Chinese Custard Tarts - Happy Chinese New Year

Every culture seems to have a New Year of their own at different times of the year. I know for me as a Jew there are 2 New Years, Passover in Spring and "The Head of The Year" Rosh Hashana in Autumn. Then there is the secular New Year which by all accounts is just an excuse for a party.


While the only tradition for secular New Year seems to be bubbly, cultural New Years all have their traditional foods. When Butterfingers asked on twitter for volunteers to do blog posts for the Chinese New Year I jumped  up and waved like an eager school child. I then went about my day and weeks as if I had all the time in the world.


On Thursday it suddenly dawned on me how little time I had left and rushed back to my email to check the links we were sent to help find recipes and there they were, Chinese Custard Tarts. Having bought phyllo and eggs just that day I knew that these would be my addition to the list. My recipe, an adaptation of Ching-He Huangs version, is super easy & super quick.

What you need:

Phyllo pastry
butter for greasing and for the phyllo sheets
2 small eggs
75g vanilla castor sugar (or add a teaspoon of vanilla extract)
375ml evaporated milk

What to do: Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly grease a 12 hole pan with some butter. Cut the phyllo into squares that just cover the hole, I used 3 squares per hole twisting them slightly each time to create a flower like shape. Brush each layer with butter before putting it in. Put the filling ingredients into a small bowl and beat lightly until smooth and then pour into the moulds leaving about 6 mm from the top. Bake the tarts for about 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 150°C and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the custard sets.

You can serve them hot out the oven or cold, either way they taste delicious 

For the rest of the recipes, hop over to Butterfingers' Blog

Buffet style sweet & sour dumplings

When TheHusband and I started dating I was living in a digs in "Little Mowbray". I wasn't really a student at the time but my friends were and well I was tired of living at home. My relationship with my parents was strained from moving out of home and smoking and (not really) working for my dad.

In walking distance from our house we had some great food options. Some for the begining of the month (Greek and Chai Yo), one for mid month and special (read: reasons to get drunk) occasions (Fat Cactus) and one for just before the end of the month (when you know you really shouldn't but you really don't want to eat at home) and that was a "chinese" buffet place. I forget the name, it changed so often as did the clientèle. They are no longer there, I believe their fatal mistake was adding a sushi bar (which was not all you can eat like their buffet)

Anything for love "huevos" rancheros

If you have a partner you have been where I was this morning. Dreaming from the night before about using my texmex left overs for my very first attempt at Huevos Rancheros. Getting up I asked "TheHusband" if he would like a cheese omelette and got a resounding "yes" so bounced (as much as an 8 months pregnant lady can) off into the kitchen to make our respective breakfasts. I open the carton of eggs only to discover 2 lonely eggs staring back at me.

What do I do? Tell make TheHusband porridge and hope he forgets he was offered eggs, or give up on my breakfast fantasies? As you may have guessed from the title of this post I chose to forfeit the eggs. I however do not regret it as my breakfast was delicious (and ultimately way too much for me anyway)