Japanese Rice Pillows

Went to Plaza Singapura for dinner with the family yesterday. After dinner, we went to Daiso and was amazed at the variety of Japanese things they carry. Bought 20 over items! All at $2 each!

What made me very excited was the mould I bought for Japanese rice. The shape was like a little pillow, or rather bolster. I thought this would be an excellent snack to prepare for the church refreshments--something which the youths would like.

After browsing through the kitchen section, I went to the food section of Daiso. Was thoroughly thrilled to find Japanese seasonings, furikake (to be sprinkled on the rice--see picture), crackers and so on. So you can imagine how much stuff I bought!

Tried out the mould and it worked very well. Just need to season the rice with the furikake--I added more black and white toasted sesame seeds. Use 1 packet of furikake for 4 cups of rice. Then put the rice on the mould, put on the cover and give it a tight squeeze. Remove the cover and push out the rice pillows. It is that simple! The kids love it and ate a lot! Maybe I shouldn't prepare this too often lest they overeat.

Chocolate Cake

Have been wanting to try out this recipe that I saw on the internet. I made some modifications as I felt that the cake might turn out to be too sweet. So I cut down the sugar by half and also reduced the amount of butter stated. The cake turned out to be soft and moist. Will certainly bake it again. The kids love it too.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp hot water
1 sachet instant coffee

1/2 cup sugar
125 g butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

2/3 cup water (inclusive of hot water for coffee)

Method:

1. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

2. Dissolve the coffee with hot water. Set aside.

3. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat well. Beat in the vanilla essence. Gently fold in the flour mixture alternating with coffee mixed with water. End with the flour mixture.

4. Pour the batter into a muffin pan lined with paper cups. Bake at 175° C for 30 minutes.

Pizza

G was off from school last Thu and Fri--marking days. Since she was so free, I asked to try out the pizza dough recipe which I got from the Betty Crocker cookbook. It turned out very well! After baking it blind (kosong--with nothing on it) for 10 minutes, she took out the pizza and put tomato paste, onions, sausages, mushrooms capsicum and cheese. It was baked for another 10 minutes at 220 degrees or until cheese browns.

Grilled Portobello and Sausage

LH and KM came over for dinner last week to discuss the final preparations for their wedding. Congrats to the both them as they tie the knot this Saturday 13 Oct 2007!
Prepared a no-stove-cooking dinner. Everything is grilled or boiled. The chipolatas are grilled together with the portobello mushrooms. The mushrooms are topped with shredded cheddar and mozarella cheese. Put under the grill for 10 minutes and everything is done! As for the vegetable, cut the corn and brocolli and boil. Alternatively, put microwave on high for about 5 minutes with a little water.
I also prepared shepherd's pie which is also baked in the oven. Just love my new oven!

Mango Sago with Pomelo

After reading the Sunday Times Lifestyle, I was inspired to do the mango sago. It is one of my favourite desserts. When visiting CL in Hong Kong, we love to try out their desserts. Mango sago tastes great with vanilla ice cream too!

I had a tub of mango pudding in the fridge. So I decided to use some of that for the dessert.

3 mangoes--peeled and seeded
3 stalks of pandan leaves
4 Tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup pearl sago
1 tub mango pudding
1 cup of peeled pomelo

1. Boil pandan leaves with 3 cups of water. Add sugar.
2. Puree the flesh of 2 mangoes and 1/2 tub of mango pudding with the boiled sugar solution. May not need all the water--depends on the consistency you want.
3. Cut 1 mango and 1/2 tub mango pudding into cubes.
4. Put sago pearls in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and wash under running water.
4. Arrange mango puree, sago, mango cubes and pudding, and pomelo in a dessert glass.
5. Chill before serving.

Potato Rosti

My kids love the rosti at Marche or Vilage. I love anything to do with potatoes too. The rosti at March is fried plain, and served with sausages. I added bacon bits to my version, and it can be eaten on its own.

4 russet potatoes--shredded roughly
4 slices back bacon--chopped
2 cloves garlic--chopped
1 onion--chopped
salt and black pepper to taste

1. Microwave the shredded potatoes on high for 2 minutes.
2. Season with a little salt and pepper.
3. Fry garlic and bacon until crispy.
4. Add to the potato mixture.
5. Using a flat non-stick pan, put small rounds of potato mixture and fry with a little oil until crispy.

Pasta Aglio

Instead of the usual tomato based or cream based pasta that my kids like, decided to go simple for tonight's dinner.

300g Angel's Hair
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup garlic--chopped
300g sausages--sliced
1/2 yellow capsicum--sliced
200g fresh button mushrooms
2 tomatoes--diced
1 red chilli--sliced
salt and pepper

1. Boil angel's hair for 2 minutes and drain.
2. Saute garlic in olive oil until fragrant.
3. Add in sausage and mushrooms and fry till almost cooked.
4. Add in tomatoes, chilli and capsicum.
5. Season with salt and pepper.

Glutinous Rice

As the youths in Church were having the Christmas Outreach Musical rehearsal after service, we decided to provide dinner for them. Margaret has kindly offered to cook fried rice. To supplement that, I decided to try cooking glutinous rice for the first time. Turned out to be alright.

I called my aunt to find out how to cook. She told me over the phone how to do it.

1 kg glutinous rice --soaked for half an hour
3/4 cup dried shrimps --soaked
2 cups dried mushrooms--soaked then sliced
600g belly pork
6 rice bowls of water
1 cup shallots
1/2 cup garlic

1. Season pork with sesame oil, oyster sauce, black sauce, light sauce, pepper.
2. Fry shallots until crispy. Set aside.
3. Use shallot oil to fry garlic until fragrant.
4. Add in dried shrimps, then belly pork and mushrooms.
5. Add in rice and fry together with ingredients.
6. Season with light sauce, dark sauce, pepper and a little cooking wine.
7. Put everything in a large tray to steam--about 40 minutes.

Crostinis and Dips

It was my turn to prepare refreshments again yesterday in church. Am running out of ideas now. Was doing grocery shopping last Friday and I chanced upon some baguettes. I bought 2 without knowing what to do with them. At the most we can have them for breakfast. As I mulled over what to prepare for the refreshments, I thought why don't I use the baguette to make crostinis. Crostinis are mini crispy toasts. Had lunch with Hubby at Il Lido Restaurant at Sentosa some time ago, and remembered that they served crostinis as a starter. It was first drizzled with olive oil and then baked. I used garlic butter with herbs. After slicing the baguette, I let the slices air in the open so that they will dry out. After that, put on the spread and put in the oven to bake at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes.

To go with the crispy toasts, I made an otak dip (the orangey one). At church, some people thought it looked like mustard, and dared not try it. Some thought it was a cheese dip. Msot were surprised that it was an otak dip and they have never tried it before. They were even more surprised when I told them I put silken tofu to blend with the otak, so that the dip will be smooth. A little mayonnaise was added as well. For the egg dip, it was quite standard. Use hard boiled eggs, mayo, a little butter and herbs.

Spaghetti with Cream Sauce

Made something simple for lunch. The kids used to love spaghetti with tomato based sauce, but they have come to appreciate creamy sauce now. Added brocolli which G complained about.

Creamy Sauce Spaghetti

300g spaghetti--boiled in salted water until al dente.
100g bacon--sliced
100g fresh button mushrooms--sliced
200g brocolli--chopped roughly
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Fry bacon until crispy.
2. Fry garlic, add brocolli and mushrooms and set aside.
3. Heat up butter and add in flour. Stir quickly over a low fire. Add in milk and stir until mixture is creamy.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. If desired, can add in a can of mushroom soup and add half a can of water.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

Will be celebrating birthdays of boys from 3N1--so everyone will have a cupcake each. Bought 3 bunches of bananas and decided to try a new recipe for banana cakes. Have always used my Banana Nut Bread recipe (a foolproof one!), but thought will try out this one for a change. This recipe calls for only butter and lots more milk. The rest of the ingredients are more or less the same. I added chocolate chips as the boys would like that. Cake turned out to be soft and moist.

Banana Cake

3 cups flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
150g butter
1 cup fine sugar
3 eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup milk and 1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cups mashed bananas
1 cup chocolate chips

Method
1. Sift dry ingredients.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time. Add in vanilla essence.
3. Fold in flour mixture and alternate with milk.
4. Add in mashed bananas and choc chips and mix well.
5. Bake at 180C for 20 minutes (for cupcakes) and 175C for 35 minutes (for loaf pan)

Snowskin Mooncake

Made my first snow skin mooncakes finally! My friend CT told me that it's very easy to do as her twins are making the mooncakes to raise funds for their Chiangmai trip. I decided to have a go at making the mooncakes. So I googled for the recipe and found this recipe on one of the food blogs(she bakes and she cooks). I tweaked the recipe a little--added less sugar and more water.

Snowskin Mooncakes

Ingredients
115 Hong Kong Flour (steam for 15 mintues, leave to cool)
115 koufen
100g icing sugar (can reduce to 80g)
4 Tbsp shortening
7 Tbsp cold water
1/2 tsp pandan paste
2 Tbsp Hong Kong Flour (mixed with 2 Tbsp hot water to form hot dough)

Fillings
1.5 kg white lotus paste
100g melon seeds (baked)
salted egg yolks (steamed)

Method
Sieve Hong Kong flour, koufen and icing sugar. Mix pandan essence with the cold water. Make a well in the centre, add shortening, pandan paste, water and hot dough, and knead until smooth. Roll the dough and wrap lotus paste, melon seeds & egg yol. Press into moon cake mould.
Knock mooncake out from mould and serve. Refrigerate if kept overnight.

Js' Birthday!

Js is very happy today. He invited 4 of his friends--Nicholas, Sean, Brandon and Brenan over to our place. They had a good time playing and they enjoyed the lunch too. Some of them had not tried laksa before. I coaxed them to try and all were gungho about it--except for Brenan who didn't like it. But they all particularly enjoyed the shepherd's pie.

What made Js birthday extra special is not the presents and the makan...or the fact that he shares the same birthday as the Minister Mentor LKY, but the Akela Award which he received yesterday. This is the highest Scouts award and Js is extremely happy that he has received this award. He is displaying the trophy proudly in the living room. I thank God that He has given Js this wonderful blessing. It means a lot to him.

HOME--Here we come!

We FINALLY decided to move back home!(on 6 Sep) The renovations of the kitchen, toilets and foyer in the living room started in June. So during the June holidays, we moved to mummy's place. The place is sooo comfortable. The boys love Ah Bu's room (they get to watch TV on the bed!) G loves the exercise room too. She relaxes on the massage chair every night before she sleeps to read her book. She really knows how to enjoy life! Even the maid is happy--the kitchen gets the morning sun and the clothes dry in a jiffy! I also get to bake and grill--in a built-in oven. My previous oven is a table-top one--so it's very limited in use. That's one of the reasons why my kitchen is renovated--so that I will have a built-in oven! We really enjoyed our stay there, so much so that the kids whined about having to move back so fast!??
So we're really thankful for this wonderful place to stay. Thanks Mummy and Ah Bu!

Sambal Kangkong

J loves sambal kangkong and would always order this dish whenever we eat at a rastaurant or zhi czar stall. This is also a must-have whenver we cook nasi lemak at home.

400g kangkong
3 Tbsp dried shrimps--soaked in water
4 cloves garlic -- chopped
6 shallots -- chopped
1/2 Tbsp belachan
1 Tbsp pounded chilli / dried chilli
dash of salt

Fry garlic and shallots until fragrant.
Add dried shrimps and fry.
Add chilli paste and belachan.
Add in the kangkong and fry quickly.
If mixture is dry, add the water from soaking the dried shrimps.
Do not overcook.

Fried Tofu Japanese Style

My kids love Japanese food. Whenever we decide to go Japanese for dinner, we would inevitably have fried tofu. They would not eat tofu in any other form except this. My parents-in-law came for dinner and they like it too. Since their house is under renovation, they have been coming for dinner every night. So I'll definitely cook this again. It is easy to prepare and delicious too...crispy outside and soft inside.

2 blocks of tofu
8 Tbsp Potato flour
Salt and pepper
Chicken seasoning powder (optional)

Dry tofu with paper towel. Cut into big cubes.
Mix seasoning with flour.
Coat tofu with flour and deep fry.

Potato Salad

G loves potato salad so much that she says she can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. To go with roast chicken the other sunday night, I made potato salad since there are so many potatoes sitting around. G kept some of it in the fridge and indeed she wanted to have it for the next day's breakfast.

1 kg potatoes -- boiled and cubed
3 hard boiled eggs -- roughly chopped
2 sprigs of spring onion -- finely chopped
1 onion -- finely chopped
5 Tbsp mayonnaise
3 Tbsp fresh milk
Pinch of salt and pepper

Mix everything together and put it in the fridge for at least half an hour before serving.

Refreshing Salad

Whenever we go western for dinner, we would have a baked dish--either roast chicken, baked rice or pasta, soup, toasted baguette and of course a refreshing salad.

The first pic shows a mainly fruit salad--super sweet pineapples(Philippine Dole), cherry honey tomatoes, grapes,lettuce and topped with toasted sunflower seeds. For the dressing, I used some italian dressing, a bit of japanese mayo and a teaspoon of honey. The salad would taste great without the dressing too.

The second pic included kiwi fruit, mango, apples, cherry tomatoes, raisins and japanese cucumbers. No dressing this time...all natural sweetness.

Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin is full of vitamin A and anti-oxidants. We should be eating more of it but we seldom cook it. At the market the other day, the pumpkins looked really fresh and plump. So I decided to make pumpkin soup.

It's really quite simple. Just skin the pumpkin, cut into smaller chunks, add in 1 or 2 potatoes, 1 chopped onion and throw everything in chicken stock to boil until pumpkin and potatoes are soft. Blend everything to get a smooth gooey mixture. Put to boil again and season with salt and black pepper. Add some cream and fresh milk and stir. Turn off fire 1 minute after cream and milk are added. Serve with toasted baguette and butter. We also had it with roast chicken and a salad. A rather easy-to-prepare dinner for 11 people--mummy, parents-in-law, brother and sis-in-law and my family.

Roast Chicken

Roasting a chicken takes very little effort--no need to slave over the stove. Just season the chicken a few hours before roasting, pop the chicken in the oven, set at high temperature (220 degrees)for 10 to 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180 degrees (for about half an hour). And there you have it, a no-fuss dinner!

I also added a few potatoes, chop it, season with salt, pepper and herbs, and placed the potatoes in the same baking dish. The juice from the chicken further enhances the taste of the potatoes. My hubby loves the potatoes baked this way.

Baked Rice

Everytime we go to Swenson's, my kids would always order chicken baked rice. Usually J would order something else so that he could have his share of baked rice as well(from Js share). It's really quite pathetic that the 3 of them have to share that small portion of baked rice. I thought it shouldn't be too difficult to cook up baked rice. Tried several times and it's really well-received by the kids. Hubby would eat it, but he wouldn't lap it up like the kids do.

300g fresh sausage (chipolata is good)--sliced
250g fresh button mushrooms -- sliced
1 head of brocolli--cut to bite size
5 cloves garlic --chopped
1 onion --chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 can cream of chicken/mushroom
1 cup fresh cream
1 cup milk
shredded cheddar & mozarella cheese
4 cups of cooked rice

1. Fry garlic and onion in olive oil.
2. Add brocolli, then mushrooms, and then sausages.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add cream and milk.
5. Once the sauce is bubbly, turn off the fire.
6. Put rice on a baking dish. Top with sauce and sprinkle cheese on top.
7. Bake at 220 degrees for 15 minutes and grill for 5 minutes until cheese browns.

Creamy Tuna Pasta

Ran out of ideas as to what to cook for lunch over the weekend. Ransacked the pantry and saw the cans of curry tuna and chilli tuna. And since I have some cream in the fridge, decided to do a simple pasta. Fried some garlic and chopped onions, fresh button mushrooms then add the tuna and some cream and fresh milk. Really easy!
The kids love it too.

Choc Orange Muffin

G helped me to make muffins for church refreshments. As I divided the batter into 2 parts--1 chocolate and the other orange based, she got rather excited by the possibility of personalising the muffins...hence the different designs! She cleverly used a toothpick and just used her imagination!

Otak Sandwich Roll

Haven't updated this blog for some time...have been so busy, but actually also quite lazy. As my kitchen and toilets are being renovated, we decided to stay over at my mum's place, which is nearby. What was supposed to be a one-month renovation has turned out to be almost 2 months. Well, it's partly my fault--for wanting to change this, that or other. After all, staying at Mummy's place is so comfortable. The kids enjoy it and also, we get the morning sun and the clothes dry so fast! Altho' the reno has been completed, there's the endless packing and cleaning to do...so we're not moving back as yet!

Made some otak and found it a bit too wet. So I thought why not make it as a filling for sandwich rolls, since it was my turn to bring refreshments for church on 18 August 07. Added a bit of mayo to enhance the taste.

Ingredients

½ kg boneless fish meat (chopped)
4 shallots
4 cloves garlic
6 candlenuts
1 tsp belacan
2 stalks lemon grass
2 cm piece galangal
4 lime leaves (limau purut)
3-4 red chillies
1 cm yellow ginger
1 egg
sugar to taste
1 tbsp cornflour
180ml thick coconut milk
salt to taste
banana leaf, oil

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C

2. Grind the onions, belacan, lemon grass, galanggal and red chillies with coconut milk to a fine paste. Add the turmeric. Mix well. Fry paste.

3. Mix in the fish paste, egg, sugar, salt and cornflour. Beat the mixture until smooth.

4. Cut the banana leaf to fit a 16 cm ovenproof dish. Scald the leaf and rub some oil over it. Place the leaf in the dish and pour the fish mixture over.

5. Bake fish until firm to touch. (Approx 15-20 minutes.) Cool before cutting.

Orange Chiffon Cake

Orange Chiffon Cake—modified and adapted from Lily Wai's blog
Ingredients:

5 eggs - separate yolk from white
120g castor sugar
125g top flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp grated orange zest
2 tbsp corn oil
2/3 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp cream of tartar



Method:

Preheat oven to 170°C.

Whisk egg white for half a minute. Then add cream of tartar amd half portion of sugar in an electric mixer until just stiff and mixture holds its shape.

Whisk egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy. Add grated orange zest. Add orange juice and stir well. Sift in cake flour , baking powder and salt and fold gently . Stir in corn oil.

Pour egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture. Carefully and gently mix with a spatula until batter is even.

Pour mixture into a 20cm ungreased tube pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until cake is well browned on the surface.

Remove cake from the oven and invert mould immediately. Leave aside to cool completely before removing from the mould.

Pie Tee Shells

180g rice flour
50g corn flour
50g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
300-350ml water

Mix everything together and stir till mixture is smooth and not lumpy. Consistency should be a rather thick batter--but easy to pour.

Heat up a small pot of oil. Drip a little batter in oil.. When it sizzles, oil is hot enough. Dip the pie tee mould in the hot oil. Then remove from oil and dip it in the batter. The batter should cling to the mould. Quickly put the mould in the oil and jiggle the mould. After a few seconds, shake the pie tee shell off the mould.

To de-stress--BAKE!

Have been having a hectic schedule at work. Really need to de-stress! What more with the children having exams in the coming week. Last Wednesday night, G and Js had tuition, so it was the perfect time for me to try out the Orange Chiffon Cake recipe! Found this recipe on Lily Wai's blog. Modified the recipe a little. It turned out well, just that the kids found that it was a tad too bitter--from the orange zest. But my colleagues enjoyed it. They said they must stress me more so that I'll bake more!

Popiah Party

At last CL is back from HK for the May Day weekend. My family loves popiah, especially those made by Ah Ma. She makes really good hokkien popiah! Since we love popiah so much, I just had to learn from Ah Ma, who has since passed down her gongfu to Jiji. What Jiji has taught me is by "agaration"--everything by estimation and feel and instinct. Well, Mummy and CL did not complain about the fillings, so I guess it's passable. At least now we can have popiah whenver we feel like it, just that it's a lot of work. But now that CL is back, we have more reasons to prepare it.

Also took the opportunity to try out the Kueh Pie Tee recipe from Amy Beh's website. It is really good! HN says they're good enough to be sold. The pie tee shells have the right crunch and texture.