Raisin scones

Scone is a small British quickbread of Scottish origin. The original scone was round and flat, usually the size of a small plate. It was made with unleavened oats and baked on a griddle, then cut into triangle-like quadrants for serving. Today, scones sold commercially are usually round in shape but homemade scones have taken into various shapes: triangles, rounds and squares.

What is a good scone?

I can’t agree more to Regan Daley’s from Fine Cooking on his definition of good scone. He wrote in his article “Truly Tender Scones” that a good scone is a beautiful balance of opposites: rich but light, tender but sturdy, satisfyingly sweet but not overly so. He also emphasized that the key to master the technique for scone dough is to mix as little yet as thoroughly as you can.... even novice bakers can get used to the feel of the dough without sacrificing tenderness.

Recently, my family members are “addicted” to scones. This includes my mother-in-law who doesn’t have a sweet tooth. But it is not easy though to find good scones around our neighbourhood bakeries. We did come across one that sells reasonably good scones that are to our liking. However, its scones are always sold out early. Because of this, I decided to bake my own scones. To my surprise, it is easier than I had imagined. It only requires a few simple ingredients and the method is easy enough to follow. No kneading is required. However, there is one thing you need to be extra careful, i.e. you must understand the technique in preparing the dough. Even then, it should not put anyone off as a novice baker like me had passed my first attempt with "flying colours"!

As forewarned, the making of good scones lies in the technique itself. If you are one who is looking for stress-releasing recipes, this one is surely not your type. Unlike the making of pizza and fish paste, this following recipe requires you to handle the dough as gentle as possible. The lesser you work at it, the more tender the scones will become. Doesn't this sound great to all the novice bakers!

Recipe adapted and modified from Mitong’s blog (originated from Farmgirl’s Cranberry Christmas Scones) and technique adapted from House of Annie’s blog (originated from Fine Cooking Magazine) Yields: 10 large or 12 small scones Ingredients: 2¼ cup unbleached/ plain flour 1 tbsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda (I substitute it with ½ tsp baking powder) ¼ cup granulated sugar ½ tsp salt ½ cup (110g) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes (½ inch ) ¾ cup raisins (can be substituted with dried currants) - soaked with 2 tbsp of hot water for 5 mins, squeezed away the water ¾ cup yogurt mixture (3 tbsp yogurt + some fresh milk + ½ egg) or ¾ cup buttermilk Egg wash: ½ egg + 1 tbsp milk – beat well with a fork Methods: (A) Mixing of ingredients 1) Preheat oven to 200ºC. Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper. 2) In a large mixing bowl, add in flour, baking powder and baking soda and whisk until mix well. Sieve 2-3 times (see Note a) 3) Add in sugar and salt. Mix well. 4) Add in butter cubes. Use a pastry blender (see photo below), table knife, fork or tips of fingers to cut butter into the flour mixture until it forms coarse crumbles. (see Note b) 5) Add in raisins and stir gently until well combined. 6) Beat yogurt, milk and egg until well combined. Gently fold the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing lightly just until no dry flour is visible (see Note c & d). The dough will be wet and sticky. (B) Shaping the dough 1) Sprinkle flour lightly on both the dough and the work top. Turn the dough out and roughly work it into a ball. Press the ball down into a rectangular shape. Sprinkle some flour if the dough is still wet. 2) Fold the dough like the way you fold a business envelope (in 3rd, 1st first right fold to center, then left fold to center). It is alright if the dough is still quite shaggy and loose at this stage. 3) Then press the dough down to form either a circle or a rectangular. For circle, cut it into 8 large or 16 small triangle scones. For rectangular, cut it into 10 large or 12 small squares. Push the edges roughly to shape it into a round scone. You can also use a cookie cutter or an upside-down juice glass to cut out the scones. 4) Dip the top lightly on the egg wash and then brush it with the remaining egg wash again. Place them on a baking tray, spacing them about 4cm apart. 5) Bake for 15 – 20 mins (depending on the shape and size of your scones) until golden brown on top. Turn the baking tray over if the scones are not evenly baked. Let it cool on a rack and serve warm. Alternatively, let it cool completely and store in an airtight container or keep in the freezer. 6) How to eat scones? Cut the scones into half and spread butter/ cream/ jam onto it. And, it is best enjoyed together with a cup of coffee or tea! Note: a) To avoid any bitter taste that can be caused by the large amount of baking powder used in the recipe, it is important that the flour and baking powder are blended well and sieved for several times. b) It is advisable to use a pastry blender (see photos below) to cut the butter as it releases less heat to avoid melting the butter when mixing of ingredients. c) Do not knead or overwork the dough. The less you work it, the tenderer and flakier it will be. Do not pour the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients all in one go. Add in little by little and stop once a loose dough is formed. You need not finish using all the yogurt mixture. d) Quality of butter is important to give your scones a more buttery flavour. I suggest that you select a premium brand such as Luprak in making your scones. It definitely makes a difference in the taste.

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Sausage rolls

(My "night" project...roll with cocktail sausage fresh from the oven)

I always wish that I can make some bread and rolls for my family since we eat them for breakfast almost every day. As we say a wish is still a wish if no action is taken. But when I chanced upon Elinluv’s blog, I was so inspired with her success story in making sausage rolls (originated from dailydelicious). What makes me even keener in trying out this recipe is her creativity in baking 3 different types of buns using the same dough for sausage rolls. Then I started daydreaming....how nice if one day I can bake all these buns like her.

At dinnertime, when my son overheard my conversation with my hubby about making these sausage rolls, he was so excited and kept pestering me to make them on that particular night. He even offered to go straight to bed without his daily routine story-telling session. From this, you can imagine how “wai sek” (greedy) my son is! I was so touched with his eagerness and of course, he won the deal! This meant that I had to complete the project on the night itself by hook or by crook!! From mixing, kneading till baking, it took nearly 3 hours (much of the time was spent waiting for the dough to rise)! It was already passed midnight when the finished “products” were done. I was really thrilled to see the freshly baked sausage rolls coming out from my own oven! Overall, the buns tasted great. Just that they are a little bit dry the next day. Probably the problems lied on my poor kneading skills and placing the baking sheet at a lower rack during baking. Despite of this, my hubby and son finished all the buns within 2 days. It’s certainly worth the time and effort that goes into the “project”. I will definitely give this recipe another go….maybe not another night project…. (When? This is a secret to be kept from my son….. Shhhhh!)

Recipe adapted from dailydelicious (here and here)
For step-by-step instructions, please refer to this link.

Ingredients:
300g bread flour
5g instant dried yeast
10g sugar
6 g salt
30g unsalted butter (soft)
220-230g 1 egg plus whole milk (I used fresh milk)
8 pieces normal size sausages (I used 8 cocktail sausages and 4 normal sausages)
Egg wash - 1 egg plus 2 tsp water

Methods:
1) Put ½ portion of the flour and yeast in a bowl, whisk to combine, add sugar and salt and whisk again.
2) Pour the egg and milk mixture into the bowl. Use a large spoon (or pastry scraper) to mix everything together.
3) Put the remaining ½ portion of the flour into the bowl and knead briefly to combine all the ingredients.
4) Take the dough out of the bowl and knead. You will feel the dough become elastic after kneading for about 5 minutes.
5) Add butter and knead by using the heel of your hands to compress and push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself. Give the dough a little turn and repeat. Put the weight of your body into the motion and get into a rhythm. Keep folding over and compressing the dough. Knead for 5-10 minutes or until the dough is soft, pliable, smooth and slightly shiny, almost satiny. Or you can also try stretching part of the dough, if it can stretch into a thin sheet without breaking, the dough is well-kneaded.
6) Put the dough into a lightly buttered bowl and cover with damp cloth. Let the dough rise in a warm place until its size doubles (1 – 1 ½ hour depending on the room temperature).
7) Take the dough out of the bowl, deflate it by touching lightly.
8) Cut the dough into 8 pieces, roll into a ball and let them rest for 10 minutes (cover with damp cloth).
9) Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into an oval shape, then place the sausage in the center. Cut both sides of the dough into 7 strips. Fold the strips alternating the left and right over the sausage.
10) Place the rolls on the greased baking sheet. Cover the rolls and let it rise until it almost doubles in size. Brush with egg wash. Preheat oven at 200°C. Bake at 200°C for 8 minutes then at 180°C for another 5 minutes or until the rolls turn golden brown.

(Some called these rolls "pig in a blanket". But it reminds me of my son when he was a newborn. Dun they resemble those newborn babies sleeping soundly in the feeding room? Hehehe!)

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Baked donuts

When I first saw the healthy baked donut from Little Corner of Mine, I was so excited to know that you can bake donut instead of deep-frying it. A healthier choice for my son who loves donut so much. Even more interesting is this recipe uses yogurt instead of milk and yeast. As a novice at baking, I personally find this recipe pretty simple and easy-to-follow. No electric mixer is required either.

Although the taste of the baked donut is distinctly different from the conversional one, my family members still like it very much for its soft and moist texture which is similar to steamed cakes. It is now on the "top hit" list of my family's choice for tummy filler. Although best consumed on the same day, you can keep any leftover in the fridge and reheat them to be consumed the next day.

I strongly recommend the use of donut tube pans in making these lovely donuts. For my first few attempts, I used muffin trays and the donuts turned out like erupted volcanoes! Hahaha!

Recipe adapted and modified from Little Corner of Mine.

Yield: 24 mini donuts

Ingredients:
Group (A)
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup sugar (if you are making plain donuts, then you can increase the amount of sugar but not more than ½ cup)
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Group (B)
1 egg
1 tub (150gm) plain yogurt
1 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings/ coating (optional)
- use your own creativity! (You can hop over to here and here for ideas)

Method :
1) Preheat oven at 200°C.
2) Grease the donut pan with butter/ oil and set aside.
3) Combine ingredient (A) in a large bowl.
4) Combine ingredient (B) in another bowl and beat lightly.
5) Mix ingredient (B) into (A) by folding in until the batter is smooth.
6) Place the toppings at the bottom (if any).
7) Transfer batter into a piping bag and pipe batter into the greased pans.
8) Don’t overfill them as the batter will expand during baking. Only fill until ½ full if you want to see a donut hole.
9) Bake at 200°C for 7-8 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Test with a toothpick. It should come out clean when inserted near the center of the donut.
10) Remove from oven. Cool for 5 mins. Then remove donuts from pans and cool on wire rack.

Are you looking for a Valentine's gift to impress your loved ones? If you have budget constraints, time constraints........(or whatever constraints), try making these donuts! It worth the efforts.

HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY!!!

Other references:
- Lily's Wai Sek Hong
- My Culinary Journal
- 101 Cookbooks (this one uses yeast)

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Rainbow seafood pasta salad

Before posting the photos I shot in Penang, I would like to begin my 2009 posting with a food recipe.

Do you like salad? I never have a chance to made one so far as my Emperor is not supportive enough for this idea. But after all the Christmas and New Year festive celebrations, I desperately need one now. Remember what I mentioned in my last post? It is my 2009 New Year resolution! As we know, another festive celebration is approaching - Chinese New Year. During this period, we will have to attend family reunion dinner and friend and relatives' open house. All the yummilicious stuff are awaiting for us!! If I don’t seriously watch my diet now, then I have to prepare to upgrade my clothing size after CNY. Oh, no! please don't let this happen to me!!!!

Today I would like to share with you a light, simple and healthy recipe I found from my favourite cookbook - “Children’s healthy & fun cookbook”. Although this was my 1st attempt in making salad, to my surprise, my son could accept raw vegetables such as baby butterhead. He loved eating it so much. I guess it was because most of the ingredients used in this salad were his favourite (ie tomato, corns, raisin and prawns) and the thousand island dressing provides extra flavour to the salad.

This salad is very versatile. You can mix and match any ingredients using your own creativity. Below is my own modified version that is enough to serve both my son and me for today’s lunch.

Ingredients:
60g pasta shells – cooked and drained well
4 large prawns – cooked and peeled, cut each prawn into 4 portions
1 medium size tomatoes - removed seeds and chopped into cubes
½ ear of large sweet corn – steamed or boiled, kernel removed from cob
1 small Japanese cucumber – removed seeds and chopped into cubes
Handful of black raisins and sunflower seeds
A few leaves of baby butterhead (cut into strips)

Other ingredients you may consider:
- small tomatoes (ie cherry or roma tomatoes), carrot, avocado, lettuce leaves, cooked egg, pine nuts, chicken (instead of prawn), tofu (instead of prawn for vegetarian)

Dressing (thousand islands sauce):
4 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tsp lemon juice (start with 1 tsp)
2 drops of Tabasco sauce (optional)
Dash of pepper
Sugar or salt (if necessary)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (for mixing later)

Methods:
1) Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the pasta and follow the cooking instructions on the packet. Drain well and leave to cool.
2) Prepare the dressing, cover with cling wrap and keep in the fridge.
3) Prepare all the ingredients.
4) Put all the ingredients into a salad bowl and mix well with the dressing. Alternatively, you can divide the ingredients between the serving bowls and then drizzle over the dressing. Serve and enjoy!

I am submitting this pasta salad to Presto Pasta Night, founded by Ruth of Once Upon A Feast, and hosted by Ivy of Kopiaste this week.

Other recommended colourful dishes:
- special egg rolls with rice, salmon and spinach
- millet porridge
- stir-fried capsicums & cucumber with stewed vegetarian mutton

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Grandma's pancakes (aka mommy's pancakes)

During our childhood days, this pancake was made from the leftover batter used for french toast or pan-fried nian gao (Chinese New Year glutinous rice cake). It was always a hit in the family. Due to the limited supply, we always walloped the pancake first even though it was still hot from the pan.

Nowadays, it has become a hit to all my nieces and nephews too. For those who are staying overseas, my mother will definitely prepare a batch of pancakes specially for them upon their arrival or departure.

This recipe requires only a few simple ingredients that every household would have in their kitchen. The measurements are just an estimation given by my mother. You are welcome to modify it according to your personal preference.

Ingredients:
10-12 tbsp plain flour
5-6 tbsp sugar
5 eggs (medium)
Water/ milk (if necessary)
Butter (add on pancake)

Methods:

1. Add sugar to the flour and mix well.

2. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixure and add in 3 eggs.
3. Beat eggs slowly to combine well with flour and sugar. The batter should be smooth and creamy.
4. Make sure there are no lumps in the batter. If you do get lumps, press it through a sieve using the back of a spoon.

5. When the ingredients are well mixed, add in the remaining 2 eggs.
6. Mix well and ensure the batter is at the right consistency (not too liquid or too thick).
7. Add water or milk if necessary.

8. Heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat.
9. Scoop the batter onto the pan and spread evenly.
10. Cook for 2 mins and add a small knob of butter on top.

11. Flip over the pancake and cook for another 2 mins.

12. Fold the pancake lengthwise and cut it into halve.

Other pancakes that you maybe interested in:
a) Banana pancake (1)
b) Banana pancake (2)

Wishing you a MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR! Enjoy all the lovely food!

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Zucchini cakes - revisit

As mentioned in my early post, when I first made zucchini cakes, I didn't have a large zucchini so it didn't turn out close to the original recipe I followed. This round, with a large zucchini on hand and adding 1 extra egg, I made a revisit to this recipe. For recipe, please refer to here.

If you have a picky eater who refuses to eat vegetables, give it a try. But remember to control the amount of salt you add as the cheese is quite salty.

When I am writing this post, I wonder whether Japanese cucumber can be used to replace zucchini. Has anyone tried it before and like to share it with me?

Which one do you like, the 1st attempt or the one below?

I am submitting this recipe to Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipe Carnival hosted by Fun and Food Cafe. Thanks to Mansi for her invitation.

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Simple asparagus soup

If you have lots of asparagus on hand and are running out-of-time, it is a perfect recipe for you to prepare a tasty asparagus soup with some simple ingredients and easy steps. It can be served hot or very well-chilled.

Source: Adapted and modified from The Delia Collection: Soup

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients:
450g asparagus
25g butter
½ medium onion (finely chopped)
½ slightly rounded tbsp plain flour
500 ml hot chicken stock (you can replace with vegetable stock)
75 ml double cream (I use thickening cream)
Salt and freshly grounded black pepper

Methods:
1) Slice tips from asparagus. Blanch in salted boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and reserve for garnishing.
2) Discard the tough, stringy white ends of the stalks. Chop the green parts into 2.5cm lengths.
3) Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and cook the onion for 5 mins.
4) Add in asparagus and sweat for about 10 mins with lid on. Stir occasionally.
5) Add in flour and stir again to soak up the juices.
6) Add in hot chicken stock, a little at a time, stirring after each addition.
7) Bring it to simmering point, season with salt and black pepper.
8) Simmer the soup under low heat for 20-25 minutes, partially covered.
9) Let the soup cool a little and puree in a food processer or blender in batches.
10) Adjust seasonings if necessary.
11) Stir in cream and re-heat gentlely for 3-4 minutes.

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Fresh tomato soup

Since I started cooking for the family, I used a lot of tomatoes in our meals because they are my little “big” boy’s favourite. He can eat any types of tomatoes be it raw or cooked, with or without skin, with or without seeds. In short, he is a TOMATO lover!

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Generally most of us know that tomato contains lycopene (the red pigment in tomato). It is a powerful antioxidant that can also fight cancer cells. How about those interesting facts mentioned in here and here?

~ Tomato is a fruit (Do you agree? Definitely not me)
~ When choosing your tomatoes, be sure to pick those with the most brilliant shades of red. They have the highest amounts of betacarotene and lycopene.
~ Store them at room temperature, as putting them in the fridge will alter their ripening process and ruin their flavor
~ Cooked tomatoes are a more concentrated source of lycopene than raw ones
~ Cooking the tomato in olive oil allows your body to absorb the lycopene better.
~ Tomatoes don’t lose any of their nutritional value in the high heat processing , making canned tomatoes and tomato sauce are both just as viable and beneficial as fresh tomatoes.

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If you are a tomato lover like my son, then try this simple and tasty fresh tomato soup. This recipe adapted and modified from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients:
800g tomatoes
1 medium onion
1 small carrot
1 celery stick
3 tbsp tomato puree
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
600g hot vegetable stock ( I use chicken stock)
Dash of dried basil and oregano
A pinch of salt
Dash of ground black pepper
A good pinch of sugar

Methods:
1) Cut each tomato into quarters and slice off any hard cores (they don’t soften during cooking and you’d get hard bits in the soup at the end).
2) Chop onion, carrot and celery stick into small pieces.
3) Spoon oil into a large cooking pot and heat it over a low heat.
4) Hold your hand over the pot until you can feel the heat rising from the oil, then tip in the onion and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook it until translucent.
5) Add in carrot and celery and cook the vegetables until they are soft and faintly coloured. This sho uld take about 10 minutes. Stir them 2-3 times so they cook evenly and don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
6) Add in tomato puree and stir it around so it turns the vegetables red.
7) Add in fresh tomatoes.
8) Add in sugar, dried basil, dried oregano, bay leaves and black pepper. Stir to mix well.
9) Put the lid on the pot and let the tomatoes stew over a low heat for 10mins until they shrunk down in the pot and their juices flow nicely. Stir occasionally to keep everything well mixed.
10) Slowly pour in the stock, stirring at the same time to mix it with the vegetables. Turn up the heat as high as it will go and wait until everything is bubbling, then turn the heat down to low again and put the lid back on the pan. Cook gently for 25 minutes, stirring a couple of times until the tomatoes break down and become slushy looking.
11) Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool down. Discard the bay leaves.
12) Blend the soup until smooth.
13) Pour the puree soup back into the pot and reheat it over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until you can see bubbles breaking gently on the surface.
14) Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings (salt, pepper and sugar) if needed.
15) Add more tomato puree if the colour of the soup is not deep enough red.
16) Serve and enjoy!

Other recipes using tomatoes:
Zucchini with prawn and tomato in sweet chilli sauce
ABC soup
Baked beans with tomatoes and potatoes
Spaghetti bolognese

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Avocado with banana dessert

After making some California hand rolls, I had half an avocado sitting in my refrigerator. So I used it to make a quick and easy teatime dessert for my son. He ate so fast even before I had finished washing up all the dishes used in the preparation! He claimed that he was not full and ate the remaining half of the banana. Then he grinned at me and said, “It tastes good, mommy!”

Ingredients:
½ ripe avocado
2-3 tbsp fresh milk
1 tsp honey
½ banana

Methods:
1) If you have 1 avocado, cut the avocado in half, running your knife around the pit from stem to blossom end and back up again. Twist the halves in opposite directions to free the pit, and pull the halves apart. Dislodge the pit, then scoop the avocado flesh into a large bowl. Mash the avocado with a large fork or potato masher. Press through a sieve. Set aside.
2) Heat up the milk. Add milk slowly into the mashed avocado and stir well. Stop when it reaches the desired consistency.
3) Add in honey and stir well.
4) Cut banana into ½cm thickness and arrange on top of avocado puree........ Enjoy!


(A fully ripen avocado)

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Zucchini cakes

(Have you ever wondered how does my “Emperor” look like? Take a look at those fingers holding the zucchini cake. Can you guess?)

When I was browsing through some food blogs, I came across another interesting recipe using zucchini. The cooking method is totally different from my previous posting. As it only required some simple ingredients and demonstrated all the steps with illustrations, I was so impressed and can’t wait to try it out the next day.

Below is the original recipe extracted from The Pioneer Woman: (for steps by steps illustration, please refer to this link)

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini
1 tbsp minced garlic
½ - ¾ cup of breadcrumbs
½ cup 4-cheese Italian Blend (or Parmesan or Romano)
1 -2 eggs
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil (cooking)

Methods:
1) Wash and cut the ends off of one large zucchini. Shred it using the large holes of a cheese grater. Squeeze the shredded zucchini inside of a clean towel until you’ve removed as much liquid as possible.
2) Place shredded zucchini into a medium sized bowl. Add minced garlic, breadcrumbs, cheese (shredded), egg and kosher salt and pepper to taste. Stir with a fork until well mixed.
3) Heat olive oil (about ¼ inch deep in bottom of skillet) to a medium heat. When the oil is hot enough drop a glob of zucchini batter into the skillet and flatten it a bit. After about 2 minutes, turn the cakes over (they should be a nice golden-brown) and cook on the other side until done (about 2-3 minutes)
4) Serve with the dipping sauce of your choice and enjoy!

3 things that I had modified:
a) As I didn’t have a large zucchini on hand, the mixture I made was slight dry. So I made them into small patties.
b) I used lesser oil and pan-fried the patties.
c) I used 2 types of freshly grated cheese: parmesan and mozzarella

Results: Although it has more cheesy taste, it is still delicious! If you are looking for a simple recipe which uses zucchini, give it a try!

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Homemade snack bars

This homemade version snack bar is a MUST TRY for everyone including people who have never cooked in their lifetime. It makes an excellent start to the day especially with yogurt and fresh fruit ie strawberries, bananas etc. It can also be a healthy snack during teatime. It is also cheaper as compared to those healthy bars sold in the supermarket.

All you need to prepare is: the ingredients, non-stick pan, wooden spoon, baking tin (or any rectangular-shape container), greaseproof paper and presser.

I had adapted and combined 2 recipes from Children’s Healthy & Fun Cookbook to derive at this simplified version.

Ingredients:
40g rolled oats
40g sunflower seeds
40g pumpkin seeds
Handful of black and white sesame seeds
3-4 tbsp clear running honey (I used no water added honey)

Methods:
1) Heat up the pan.
2) Put the black and white sesame seeds in a non-stick and dry fry (without oil) with a wooden spoon over a medium-low heat until they are fragrant. Set aside.
3) Put the oats and dry fry for 3 mins. Turn the oats occasionally to make sure they cook evenly.
4) Add the sunflower and pumpkin seeds and dry fry for another 2 minutes or until light golden. Take care – the pumpkin seeds may pop a little!
5) Return the roasted black and white sesame seeds to the pan and dry fry for ½ min.
6) Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the honey – it will sizzle at first but keep stirring until the oats and seeds are coated. Allow to cool slightly.
7) Line a 20cm x 10cm baking tin with greaseproof paper.
8) Spread the mixture evenly on the paper and line another one on top of the mixture.
9) Use a presser (or chopping board) to apply pressure to the mixture.
10) Chill for at least 1 hour, or until solid. Turn it out of the tin and peel off the greaseproof paper. If you have problem to peel off the paper, leave it at room temperature for 1 min and try again. Cut into bars.
11) Keep it in an air-tight container and store in the fridge. Best to be consumed within a week.

Note: The combination of oats and seeds is subject to personal preference.

I am submitting this recipe to Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipe Carnival hosted by Fun and Food Cafe.

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Fancy sandwiches with sardine fillings

Cookie cutter is my “effective tool" to encourage my son to eat more breads (especially wholemeal) during breakfast time.

Among all the shapes, “gingerbread man” is his top pick because he loves the story of “Gingerbread Man”.



This recipe is adapted and modified from Novum’s Kitchen Cooking for Kids cookbook. The sardine filling is both my hubby and son’s favourite. Usually I will cook it for our dinner and save some to make sandwiches for breakfast.

Ingredients:
100g canned sardines with tomato sauce (I used Ayam brand)
½ onion (chopped finely)
8 slices bread (white/ wholemeal) – I used multigrain wholemeal bread

Seasonings:
3 tbsp tomato sauce (mix with 1 tbsp water)
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp lime juice (1-2 small limes)
1 tsp finely chopped wild ginger flower (optional)
3 tbsp butter (for spreading on bread)

Methods:
1) Use fork to mince the sardines into flakes. Set aside.
2) Heat up wok with 1 tbsp oil.
3) Sautee onion until translucent and fragrant.
4) Add in tomato sauce, sugar and water. Stir well.
5) Add in sardines and wild ginger flower.
6) Turn off the heat and add lime juice.
7) Spread butter on bread. Spread the mixture on 1 slice of the bread.
8) Cover up and use cutter to cut out several shapes.

Note: Wild ginger flower (姜花末) is used to remove the fishy stench of the sardines.

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Zucchini with prawns and tomato in sweet chilli sauce

“What is zucchini?” “How do I cook it?”

I have been asked myself these 2 questions since I started cooking western food. Coming from a typical Chinese family, I have never tried zucchini before. After going through my cookbooks and browsing all online recipes, I just realized that there are so many ways to cook zucchini ie baked, grilled, stir-fry and stew. Below is a recipe adapted and modified from Jaden’s website. I had removed the deep-fry basil because I prefer to have some sauce for my dish under such a hot weather.

Ingredients:
10 medium sized prawns
½ zucchini (sliced thinly)
1 medium sized tomato (cut into 8 wedges)
1 tbsp chopped garlic

Seasonings for marinating prawns:
Dash of sugar, salt and pepper

Seasonings for stir-frying:
3 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
½ tbsp chilli sauce (If you prefer spicy food, put 1 tbsp)
2 tbsp water
2 tsp sugar

Methods:
1) Clean, peel and de-vein the prawns. Pat dry with kitchen towels. Marinate them with the seasoning. Keep in the fridge for ½ hour.
2) Using enough oil (5 - 6 tbsp to fully cover the base of the wok), heat up wok with high heat. Layout all the prawns on the wok and let them fry untouched until they turn pink. Flip over the other side and continue frying until the prawns turn pink and curl up. Do not overcook prawn. Dish up and place on kitchen towels to absorb excess oil. Set aside.
3) Return heat to medium high. Leave 1 tbsp of the remaining oil to sautée garlic until fragrant.
4) Add in zucchini slices and stir-fry for 1 minute. Tossing every 15 seconds until zucchini is just barely soft in the middle and still firm on the outer edge.
5) Add in tomato wedge and stir-fry for another 1 minute until the tomato turn slightly soft.
6) Add in seasonings and mix well with zucchini and tomato. Lastly return the cooked prawns to coat with the rest of the ingredients. Turn the heat to high and stir-fry quickly for 8-10 seconds. If the dish is too dry, add a bit of water. Dish up and serve.

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Baked eggplants with cheese

This is a VERY VERY simple dish and it is my first attempt for finger food (“tapas”).

Ingredients:
Eggplants
Grated cheese (I used mozellara)

Method:
1) Sliced eggplants thinly. Soak them into the salted water to get rid of the bitterness.
2) Pat dry the eggplants with kitchen towels.
3) Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil.
4) Arrange the eggplants on the tray and sprinkle with grated cheese.
5) Bake for 8 mins (I used toaster oven) or until the cheese turns golden brown.
6) Remove from the tray and arrange nicely on a plate. Serve with bolognese sauce (refer to my recipe in this posting).

Recently the weather is so unpredictable. The sky can turn dark in a second. It made my shooting (which relied solely on natural sunlight) even more challenging. Most of the time, I had to play "hide n seek" games with the sun. In the end, I am the looser! But today, I managed to catch some nice shots (I think so....hehehe!) and would like to share with you:





This recipe is featured at Key Ingredients.

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Simple pizza bread

We love pizza and always want to bring our son to eat pizza. But the strange thing is whenever we dined out, we always ended up with something else. The reason is my "emperor" only prefers authentic pizza and we are still searching for one.

As I don’t have an oven now, it is impossible to make a homemade pizza. Recently I found an interesting posting at this blog about no-dough pizza bread! At least, my oven toaster can be fully utilised now. This recipe is indeed very simple and easy. Just right for a lazy person like me that can simply make a nice toast that looks like pizza! What I did is to toast the pizza bread after my son goes to bed. After toasting, let it cool off at the room temperature. Keep it in a container and put in the fridge. Tomorrow morning, I just need to slightly toast them to reheat the bread and serve them as our breakfast. As what the food blogger said, there are many ingredients you can use to make this pizza bread. Some of them are: chicken, capsicum, sausage etc.

Here is the one of the versions I had made (based on my own creativity) for my breakfast today:

Ingredients:
4 white toast breads
1 palm-size chicken breast meat (cut into chunks)
½ white onion (sliced thinly)
4 button mushrooms (sliced)
8 cubes canned pineapples (drained and sliced)
5+1 tbsp butter (I used a mixture of ready-made garlic spread and butter)
Fresh grated parmesan cheese or any type (2 cups) - I put plenty because we like cheese!
Dash of sugar and pepper

Methods:
1) Marinate chicken with light soya sauce, sugar and corn flour for at least ½ hour.
2) Heat up a pan with oil and 1 tbsp butter, sautee onion until translucent. Add in mushroom, dash of sugar and pepper. Mix well and stir fry for a while. Add in chicken meat. Stir-fry until it turns brown. Dish up and set aside.
3) Cover baking tray with aluminum foil. Put breads and toast for 3 mins.
4) Flip them over and spread butter and garlic herb spread (ready-made) on the untoasted side. 5) Arrange all the stir-fry ingredients, pineapples and cheese on the bread.
6) Toast for 15 mins or until the cheese melts and turns golden brown.

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Mashed potato with corns

Mashed potato is my hubby's all-time favourite since he was a child. Now it has become my son's favourite too! I love to use the sweetcorns from this soup to mix with my mashed potatoes because they are extremely juicy and delicious after absorbing all the nice flavours from the soup.

Ingredients:
2 potatoes
2-3 tbsp butter (melted)
Fresh milk
½ corn-on-the-cob
Spring onions (chopped)

Seasonings:
Salt and pepper

Methods:
1. Use a potato masher, wooden spoon or fork to mash the potatoes.
2. Add butter and seasonings.
3. For a fluffier mash, add hot milk in a slow steady stream and keep stirring. Stop when you have reached the consistency you desire.
4. Sprinkle some spring onions for garnishing.

Note:
Instead of using the potatoes from the soup, you can cook your own potatoes. Place potatoes (with skin) in a pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil and allow to cook for 15 mins or until it is fully cooked and soft. You can test it by using a fork to pierce into it.

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Corn chowder

Chowder is a special kind of thick soup from New England in the USA

Below is the recipe adapted from Children's Healthy & Fun Cookbook .

Ingredients:
1 large onion
200g fresh, frozen or tinned sweetcorn
1 large carrot
350g potatoes
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 bouquet garni (optional)
1 bay leaf
1.2 litres vegetable stock
300ml milk

Seasonings:
Salt and pepper to taste

Methods:
1. Peel and roughly chop the onion. Scrub the carrot and then thinly slice it. Finally, peel the potatoes and then cut them into small pieces.
2. Hear the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and saute over a medium heat for 8 mins or until soft and slightly golden. Stir the onion occasionally.
3. Next, add the corn, carrot, potatoes, bouquet garni and bay leaf to the onions. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the stock and bring to the boil.
4. Reduce the heat to medium to low. Cover with a lid and cook for 15 mins, stirring occasionally. Add the milk and cook for a further 5 minutes.
5. Scoop out some of the vegetables and blend the rest of the soup until smooth. Return the vegetables and blended soup to the pan and warm through.

Tips:
1. If you prefer a chunky soup, leave out step 5. Otherwise, blend all the mixture in step 5 until the soup is creamy and smooth.
2. You can serve it with bread rolls, rice or pasta.
3. For a delicious smoked flavour, add chunk of smoked haddock to this soup. Add the fish in step 4 with the milk and simmer for 5 mins or until cooked.

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Banana pancake

I found out this wonderful recipe after reading the post from here. As compared to my previous recipe, this one is lighter and fluffier without adding the wholemeal flour. By adding 2 large fully ripen bananas into the batter, it made the pancakes even tastier and yummy! I had rewritten the steps so that it will be easier to follow.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups (12 oz) plain flour (or superfine flour)
3 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 - 1½ tbsp sugar
1 ¼ cups (10 oz) milk
1 egg
3 tbsp butter (melted) - to add into the batter
2 large bananas (fully ripen)
Extra butter for pan-frying

Methods:
1. Sieve flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in the salt and sugar and make a well in the centre of the mixture.
2. Measure the milk in a jug and then crack the egg straight into it. Lightly beat the egg and milk with a fork or whisk until they are mixed together.
3. Pour the egg mixture and melted butter into the well in the centre of the flour mixture. Stir with a hand whisk until you have a smooth, creamy batter. (It is important that the batter is free from lumps. If you do get lumps in your batter, press it through a sieve using the back of a spoon.)
4. Leave the batter to rest for about 15 mins - this will make the pancakes lighter. Mash the bananas in a bowl then stir them into the rested batter.
5. Heat up a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Put a little bit of butter on the pan and wipe it with a kitchen towel to make sure it is well-coated. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.
6. If you want an even colour tone for the pancake base, flip the pancake only when you see bubbles appear on the surface. Then cook the other side for another 1 min or until slightly golden brown.
7) For subsequent batches, no butter is required.
8) Keep the cooked pancakes warm in a low oven while you cook more pancakes with the rest of the batter, adding a little knob of butter between each batch.

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Cream of pumpkin soup

I still remember the first time I made this soup. It was a total FAILURE! I felt so discouraged because nobody liked it including myself. But I couldn't figure out what went wrong because I had followed exactly the recipe from the newspaper cut-out. Then after searching for sometimes, I managed to find another simple recipe from Kuali Online. It turned out to be my son's favourite now (partly because pumpkin is his favourite). With some modifications, I had derived at my own version as follows:

Ingredients:
400g pumpkin (chopped)
1 medium sized potato (chopped)
1 large white onion (chopped)
250 ml fresh milk
750 ml water - It depends on personal preference. If you prefer a thicker soup, then you can reduce the water.
2 slices ginger
1 tbsp butter (for frying)

Seasonings:
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of nutmeg powder (optional) - it enhances the flavour of the soup

Methods:
1. Melt the butter in a cooking pot.
2. Fry/ bake the onion until translucent.
3. Add in pumpkin, potato, onion and ginger slices and stir well.
4. Pour in water and bring it to a boiling point. Then simmer for about 15 mins or until all the ingredients are softed and mushy.
5. Remove the ginger slices, pour the mixture into a blender and blend until it becomes smooth.
6. Pour back to the pot. Add in milk and seasonings and bring it to a boiling point.
7. Off the heat and serve with toasted bread/ rice. (I used toasted raisin sticks).

Variation:
You can add in cooked fish or prawn in the soup.

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French toast

I am not a big fan for french toast but eating french toast brings back many fond memories during my childhood days. This is my first attempt and the recipe is modified based on this website.

Ingredients:
5 slices leftover English breads
3 eggs

Seasonings:
200ml fresh milk
1½ tsp sugar
Pinch of salt
Dash of cinnamon powder (optional)
Butter (for pan-frying)
Kaya (idea from this food blogger), peanut butter, fruit jam (own choice of toppings)

Methods:
1. Cut each bread into 4 slices.
2. Break eggs into a wide, shallow mixing bowl, beat lightly with a fork. Stir in sugar, salt, milk and cinnamon powder.
3. Over medium-low heat, heat frying pan with a thin layer of butter.
4. Place the bread slices, one at a time, into the bowl or plate, letting slices soak up egg mixture for a few seconds. Then carefully turn to coat the other side. Soak/coat only as many slices as you will be cooking at one time. (Difference bread requires difference soaking time. To prevent oversoaking, I quickly put my slices in and out the mixture, set aside and repeat this step just before putting it into the frying pan.)
5. Transfer bread slices to frying pan, heating slowly until bottom is golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Recoat the pan with butter after each slice.
6. Serve French toast hot with your own choice of toppings.

Bon appetit!

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