tinytearoom

Easy Homemade Dumplings

July 19th

Written by: tinytearoom

It is very rare that I breakaway from my beloved cookbooks and try out a recipe on my own. I am a semi-confident cook but I am not so sure about my abilities in recipe developing. If you followed my last two postsyou’ll know that I am trying to be more fearless in the kitchen. I am attempting recipes that challenge me, in this case, I put a bet on myself that I could make a dumpling recipe that could become a weeknight staple. My first attempt was meagre and needed some fine tuning. My second attempt was more acceptable. We had some friends coming over for dinner and I used the third attempt with some further tweeking to make these delicious and easy dumplings. They were perfect. My friends and I felt like we were eating like kings and queens. I have since fried them like a gyoza and wrapped them into wonton dumplings. I’ve dipped them into soy sauce and smothered them in my Homemade XO Sauce. Whichever way that I have served it I have been very happy with it. If you ever try out these dumplings please let me know how you go. Easy Homemade Dumplings 300g lean pork or chicken mince 150g raw prawns, diced 6 dried chinese mushrooms (shiitake will do) 2 spring onions,

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Homemade XO Sauce

July 13th

Written by: tinytearoom

My enthusiasm for cooking didn’t sprout until I was in my mid-twenties despite helping my mother in the kitchen since I was kid. I always got stuck with doing all the crappy jobs like washing the vegetables or peeling the prawns. I also come from a family of 6 stubborn daughters. Family meal times were always a brewing teapot of turmoil. Cooking had always presented itself as a nuisance much like cleaning the dishes. It wasn’t until a chance 3 month backpacking trip through South East Asia that ignited a passion about food. It was mostly the street cart vendors that caught my attention. I loved watching them prepare my order. Throwing together a rainbow of ingredients and smashing them up or searing them in a flaming wok. It was very theatrical and dramatic and it all seemed easy. I found my inner foodie during this trip and it seemed only natural that I became curious about the ingredients and the magic that could be created when it all came together at the right temperature. My first experiments were utter failures but I kept trying. I bought some cookbooks, asked my mother for advice and made sure I followed recipes word-for-word. It no longer seemed like such a drag to cook. It became a hobby. It made me happy that

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Caramel Macadamia Cheesecake

July 9th

Written by: tinytearoom

I’ve been missing-in-action for the past couple of months. It’s been a rather stressful time for me. I had many existential questions and made some serious adjustments in terms of my career. Unfortunately food blogging took a backseat whilst my mind was cluttered by indecision, worry and doubt. During this rather turbulent time I questioned whether I should continue to blog. Self-doubt is just as crippling as a broken leg. It is also the mother of creativity. So I’m going to keep trying and like a very good friend told me about putting ourselves out there, “It flexes the fear muscle.” I found this recipe a while ago and have always wanted to give it a try, but I was too afraid of failing. I had never made cheesecake before and this was four recipes in one. It looked like Mt Everest to me. I decided in a moment of clarity, “What the hell”. It turned out fantastic and I can’t believe I thought this was so difficult. It was easy but the kitchenlook like a hurricane had passed through it.The cheesecake was a breeze and didn’t crack. The brittle was divine and I’m definitely making this as a snack by itself. However with the amount of sugar in this recipe I had to brush my teeth straight after and

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