[recipes + videos] 3 Assorted Taiwan Castella Cake With KitchenAid Artisan Mini

The fun and challenging part of cake making is about the science and logic behind the mixture of ingredients. For example a change of flour or decrease in the amount of liquid might affect the texture of the cake.

I had a great interaction time making these popular Taiwan Castella Cake with our Instagram viewers thru the live video where we worked on the steps together.

[recipes] Perfect Italiano Cheese - Weekend Brunch Ideas

We love brunch and I am sure you love it too. So why not starts your weekend right with some fuss free homemade cafe-style brunch in your comfort zone. You can choose between the usual egg and toast, pasta or even new ideas like Nacho Pizza which requires minimal ingredients and preparation steps which enable you to have more time to enjoy the meal with your loved ones.

[5 Recipes] Back To School Lunch Ideas With Perfect Italiano 4 Cheese Melt

Back-to-school Lunch Ideas

It's a brand new year and welcome to 2015 folks! With new school term starting I am sure most of you with kid(s) like us who is going back to school it will be another year of brain cracking time to prepare their lunch and/or tea snack. Likewise our boy who is in higher primary this year will most probably be spending more time in the school or rushing for after school enrichment classes. So preparing some quick lunch/snack such as sandwiches, muffins or hot food (baked rice/pasta) will be a great choice to fill up his hungry tummy until dinner.

Recently Perfect Italiano has launched a new addition; Perfect Italiano 4 Cheese Melt to their existing ranges exclusive only to Cold Storage supermarkets. This delicious blend is perfect for melting and grilling which is a bonus to turn simple tasty meals in minutes. Below are 5 recipes tested using this new blend of cheese to whip up some quick cheesy meal.

[recipes] Perfect Italiano Food Fixes in 15 Festive Menu

Perfect Italiano Food Fixes in 15 Festive Menu

Arriving in the last month of the year meaning Christmas is around the corner where we could slow down our pace and spend some quality time with family and loved ones. Although this year we are away for a long vacation to USA in December but the atmosphere and urge for preparing festive dishes are still within us. So with this scheduled post we hope to share some quick fix festive dishes that can be easily done in 15 minutes so that you don't have to avoid restaurants or worry about preparing festive menus.

[recipes] 5 Fuss-Free Homemade Pizza Using Perfect Italiano Pizza Plus

Fuss-Free Homemade Pizza using Perfect Italiano Pizza Plus

Have you ever tried making pizza at home where you could add in your favourite toppings like more cheese, ham, mushroom and etc. Or you just prefer to pick up the phone and dial for a home delivery to save the hassle on preparing the necessary ingredients or time spent in the kitchen.

For our family, we prefer to make our own pizza at home because we love to work on the dough as well as the ingredients. Furthermore homemade pizza smells fantastic when they are baking in the oven and we after which we get to eat hot and fresh pizza with oozing cheese when compare to those home delivered pizza.

Festive Brunch Menu Using Perfect Italiano Cheese

Christmas is just another three weeks down the road and I am sure most of you are busy with the Christmas menu planning. Here with some complimentary cheese that we received from Perfect Italiano, we decided to whip up some dishes from their “Food Fixes in 15 Seconds” festive menu which features tasty and simple dishes that you can learn in just 15 seconds.

Using the cheese we prepared a 5 Course Brunch Menu shown above with Cheesy Corn Chowder, Parmesan Toast, Cheese Baked Christmas Casserole, Sausage And Mushroom Baked Rice plus Parmesan Pancakes for dessert.

Homemade Pizza Using Perfect Italiano Cheese

March school holiday is going on this week so we have more rest and relax time to enjoy our breakfast and afternoon tea. And upon request from my kid, we have assorted pizza in different base such as "Thin or Thick Crust" using Pita Pocket, Wrap and normal sandwich bread.

And with a decent packet of Pizza or Mozzarella Cheese, you could also turn homemade pizza into something similar like restaurant serving which impressed your family or friends. Below we have 3 quick pizza ideas (with recipes) which I hope you would find it useful as a quick meal idea.

{With Recipes} Perfect Italiano Masterclass by Chef Lino Sauro

Last Saturday I was invited to attend the first Perfect Italiano Masterclass which was conducted by Chef Lino Sauro, executive chef and owner of Gattopardo. During the class we were taught on how to incorporate different types of cheese into our daily cooking to make simple and mouthwatering dishes.

Below are 3 of the recipes which I would like to share with you. And out of the three, my favourite dish is Deep Fried Potato with Mozzarella Cheese which is quite similar to the Japanese Croquette. Love the crispy outer skin and oozing cheesy in it.

The class was conducted at Palate Sensations and most of the ingredients and set up are done before we arrived. I was very excited with this Masterclass because I am a cheese lover plus learning new dishes always excite me.

WONTON RAVIOLI WITH SOYA MARINATED PRAWNS AND PARMESAN FONDUE

The first dish was Ravioli which is so easy to prepare at home and the method is quite similar to our Asian Wonton (云饨). We all love the cheesy fondue that perfect this simple dish with awesome taste. At that point ShiTing and I also thought of using this fondue sauce to create our own "white sauce" paste which we think it will be simple and yet delicious. 

Recipe adapted from Perfect Italiano website, HERE.

(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 20 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 100g Perfect Italiano Parmesan Grated Cheese
• 100g Unsalted Butter
• 20 Pieces of Wonton Skin (square shaped)
• 20g Light Soya Sauce
• 30g Olive Oil
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 110g Full Cream Milk
• 1 Stalk of Spring Onion, chopped
• 20g White Wine
• 10 Pieces of Tiger Prawns, halves

Method:-
1.Peel and marinate prawns with soya, garlic, olive oil and spring onion.

2. Make Parmesan fondue by mixing Perfect Italiano Parmesan Grated Cheese, milk, butter and white wine.

3. Warm up mixture in a bain-marie (double-boiled) over medium heat till creamy. Season with white pepper, set aside.

4. Lightly brush wonton wrappers with beaten egg, divide the prawn mixture evenly on the wrappers.

5. Seal them neatly by folding it into half to form triangles. Put in boiling water for 3 min (or until wonton floats up).

6. Pour prepared fondue on plate and lay down the cooked ravioli. Season with Perfect Italiano Parmesan Grated Cheese, spring onion and serve immediately.

RICE ROLL WITH MOZZARELLA CHEESE AND SALMON

Adding cheese into sushi roll plus topping it with extra cheese makes this dish a perfect mini "baked rice roll" which is great for party food. And if you are not into salmon, perhaps ingredients like Kani (crab stick), Tamagoyaki (egg omelette) or even some Can Tuna or etc. (the above garnish is making by ShiTing (www.lobsterpaints.com), my cooking partner of that day)

Recipe adapted from Perfect Italiano website, HERE.

(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 15 minutes | Cooking: 5 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 250g Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Grated Cheese
• 200g Cooked Sushi Rice
• 4 Sheets of Nori (seaweed)
• 150g cured/smoked salmon
• 100g Cucumber, cut into strips
• 5g Wasabi
• 200g Mayonnaise

Method:-
1.Place a sheet of nori on bamboo mat.

2. Spread and flatten rice on top of nori.

3. Lay down salmon, cucumber and Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Grated Cheese in the middle.

4. Hold on to the ends of the bamboo mat and roll, making sure that the ingredients are held inside it.

5. Remove bamboo mat and cut rice roll by one inch.

6. Warm up rice roll to melt Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Grated Cheese (for extra flavour, you could top extra mozzarella cheese on the cut sushi before putting them into the preheated oven (180 degree Celsius, 2 minutes or toaster oven, 3 minutes).

7. Garnish the sushi with extra cucumber and salmon. Serve with mayonnaise and/or wasabi.

DEEP FRIED POTATO WITH MOZZARELLA CHEESE
(served with sweet and sour sauce)

For the 3rd dish, we made something fusion such as mashed potato patty wrapped with oozing Mozzarella Cheese and it was infused with aromatic spices such as lemongrass, cinnamon and hint of curry powder. Love this to bits and I would re-create this again using tuna and cheese for a more filling snacks.

Recipe adapted from Perfect Italiano website, HERE.

(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 20 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 200g Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Grated Cheese
• 400g Potatoes, boiled till soften
• 50g Corn Starch
• 50g Onion, chopped
• 5g Cinnamon
• 5g Ground Black Pepper
• 5g Curry Powder
• 2 Eggs (55g)
• 4 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 30g Lemongrass, minced
• 20g Shallot, minced
• Lemon Zest
• 300g Japanese Breadcrumbs (panko)
• Oil to fry

Method:-
1. Peel the skin of the potato, mashed it using a fork or grater.

2. Mix in all the DRY ingredients except cheese and breadcrumbs (if the mixture i too wet to handle, add in some breadcrumb and cheese to keep it dry to handle)

3. Next shaped about 2 tablespoons of potato mixture into a ball, flatten it slight and wrapped it with 1/2 tablespoon or more of the Italiano Mozzarella Cheese.

4. Sealed and shaped it back to a round shape, coat it with panko crumbs and lightly flatten it to form a 2 inches wide patty.

5. Heat oil in pan. Lower patties into oil and fry on medium low heat until crisp and golden on the bottom.

6. Fry the other side. Drain and ready to serve with sweet and sour sauce.

As for the cheeses used, although there are a wide range of Perfect Italiano cheeses, but in Singapore there are only 3 different types available in the supermarkets such as:-

Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Cheese
This cheese is really stretchy and it has a mild flavour that melts beautiful with every bite. Now they even have low fat version (35% less fat than regular mozzarella) which is available in a block/grated for your convenience.
[BEST USE ON] Pizza or Lasagne

Perfect Italiano Parmesan Cheese
Parmesan is aged for up to 18 months so it has a rich and bold flavours which adds bite and enhance the taste of dish. It is available in a block /grated for your convenience too.
[BEST USE ON] Pastas, Salads, Risottos and Soup

Perfect Italiano Pizza Plus Cheese
Pizza Plus is a delicious and unique combination of three cheese - Mozzarella (for stretch), Cheddar (for bold flavour) and Parmesan (for bite).
[BEST USE ON] Pizza. Sauces and Hot Snacks


Currently Perfect Italiano is running a contest where shoppers could "Stand a chance to win a Perfect Italiano Masterclass experience!". To join the lucky draw, submit your receipt details for proof of purchase of at least one pack of Perfect Italiano Cheese. (read more HERE)

Lastly I would like to thank Perfect Italiano and Joy from Tribal DDB Singapore for the Perfect Italiano Masterclass invite.