cinnamon chocolate chip cookies” →

Steamed chocolate cake using whipped cream

Posted on by cheryl

Steamed chocolate cake using Valrhona cocoa powder and whipped cream

Steamed chocolate cake.

Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

This is one of the easiest cakes to make, the preparation time being just about 7 minutes and the cooking time, which is steaming, is ca. 35 minutes. It’s delicious just after it has cooled, served with a little whipped cream (or plain vanilla ice-cream). In Singapore, this cake is most often served with a lush chocolate ganache over the top, or if you have the cake layered, the chocolate ganache can come between the layers too.

Steamed cakes most likely came out of Chinese kitchens as it is the Chinese who have most variations of steamed foods from buns to dumplings, vegetables to fish and meat.

There are variations of the steamed chocolate cake recipe around the internet, though the variations are in slight proportions. Since I’m a chocolate anything fan, this chocolate cake is one that I make often when I’m not in the mood to use the oven for baking or when I want a slight change in chocolate cake texture.
Continue reading “Steamed chocolate cake using whipped cream” →

Strawberry cheesecake in a glass

Posted on by cheryl

No bake strawberry cheesecake in a glass at Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Something sweet for a quiet evening.

Photo © Cheryl Cordeiro-Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

There come days or evenings that I’ve felt I’ve over eaten for the next few days and what I’d really like is something sweet, but nothing main meal substantial like a full plate of chicken breast with pasta or a beef steak with salad on the side.

It felt like that this evening, so I whipped up one of my favourite desserts but in minimalist portions (or controlled portions at least) – strawberry cheesecake in a glass.

BBC Good Food has an excellent tried and tested recipe for this easy to make dessert that doesn’t need any baking time in the oven. Given below is my variation of it, with a small tub of Philedelphia cream cheese and grated lemon rind. This will render just 4 wine glasses of strawberry cheesecake dessert, just enough for a cozy dinner of four or a small household.
Continue reading “Strawberry cheesecake in a glass” →

T-bone Bistecca alla Fiorentina in Sweden

Posted on by cheryl

T-bone steak cooked in the style of bistecca all fiorentino, Sweden

T-bone steak in Bistecca alla Fiorentina, Sweden.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl Cordeiro-Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

One of our favourite ways of collecting travel memories is to bring back food ideas and inspirations. Its a nice way of revisiting your favourite spots without even leaving the comfort of home. I think the most memorable meal of our visit to Florence (2008) was at Trattoria Quatro Leoni that served up one of Florence’s best Bistecca alla Fiorentina. The steak came with spinach and fried potato wedges and a bottle of local red. The meal made for a most marvelous evening spent under the full moon of Tuscany, Italy.

Seeing a gorgeous T-bone meat slab weighing in at about 8 lbs (4 kg) in total at Svenskar Gårdar’s stall at the recent Food Fair Passion för Mat 2010, we couldn’t help but want to have T-bone steak, Tuscan style!
Continue reading “T-bone Bistecca alla Fiorentina in Sweden” →