Pesto Pasta with Tomatoes and Sausage

Serves 2

Ingredients
Fresh basil leaves - 30g
Pine nuts - 100g
Parmesan cheese - 50g (grated)
Extra virgin olive oil - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 1 clove (peeled)
Salt
Pepper
1 medium sized tomato - cut into smaller pieces.
Pasta - 200g
Parsley - for garnish

Method
- Dry fry the pine nuts in a frying pan on low heat. Set aside to cool abit.
- Using a food processor / mortar and pestle, combine the basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts and the olive oil until a thick paste forms.
- Add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. (If you don't like it too cheesy, you can reduce the amount of cheese). The paste will be coarse and thick but avoid adding too much olive oil. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta (I used tagliatelle) until al dente, reserve about 3/4 cup of pasta water.
- Toss the cooked pasta and (raw) tomatoes in a large mixing bowl with the pesto, adding enough pasta water to moisten the pesto and let it coat the pasta evenly.
- Serve while hot and garnish with shaved parmesan cheese and parsley.

Comfort food - Porridge

Yesterday was a busy work day for both myself and the hubby. He wasn't feeling too well, so I decided to cook something simple and nutritious for dinner, with whatever ingredients I can find in the fridge.
It turned out really tasty and satisfying.

Ingredients

- 1-2 carrots (grated or chopped up)

- 5-6 dried scallops (pre-soaked till soften)

- A handful of wolfberry seeds (washed)

- 1/3 cup of corn nibblets (I used those frozen pre-packed ones)

- 1.5 to 2 litres of pork bone / chicken stock
- Uncooked rice for 2
- Salt and pepper

Method
- Rinse the rice and cook with pork / chicken stock in a pot over medium heat. Add the scallops.
- When it boils, turn down the heat to low and add the grated carrots.
- When the porridge is about cooked, add the corn and wolfberry seeds. Continue cooking for another 10-15mins. Add more stock or water if the liquid dries up.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and serve while hot.

Honey Baked Cod + Orange Arugula Salad

Honey baked cod

Ingredients 
4 cod fillets (about 600-700g in total)
2 tsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp honey

Method
- Pat dry the cod fillets before marinating.
- Marinate the cod and set aside for about 15mins.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 deg C.
- In a frying pan, add a tbsp of oil and when it's hot, pan fry the cod fillets (skin side down) for about 2mins. Leave the remaining seasoning in the baking dish.
- Transfer the cod fillets into the baking dish (skin side up) and bake for about 10mins until cooked.

Orange Arugula Salad

Ingredients
4 cups arugula leaves (Washed thoroughly and drip dry)
1 orange (Cut into small pieces)
Half a yellow capsicum (Cut into small pieces)
10 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar

Method
- Place all the vegetables and fruits in the salad bowl.
- Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.
- Toss and serve.

Roasted Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes

Serves 2

Ingredients
4 small potatoes (I used red and yellow potatoes)
1 mid size sweet potato
1 red onions (cut into bite size)
3 cloves of garlic (rinsed, bruised, leave the skin on)
1 sprig of rosemary leaves (chopped up)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar
sprinkle of salt
sprinkle of cumin seeds (optional)

Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 deg C.
- Washed the potatoes thoroughly and cut into smaller pieces.
- Washed and de-skinned the sweet potatoes, cut into smaller pieces.
- Combine the potatoes, sweet potatoes, garlic and onions in a baking dish.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, rosemary leaves and cumin seeds.
- Drizzle the dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat well.
- Roast in oven for about 45mins. The potatoes will be blackened because of the balsamic vinegar; they are not burnt.

Tomato-based Baked Pasta with Ham and Mushroom

Serves 2 - 3

Ingredients
300g spaghetti (or any other pasta of your choice)
3-4 slices of ham (cut into smaller pieces)
1 red onion (diced)
50g chestnut mushrooms (diced)
1 canned tomatoes
80g tomato paste
350ml chicken stock
Olive oil
Mozzarella shredded cheese
Salt & pepper

Method
- Preheat oven to 180 degree C.
- In a big boiling pot, cook the pasta according to package instructions. Do not overcook.
- Remove spaghetti from the pot, add 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of salt and mix well.
- Fry ham with a dash of olive oil until fragrant. Remove from pan.
- Sauteed the onions in olive oil. Then add the mushrooms and fry until fragrant.
- Add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste and stock. Put to a boil, add the spaghetti and mix well.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour the spaghetti into a baking dish, spread the ham pieces on the top and lastly, sparingly sprinkle mozzarella cheese till the surface is covered.
- Bake for 10 minutes till the cheese turns golden brown.

Blueberry Muffins

Makes about 6 - 8. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup plain flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup blueberries (washed and pat dry with a kitchen towel)

Method
- Preheat over to 200 degree C. Grease muffin tray / line with muffin liners.
- Combine the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl.
- Pour the vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup.
- Mix the wet with the dry ingredients.
- Fold in the blueberries and take note not to over mix.
- Fill the muffin cups to almost full and  bake for 20 - 25 minutes in the oven. The muffin is cooked when a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffin comes out clean. 

Banana Walnut Muffins

Makes about 9.

Ingredients
3 large, very ripe bananas (I use the del monte ones)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 slightly beaten egg (room temperature)
1/3 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup walnuts (chopped into smaller pieces)

Method
Preheat the oven to 175 degree C. Mix the mashed bananas, sugar, egg and butter together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the walnuts to the dry mixture. Mix wet and dry ingredients together till just combined, do not over mix. Grease muffin tray / line with muffin liners and fill it up to about 3/4 full. Bake for about 30 minutes. The muffin is cooked when a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffin comes out clean. 

Oven-roasted Potatoes with Rosemary

Serves 2 

Ingredients
2 large potatoes
Salt
Olive oil
1 sprig of fresh rosemary leaves

Method
- Preheat oven to 220 degree C.
- Thoroughly wash the potatoes and cut into smaller pieces. Do not remove skin.
- Lay the potatoes on a baking dish, drizzle oil, salt and rosemary leaves.
- Give the dish a few quick tosses, so the salt and oil seasoning gets onto the potatoes.
- Bake for about 40mins.
- Serve while hot.

Mango Salsa

Serves 2 - 3


The mango salsa recipes that I have seen so far will use ingredients like cilantro and lime. I couldn't get the former in the supermarket and I already have quite a few lemons and a mint plant at home, so I came up with my own version of mango salsa. This goes well with meat or fish dishes.

Ingredients
1 mid size mango (peeled, cored and cut into smaller pieces)
2-3 red tomatoes (cut into smaller pieces)
1/2 red onion (diced)
8 fresh mint leaves (diced)
Half a lemon

Optional
Cucumber

Method
- In a salad bowl, gently combine and mix all the ingredients.
- Squeeze half a lemon into it. You can add more lemon juice if you like it more sour.
- Chill for about 1-2 hours before serving.
- If stored in fridge (covered), it can keep for about 3 - 4 days. 

Roast Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary

Serves 2

Ingredients
4 x chicken thighs (with skin)
2 tsp of garlic
2 tsp of red onion
1 tsp of ginger
1 lemon
1 sprig of fresh rosemary leaves
Salt
Black pepper
Olive oil

Method
- Rinsed the chicken thighs and pat dry.
- Chop up the garlic, onion and ginger and mix with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Rub the mixture onto the chicken flesh and skin, add salt and black pepper.
- Add rosemary leaves and transfer into a covered bowl, keep in fridge to leave the chicken to soak in the marinade for about 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 220 degree C.
- In your baking dish, lay 4 thin slices of lemon at the base. Put the chicken thigh on top of each lemon slice, with its skin facing up.
- Roast for about 35 - 40 mins until cooked. 

Apple & Cinnamon Crumble-Top Cake

This is the first proper (and successful!) cake I baked using my oven and I have since baked it many times and even shared the recipe with some of my friends.
This is a moist and heavy cake and a small slice per person is usually enough.

Cuts into 10 slices

Ingredients

For the crumble topping:
350g granny smith apples (peeled, cored and cut into 2cm pieces)
125g self raising flour
75g unsalted butter (cold, cut into smaller pieces)
60g Demerara sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp milk

For the cake base:
125g butter (softened, room temperature)
90g caster sugar
2 eggs (room temperature, lightly beaten)
150g self raising flour

Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 degree C. Greaseproof a 20 - 22 cm springform pan.
- Mix the apples with the lemon juice. Set aside.
- For the crumble topping, sift the flour and cinnamon into a mixing bowl.
- Using only your finger tips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add in the demerara sugar, mix well and set aside.
- For the cake base, cream the butter and sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs a little at a time until all the egg has been added.
- Sift in the flour and gently fold in with a spatula.
- Transfer the mixture into the base of the baking pan. Spread evenly and lay the apple pieces on top. Leave a 0.5 cm gap between the apples and the edge of the pan (so that the apples won't turn black after baking).
- Lightly drizzle the milk into the crumble mixture and scatter the crumble bits over the apples, making sure the apples are covered up.
- Bake for about 1.5 hours.
- Serve warm / cold with your favourite ice cream!

Tips
- I like some bite for my apple crumble, so I din cut the apples too small.
- If you can't get granny smith apples, you can use any other apples.
- If you want a crunchier topping, stir in 50g of chopped nuts to the crumble mixture.
- It is a lot easier to do rubbing in method using cold butter from the fridge.

Lemon Cake

About 8-10 slices

Ingredients

125g salted butter (softened)

150g caster sugar

2 eggs (room temperature, lightly beaten)

180g self raising flour

1 lemon 

Optional: A handful of almond flakes

Method

- Preheat oven to 180 degree C and greaseproof a 24cm round tin and line the base with baking paper. 

- Grate the rind of the lemon and then squeeze the juice, strain and set aside. 

- In your mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

- Add about 1/3 of the egg into the creamed mixture and beat till incorporated, then add 1/3 of the flour into the mixture and beat well. Repeat the steps until the egg and flour have all been mixed. 

- Using the spatula, stir in the lemon rind into the mixture till smooth. Add the lemon juice and mix well.

- Transfer the mixture into the baking tin and smooth out the surface. 

- Lightly lay the almond flakes on the surface of the cake mixture. 

- Bake for 22 - 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre of cake comes out clean.

- Remove from oven and let it cool for about 10-15 mins before removing from tin. 

- Serve warm.

To make the lemon glaze (I skip this as I don't like my cake too sweet)

- Grate the rind of another lemon.

- Squeeze the lemon juice into a small saucepan. Over low heat, add 25g of granulated sugar to the lemon juice and stir occasionally.

- When the sugar has dissolved, simmer for another few minutes until it turns syrupy. 

- Prick the cake all over using a fine skewer and spinkle the lemon rind over the top. 

- Drizzle the lemon syrup over the the top of the cake and leave to cool in the baking tin. 

- The cake will soak up the lemon syrup giving it a gooeyness texture.

Rosemary Lemon Tuiles

After watching Jamie Oliver's cooking show on TLC, I am so inspired to have my own herb garden. I know I'm unlikely to succeed given the (lack of direct sunlight) conditions at home, nonetheless, I will want to give it a shot! So over the weekend, we bought 3 potted plants - Rosemary, chilli and mint. 

My rosemary plant is so luscious and scented (at the moment!) ; I am very glad to try this recipe with fresh rosemary leaves plucked from my beautiful plant! This makes an excellent tea time treat. 

Makes about 20

Ingredients

Egg white - 2 

Caster sugar - 70g

Plain flour - 50g

Unsalted butter - 50g

Fresh rosemary leaves - 1 sprig / 2 tsp

Lemon rind - from half a lemon

Orange rind - 1 tsp (optional)

Method

- Wash the rosemary sprig, pat dry and chop finely.

- Preheat oven to 190 degree C.

- Melt butter over low heat and leave to cool (faster if you use a microwave).

- In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites till it's white and fluffy. Stop when you lift up your whisk, you can see soft folds. You will also notice the mixture almost doubled in volume. 

- Gently whisk in the sugar and mix well.

- Gently fold in the rosemary leaves, lemon and orange rind, flour and melted butter.

- Lay baking tray with greaseproof paper. Using a metal tablespoon, scoop up the mixture till its almost spilling over and immediately place it on the tray. Using the back of the spoon, gently spread it evenly till it forms a thin disc of about 1-2mm. Repeat till the tray is filled up. 

- Bake for about 5-7 minutes till the centre turns golden and the side turns brown.

- Remove from oven and drape the freshly baked tuiles over a rolling pin to form a curve. 

- Serve while warm, goes well with your favourite ice cream or just a cup of freshly brewed tea. 

Tip
If you drop your tuile and it doesn't break into pieces when it lands, you know it's too thick!

Source: http://adrenalynne.blogspot.com/2009/11/rosemary-scented-citrus-tuiles.html

Spicy Tofu with Minced Pork

We went to Putien for dinner last weekend and their specialty chill sauce is so yummy that we bought a bottle for our own consumption. However, it can only keep for 2 months, so I am using it in my cooking too. This is the first dish I attempted using the chilli sauce and the husband loves it!


Serves 2-3

Ingredients
100g minced pork
1 pack of tofu (I cut it into 16 smaller pieces)
2-3 cloves of chopped garlic
Light soy sauce
Pepper
Hua tiao wine
1 heaped tsp of cornflour dissolved in 1/2 cup of water
3 tsp full of Putien chilli sauce

Method
- Pre-marinade the minced pork with light soy sauce, pepper and hua tiao wine.
- Using a frying pan, fry the garlic till fragrant in hot oil.
- Turn up the heat and add the pork, fry till cooked. Minced meat clumps together, you have to break it up into smaller pieces while frying.
- Add the chilli sauce and half cup of hot water. When the sauce is boiling, reduce heat and add the tofu and cook for about 2-3mins. Add more water if you see the sauce drying up.
- Lastly, add in the cornflour mixture, stir gently (so the tofu won't break) until the sauce has thicken.
- Garnish with spring onion / parsley if you have, and serve with rice.

Berry Fruit Tart

I followed this recipe religiously and it was quite a success!
However, I am using a 7-8" tart pan, which is smaller than what this recipe calls for. So my pastry crust is a tad too thick. If you prefer a thinner crust, you may have to remove 10-20% of the dough depending on how thick you will like when you lay the dough out on the clingwrap.

Serves about 8.

To make the pastry crust

Ingredients
Plain flour - 195g
Salt - a pinch
Unsalted butter - 115g (at room temperature)
Caster sugar - 50g
Egg - 1 (lightly beaten)

Method
- Using the electric mixer, beat the butter until softened. Add sugar and beat till light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg, beating just until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour with the salt.
- Combine the dry and the wet mixture and mix till it forms a soft dough.
- Lay it out on a piece of clingwrap and using your fingertips, flatten it out into an expanded shape of the tart pan. Wrap it up with the clingwrap and refrigerate for 30mins.
- Greaseproof the tart pan, I used a 7 - 8 inch and evenly spread the pastry dough onto the the pan right up to its edges. The dough breaks very easily but you can patch it up readily. Cover with clingwrap and place in freezer for about 15mins (I actually skip this stage and bake it right away; it turns out fine).
- Preheat oven to 205 degrees C with rack in centre of oven.
- Remove the pastry dough from the freezer and lightly prick the bottom with a fork. (to prevent the dough from puffing up when baking).
- Bake for 5mins, reduce the temperature to 180 degrees C and continue baking for about 15mins till the crust turns golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let it cool for about 5mins. Brush the pastry crust with a thin coat of beaten egg white, and bring it back to the oven for about 2mins. This is to prevent the crust from getting soggy when you lay the pastry cream on it.
- Allow the crust to cool completely before putting the pastry cream.

To make the pastry cream

Ingredients
Milk - 300ml
Vanilla bean - 1 split lengthwise (or 1 tsp of pure vanilla essence)
Egg yolks - 3
Caster sugar - 50g
Plain flour - 20g / 2 tbsp
Corn flour - 20g / 2 tbsp
Whipping cream - 100g

Method
- In a saucepan, heat up the milk and vanilla bean until the milk just begins to foam up. Keep stirring so it won't curdle. Remove from heat source and scrape out the vanilla seeds into the milk and leave it to cool abit.
- In a mixing bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks with a spatula. Sieve the flour and cornflour together and then add to the egg mixture and mix till it's smooth.
- Add the milk slowly, whisking constantly to prevent curdling.
- Pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan and cook it till the mixture turns into a thick paste. You have to stir briskly to prevent the paste from sticking onto the pan.
- Remove from heat and if you are using vanilla essence, this is the time to add it in.
- Pour into a clean bowl and cover the surface with clingwrap to prevent a crust from forming.
- Cool to room temperature
- Beat the whipping cream till soft mounds are seen. Add enough (you may not need all) to the pastry cream till it forms a thick and soft consistency, but not too watery. I find that after the pastry cream cools, it hardens slightly so adding whipped cream will help.

To assemble fruit tart


Ingredients
Any fresh fruits that you like! However, after washing the fruits, pat them dry using kitchen napkins before laying them on the pastry cream.
Icing sugar (optional)

Method
- Remove the tart from the pan gently.
- Spread the pastry cream onto the bottom of the tart shell. (I did not use all the pastry cream I made which is a mistake, as the layer of cream is too thin compared to the pastry crust.)
- Place the fruits in any manner you like. Get creative here!
- If not serving immediately, cover with clingwrap and refrigerate but best to eat slightly chilled and on the same day.
- Sieve a thin layer of icing sugar on the fruits to make it even prettier!

Nigella's Marmite Pasta

If you need a quick fix lunch and will rather not have instant noodles, try this simple recipe that I saw from Nigella's website. Ready in 10 mins!

Serves 1

Ingredients
Marmite - 1 tsp
Angel hair pasta - 80g
Garlic - 3-4 cloves (chopped up)
Olive oil
Dried mix herbs
Salt
Cheese

Optional
Chestnut mushrooms - 100g (sliced into smaller pieces)
Bacon - 2 strips


Method
Add salt and olive oil into a big pot of boiling water and cook the pasta till al dente as per the packaging instructions. I used angel hair pasta as it only takes 2 mins to cook. When the pasta is cooked, drain off the water but keep aside half a cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, heat up the pan and fry the garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the mushrooms and a dash of dried herbs; fry for 1-2minutes. Add the marmite and 1/4 cup of pasta water, the sauce will thicken shortly and mix it with the cooked pasta. If it's too dry, add abit more of the water.

Sprinkle shaved parmesan cheese and chilli flakes if you like. 

Dried Scallops with Shimeji Mushrooms and Broccoli

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 whole small stalk of brocolli (washed and cut)
1 bunch of brown shimeji mushrooms (washed, drained and roots removed)
5-6 dried scallops (pre-soaked for about 30mins, drained and break into tiny shreds)
Cooking oil (I used Canola oil)

Seasoning
1 tsp of light soya sauce
1.5 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of hua tiao wine
1 tsp of cornflour dissolved in 2-3 tbsp of water

Method
- In a pot of boiling water, add a bit of salt and olive oil. Blanch the broccoli in the boiling water till it's cooked. I don't like it too soft, around 6-8 mins should do. Drain off the water and lay the stalks around your serving plate, forming a full circle.
- Add 2 tbsp of cooking oil into a heated frying pan / wok. On medium heat, fry the dried scallops till they look darker in colour. Add the mushrooms and as they cook, they will release alot of water. So you need not add any more water.
- Add the above seasoning in sequence and when the gravy boils and thickens, it's ready.
- Scoop up the mushrooms and lay them on the centre of plate, dribble the gravy on the broccoli.
- Serve while hot!

Japanese Beef Curry

Serves 2

Ingredients
200g of beef chunks (you can buy this from the deli section of most supermkts)
1 big yellow onion - sliced
1 mid sized carrot - cut into big pieces
1 big potato - cut into big pieces
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil

Boiling water 

55g of Japanese HOT curry pre-mix (That's about 1/4 of the package)

Seasoning (beef)
Salt
Pepper
Dried mixed herbs - I use McCormick brand

Optional

Corn niblets / mixed peas - half a cup

Method

- Rinse the beef chunks and pat dry. Marinate with abit of salt, pepper and dried herbs. Set aside.

- Using a saucepan that you can both fry and stew the curry, heat up the butter in the pan on medium heat. Don't burn the butter. Brown the beef chunks on both sides on high heat. Remove from pan when both sides are browned and half cooked. 

- There'll be some beef juices left in the pan, use that to fry the onions, add some olive oil if it's too dry.

- Cooked the onions till they are soft and brown, add in the beef chunks and carrots. Add boiling water till all the ingredients are fully submerged. Cover the pan and bring to a boil. 

- Turn the heat to low and continue stewing the beef for about 1hour till it softens. Check periodically and give it a quick stir to make sure there are no pieces of meat/vege stuck onto the bottom of pan. Add more water if necessary. Add the potatoes when the beef has been cooking for about 30-45mins.

- After 1-1.5 hours, add in the curry pre-mix and cook for another 20mins on low heat. This is also the time to put in the corn bits. Add more water if the curry is too thick.

- Serve with white rice/udon.

Note

- Avoid cutting the vegetables too small. Because after 2 hours of stewing, they will disintegrate!
- I find that the curry dries up quite quickly so I have to keep adding water. 

- Instead of beef, you can replace with chicken but preferably boneless thigh meat cos it's more tender than breast meat. 

- It's good if you have at least 1.5 - 2 hours to stew the beef, otherwise, it may not be tender enough. If you use chicken, it probably won't take as long. 

Snow Pear, Carrot and Pork Bone Soup （雪梨萝卜汤）

If you are craving for chinese soup and prefer something light and sweet, try this!
This is also a home remedy for persistent cough and the herbs used have cooling properties.


Serves 2

Ingredients
200 - 250g pork ribs
2 large snow pears (雪梨) - washed clean, cored and cut into qtrs

1 medium size carrot - peeled and cut to large pieces

1 tbsp of bitter and sweet almonds (南北杏) - rinsed
1-2 honey dates (蜜枣) - pre-soaked for 30mins
1 tbsp of wolfberries (枸杞子) - rinsed
1 tbsp of Fritillaria bulb (川贝母) - rinsed
1/2 tsp salt


Method
- Blanch the pork ribs with boiling water to remove the scum. In the soup pot, add 2 big soup bowls of boiling water.
- Add blanched pork ribs + salt into the boiling pot of water.
- Cook the pork ribs for about 10-15mins, add the rest of the ingredients.
- Bring to a boil and cover the pot with the lid and let the soup simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours on low heat.
- Make sure there's enough water for all the ingredients to be fully submerged. If not, just add more hot water into the pot progressively.

Remarks
- If you don't have TCM herbs, you can do without. But it'll be nice to add at least wolfberries and dates (you can use red dates instead of honey dates)

Scallop and Asparagus Pasta

Serves 2

Ingredients
- 8 scallops
- 200g asparagus (sliced into 4cm stalks)
- Garlic (chopped)
- Red cut chilli
- Spaghetti 200g
- Olive oil
- Sherry
- Parmesan cheese

Method
- Cook the pasta till al dente, as per the instructions on packaging. Do not overcook. Keep aside 1/2 a cup of the pasta water.
- Using a small saucepan, boil the asparagus in water (with abit of salt) till just cooked. Drain the water.
- Using a non stick frying pan, sauteed the scallops until both sides are slightly brown. You can use either olive oil or butter. I used the latter. When cooked, remove from pan and leave them aside.
- Fry the garlic and chilli with a generous amount of olive oil, till fragrant.
- Add the asparagus and half cup of sherry.
- Toss the cooked pasta with the mixture and if it's too dry, add a bit of the pasta water. Add salt and ground pepper to taste. Add the scallops into the pasta, toss and transfer onto plate.
- Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve.

Note
- If you will prefer a tangy taste, you can add 60-80g of sundried tomatoes.
- Pat the scallops dry using clean kitchen towel before frying.

Braised Bittergourd and Pork in Spicy Bean Sauce

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
Bittergourd - 1
Pork - 400 to 500g (I usually use pork loin or shoulder as the meat is tender)
Onions - 5 (diced)
Garlic - 5 (diced)
Hot water

Seasoning
Dark soya sauce
Spicy bean sauce (辣豆瓣酱）
Brown sugar
Chinese hua tiao wine
Sesame oil
Pepper

Method
Cut the meat into chunks and marinate with light soya sauce, pepper, sesame oil and hua tiao wine. Leave it chilled in the fridge for about 30mins - 1hour.
Wash and remove the core of the bittergourd. Cut into big chunks. Set aside.

Heat up a frying pan / wok and add abit of oil. Pan fry both sides of the meat chunks till slightly browned, half cooked will do. Remove from pan and drain out the oil.
Add a fresh coat of oil and stir fry the onion and garlic till fragrant. Put back the meat chucks into the pan and dry fry for a while on high heat. Add dark soya sauce, spicy bean sauce, brown sugar, pepper and sesame oil  to taste. You can also add salt / light soya sauce but take note that the bean sauce is already salty.

Transfer everything into a braised pot, add hot water till about half of the meat dish is submerged in water. Cover and continue cooking under medium heat for about 30mins. Turn the flame to low and braise for another 20mins. Add the bittergourd, cover the pot and cook till the meat and bittergourd are tender and dark in colour. If the sauce is too watery, you can add abit of cornstarch to thicken it.

Serve with white rice.

Bittergourd Vermicelli Soup 苦瓜米粉汤

Thank you Tsewei for sharing this - it's so easy to cook, comforting, soupy and healthy! 

Serves 2

Ingredients
Garlic - 5 whole cloves (do not need to remove skin or cut into smaller pcs)
Ikan bilis - 50g
Soya bean (黄豆）- 200g
Fish balls - 10
Minced pork / sliced fish - 200g (or both if you want a hearty meal!)
Carrot - 1 (cut into smaller pieces)
Bittergourd - about 1/3 to 1/2 of a mid size one (halved over the length of it and cut into thin slices)
Chye Sim - 4 bunches (washed thoroughly)
Dried vermicelli - 30g (in general, 10g / person is enough but with my hubby's good appetite, I use 30g for both of us).

Garnish
Spring onion
Fried shallot
Red cut chilli

Method
- Wash and pre-soaked the soya beans and ikan bilis for about half an hour.
- Marinate the fish / minced pork with light soya sauce and pepper. If using the latter, roll it into small meatballs. Leave aside or in the fridge.
- Boil about 2.5 soup bowls of water in a pot.
- Cook the soup stock by adding the soya beans, ikan bilis, garlic cloves and carrots into the boiling water. Add a teaspoon of salt. Cover the pot and leave to boil for about 1hour on medium heat.
- Soak the vermicelli in a separate bowl till it softens.
- When the stock is ready, you can sieve out the ikan bilis and soya bean which I'll usually do. You can leave them in the soup if you like the extra crunch.
- Add the bittergourd and continue boiling for about 15 mins, or longer if you like it more bitter.
- Add the fishball and fish/meat, cook for 2mins and add the vermicelli. Add abit of olive oil, salt or light soya sauce and pepper to taste.
- Lastly, add in the chye sim. Turn off the heat when the soup is boiling.
- Serve while piping hot.

Note
This is a very versatile dish. You can add in any other vegetables or ingredients you like! 

Yam Rice 芋头饭

Serves 2

Ingredients
- about 1/3 - 1/2 a mid size yam (skinned and diced into small bite sized cubes).
- 100g of dried shrimp (hei bi), pre-soaked and chopped up
- 4-5 big chinese dried mushrooms, pre-soaked till soft and sliced into smaller pieces.
- 100g minced / lean pork. If using lean meat, just cut into smaller pieces.
- uncooked rice for 2
- Water
- 5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
- 5 cloves of onion (finely chopped)

Garnish
- spring onion / parsley
- fried shallot crisps

Seasoning
- light soya sauce
- sesame oil (1 tsp)
- pepper
- dark soya sauce
- five spiced powder (1/2 tsp)
*I can't really say how much of each to put, it really depends on whether you like it more salty or bland. If you like the rice to be darker, add more dark soya sauce.

Method

If you are using lean/minced pork, pre-marinate the pork with light soya sauce and pepper.

Rinse the rice with water using the rice cooker pot. Add water as if you are cooking normal steamed rice. Drain out the rice water into a bowl. Set aside.

On a heated frying pan / wok, add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil and stir fry the onion and garlic till fragrant. Add the dried shrimp and mushrooms, turn up the heat source and if it's too dry, add cooking oil. Add the pork and when it's half cooked, add the yam and continue frying for about 1 min. Add rice into the pan and fry very quickly till it's all well mixed, add all the seasoning to taste. Pour in the rice water + about half cup of water (using the rice cup), do a quick stir and transfer everything into the rice cooker. Cook the rice as per normal.

When the rice is cooked, use the rice spatula to stir and loosen it up before serving.

Note
Can also use lup cheong instead of minced/lean pork. I used the latter as it's less sinful. 

Scones

Makes about 20 x 1.5 inches round scones.

Ingredients
Self raising flour - 2 cups, sifted
Milk - 1 cup
Cold unsalted butter - 60g, cut into smaller pieces
Caster sugar - 2 tbsp
A pinch of salt

Optional
Chocolate chips / raisins / dried cranberries

Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 220 degree celsius.
- Using your finger tips, rub the flour, sugar, salt and the butter together until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can add in a handful of dried fruits or chocolate chips to the mixture if you like. Otherwise, you can leave it plain.
- Make a well in the centre and pour two-thirds of the milk into the well. Using a spatula, start mixing it together gently. If it's too dry, add the remaining milk until the dough comes together. If it's too wet, add more flour.  Don't over handle it.
- On a floured table top, gently knead the dough four or five times and roll out the dough flat to about 3cm in height using a rolling pin. Don't knead it too much as it'll become hard.
- Using a 1.5" round cutter, cut out the dough and placed them on a greaseproof baking tray. Brush the top with milk or egg wash.
- Bake in oven for about 10mins, until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the centre of scone comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and transfer onto wire rack to cool.
- Serve with salted butter / cream cheese or your favourite jam.

Remarks
- If you placed the scones on the baking tray close together (almost touching), they will have soft sides and less crispy crusts. If you place them apart, they will be crusty all over. If you want crusty scones, cool them uncovered. If a softer crust is desired, then wrap the hot scones in a clean dish towel.
- Scones are best served warm.
- I used milk instead of cream for a lighter and healthier scone.
- If you don't have self raising flour, you can replace it with all-purpose flour, but add 1.5 tsp of baking powder to each cup of flour you use.

Walnuts and Chocolate Chip Brownies

Makes about 16 slices, 2x2 inches each.

Ingredients

Unsalted butter - 110 g (can be cold from fridge)

Semi-sweet chocolate - 5 oz / 150 g (chopped up)

Eggs - 3

Caster sugar - 170 g

Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp / 15 g

Plain flour - 100 g

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 50 g

Walnuts - 60 g (chopped up)

Method

- Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg celsius.

- Melt the butter and chocolate bar over a pan of boiling water. I use a big metal bowl (those metallic one). 

- Remove from heat source and using a whisk, mix well.

- Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder. Next, add in the vanilla essence and the eggs, one at a time.

- Using a spatula, mix in the flour and salt. 

- Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts the last. 

- Pour into a 8-inch square pan that is greased at the side and with greaseproof paper at base of pan.

- Bake in oven for about 25 minutes. 

- Do not overbake, a skewer inserted in the centre should come up abit moist. If it comes up totally clean, it's overbaked!

- Remove from oven, serve warm or cool with vanilla ice cream. 

Remarks

- If you do not like it too sweet, you can omit the chocolate chips and add more walnuts.

- For plain brownies, omit the chocolate chips and walnuts altogether.

- Use good / premium chocolate and cocoa powder as it'll affect the taste of your brownies. I used Hershey's baking bar (i mixed 4 oz of semi-sweet with 1 oz of unsweetened) and Hershey's cocoa powder.

Baked Rice with Cheese, Broccoli, Ham, Mushroom and Tomatoes

Serves 2 persons

Ingredients
1 cup of uncooked rice (I used brown rice)
Water to cook the rice (as per how you will usually cook rice)
Salt - half teaspoon
Butter - 20g
Garlic - 5 cloves, washed and smashed
Olive oil
Brocolli - 100g, washed, blanched in boiling water and chopped up into small pieces
Ham - 100g, cut into bite size
Brown / white mushrooms - 100g, washed and diced.
Cherry tomatoes - 6, washed and diced
Campbell mushroom soup
Mozzarella Cheese - 200g

Method
- Rinse and cook the rice with water using a rice cooker, add the salt, butter and garlic at the onset.
- When the rice is cooked, remove the garlic cloves and add the broccoli bits and mix together.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 degree celsius.
- Using olive oil, stir fry the sliced mushrooms and ham till just cooked.
- Transfer the cooked rice onto a baking dish. Spread generous amount of the campbell soup (undiluted) onto the rice using a spoon.
- Cover the rice with ham, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.
- Spread the top with generous amount of mozzarella cheese.
- Bake in oven for about 20-25mins till the cheese melts and turns golden brown.

Yam Cake 芋头糕

Ingredients

5 shallots
Half a mid size yam (using Ikea rice bowl, it's about 1.5 bowls) - washed and diced into cubes
2 bowls full of water (using the same type of bowl)
1 bowl full of rice flour
2 heaped tablespoon of cornflour
1/3 bowl of dried shrimp (hei bi) - soaked, washed and chopped up into small pieces.
Optional - fist full of dried mushrooms - soaked, washed and chopped up into small pieces

Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon of wu xiang powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- Sesame oil

Method
- Fry the shallots with sesame oil till fragrant.
- Add the dried shrimps and mushrooms and fry for about 2-3 mins. Add more oil if needed.
- Add the yam and a splash of water. Fry for about 5 mins under high heat.
- When the yam is slightly softened, turn the heat down to low.
- Mix the rice flour, cornflour and water well, pour it into the yam mixture.
- Stir and mix together at a brisk pace and add seasoning (wu xiang powder, salt and pepper) to taste.
- The mixture would become thicker and lumpy as you continue stirring, remove from heat source and stop stirring when it reaches a thick but not dry consistency.
- Pour into a metal / non stick cake tin or pan and place it in a steamer. Steam for about 1 to 1.5hrs till the paste has set.

Do not attempt to cut the cake when it's still hot. Let it cool till room temperature. It'll harden further and less sticky.

Serving suggestions
- Cut into smaller slices, fry both sides of the cake.
- Add fried shallots, dried shrimps (fried), spring onions to serve.

Peanut Cookies

Makes about 70 - 80

Ingredients
Grounded peanut - 300g (You can buy the grounded peanut from Fairprice)
Castor sugar - 150g
Plain Flour - 250g
Vegetable oil (I used Canola oil) - 200ml (use only enough to hold the dough together)
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Peanuts / Cashew nuts (halved) - a handful
Egg Yolk for glazing - 1

Method
- Preheat oven to 200 degree celsius.
- Sift the flour and sugar, add salt and mix well.
- Add the peanut powder and mix.
- Drizzle half of the oil into the flour mixture, using your hands, knead into a dough till the sugar has melted. Do not pour all the oil in at one time. If the dough breaks easily, add in more oil. Try rolling a small piece of the dough into a ball and if it doesn't fall apart, the dough is ready.
- Scoop a teaspoon of the dough, roll into small balls and place them on the baking tray with baking paper.
- Place half a peanut / cashew nut on the top, pressed it in gently, glaze and put in the oven.
- Bake for 17-18mins.

Molten Chocolate Love

Jas, my colleague, got me a set of ramekins for Christmas (how thoughtful!) and she suggested I try this recipe she saw on youtube. Thanks Jas! 


Makes about 4

Ingredients

Large eggs - 2

Large egg yolks - 2

Butter - 5 tablespoons

Sugar - 3 tablespoons

Premium dark chocolate - 3.5oz (standard bar)

Plain flour - 3 tablespoons
Cocoa powder - 4 teaspoons

Vanilla essence - a few drops

Salt - a pinch
Icing sugar - for dusting

Vanilla ice cream

Method

- Generously grease ramekins with butter. 

- Whisk the eggs with sugar till pale and fluffy.

- Melt the chocolate and butter over indirect heat.

- Combine the chocolate mixture with the egg mixture.

- Sieve cocoa powder and mix.

- Sieve flour and mix.

- Add in salt and vanilla essence and mix well.

- Pour batter into the ramekins and leave them onto a baking / casserole dish.

- Cover with cling wrap and chill it in the fridge for 30mins.

- Preheat oven to 220 degree C.

- Pour tap water into baking dish till it's about half full. 

- Bake for 12-15 mins.

- Leave the ramekins to cool (out of the baking dish) for about 10 mins before removing.
- Serving suggestion: use a sieve to dust icing sugar over the cake. Serve with scoop of vanilla ice cream and berries at the side. 

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGgwdacErks