Melting Pot

APPLE PANCAKE

2009-04-29T23:36:00.006+08:00

Pancakes has always been a tea time or breakfast favorite with my family. Whether it is the thick pancakes or thin crepes, we love them all ! I always thought pancakes are the easiest to make - kind of no-brainer - until some friends told me about their disastrous pancakes !

Most people are surprised that I add melted butter - this does not make the pancake oily. On the contrary , it makes frying much easier and you are almost guaranteed a soft pancake! Whisking the egg whites make the pancakes lighter.

Apart from the traditional pancakes with maple syrup and butter , we prefer them with all types of fillings - jam,peanut butter, honey, mango,peaches etc.

Since we also love apple pies , I thought ,hey why not use the apple filling for my pancakes ? However I omitted the cinnamon and the raisins this time. As usual the family absolutely loved it! Do try it!

For the Apple Filling:

4 green apples - use red apples if you do not like the sour taste
Cut into small, thin pieces. I think it may be even better if you grate them coarsely as they cook faster and will be easy to spread.
2 Tabsp sugar
pinch of salt
1 Tabsp cornflour , dissolved in 3 Tabsp water

To cook the filling:

Put all the cut apples in a pot and stir them over medium heat. Do not add water. Add in sugar and salt and continue to cook until apples are soft.

Add in the cornflour and continue to cook until the cornflour turns transparent. Leave aside to cool.

For the crepe / pancake:

300 gm self raising flour
2 Tabsp milk powder
3 Tabsp castor sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs, separated
Whisk the egg whites till frothy
50 gm melted butter
500 ml water

To make the batter:

Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl

Add in the milk powder, sugar and salt.
Add in the egg yolks
Add in water and mix well.
Stir in the beaten egg whites.
Add in the melted butter.
Mix well but do not over mix.
The consistency of the batter also determines the thickness of the pancake you like. for thinner crepes, add in more water. If you like thick panccakes, put in less water.
Pour a ladleful of batter into heated pan and swirl it around to make a round crepe. Once the edges are lifted off the pan , it is an indication that it is cooked. Turn over only ONCE and DO NOT press it! For the thin crepes, it is not even necessary to turn. It cooks through.
spread the apple filling over 3/4 of the crepe, then roll it up.
ENJOY !

P.s. By the way , my 12 year old son was one who cut and cooked the apple filling and fried the pancakes. So If he can do it, YOU can do it! Have fun!

Duck in Chicken ?

2009-04-23T22:28:00.007+08:00

This is an unusual dish which my sister learnt from her friend. Minced chicken with salted duck egg yolks , made into the shape of duck eggs! Cholesterol aside , it does taste good!

You will need:

500 gm minced chicken
150gm big onions , cubed
100gm breadcrumbs
3 Tbsp cornflour
15 salted duck egg - separate yolks and white
Pepper to taste
Cornflour for dusting

Lets start!

Mix the minced chicken with pepper , add in the egg white. As the egg white is salty it is not necessary to add salt.

Add in the onions and mix well.

Stir in the cornflour and breadcrumbs till the consistency is dry enough to handle. If it is too wet, add more breadcrumbs.
Put some cornflour on your palm , make a ball of mince meat , flatten it slightly and put in the egg yolk. Try as much to keep the yolk in the center. The mince is easy to handle as it is soft.Shape them in the shape of an egg and keep aside till all is completed.

Fry them over moderate heat till cooked.Cut them before serving - they should look like egg wedges!

CREAMY FETTUCCINE

2009-03-12T23:15:00.007+08:00

This recipe has evolved from the original one . I experimented with different types of milk ever since I had a taste of the best Fettucine ever at a small cafe ! After a few trials, I finally hit the taste I wanted ! Yes, the secret is in the milk ! This is an easy dish and an absolute favorite with my kids!

The following portion serves 10.

500gm minced chicken
150 gm big onions , diced
2 cans button mushroom, cut into 6 or sliced
1 can Evaporated Milk ( The Secret :) )
1 packet Fettuccine ( or spagetti . Somehow it seems to taste better with fettuccine )
50 gm butter
2 tabsp all purpose flour
500 ml water

To cook the sauce:

Put in the minced chicken and fry. As there are some fat in the chicken, there is no need to add oil.

Add in the onions and continue to stir fry.

Add in the mushrooms and fry another few minutes. Add some salt,black and white pepper to taste. Leave aside.

Melt the butter in the pan over low heat.

Add in the flour

Stir till the flour is cooked.

Add in the milk slowly, stirring all the time. To avoid lumps I use a whisk and thats worked really well.

Add water and stir till smooth.

Add in the minced chicken mixture. The consistency of the creamy sauce is up to you to adjust . Keep in mind that the cream will thicken further when cooled.

Bring the mixture to a boil.

To cook the Fettuccine:

Bring a pot/wok of water to rolling boil. Add some oil and 1 tabsp salt. Add the fettuccine and cook till al dente. Drain and set aside.

To serve : Simply add the sauce to the fettuccine , top with some parmesan cheese or grated cheddar cheese .....enjoy !

Variations:
You can also use sausages , ham or bacon. Seafood is also yummy - add the fish slices last if you want to see them. I have also tried with salmon ....really good ! Possibilities are endless ....just be adventurous to try . Hey ,do share if you have good ideas ,ok?

Shortcut:
If you absolutely have no time , just use a can of creamy mushroom soup , add half a can of evaporated milk , throw in some minced chicken or sausages and viola ! Ready to serve!

STUFFED MUSHROOMS

2009-03-01T00:31:00.004+08:00

I had plenty of dried mushrooms and had to find a way to make something more interesting ......... this was what i came up with. It is healthy and delicious !

I soaked the mushrooms and braise them for 2 hours over slow heat with some oyster sauce , garlic and water . Cool and then store them in the freezer. They are great for frying noodles, cooking with vegetables , cooking savoury rice etc.

For this dish I used :

30 pcs braised whole mushrooms - remove the stalks.

300 gm fish paste - you can buy the ready paste or mince them yourself. Add some salt to the fish paste.

80 gm frozen green peas, scalded quickly in hot water and drained.

Mix the green peas with the fish paste .

Fill the mushroom with the fish paste and smoothen it . When completed, steam them for 10 minutes till the fish paste is cooked.

You can serve them by themselves or with some vegetables to make it more interesting. I cooked a simple oyster sauce , and added brocolli .

For the sauce : Add 1 cup of water, let it boil, add oyster sauce (Alternative : Lea & Perrin sauce) to taste, add some black pepper.
(Add brocolli at this point ) Add 1 tbsp cornflour to 3 Tbsp water. When the sauce comes to rolling boil , add in the cornflour and stir. Remove from heat.
Note : do not keep boiling after adding the cornflour as the continuous boiling will break down the starch and the sauce will become watery again - some "technical" stuff!

There you are- wholesome food !

Pandan Chicken

2009-02-01T00:25:00.007+08:00

This is one dish I have always wanted to try but the thought of wrapping individual pieces of bite size chicken can be quite daunting when cooking for over 30 persons! Anyway I finally cooked it for the Reunion dinner this Chinese New year and it was a hit! I found this recipe in the internet but as usual changed it to suit my liking ( and convenience ) . I have omitted the chillies so that the kids can enjoy them . So if you like them spicy , add a few chillies to blend in the marinade.

Marinade:

Blend together the following:
50 ml coconut milk
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
3 cloves garlic
1 thumb-size piece ginger , peeled and slices
juice from 1 lime
2 Tbsp Pandan juice

1 whole chicken deboned and cut into bite size. Marinade with the above blended marinade for at least 4 hours.

To wrap the chicken : use 1 pandan leave per piece of chicken.

Fasten the leave with a toothpick . I found that it is better to just wrap it with one turn of leave. If there are too many layers of leave, the chicken inside takes longer to cook and does not taste as good - tasted more "steamed" than fried.

Deep fry with moderate heat till leave turns slightly brown.

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THE PANDAN LEAVE

The pandan leave is from the family of screwpine - botanically known as Pandanus amaryllifolius which is the only Pandanus species with fragrant leaves.

These leaves are widely used in cooking and baking is Asia . While fresh pandan juice is preferred , Pandan flavors and essences are also readily available in the market.

For the locals, Pandan leaves is one of the essential plants to grow in the garden.

OLIVE RICE

2009-01-10T09:53:00.010+08:00

This is a rather unique dish , learnt from a friend . Unique flavor with chinese olive leaves and chinese olives. It's easy , fast and taste really good! Try it !

You will need :

4 cups rice , washed and sok in water for 30 minutes. White or brown rice , whichever your preference.
15 pcs preserved chinese olives. Cut into pieces, Remove the seed. In chinese, this is the "kanna".

1 bottle preserved Olive leaves - available at supermarkets.

This is what the olive leaves look like.

4 large onions , diced

500 gm minced chickenLets cook now!

Heat up some oil in the frying pan and fry the onions lightly.

Add in the minced chicken
Fry and mix well.
Add in the olive leaves.
Fry all together.
Add in the soaked rice.
Add some thick soya sauce , and salt to taste.Mix well, Remove from pan and put them all in the rice cooker. Add water and cook for 20 minutes.

Wasn't that easy??? And here is your wholesome meal!

POTATO AU GRATIN

2009-01-03T00:21:00.007+08:00

Another family favorite , so very delicious ...and so easy to make ! Another no-fail recipe!

You will need:

1 liter Fresh Cream

6 large Russet Potatoes, peeled and sliced

12 slices of cheddar Cheese

Lets start !

Preheat oven to 200F
Lightly grease an oven proof casserole
Line a layer of potatoes, pour some fresh cream just enough to cover it.

Add the slices of cheese - you can break them into halves and scatter them all over.
Pour another layer of fresh cream.do this till all the potatoes and cheese are used up. end with potatoes and layer of fresh cream. Put the casserole in the oven to bake for 1 hour .

There you are! Easy , isn't it? Bon Appetit!

Apple Crumble

2008-12-22T00:02:00.011+08:00

Which came first, the apple pie or the apple crumble?

Did someone forget to put the water in the pastry for an apple pie, or did they spill water into the crumble?

I had been making apple crumble the last 20 years and never got tired of it ! Easy and delicious!

Ingredients:
Filling:
10 pcs green apples - peeled, cored and cut into slices
50 gm sugar
450 gm raisins, soaked in hot water ,then drained
2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Crust:
300gm superfine flour,sifted
150 gm salted butter

Crumble:
100 gm Flour
100 gm coarse brown sugar
100 gm butter
Combine and rub in til they resemble crumbls.

Lets start !

Cook the filling first.
Put all the apples and sugar in a pot and cook over medium heat , stirring all the time. do not add water.

Add the raisins and continue to stir till apples are soft.

Add in the ground cinnamon and salt. Leave filling aside.

For the crust: Mix flour and butter

Cut the butter in small pieces till they resemble small crumbs. Or rub in the butter with your fingertips lightly.

Add a little water and combine the crumbs together to form a dough. DO NOT knead the dough or overwork it - the more you handle it , the harder your pastry becomes! Cover dough and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough between 2 piecs of plastic sheets. This is will make it much easier for you to transfer it to the pan later.

Remove the top plastic sheet and overturn the rolled out dough over the pan. Easy isn't it? cut away the excess dough.

Prick it with a fork and bake it blind for 15 min. at 180C. No , don't blind-fold it :)
(To bake it blind is to bake without any filling )

Remove the crust from oven and fill it with the apple filling and then the crumble.

Return to the oven and bake at 180C for another 40 minutes.

Serve warm or chilled , with or without a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

YUMMY YAM

2008-12-06T00:19:00.016+08:00

To us ,Mum's yam cake is THE best. Nobody makes it like her . And she loves to make it for us.
Well, I thought its time I "inherit" the recipe........:)

So here goes ;

Ingredients:

500 gm yam,diced***** 300 gm minced chicken

200gms dried shrimps*** 200 gms big onions, diced

2 cups rice flour *****2 Tabsp cornflour
5 cups water ( put aside some water for frying. the rest to be mixed with the flours)

Here we go!

Fry the dry prawns till brown.

Drain and pulverise them. Keep aside half for the topping.

Fry the onions lightly.

Add the minced chicken,

Add in the yam. Add salt ,black and white pepper.Add some water as you fry.

Add in the rice flour batter , stirring all the time.It is easier to do this on low heat.

Stir till the mixture thickens.

Put the mixture into a lightly oiled pan. Steam for 45 minutes.

Cool and serve.

Use the pulverised dried prawns as toppings. to make it even nicer , add deep fried onions, chopped spring onions and chillies ( I ran out.....so I just used dried prawns)

Mum said I pass with flying colors! Yes!

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CHICKEN STEW

2008-11-27T20:18:00.021+08:00

This is another family all-time favorite. Evolved from the lamb stew which we absolutely love !
Another no fail recipe! Even my eleven year old son can do it !
There is no need to follow to the T on the ingredient amount - just use it as a guideline ! We love carrots and potatoes so I use a lot of them!

Ingredients:
4 pips of garlic,
chopped finely.

4 large red onions ,
(about 150 gm)
diced

1 can button
mushrooms
sliced

4 pcs carrots
(about 300 gm)
cut in angular
shape

6 pcs potatoes
( about 500 gm)
cut angular shapes

Half a chicken
( about 800 gm )
Cut them,
coat with seasoned flour
(KFC flour) and
deep fry till brown.

LETS COOK THEM NOW!

Heat up about 3 Tabsp oil and fry the garlic till brown

Add in onionsAdd in the carrots,potatoes and mushroom. Add in the chickenAdd in water ,enough to cover the ingredients. Add more if you want more gravy.Add black pepper and salt to taste. Bring to boil then let it simmer for 30 minutes till the gravy thickens. alternatively, you can put in a casserole and bake it in the oven for 40 min.

Its ready !

Serve with rice or....

maraconi . Also good with spaghetti or fettucini.

ENJOY !!!!!

Kiam Hoo CHICKEN RICE

2008-11-23T00:00:00.021+08:00

Salted fish ( kiam hoo in Hokkien) chicken rice was a specialty dish of Roy ( my late husband ). We have never been able to cook it as nice as him but close............

Am sharing this family favorite.....

INGREDIENTS

600 gm rice
( I used brown rice here since
we had been eating brown rice.
Of course white rice can also be used)
Wash and soak the rice in water
for about 30 minutes.
100 gm sliced mushroom (optional)
( Using ready sliced mushroom
is easy but the flavor is not as
strong as using the whole mushrooms )
Soak the mushroom in hot
water to soften them.

20 gm ginger - sliced.

( Add more if you like ginger
- up to 60 gm
If you have kids and they
freak out at the sight of ginger ,
just slice them in big pieces and
remove after cooking. If you are
the type who love the ginger taste,
chop them up into small pieces - they have a real good taste when you bite into them! )
100 gm big onions ,
diced

1 kg Chicken , cut into desired sizes.

( If the chicken rice is served with
many other dishes, minced chicken
can be used instead . )

100 gm salted fish, sliced
( I use salted ikan kurau
as there is no small bones)

******************************************************
METHOD

Heat up some oil in the wok and fry the salted fish till brown.
Set aside.

Using the same oil, add onions and ginger.

Add mushrooms and continue to fry.

Add in the chicken and thick black sauce.

Add the soaked rice and then
the salt fish. Add a few rock
sugar or 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Add the rice and continue to fry.

Transfer the fried mixture into
the rice cooker . Add 1000ml
water. ( 600 ml if using white rice).

Leave to cook.

Finally........BON APPETIT !

The Great Pumpkin

2008-11-11T22:29:00.001+08:00

Do you like pumpkin? I just lurve it !

Mum used to stir fry it with some dried shrimps. I prefer them steamed. Taste really good!
The popularity of pumpkin has caught on recently and people has gotten more creative in using pumpkin - like pumpkin fried rice and pumpkin bee hoon - truly delicious!

Bought a pumpkin 2 days ago and mum cooked half of it. Today , she asked me to use the the other half to make pumpkin cake.

Hmmm...Ok its my first attempt and I wanted to bring out the fulll flavor of pumpkin. So I tried this and it worked ! So Yummy ! An easy no- fail recipe !

Steamed Pumpkin Cake

Half a pumpkin ( pumpkin size was about 7" diameter - sorry I forgot to weigh ! )
- cut away the skin and seeds, dice into half inch cubes
Use 1/3 of the pumpkin and pulverise in a blender with 1 cup of water.

1/2 cup dried shrimp - deep fry till crispy. Set aside half for the cake.
Pulverise the balance and set aside to use as topping.

1 cup minced chicken
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup water

Method:

Heat up 3 Tbsp oil and stir fry mince chicken. Add in the pumpkin and continue to fry. Add in the blended pumpkin and continue to cook another 5 minutes. Add the dried shrimp.Add salt and 1/4 tsp chicken stock granules(optional).

Mix the rice flour with 1/2 cup water. add to the mixture and continue to cook till it thickens.

Put the entire mixture into a 10" pan and steam for 30 minutes.

Cool , sprinkle the pulverised dried shrimps and serve.You can also add in dried onions.

********************************************************************

Do you know ...............?

>>>>>The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.

>>>>>Pumpkins are members of the vine crops family called cucurbits

>>>>>The name pumpkin orginated from "pepon" – the Greek word for "large melon."
>>>>>Pumpkins contain potassium and Vitamin A.

>>>>>Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites

>>>>>Pumpkins are monoecious, having both male and female flowers

Female Flower.
The pumpkin forms at the base of the flower.

Male pumpkin flower

>>>>>The word "pumpkin" is rated the 40th most beautiful word in the English language, according to a recent survey by the British Council. ( But puleese , don't call me pumpkin! )

*************************************************************** PUMPKIN JOKES

What is a pumpkin's favorite sport? Squash

What's the ratio of a pumpkin's circumference to its diameter?
Pumpkin Pi

Otan jyo bi, o me deto do zai masu

2008-11-17T22:54:00.005+08:00

Otan jyo bi, o me deto do zai masu - that’s Happy Birthday in Japanese !

October “babies”

October “babies” Chris and Jessica had the privilege to celebrate their birthday at Ivy’s residence in Mutiara Damansara . Married to a Japanese , Ivy treated us to some home cooked Japanese cuisine .

Sushi queen Amelia and gang were early to help with the sushi – errr…… which resulted in different sizes? Those big ones must be from Amelia! The sushi were yummy , rolled with egg, cucumber, preserved radish, tuna.

Sushi

I simply love the cucumber pickles . Made from thin slices of Japanese cucumber, just marinate with some Japanese vinegar, salt and sugar to taste. Light and refreshing.

Cucumber pickle

The grilled Saba fish was truly delicious. Just simply grilled over the electric grill, the meat was sweet and juicy.

Grilling saba fish

Saba fish, ready to eat!

The “dessert” was cold tofu . It was really cool – first time I enjoyed cold tofu !

Cold tofu

Amelia and her tofu

Ah….then the drinks! Carol took the trouble to bring all her “kar chan” to make us ice-blended tropical cocktail – which was quite potent! Whatever there was inside, the party became a bit more noisy after the second round of drinks! Ivy had those cute little wine tags and we had so much fun choosing our tags ! Thanks Carol! Next time will be frozen margarita!

Tropical ice blended cocktail

Carol - Sexiest bartender !

Yum seng ?

What’s a birthday celebration without a cake? The cake was specially ordered and even though arrived late , was well worth the wait !

The cake

Happy Birthday Chris !

生日快乐Jessica !