Desserts

Tried 2 desserts @ Zen Q today .


First was this soya based shovel ice topped with barley grains, green peas & sweet potatoes , glazed with creamer. 

The topping ingredients are soft , and the soya bean not too sweet. 

Next , we had the Mango shovel ice topped with a scoop of icecream. 

The syrup in ice is sweeter , but the slightly sour mango compliments it. 

These two were on Parents'  Day promotion , and it cost only RM 9.90 for two . Value buy .

Quick cooking breakfast

Watched this recipe being prepared on TV yesterday . Tried it out this morning .

First, the ingredients :
2 slices of bread , I used wholemeal bread this morning.
2 eggs
250 ml milk   &
some raisins pre soaked in wine     

Beat the eggs , add in milk, mix well.
Cut the bread into six equal squares.

Put cut bread into the egg mixture , let soak for a few seconds.

Heat up non -stick pan , melt a little bit of butter over slow flame.
Pour out the egg mixture into the pan, but not the bread. Cover.
When egg mixture partially set, arrange the bread  onto the mixture. Cover & cook for a few seconds.
Top with the drained raisins. Cover & continue to cook for a few minutes , till the egg mixture is cooked.

The cooking takes only about 12 - 15 minutes.
Sprinkle some pepper & garlic powder on it , Remove from stove.
Serve on plate like this.

The taste ?
The soaked bread gave a thick texture , soft, rich in taste with the base omelette.
Quick to cook , not bad for breakfast, a change from the normal French toast.

Bacon & egg Pie - tested .

Liked Donna Hay's simplified recipes. Tried out this bacon recipe , it's quick, simple & easy .

Prepared 4 pie cups, bacon strips, egg , sour cream & dried parsley . Also prepared fresh green lettuce, cucumber & cherry tomatoes.

Firstly, line the pie cups with strips of bacon. Beat egg & sour cream till well mixed.

Pour egg mixture into bacon-lined pie cups. Fill up to 3/4 full  . Sprinkle with dried parsley.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 160 degrees C , for about 20 minutes or untill egg mixture set.

Voila.....the delicious pies are ready , most importantly , in about 25 minutes only.

Cut open in the center, the texture of the baked pie is deliciously nice.

Served as breakfast with fresh lettuce, cherry tomatoes & sliced cucumber , making it a healthy breakfast menu.

Thanks to Donna Hay's recipes ...... quick, simple & easy , delicious too !

Quick & easy stir-fried pasta

It took me just about 15 minutes to prepare this dish .

Ingredients :
minced meat  , 1/2 tomato ( cubed ), 1/2 onion ( cubed ), 1 tbsp butter, a bit of cooking oil,  pinch of salt, herbs ( oregano, basil & parsley ), pinch of garlic powder , fresh lettuce, and of course 1 share of pasta ( here I used angel hair which is fast to cook ) .

1. Heat up water in pot, boil pasta . Add salt to water. Boil till pasta turn soft . Toss & leave aside.
2. Heat up frying pan, melt butter , Add oil, stir fry cubed onions & tomatoes. 
3. Add in minced meat . Stir-fry. 
4. Flavour with salt, pepper & garlic powder. 
5. Pour in the tossed pasta, stir & mix well.
6. Sprinkle with garlic powder, basil, oregano & parsley. 
7. Served with fresh lettuce. 

Voila.....all these can be done within 15 mins.  

Simple meals

These days, I am making my cooking as simple as possible.

One day , I make this meal for dinner .... pork chop , grilled pumpkin &french beans.

 The pumpkin taste better than potatoes in this case.
On top of that, I add in a bowl of salad .

Salad of cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, capsicum , sunflower seeds , & raisins.
Simple , balanced diet. 

second round of steam bread

The same recipe - Nutritious Steam Bread , second round.

First , mix the dough , add in the nuts & fruits (( walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame , wolfberry & raisins ).  Knead for 2 minutes . Leave in bowl to rise.

After 30 minutes ,

Weigh about 30g each into round balls , place onto paper cups, leave to rise for another 30 minutes.

Prepare the steamer , let water boils. Then place the dough in . Steam for about 10 -12 minutes.

Voila ...... here's the steam bread .

The texture inside looks like this :

This is good for breakfast , nutritious & delicious.

Curry Mee , healthy style

36 years ago, I was in the Girl Guide movement in secondary school. We had one cooking competition that year. My Patrol Leader chosed to cook Curry Mee for that competition. Fine if she knew how, duties gave out.

The day came. Patrol Leader were absent that day. Girl who incharged of purchasing the ingredients sent the things , then rushed home . The Patrol were left with a few of us who don't know anything about the recipe of Curry Mee ......


Today , I'm giving this dish a second trial .

This is the thin curry soup ...

Then the thick, rich curry chicken ......

  

The noodles, bean sprouts , long beans, mint leaves .....

 And , a bowl of curry noodles is served .....

This is the healthy style, minus the santan . 

east-west fusion

Today I prepasre this for dinner .


First I cooked a simplified version of ayam pongteh , with only drumsticks , mushrooms & potato.

Then , prepare some croutons, simplify too. Just toast some bread cubes.
Next, cooked minced meat, onions, tomatoes & green peas to get this.

This can be served with croutons too. 

Next, we have salad ........

And for dessert, we have green peas soup . 
East meets West .

This would be a balanced dinner.

Deepavali eve 2011

Tomorrow is Deepavali.

This afternoon, I found that I still have more than half a packet of atta flour , and that gave me an idea of try making chapati for dinner !

I have not checked recipes, but just mix the atta flour with water to get a dough. Then I left it in container covered with wet cloth, for a few hours.

I soaked some dhall / lentils too.

After few hours, I knead & roll out the dough , before frying it on a flat ironcast pan.

The chapati did came out like chapati ....... not sure about the taste , though.
Then boiedl some dhall with carrot and potatoes, with pinch of curry powder.

I like colourful meal, and we surely need some green vegetables, so add in a plate of stir-fried sawi.

Meals seems  not complete without hot spicy curry ! Lucky that I managed to buy some chicken curry .

So, we had chapati for dinner , on a Deepavali eve !

Cake -in-a-mug

Watched a video posted by my daughter about  microwaved  ' cake -in-a-mug ' . I was amazed but was wondering if I can try out the recipe without a microwave. 

Hence , I get ready a mug .

Sieved 2 tablespoons self -raising flour , pinch of baking powder , 1 tablespoonful of caster sugar into the mug. Mixed well. Then break in an egg .

Beat to mix the batter .

Now add in 1 tablespoonful of milk .

Stir , and pour in melted butter.

Stir well , and add in raisins and sliced banana .

Place the mug in the pre-heated steamer , and steam for 10 mins .

And the result is.........

Maybe I should cover the mug with grease-proof paper to prvent water vapour from dropping back into the mug. The recipe allow us to eat direct from the mug , but I scoop it out to see clearer the texture inside .

This is it. Taste alright , but texture not fluffy .

So, this is a trial Steamed banana-raisin -cake-in-a -mug !

Festive August

This August was a festive month.

While the Taoist observe the Hungry Ghost's Lunar 7th month , which the Buddhist considered a filial piety month, the Muslims observed their fasting month of Ramadhan . This is the month when you can see the colourful delicacies spreading out in the Ramadhan bazaar .

Towards the end of  August , the Ghost festival ended , and the Chinese are ushering in mooncakes in conjuction of the Mid-autumn Festival which will be in the 8th Lunar month. The Muslims on the other side are celebrating the 1 Syawal's Hari Raya Aidil Fitri , coincidentally fall on 30th & 31st August this year .

And of course, the Merdeka Day is on 31st August ! What a festive season .

Talking about mooncakes, here's some pictures of my mooncakes  ....

moulded , before baked .

Aned this is freshly out from the oven . 

There is also a non-baked version .

This is unbaked , snow-skin , chilled  mooncakes

Home-baked or made mooncakes are of course healthier .