I love pies. My mother makes the best chicken and apple pies. I love that show 'Pushing Daisies' because the main character is a pie-maker and it features a lot of pies in every episode. 

You get the idea ,right?

Sometime in February, Tasty by Buzzfeed uploaded a shot video on how to do mini pot pies. I instantly fell in love with the idea and on the very next day, I bought ready-to-roll pastry sheets and then made my version of their recipe. So here is the full recipe. Have fun trying and most importantly, enjoy it!

For the filling, 

500g sirloin beef; diced

1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets

1 carrot; diced

1 cup of green peas

1 big onion; diced

2 tbs corn flour

2 tbs HP sauce/ soy sauce/ worcestershire sauce

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp dried parsely

1 bay leaf

2 cloves garlic

2 cups of beef stock/  2 cup of water with 1/2 cube of beef stock

S&P

1 tbs butter


1. Use butter to grease a pot.

2. Simmer onion and garlic with bay leaf.

3. Add in the carrots and cauliflower.

4. Add in beef and stir until carrots slightly change in colour.

5. Add in the HP sauce.

6. Once beef begins to tender, add in the stock. Let it simmer and bubble for a while.

7. Then as the mixture begins to reduce, thicken it with corn flour. Remember to mix the corn flour with water before adding it into the pot.

8. Let it continue to bubble for 1 minute and it will be ready to be added in the cooked pastry.



For the pastry,

1. Simply roll out a ready-to-roll pastry sheet.

2. Make small circles about the size of the mouth of a mug.

3. One pie needs two pieces. So for each pie, you get two circle pastry sheets. One is the base, while the other one goes directly on top of it.

4. Before you place the second sheet on top, trace a slightly smaller circle on it. By tracing, you're not supposed to cut it out. And then just place it on top of the base sheet.

5. Brush melted butter or egg wash on each pastry and sprinkle some dried parsley as well. Bake them all for about 10-15 minutes at 175 degree centigrade. You may remove the pie pastries once they begin to have a golden brown colour.

6. Simply cut through the inner circle that you traced earlier. Simply fill in the pastries with the pie mix you made earlier.

Yours truly,

A.T.

Hello! 

I'm trying to remain consistent with my blog-posting (1 post a week!) so here is a recipe of tiramisu which I created sometime last month. This is an alcohol and egg-free recipe however it is not vegan as I used heavy cream. Feel free to use and share. 

The recipe is as below:

250g mascarpone cheese

300ml double cream

2 tbs brown sugar

1 packet lady fingers

3 tsp ground coffee

3 cups water

1. Boil coffee and sugar together with the three cups of water. Let it cool for 1-3 mins.

2. Whip the cream until medium peaks are formed ( or hard if you prefer a more solid layer) then fold it in mascarpone.

3. Soak the fingers in the cooled coffee-roughly 10 seconds each.

4. Arrange soaked fingers in a container for the first layer of tiramisu. I used an 8x8 pyrex container. I think a clear container would make the tiramisu look more appealing as you get to see the layers.

5. On top of the fingers, spread the mascarpone mix. Remember not to layer too thickly as you may run out of the cream for the following layers. Just make sure you cover all the finger bits.

6. Sprinkle the almond and cocoa powder with some grated dark chocolate.

7. Repeat steps 4-6. Refrigerate overnight before consumption. The longer the storing the better the taste. But not too long as it contains cheese and cream. Best within 4-5 days.

Enjoy ;)

Yours truly,

A.T.

Sorry for not posting anything for two weeks. I was travelling in Italy and Holland. I have yet to edit my photos from the trip. Once done, I will share them on this blog. 

These are portraits of the people I saw while I was travelling in China. Most of these are taken in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province . I generally enjoy taking candid photos of random strangers. It is as though I am capturing a wee part of their soul and take it back home with me. Some  would genuinely smile, some, would turn away, annoyed. They all equally intrigue me. 

A man on a city bus in Chengdu

Little girl on the same bus

An old woman using a wheelchair to carry what appeared to be recyclables

 

A toddler in Zigong

Two little girls dancing at the Emeishan summit

A man transporting cardboards with a tricycle in Jiu Zhai Gou

My mother and a woman we met who was kind to show us around the park of Jiu Zhai Gou. She couldn't speak English, and my mother couldn't speak Mandarin but this photo shows that despite the linguistic barrier, they both enjoyed each other's company.

And last but not least, yours truly with a friend I made in Jiu Zhai Gou, Alice

Yours truly,

A.T.