Meatballs Pasta (Jamie Oliver)

I have this recipe in my to do list for sometimes, and Cook Like A Star for this month features Jamie Oliver as the star of the month, so I cooked this, finally
And yes, it's loved by my family, especially my 'pasta lovers' kids :)

Thanks Zoe, for featuring Jamie for this month, I'm his die hard fan!
I mean, look at how he fights his way to get the schools have better and healthier meals for the children. Also look at how he bravely suggested healthier lifestyle by being an eye opener to us of what goes in our mouth when we eat fast food wew....
I 100% salute him on how he tries hard with his heart and soul to change the lifestyle of people in this world

And recipe wise, I like the creativity coming out from him to every dish he makes, and I totally admire his multi tasking speedy actions! He does manage to make not so simple things look real easy :)

My kids don't eat beef - no particular reason, they just don't like the taste
I guess, it''s me who caused it, I almost never fed them beef when they're babies and toddlers
DH and I don't eat so often, too, only some dishes that can't be replaced with other meats then we eat, otherwise, we'll replace with pork or chicken

The original recipe for this used ground beef or pork or mixture of two
I actually wanted to use mixture of ground pork and chicken, but DH suggested to just stick to minced chicken, so chicken it is

Here is the recipe with slight modification to suit my family taste

What you need:

pasta of your choice, prepare as directed in a pot of hot water with salt

For meatballs:
1 tsp of dried rosemary
10 meiji plain crackers, wrap in a kitchen towels and smash til fine
1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
450g minced chicken (can be a mixture of minced chicken and pork, I think it can make fluffier texture)
1/2 heaped tsp dried oregano
2 large eggs
a pinch of pepper
1/2 tsp of salt
2 tbsp olive oil, to drizzle

For pasta sauce:
1 tsp dried basil
1 medium onion, slice thinly
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large bottle of Prego traditional tomato based pasta sauce
2 tsp of sugar
1 slice cheddar cheese
some water

To make meatballs:
Mix all ingredients except olive oil, scrunch with clean hands til well mixed
Divide into 4 balls. With wet hands, divide each balls to 2. Divide again each ball to 2. And again, divide each ball to 2
Altogether it makes 32 balls which each size is just nice for my family liking (Jamie makes it to 12 balls which is too big for us)
Drizzle the meatballs with olive oil and jiggle them about so they all get coated. Put them in a container, keep in the fridge until needed
Before making pasta sauce, cook the meatballs by heating up another frying pan with a lug of olive oil, add in meatballs and cook til golden about 8 minutes, drain

To cook pasta sauce:
Heat olive oil on a pan and stir fry onion and when it's starting to turn soft, add in garlic, stir fry til fragrant and soft
Add in pasta sauce, basil, some water, sugar, and mix well (you may add water if it's still too thick - up to preference)
Add in cheese, mix til cheese melted, stir well
Add in the meatballs to the sauce, bring to boil and off heat

To serve:
Pour the meatballs pasta sauce over cooked pasta of your choice, serve warm with grated parmesan cheese and a dash of tabasco sauce (not for kids, of course)
For this time, it's Ian chose his favorite pasta - fusili :)


I still have some leftover meatballs, now I feel like having meatball pizza...yum! :P

ABC July 2012 - Classic Fruit Tart

It's so coincident that Abby asked me to make fruit tarts when I planned to bake this month's ABC bake
So, here it is, fruit tart from the book The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge
with Abby chose the fruits :)

The good thing about this recipe is that it's a make ahead recipe, you can bake the crust today and only make the cream the next day
Even the dough can be kept in the freezer for up to 1 month!
I did everything in one day, though, since I had the time to do all and I didn't think my little girl could wait :)

The dough was not too easy to handle but it's really worth the effort
I didn't roll the dough, I found it easier to just press it on the pan

Too bad I don't own a loose bottom pie pan, so cutting a slice and lifting it up is quite a struggle :)

The tart is really super, I really love the crust, really delicious
Munching it together with the super yummy pastry cream with fruits bursting in your mouth, it's really heavenly

The pastry cream had to be constantly in the fridge, it turned soft pretty quickly in room temperature - blame it on the hot humid Singapore weather!
I didn't pour real hot milk, I waited til it's lukewarm instead cos i didn't want the hot milk 'cooked' the eggs :)
And I sieved the cream too, to get rid of all the lumps

Overall it's a sweet delicious treat loved by my family :)
Great recipe!

Please view HERE for other wonderful fruit tarts baked by ABC members :)

THB #5 Walnut Crusted Butter Cake

5th bake from The Home Bakers, from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas
Butter cake - one of DH's favorite cakes, this time with nutty crust at the sides - nice!
Original recipe used almond slices, but I used sliced walnuts since that's what I had in stock :)
I baked only half recipe this time, just nice portion for the family without being over indulged :)
But the quantity of the walnuts I used was for one recipe :)
And also, I ommited amond extract and reduced sugar to 150g (half recipe)

I love the texture of this cake. It's rather dense - typical butter cake, but soft with fine texture

I added 3 tbsp of plain yoghurt (for half recipe) which I think it's a good thing :)

And the outer crust was so exciting to munch! I love this part the best :)
I used two rectangle short pans, to shorten the baking time :)

I found the fork is really cute, it's actually kids fork, those who still learn to grip

Overall, we like this cake. Probably I'll add some orange zest and orange glaze - yum! :)

For full recipe, please visit Emily's site

Please visit The Home Bakers, you'll see other members' bakes and really hope you can join in the fun too!

Bake Along #27 - Gluten Free Cheese & Choco Chips Scones Cookies

For Bake Along this time, the theme is scones
I baked this morning and I wasn't pleased at all

I wasn't so sure whether I should post this or not, initially
This was not like what I expected to be, even though I knew the texture would not be the same, since I used gluten free mocaf flour
This was my second bake using this flour, you may view HERE for my first bake including the short description about the flour

Gluten is one substance that makes cakes rise, and I expected my scones would be shorter, but I never expected they would be flat like cookies!
The dough was so sticky and soft, couldn't do any remedy action that I just spooned it on the pan and baked them
I think the culprit was not only the flour I used, but more on the quantity of eggs I used, I think it's a little too much...
Wew... pure intention to modify these scones to a healthier treat turned disastrous! So annoyed!

Until my kids said, wow...mummy baked chocolate chips cookies...yum!
Then I was like, oh yeah, why not, these are scones cookies
Indeed the texture was like cakey soft chewy cookies
One consolation - the taste was yummy :)

Original recipe was from Barefoot Contessa, modified by me

What you need:
(I made half of the original recipe and I had 12 large scones cookies)

2cups mocaf flour plus 1/2 tbsp mocaf flour, divided (original recipe: all purpose flour)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
170g cold unsalted butter, diced
2 1/2 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 cup cold yoghurt (original recipe: heavy cream)
80g grated cheddar cheese (original recipe: 115g)
80g semi sweet chocolate chips (original recipe: 1/2 cup minced fresh dill)
1/2 egg beaten with 1/2 tbsp milk, for egg wash

1. Preheat oven to 200degC
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl
3. Add butter, and rub til mixed and butter in pea sized pieces
4. Mix eggs and yoghurt, quickly add to the flour & butter mixture
5. Combine til just blended
6. Toss together cheese, chocolate chips and 1/2 tbsp flour, add them to the dough. mix til almost incorporated
7. On floured surface, knead the dough for 1 minute til cheddar and chocolate chips well mixed evenly
8. Roll 3/4 inch thick. Cut 4 inches squares and half diagonally to make triangles
9. Brush the top with egg wash
10. Bake around 30 minutes til outside crusty and inside fully cooked

I was quite happy to know the scones cookies was liked by my family, moreover to know that it's rather a healthy treat - no gluten and no sugar used
But the next time I bake this again, since the recipe has many great reviews, I'll just stick to the original recipe to the dot, including using chopped dill instead of chocolate chips
I'm sure I will munch happier that way, I am a kind of missing the real scones texture :P

The event is hosted by Zoe, Joyce and Lena, please hop over to their fabulous blogs :)

Below is fellow bakers with their wonderful scones
I feel like one ugly duckling to put my scones among theirs!

Sweet Potatoes Soup

Everybody is now displaying their winderful scones in their blogs, makes me drooling, but I can only bake tomorrow

So for today my post will be a sweet Asian dessert I love
Such a hearty simple dessert

Inspiration was from Sonia's site, thanks Sonia :)

What you need:

sweet potatoes, peeled and cleaned, cut
a few pandan leaves, tie into knots
1 block palm sugar
brown sugar (as desired)
a thumb size of young ginger, lightly smashed
a pot of water

1. Bring to boil a pot of water 
2. Add in sweet poatoes, pandan leaves, palm sugar, ginger and let simmer for 20-30 minutes
3. (check ocassionally to avoid sweet potatoes turn too soft)
4. Add in brown sugar to the desired sweetness
5. Off heat and serve warm

I'm submitting this post to  Aspiring Bakers #20: Asian dessert buffet! (June 2012) hosted by Moon of Food Playground

 

Fried Tilapia (Happy Call) With Mango Salsa

Nice combination, tasty fish with refreshing mango salsa
I love the salsa so much I can eat it on its own! it's sour, spicy, with a hint of sweetness too, and the shallot, vegetables plus the mango itself are so crunchy, so refreshing! Yum yum...

Recipe is from Fong's site

What you need:

1 large black tilapia
soya sauce
pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
corn flour
oil to fry the fish

*For mango salsa, mix the ingredients below just before serving:
1 green mango, shredded
shredded carrot
shredded cucumber
red chillies, sliced
spring onion, cut
3 shallots, thinly sliced
lemon juice
approx 1 tbsp palm sugar, break into pieces
fish sauce
pepper

1. Marinade fish with soya sauce and pepper
2. Rub with beaten egg and then dust with corn flour, set aside
3. Fry til golden brown on both sides, drain excess oil

Since I prefer the fish to remain crisp, I didn't pour the salsa over

Those sour and spicy food lovers, this is a must try! :)

Steamed Brownies

Recipe is from the book "Magic Steamed Cake" by Alex Goh

I like the taste, real delicious
Texture wise, it's quite crumbly, I wish it could be more moist
Original recipe uses walnuts, I will do so the next time I make this cake again, and perhaps some chocolate chips too
Overall, well loved by family :)

A
100g butter
85g cooking chocolate

B
180g sugar
3 eggs

C
20g cocoa powder
170g plain flour
1 1/4 tsp double acting baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

D
120g chopped walnuts (I didn't use but I will in the future)
100g chocolate chips (additional I'd like to use in the future)

1. Double boil A over simmering water til chocolate melted
2. Mix B til sugar dissolved. Add in cooled A, mix til well combined
3. Fold in sieved C, mix til well blended. Add in D, mix til well incorporated
4. Pour into 22x20cm shallow pan lined with alumunium foil (I used 20cm round, hence the taller cake)
5. Steam for 30 minutes. Set aside to let cool
6. Coat with chocolate ganache over the cooled cake