Pip's food obsession

16/04/2025

Vietnamese pickle

01/04/2025

Vietnamese Pickled Carrots* Thanks TT

4 medium Carrots Peeled and julienned
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup White Sugar
4 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup Rice Wine Vinegar

1/ In a large glass or glazed ceramic bowl, add salt and sugar. add hot water . Stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Stir in vinegar .
2/ Add carrots the liquid mixture should cover them.
3/ Leave them for a couple of hours .they should be a bit soft but still have a bit of crunch
4/ To use take out enough of Carrots you only need. Drain well! leave the liquid behind in the bowl !! to cover the rest of the Carrots in the bowl.
good in salads, sandwiches , and Vietnamese pork rolls !!
Notes: you can use other crisp type veggies eg radishes, Chinese daikon ,onions etc, julienne the Chinese daikon. Onion and radishes slice into Julienne thickness. Always make enough to equal the four carrots eg 2 carrots and daikon julienned(the same amount as two carrots )
To store the rest of the pickle and liquid put in glass jar with airtight lid NO PLASTIC CONTAINERS OR STAINLESS STEEL ( BECAUSE OF ACIDITY LEVEL )and you can store for in fridge for about 2 months.. just check before use !
©️Pips food obsession 2025

30/03/2025

08/02/2025

Curried Pasties(Samosa style)V*

6 Medium size potatoes boiled (whole with skin on)
1 Onion peeled and finely chopped
2 Spring onion finely chopped
6 Stalks fresh coriander finely chopped
1 cup frozen peas ,(thawed out and drained)
4 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons Garam Masala
oil as needed
3 sheets frozen Puff Pastry

1/ boil potatoes until just soft( I boil them whole with skin) When cooked drain and put in cold water to cool.
2/ In a fry pan heat some oil, onion, spring onion, coriander stir until cooked
3/ Then add curry powder, garam marsala to the fried onion mix cook for about 30 seconds give a good mix ( careful you dont let it burn, they will burn quickly because they are powders)once cooked put aside to cool
4/Pull out 3 sheet frozen puff pastry and turn on oven ( Mine i put a 175 C) and line 1 baking tray with baking paper
5/ while spices are cooling down, peel the boiled potatoes (Leave one aside) and chop into little cubes a little bit bigger than commercial pasty size. The one that you have left aside mash with fork .
6/ combine cooked ingredients together plus peas if they seem a bit dry add a sprinkle of water and a dash of oil and mix again
7 / Put mixture on each of sheet of pastry. so you can close into rectangle shape pasty.
8/ place pasties on tray and cook until golden
©️Pip's food obsession 2025

28/01/2025

Chinese Coleslaw *

1/2 Medium Wombok (Chinese Cabbage) roughly chopped^

4 Spring onions sliced thinly^

1 Carrot cut thinly about match stick width ^

1/4 Large Red Capsicum sliced into thin long strips^

5 to 6 coriander stalks and leaves chopped roughly ^

small handful of bean sprouts (optional )^

Ready made fried crispy noodle in packets from supermarket (Optional) Add just before serving other wise they go soggy !!

DRESSING
4 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 drops of sesame oil
1/4teaspoon grated ginger

1/ Wash all vegetables and dry and chop( except bean sprouts )
2/ Combine all Vegetables marked ^
3/ In a jug combine all dressing ingredients and whisk all together
4/ just before serving pour over vegetables and mix thoroughly
5/ add crispy noodles and serve
©️Pip's food obsession 2025

31/12/2024

Happy New Year!!

27/10/2024

Almond Knots *

4 Sheets puff pastry Thawed
200g Almond flour or Almond meal ^
175g sugar ^
1 Egg lightly whisked^
45g Salted butter ^
2 Tsp Vanilla extract or essence ^
1 Tsp Almond extract ^
Icing sugar to dust

1/ Preheat oven to 180, line trays with baking paper
2/ In a bowl combine all ingredients Marked with ^ and mix
3/ Put a sheet of Puff Pastry on work surface
4/ Spread half the almond paste evenly onto the Puff pastry sheet
5/ Lay another sheet of puff pastry on top
6/ repeat with the remaining sheets of pastry and paste
7/ With a pastry cutter or pizza cutter slice the pastry squares that you just made into 10 strips on each square ( 20 strips in total)
8/ Twirl each strip and twist to form a knot place on baking Tray
9/ Place in oven for 10 to 12 minutes
10/ When cooked place on cooling rack
11/ When cold dust with Icing sugar

01/10/2024

Jam drops*( IM)

4oz Plain flour
4oz SR flour
1 Egg
4oz salted butter
4oz castor sugar / can use raw castor sugar instead
about 4oz jam of choice. I use strawberry( DO NOT use conserve as it has large bits of fruit in it) give it a good mix will be easier to drop in

1/ weigh and measure ingredients (take out butter and eggs from fridge and let come to room temperature before hand )line baking trays, preheat oven 175/c
2/ sift flours
3/ beat egg
4/ Cream butter and sugar , add egg slowly.. beating as you add ,mix well
5/ add flour mix into a firm dough
6/ take a small amount roughly walnut size and roll into a ball. Put on baking tray with and space them out a bit . With the round handle end of a wooden spoon put dents in them move around to widen hole,/ you can use a glove and use your finger to make hole then place a little jam in the hole
7/ place in oven for about 10min or light biscut colour..Check at 7 min as all ovens are different

29/08/2024

PRAWN LAKSA* Pip's version

2 Spring onions chopped^
1 clove garlic ^
1 tablespoon granulated onion^
1 teaspoon chopped coriander^
3 tablespoons laksa paste (i used Ayam Malaysian Laksa paste)
1 cup coconut milk
500 ml vegetable stock
500 grams laksa noodles
1 bunch of washed and drained Pak choy chopped roughly chopped
250g prawns shelled and deveined

1/ Add the first 4 ingredients in a large saucepan on a medium heat with some oil and fry gently to just soft and still bright green.
2/ Add the 3 tablespoons of Laksa paste give it a good stir and heat through.
3/Add stock and coconut milk and bring to simmer
4/ Add Pak choy bring back to simmer
5/ Add laksa noodles (Please note that different brands have different ways of preparing and cooking noodles so you need to follow packet instructions)bring back to simmer
6/ Add prawns bring back to simmer cook until the prawns are done . serve with crispy fried shallots ( i cheat!! I buy them already done )
©️ Pip's food obsession 2024