The Cooking Ninja

I have been sadly neglecting this blog for a month - besides being so caught up with so many things on the domestic front, my passion for cooking and baking suddenly left me - how did that happened ??? Could it be the summer heat that zapped it out of me? I just know that lately I just don't feel inspired to cook or bake anything. Sad isn't it, considering the fact that it is this passion that inspired me to start 'The Cooking Ninja'.

This blog was created right after I finished my exams of my last year at the university to be exact - about a year ago. Finally I had time to write about my passion for cooking. Back then, Little One had just turned 1 and was taking her first wobbly steps - so no worries, I still had plenty of time to cook, clean the house and blog. Boy, did I blog a lot more back then.

I think there must be something magical about the age 1 because a week or so after she turned 1, her wobbly steps became firmed and she walked her first steady '5 steps' without any aid at all on the sandy playground. What a sight and joy for both of us... we felt like some proud peacocks at that moment. Soon those 5 steps became 10 and more, then she was all over the place: climbing here and there, opening this and that. The whole house became a treasure island for her especially my nightstand drawers - she loved raiding it. Then the walking gave way to running ... it was so cute to watch her run - see her diaper backside swaying left and right like a little duckling.

These days, she is a real demanding little person. She does not like it whenever she sees me on the computer. She would either climb all over me like on my shoulder, or sit on my lap right in front of my laptop (like what she is doing right now ) or pull my hand away so that I'm left only with 1 hand to type or surf. She demands a lot of my time and attention as she grows older which leaves me so little time to do any surfing or posting - my last post took me more than 10 days to publish. *sigh* With just 1 kid, I find it hard to keep my house clean and in order. I do not know how some mothers with more than 1 kid manage to find time to blog everyday and sometimes have a full time work on top of it. I truly admire their ability to do that. Maybe I'm just lousy in my time management or maybe it is just the big 'P' word. Do you know what does this big 'P' stands for?

Enough of my rumblings. Today I'm going to share with you another very simple yet delicious recipe that I have came up with after eating a similar one at a French restaurant. This will also be my entry for the Pie in My Eye Adventure hosted by Joelen's Culinary Adventures.

Crispy Apple Pie

Ingredients

• 1 flaky or puff pastry
• 3 apples (cored and thinly sliced)
• sugar syrup
• sugar
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 220°C (425°F - gas mark 7).
2. Lay out the flaky pastry on the baking sheet on a flat baking tray. Fork all over the pastry surface.
3. Boil a bit of water in a pot and stir in some sugar to make a syrup.
4. Using a your finger or a brush, spread the syrup all over the surface of the pastry.
5. Line the thinly sliced apples starting on the outside towards the inside center of the pie.
6. Sprinkle some sugar, cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg on top of the apple slices
7. Spread small slices or bits of butter all over the pie.
8. Bake it for about 20 to 25 minutes.
9. Serve it warm, maybe with a bit of vanilla ice cream.

The Verdict

I love it - almost like the one we had in the restaurant. Crispy or flaky, buttery, delicious taste of the apples (not overwhelming) and not too sweet. It's nice to get a successful experiment sometimes, given all the ones that fail

The next time I'll do it, I'm going to sprinkle some dry rasins and almonds flakes before putting the butter bits all over the pie. Should be interesting.

Notes

Some put a layer of home-made apple sauce (cooking diced apples with sugar and cinnamon until it is all melted) on top of the pastry before laying the apple slices while others brush a light coat of apricot jam (stir some jam with a bit of water over low heat till it becomes a syrup) on top of the pie just before serving.