Corned Beef & Potatoes

Corned Beef & Potatoes how my mother used to make it. With spices and lots of potatoes and curry leaves. Salty and spicy and very satisfying with a bit of resam and white rice. 

CORNED BEEF & POTATOES

1 can Corned Beef

3 - 4 Potatoes, cubed

1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds

1 teaspoon Jeera Seeds

1 Cinnamon Stick

2 Star Anise

2 sprigs Curry Leaves

Chilly Flakes or Chilly Powder, to taste

1 - 2 medium-sized Onions

3 - 4 cloves Garlic

Oil

Remove Corned Beef from the can, break-up with fork and set aside. In a large wok, heat oil. Fry Potatoes. Once Potatoes are cooked through, remove some of the oil from the wok. 

Then add Cinnamon, Star Anise, Mustard Seeds and Jeera Seeds to the Potatoes. Fry till the Mustard Seeds split. Add in Curry Leaves, Onions and Garlic. Fry for a few seconds and add Chilly Flakes or Chilly Powder to taste. 

Last of all, add in the Corned Beef. Stir-fry until all the ingredients are mixed through well. Check seasoning. If okay, remove from heat and place in a serving dish. If not, add Salt or more Chilly to taste. Stir-fry a little longer and remove from heat. 

Watercolours in the sky

Sunsets are pretty,

Sunsets are pink,

Sunsets are red,

Sunsets are purple,

All because of the sun going down.

Silhouettes are black,

Clouds have yellow outlines,

All because of the sun going down.

Water and seas are red,

Water and seas are pink,

Water ans seas are purple,

All because of the sun going down.

Sunsets are beautiful,

Sunsets are the best thing,

All because of the sun going down.

Lisa Daborn

30 December 1991

A beautiful poem which reminded me of the sunset I once saw from my bedroom window. It was magical to watch at the end of a long, long day. A gentle reminder to a busy soul to stop. Just stop. Stop and look at the beauty around and above. 

Old-Fashioned Cherry Cake

What a pleasant surprise this cake was! It looked stodgy when I cut it into wedges, but it was nice and moist inside. In fact, it was even better the next day. I suppose one shouldn't doubt the Queen of Cakes whose recipe this is. Also, the cherries DID stay speckled throughout the cake rather than sinking to the bottom.

Unfortunately, there will be no recipe tagged to this as I cannot find the link on Delia Smith's website anymore. Looks like she's taken it off. I'll have to buy the book then. When I do, I promise to post the recipe here. Meanwhile, I hope you like the photo.  

As promised, here's the recipe. I found it scribbled on a piece on notepaper in the kitchen. I cannot promise that it is as written in Delia Smith's website or book though, as I usually scribble the recipe but never the method word-for-word. Anyway, here goes.

DELIA SMITH'S OLD-FASHIONED CHERRY CAKE

225 g Salted Butter, softened
225g Caster Sugar
4 large Eggs, lightly beaten
225g Plain Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
250g Glace Cherries, quartered
110g Ground Almonds
1 drop Almond Essence
2 drops Vanilla Essence
1 tablespoon Full Cream Milk
2 tablespoons Demerara Sugar

Preheat the oven to 160 Celsius. Butter and flour a round 8 inch baking tin. Set aside.

Cream Butter and Sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in Eggs little by little until well incorporated.  Beat in both Essences. 

Gently fold in Flour and Baking Powder until well mixed through. Toss quartered Cherries with the Ground Almonds and fold through the mixture. Lastly, mix in the Milk. 

Scrape mixture into the prepared tin, level the top and sprinkle the Demerara Sugar over it. Bake for 45 - 60 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out cleanly. Let the cake cool in the tin for about 20 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes
Be careful not to burn the cake. If the top looks like it is getting dark very quickly and the cake is not done, place a piece of foil over the cake. Remove foil about 15 minutes before the end of the baking time. 

If you would like to be safe, use baking paper to line the baking tin.

New Year 2013 in Singapore... better late than never

Self whispered... please run away to Singapore for Christmas, but self felt guilty for not spending the most important day of the year with immediate family. So as soon as the most-important-day was over, self ran off to the magical land of South.

I had a good time in the South. I usually do. The ever-welcoming House of Orange Flowers to stay in, delicious food, excellent company and of course the shopping. Shopping. This was the end of the line for me. I couldn't fit into a Monsoon UK 12. I was devastated. I came home and made some changes in my life, but that's another story for another time.

For now, here are some photos from the Singapore trip.

Pretty, pretty hand-sewn dragonfly

Chicken Avocado Salad from the basement of Tanglin Mall

Roll of gorgeous cotton... who can say no to them?

The famous orange flowers from the House of Orange Flowers

More flowers from the garden of the House of Orange Flowers

Pretty tiles at the House of Orange Flowers