Banana & Orange Cinnamon Jam

Remember the Banana and Passion fruit Jam that I posted in April? My mum really love the taste and fragrant of that jam so since she gave me some banana on Friday I decided to try out another type of Banana Jam. This round I use the combination of Banana and Orange together with a touch of Cinnamon Powder. So you can imagine the sweetness of banana, tangerine fragrant from the orange and a touch of Cinnamon spice................


As usual, you don't really need any fancy ingredients. All you required is about 2 medium size banana, 1 big orange and some cinnamon powder. And don't forget to get two glass jar for your jam. (you can use re-cycle jam bottle for this)

Ingredients:
2 Ripe Medium Banana, about 200g
1 Large Orange, without peel about 100g
Grated Rind of 1 Orange
Juice of Half Orange, 50ml
1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
200g Caster Sugar
2 Small Jam Bottles

Method:
1. Weight and pour the sugar into a small heavy duty saucepan, then add in the grated orange rind. (Washed, clean dry the orange and grate the rind)
2. Cut the orange into half, juice half of it to get about 50ml of juice then cut off the outer peel of the other half of the orange, remove the pith and membrane.
3. For each section, cut between the fruit and membrane on each side. Lift out each segment and drop it into the saucepan together with the sugar.
4. Next weight and mash the banana with a fork then add it into the saucepan together with the orange juice and cinnamon powder.
5. Stir all the mixture over medium low heat for about 10 - 15 minutes.
6. When the mixture begin to boil a lot of forms will form, do skim away those form and continue to cook until the mixture is clear and thicken.(refer to the above picture for details, the jam will continue to thicken further after it is cool to room temperature)
7. Pour the cooked jam into the sterilize glass bottle, covered and let it cool to room temperature before storing it in the fridge.

Note:
a) Bring a pot of water with jam bottle in it to a boil and boil them for 10 minutes or so to sterilize them, removed and invert for them to dry. (you can do this while cooking the jam)

Related Post:
1) Homemade Banana & Passion Fruit Jam
2) Homemade Mango Jam
3) Homemade Plum Jam
4) Homemade Strawberry Jam

Singapore Blog Awards - Best Food Blog

Dear Readers,

I am so excited to share with you that with your nomination, my blog "Cuisine Paradise" has been shortlisted as one of the 10 Finalist for the category under Singapore Blog Awards - Best Food Blog.Voting is open to public from 15 June 2009 till 31 July 2009. You can vote only ONCE a day.

So if you like my blogs and recipes please help to cast your valuable vote for me, ok :) But in order for me to receive your vote, you need to register an account as a member with the blog award organiser (OMY.sg). If it is not troublesome for you to help, you can find the online registration form here (click here to register).



Upon successful registration as a memeber, please click on the above VOTE ME icons and you will be directed to the Voting Page where you can see the Top 3 Leading Finalists of each categories. Next click on this green Voting link on the right side of your screen and click on the Best Food Blog(最佳饮食部落格) category shown below to cast your vote.



You will see a RED label VOTE on the top right corner of my avatar To cast your vote, you need to click on the word VOTE instead of the picture which will be direct you back into my foodblog URL.

You will see this confirmation box for you to verified your voting. Click on the word "Confirm" and upon successful voting,you will see a Yellow label showing VOTED on the avatar.


Thank you everyone for your all support! Because of each of your valuable vote and time, Cuisine Paradise is able to be listed in the top 10 finalists.

Steam Pumpkin Mantou - 金瓜馒头

Mantou(馒头) often referred to as "humbao" or Chinese steamed bun which is originating in China. It is made with wheat flour, water and leavening agents, they are similar in nutrition and eating qualities to the white bread of the West.

Recently, my mum has being into Mantou making with one of my son's kiddy's friend mummy. They will gather together at least once in a week to experiment with their Mantou making. So after tasting their delicious homemade Mantou, I am also interested in joining the fun of making it. For mine, I added some extra wolfberries to enhance the taste as well as a the texture.

Ingredients: (makes about 10)
250g Plain Flour
1 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
40ml Lukewarm Water
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
5 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
200g Pumpkin, skin removed
2 Tablespoon Wolfberries, cut into halves
1/2 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Sift the plain flour and baking powder together in a big bowl, then stir in the caster sugar till combined.
2. Remove the outer skin of the pumpkin, cut into small cubes then rinse it with water and place in a microwave safe bowl and cook on High heat together with a cup of water for about 5 minutes. (Stop 2 minutes in between and give it a stir so that it will cook evenly)
3. Use a fork or food masher to mash the pumpkin cubes into paste form then set aside for later use.
4. Add the dry yeast into the lukewarm water and give it a quick stir then set aside for about 5 minutes till bubbles appeared(refer to the picutre above).
5. Next slowly add in the yeast water into the flour mixture and sitr using a pair of chopstick, then follow by the mashed pumpkin and stir till they form a soft dough.
6. Rub some oil on your hand then give the dough a quick knead till well combine.
7. Set the dough aside in a lightly flour/oil bowl and let it proof for about 20 - 30 minutes until it double in size.
8. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 portions then on a lightly floured work surface, flatten each portion into a rectangular shape shown like that picture below, sprinkle some chopped wolfberries then roll it up lengthwise into an oblong shape then cut them into equal portion.
9. Place each shaped portion on a piece of greaseproof paper, top with some extra wolfberries, then arrange on the steamer rack and steam over medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes depend on the size.
10. Repeat for the rest of the portion of dough and steam accordingly. ( I made about 10 Mantou with the size of about 3" before steaming)

Note:
a) Lukewarm is about 40 degree Celsius
b) The pumpkin dough will be very stick when handling, so do not worry. You can wet your hand some oil before handling the dough for easy kneading.
c) You might need to cook the pumpkin for about 3 - 5 minutes more before it will be soften depend on the power of your microwave.

This is my homemade Steam Pumpkin & Wolfberries Mantou which is freshly out from the steamer. It really taste great and different for a chance in the usual Pandan or Plain Mantou that is sold in the supermarket.

Scramble Egg With Tomato

Are you one of those tomato lover who eats any kind of tomato that is on the shelf of the supermarket? Or you will just pick your choice of those that you love like cherry tomatoes or vineyard tomatoes or ?

Tomato fruit is classified as a berry. As a true fruit, it develops from the ovary of the plant after fertilization, its flesh comprising the pericarp walls. Tomato is also an excellent source of Vitamin C and a good source of Vitamin A. So if you are trying to get one of your kids or love one to incorporate some tomato into their dish. You can try one of this Scramble Egg With Tomato serve in tomato cup as party food breakfast side dish.

Ingredients: (serve 2)
2 Medium Size Red Tomato
1 Medium Egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon Milk/Water
1/2 Tablespoon of Chopped Tomato
1 Tablespoon of Chopped Spring Onion
1/2 Tablespoon of Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Method:
1. Cut the tomatoes, horizontal into halve and carefully scoop out the seeds in it. Pat the inside dry with kitchen paper towel and set them aside.
2. Take 1 of the tomato cup and chopped them into cubes.
3. Whisk the egg with either water or milk until well combined.
4. Drizzle some Olive oil onto a small preheat non-stick pan and add in the chopped tomatoes, give it a few stir until fragrant then scatter in the chopped spring onion.
5. Next pour in the egg mixture and cook the scramble egg accordingly, using a spoon to stir the mixture occasionally.
6. Lastly stir in the Thai chili sauce mixture and give it a quick stir until it combined, fill the egg mixture into the prepared tomato cups and serve as together with some cut fruits as side dish.

Note:
a) You can replace the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce with Tomato Sauce for kid's version.
b) You can also scatter some extra shredded cheese onto the egg tomato cups and put it into the toaster oven of about 3 minutes or so until the cheese started to melt.