Christmas Dinner

Yesterday was Christmas and hubby decided that we'd cook dinner instead of eating out. I do prefer to stay at home on public holiday because no matter where we go, it's always crowded. At first we thought of going to the mall but when we saw the long queue of cars waiting to get into the car park, we thought it'd be better to spend the afternoon at home taking an afternoon nap or watching tv. Hahaha....

We had a nice time preparing the dinner together. This time, hubby cooked ABC soup, vege and he even tried to cook pork in soy sauce! Very ambitious hor...but it was a nice meal and am very proud of him for his interest to learn :)

ABC Soup

Ingredients:

Pork Ribs (can use chicken also)

Tomato

Carrot

Potato

Onion

Water

Salt

Hot boiling water

Method:

1. Pour the hot boiling water onto the pork ribs and let it stand for 5min or so.

2. Boil a pot of water and throw in the ribs and all other ingredients except the salt.

3. Cook over high heat (soup will be boiling) for 1hour or so, then turn to medium or low heat for another 1-2 hours.

4. Season with salt and serve hot. Love this soup and very comforting on a rainy day!

Pork in Dark Soy Sauce

Ingredients:

Pork Meat (slice thinly)

Ginger (shred thinly)

Sesame Oil

Dark Soy Sauce

Light Soy Sauce

Sugar

Method:

1. Heat sesame oil and saute ginger till fragrant.

2. Put in pork and stir fry for 1/2min.

3. Add in dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and sugar.

4. Stir fry for for another 1/2min and dish up. Goes well with rice..

Tang Yuan

Hubby and I made these just for the fun of it last night, for our supper! Hahaha... I was dead tired by the time we finished cooking the tang yuan but we had a great time making the small round dumplings.
We made these plain, without any fillings in it. What? You don't expect me to stuff in gula melaka or brown sugar, right? If we had done that, we'd probably finished at 12 midnight instead of 10+pm ;p

Ingredients:

Tang Yuan:
Glutinous Rice Flour
Hot boiling water
Room temperature boiled water

Syrup:
Water
 Brown Sugar/ Gula Melaka
Ginger
Pandan Leaves


Method:
1. To make the tang yuan, take 1/3 amount of the flour and pour in the hot boiling water. Mix it until it's like glue.
2. Add in the remaining 2/3 flour and add room temperature water slowly.
3. Knead to form a dough until it no longer sticks to your hand. If it gets sticky, wash your hands clean and dust with some flour.
4. Let the dough rest for 20min or so.
5. Take a small portion and roll into a ball. Repeat until dough is finished.
6. Boil a pot of water and cook the tang yuan. When the tang yuan floats, drop them into a bowl of room temperature boiled water.
7. At the same time, start cooking the syrup by boiling a pot of water with ginger and pandan leaves.
8. When it boils, add brown sugar.
9. Let it simmer for at least 30min.
10. To serve, put some of the cooked tang yuan into a bowl and pour in some syrup. Yummy!

Guava Snack

The recipe is from the blog, "My Culinary Journal" hhttp://myculinaryjournal.blogspot.com/2009/10/guava-appetizer.html and since it looks really easy I thought I'd give it a try. I must say this snack is really refreshing and good for a warm day. It's perfect if you're planning for a home movie marathon because instead of popping junk food like chips you can try this healthier snack.

The way to do it is really to cut the guava (I bought the seedless ones as it's easier to cut ;p) into thin bite size slices and mix them with tiny pieces of preserved orange peel. Then, put it into a container and refrigerate for a few hours.

Family Dinner

Hubby and I had a satisfying dinner tonight and it was fun because this time hubby cooked 2 dishes! Today, he cooked stir fried siew pak choy and an onion omelet. Both are yummy. The vegetable dish is the same as the one he did before but this time we used siew pak choy instead of yau mak. Hehe...it's for him to practise so everything is the same except the vege used.

Stir Fried Siew Pak Choy

Onion Omelet

Braised Fish with Bean Paste & Tomatoes

Onion Omelet

Ingredients:
Eggs
Onions
Salt
Pepper
Oil

Method:
1. Beat the eggs and sprinkle some pepper into the mixture.
2. Heat a little oil and saute the onion until it turns a little brown.
3. Season with a little salt.
4. Spread onion evenly then pour in the beaten egg mixture. Let it cook/set.
5. Turn the egg and when it's cooked, dish up.


Braised Fish with Bean Paste & Tomatoes

Ingredients:
Fish
Salt
Ginger
Tomatoes
Preserved Bean Paste/whole beans
Water
Oil

Method:
1. Rub salt onto both sides of the fish.
2. Heat some oil and fry the fish until golden brown and cooked on both sides.
3. Dish up and set aside. Pour out the oil and leave only a little oil in the wok.
4. Saute ginger till fragrant.
5. Add in bean paste and tomatoes. Stir fry for 1/2min.
6. Add in water and cook till it simmers.
7. Add in the fish and let it cook for 1-2min and it's ready to be served.

A Simple Dinner

I am now on a "restricted" mode when it comes to doing any housework, so most of the meals that I cook now are really simple and almost effortless dishes. We had steamed chicken with ginger and stir fried vegetables for dinner. This is the first time hubby cooked a vege dish (well, the other dish he did was onion omelet long time ago ;p). It was fun to cook together and I hope we can do this more often :)

Steamed Chicken with Ginger

Ingredients:
Chicken (cut into medium size pieces)
Ginger (cut into thin strips - I prefer young ginger)
Garlic (chopped)
Salt
Sesame Oil

Method:
1. Rub the chicken with a little salt.
2. Arrange the chicken on a plate and sprinkle garlic and ginger over it.
3. Drizzle about 1 tbsp of sesame oil over it.
4. Steam till cooked (I put it on a rice cooker steamer and cook it together with the rice).

Stir Fried Yau Mak Vegetables

Ingredients:
Yau Mak
Garlic (chopped)
Salt
Oyster Sauce
Oil
Water

Method:
1. Heat a little oil in a wok and saute garlic till fragrant.
2. Add in the vegetables and stir fry for a while.
3. Season with oyster sauce and a little salt to taste.
4. Stir to mix well. Add a little water if too dry.
5. Dish up when it boils.

Fishy Fried Rice

Nope...no fish in the fried rice ;p This is today's lunch; fried fish and simple fried rice. I've been eating out for almost the past 2 weeks and I miss simple home cooked food. Today's meal took minimal effort but we had a very satisfying lunch. Fried rice is not oily like those sold outside plus I put in lots of vegetables.


The fried fish is idiot-proof. Just clean the fish, rub a little salt on both sides and leave it for 10min or so. Then, fry it till golden brown on both sides. Use low heat especially if it's a big fish or the meat is thick to ensure it's fully cooked on the inside too.

Fried Fish

Simple Fried Rice

Ingredients:
Rice (cooked and cooled)
Oil
Garlic
Egg (beaten)
Carrot (cut into cubes)
Cabbage
Salt
Light Soy Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce




Method:
1. Heat a little oil in the wok and saute garlic.
2. Pour in the beaten egg and cook for it's set.
3. Use the spatula to break the egg into small pieces.
4. Add in carrot and cabbage. Stir fry for 1min.
5. Season with salt.
6. Add in rice and mix well.
7. Add in light and dark soy sauce. Mix well.
8. Cook for 1min over medium heat. Dish up and serve.

Dinner with Pastor & Wife

This could probably be the first time we invited guests to have dinner at our home. Pastor was here for about 3 weeks for church work and since I was cooking dinner, it wasn't a trouble at all to cook a bit more for all of us. :)

It's just a simple meal with lotus root soup, lettuce with carrot, sardines (yeah, out of the can with some onions ;p) and minced pork with potatoes. I didn't plan this ahead so, as usual I cooked whatever I had with me at that time. ;p

It was a nice time of fellowship and sharing and hopefully we'll be able to do this more often.

The guests

The food

Easy Chicken Rice

This is another one-dish-meal which is really easy to do. There are many variations which we can create from this recipe by using different ingredients and spices. It's all up to your creativity!

Ingredients:

Chicken Meat (cut into medium size)
Ginger (a few slices)
Marinade: light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and corn flour.
Oil
Carrot (cut into cubes)
Rice
Salt
Dark Soy Sauce
Light Soy Sauce
Water


Method:


1. Pour marinade over chicken and add in ginger. Marinate overnight. (I just put everything into a container and left it in the fridge overnight).
2. Heat some oil in a wok.
3. Pick out the ginger from the marinade and stir fry in the wok until fragrant.
4. Add in carrot and stir fry for 1min.
5. Pour in the chicken and stir fry over medium heat for 1min.
6. Add in rice and mix well.
7. Season with salt, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce.
8. Dish up and transfer into a rice cooker. Add enough water to cook rice as usual.
9. When the rice is cooked, the dish is ready to be served!

Cake Stand

Sometimes God answers our prayer in ways that we can never imagine and here’s a good example :). I have been thinking of buying a cake stand but didn’t see any that I like. They are either made of plastic or not in the design that I want. So, I thought I’ll just wait and see and slowly shop for it until I can find the right one. Well, of course God knows us best and so, it was really a pleasant surprise when a co-worker from US bought me this lovely cake stand for my wedding gift! Don’t get me wrong, I am not the type who go around giving hints to people to buy me things! Never and I do not like this kind of behaviour ;p I’d only do that to one person, that’s my hubby. Hahaha....At work, I’d always like to remain professional. Serious...



Isn’t this lovely? It’s exactly what I was looking for!



So, since I was given a cake stand, I got to bake a cake, right....Here’s the chocolate moist cake I baked as a thank-you to Ken. It’s really nice and thoughtful of him to get me a wedding gift even though my wedding was already 5 months plus ago.

Marble Cake with Raisins for my in laws

This is a cake I baked yesterday for my in laws in SG as hubby is going back for the weekend. Some aunties said they didn’t get to try my cakes, so this time I thought I’d get hubby to bring back the whole cake! Haha…sure enough kua.

As usual, to be on the safe side, better bake the reliable marble cake. I just added some raisins into the cake this time. Hope it’s not too sweet!

Birthday Cake - Moist Chocolate Cake with Ganache

Today is Jac’s birthday, a friend at work in my department so her team mates wanted me to bake her a birthday cake. I was considering between carrot cheese cake or moist chocolate cake, and in the end settled for moist chocolate cake. I guess we can’t go wrong with chocolate cake! This one has a layer of ganache in between the 2 layers of cake and covered with chocolate ganache as well (yummy…but fattening for sure).

Initially I wanted to decorate it with some fresh strawberries but this didn’t work out because I stored the strawberries in the freezer and when they were out, all the berries turned soft. It was already 9+pm at night and even if I can make it to the nearest supermarket, I don’t think I’d have the energy to continue decorating the cake afterwards. So, what you see here is a last minute idea ;p Not too bad, I guess??

I’m glad all of them loved the cake and they even thought the deco was cute. Haha…. :)

Chocolate Rum & Raisin Cake.....Sold :)

Wow...can't believe it that I've been away so long. Was out of country for my honeymoon for 2.5 weeks and after I am back, there's of course the work to clear in the office and right before the quarter ended.
Anyway, it's nice to be back where I can find noodles soup and nasi lemak easily ;p


Have not been baking for a long time too; 1 month+. This week, CF ordered 2 chocolate rum and raisin cakes for her friends, which is also why I tried my best to make the cakes look more colourful with the strawberries. Haha...I am just not a cream person when it comes to decorating cakes because I don't like thick layers of cream in my cake. At least that goes for cakes that I bake for own consumption or for family members/friends. It's good to try to be healthy ma...at least try...;p


I am happy with how the cakes turned out. Most importantly, CF liked them.
They smelled good too as I soaked the raisins in rum overnight. :)

Marble Cake for Mum's Birthday

Ever since the successful bake last year my sis and I made for my mum, I'd decided to bake mum a cake for her birthday this year. When it comes to my mum, there is no need to crack my mind and spend sleepless nights thinking about what cake to bake because plain butter cake or marble cake are the only approved ones. So, I did a reduced sugar butter marble cake for mum. The only decoration are the walnuts on top of the cake. No cream pls....cos she dislikes cream. I'm glad she loved it! My dad enjoyed it too. He ate 2 big pieces at one go!

Linguine in Tomato Sauce

I love the fresh tomatoes taste in this pasta. :)

Ingredients:
Pasta (I used linguine- cooked per packet instruction)
Tomatoes (very ripe – cut into small pieces and blend using a blender)
Onion
Garlic
Button Mushroom
Chicken Meat (minced)
Salt
Black Pepper
Mixed Herbs
Olive Oil
Water


Method:
1. Heat olive oil and sauté garlic and onion until onions turn soft.
2. Add in chicken meat and button mushroom. Stir fry for a while.
3. Season with salt, mixed herbs and black pepper.
4. Pour in the tomato puree and cook till it simmers. You can add a little water if you want.
5. Pour in the pasta and mix well. Serve hot.

Fried Rice with Cabbage and Chicken

Ingredients:
Rice (cooked)
Cabbage
Onion
Chicken Meat
Light Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Pepper
Salt
Sugar
Dark Soy Sauce
Oil


Method:
1. Marinate chicken meat with light soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper for 30min.
2. Heat oil and saute onion.
3. Add in chicken meat and stir fry for 1 min.
4. Add in cabbage. Season with salt and sugar.
5. Pour in rice and mix well.
6. Add in dark soy sauce and mix to coat the rice.
7. Stir fry for 1min and dish up.

Fellowship Dinner Aug09

Vegetarian Pasta

The food: a very simple dinner…pasta, salad, fish, jellies and fruits.

This should be posted last month, but I have too many posts to update (OK, sounds like an excuse), so am only doing it now. ;p

We hosted our church’s weekly bible study last month and usually the host will provide dinner. It was a nice and warm (literally too…imagine about 15-18 of us in a tiny apartment) fellowship. The topic of discussion was the role of a husband and we had a meaningful discussion over what God has to say about the husband’s role; to love and to lead. Thanks to hubby for leading the session! I was too busy entertaining the kids (auntie, I want to go toilet….auntie, I want to eat biscuits,….) ;p Hahaha…anyway, it was fun and also the first time there were so many people in our home. We hope to have many more such sessions of bible study.

Here’s sharing with you the recipe for the lovely vegetarian pasta.


Ingredients:
Tricolour Spiral Pasta (I used Agnesi’s) – cooked per packet instruction
Garlic
Onion
Button Mushroom
Carrot
Basil
Salt
Sugar
Black Pepper
Oyster Sauce
Light Soy Sauce
Water (boiled)
Olive Oil


Method:
1. Heat olive oil in a wok and sauté garlic and onion until fragrant.
2. Add in carrot and button mushroom.
3. Season with salt, sugar and black pepper.
4. Pour in the pasta and mix well.
5. Season with light soy sauce and oyster sauce.
6. If it gets too dry, add a little water.
7. Add in basil and stir fry for 1 min and it’s ready to be served!

Pan Fried Minced Pork

Stir Fried Spinach with lots of garlic and onion

This may not look very nice but my hubby loved it. We had this with another vege dish as dinner.


Ingredients:
Pork (minced)
Carrot (chopped finely)
Onion (chopped finely)
Salt
Sugar
Corn Flour
Pepper
Sesame Oil
Light Soy Sauce
Oil

Method:
1. Mix everything together, except the oil, and let it marinate for at least 30min.
2. Take a spoonful of the mixture and pan fry on a non stick pan.
3. Cook 2-3min on each side.
4. Serve with chili sauce.

Soy Noodles in Lotus Root Soup

This is another of those cook-the-soup-and-dump-in-the-noodles meal.

Ingredients:
Lotus Root
Pork Ribs
Honey Dates (you can use red dates, I ran out of these)
Salt
Soy Noodles (you can use mifen or other kinds of noodles as well)
Water
Salt


Method:
1. Cook a pot of boiling water.
2. When water boils, put in lotus root, honey dates and pork ribs.
3. Cook the soup for about 2hours (if you use a slow cooker, it’ll take probably 4 hours).
4. Season with salt.
5. Soak soy noodles in water until soft.
6. Then, add the noodles into the soup and boil it until noodles are cooked.

The meal is ready!

TomYam Fried Rice

A variety of spicy fried rice…

Ingredients:
Rice (cooked)
Carrot
Onion
Garlic
Chicken Meat
Light Soy Sauce
Pepper
Salt
Sugar
Tomyam Paste
Water (boiled)
Oil


Method:
1. Marinate chicken with light soy sauce and pepper for ~30min. Set aside.
2. Heat some oil in a wok and sauté garlic and onion until fragrant.
3. Add in tomyam paste and stir fry for a while.
4. Add in carrot and stir fry for 1 min.
5. Add in chicken meat. Season with sugar, salt and a little water.
6. Pour in the rice and mix well.
7. Stir fry over medium-high heat for 1min and it’s done.

Fish Porridge

I love to eat porridge when it rains because nothing beats the warmth of a bowl of piping hot porridge. Fish porridge wasn’t in my plan but I still have a huge piece of fish filet in the freezer and I want to finish it before I forget about it ;p
I love this porridge although my mum would say porridge with potatoes and carrot is for babies only. Haha….don’t tell me you think the same. I like to have some vegetables in my meal, so I like to add it in the porridge as well.


Ingredients:
Fish Fillet
Dried Scallops
Potatoes
Carrot
Ginger (lightly bruised)
Rice
Water
Salt
Pepper
Sesame Oil
Light Soy Sauce


Method:
1. Marinate fish fillet with pepper, sesame oil and light soy sauce. Set aside.
2. Cook rice with water. Add in ginger, carrot, potatoes and dried scallop.
3. Let porridge cook until done. Add in fish fillet.
4. Season with salt.5. When fish is cooked, porridge is ready.

Stir Fried Tomyam Spaghetti

Ingredients:
Spaghetti (cooked per packet instruction)
Big Onion
Tuna
Carrot
Green Bell Pepper
Button Mushroom
Tomyam Paste
Salt
Sugar
Water (boiled)
Oil


Method:
1. Heat some oil and stir fry onion till fragrant.
2. Add in tomyam paste and stir fry for 1 while.
3. Add in green bell pepper, carrot and button mushroom. Stir fry for 1 min.
4. Add in tuna and season with salt and sugar.
5. Add a little bit of water if it gets too dry.6. Put in spaghetti and mix well. Stir fry for 1min and it’s done.

Noodles in Chicken Herbal Soup

Ingredients:
Chicken Meat
Wolfberries (gei ji)
Tong Sum
Pak Kei
Yoke Juk
Red Dates
Water
Salt
Soy Noodles (soaked till soft)
Tofu
Iceberg Lettuce


Method:
1. Place chicken, water and all the herbs into a slow cooker.
2. Use high heat and cook for at least 4-5 hours.
3. Season with salt when soup is done.
4. Scoop some soup into another pot, cook till it boils.
5. Add in tofu, noodles and lettuce.
6. Cook for 1min or so and it’s ready to be served.

Fried MiFen with Chicken Meat

Ingredients:
Chicken Meat
Light Soy Sauce
Pepper
Sesame Oil
MiFen (soaked in water till soft-drained)
Garlic
Carrot
Choy Sum
Sugar
Oyster Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce
Oil
Water (boiled)


Method:
1. Marinate chicken meat with light soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil for 30min or so.
2. Heat some oil and sauté garlic till fragrant.
3. Add in carrot and stir fry for 1 min.
4. Add in chicken meat and choy sum. Season with salt, sugar and a little oyster sauce.
5. Stir fry for a while. Add some water and cook till it simmer.
6. Add in mifen and season with dark soy sauce. Mix well.
7. Continue to stir fry until mifen is cooked (if too dry, add a little boiled water).

Braised Soy Sauce Fish

Ingredients:
Fish
Salt
Pepper
Light Soy Sauce
Sugar
Water
Sesame Oil
Oil
Ginger
Shallots


Method:
1. Rub some salt and pepper onto the fish and marinate for 30min or so.
2. Heat a little oil and pan fried fish on both sides. Set fish aside.
3. Heat some sesame oil and sauté shallots and ginger till fragrant.
4. Mix light soy sauce, sugar and water and pour into the wok.
5. Put in the fish and let it cook/simmer over low heat.
6. Turn the fish and cook till fish is cooked.

Sesame Chiffon Cake

Open sesame....unveiling another out of the world flavour for a chiffon cake :)

Ingredients:
(A)
Egg Yolks (6)
Plain Flour (7 tbsp)
Ground Black Sesame (4 tbsp)
Oil (1 tbsp)
Water (5 tbsp)
Sugar (1 tbsp)

(B)
Egg Whites (6)
Sugar (5 ½ tbsp)
Corn Flour (1 tbsp)

White Sesame Seeds

Preheat oven at 180C
(As usual, I reduced temperature to 170C during the last 15min of baking.)

Method:
1. Mix (A) in a bowl and beat till combined.
2. In another bowl, beat egg whites till soft peak forms.
3. Add sugar and beat till shiny and glossy.
4. Add corn flour and beat till it’s almost stiff (turn the bowl upside down and the egg whites should not fall).
5. Fold in 1/3 of egg whites into the (A) mixture.
6. Repeat 2 more times adding 1/3 each time.
7. Pour into a chiffon cake mould and sprinkle some white sesame seeds on top.
8. Bake for 45-50min or till cooked.9. Invert the cake to cool. Un-mould using a thin knife by loosening the sides.

Coffee Chiffon with Chocolate Chips

I am experimenting with different flavours of chiffon cake. Here’s a coffee version bursting with chocolate chips!


Ingredients:

(A)

Egg Yolks (6)

Flour (6 tbsp)

Instant 3-in-1 coffee powder (3 packets mixed with 4 tbsp of water)
Oil (1 tbsp)

(B)

Egg Whites (6)

Sugar (4 ½ tbsp)

Corn Flour (1 tbsp)

(C)Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven at 180C

Note: I reduced the temperature to 170C during the last 15min of baking

Method:

1. Mix (A) in a bowl and beat till combined.

2. In another bowl, beat egg whites till soft peak forms.

3. Add sugar and beat till shiny and glossy.

4. Add corn flour and beat till it’s almost stiff (turn the bowl upside down and the egg whites should not fall).

5. Fold in 1/3 of egg whites into the (A) mixture.

6. Repeat 2 more times adding 1/3 each time.

7. Lastly, gently fold in the chocolate chips.

8. Pour into a chiffon cake mould and bake for 45-50min or till cooked.
9. Invert the cake to cool. Un-mould using a thin knife by loosening the sides.

Pumpkin Rice

If you’ve never had pumpkin before, you should really give it a chance. I don’t recall my mum cooking any pumpkin dish until I was almost 12 or older. In the beginning, I hated it because I thought it’s like eating savoury sweet potato. I don’t really remember how I grew to love it but it was probably the time when I tasted pumpkin rice which my colleague brought into the office for her breakfast. Since then, I’ve decided I should give this squash a second chance and knowing how much nutrient you get from it makes it easier. It’s full of anti-oxidants, beta carotene (which converts to Vitamin A), niacin, vitamin E, calcium and iron!

Well, the next time you’re feeling tired to prepare a 3-4 dishes meal, try this one pot meal. The pumpkin brings subtle sweetness to the rice and blends in really well with dried shrimps and mushrooms (just like yam). In a way, this is like an adaptation from yam rice but I added some carrot as I love to have more vegetables in my meal.


Ingredients:
Rice (I used brown rice)
Pumpkin (cut into cubes)
Carrot
Dried Shrimps (soaked and chopped)
Shallots
Dried Mushroom (soaked and cut into small pieces)
Bean Paste (~1 tbsp)
Dark Soy Sauce
Oyster Sauce
Salt
Sugar
Pepper
Oil
Water


Method:
1. Heat some oil and saute shallots.
2. Add in dried shrimps and stir fry till fragrant.
3. Add in mushroom and carrot. Stir fry for 1 min.
4. Add in pumpkin.
5. Season with bean paste, oyster sauce, sugar, dark soy sauce and pepper.
6. Pour in the rice and mix well. Add in enough water (this really requires some agak-agak skill because you’ll need to add a little extra water than you usually need to cook the rice).
7. Season with a little salt.
8. Transfer everything to the rice cooker and cook rice as usual.

Green Tea & Red Bean Chiffon Cake

Ohaiyo-gozaimasu….Konnichiwa….Jap class?
No….but just a very Japanese chiffon cake ^_^

Yay!!! I am so happy with this cake. It’s so lovely with the red beans that I couldn’t help staring at the cake for a minute. “Stop staring at the cake….”. Who’s that? Oh…it’s hubby. Guess he must have thought I was obsessed with it. Hahaha….
Well, I am happy because it’s the first time I made this combination of chiffon cake and the red beans didn’t sink to the bottom of the cake. Phew…what a relief and I felt a sense of achievement.

The only thing I’d change from the recipe is the amount of green tea powder. It can be increased to 3 tsp.


Ingredients:
(A)
Egg Yolks (6)
Flour (6 tbsp)
Water (4 tbsp)
Oil (1 tbsp)
Sugar (1 tbsp)
Green Tea Powder (2 tsp) – add 1 more tsp for stronger green tea taste

(B)
Egg Whites (6)
Sugar (5 ½ tbsp)
Corn Flour (1 tbsp)

(C)
Red Bean (6 tbsp- cooked till soft)


Preheat oven at 180C
Note: I reduced the temperature to 170C during the last 15min of baking


Method:
1. Mix (A) in a bowl and beat till combined.
2. In another bowl, beat egg whites till soft peak forms.
3. Add sugar and beat till shiny and glossy.
4. Add corn flour and beat till it’s almost stiff (turn the bowl upside down and the egg whites should not fall).
5. Fold in 1/3 of egg whites into the (A) mixture.
6. Repeat 2 more times adding 1/3 each time.
7. Lastly, gently fold in red beans.
8. Pour into a chiffon cake mould and bake for 45-50min or till cooked.

9. Invert the cake to cool. Un-mould using a thin knife by loosening the sides.

Stir Fried Spiral Pasta with Teriyaki Chicken

It’s been pouring here for the past few days and rainy days somehow often make me feel lazy. I, originally wanted to cook teriyaki chicken and a vege for dinner but changed my mind to cook just a one-dish meal for dinner. Hubby, who is forever very supportive of my cooking said “ok”. Hehe…so, I chose the easy way yesterday with this pasta. These spiral pasta (am sure they have an Italian name, but you don’t expect me to remember, do you??) are so colourful and it seemed to have this “cheer-you-up” effect as you cook them.

No, I’ve not gone crazy. I just love food :)


Ingredients:
Chicken Meat (de-boned)
Teriyaki Sauce
Pasta (cooked per packet instruction)
Carrot
Broccoli
Onion
Dark Soy Sauce
Salt
Black Pepper
Oil (I used olive oil)
Water


Method:
1. Marinate chicken meat with teriyaki sauce for a few hours or overnight.
2. Heat some oil and stir fry onion till fragrant.
3. Add in carrot and broccoli. Stir fry for 1 min.
4. Add in chicken and stir fry for a while.
5. Season with dark soy sauce, black pepper and salt.
6. Add a little bit of water if it’s too dry and cook till it simmers.
7. Add in the pasta and stir fry for 1-2min.

Dig in!

Chicken Stew with Potatoes and Carrot

After the muffin experiment with rosemary, I still have some of the herb in the fridge and so tried to cook it with this chicken dish. I simply love the aroma of the rosemary which makes this comfort food even more heart warming (OK, depends who you’re going to eat with ;p). Herbs are really amazing plants. They come in “small packages”, as in most have tiny leaves, but a little bit of them bring out so much flavor in a dish. Rosemary keeps real well in the fridge and after this chicken stew, I still have some of it. Hhmm… I think I am going to experiment it with fish next.


Ingredients:
Chicken Meat
Carrot
Potatoes
Shallots
Garlic
Fresh Rosemary
Salt
Sugar
Pepper
Cooking Wine
Dark Soy Sauce
Oil
Water
Corn Flour (optional)

Method:
1. Marinate chicken meat with salt, sugar, pepper and cooking wine 2-3 hours (I marinated it overnight).
2. Heat some oil and saute garlic and shallots until fragrant.
3. Add in potatoes and stir fry for ~2min.
4. Add in carrot and continue to stir fry for another 1min.
5. Add in chicken meat (pour in marinade as well).
6. Season with dark soy sauce, salt and sugar.
7. Add water and cook with medium heat till it simmers.
8. Then, switch to low heat and cook till potatoes are soft.
9. Add in rosemary and cook for another minute.
10. Serve with rice.

Note: If you want to thicken the gravy, just mix a little corn flour with water before adding in the rosemary. Cook till it simmers.

Strawberry-Lemon-Rosemary Muffins

Even if you don’t like the muffins, you’ll love the muffin cups. Haha…aren’t these lovely?
I was inspired to bake using the combo of strawberry, lemon and rosemary after reading dailydelicious’ blog. To me, it’s so English and it just makes me want to bake! I didn’t follow her recipe for the usual reason; I don’t have all the ingredients. ;p

The only disappointment was the rosemary. I thought the lovely smell would permeate my kitchen while the muffins were baking but I didn’t really smell anything. I guess I should add more of it next time, probably 1 tbsp instead of 1 tsp.


Ingredients:
Plain Flour (2 cups)
Baking Powder (3 tsp)
Salt (1/2 tsp)
Sugar (3/4 cup)
Egg (1)
Oil (1/4 cup)
Milk (1 cup)
Strawberries (1 cup or more, if you love the fruit)
Grated Lemon Rind (1 tbsp)
Fresh Rosemary (1 tsp-finely chopped)


Preheat oven at 190C

Method:
1. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix egg, milk, oil, rosemary and lemon rind.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
4. Mix till combined.
5. Mix in the strawberries.
6. Spoon into the muffin cups and bake for 25min or until cooked.

Stir Fried Chicken with Ginger and Spring Onion

Stir Fried Cabbage with Carrot

Stir Fried Chicken with Ginger and Spring Onion

I cooked these for lunch in church 2 weeks ago; chicken with ginger and spring onion and stir fried cabbage with carrot. Just simple food, the kind I usually cook for our dinner. Nicholas had lots of the cabbage and he ate it as if he was eating salad although it’s meant to go with rice. I was glad that he enjoyed it and who says we had to force kids to eat vege? ;p

The chicken is one of my favourite dishes as I love anything with lots of ginger and spring onion. :)


Ingredients:
Chicken Meat (de-boned)
Cooking Wine
Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Light Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Ginger
Garlic
Spring Onion
Oyster Sauce
Oil
Water
Corn Flour (optional)


Method:
1. Marinate chicken meat with cooking wine, salt, sugar, pepper, light soy sauce and sesame oil for 1 hour or so.
2. Heat some oil in a wok and saute the garlic and ginger until fragrant.
3. Add in some spring onion (the harder, whitish part nearer to the root) and stir fry till fragrant.
4. Put in the chicken and stir fry for 1min.
5. Season with a little bit of oyster sauce, salt and sugar.
6. Add some water and cook till it simmers.
7. Add in the rest of the spring onion and cook for another minute.
8. Dish up and serve hot.

Note: If you wish to thicken the sauce, mix some corn flour with water and pour it into the mixture (when you add the rest of the spring onion). Cook till it simmers.

Orange Poppy Seed Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:
(A)
Egg Yolks (4)
Plain Flour (4 tbsp)
Oil (1 tbsp)
Water (2tbsp)
Sugar (1 tbsp)
Poppy Seeds (1 tbsp)
Grated Orange Rind (1 tbsp + 1 tsp)

(B)
Egg Whites (4)
Sugar (5 tbsp)
Corn Flour (1 tbsp)


Preheat oven at 180C


Method:
1. In a bowl, beat (A) till combined.
2. In another clean and dry bowl, beat egg whites till soft peak forms.
3. Then add in sugar and corn flour. Beat till stiff. (If you turn the bowl upside down, the mixture should not fall).
4. Add 1/3 of egg whites mixture into (A). Mix till combined. Repeat with the remaining egg whites by adding 1/3 each time.
5. Pour mixture into a chiffon cake mould and bake for 40-45min or until cooked.
6. Once cooked, take it out of the oven and invert the baking pan to let the cake cool.
7. Use a thin knife to loosen the edges and the bottom of the cake and turn the cake out onto a flat plate.

Wheat Bran Orange Muffins

I ran out of bread for today’s breakfast, or that was what I thought last night. So, what’s good for breakfast and easy to make? Muffins, of course! My fridge is almost empty (OK, that’s just my interpretation when it’s running low on the things that I need) and the muffin recipe that I normally use calls for 1 cup of milk but there is no more milk at home. So, I simply replaced it with 1 cup of soy milk. There was still some soy milk powder left, so just mix that with some water and it works too!

Aren't these pretty?

Hubby just can't wait to try it....this one was just out of the oven.

Ingredients:
Wheat Bran (1/2 cup)
Plain Flour (1 ½ cup)
Sugar (3/4 cup)
Salt (1/2 tsp)
Baking Powder (3 tsp)
Egg (1)
Oil (1/4 cup)
Soy Milk (1 cup)
Grated Orange Rind (2 tbsp)
Vanilla Essence (1 tsp)

Preheat oven at 190C


Method:
1. Mix wheat bran, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix egg, oil, milk, vanilla essence and orange rind.
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Mix till combined.
4. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 25min or until cooked.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Chicken and Basil

I cooked this sometime back for dinner and enjoyed it very much. I think it was the first time I cooked with basil although I’ve always wanted to experiment with fresh basil. Simply love the taste and aroma and it’s become one of my favourite herbs.


Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Spaghetti (cooked per packet instruction)
Carrot
Chicken
Basil
Black Pepper
Light Soy Sauce
Cooking Wine
Salt
Sugar
Garlic
Onion
Olive Oil


Method:
1. Heat some oil and saute garlic and onion till it starts to brown.
2. Add in the carrot and stir fry for 1min.
3. Put in the chicken and stir fry for 1 min.
4. Season with salt, sugar and cooking wine.
5. Add in the pasta and mix well.
6. Season with light soy sauce and black pepper to taste.
7. Add in the basil and stir fry for 1/2min and it’s done!

Salmon in Ginger Soy Sauce

Another variation.

Ingredients:
Salmon
Salt
Pepper
Ginger
Spring Onion
Bell Pepper (Red & Green)
Light Soy Sauce
Water
Oil


Method:
1. Marinate salmon with salt and pepper for at least 30min.
2. Using a non stick pan, pan fry salmon until both sides are cooked. Dish up on a plate.
3. Heat a little oil and sauté ginger until fragrant.
4. Add in bell pepper. Then, add in spring onion.
5. Pour in mixture of light soy sauce and water.
6. Cook till sauce simmers and pour onto the salmon.

Marmite Salmon (Version 2)

This is usually how I cook salmon. :)

Ingredients:
Salmon
Salt
Pepper
Marmite Sauce
Sugar
Corn Flour
Water
Onion
Spring Onion


Method:
1. Marinate salmon with salt and pepper for at least 30min.
2. Using a non stick pan, pan fry salmon until both sides are cooked. Dish up on a plate.
3. Heat a little oil and stir fry onion. When onion is a little soft, add in spring onion.
4. In a bowl, mix marmite sauce, corn flour, sugar and water.
5. Pour the mixture in and cook till sauce thickens.
6. Pour onto salmon. Serve hot with rice.

Strawberry Jam Cheese Tart

These definitely don’t look as nice as those sold in the bakeries but taste just as yummy. It’s perfect for afternoon tea especially when it’s fresh out of the oven. Mine’s a bit burnt as I over-baked them a little. 10 minutes should be good.


Ingredients:
Plain Flour (250gm)
Butter (150gm)
Cold Water (a few tbsp)
Salt (1/2 tsp)
Cream Cheese (~150gm)
Butter (30gm)
Strawberry Jam


Preheat oven at 190C

Method:
1. Mix salt into the flour.
2. Dice butter (150gm) and rub it into the flour mixture.
3. Add cold water slowly to the mixture and form a dough. Do not knead.
4. Wrap dough with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30min or so.
5. Take out the dough and roll the pastry into 3-5mm thickness. Cut and press into tart mould.
6. Bake the pastry for 15-20min or until light golden brown.
7. Leave the pastry to cool.
8. Beat cream cheese with butter until light and smooth.
9. Spoon some cream cheese mixture into the pastry case. Add in some strawberry jam and swirl the mixture.
10. Bake for ~10min.

Egg-less Wheat Germ & Wheat Bran Mango Muffins

This is IT….the healthiest muffins I’ve ever baked. It has no egg but added with wheat germ and wheat bran. Check out the benefits for both wheat germ and wheat bran here:
http://www.harvestcoop.com/oldSite/pages/resource/nutrition/sndbites/496.html

I’ve always wanted to bake muffins without using egg not because I am a vegetarian (far from it ;p), but because egg is one of food to avoid if you have problems with cholesterol level. Since I omitted the egg, I added 2 more tbsp of yoghurt to the mixture but I think an extra 1 tbsp instead of 2 will do too.

The verdict? The muffins smells great when I took them out of the oven and the texture reminded me of whole wheat bread. I think it’s due to the wheat bran because I have added wheat germ before in muffins but it didn’t give the same texture as these. They’re also very moist (am sure, thanks to the yoghurt) and not too sweet. I don’t quite like the mangoes in the muffins though as it turned soft after baking. Probably, apples would be a better choice (if you do apples, make sure to add some cinnamon and nutmeg powder as these 2 spices combine so perfectly well with apples). Adding some nuts e.g. walnuts would be great too!

Oh, if you’re not a fan of whole wheat bread or anything healthy, you can skip this lest you curse me for wasting your time baking ;p


Ingredients:
Plain Flour (1 ½ cup)
Wheat Germ + Wheat Bran (1 cup)
Note: it’s up to you whether you want both in equal amounts or in different proportions
Salt (1/2 tsp)
Baking Powder (3 tsp)
Caster Sugar/ Brown Sugar (3/4 cup)
Plain Yoghurt (4 tbsp)
Milk (1 cup)
Oil (1/4 cup)


Preheat oven at 190C

Method:
1. Mix plain flour, wheat germ, wheat bran, salt and sugar well.
2. In another bowl, mix milk, yoghurt and oil.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture in no. 1.
4. Spoon into muffin cups/tray and bake for 30min or until cooked.