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...