APPLE PANCAKE

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 ?

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

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

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

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

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!