Candy Cane 'Buns'

A-c-t-u-a-l-l-y... I have never eaten a single candy cane. I have seen them all over candy shops, especially during Christmas... But no one ever gave me one. Sob*. And whenever my children receive them in their goody bags, I quietly, secretly, discreetly... ahem... throw them away.

Because I think they are not good for health. They must be very sweet, right? Ever heard of sugar-rush? I do not like the idea of a bunch of high-on-sugar boys ruining my day or life.

Till I saw these by Wendy and I said to myself, why not? I have to try and make it. So, I made about 16 candy canes! Divided the dough into 4 portions and mix in 4 different colourings. Red, Orange, Green and Blue. And they turned out BEAUTIFUL!

Quite instantly, my kitchen worktable was transformed into a kaleidoscope of colours. Everyone who walked by my table cannot help but exclaimed how beautiful these colourful candy canes are! I packed them individually in clear wrapper and gave them away as Christmas treats. Instant hit!

Tastewise, they are really so-so. They are just very simple steamed buns. But if you ask me, I love buns. LOL. A friend commented that it took her a while to identify with the taste. She had expected to bite into a cane of sugar, only to be greeted by a plain bun.

Nonetheless, this is sure one creative way to twirl and make your mantou! And Wendy was right, this is definitely a lot healthier than the real candy cane.

Ingredients:

1tsp instant yeast
125ml water
Pinch of sugar

250gm plain flour
50gm sugar
13gm shortening (I used unsalted butter)
1tsp baking powder

Food colouring: Red, Orange, Green & Blue

Here's what I did:

1. Mix yeast with water and sugar. Stir and set aside. It should become frothy in about 10 minutes time

2. Mix plain flour, sugar and baking powder together. Put in butter and yeast mixture. Knead till a rough dough is formed.

3. Divide dough into 4 equal portions about 110gm each. Add teeny weeny drop of colouring to each part and knead until a smooth dough is formed. Cover and proof for about 30mins.

4. Make 15gm dough for each colour. I yielded about 15-16 of each colour.

5. Roll each ball into a long strand. Twirl with another colour. Place on a baking paper.

6. Complete all the twirling and twisting.

7. Let shaped dough cover and proof for another 45 mins.

8. Steam on high heat for 10-12minutes. Cool and serve. Some people like it hot, but I find it nicer warm.

(Sunken) Fruit Cake

Boys bugged me to make a fruit cake... "... Fruit cake never spoil because insects always eat it when it's rotten..." so said Grannypillar in the Hermie & Wormie's Fruit Cake Christmas cartoon.

So we went on a Fruit Cake recipe hunt. They even agreed to stay home to make it; refusing and declining all my suggestions for an outdoor play! Such was their resolution to have a fruit cake. They even suggested baking the cake and bring it to their uncle's Christmas dinner on the Eve,... "so Mom, we need to bake and try if it is nice to bring" they reasoned.

(how can my cake not be nice, come to think of it!!)

So a fruit cake we baked. I didn't want to add any of those traditional rum and liquor since this is for KIDS. And I didn't want to add any sort of nuts since this, again, is for KIDS. Thus, after much deliberation, I settled on my favorite pound cake and throw in Fruits Mix. Da daaa!!! A fruit cake is born!

What I should have done instead was to chop up the fruits mix! And because I didn't do so, the fruits sunk to the bottom of my cake during baking... Hence the name, Sunken Fruit Cake. *LOL*

Aesthetically, it sure need some improvements. But taste-wise, it's un-beatable!!! Quite unsurpassed! Wahahahahahaha... I am so happy. It tastes better than those I bought in bakery; those are somehow too sweet with a strange metallic after-taste (yucks).

My folks like it. My boys like it. Now it's up to Man to try it.

Will I bake this for my BIL's Christmas Eve dinner? Ya, perhaps. I have still a list of Christmas bakings to do. Shall see which emerge a winner -- to be decided by a jury of Boys.

Ingredients (1 loaf tin):

3 large eggs
3 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
150gm sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
150gm white sugar (I cut down to 120gm here)
185gm butter (melted)

Here's what I did:

1. Lightly combine eggs, milk and vanilla essence in a clean small bowl. Set aside.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in the mixing bowl.

3. Add butter into flour mixture and half of egg mixture.

4. Mix at low speed till the dry ingredients are moist.

5. Increase speed to medium and beat for 1 minute.

6. Reduce speed to Low, add in 1/2 of remaining egg mixture. Beat for 30 sec.

7. Add in all of remaining egg mixture and continue beating for another 30 sec.

8. Add in chopped fruits mix. Lightly combine them into batter. Pour into base-lined loaf tin.

9. Bake at 175degC for 60 mins. (check cake 3/4 way into baking. If top appears brown enough, tent it lightly and continue its remaining bake time.)

10. Insert toothpick into centre of cake to check its doneness. Once done, let it sit in the tin a short while before overturning it out to cool completely on a rack.

Before all these, pre heat your oven of course. 175degC.

...

Steamed Tau Pok

Ever read a food blog without pictures? Guess this will be it... at least for this while. So, please bear with me. *sob

Or use square tau pok

This dish is a real easy peasy lemon squeezy. Season minced pork, add in fish paste, cut in chopped chives, stuff into halved tau pok, steam on high for 15-20 mins, serve. What's so tough?!

It's such a no brainer, I wonder if I should even post it. But it's been nagging me to! It wants to be on the blog coz it's a WINNER at my table. LOL. Really, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't give this a try. It's healthy, it's easy, it's tasty.


Ingredients:

* Tau pok
* Minced pork
* Fish paste (optional)
* Chives (cut small)


Here's what I did:

1. Cut tau pok into half. Gently slice an opening for stuffing later.

2. Season minced pork with pepper, soya sauce, sesame oil and pinch of cornstarch.

3. Add in fish paste (half of minced pork portion)

4. Add in chives (chives is a must in this dish).

5. Stuff mixture into tau pok.

6. Lay them lying down on a steam plate, add water to the plate (ample to soak the tau pok slightly; you MUSTN'T miss this step of adding water!)

7. Steam on high for 15-20 mins till stuffing is cooked. Serve.


psst psst... Pardon me if my description is not so clear above. I have the photos in my Apple. Am trying hard to retrieve.

psst psst 2... yeah!!! I found my photos!(photos uploaded on 31 Dec '11)

Vegetarian Claypot

Once in a while, I will whip up this vegetarian dish, and serve it alongside a simple meat and soup. Yup!!! So that my diners will have no choice but to eat all the veg in this clay pot since there is no other available dish! Wahahahahahaaa

But, behold! This is very yummy, okay. Not totally new, nothing fanciful, just a simple claypot of fiber goodness. *smug smile*

Ingredients:

2 - 3 stalks of celery (sliced slant)
1/2 carrot (cut half length-wise, sliced thinly)
Sweet peas
Baby corn (sliced slant into 3 or 4 pieces)
Soup mushroom (cut in half)
Onion (cut chuncks)
Garlic
Salt to taste
Corn starch mixture (half tsp cornstarch, mix with water in a soup spoon)
Tofu (optional; get those for frying)
Capsicum (optional, red, yellow & green, sliced long)

Here's what I did:

1. In a heated wok with oil, fry garlic and onion till fragrant.

2. Add in capsicums, fry till fragrant.

3. Add in celery, carrot, peas and baby corn. Fry till fragrant.

4. Add in salt. Give wok a slight stir.

5. Add in 1/2 soup spoon of soya sauce. Stir fry quickly.

6. Add in soup mushroom. Continue to stir fry slightly.

7. Add in water, and a corn starch mixture. Let it simmer for a short minute.

8. Transfer into claypot and let it simmer a bit longer with the cover on.

9. Serve.

psst psst... 
* if you don't have a claypot, don't fret. It can be served in a bowl like always.
* if you like to add in tofu, then you deep-fry your tofu coated with plain flour. Set aside. Add into dish at the last stage during the simmering.
* if you like to add in a meat, you may... try prawns. Remove shells and devein prawns, add in after capsicums and when cooked, remove and set aside first. Add into dish at the last stage during simmering (this is to prevent the prawn from being overcooked).

Apple died

Never knew it can be so devastating. And I thought modern technology is supposed to enhance your life! I feel rather enslaved by IT.

I have to live my days without Chat, without emails, without online shopping, online news etc etc etc... I felt so handicapped. And I had to beg Man to repair it quickly. Had to rely on this iPad to blog / check mails / shop / read but realized it's super unfriendly! The trouble one has to go through urgh...

I hope my Apple will come back quickly! Silly dumbo me, didn't do the last backup... And I had all my foodie photos in there! WAIL!

What am I to doooooooooo?!?!?!!! I miss my apple.

Pork Ribs Salmon Belly Soup

Another one of my boys' favorite soup, because 1) they love celery, 2) they love salmon, 3) they love porky,... basically, 4) they love soup.

This soup is power-packed with all imaginable goodness. Read the ingredients and you will know what I mean.

Ingredients:

Pork Ribs
Salmon Belly
Celery (diced, 2 stalks)
1 Carrot (diced)
1 Tomato (diced)
1 Potato (diced)
Pepper corn (handful, crushed slightly, packed into soup stock bag)
Ginger (sliced)
Salt to taste
Tofu (optional)

Here's what I did:

1. Blanch the pork ribs, and cook a pork rib soup (I cooked this early in the morning in my thermal pot, and set aside till ready to prepare dinner).

2. Rinse salmon belly and descale them. Cut away sections of salmon belly with fins / bones. Do not discard these. Put them into a soup stock bag with sliced ginger (This is prevent the bones from going into the soup during boiling).

3. Add diced celery, carrot, tomato, potato into soup. Add in the pepper corn stock bag, and salmon belly bones' stock bag.

4. When the soup is boiling, add in the salmon belly. Add salt to taste.

5. Bring soup to a boil and simmer in low fire for 15mins. Ready to serve.

Sweet & Sour Pork

One of my favorite dish at Zi Char store, and now it has become a regular family dish at my table :)

I always wonder how did the store make the pork so sweet, so succulent, so yummy... whilst those that I have tried at home just couldn't make it! I tried with those from the Supermarket labelled "sweet & sour pork", but failed. It turned out... ermmm... just not there -- not as tender as I would like it. Then I decided to experiment with a different type of pork - Pork Fillet and diced them for this dish.

Viola! I got it right!!!! So proud of myself!

Pork Fillet (aka yao1 rou4)... according to my Mom, is the best part of the pig. It's the most tender of all; so far, she has been right (how could I ever doubt her?!). I love pork fillet fried with sliced ginger and garlic with sesame oil -- one of those regular confinement dish.

PF is so versatile! I simply love it *wink*


Ingredients:

Pork Fillet (cubed; about 2cm)
A>> Sesame oil
A>> Soya sauce
A>> Dash of pepper
A>> Corn starch
A>> Plain flour
A>> 1 egg
Onion (cut to chunks)
Garlic
Red, Yellow & Green peppers (cut to chunks)
1 soup spoon Tomato ketchup
Water
Sugar to taste


Here's what I did:

1. Season cubed pork fillet with A. The end mixture with the inclusion of the egg should be rather wet and starchy. When you lift up a piece of pork, the flour mixture should be nicely coated onto it.

2. Deep fry the pork till golden brown. Set aside.

3. In a wok, heat up oil, fry garlic and onion till fragrant.

4. Add in red, yellow and green peppers. Fry till fragrant.

5. In a separate bowl, add water to tomato ketchup (ratio 2 to 1) and add sugar to taste. Pour mixture into wok and stir.

6. Add in fried pork and mix them together till well coated with sauce. Add in water as required to reach the right consistency -- slightly thick sauce.

7. Serve.



psst psst...
* My friend asked if I can (kindly) include the proportion of my ingredient on the blog. For an amateur like herself, that will be most useful. I know I know... but the thing with me is, I cook and marinate my dish according to my 'gut feeling'. I don't have strict measurement to follow. Believe me or not, I never taste my dish before serving. They are based on judgement. But ok, ok... I will try to make notes next time.
* Zi char store surely did not use PF ok. Their trick is to use baking soda while marinating the meat to make them tender and soft. For my home cooking, I simply change the meat, else use baking soda.

......

Cinnamon Bread Roll

I never liked cinnamon. I find the smell... mmm... how should I describe... to say the least, repulsive. Its too sweet-smelling for my liking; I always walk away when I smell it in the store / bakery / cafe.

Yet, magic happened! It actually happened to me!

I saw some very enticing cinnamon bread bun in some blogs. HappyFlour, Happy Home Baking,... and I was tempted to try. No looking back since! I LOVE it! And I figured it was because, as with anything home baked, you are IN CONTROL - of the ingredient, the quantity, the proportion!

The key lies in the amount of cinnamon you use. And ahem,... I use just enough to get the taste... far from overpowering. Man says I can afford to go a bit heavier on the cinnamon since he can't taste it. *roll eyeball*

For the sweet bread roll, I adapted from Table for 2  Sweet Bread & Bun, but less the Milk Powder, and made some fine adjustments.



Ingredients:

500gm Bread Flour
80gm Sugar

11gm Yeast
220ml of water
pinch of sugar
1 egg

85gm butter
1/2 tsp salt

Cinnamon Filling:
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar
Butter (for spread)

Here's what I did:

1. Following the order of my breadmaker, I set the machine to Dough and let it knead and proof.

2. Take out the proofed dough from maker, on a lightly floured surface, punch down and knead for a further 1min.

3. Roll the dough into a rectangular piece as thin as possible (about 5mm thick, estimate only). With a butter knife, I spread butter on it.

4. In a clean bowl, mix cinnamon and brown sugar. Sprinkle cinnamon filling and brush them on the buttered dough. Roll it up swiss roll style.

5. Cut into 1 - 1.5inch long. Lay them swirl side up, close to each other on the bake tray.

6. Cover and let it proof for another hour till double (the rolls should be sticking to each other by now). When ready to bake, do an egg wash on the surface and sprinkle some cinnamon filling on top.

7. Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for 20 mins until golden brown.

psst psst...
* I have some leftover dough and can't squeeze them into the bake tray anymore, so, I use my muffin tray and have about 2-3 rolls in each pocket.
* I use disposable HomeProud aluminum bake tray.
* Since Man said I can afford to put more cinnamon, I will try 3tbsp cinnamon + 4tbsp brown sugar the next time. :)

The Power of a Praying Parent

What should I say about this book?

You know, I never fancy female authors. I find male authors more 'crisp' (aka crispier. LOL)... matter-of-fact... to the point... less words more impact... factual... less emotive...

The same can be said about all my other favorite authors... Tom Clancy, Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham,...

Somehow, Jodi Picoult of the world doesn't quite appeal to me. I have no idea why. Perhaps the only other female authors that I like are Tess Gerristen, Patricia Cornwell... And when it comes to Devotional Titles like these, almost no female authors appeal to me.




Take a look at the state of my book. LOL. Can you beat that?!

But I have to read this book. And I'm loving every minute of it. Not only does it lead me to pray more fervently for my boys, it opens my eyes to the Heart of my Creator -- the Originator of Life and Creator of Heaven and Earth.

I'm doing this as a weekly devotional prayer book with a group of 2 other ladies. And I'm so blessed by them. By their sharing, encouragements, support and prayers.

Weekly we gather together to go through chapter, sharing and praying for our broods.

One of my greatest reflections and awakenings from this book -- God my Creator, loves my boys more than anything else. And wants our partnership with Him to bring our children into His Fold. The author leads us into prayer for allllllllllll aspects of our children's life. From Praying Through a Child' Room (Chap18) to Growing in Faith (Chap 30), it releases power unto the child as we sojourn through this space. Nothing is trivial in God's sight -- no matter what we think otherwise.

My boys are young - 6y, 2y and 4m. Just the right time to start praying and committing them to a lifetime of holiness unto the Lord. Really, as we live in this world, are you not troubled by its standards, its decaying morals, the lies and deception? Where is our Hope? I put my Faith in the Infallible God.

And so, I urge Christian parents to get hold of this book and get hold of God for your children.They are too precious to be left on their own in this lost world.

"Behold! Children are a heritage from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward." (Psalm 127:3)


........

Beef Lasagna

It's been a long time since I last baked this for lunch. It's my boys' favorite -- like I said, they like anything CHEESE. And I am very generous with my mozzarella. LOL

I did it slightly differently from all the other recipes that I read and find. I 'cheated' with Campbell's Creamy instant soup as its base. *wink* But hey! It tastes good okay!

Ingredients (serve 2):
200gm minced beef
Diced carrot
Diced french beans
Diced tomato
Campbell's Cream of Corn (soup powder, mixed in hot water per instructions)
1 tsp tomato ketchup
Water
Sugar to taste (optional)
Sheets of San Remo Instant Lasagna
Mozzarella cheese

Here's what I did:

1. Season minced beef with salt, pepper and some herbs (I use Masterfood Mixed Herbs), and a pinch of corn starch.


2. In a pan, fry minced beef with carrot, french beans and tomato. Add in Campbell's soup base and add more water to make the mixture slightly more watery.

3. Add in 1 tsp of tomato ketchup to achieve that 'red' base lasagna. Add sugar to taste (optional).

4. Let it cool. In the meantime, soak the lasagna sheets in warm water.

5. Prepare the baking tray and scoop the Beef mixture onto its base. Follow by cheese, then a sheet of lasagna. Next, the beef mixture, then cheese and another sheet of lasagna. So on and so forth, ending with a generous topping of cheese.

6. Tent the lasagna bake tray. Bake in a cold oven 200degC for 30mins.

7. Remove the cover and bake for another 20mins or until golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and let it cool for a further 10mins to set the pasta. Serve.

.....

Rose Bun (steamed mantou)

Recipe by Table for 2... or more

I fell in love with these when I saw them! They are soooooooooo pretty. So I had to make them. Which I did. And I'm deeply infatuated. I kept buying the Purple Sweet Potato to make these till the lady at the Supermarket asked me what do I use those Purple Sweet Potato for? I'm about the only customer who kept asking for them. LOL.

I was so happy because not only are these Purple Sweet Potatoes sweet for this bun, they are also perfect to steam and eat on its own, and for making sweet potato soup.

This is not the first time I made these Purple bun... about the 5th or 6th time. And I decided to halve the dough and substitute with Pumpkin! And viola!!!! Yellow bun!!!!

Pretty aren't they? *wink*

















Ingredients:

250gm purple sweet potato (skin removed, steamed)
200gm water
500gm plain flour
1tsp baking powder
10gm sugar
1/4 tsp salt
50gm unsalted butter (melted)
11gm instant yeast

Here's what I did:

1. Mash steamed sweet potato with 150gm water.

2. In a clean cup, dissolve the yeast in 50gm water.

3. Mix everything (except butter) in a bowl until combined to form a dough.

4. Knead in butter until dough is smooth.

5. Cover and let it proof until double for about an hour.

6. Punch down and knead for 1-2 mins.

7. Divide dough into group of 6 balls, each about 10-12gm (6 balls form one rose).

8. With a rolling pin, flatten each ball into flat round shape. Line them up, overlapping each other in a straight roll.

9. Starting from the bottom piece, roll the 6-overlapping-dough swiss roll style. As tight as you can.

10. With a slightly damped chopstick, saw the rolled dough into half. Place it on baking paper.

11. Steam on high heat for 10-15mins.

psst psst...
* To keep them overnight, let it cool completely and store in fridge.
* To make the yellow pumpkin bun, I replaced purple sweet potato with pumpkin and reduced water to 160mg total (pumpkin tend to have higher water content).
* The dough will continue to proof during shaping time, so unless you want FAT roses, you have to work fast. Otherwise, keep the dough in the fridge covered to slow down the proofing.

Glutinous Rice

Are you like me?
Do you like sticky rice?
Do you like dried shrimp?
Do you like diced mushrooms?
Do you like GLUTINOUS RICE?!

I love them. It reminds me of my childhood when my paternal grandmother used to make it. And my mom used to make that too! I love the smell, the taste, the texture! And I had to learn to make it, no matter what! So I asked my Mom to teach me... and never realised it's soooooooooooo easy! Wow man! Why did I ever bother to buy from outside?!

And to my surprise, even Man likes glutinous rice too! He never tell, so I never knew. Why didn't I ever asked? Hmmm... ...

So, this time, I had some leftover Black Soya Sauce Pork Belly... and wonder what else can I do with it other than to heat it up and serve at the table again. Till a great idea bings in my head!... Glutinous Rice! yummmm...

But now, for the life of me, I can't find the picture that I took of it! And the rice is warmly tucked into my tummy now!... arggghhhhhh... Will post pictures the next time I make them again (just made over the weekend; and as my Mom says, cannot eat glut-rice too often!... don't know why, do you?). Just made them again yesterday and managed to post the pictures here... pics posted on 16 Nov '11.


Ingredients:

1 1/2 C of Glutinous Rice
Handful of Dried Shrimp (rinsed, and soaked)
2 pieces of Dried Scallop (rinsed, and soaked)
3 Dried Mushrooms (rinsed, and soaked, sliced / diced)
Pork Belly (leftover, sliced)
Pork Belly soya sauce (leftover)
Garlic (chopped to bits)

Here's what I did:

1. Rinsed and soak glutinous rice for at least 4 hrs (I soaked them overnight)

2. At the same time, soak dried shrimp, dried scallop and dried mushrooms -- in separate bowls.

3. In a hot wok, add oil and fry garlic till fragrant.

4. Add in dried shrimp, dried scallop and diced mushrooms. Fry till fragrant (do not throw away the bowls of 'soaking water').

5. Add in sliced pork belly.

6. Add in glutinous rice (discard water).

7. Mix and fry all ingredients until well combined. Add in the bowls of soaking water and soya sauce. Add in additional salt / seasoning if desired. (You may wish to go slightly heavier on the seasoning because the rice is tasteless and it does take away the taste a bit).

8. Add in more water to make the ingredients slightly wet. (It will be rather starchy at this stage because of the glutinous rice grains, and that is fine).

9. Transfer into aluminum foil dish and wrap to steam on high for 30mins.

10. Let it cool and serve (with diced spring onions and deep fried shallots - optional).


psst psst... Ever gone to restaurant and packed Kong Bah Bao home? Now, that is the best pork you can add into this glutinous rice! Just remember NOT TO discard the sauce. Dump it all in and fry ;)

.....

Featherlight Cheesecake

Recipe adapted from Alex Goh - Fantastic Cheesecake

My BOYS loooooove this cheesecake!... Gone in one seating. Pant pant... that means I have to bake them again :)

It's delightfully easy to make, no fuss really! And it tastes great!... Just the right Cheesey taste... not too sweet, and not at all heavy / dense -- quite unlike those New York Cheesecake. Afterall,  it is called "Featherlight" and it truly lives up to its name!

Ingredients:

250gm Milk
20gm Butter
125gm Cream Cheese
50gm Flour (I used plain flour)
3 Egg Yolks
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 Egg Whites
1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar
80gm Sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp Coffee Emulco


Here's what I did:

1. I used a 20cm springform round pan. Line base with baking paper, Wrap aluminium foil round the pan, and prepare a water-bath tray.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream cream cheese until smooth.

3. Bring Butter and Milk to a low boil, and combine with creamed cream cheese. Mix until well blended.

4. Add flour and mix until well combined. Add in egg yolks and vanilla essence. Mix until well blended.

5. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy, add in pinch of salt and cream of tartar. Continue to beat till soft peak.

6. Add in sugar in 3 successions. Continue beating until stiff.

7. Pour in 1/3 of the egg white into the Cream Cheese mixture and fold in gently but quickly.

8. Pour all of the Cream Cheese mixture into the remaining egg white, fold in till well combined.

9. Reserve about 2tbs of the batter. Add in 1 tsp of coffee emulco into this. Stir and mix well.

10. Pour the Cheese batter into pan. Drip the coffee batter on top. Swirl with a butter knife to make marble pattern.

11. Bake in (hot) water bath at 160deg for 50-60mins. Or until centre is set and golden brown. Insert a toothpick to test. Toothpick should come out clean.

12. With a knife, slice the cake away from the side of the pan (else, it will shrink greatly). Remove pan from water bath tray, and return cake (still in pan) into oven with door ajar to cool. (This step should not take more than 30 sec; so work fast!)

13. Chill in fridge and serve.

.......

Baked Chicken with Vegetables

This is my best ever one-tray dish! But be warned that it does take a bit of time to prepare because of the hours required in seasoning the chicken thighs...

However, you will be greatly rewarded with a deeply flavoursome dish at your dining table! The chicken thigh is juicy, succulent and tender! Probably due to the slow bake. The gravy is superbly tasty.

With this dish, there's NO need to prepare any soup to accompany your meal. Serve with rice or pasta as you so fancy ;)

Ingredients:

Chicken legs/thighs (whole)
1 whole onion (sliced)
1 Potato (sliced; I used Russet Potato)
Broccoli (sliced - flat-wise)
Cauliflower (sliced - flat-wise)
Capsicum (3 types, sliced)
1 Carrot (sliced)
Celery (couple of stalks)
1 Tomato (sliced)


Here's what I did:

1. Marinate chicken thighs generously with pepper, sesame oil, and soya sauce. Sprinkle some herbs (optional; I used Masterfoods Mixed Herbs). Cover and chill in fridge for at least 4 hrs (Turning thighs over mid-way).


2. Pre-heat oven to 200degC. Take marinated chicken out of fridge.

3. With a pot of water just enough to cover these vegetables, bring the Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrot, Celery, and Potato to a low boil -- enough to soften the vegetables slightly. Add in a pinch of salt.

4. In the baking tray, lay onions.

5. Drain the boiled vegetables and lay them over onions (do not discard water). Followed by capsicums and lastly, tomato.

 6. Scoop in some boiled water -- just enough to cover the layers of vegetables.

7. Place chicken thighs on top. Skin side up. Drizzle the marinate-juice onto chicken. Sprinkle some more herbs as desired.

8. Bake at 200 degC for 30mins.

9. Flip chicken over and return to oven for another 20-25mins.

10. Lastly, turn chicken over (skin side up again) and bake for 5-10mins or till skin is golden brown. Serve.

Steamed Tofu with Black Bean Paste

Now, this is something really healthy, oil-free and super nutritious!

Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork in Black Bean Paste. Preparation time: 15mins, Cook time: 15-20mins


Ingredients:

One pack of rectangular Tofu (for soup / steaming)
Minced pork (2/3 portion; season with pinch of salt, pepper, corn starch)
Fish paste (1/3 portion; optional)
Spring onion (diced)
Dried mushroom (soaked, soften & diced)
Black bean mixture (1 tsp black bean paste, 2-3 spoon soup of water, sugar to taste)





 Here's what I did:

1. Mix seasoned minced pork, fish paste, spring onion, and mushroom in a clean bowl.

2. Slice tofu (as seen on picture).

3. Starting with a first layer of tofu, follow by spreading some pork mixture, then another layer of tofu, so on and so forth, ending with a layer of pork mixture.

4. Steam on high for 15-20mins.













5. In a wok, heat up oil, pan fry leftover pork mixture (if any).

6. Pour in black bean mixture and stir till hot. Mixture should be rather watery. Add more water if desired. Taste and add more sugar if needed (to counter the saltiness of the black bean paste)

7. When steamed tofu is ready, pour hot black bean mixture over. Sprinkle with some chinese parsley and serve.

Baked Roti Prata

Now!... This is something new!... and already, I'm IN LOVE!

The crust when baked is amazingly crispy! Somewhat like those filo-puff pastry with its thousand layers of crusty crumby sheets!... yummmmmm...

Okay, yesterday, I experimented with sausage and cheese fillings, and today, I'm trying it with Char Siew and lotus seed paste.

They are now browning nicely in the oven... can't wait!

Ingredients:
Packet of instant roti prata dough
Fillings (of your choice; preferably dry sort)
Egg (egg wash)
Sesame seeds (optional)

Here's what I did:
1. Work with slightly thawed roti prata dough sheet

2. Cut round roti prata dough sheet into half

3. Place fillings on quarter circle, and fold semi circle in. Pinch edge to seal / use fork to press down to seal (making it look like curry puff edges)

4.  Egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds on surface (optional).

5. Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 30 min at 200deg or until golden brown. Turn puff over and bake for a slight 3-5min.

Tiger / Endo Thermal Pot

When my career-driven, high fashioned girlfriend first told me about this Pot she bought for her new house 4 years ago, I was skeptical. Come on! What does a hardly-step-into-kitchen-barely-lifted-a-wok girl know about POTS!!?

Yet, as I listened to her and the sales lady (u know those very experienced, motherly sales Aunty) at Takashimaya Home Section, I knew I was caught. I parted with $268 for a 4.5L Tiger Thermal Pot, and it came FREE with a Endo 2.5L Thermal Pot. (I congratulated myself for the free pot *wink*)

I cooked its maiden soup in the Tiger, and I was bowed over! I thanked my girlfriend profusely! Now I feel like a real chef! The soup was magic (though I cant quite remember what soup was that... Must be something pork...).

You see, a soup is good when the ingredients and ALL its flavour FuSED together in every spoonful u drink! Yum! You must be able to taste the different parts in its entirety. And that can mean hours and hours of low-fire boiling over the stove, or long hours in the slow cooker. Talk about conserving gas and electricity.

So then what happens if you are working full-time with NO time to cook? Or like me, a SAHM with young children to attend to, meals to prepare, diapers to change, clothes to iron, books to read, friends to catch up with,... ... I cannot afford to stand at the fire even if I can afford the gas.

Thermal Pot! I call it the Magic Pot :)

The Endo comes with a Inner Pot and a shallow Inner Tray, with a lid. These 3 parts sit inside the Thermal Pot, and using the same keep-warm logic of a thermal flask, the Thermal Pot traps the heat from the Inner Pot, and allows the content to self cook and keep warm!

Of course there are some tricks I have learnt overtime on efficient heating/cooking. First, the soup content must be at least half of the Inner Pot volume. Next, you must transfer the Inner Pot quickly, immediately from the fire to the Thermal Pot, and close the Thermal Pot lid. Do not open and peek too often as this will cause it to lose its heat. If time allows, 2-3 hours before serving, reboil the Inner Pot for another 5 mins. This, I find, really helps to keep the soup Hot, and contents Soft. Though some friends only heat up just before serving, while others didn't even bother with either.

The shallow tray is for any other things that you want to keep warm (yay, by borrowing the heat from the soup below). So when Man is coming back late from work, I will place his rice, and dish in the shallow tray with the soup in the pot for him. That way, we save on electricity to keep rice warm, heat up soup, microwave the dishes blar blar...

I have cooked all kinds of things in these pots... Oxtail soup (ya! The oxtail is soft and it tears away from the bones and it melts in your mouth and it... ... Unimaginable!) My daily pork ribs soup,... Curry Chicken,... Chicken soup,... Porridge, Brown rice porridge... Many many...

The Tiger is simple. It is just a big soup pot that you boil with and keep in the Tiger Thermal Pot. Viola!

No more bad, shallow-tasting soup that taste like water with pork, but deeply flavorsome soup that wins Praises, and Hearts. :)
...

Only Time Will Tell -- Jeffrey Archer

I devoured this book in two days... Stealing moments from toilet breaks,... while nursing my new-born,... while boys nap,... even during night-feeds! And oh, staying awake while waiting for Man to return from late work... just to catch a paragraph, a section, even a chapter.

Basically I speed read this book.

How not to?! I waited so long for a good read! Can't remember when was the last time a book so captivated me. Since The Kite Runner when it first debut in... Err... 2005?

Anyway this book is great! I love family saga. This is the first of its 5-part series of the Clifton Chronicles. The story revolves round the lower class family of dock workers and the wealthy, influential Barringtons. It is set in the early twentieth century, spanning across the world wars. In fact it ended just when Harry Clifton decide to enlist. It promises to bring to life hundred years of recent history to reveal a family story.

Absurdly splendid!! Now I have to wait for its part II. March 2012 I heard...


...

Black Bean Pork Ribs Soup

One of the most hearty soups I love! Do you know black beans are an excellent source of protein, fiber and antioxidant properties - among many other benefits?

Particularly true when the weather has turned cool, this soup warms up the body due to the beans nutrition. Thank goodness my boys enjoy this soup very much (they are soup lovers)! So I had no problem making them finish their bowls. Often, they will have seconds! *wink*

Ingredients:

Pork ribs - blanched (depending on no of people at the table, I usually cook about 6-8pieces)
120gm black beans (rinsed)
Water - 6 soup bowls
1 Honey date
Wolfberry (handful) - optional
Salt to taste


Here's what I did:
1. In the Endo inner pot, bring half portion of the water to a boil.

2. Add in the blanched pork ribs and honey date. Boil for about 15-20mins. Remove pot from fire and place into the thermal pot to self-cook.

 3. Fry the rinsed black beans in a clean wok (do not use oil nor seasoning).





















4. Continue frying the beans till you see them 'crack open', ie. clear white line appears across the middle of the beans (this step helps to quicken the softening of the beans)

5. Transfer fried beans to slow cooker, pour in the remaining half portion of water and set on high.

6. Slow cook for about 2hrs.

7. Transfer slow-cooked beans soup into the pork ribs soup. Bring Soup to a boil, add wolfberry and salt to taste.

8. Return pot to thermal pot and let it self-cook further.









 







psst psst...
~ I have this habit of placing a porcelain soup spoon while boiling my beans. So I placed it in the slow cooker.
~ I use my 2L Thermal Pot to cook all my soups. For bigger portion, I use the 4.5L Tiger Thermal Pot. Hmmmm... I should blog about these pots! They are MAGIC! Bare with me while I gather photos and post them.
~ The longer the Soup stays in the thermal pot, the softer the ribs and beans will be. I let mine stay in there for at least 6hrs.

Brazilian Cheeseballs

My boys love CHEESE. Which is fine by me... Well, you see, they are not regular milk drinkers. What other ways to supplement their calcium intake than cheese, I told myself. And so I went on a Cheese-hunt... in the supermarket and the world-wide-web! *wink*

I chanced upon this Brazilian delicacy, and I jumped right into action. My gut was right! This is really yummy! Introduced to a couple of friends and they agreed too!

Easy to source, a breeze to make, zippy to bake,... And most importantly, quick to finish!

Going to make this again,... and again...

Ingredients:

1c milk
1/2c water
1/2c vegetable oil (I use my normal cooking oil)
1 tsp salt
2c tapioca flour
2 eggs
2c cheese

psst psst...
- Original recipe calls for grated parmesan cheese but I'm not a fan of that as much as I loooove mozzarella! So I used 1 1/2c mozzarella and 1/2c Parmesan.


Here's what I did:
1. Preheat oven to 180degC

2. In a pot, pour together the water, milk, oil and salt. Bring mixture to a low boil. Remove from fire once it starts to boil.

3. Add in tapioca flour and stir with a wooden spoon as fast as possible. (At this point, I switched to using my hand-held electric mixer with dough hook). Once dough is formed, transfer into a mixing bowl and let it cool for about 10mins.

4. Add in eggs and continue to mix (it gets really sticky)

5. Once eggs are fully incorporated, add in your cheese and continue to mix till smooth.

6. Using 2 teaspoons to scoop and shape the dough into small balls (I avoided using my hands coz it is really sticky by now). Place them an inch or so apart from each other on baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper.

7. Bake for 20-25 mins till golden brown.

8. Serve warm.

(if it's cooled, do not heat up in the microwave oven. Heat up in your oven/toaster instead. You may freeze the baked balls for consumption later! Simply zip them up in a airtight ziplock or container and send to the freezer)


Recipe from YumSugar

Dreadful HFMD

Yes... It was right... Son1 contacted HFMD. So he's been home bounded.

The very next day, Son2 was found with spots in his mouth after complaining of PAIN! " mommmmy, painfffuullll...!'

And so, he was packed home to join his elder brother.

That's not the end. Coz next day, lo and behold!! I found spots in MY mouth. Wail wail sob... The GP confirmed that me, the Great Mother, has caught it too. The doc warned, time and again, to watch out for my NB. Barely 4-months old, it will be unimaginable if he too catches it.

Immediately, I sent out SMSes to my prayer group, to pray for divine protection over the baby!

Well... 7 days have passed since Son1's first contact. Son3 is doing well! PTL!!! Besides the occasional fussing, he is not doing that bad really! Low grade fever has since subsided. Son1 & 2, too are recovering well... Back to being themselves, eating and drinking well.

PTL!

Now, am wondering when should I pack and head back home... ... Coz really, it is rather quiet n serene here at my mom's house -- with only my dad, baby and I. ;p Hmmmm... ...

What an adventure...

It all started on Tuesday. Like always, I woke up to get my boys ready for the day. After settling their breakfast, I happily sent off my first-born to school! Thinking to myself... Well, now I have the other 2 boys to attend to. Phew...

Barely 30mins after he left the house, my phone rang... And my nightmare began. The school office administrator was on the line. As any parent will tell you... We 'tremble' at the sound of the school office on the phone...

"Mrs Ong... I'm calling from XX school... Can u kindly arrange for someone to pick him up and bring him to the doctor..." ... ... "Yes Mrs Ong, you see, we found spots on his palms and ulcers in his mouth... ..."

WHAT?!?? My alarm went off! In my mind, images quickly connived! I have to bring him,... I have to arrange pickup... I have to plan relocating if the worst is true... I have to separate the boys... I should... Or, wait, should I... No, that's right, I should call my husband!

I jumped into action!!!

In less than an hour, I had him diagnosed, packed my bags. And in less than 2 hours, I handed him over to my mom (bless her heart! She has agreed to stay over at my place, while I will move out to hers with my other two sons), told her the whole list of to-dos, instructed my helper, said goodbye to my first-born... After a teary goodbye, we set off with a heavy heart.

All these because of my 3-month old new-born.

Never did I realized, we have to be away for a minimum of 10 days. Sob...