Stir Fry Chicken With Green Chillis (Ayam Cabe Ijo)

Simple dish for the whole family (I separated some portion and omit the green chillis for the kids)

What you need:

1 chicken breast, diced
To marinate chicken with: salt, pepper and cornflour

3 cloves of garlic - crushed
1/2 medium onion - julienned
3 green chillis - cut approx 1cm
some cauliflowers (optional)
oil, oyster sauce, light soya sauce, fish sauce, salt, pepper, sugar, water, cornflour mixed with water as thickener

Heat oil, stir fry onion followed by garlic til fragrant
Add in chicken, cook til color changed
Add in water, oyster sauce, light soya sauce, fish sauce, salt, pepper, sugar - adjust the taste accordingly
Add in green chillis - bring to boil
Once boiled, add in cornflour, stir continuously til well mixed and the desired thickness achieved
Add in cauliflower - off heat

Cashew Nut Cookies

I don't really fancy nuts but I love cashew nuts!!!
There were so many times I've eaten these cookies during Chinese New Year in the previous years, but really, this is the first time I tried to bake them myself :)

Recipe is from Small Small Baker, perfect choice!

Perfect taste but I'm still pretty disappointed in the presentation - my hands still need a lot of practice!

The crescent shape is initial plan til Abby came to me and asked me to make smiling heart shape :)

So here they are...

What you need:

110g butter
70g castor sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 egg (mine is 30g)
40g grounded baked cashew nuts
180g plain flour
20g cornflour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Topping:
1 egg, separated
halved cashew nuts

Cream butter and sugar till pale and creamy
Add in pure vanilla extract
Add in egg slowly, beat until well-mixed
Fold in grounded cashew nuts. Fold in sifted flours and baking powder gradually. Knead to form dough
Roll the dough into 3/4 cm thickness. Cut the dough into crescent shapes (or any shape you like) and place them on the lined baking tray. Brush a layer of egg white on the cookies and top each cookie with one halved cashew nut. (Brushing egg white helps the cashew nut to stick to the cookie well)
Brush a layer of egg yolk on top of the cashew nuts
Bake at preheated oven at 180C for about 15 minutes till light golden brown

So happy I can give my homemade cashew nut cookies to my family this year :)
I'm submitting these cookies to Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favorite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011), hosted by J3ss kitch3n

Mun Tofu (Mun Tahu)

A dish I haven't been eating for ages... Used to eat this back in Indonesia
So delighted when I found the recipe at Bianca's and Jordan's Mom :)

What you need:

3 blocks firm tofu, cut into small cubes
250g chicken breast
200g prawns, cut
1 packet shitake mushroom, sliced
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
4cm of ginger, cracked with pestle
light soya sauce, oyster sauce, corn flour diluted with a little water
salt, pepper, sugar, sesame oil, water

Heat sesame oil, stir fry garlic and ginger til fragrant. Add in chicken, stir til color changed
Add in prawns, stir for 1minute, and add tofu, soya sauce, oyster sauce, water (approx. 150ml), salt, pepper, sugar to taste. Bring to boil.
Add in corn flour to thicken the broth, keep on stirring
Serve with warm rice

Cheezy Cheese Cookies (Kaastengel)

Beware! Only for cheese addict!
This cookies is extremely cheesy to make those cheese addicts keep wanting more - like me
Yes, not only chocolate, but I am a cheese addict as well *grin*

Here's the picture..I still have to learn to make these cookies more presentable - gotta train my hands to be more consistent :)

Soft and quite melty texture in the inside and crunchy outside



This is my mum's recipe with a little modification I made

What you need:

240g butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt
120g old cheddar cheese - grated
120g old edam cheese - grated
50g corn flour
260g plain flour

egg yolks for egg washing
approx 100g grated cheddar cheese for topping

Beat butter til pale and light in medium speed
Add in egg, mix well, followed by vanilla essence and salt, mix well
Add in grated cheese, mix well, off beater
Fold in sifted corn and plain flour
Shape dough to 5g balls and roll each ball to cylinder shape
Put on the baking pan, lightly press to make the shape slightly flatten
Brush the top with egg yolk and sprinkle some grated cheese
Bake in preheated oven of 150degC for approx 18-20mins

I find these yummy cookies is a perfect choice amongst many other sweet cookies during CNY season, therefore I am submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favorite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011)

Chocolate Chip & Strawberry Jam Bread Pudding

So tired of eating bread for breakfast, but so many leftover bread..what to do?
Ok, let's try this recipe, a cut out I found in my recipes box, I can't remember exactly where I got this, I think it's from Straits Times, quite sometime ago

Yummy, fluffy, moist, tasty, not overly sweet and the best is it's easy to make - yes!!!
I put too much chocolate chips (yes, me - the chocolate addict keke...) til can't really taste the jam
Next time I will put lesser chocolate chips and more jam

The original recipe uses marmalade and dried cranberry - worth trying next time!
Also thinking of another combo: nutella spread and golden raisins :P

What you need:

12 slices of bread (I use white bread, wholemeal bread will give more dense texture)
strawberry / raspberry jam
semi sweet chocolate chips
750ml fresh milk
3 eggs
1/2 tbsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp sugar

Prepare 2 bread loaves, lightly buttered
Spread bread with jam, cut into 2 and layer neatly or tear into chunks
Sprinkle chocolate chips in between layers

Beat milk, sugar, eggs and vanilla essence til well mixed
Pour over the bread and let stand for 30mins
Bake at preheated oven at 180degC for 30-45mins

Rolled Meat Soup (Baso Gulung) & Stir Fry Tempeh and Petai

Not so simple (not so difficult either) to make but yummy - recipe from my mummy

What you need:

A

250g minced pork

2 egg whites

2 shallots

1 clove of garlic

(blend shallots and garlic til quite smooth)

salt, pepper

4 eggs, sprinkle with a little salt, lightly beaten

2 egg whites

corn flour mixed with water

For the soup:

3 cloves of garlic - crushed

chicken stock powder

approx. 3L water

a little oil, salt, pepper

carrots, thinly cut

cauliflower, cut

spring onion

Mix A - set aside

Make 4 omelettes from the beaten eggs - set aside

Take 1 omelette, spread over egg whites and cornflour mixture then top with meat mixture, spread evenly

Roll the omelette with meat on top, wrap with clingwrap

Do the same for the rest of the omelettes

Steam the rolls for 30mins

Let cool and then put in the fridge

This is what it looks like after steaming:

(actually after I took out from the fridge hence the wrinkles here and there *grin*

While steaming, prepare the soup:

Bring water and chicken stock powder to boil

Heat oil, stir fry garlic til fragrant - add in the soup

Add salt and pepper to taste - let it simmer

Cut the rolled meat approx 2cm thickness - add in the soup

Add in carrots and cauliflower

Adjust the taste accordingly, off heat and sprinkle spring onion

Eat with rice and chilli sauce

And this below is the perfect partner to eat with the soup:

What you need:

3 blocks of tempeh, cut small

1/2 block of palm sugar - mix with a little sugar til forms smal rocks)

4 shallots - cut thinly

1 big red chilli - cut thinly

50g petai - halved

sweet soya sauce (kecap manis), salt, a little sugar, water, a little oil

Heat oil in the pan, stir fry shallots and red chilli til fragrant and soft

Add in tempeh, followed by palm sugar, kecap manis, water, salt, sugar - mix thouroughly til palm sugar totally dissolved

Bring to boil, add in petai

Simmer til petai soften ( I like it a little crunchy) and water lessen (around 5 minutes)

Hard Boiled Eggs With Garlic Sambal

This is one of my super easy peasy recipe when lazy bug hit me - many Indonesians like this dish - simple and yummy

What you need:

eggs - hardboiled

For the sambal:
large red chilli - cut small (you may add 2 or 3 red chilli padi for extra kick)
belachan (shrimp paste) - fry with a little cooking oil
salt, sugar

Pulse 2 to 3 times all the ingredients for the sambal (not too smooth so still can taste the texture)

Pour the sambal over the hardboiled eggs, press the eggs with mortar
Sprinkle with kicap manis (optional)

Eat with hot rice hhhmmm... I won't need anything else :P

Butter Cookies

Butter cookies is one of my favorite cookies of all time - and this coming Chinese New Year is no exceptional :)
This is so far the best recipe I found - really suits my taste, melt in the mouth and buttery kind
I have to hide this cookies container from my kids, otherwise they'll eat nonstop! :P

Adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover, the recipe is very easy to make...

200g butter
50g icing sugar
150g all purpose flour
50g corn flour
chocolate chips (for decoration)

Beat butter and icing sugar till creamy
Sift in flour and corn flour, mix well to a soft dough
Scoop dough into piping bag and pipe dough evenly on baking tray
Bake at preheated oven at 180C for 13-15 minutes or golden brown

I am submitting this cookies to Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favorite CNY Cookies (Jan 2011), hosted by j3ss kitch3n

Pineapple Tarts (Open Tart, Melt In The Mouth - Mum's Recipe)

Getting closer to Chinese New Year, cookies are everywhere and all along pineapple tart is always at the top list
Been craving for it, I decided to give a try to bake this not easy to make tart - have seen my mum baking pineapple tart many times
Using her recipe, here's my first batch of pineapple tart....

If you see the pic above, the tarts at the right side have different patterns

Those were the latter half of the dough when my blood pressure has shot up after doing the earlier half using the mould - easier and faster keke... but of course the earlier half with the mould is much prettier :P

This recipe is yummy, melt in the mouth type :)

What you need:

For the pastry:

200g butter

300g plain flour

50g corn flour

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp milk powder

50g icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanillin

For the pineapple paste:

2 honey pineapple - grated

a mixture of brown and fine sugar - as desired (approximately 3 tbsp each)

lemon juice from 1/4 lemon

3 tbsp cornflour - mixed with a little water before mixing

To cook the pineapple paste:

Bring to boil grated pineapple with all the juice, all sugar and lemon juice, simmer for approximately 1hour til thicken, adjust sweetness if necessary

Add in cornflour mixture - keep on stirring til the desired thickness achieved

Off heat, let cool before using

To make the pastry:

Beat butter and sugar til white and fluffy

Add in egg yolk, one at a time, let it mix well for each addition

Fold in sifted plain flour, cornflour, milk powder and vanillin

Preheat oven at 190degC

Flatten the dough using roller and shape accordingly, put in lined baking pan

Put the pineapple paste on top of each pastry

Bake for 10-15mins or til the pastry turns light brown

By the way, I have already made my 2nd batch of this tart - this time I added grated cheddar cheese to the dough - yum! :)
Simply grate 100g cheddar cheese and mix to the dough before folding in the dry ingredients
Putting lesser pineapple paste so can taste the cheese better :)
Here it is...

I guess I will do my 3rd batch soon - simply satisfying! And Abby really loves this tart - she can eat as much as 10 pieces in a day!
And what I mentioned earlier as the most frustrating part of the process - to shape the dough, it's gradually getting easier and easier...practice makes perfect! :) 

Chewy Dark Chocolate Chips Cookies

I always prefer chewy than crunchy chocolate chips cookies - so does my family (even though we will never say no to crunchy ones too keke...)

What you need:

280g butter
290g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
340g all purpose flour
90g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
360g semisweet chocolate chips (I had some M&M chocolate buttons in the fridge - added in to make it colorful for my kids :P)

Preheat oven 175degC
Cream together butter and sugar til light and fluffy (high speed around 10mins)
Beat in eggs one at a time, stir in vanilla extract
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, fold in to the creamed mixture
Add in chocolate chips, mix well

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets

Bake 8-10minutes depending on the cookie size 

Allow to cool

Xmas and New Year's Eve 2010

Just wanna share what we had in the eve of Xmas day...

Specially made by my mum - Chicken Shepherd Pie (recipe posted soon - will put up in separate posting for easier search)

I made Ham & Cheese Baked Rice - adapted from Precious Moments, yummy and loved by the whole family - will put up recipe in separate posting for easier search :)

My sis bought Tatsumoto ham and cheese sausages, we baked with a little oilve oil - eaten with wholegrain mustard

No time to make dessert, my sis bought ice cream - Ben & Jerry, always admire their creativity in flavor combination

New Year's Eve countdown menu:

Domino Pizza's home delivery - Hawaiian Pizza with NY crust

And Pepperoni Pizza with NY crust

Adults only:
One of the best beer - Erdinger with its prefect partner :P

Nothing fancy but we had a great time! :)

Fried Mee

My family believes in celebrating birthday with noodles - for a long life wish
My mum made this for my daddy's bday yesterday:

What you need:

2 packets of egg noodles - prepare as instructed
5 cloves garlic - crushed
1 big onion - julienned
4 eggs - beaten with a little salt
1 chicken breast - diced
some chyesim - cut
oil, salt, pepper, a little sugar, fish sauce, kicap manis, a little water

Heat oil, scramble eggs well done - set aside
Heat oil, stir fry onion followed by garlic til fragrant
Add in chicken, stir fry til cooked
Add in noodles, stir well - followed by chyesim, add a little water, stir well til the veggies are cooked
Add in scrambled eggs
Season with salt, pepper, sugar, fish sauce, kicap manis til the desired taste

I love eating this fried mee with vegetable pickles:

And this is my fave brand for the pickles - easily found in any supermarket in Singapore:


My mum cooked another dish for him actually - cream chicken corn soup

I'll upload the details tomorrow :)

French Beans In Crispy Prawn Chilli

Bought this in the supermarket after keep on looking at it for a few days

Anything with the word 'chilli' always makes me drool :P

Thinking of cooking this with long beans, but the time is always perfect - it's out of sight when you need one

*sigh!*

Ended up buying french beans, not the perfect choice, but quite close

What you need:

1 pack of french beans / long beans
2 cloves garlic
1/2 small onion
3 tbsp crispy prawn chilli (the more the better and of course, the spicier)
oil, fish sauce, a little sugar

Heat oil, add in onion followed by garlic, stir well til fragrant
Add in the beans, stir fry til cooked
Add in the chilli - mix well
Season with fish sauce and sugar

No need to add water during cooking process but make sure there's enough oil

Steamed Chicken With Wolfberries, Mushrooms & Greens

Preparing my food in a healthier way has started since I started my resolution
This dish is so easy and fast to prepare - just do a little cutting, throw everything in, steam and you will get a hearty dish - even DH likes it!

What you need:

1 chicken breast - cut into big pieces
5 shitake mushroom - cut into 4
china wongbok - cut
wolfberries, dried red dates
salt, pepper, light soya sauce, a little sugar

Arrange all ingredients as desired
Sprinkle the seasonings evenly
Steam for around 15mins

This dish is highly recommended for those in diet whom don't have time to cook
Fast, easy and yummy

Steaming is a way of cooking which has helped me a lot in my resolution - after 2.5 months, I have lost 9.5kgs as per today YIPPEEEE!!!! *BIG GRIN*