Lazy Egg Tarts

 

When I saw this egg tarts made using puff pastry at Nasi Lemak Lover's blog, I immediately bookmarked it.  Simply because I am lazy and simple or short-cut recipes attract me.  Just so that I had a piece of frozen puff pastry waiting to be used and my girls and I loved loved egg tarts (in any crust), so this recipe came in the right moment.  Each of us had three pieces after it came out of the oven and it was pretty good for a short-cut recipe.  However, I would prefer to use the pie crust for this instead of puff pastry the next time as it couldn't hold lots of filling as I was having difficulty in stretching the thawed puff pastry to fill the muffin hole.  

I would use the custard filling recipe again and make my own crust the next time I feel like eating egg tarts.  Definitely not a bad way to get a quick fix.  However, I would recommend the refrigerated pie crust instead of frozen puff pastry if you don't want to make your own crust and want a quick craving fix..

I saw the recipe at Nasi Lemak Lover and she adapted it from Forbidden Garden.

Ingredients:

Egg custard filling:

240g hot water
100g coarse sugar ( I used 90g granulated sugar)
3 eggs
¼ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp white vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar)

12pcs frozen square puff pastry, thawed (I used 1 piece of puff pastry, cut into 12 pieces) 


 












Method:

1. Dissolve sugar in hot water, set aside to cool.

2. Break eggs in a mixing bowl, lightly stir.

3. Add in syrup (no 1), vanilla extract and vinegar, lightly stir well to combine.

4. Sift twice, set aside.

5. Divide the puff pastry into 12 pieces and arrange it in a 12 holes muffin pan.

6. Pour egg custard filling in the puff pastry case, about 90% full.  I have some leftover filling which I just pour into a ramekin and bake together with the egg puff pastry.

7. Bake at pre-heated oven at 350'F for 35mins or till golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and leave to cool.

Deep Fried Italian Panko Shrimps

Have you ever wonder how the chef deep-fried the shrimps without it curled up?  One time when we were visiting our friend's restaurant, her chef made a similar dish for my girls.  His was without seasonings, just dip in flour, then beaten egg, then panko and deep fried.  What caught my eyes was that the shrimps were not curled up so of course I had to pick one to examining it.  When I tasted the shrimp, I sort of gotten the idea of how it was made.  I would share with you the secret in my next page.

I found the unseasoned one quite bland, so I seasoned mine and added dried herbs.  We all loved this, but who could resist this type of fried food anyway?  Flavorful and crispy, hard to stop at a few.

Ingredients:

18 Extra large shrimps (26-30/lb), cleaned and cut like picture below, set aside.  Notice how I cut the shrimp?  It will straighten the shrimp and won't make it curl when deep-frying.

Self-raising flour, about 3 heap Tbsp.

Italian seasonings, few dashes

Salt, 1 tsp.

Peppers, 1/2 tsp.

Water as needed

Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), as needed

Method:

1.   In a bowl, add in appropriate self-raising flour (depending on how many shrimps you want to make), add in some Italian seasoning and season with salt and peppers.  Then, slowly pour in a little water at a time while stirring the mixture into a thick batter.

2.  In another bowl, pour in the panko (as needed).  You can omit the panko if you don't have it on hand.

3.  Heat up a wok with medium heat oil.  Take a piece of the shrimp, dip into the batter and then coat it well with panko and slowly place into the hot oil and deep-fry until golden brown.  You can put 4 shrimps to deep-fry at one go.  Drain on paper towel and serve hot with the condiment of your choice.  Or serve it plain without condiment since it's already seasoned.

Alternative:  You can dip the shrimp into beaten egg, and then the seasoned panko (add the seasonings into the panko and mixed well), before deep-frying.

Crunchy Baked Chicken Strips

I was inspired by Gert and decided to make my own version. I have some leftover whole grain cereal with oats and almonds that no one wants to eat anymore so I thought this would be the perfect crispy coating for my chicken strips. If you have any cereal left at home, use it to coat your chicken, it is the perfect way to use it up. I used very simple seasoning grinders that I have at home, you can season yours however you liked too. My cereal is slightly sweet so my baked chicken strips turned out to be crunchy sweet. It's good eating like this without any dipping sauce. My girls totally loved it. Crunchy Crunch and Crispy Crisp!



Ingredients:

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips
(A)
Olive oil
Italian herbs seasoning grinder
Spicy sea salt grinder
Steakhouse seasoning grinder
Paprika
Kosher salt
(B)
Cereal (cornflakes type) of your choice (mine has almonds, oats and cornflakes in it), crushed

Method:

1. In a bowl, add in chicken strips and (A). Stir with a spoon to mix well and let it marinade overnight (or few hours) in the refrigerator.

2. Preheat oven to 400'F. Prepare a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with canola oil spray. Set aside.

3. In another plate, add the crushed cereal. Use your hand to take a piece of the chicken strip and coat it well with the crushed cereal and place it on the greased foil pan. Finish all the chicken strips.

4. Bake in preheated 400'F oven for 10 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

I am also submitting my recipe to the Original Recipe event hosted by Lore at Culinarty. Check out others' recipes at the third week of the month.