Messy Witchen - Food, Recipe, Dining Blog

Italian, Sauce

Simple Pomarola (Tuscan Tomato Sauce)

Since a long time ago I am intrigued by the red-colored sauce called tomato sauce. I don’t mean tomato ketchup (condiment) though I am interested to make my own one day. In this case, I mean THE sauce that accompanies pasta and pizza. It sounds easy and simple to make but most of us would usually grab the bottled & canned stuff (usually loaded with preservatives, etc – yuck!). But then where are the joy of cooking if everything’s premade, right? It makes me wonder is it really that hard to make tomato sauce in the home kitchen?

This recipe shows how simple it is. Making my own tomato sauce in this case, a classic Tuscan tomato sauce called pomarola proved to be enjoying and very satisfying. This recipe uses only fresh ripe tomato. Begone, canned tomato. The resulting pomarola is better than anything on the supermarket’s shelves!

Simple Pomarola (Tuscan Tomato Sauce).
Filled to the brim in this 1 pint mason jar (473ml).

April 25, 2019
1,115 views

Talk Food

My First Experience Making Hot Cross Buns

Every year around Easter I will surely be tempted by the throngs of hot cross buns’ photos and advertisements. This year I said to myself that it’s time to stop the curiosity and get into action. These hot cross buns are the product of my curiosity.

Shinning big nuggets of hot cross buns. Fresh from the oven and glazed. ❤️

April 19, 2019
1,070 views

Chinese, Side Dish

Chinese Steamed 3 Colors Eggs 三色蛋

Yohoo… Calling all the egg lovers out there. If you’re looking for a dish that’s delicious and simple but most importantly has that eggstatic wow factor, then this Chinese steamed 3 colors eggs is a must try! This is a basic steamed chicken egg dish made more desirable with the addition of 2 kinds of eggs; salted duck egg and century duck egg. All the 3 eggs have different colors hence the name Chinese steamed 3 colors eggs (三色蛋).

This leveled up steamed egg dish is a classic Chinese dish commonly made at home. Sometimes you can find it at the restaurant’s menu, but if not try requesting for this dish. The chef might cook it for you. 😛

Chinese steamed 3 colors eggs 三色蛋. 😍

March 15, 2019
2,182 views

Breakfast & Brunch, Side Dish

Speculaas Fried Apples With Smoked Bacon & Honey

I’ve been eying this recipe for quite a while, and finally made it happen after rounds and rounds of procrastination. 🤪 According to what I read, fried apples is a classic breakfast and side dish of Southern cuisine (of USA). This recipe of mine is by no means authentic, as it has some twist added such as speculaas (speculoos/biscoff) spice, smoked bacon and using honey while giving the sugar a skip. Cooked apples are sweeter than its raw form, so you don’t have to put lots of sweetener in it. You can even skip the honey if you want to.

Speculaas fried apples with smoked bacon & honey. Yum-yum. 🍎🥓🍯

February 21, 2019
1,911 views

Talk Food

Comparison Between Free-Range Eggs, Kampung Eggs & Conventional Eggs

I’m an egg lover if you don’t know by now. I’ve been a fan of egg since I was little. Egg lights me up! 😍 Egg on everything is a welcome sight. Years back when we were told eggs are high in cholesterol, so don’t eat too much, I was broken. Why?? Why is it the super delicious eggs are bad for health? Thing is my egg consumption and love for it never dwindled. And I’m glad I stayed through. Last year, I found out cholesterol is not a bad thing. Cholesterol is needed by our body for building and reparation. We need cholesterol to survive. In fact, our brain uses the most cholesterol. So yeah, don’t fear cholesterol ya. What you need to be mindful of is the processed and junk food out there. They are the culprit to inflammation.

Eggs, eggs, I 💗 you!
Clockwise from left: Free-range egg, conventional egg & kampung egg.

December 26, 2018
3,847 views

Chicken

Bacon Cheddar Hasselback Chicken

Here’s another favorite ingredient of mine, chicken breast! While most people dislike chicken breast, saying it’s the most unappetizing/low quality part of the chicken and hail thigh, drumstick or wing as the saint, well, I beg to differ. I’ve been a fan of chicken breast since I was little and any sights of chicken breast will light me up! If you give me a plain chicken breast (ok at least salt it), I will eat it. Haha

If you think chicken breast is boring, well that’s because you haven’t eaten an awesome one. And since the breast is like a blank canvas, ahem plain, one can easily spice it up creatively. So, how to spice it up? Recently, I thought of making hasselback using chicken breast and include my favorite ingredients = bacon, cheddar, onion. That’s it and it came out beautiful and delicious. I hope the anti-chicken breast supporters will give this recipe a try and let us know what you think. 😉 Also, it’s gluten-free, grain-free, paleo-friendly and keto-friendly. To make it carnivore-friendly, skip the onion, rosemary and cashews (optional) and double up the bacon. If you don’t eat cheese, then remove or swap with other ingredients.

Bacon cheddar hasselback chicken. 😍

November 24, 2018
1,704 views

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