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.