An attempt to eat healthy

It’s been a while since I’ve baked anything.  Grateful for the mid-week public holiday, I was kinda desperate to get busy in the kitchen.  In an attempt to try and eat healthy, I thought of baking granola.  Been seeing loads of pictures by instagrammers and recipes on the www, so I was really tempted to try my hand at making some.

I eventually settled on using this recipe from E over at missus C’s reverie.  I figured that the recipe looked relatively simple and something I could manage.  Well, I was wrong….

Breakfast Granola
adapted from missus C’s reverie

Ingredients:

• 5 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• Handful of walnuts, roughly chopped
• Handful of sliced almonds (I used whole almonds)
• 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
• Handful of dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
• 1-2 tbsp light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Line an 18×13-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together maple syrup, vegetable oil, brown sugar, and salt. Fold in rolled oats and nuts (except sliced almonds). Mix until the dry mixture is thoroughly coated.
3. Transfer mixture to prepared baking sheet. Spread evenly to form an even layer.
4. Bake for 45 minutes until mixture is golden brown in color. Stirring every 10-15 minutes. Add in sliced almonds and dried cranberries at the last 5 minutes of baking.
5. Let granola cool completely before storing in an airtight container for up to one month.

While the granola was slowly baking, my kitchen was filled with a lovely maple scent.  I was so excited thinking that ‘I did it! I’m going to make an awesome batch of home-made granola good enough to share with friends!’

Turned out I was wrong.  The nuts that I added into the mix?  Well, some of them got burnt along the baking process.  Despite this baking boo boo, the granola still tasted great (enjoyed with yogurt/ ice-cream or on its own as a snack).  So, I had the burnt nuts removed and kept the rest stored away.

I’m not going let this little mishap stop me.  I’m going to try to whip up another batch of these bites.  This time round, I’m going to keep stirring the granola during baking to prevent the nuts from burning and put the baking tray a little lower from direct hit.

Send some luck along my way, wont’ you?

And E, if you are reading this?  Maybe it really is time for you to send me a batch of your granola to try? ;p  Hehe…

Sunday cook-out:: A one-dish meal

The mom-in-law.  She lives with us and does most of the cooking on weeknights.  On weekends, we either eat out or occasionally, we do like to attempt a cook-out.  One weekend, she was out of town, so the Man and I put on our creative caps and wondered what we should be cooking for our Sunday cook-out.

When we were living in Tokyo some 5 years back, I used to trawl the internet for interesting one-dish meals to whip up.  Cooking has never been my forte and one-dish meals seemed like the easiest to make.  I found this relatively simple pork chops and rice recipe.  Made it once for the Man and we loved it!  Copied the recipe down into my cook-book, hoping that one day I will be able to recreate the dish.

Imagine, 5 years on, I decided that it’s finally time to make this dish.  Ingredients seemed relatively easy to get with the exception of canned French Onion Soup which may not be so common on our supermarket shelves.

But I did manage to find canned French Onion Soup at Cold Storage.  So decided to make this dish once again with a few minor tweaks to the original recipe.

Pork Chops and Rice (recipe found online but I can’t remember where since it was 5 years ago)

Ingredients:
a) 1 (10 .5 ounce) can of French Onion Soup
b) 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
c) 4 pork chops (at least four bone-in)
d) Salt and Pepper

Method:
1) Pre-heat over to 180 degrees Celsius.
2) Put approximately 1 cup of washed but uncooked rice in the bottom of a casserole dish.
3) Cover the rice with one can of French Onion Soup. [Save empty can for later use.]

4) Season pork chops with salt and pepper.  Brown pork chops in a large skillet and set aside.  [We used 2 large cuts of pork-chops instead of 4.]

5) Fill the saved can with water and pour into the skillet that was used for browning of the pork chops.
6) Scrape the fixins from the pan with water and pour into casserole dish.
7) Stir the ingredients in the dish and spread the rice evenly.
8) Place chops in a single layer on top of rice mix.
9) Bake in oven half an hour uncovered.
10) Thereafter, cover with foil and bake for another 30 mins.
11) Serve hot and enjoy!

My mistake for this was that I didn’t follow the instructions to the tee which I should have.  I thought 2 cans of water for the rice was too much so I adjusted and added just half a can of water instead.  That was mistake for the rice turned out to be a little too dry then what I remembered it to be.

So, if you are ever making this and wondering ‘Really? 2 cans of water?’  Trust me, it really is.

But all in all, a really satisfying one dish meal that we served with a side of fresh Japanese tomatoes as a starter.  Hoping to make this again one day.  And this time, I must get it right!

Can burgers be healthy?

Well, yes, if you make them yourself.

I was in the mood for some home-made burgers but wanted a twist in my previous recipe.   So I surfed around and realised that I could substitute the Panko (Japanese bread-crumbs) in my recipe with tofu.  And the best part?  You won’t even know the difference.

If you like to give this recipe a try, click here and follow the steps.  Just omit the Panko and the milk if you are using tofu.  As for the type of tofu to use, I would recommend that you use the firm type of tofu and drain the moisture out of the tofu with paper-towels before throwing it into the meat mixture and mashing them up to form the hamburger patties.

An easy and wholesome dinner idea served alongside rice or in our case, a soup and potato gratin for a full meal.

 

Lazy Sunday Breakie Idea

Sundays are meant for sleeping in or to while away the morning.  But more than often, we get woken from our sleep by Sparky who simply can’t wait to start his day with a compulsory morning walk and his tiny bowl of breakie.  Since I didn’t have to go to Church the last Sunday, I decided to whip up a new breakie recipe – Egg in a bread cup!  Turned out to be real simple and yummy too!

And it’s been a while since I last posted any food recipes, so here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make this super simple breakfast meal:

Cook bacon slices till brown or crisp in a frying pan.

Next, lightly butter each muffin cup.

You could use a cup or a cookie cutter to make the circular shape for the bread.

Cut bread into half and cover the muffin cup with bread.  Use remaining bread pieces to cover the gaps.  We realised that we didn’t flattened the bread enough and we probably didn’t use the right type of muffin tray to make this.  ;p  Brush the tops of the bread with butter.

Now, here comes the fun bit – assembling the egg in a bread cup!

Sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese in each cup.

Add bacon.

Now, carefully add an egg into each muffin cup. We obviously used the wrong size for the muffin tray. Also, apparently we were supposed to use a paper towel to clean around each muffin cup for any excess egg white that may have spilled over.  This step is to make sure the egg cups will be easily removed once baked.

Season with salt and pepper before popping these into a pre-heated oven at 180degrees Celsius to bake them for about 20 minutes (or until the egg whites are set).  We realised that we should have omitted adding the salt as the bacon and cheddar provided sufficient salt into this dish.

Once done, remove egg cups from muffin tray and serve them hot.

Enjoy these breakfast delights for we sure did!

Well, if you are ever strapped for breakfast ideas, I do hope you give this recipe a try!  You won’t regret it!  And if you are planning your next Sunday Brunch party, this recipe might just come in handy along with pancakes/waffles/french toast and Mimosas plus Bellinis. 

[Credit: Original recipe here]

Spiced-up comfort food

Whenever the Man ain’t feeling all too dandy (usually after a hard night of drinking), he would crave for mouse noodles 老鼠粉.  Yikes, what are mouse noodles?  They are actually called Mee Tak Mak, rice noodles shaped like a mouse’s tail.  Sounds and looks gross but trust me, it’s good.  After a hard night of partying, these mouse noodles are best served in a hot chicken broth.  Totally clears the system and immediately you’ll feel better as well.

When I popped over to my cousin’s place earlier this week, she kindly cooked lunch before we proceeded to whip up some macarons.  Her creation of the Mee Tak Mak all spiced up was so-so good!  This was more like comfort food for me rather than the soupy version for I love spicy stuff.  So I decided to recreate this spicy dish for the Man and the family last night.

Verdict?  The family loved it!  Even the helper who usually can’t quite take spicy stuff gave this a thumbs up. 

Spicy Mee Tak Mak with Korean sauce (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 packets of Mee Tak Mak (got the packet ones from NTUC)
• 1 medium red shallot – diced
• 2-3 tablespoons of Korean Gochuchang paste
• 1/2 cup of water
• 4-6 pieces of Taiwan Sausages
• Handful of bean sprouts
• Salt – to taste
• Chinese parsley – coarsely chopped, for garnish (OPTIONAL)
• Century egg – coarsely chopped, for garnish (OPTIONAL)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add shallots and sweat them till it turns soft and translucent.
2. Add Gochuchang paste and stir paste into shallots.  Add water.
3. Add Mee Tak Mak and stir-fry the noodles till desired texture is achieve (I like my noodles abit firmer than soft).
4. Add Taiwan Sausages and bean sprouts and mix them well with noodles.  If noodles are too dry, you can also add a little more water.
5. Add salt to taste.
6. Turn off heat and add chopped Chinese parsley at this point.  Remember to mix parsley well with noodles before dishing it up.
7. (OPTIONAL) Adding the century egg gives the dish another flavour, so if you are a fan of century eggs, you could add this to the dish.

Chasing those blues..

Whipped this batch of macarons for pals and realised they looked like blue treats for Smurfs instead of humans.  Kinda exotic but fun I guess and that put a smile on my face.

When friends saw these gems, they kinda squealed too.  Blue macarons?  Who makes blue macarons?  Well, me I guess.  Just wanted something fun in every bite.

Hazelnut Macarons with Black Truffle & White Chocolate Ganache
Makes about 14-16 filled bite-sized macarons

For Macaron Batter

• 1 egg white (preferably aged for 3 days) brought to room temperature
• 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar powder
• 38g icing sugar
• 36g powdered almonds
• 30g granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of gel-based blue colouring
• 1 tbsp powdered hazelnuts (for topping)

Method:

1. Line baking tray with 2 pieces of parchment paper.
2. Sift powdered sugar with the almond powder to ensure that there are no lumps.
3. In a large mixing bowl, add cream of tartar and beat the egg white until they begin to foam. At this stage, add granulated sugar gradually.  Continue beating until very stiff and firm. When you invert the bowl, the egg white batter has to stay put. That’s the time you know when you should stop.  I decided to play it safe and whisked the egg white batter for about 5 minutes before stiff peaks were formed.  Add colouring.  Continue to beat the egg whites on high for another 1-2 minutes.
4. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in 3 batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula (ideally).  Stop folding when the mixture is smooth and there are no streaks of egg white.  Test the consistency from time to time by lifting a dollop of macaron paste and dropping it into the mixing bowl. If the macaron paste does not settle smoothly after 30 seconds, continue folding the paste. If the macaron paste smooths out too quickly, you’ve gone too far. [Note: Sometimes I use up to about 40 strokes in order to achieve this consistency.]
5. Scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone).
6. Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch circles, evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.
7. Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons and to remove the air-bubbles in the macarons.
8. Leave the macarons out in the open for at least 30 minutes to an hour. This step is important to allow the top of the macaron shell to dry up so that you get a smooth surface for the macarons.  You will know when to pop the macarons into the oven when you touch the macarons and the batter does not stick to your fingers. Be careful not to leave them out too much for it will give you crunchy macarons and you don’t want that. This step is important and if you skip it, your macarons might flatten .  While waiting, preheat oven to 140 degrees C.
9. Bake for 15 mins and let cool completely before removing from baking sheet.

For Black Truffle & White Chocolate Ganache:

• 70g White chocolate
• 40ml double cream
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoon chopped black truffles (I used dried black truffles)

1. Hydrate dried black truffles by placing them in the cream overnight.
2. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just boiling.
3. Pour the cream over the white chocolate and leave to stand for two minutes. This will give the chocolate time to soften.
4. Stir the ganache until smooth. If the white chocolate has not yet melted then place the bowl in the microwave and heat for 30 seconds. Remove and stir until smooth.
5. Leave the white chocolate ganache to cool until it reaches the desired consistency.
6. Refrigerate ganache till it sets to a pipe-able state and fill/spoon over the cooled macaron shells.

Assembling macarons:

1. Spread the black truffle white chocolate ganache on the macaron shell.
2. Sandwich and you are done!

It’s recommended that you let the flavours sit inside the macaron for 1 day before having them.

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I’ve been busy in the kitchen… Click here to check out my baking adventures in Geneva.

Blends.

I’ve never really been into kitchen gadgets. They are simply functional to me serving the basic needs to get food on to my table. That was until I started to learn how wonderful these gadgets can be in the kitchen; helping me to cut down preparation time and churning pretty food on to the table. I bought my very first hand-held whisk here in Geneva because I had wanted to make me some macarons. It’s gone on to be my partner-in-crime whenever I wanted to whip up some macs to be enjoyed.

Since then, I’ve gone on to add another tool: a handheld blender cum food-processor into our kitchen. Well, because it was on offer (yes, I couldn’t resist purchasing a device on sale after collecting some 25 stamps – it was one of those coupon thingy) and because I wanted to try my hand at making home-made soups – a first for me.

While surfing, I came across this recipe for Curried Carrot Soup posted by Ashlet from littlepaperplanes. Seemed fairly easy plus I had a big bag of curry powder stashed away that I could use for this. So I tried my hand at making and blending my very first soup for dinner one night and it was really.very.good if I may add.

Curried Carrot Soup (Recipe adapted from littlepaperplanes)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 onion – chopped
• 2 teaspoons of curry powder
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 4 cups of water
• 1 chicken essence cube
• 3 carrots (approx. 500g), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish (OPTIONAL)

Directions:

1. Heat butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onion, curry powder, salt, and pepper (the latter 2 ingredients according to taste). Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Add broth, carrots, 4 cups water, chicken essence cube; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover, and simmer until carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.
3. In a blender, puree soup in batches until smooth; transfer to a clean saucepan. Add more water to thin to desired consistency. Reheat, if necessary.
4. Stir in lemon juice. Serve garnished with cilantro, if desired.

I omitted step 4 as I tasted the soup which I thought was good enough for me and I was kinda worried that the lemon juice may change the flavour of the soup. I also added more curry powder for I wanted the soup to be a little spicier. Lastly, I couldn’t find cilantro at the supermarket here so I ended up garnishing with parsley and some cracked red pepper. Turned out pretty well too. That’s not all, this soup can be served warm or chill so no worries about making more of the yummy soup and stashing it in the refrigerator if you can’t finish it all.

This recipe is definitely for keeps and looks like my new kitchen tool is here to stay.