Jon & Kate plus 8 - Pancake Recipe

Henry's Pancake

Pancake Recipe : Kate's Measurements x 3

* 1 1/2 cup flour , 4 1/2 cups

* 2 tsp baking powder , 6 tsp

* 3/4 tsp salt, 2 1/4 tsp

* 2 tbsp oil, 6 tbsp

* 1 1/2 cup milk (add more if needed), 5 cups

* 1 egg , 3 eggs

Directions:

Sift and mix all dry ingredients together. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Set aside. Mix all wet ingredients together. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix together. Using a 1/4 cup or 1/3 measuring cup, pour batter into a non-stick skillet or griddle.

Best served with maple syrup, fruits and nutella!

Ayam Masak Merah Pedas

Today I decided to satisfy my cravings for Nasi Totamo and Ayam Masak Merah. I first tasted this dish in Convent Hari Canteen last time, students and teachers will cook something and sell to raise money for the school.. and it has been one of my favorite dish ever since .... This is my first time cooking this dish *drum rolls* yeeeehhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Not bad for my first attempt eh?

Nasi Tomato

Ayam Masak Merah Pedas

Okies.. enough of the food tease :-P haha! Here are the recipe :-)

You will need..

* Chicken

* Tumeric Powder , 2tsp

* Onions

* Tomatoes , 2-3

* Tomato Puree and Ketchup

* Dark Soy Sauce

* Water (depending on the thickness you want)

* sugar and salt

To make the chili paste

* Shallots (around 10) or just big red onions

* Ginger 3-4 cm

* Dry chilies, 5-6 (depending how spicy u want it to be)

* Fresh red chilies 3-4

* Garlic (maybe 8-10)

Directions

1. Marinate the chicken with turmeric and salt (leave it for 20-30 mins) then fry till its slightly browned and cooked. Set aside.

2. Blend the ingredients to make chili paste then fry the paste till it is cooked. (about 15-20 mins)

3. Next. Add onions ( cut into rings) and chopped tomatoes. Add add water and let it simmer.

4. Season it with tomato puree, tomato ketchup, dark soy sauce, sugar and salt till you get the taste u want!

5. Add chicken and let it simmer and boil till its fully cooked.

6. Lastly, add frozen vegetables and its ready to eat!

I'll provide the recipe for nasi tomato next time.. I'm hungryyyy!!! Enjoy!!

Healthy Banana Crepe (Thin sPANkCAKE)

Hubby used to wake me up on the weekend just to make him these. I used to just made plain ones and serve it with maple syrup but once the banana pancake is introduced, he doesn't want to go back to the plain old ones. It's so simple and healthy food for breakfast, and normally everybody loves pancakes (especially these). You can serve it with maple syrup, honey or chocolate topping, anything you desire...and some fruits and berries too.

The ingredients;

2 or 3 eggs (depending the size of the eggs)
1 cup flour
1 tbs milk
Water
1 banana (optional)
butter/margarine

Method;
1.Simply beat the eggs together, mix in flour bit by bit.. and add milk.
2.Add water a little bit each time, just make sure it's not too runny or too thick
3.Heat pan, make sure it's hot, put a little bit of magarine/ butter into the pan.
4.Add the mixture into the hot pan
5.Swirl it around to distribute it evenly... turn down the heat to medium
6.Add bananas or any other fruits you like in the middle.
7.Flip over when it's brown.
8.You can roll it up and cut into 3 pieces like what I do so every pieces will have bananas in it.

Breaktfast is ready!

Spaghetti for Dinner

I ran out of rice and had to cook something for dinner. Thinking to myself what would be so easy and fast to cook for dinner.. Spaghetti!! I've been cooking this for years now and still loving it!



Ingredients

* 250g chicken/ beef
* 1 big onions
* Garlic
* 2 tomatoes
* 1 bottle of spaghetti sauce mix - i like using the ones with loads of mushroom in it :-)

Chopped tomatoes, garlic and onions

Mince chicken till fine . Marinate with ground pepper and some soy sauce.


Methods

1. Heat oil and fry garlic and onions till brown

2. Add mince chicken/ beef and break up any lumps. Keep frying till chicken is almost cooked.

3. Add spaghetti sauce mix and tomatoes. Stir well. Bring to boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.

4.Lastly, add seasoning- salt, sugar, pepper, Italian spices to taste

Mix sauce with pasta, serve hot. Best served with loads of cheese on top!

Bon Appetit!!

Hershey's Chocolate Chip Cookies

This chocolate chip cookies sooooo delicious and it is really simple to bake!

 All you need is.................

Ingredients
*2 cups of flour

*1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*1/2 teaspoon salt

*3/4 cup unsalted butter- melted (about 170g)

*1 cup brown sugar

*1/2 cup white sugar

*1 tablespoon vanilla extract

*1 egg

*1 egg yolk

And of course... Hershey's Chocolate Chips!!

Directions:

Heat oven to 350F. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Next, mix sugar (brown and white) and melted butter. Just use a wooden spoon to mix together. Then, add vanilla extract, egg and egg yolk.

Gradually add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well.

Lastly, stir in chocolate chips & nuts, if desired. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto your cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Leave it to cool and ready to eat!! Enjoy!!!

Mushroom Garlic Risotto

It might look plain but believe me, this is the best Mushroom Risotto ever! (even better than the one served in my favourite Italian restaurant) It's simple, light and healthy. I'm not a big fan of red meat, so this is like the perfect meal for me. Had it for dinner tonight, we were eating it halfway, and I decided to stop hubby and take a picture before it was all gone.

The Secret Recipe (taken from Canadian Living);

1lb mushrooms, sliced
4 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup arborio rice (or medium grain)
3 cups hot chicken stock ( or bouillon)
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup romano cheese, shredded
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

1. Saute mushroom in butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste
2. Set aside
3. Meanwhile in a deep skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil over medium heat until soft.
4. Stir in the rice and cook 1 minute, coating rice with the oil
5. Stir in 1 cup of the hot broth and let simmer until the liquid is mostly absorbed, stirring frequently.
6. Repeat with the remaining broth and hot water.
7. Taste for doneness; the rice should be creamy and slightly chewy in the center, not dry.
8. Add more hot liquid if necessary to cook longer.
9. Total cooking time should be 20-25 minutes.
10. Stir in the mushrooms, cheese and parsley and season to taste.
11. Cook till warmed through.

And it's ready to eat~

Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do!

Ozeki style Taichazuke

This delicate flavoured dish happens to be one of my favourite comfort foods. Its quick and easy to prepare and makes a deliciously filling, yet light, meal.Try it out, I promise you won't regret it.

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked (preferably leftover, rice. This doesn't necessarily have to be japanese rice, but japanese rice tastes better)
Fish (salmon/seabass/bream) - sliced thinly
Genmaicha (green tea roasted with rice) or any green tea
Toasted sesame seeds
Nori (seaweed), cut into thin strips
minced garlic
minced ginger
fish sauce
soy sauce
sesame oil
Wasabe


Directions:
Marinate fish with a bit of lemon juice, ginger juice and sesame oil for 10-15 mins.

To prepare broth:
Pour about 6 cups hot water over 3 spoonfuls green tea leaves and leave to seep.

In a pan, spray some sesame oil, and lightly fry minced garlic, ginger and some sesame seeds until fragrant. Pour in green tea and let simmer over low heat. Add in 1 teaspoonful of soy sauce and 2 teaspoons fish sauce. Add in salt to taste. Simmer for 4-5 minutes covered.

Poach the fish in the broth.

Divide rice into 4 bowls.

When fish turns opaque, place on top of rice.

Pour the green tea broth over the rice.

Garnish with liberal amounts of dried seaweed strips and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Put a lump of wasabe at the side (wasabe gives it a nice, tangy flavour but too much will bring tears to your eyes).

Serve piping hot.

Traditionally, the japanese tend to eat this with ume (plums pickled with red shiso), but this modern version is my fav!

PS: Don't add too much oil or garlic... it might overpower the delicate taste of the fish and green tea. Some people might find it a bit bland, but if you savour it, you'll feel your tastebuds tingling. Its very subtle.

Lasagna

Lasagna is one one my favourite pasta (also Garfield's favourite). We first made this dish when I had too many tomatoes and I didn't know what to do with them. So we learned to keep and freeze my garden tomatoes and make this delicious dish whenever we want. This is a very good meal as it freezes well and you can take it out and eat whenever you don't feel like cooking. Goes well with salad (I will provide the recipe the next time).

Here's the recipe;

1lb ground beef (or ground turkey)

2x 28 oz canned tomatoes ( or fresh ones and cut into cubes)

7.5 oz tomato sauce

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1 packet spaghetti sauce mix

1 cup cottage cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

6 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced

8 oz wide lasagna noodles raw

1) Brown beef in frying pan. Break up any lumps.
2) Add tomatoes, sauce, garlic, and spaghetti sauce mix. Bring to boil and simmer slowly for 10 minutes. Put some of this on bottom of 9 x 13 in. (22 x 33) cm pan - just enough to keep noodles from resting on bottom of pan.
3) In small mixing bowl mix cottage cheese, egg and parmesan together well.

4) Assemble:
1. Bit of meat sauce
2. Layer of raw noodles
3. One-third of meat sauce
4. Half of cottage cheese mixture
5. Layer of mozzarella cheese
6. Layer of raw noodles
7. One-third of meat sauce
8. One-half cottage cheese mixture
9. One-third of meat sauce
10. All mozzarella cheese

4) Cover tightly with foil. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 1 hour or more until noodles are tender.
5) Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serves 8 generously or 12 average.

Egg Tarts

I love egg tarts, but didn't have access to them when I was at uni. I tried several recipes and as usual, customised it to my preference. Try it, its really simple, and oh, so heavenly. And if you can't be bothered to make your own pastry, there's always Jus Roll's ready made frozen shortcrust pastry - just roll it out on icing sugar mixed with a bit of corn flour.

Ingredients:

Pastry:
200g flour
100g butter
a pinch of salt
75g sugar
1 egg yolk + 4 drops lemon juice
4 tbsp ice water + 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Filling:
2 fresh eggs
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 ounces sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven. 180 degrees

Mix salt with flour and sieve. Rub in butter to make breadcrumbs. Add in egg yolk and water and knead lightly. Form 2 balls, dust with flour, cover in a bowl and chill for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make filling by lightly beating 2 eggs and the remaining egg white, and then pour in milk, vanilla essence and and sugar. Stir carefully, making sure you don't form air bubbles*. Set aside.

Roll out dough and cut with pastry cutter and make tart shells. I don't have a rolling pin or a pastry cutter, so i just roll it into a ball and press it flat with my palms. Make it as thin as you can to accomodate as more filling. ^_^

Bake the shells for a few minutes (until its white, but not too baked) and then pour in the filling. This is to keep shells from getting soggy. Thats how you get nice flaky pastry that melts in your mouth.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until golden.

Take out the oven and let cool on a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Assam Laksa in Dubai!

I've been craving for assam laksa since I moved to Dubai and its seriously driving me crazy. Went to a Chinese restaurant here in Dubai and ohhh.. *dissapointed*. After months of torture, I finally decided to make my very own assam laksa and it was awesome! Never really had the guts to do it because I thought it would be really complicated but in fact, it is sooooo easy!!!

Here's the recipe :-) You will need .....
* 2 small mackerel
* 4 cups water
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups assam jawa (can't get it in dubai so i just use the bottled ones)
* 2 stalks sliced lemon grass - white part
* 2 tsp turmeric
* 1 tsp belacan
* 5 dried chilies, soaked, drained and chopped
* 1 galanggal -chopped
* 1 tsp sugar
* 350 g rice noodles

Methods
1. Blend lemon grass, turmeric, belancan, dried chilies and galangal till fine
2. Then add some oil and fry it on slow fire until wangi :-) and put aside
3. Cut fish into 4 pieces
4. Add fish to boiling salt water then reduce heat and simmer for 5 mins
5. Remove fish and flake off flesh
6. Leave fish head and bones in the water and add tamarind water. Simmer for 10 mins
7. Strain to remove the fish head and bones.
8. Add the fish stock to the blended and fried tumeric, belacan, dried chilis and galanggal.
9. Stir in sugar and add more salt, assam jawa as desired.
10.Simmer for another 10 mins and add fish.

There u go! Simple and delicious!


Then just garnish with whatever u want- mint leaves, pineapple, cucumber, cut chillies and onions!

Pineapple Chicken (from Hawker's Fair)

Got this from boo_licious's masak masak blog and my oh my, it was so good!

Cooked this once a long time ago for friends who came over for a badminton session at the health club nearby and we had egg tart flan for dessert.

^_^

Ingredients:
500g chicken breast or thigh, thinly sliced
4 pieces of pineapple rings from the can, cubed
150g fresh pineapple, diced
1 capsicum, sliced and preferably green
1 tomato, cut into wedges
cornflour for coating the chicken

Marinade
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 egg
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp corn flour

Sauce
1 tbsp Thai Chili Sauce
1 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp chili sauce
3 tbsps pineapple juice
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Mix the marinade ingredients and combine it with the sliced chicken. Leave it for 30 minutes.

Coat with corn flour and shake the excess flour out. Deep fry in hot oil till golden brown.

Ladle out and drain the oil away.

Leave 1 tbsp of oil in the wok, put in pineapple, capsicum, tomato and stir well.

Add the sauce and cook until thick. Add in the fried chicken and stir well.

Dish up and serve with hot rice.